‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia’ by KL Pandey: Book Review

16 June 2021

Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia
(Reference Edition: Vol. I and Vol. II)
Author: KL Pandey
Sangeet Shilp Prakashan, Lucknow
Second edition (Revised and Enlarged): December 2020
Hardcover ₹3200 on Amazon

(Note: ‘Sur Samvadini’, a glossary of Hindustani Classical Music and a list of 174 raags appearing in Hindi film songs with their basic grammar, available complimentary if ordered directly from the publisher.)

The vast ocean of Hindi film music has attracted several explorers to undertake Samudra-Manthan on different parameters and organise its wealth in convenient compilations, kosh, concordance and encyclopaedias. Considering that songs have been an integral part of our films from the very first talkie Alam Ara (1931) and the data about early decades was scarce or non-existent, the work of pioneers like Harmandir Singh ‘Hamraz’, the compiler of Hindi Film Geet Kosh (in six volumes up to 1985), is truly monumental. KL Pandey’s ‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia’, the raag analysis of about 20,000 Hindi film songs from 1931 to September 2020, is another monumental work of enormous significance for music lovers, academics and researchers.

To give you some idea about the scale of the work, over 13000 films were made in the above period having over 80000 songs. Out of this only 65000 songs are available. I have often mentioned that memorable songs over long periods are not more than 15-20% of the total songs. Mr Pandey has covered over 30% of the total available songs, which means any worthwhile song you can think of is covered in the book.

How does one identify the raag of a film song? A lay listener’s method is, if the song sounds like Bhimpalasi, it is Bhimpalasi. This is not the way a knowledgeable person identifies the raag(s) of a song. Except for a few, most music directors were not purists; their main purpose was to  compose a melodious song which fitted into the narrative. If it had classical flavour it was incidental, most songs had a mix of raags.  Mr Pandey has done the complete DNA sequencing of each song by first identifying its Root Note, or its scale, playing its record on a device or online, and in parallel a couple of musicians playing it on the harmonium, or guitar or the keyboard, and some singing it. Then they would meticulously record the sequence of notes appearing in the song. Any difference of opinion was settled by discussing it further with some experts. On this basis the raags in a song and the sequence in which the raags appeared were identified.

Each song would easily take a couple of hours for this analysis. It is no wonder it has taken 14 years for Mr. Pandey and his team to complete this work. He did all this work while he was holding very busy assignments in the Indian Railways, such as DRM Vadodara, Chief Commercial Manager, Kolkata, Chief Operations Manager, Jabalpur and Additional Member, Railway Board until 2014 when he retired from the Railways, and thereafter, Member, Railway Claims Tribunal, Gorakhpur for two years. One can only marvel at his discipline, dedication and time management for carrying on this work during his active service.

Mr Pandey had compiled and analysed so much data that he had originally planned to bring out ‘Hindi Cine Sangeet Raagopaedia’ in 7 volumes. That would have given complete notation of each song. Realising that that was too mammoth and expensive, he published a bilingual Reference Edition in 2017 in 3 volumes running into 2000 pages, covering about 17000 songs. That had become too bulky, therefore, he has brought out this revised and enlarged single-language (English) edition in hardcover in which 3000 more songs have been added.

The scheme of presentation would be clear from a page from the book:

The nine columns contain: Serial Number, Song opening line, Film (Year), Singer(s), Lyricist, Music Director, Taal, Scale, Raags (in the order in which they appear in the song, and not in the order of their prominence in the song).  He has considered only the vocal part in the song for his raag analysis. Since he has all the data available, he plans to bring out 3 companion volumes of raag-wise analysis: Vol. III: Abhogi to Kalingada (82 raags); Vol. IV: Kamod to Neelambari (41 raags) and Vol. V: Pahadi to Zila: (51 raags), i.e. a total of 174 raags appearing in film songs.

Mr Pandey’s preface and articles in the two volumes give a perspective how different raags occupied pre-eminence in different periods.  Kafi and Khamaj dominated in the 30s and well into 40s, when towards the end Bhairavi stole the limelight and became the most popular raag in the succeeding decades. Pahadi, which is the most common raag in film songs, surprisingly, is a late entrant towards the end of the 1940s. Another interesting observation Mr Pandey makes is that Carnatic raags, such as Kirwani, Kalawatti, Charukeshi, Hansdhwani, which are quite popular now, are hardly seen in the 30s and 40s.

