After I had covered the best songs of Kalyanji-Anandji for Mukesh and Rafi, I once browsed through their songs for ‘other’ male singers for a lark. I was amazed to find an enormous variety of singers they had chosen. Though all the songs were well-known it had not registered in my mind instantly. The result was a post on Kalyanji-Anandji’s best songs for ‘other’ male singers. That was, of course, KA1.0 (up to 1970).READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Mukesh
Usha Khanna’s best songs for Mukesh and other male singers
Continuing the tribute for Usha Khanna, her best songs for Mukesh and other male singers
The last post was on Usha Khanna’s best songs for Rafi on her 83rd birth anniversary (b. 7 October 1941). This was also a tribute to Rafi as a part of his centenary celebrations. How does she do with other playback singers? This is where she presents a big surprise. After her debut with Dil Deke Dekho (1959), her main male playback singer in Hum Hindustani (1960) was Mukesh! She gave many memorable songs for Mukesh subsequently, such as Teri nigahon pe mar mar gaye hum, Gori tere chalne se mera dil kurban, Chaand ko kya maloom chahta hai use koi chakor, Aaj tumse door hokar. Each a quintessential Mukesh-gem. It seems quite a misnomer to include Mukesh among ‘other’ singers. It is as if Usha Khanna was born to compose great songs for Mukesh. Similarly I remember an all-time great song by Manna Dey and one by Mahendra Kapoor composed by Usha Khanna. Her spread of singers for their memorable songs is not very wide, but enough to include her among important music directors of the Golden Era. In this post I present a sample of her versatile talent; I would also include duets of these male singers.READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Duets (+) of Mukesh: With Male Singers
Guest article by Ahok M Vaishnav as a tribute to Mukesh on his 99th Birth Anniversary (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976)
(Once SOY-veteran N Venkataraman remarked that there has been a post on Mukesh every year. If it was there, I or a guest author must have had something new to write on. It was not mechanical. The enthusiastic reader-cum-guest author Ashok M Vaishnav has noticed that a post on Mukesh’s duets with male singers is missing.
One reason for this omission is that MM duets are very few in number compared to the conventional MF duets, and these do not cause same waves as MF duets. But for a gold prospector like Ashokji, this is no deterrent. The result is a very thorough article on Mukesh’s duets with some male singers.
As the SOY regulars are aware, Ashokji is a retired engineer and now a freelance management training professional. He has been a prolific writer on this blog. Thank you Ashokji for yet another superb article on Mukesh as a tribute to him on his 99th Birth Anniversary. – AK)
Films in India, by and large, revolve around different themes of love between a boy and a girl. As such, songs come in very handy as a very strong and direct, easy-to-comprehend, medium to express the different shades of feelings of love. Traditionally, the solo songs occupied the space of prime importance. During vintage era this was more a necessity because the singers were generally actors themselves. Moreover, the recording technology also was in the development stage, which made recording a duet song with two vastly different musical qualities of pitch and timbre of a male and female voice was quite difficult in comparison to the recording of a solo song.
Mukesh’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals
A tribute to Mukesh on his 45th Remembrance Day (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav
(Mukesh is among the mainstream playback singers who sang some truly outstanding non-film songs (NFS). Therefore, for any lover of Mukesh, a post on his famous geets and gazals would be most welcome.
Ashok M Vaishnav is a well-known name for SOY regulars. He has written over 20 guest articles for SOY. We know him as a thorough researcher which comes from his engineering and management background. He has written a comprehensive article on Mukesh’s non-film songs as a tribute on his 45th Remembrance Day. We lost him this day in 1976 of heart attack in Detroit, USA where he had gone for a public performance. Thank you Ashokji for this timely article. – AK)
The saga of performed songs in India is an age-old tradition. The knowledge transfer in the ancient times used to happen by word of mouth. Many lessons were encapsulated into the form of songs, which were rendered in the singing form to make them more interesting and easier to remember.
Ancient saint poets created devotional songs that were easily moulded into singing pattern. On the other hand, social events like festivals or births, deaths, marriages also provided ideal platforms for songs as means to share joy or sorrow. The advent of theatre created another genre of songs – songs that were essential part of the story of the play. These used to be romantic songs or dance songs or songs of national spirit and such varieties. It was not uncommon for a song to be played for the whole night as it would keep getting incessant ‘once more’s.
Dattaram Part 1: Under the shadow of big banyan tree with songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey
A big banyan tree gives shelter and protects you from elements. But this may become a trap because one may be deterred from venturing out on one’s own for the risks involved. But a human being also has an urge to venture out and stand on his own. That involves a vertical progression from earning from one’s skill to being an entrepreneur: Mason to a contractor; dancer to a choreographer; instrumentalist/ arranger/ assistant to becoming an independent music director; paid employee to a free-lancer.
