Singers

The real mesmeriser Talat Mahmood: His best non-film songs

A tribute to Talat Mahmood on his 95th birth anniversary (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998)

Talat MahmoodNever before could a reader foretell what I would write on nine months in advance. But like anything in old film music, nothing can be said in absolute terms about SoY. In May last year, a new reader Harpreet, commenting on DP Rangan’s guest article, Talat Mahmood: A Mesmeriser, requested to do a post on Talat Mahmood’s non-film songs. I gave a courteous reply that I have noted his request. N Venkataraman, with his sharp analytical mind and observation, read it up as, there will be a post on Talat Mahmood on 24 February 2019, and that it would be on his non-film songs. Thus the date and the theme got written in stone, and it was futile for me to make any efforts to read down the conversation and seek some latitude for myself.

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Rafi’s best duets by Madan Mohan

Madan Mohan-RafiThe best songs of Rafi for any music director would include a number of duets. So it is for Madan Mohan, despite the fact that his solos for Rafi are significantly more than the duets. That is an exception to the general trend of duets being far more in number than male solos. Since we are doing a tandem series on Roshan and Madan Mohan, we have seen in the case of Roshan that his duets for Rafi are far more than his solos. In the case of Madan Mohan-Rafi, out of a total of 168 songs, solos are more than 90, and duets are about 75. But the sheer number of duets makes a post on this necessary to enjoy the full charm of their association.

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In the Musical Memory of Meena Kapoor

Guest article by Shalan Lal as a tribute to Meena Kapoor (c. 1930 – 23 November 2017) on her first death anniversary (Meena Kapoor has not been acknowledged enough on SoY. Mumbaikar8 has drawn pointed attention to this omission, and was sore that I credited the songs of ‘Anokha Pyar’ (1948) like ‘Yaad rakhan chaandREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Roshan’s songs for ‘other’ singers

A tribute to Roshan on his 51st death anniversary (14 July 1917-16 November 1967)

RoshanDP Rangan started a tandem series on Madan Mohan-Roshan on July 14 which, in a unique coincidence, happened to be the birth anniversary of one, and the death anniversary of the other. I have since written a number of posts on their association with their main singers Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and their qawwalis. As the year end approaches, it is time to pay a final tribute to Roshan on his 51st death anniversary with his songs for ‘other’ singers. Later, I plan to end the year with a similar tribute to Madan Mohan with his ‘other singers’.

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Rafi’s duets by Roshan

Rafi with RoshanMy post on Rafi’s solos by Roshan appeared more than six years ago, several years before I started the series on the stalwart music directors. And the reason was simple: Roshan ranked among the top in my reckoning for Rafi songs, along with Naushad, SD Burman and OP Nayyar. Duets have no less importance in creating this imprint on my mind. It just so happened that I am coming back to the duets of this combination after six years when DP Rangan set off a tandem series on Roshan and Madan Mohan.

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Madan Mohan’s tuning with Lata Mangeshkar

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very happy 89th birthday (b. 28 September 1929)

Madan Mohan-Lata MangeshkarAmong all the music director-singer combinations Madan Mohan-Lata Mangeshkar ranks among the very top. This article by Anirudh Bhattacharjee and Srijit Mukherji quotes OP Nayyar as having once said, “It is difficult to figure out whether Madan Mohan was made for Lata Mangeshkar or vice versa.” We have all heard of Naushad’s ultimate tribute to Madan Mohan that he was willing to offer his entire work for two ghazals of Anpadh (Aapki nazron ne samjha; Hai isi mein pyar ki aabroo). Even allowing for Naushad’s Lakhanavi nafasat, and the fact that he said it in his obituary, it is undisputed that he was held in very high esteem for the quality of his music by his peers and music maestros, besides the listeners. It is said that Begum Akhtar was so impressed by the tune of Kadar jaane na (Bhai Bhai) that she called him once, when she was feeling low, and asked him to sing it for fifteen minutes on telephone. We may recall that Madan Mohan was himself a very good singer and he was very close to Begum Akhtar from his AIR days.

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King of Ghazal Talat Mahmood with Ghazal Maestros Madan Mohan and Roshan

Roshan-Madan Mohan-Talat MahmoodDP Rangan set-off a tandem series on Roshan-Madan Mohan with their classical-based songs. I have since written on their songs for Rafi (Madan Mohan’s; Roshan-Rafi covered earlier); Qawwalis; Mukesh; and Asha Bhosle. Several readers requested that I write on their ghazals. Since I am covering them generally by singers, ghazal would have been an overlapping category. Fortunately, Talat Mahmood, widely regarded as a legend in ghazal singing, was an important singer for both Madan Mohan and Roshan, and he is yet to be covered. Therefore, a tandem post also gives us an opportunity to look at their prowess for ghazal composition for this singer gifted with a silky-smooth voice. I would be flexible in the definition of the genre, and would also include songs that may not be strictly ghazal as per the rules of structure and meter.

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Roshan aur Madan Mohan ki Asha

Greeting Asha Bhosle on her 85th birthday (b. 8 September 1933) with her best songs by Roshan and Madan Mohan

Roshan-Madan Mohan-Asha BhosleIn Lata Mangeshkar era, music directors could be divided into two groups: Those who were like their wings chopped-off without her; and those who equally wanted her, but could survive even without her. (OP Nayyar was in a class of his own.) The first group had some of the greatest names, such as Naushad, C Ramchandra and Shankar-Jaikishan. I have earlier said they probably used Asha Bhosle ‘reluctantly’. But another Master, SD Burman, could not only survive a long hiatus with Lata Mangeshkar, but also produce some of the best music with Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt. Roshan and Madan Mohan were among the privileged few who, as per the popular literature, didn’t ever face the ire of the Empress. Though their Lata Mangeshkar songs far outweigh Asha Bhosle’s in quality and stature, and possibly in numbers, they have used Asha Bhosle very prominently to create some of her and their best songs. DP Rangan has set off a series on these two great composers in tandem. We can add another commonality between them: their willing and voluntary use of Asha Bhosle.

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Best of Mukesh by Roshan and Madan Mohan

A tribute to Mukesh on his 42nd death anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976)

RRoshan-Madan Mohan-Mukeshoshan 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.

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The Master of Qawwali Roshan and some hidden qawwalis of Madan Mohan

Roshan & Madan MohanWhile Roshan and Madan Mohan generally proceeded in tandem, one or the other created a special niche for himself in some genre. Roshan became known as the undisputed master of qawwalis, whereas Madan Mohan became a byword for ghazals. The essential difference in the two forms is not one of content, but of singing style. Therefore, it would have been surprising if Madan Mohan had not composed any qawwalis. And a search does lead to some nice qawwalis by him. Of course, Roshan’s several qawwalis have achieved everlasting fame.

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