Expectedly, Mr Pandey mentions different music directors’ preference for particular raags, such as Roshan’s for Yaman, Khayyam’s for Pahadi etc. (Remember what Subodh Agrawal said: Lagta hai Khayam Saheb pahad se kabhi utare hi nahin.)

What is raag? The literature defines raag as ‘Ranjayati iti raagah’  (रंजयति इति रागः) – a combination of notes which delights the heart of listeners is raag. We generally associate raag with classical music which has a grammar and, thus, accessible only to the initiated. But if any form of music is melodious and it pleases your heart, it has some underlying raag(s) which adds myriad colours to a blank canvas. This is equally true of film music.

A common question may arise in the minds of millions of lovers of film songs: I love, I enjoy film songs. I do not know classical music or any raag, nor do I care about it. What is the use of this Encyclopaedia? We can paraphrase the same question to Mr Pandey, “Why did you do this backbreaking work? What is the purpose of all this?” Let us hear the answer in his own words, “To make our grand cultural heritage of Hindustani classical music reach the masses through a very easy and powerful medium which is Hindi film music.” Many lovers of film music are passionate listeners and collectors of classical music,  without knowing anything about raags or their grammar.  This two-volume set is an important contribution in the study of raags in Hindi film songs.

Are there any flaws in the book? In such a massive work, I don’t want to quibble over minor aberrations in proof reading and printing in the preface and articles preceding the main book. I have drawn Mr Pandey’s attention to what appeared awkward to me. As for the raag analysis, Mr Pandey acknowledges that there may be difference of views among experts about the raags in some songs, and he welcomes any comments, suggestions or corrections.

Acknowledgement: The book parcel came to me when I was yet to order it. I was trying to find out how to pay for it when I realised that it was a gift from our regular DP Rangan. Thanks a lot Mr Rangan for your wonderful surprise.

{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }

1 N Venkataraman June 16, 2021 at 5:22 pm

AKji,
A nice review in a short time, since you must have received the books recently.
You have covered all the salient features of this monumental work in detail with adeptness and mastery.

We are having a book review in SoY, four years in a row, one review per year since 2018. Besides, in 2015 you did review of the book “Naushadnama” by Raju Bharatan. That makes it five. Though not exactly a review, your article on 100 years of ‘Devdas’ in 2017 had a detail discussion on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and the novel. Now your review of the two volumes of K L Pandey’s book ‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopedia’ adds variety to your repertoire.

Thanks to D P Rangan for bringing the two volumes and the reference book to our table.
And all credits to Mr. Pandey and his team for the enormous and awe-inspiring work. I would call 14 years a short time to bring a voluminous work to a fruitful conclusion.

My point of reference were Subodhji and Aswinji and I have bothered them many a times with my query on Raag reference and sat with an Harmonium to get a better understanding. No, I am not saying that I will be bothering them less in future. I have one more reference point in K L Pandey and I had a talk with him after coming to know about his work. Hats off to Mr.Pandey . The mention of the root scale would be an important feature for listeners like me. I can straight away jump on to root scale and try to figure out the progression of notes. And the trinity of experts are there at hand to aid me further.

I am sure this book will be of in valuable help to all music lovers and also to SoY readers as a ready reference in identifying the Raags of the Hindi film songs. The future three volumes on anvil with ready reference to different genres would also be of immense value to all.

Thanks once again Akji for the review.
Thanks to Ranganji and to the author Mr. K L Pandey.

Did we (You, me, Ashwinji and Subodhji) have discussion on this subject/ book sometime back? I can’t exactly recollect.

I am sure Ashwinji and Subodhji would be joining us soon.
I would like to them offer their opinion in educating me, whether the following song is based on Vachaspati or not.
“Ni Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa Ri Ga, by Yesudas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjziC6b_zJc

2 AK June 16, 2021 at 6:51 pm

Venkataramanji,
That is quite a substantial comment on a book review. You can guess I got the book only a few days back, we have the same connection 🙂 . Postponing it might have put it on back-burner.

Book Reviews have not been a regular feature on SOY, I have done some when there was some special reason for it.

I have mentioned Mr KL Pandey sometimes on SOY, and I think I had detailed discussion about his work with you, Subodh and Ashwin. Mr Pandey would be happy to interact with experts here. Subodh and Ashwin should be here. You three are the stalwarts on SOY.

