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.
Talat Mahmood
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)
Never 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.
King of Ghazal Talat Mahmood with Ghazal Maestros Madan Mohan and Roshan
DP 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.
Talat Mahmood: A Mesmeriser
Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Talat Mahmood on his 20th death anniversary (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) (We know all the famous songs of Talat Mahmood. Most of them are already covered on SoY. But that is not a deterrent to a real Talat-fan like our indefatigable DP Rangan,READ THE FULL ARTICLE
The Unlucky Genius Ghulam Mohammad’s best songs for Talat Mahmood
Ghulam Mohammad was Naushad’s senior in the music industry by several years. He was an established tabla player, earning Rs 60 per month, with Ustad Jhande Khan, when Naushad joined him, in 1937, as a piano player at Rs. 40 per month. Fate catapulted Naushad to commanding heights, making him the greatest Mughal of Movie Music. And fate destined Ghulam Mohammad to work for several years as his Chief Music Assistant. Concurrently, he also composed music independently in several films, giving outstanding music. When Naushad broke with AR Kardar finally in 1952, Ghulam Mohammad, too, decided to cease being his assistant. Dil-e-Naadan (1953) was launched with great fanfare typical of Kardar and its music was entrusted to Ghulam Mohammad, hoping that he would repeat the magic of Naushad. Its music was absolutely mesmerizing – not a poor copy of Naushad, but very different and very original. But Ghulam Mohammad was not lucky, the film bombed.
Talat Mahmood by Naushad and C Ramchandra
A tribute to Talat Mahmood on his 91st birth anniversary (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998)
There was every reason for Talat Mahmood to have a long innings with Naushad. Both coming from Lucknow, they represented a similar Urdu sensibility and cultural milieu. Talat’s entry into Bombay Hindi film music was spectacular with Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho (Arzoo, 1950), composed by Anil Biswas, picturied on Dilip Kumar. Sure enough, Talat Mahmood became Dilip Kumar’s voice under Naushad’s baton in Baabul (1950) with great success. This was a perfect launch for a long career at the top, because Naushad had emerged as the undisputed No.1 and the preferred composer of Dilip Kumar – Naushad-Dilip Kumar notching at least a dozen films together hence. But in a twist which must be unparalleled in the annals of film history, Baabul became effectively the first and the last film in which Talat Mahmood could sing for Naushad. The reason given in popular writings is that Talat managed to give some offence to Naushad by his behaviour during the recording of a song for this film.
Talat Mahmood’s songs by SD Burman
My last post on Talat Mahmood’s songs by Anil Biswas reminded me that last year when I had ‘closed’ my series on SD Burman, Venkatarmanji and some other readers mentioned some more singers who gave memorable songs with Dada. Talat Mahmood was one of the names mentioned. They fit in very nicely. SD Burman was unarguably the greatest musical talent from Bengal after Anil Biswas to enrich the Hindi film music. Talat Mahmood had a good deal of Bengal in him, having worked under the name of Tapan Kumar in Calcutta for a number of years before he shifted to Bombay and created a sensation with his very first song with Anil Biswas, Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal. It was natural SD Burman would also take him in. However, with Dada’s natural fondness for Kishore Kumar, and the versatile Rafi, Talat Mahmood’s had only about 15 songs with him, a fraction of the other two singers. In any case Talat Mahmood was a niche singer; his total number of songs – about 450 Hindi film songs – would be a fraction of what the other mainstream singers sang. But his impact was way beyond his numbers, and SD Burman created several immortal songs with him, as he did with Mukesh with about the same number of songs.
The Mentor and the Protégé: Talat Mahmood songs by Anil Biswas
A tribute to Talat Mahmood on his 90th birth anniversary
Anil Biswas was not the first composer for whom Talat Mahmood sang in films. He debuted as an actor-singer in Calcutta in Raj Laxmi (1945). While in Calcutta, he also sang (and acted) in Tum Aur Main (1947), Samapti and Swayansiddha (1949). During this period he sang some 40-50 songs (film and non-film) under the name Tapan Kumar. But well before he came to films, he had acquired great fame because of his non-film geets and ghazals. His singing debut was in 1941 with his first non-film geet Sab din ek samaan nahi. A few years later his another non-film song Tasweer teri dil mera bahlaa na sakegi became a national rage.
Best songs of 1953: Wrap Up 1
Songs of Yore award for the Best Male Playback Singer goes to?
In the first Wrap Up I take a look at the best male solos of 1953. I am greatly helped by the readers’ comments on the survey article – Best songs of 1953 – which are not only very exhaustive, but much more involved and analytical compared to the last year when I did a similar string of posts on the songs of 1955. So, here is my attempt to summarise the sense of the House about the best male playback singer of 1953.
A very general observation that comes out from the readers’ comments is that “it was not the year for male solos” (Subodh). Jignesh went further to say that the music of 1953 was the weakest in the entire 50s. However, it is interesting to note that it was the male solos which attracted the most intense and involved discussion, and I can point two reasons for that. One was Lata Mangeshkar – she alone accounted for as much as all the male songs taken together – we are grateful to Mr N Venkataraman for this observation based on a detailed statistical analysis. Such asymmetry always draws attention. The other reason to my mind is Mohammad Rafi – he is conspicuous by the absence of any great song which you would definitely like to include. This sent people on a feverish hunt for Rafi songs which, some felt, I might have missed to include in the shortlist. These explorers included Jignesh, Venkaramanji as well as Mr Ashok Vaishnav, who is a management professional, but who in his previous birth must have been a gold prospector. The result was that a lot many very good songs were added by these dedicated searchers, which were either unknown to me or which I had inadvertently missed. Most others such as Subodh, Anuradha Warrier, Gaddeswarupji, Kuldep Chauhan, Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh, Canasya and Mahesh Mamadapur confined themselves to my shortlist which had about two dozen male solos.
Best duets of Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle
A tribute on Talat Mahmood’s Birth Anniversary, February 24
When I wrote on Talat Mahmood’s peppy duets last year, it left many readers naturally unsatiated. He, of the velvety voice, is known more for his heart-touching, soft and romantic duets. The readers very generously gave a big list of his duets with various female singers, which they said, ought to be covered. I had to clarify that that post was about his atypical duets, which are very special as they reveal a lesser known side of Talat’s singing, and that I was planning to cover his soulful and soft duets later. One should think that this has to start with his duets with Lata Mangeshkar. The interesting point is that his duets with Asha Bhosle happen to be some of the most melodious and charming. I am also helped by the reader Amit Mandape, who provided a list of his duets with her. I pay my tribute to one of my most favourite singers by presenting what I consider his best duets with Asha Bhosle, on his birth anniversary February 24 (he was born on Feb 24, 1924).