Ravi’s many-splendoured genius with the ‘other’ singers
We now come to the end of the series on Ravi. In my opening post in the series we saw him as a many-splendoured genius with a large number of songs for themes and occasions, which have acquired an iconic status, many of which made the readers exclaim, Oh, this is also composed by him! Yet when some of us hesitated in bracketing him among the ‘greats’, Hans Jakhar was not pleased and challenged that at the end of the series we would concede that Ravi deserves to be called a ‘great’ music director. Without getting stuck on the semantics, please recall subsequent posts in the series: Rafi’s solos, Rafi’s duets, Asha Bhosle’s songs by him, Ravi’s special partnership with Shakeel Badayuni, Ravi’s songs for Lata Mangeshkar, and Mahendra Kapoor. That is a massive list of superhit songs with most of the major playback singers. But that is not the end of his work. He composed great songs for other playback singers too, and in this respect he ranks with those music directors whose special strength was their diversity in working with different playback singers, unlike some who were fixated on a couple of their favourites.
Best of Mukesh by Roshan and Madan Mohan
A tribute to Mukesh on his 42nd death anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976)
R
oshan and Madan Mohan were in tandem in relation to Mukesh at least in one respect: Both used him very prominently in 1950 – Roshan in Bawre Nain, which was his second movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahi, and two duets, Mujhe sach sach bata (Rajkumari) and Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aya nahi karte (with Geeta Roy/Dutt); Madan Mohan in Aankhen, which was his debut movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, Preet laga ke maine ye phal paya and a duet, Humse nain milana B.A. pass kar ke (with Shamshad Begum). The songs of Bawre Nain went on to become all-time great classics; those of Aankhen, too, are quite popular till this day. With such beginning, one would have expected them to use Mukesh consistently. But for inexplicable reasons, their trajectory diverged completely – while Roshan remained steady with Mukesh, giving him a large number of everlasting songs, Madan Mohan almost blocked him out of his radar screen, bringing him back in fits and starts after a gap of several years.
Mukesh’s vintage duets
A tribute to Mukesh on his 40th death anniversary (22 July 1923 to 27 August 1976)
Mukesh debuted well into the vintage era with Dil hi bujha hua hai to in Nirdosh (1941). His first few years as actor-singer did not do him much good. He discovered his calling as a playback singer when his relation Motilal, then a leading actor in the industry, introduced him to Anil Biswas for singing in Pahli Nazar (1945). Dil jalta hai to jalne de created a sensation and made Mukesh, Mukesh. Thereafter, he was a very visible singer until another boost came when he became part of the legendary team of Raj Kapoor with Shankar-Jaikishan, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra with Barsaat (1949). Thus, a long stint pre-1949 gave him an opportunity to sing with most of the famous vintage era female playback singers.
Shankar-Jaikishan’s songs for Mukesh
A tribute on Mukesh’s 93rd birth anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976)
Mukesh debuted as (actor-)singer in 1941 with Nirdosh, i.e. 8 years before Shankar-Jaikishan’s debut in 1949 with RK Films’ Barsaat. After some initial struggle, Mukesh got a chance to work with the music titan of the era, Anil Biswas, courtesy his relation Motilal’s recommendation. Dil jalta hai to jalne de from Pehli Nazar (1945) created a sensation making Mukesh one of the leading singers of the time. Three big films with the successor stalwart, Naushad, in 1948-49 – Mela, Anokhi Ada and Andaaz – further boosted the popularity of Mukesh. Thus, when he first sang for SJ in their debut film, he had already achieved fame for his sweet, mellifluous voice. But this association proved to be the most important factor in the later career of Mukesh.
Naushad’s exceptional Mukesh
A tribute on Mukesh’s 92nd birth anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976)
If someone had asked me a few years ago who the second most prolific male singer of Naushad was, I would have never guessed Mukesh. His songs number only 26 compared to 149 of Rafi. If you compare Mukesh songs by different composers, Shankar-Jaikishan and Kalyanji Anandji did about four times more. Naushad-Mukesh association is essentially limited to three films in 1948-49: Mela, Anokhi Ada and Andaaz. Thereafter, he seems to have forgotten Mukesh for about two decades, until he reappears with some songs in Saathi (1968). By that time, it was clear, Naushad was not too enamoured of him. In Jo chala gaya use bhool ja, a song which is right up Mukesh’s alley, the prelude at high notes has been sung by Mahendra Kapoor, because it was felt that he could not handle it. Not a very flattering revival of their association.