3 D P Rangan June 16, 2021 at 8:11 pm

A wonderful writeup by blogmaster on this super book, a labour of love from Dr. Pandey with a gestation period of 14 years. I am awe struck at the sheer scale of the work and how this will help all lovers of hindustani classic music and the resultant songs. Such is the versatility of the book, even a few of the followers who expressed their helplessness in understanding ragas, could now follow it and eventually be very comfortable.
Ashok Vaishnavji introduced me to the site sometime back. I explored it and eventually reached Dr. Pandey. I thank Ashokji for this gift.
Whoever wants the book can contact Dr. Pandey at his email address kanhayaabha@gmail.com or cell No. 9129506111.
I thought blogmaster will not let the cat out of the bag. He has identified me as the source of his getting the book. It is a humble offering to AKji who is my fidus achate .

4 S Joseph June 16, 2021 at 8:46 pm

AK ji,

I am thankful to you for bringing out this wonderful review mainly because I had not known that such a mammoth task had been accomplished by someone for the benefit of the common man . Anyone who does such selfless work is to be worshipped. I would even say that he deserves the Dada Saheb Phalke award if that is the highest award for someone making great contribution to the film world .

To hear that the author has worked with a team and interacted with other experts and scholars speaks a lot for the sincere efforts put in to make this a respectable and valuable contribution. 14 years of work !

I shall be looking for the kindle version of this work. Digitisation of this work would help a lot . With the progress in Artificial Intelligence I am sure this book would reveal much more and help the public .

Whenever I hear about some interesting book I search the net for reviews. I give below the link to one such write up on this book that I found on the net .

https://amvaishnav.wordpress.com/tag/hindi-cine-raag-encyclopaedia/

5 AK June 16, 2021 at 9:31 pm

Mr Rangan,
Thank you for your appreciation of my review, and, of course, Mr Pandey deserves all the accolades. It would have been impolite for me not to acknowledge you for this wonderful gift. Let us hope Mr Pandey appears here to acknowledge all his fans.

6 AK June 16, 2021 at 9:36 pm

Mr Joseph,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. This is indeed a landmark work. I don’t know if Mr Pandey has any plans of bringing out a digital edition, though I don’t see any difficulty in this. I have seen Rajkumar Pandya’s review of the book on our Ashok M Vaishnav’s blog.

7 K.L. Pandey June 16, 2021 at 11:32 pm

I am overwhelmed to see the review of my work by AKji. I am so thankful to Mr. Rangan, Mr. Venkatraman and Mr. Joseph for all the appreciation about my work.
I feel so fortunate that God blessed me with the passion for doing this kind of work. With this huge data base now created, I am bringing out Vol3,4&5 in 174 Raagwise tables along with other tables of Raagmaalikas, Aalaps, Taraanas, Dhrupads, Ghazals, Qawwalis, Devotional songs, Naghmas, Nazms, Patriotic songs, Haunting songs, Lullabies, Children’s songs and Classical danse based songs also. These 3 volumes will also get ready for printing by the end of next month. Simultaneously I am doing the analysis of Nonfilm songs also with 5200 compositions of Bhajans, Ghazals and Thumris already completed and around 1500 remaining.
I shall surely bring out the digital and Kindle format after publication of these volumes.
I am so happy of being associated with SoY and shall feel privileged in having fruitful interactions in future.
Once again I am thankful to AKji for the wonderful review.
Best wishes
K.L. Pandey

8 AK June 17, 2021 at 6:49 am

Mr Pandey,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore. We are delighted to have you here. Your life-time dedication for music is laudable. I understand your NFS compilation would also include Geets of Jagmohan, Hemant Kumar etc. That would be another enormous work. Best wishes for your efforts.

9 R Vasudevan June 17, 2021 at 9:20 am

The book on Raagas – would be a great collection and would go for it
if available in the market.

On book review in-fact on one or two books I posted my reviews but it received luke worm response and I gave up after all I am not the front line members of the group.

