Guest article by DP Rangan, with annotation by Subodh Agrawal, as a joint tribute to Roshan on his 101st birth anniversary (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967) and to Madan Mohan on his 43rd death anniversary (25 June 1924 – 14 July 1975)
(Subodh Agrawal once said that we often think of music directors in tandem: RC Boral & Pankaj Mullick; Naushad & C Ramchandra; Shankar-Jaikishan & OP Nayyar; Khayyam & Jaidev and so on. They had either similar musical sensibilities, or they were the dominant players at some point of time, or they had something else in common. Roshan & Madan Mohan stand out in tandem in many ways: Punjab origin; their classical-based, melodious music far from the ‘Punjab School’; both acclaimed for high quality of their music, but commercial success not commensurate with their quality. One earned fame as the King of Qawwalis; the other, King of Ghazals. After the special series on the stalwarts Anil Biswas, SD Burman, Naushad, C Ramchandra, Shankar-Jaikishan and OP Nayyar, I had planned to write on Roshan-MM in tandem, when DP Rangan wrote to me that he wanted to do a post on Madan Mohan. I passed on my idea of the tandem post with focus on their classical-based songs. That brought in Subodh to a subject that belonged to him in the first place. It is befitting that this post is being written by two guest writers in tandem: One highly motivated to take up any challenge; and the other, learned in classical music with the ability to explain it in a fluent style. Thanks a lot Mr Rangan and Subodh for this excellent post as a joint tribute to the two highly respected music directors. – AK)
While woolgathering I often relapse into old memories reliving the moments when songs used to blare from transistors, a technology gift from Japan, making it possible to carry music with us on the go. I was particularly mesmerized by songs based on classical music, Hindustani and Carnatic. In the initial years after birth of talkies circa 1931, music directors used to rely on classical music for setting tunes in films and branched into other genres as ghazal, light songs, qawwali etc. in subsequent years. Many of Saigal’s film songs were microcosms of classic music, like Baalam aaye (Devdas), Babul mora (Street Singer), Hat gayi lo kaari ghata (Lagan). The contemporary situation in Kollywood was practically the same. Classical music-inspired film music pieces will hold sway over years and grow in value over ages as there will be no dearth of music lovers to lap it up.