10 K.L. Pandey June 17, 2021 at 10:14 am

AKJi,
Surely Jagmohan and Hemant Kumar are there . In fact I have already completed the Nonfilm Ghazals, Geets & Bhajans of K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, K.C. Dey, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talt Mahmood, Hemant Kumar, Dilip Kumar Roy, Vidya Nath Seth, N.L. Puri, Hemant Kumar, C.H. Atma, Jagmohan, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt etc. I have also seen all the available Bhajans, Ghazals and Thumris of classical singers. Total 5300 compositions of 75 singers have already been covered right from 1902 (Gauhar Jan) onwards. Balance around 1800 shall get completed in next 3 months. I shall be happy to reply to any query about Raagas in them. (I have completed all the Bhajans and Thumris which I had selected plus some of the Ghazals. The Ghazals of Jagjit Singh, Chitra Singh, Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan, Pankaj Udhas an others are remaining). Any suggestions regarding my forthcoming 3 Raagwise volumes of Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia and the separate book on Nonfilm songs shall be most welcome. Thanks.

11 K.L. Pandey June 17, 2021 at 10:17 am

Please read 5300 compositions of 175 singers. Thanks.

12 AK June 17, 2021 at 10:51 am

Mr Vasudevan,
You are as much a frontline member as anyone else. As Mr Pandey says the three volumes on raags shound come out very soon.

13 AK June 17, 2021 at 11:02 am

Mr Pandey,
I am sure Firoza Begum, Farida Khanum, Malika Pukhraj, Kamala Jharia, Indubala, Angurbala, Jaddanbai, Badi Moti Bai etc. must be there. Our suggestion would be mainly about singers covered.

Your scheme of Raag Index seems perfect. While the present book helps us identifying the raags of a song, the new one would help the search of songs in a particular raag. That would answer interesting queries like when a raag was first used in a film. Looking forward to it. Best wishes.

14 Canasya June 17, 2021 at 3:35 pm

AKji:

Thanks for introducing us to this labour of love. Thanks are also due to Rangan ji. Here is a Doordarshan interview of Shri Pandey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtZu9nx53LI&t=958s

The effort required in expanding the list of ragas used in songs that had earlier been classified in the mixed raga category must have been monumental. A modern Bhagirath!

15 Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty June 17, 2021 at 5:07 pm

Pande ji,

Pranaam.

Monumental, hard to believe, astonishing !
The passion, the efforts, the perseverance, the staying power…Kudos!

While a lesser mortal would say, it is time to rest, you have nearly completed several other equally praiseworthy projects, and are ready for more! !About them, you speak so non chalantly as if they are your everyday homework!

Though completely Raga illiterate, I would not hesitate to offer you Sashtang Dandavath Pranaam! It’s for the power inside you.

AK ji,

As always, a nice review. You have been a good Boy Scout and this is one of your best One Good Deed.

16 AK June 17, 2021 at 5:13 pm

Canasya,
You are welcome. Mr Pandey has been quite visible for the last four years on different platforms talking about his work. So I was familiar with his work even before its publication. His work is truly enormous. His labour in identification of raag would be a delight for connoisseurs, for example Ek chatur naar kar ke singaar (Padosan) has eight raags (Bhopali, Bilawal, Jhinjhoti,Miyan Ki Sarang, Nat Bihag, Chhayanat, Tilang and Khamaj) set to Teen taal+Kaharwa taal, in D scale.

For lay persons, you can quiz your friend, ‘What is Choli ke peechhe kya hai‘ and before his mind goes astray, you can impress him, it is Raag Basant Mukhari in G scale set to Kaharwa taal.

17 K.L. Pandey June 17, 2021 at 5:45 pm

AKJi,
Farida Khanum, Malika Pukhraj and others you mentioned, I am including. In fact, I am trying that no one in these categories should get left out. Lyricists/ Poets and music directors are however difficult to find in many cases, but I shall keep trying all the available sources. Thanks

18 K.L. Pandey June 17, 2021 at 7:47 pm

Canasya
Passion sometimes drives you on the goals which initially seem unachievable. I was posted at Jabalpur as Chief Operations Manager of West Central Railway, from 2009 till 2013. A very busy post for me, being a 24 hours job. When the job of analysis of film songs was to be continued from the point I left during my Kolkata posting, I challenged myself to do it with proper time management and I easily got a slot from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm for sitting with the team at my residence. This continued for good 4-1/2 yrs. One of the members suggested to analyse only 500 or at the most 1000 songs and get a book published but my dream was much beyond that, therefore I suggested them to continue. He said, “It will be just like moving a mountain”. I said, “Continue with full commitment and you will achieve the goal”.
I have full belief in the supreme entity in whichever form it is. I had requested for a posting in south as I had not seen it. Board considered it and I was posted as Addl. General Manager of South Central Railway, Secunderabad. I had completed an analysis of 12000 songs and 2000 songs out of my target were still remaining. I wished if I could get some more time so that I could complete it with my team. Although I never requested my higher ups for this, but my reliever did not come for another 6 months due to his personal issues. The work got completed, I told my team members, “Look we have moved the mountain”. The entire team was very happy. My reliever arrived and I left for Secunderabad . The remaining 3000 songs were done through conferencing with team, the song being played by me and the team members playing the same song on their harmoniums followed by discussions with me like it was happening at my residence at Jabalpur. This took another 4 years to bring out the first edition of Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia in 2017 with an analysis of 17000 songs. For second edition, another 3000 songs were added in 3 years. I continued my analysis even while sitting in USA at my daughter’s place and matching the time with team members sitting in India at now various places.
I fully believe in, if you start doing something with full commitment, the entire nature and the supreme power starts helping you.

19 K.L. Pandey June 17, 2021 at 7:59 pm

Dr. Shetty,
You are absolutely correct. Passion, efforts, perseverance and staying power makes it all. I have written to Casaya above about how it has happened?
Passion gives you unbelievable energy. I felt always very fresh after my office hours, when the exercise for the evening was over. In fact I always waited for the evening.
My Pranam to you for appreciating my efforts.
Thanks

20 AK June 17, 2021 at 10:32 pm

Dr Shetty @14,
Thanks a lot for the nice words about my review. Now I will be more open to writing reviews if I find an interesting book fitting this blog.

21 Rakesh Kumar Tandon June 17, 2021 at 10:36 pm

I have known MR Pandey for quite a few years, almost 43 years. He has been my batchmate, a little shy, not very visible, not very impressive , yet happy in his own world. A family man. In all the years that we have been in service, we encountered together a number of times. I knew about his interest in music and his huge collection of songs. As I recall spending a morning in Kolkata (the then Calcutta ) , we had breakfast together and then heard some songs from his collection. Never realised , what a monumental work was in progress. Hats off. Great KL. … on some more thoughts , a Padma award would be in order. God bless

22 Salim Raza June 18, 2021 at 5:54 am

Mr k l pandey sir set a singular example for writing this wonderful books, clubbing many thousand songs with their analyses, this book is vry useful for students,we love songs but never know about its back ground and decriptions Mr pandey described beautifully, My best wishes to mr Pandey for creating intrest towards cine ragopeadia with full zeal and enthusiasm,

With High Regards

23 Ravi Chaudhary June 18, 2021 at 8:25 am

This is do wonderful!!
Regards,

24 AK June 18, 2021 at 10:01 am

Mr Tandon,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore. Happy to meet an old friend of Mr Pandey. I am sure you know more about the process of his work than any one of us. At young age we don’t realise which friend would become a big achiever later.

25 AK June 18, 2021 at 10:04 am

Salim Raza,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore. We share your admiration for Mr Pandey.

26 AK June 18, 2021 at 10:05 am

Ravi Chaudhary,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore and thanks a lot for your appreciation.

27 SANDEEP kumar June 18, 2021 at 10:55 am

सर जो आपने इतनी मेहनत और लगन के साथ चित्रपट संगीत को समेटा और सबके सामने रखा यह एक संगीत की सच्ची सेवा है जो पीढ़ी दर पीढ़ी लोगों को मिलती रहेगी आपके द्वारा सच कहूं तो आपने एक ऐसे युग का संगीत इकट्ठा किया और इस संगीत को आपने बचाने का भी प्रयास किया बचाने का प्रयास इसलिए बोल रहा हूं मैं कि यह आने वाली वीडियो को इस संगीत की जानकारी मिलेगी उनको पता लगेगा उस्ताद आमिर खान साहब फिल्मों में कैसे गाते थे उस्ताद बड़े गुलाम अली खान साहब कैसे गया और ऐसे कई शास्त्रीय संगीत के और उप शास्त्रीय संगीत के सुगम संगीत के कलाकारों ने चित्रपट संगीत में अपना योगदान दिया इन सब की जानकारी सभी को होगी

28 Rajiv Vishnoi June 18, 2021 at 10:55 am

Great and thorough work. Hats off Pandey ji.

29 AK June 18, 2021 at 10:59 am

Sandeep Kumar,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore and thanks a lot for your appreciation.

30 AK June 18, 2021 at 11:01 am

Rajiv Vishnoi,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore.

31 Raghavendra Nath Misra June 18, 2021 at 11:55 am

आदरणीय पांडेय जी,
आपका संगीत के छेत्र में अद्वितीय योगदान व आप द्वारा रचित ज्ञान की पुस्तकें,मेरे जैसे संगीत के ज्ञान से अपरचित लोगों को ज्ञान से परचित कराने के लिए सफल एवं सार्थक प्रयास है।मैं तो अभी तक यही मानता था कि फिल्मी संगीत संगीतकार कर्णप्रिय धुन के आधार पर निर्मित करता है।आपकी पुस्तको द्वारा ज्ञात हुआ कि प्रत्येक गाना व संगीतकार किसी राग से प्रेरित है।
आप बधाई के पात्र हैं हम जैसों को ज्ञान प्राप्त कराने के लिए।
धन्यवाद सहित।
राघवेंद्र नाथ मिश्र

32 Alaukik sharma June 18, 2021 at 12:01 pm

Ultimate experience

33 Alaukik sharma June 18, 2021 at 12:03 pm

This is the endless efferts for all music lovers…
“Soul of hindi music”

34 AK June 18, 2021 at 12:28 pm

Mr Mishra,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore.

35 AK June 18, 2021 at 12:32 pm

Alaukik Sharma,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore.

36 Siddhi Bhatnagar June 18, 2021 at 1:25 pm

Work span of KL Pandey sir in these books is surprisingly wide. These books are a valuable asset to any music lover and student timelessly. I wish Pandey sir very best in his future quests and ventures in this field.

37 AK June 18, 2021 at 2:13 pm

Siddhi Bhatnagar,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore.

38 Ashwin Bhandarkar June 19, 2021 at 12:07 am

Pandeyji,

Multiple saashTaang namaskaars! It boggles the mind to think of the painstaking effort that has gone into the encyclopaedia, and the passion, perseverance and staying power that sustained the project, to borrow Dr.Shetty’s words. The intent behind the work – not personal glory but the desire to create a bridge between the 2 worlds of Hindustani Classical Music and Hindi Film Music – makes your work even greater! Reading your comments above and watching the video, the link to which Canasyaji shared, were also very inspiring! My obeisance to you once again!

39 K.L. Pandey June 19, 2021 at 9:14 am

Ashwin Bhandarkar Ji,
Pranam.
I am so thankful for all the appreciation about my work.
Honestly, when I look back, I also get surprised. Now I strongly believe that some entity wanted me to do this kind of work, I was just a medium. May be I got chosen because of my optimism, love for labour, my perseverance and time management that everything fell in line. I never wasted even a single moment and even after retirement from service, I am
do not feel retired. Because of time management only, I could complete 2 of my books in Hindi literature (Manke – 108 short stories and Dhara Rangon Se Bhari – 68 poems on nature) mostly during train journeys. Lot of writing of ‘Sur Samvaadini’ I did during long waiting hours at the airports during international flights, with many co passengers wondering as to what this man is doing on the laptop , with papers spread here and there.
It is God’s grace that this work got done by me and my team.
I am a learner and always try to learn some new thing every day and when I think of music, I feel that could have learnt just a fraction of it.
I owe a lot to many people for this work. Firstly my friend Mr. S.K. Jha of ONGC, who asked me to start this work while I was posted in Vadodara as DRM from 2005 to 2007. Secondly, during my Kolkata posting from 2007 to 2009, when I met the great vocalist Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty and expressed my desire to continue with my previous interests in Vocal music, while showing some initial work of Raag analysis of Hindi Film songs. He advised me “Aap yeh kaam keejiye, yeh kisi ne nahin kiya hai, gaana to aap kabhi bhi seekh lenge”. He has been so kind and a very good friend of mine since then and has always given me right guidance whenever needed.
I feel so happy to be associated with any project associated with music, that’s why I am presenting Vol.3,4&5 of Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia in Raagwise format along with separate tables of Raagmaalikas, Taraanas, Aalaps, Dhrupads etc. and also of Ghazals, Bhajans, Qawwalis etc. which will come by the end of next month. The work of the Raag analysis of Nonfilm songs is also on.
I am sure, these projects shall get completed with the good wishes of music lovers and the inputs of knowledgeable persons like you.
Regards,
K.L. Pandey

40 Ashwin Bhandarkar June 19, 2021 at 3:42 pm

Venkataramanji @ 1,

Vachaspati is not the raga on which the Salilda/Yesudas song from ‘Anand Mahal’ is based on, for the following reasons:

1 Vachaspati has only the komal nishaad whereas the song makes use of both nishaads. In fact, the shuddha ni makes its appearance in the first line itself – the 2nd ‘Ni’ in ‘Ni Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni’ is shuddha nishaad.

2. Vachaspati has teevra madhyam, not shuddha madhyam, whereas I was not able to detect a single instance of teevra ma in the song.

The tune of the song seems to have been inspired by Khamaj and its janyas such as Tilang, Kalavati (which is explicity present in the 2nd half), Janasammohini and Jhinjhoti.

Request Pandeyji to share his analysis

41 K.L. Pandey June 19, 2021 at 5:31 pm

Tilang + Jhinjhoti + Khamaj with Root note C.
It is not Vachaspati as you have rightly pointed out.

42 N Venkataraman June 19, 2021 at 7:03 pm

Thank you Ashwinji for the detailed analysis
and Pandeyji for your confirmation.

43 Ashwin Bhandarkar June 19, 2021 at 8:36 pm

Pandeyji,

Kalavati is present as well – the sargam from 4:01 till 4:13 ie till the point at which the madhayam is brought in, is pure Kalavati. The segment ‘barason ki jalte man ki bujh jaaye agan’ is also in Kalavati.

44 K.L. Pandey June 19, 2021 at 9:56 pm

I agree. Kalawati and Jansammohini are also likely to be there in such combination of Raagas.
Thanks

45 Ashok Kumar Tyagi June 20, 2021 at 12:34 pm

AK ji
Thanks for a very nice review of Shri KL Pandey’s book.

Compliments to Pandey ji and his group of friends for accomplishing such an enormous task. This encyclopaedia and the books which are to come up shortly will be extremely useful to music lovers .
Regards

46 AK June 20, 2021 at 6:16 pm

Tyagiji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. You have been looking for Book Reviews on this forum. ‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia’ is a worthy book for review.

47 ANITA June 20, 2021 at 7:46 pm

AKji, thanks for letting us know about the mind boggling effort of Shri Pandey. Publishing a book of this kind really needs a lot of effort, discipline and in depth knowledge of the subject. People like me who are neither literate nor illiterate in classical music would surely benefit from this kind of work. Does Shri Pandey also mention the Carnatic music counterparts of the different raagas?

48 AK June 20, 2021 at 11:02 pm

Anita,
You are welcome. Pandeyji does not specifically mention Carnatic music counterparts of different raags. Most raags carry the same name across the two systems. But it is a good suggestion. It does not require much effort. I am sure Pandeyji would be listening.

49 K.L. Pandey June 21, 2021 at 8:24 am

AK Ji,
You are right. Many Raagas have the same name but others have strikingly different names. Whereas Aabhogi, Baageshri, Bihag, Deepak, Hemant, Patdeep, Peelu, Shahana, Shankara and Tilang etc. have the same names, Bhairavi is Todi or Hanumat Todi there. Kaafi is Kaapi, Bhoopali and Deshkar are Mohana, Maalkauns is Hindolam, Bhairav is Maya Malav Gaula, Bilawal is Shankarabharanam, Todi is Shubhpantu Varali, Yaman Kalyan is Kalyani and so forth. The names of Raagas which have come from Carnatic to Hindustani have been retained like Basant Mukhari, Kirwani, Chaarukeshi, Jhinjhoti (Jinjuti), Kalawati, Hansadhwani, Shivranjani etc. I have given the Carnatic counterparts of Hindustani Raagas in ‘Sur Samvaadini’ which is a Key to the Encyclopaedia . I feel that giving the Carnatic counterparts of all the Raagas would have consumed lot of space and would have meant unnecessary duplication .

50 Siddharth June 21, 2021 at 10:13 am

Pandeyji,
Thanks for accomplishing this monumental task of creating an encyclopedia of songs. As a music lover who have no understanding of the technical aspect of the song but there is always a curiosity to know about them but don’t know how and where to find them, this book will certainly break that barrier.
Congratulations and thanks a lot.

AKji,
Thanks to you as well for introducing this book to us and for your wonderful review.

I believe every song is based on some raga, but what makes one song more attractive than the other even if both follow the same raga?

As a side note as Subodh ji said: Lagta hai Khayam Saheb pahad se kabhi utare hi nahin. I completely agree that he always remained at peak as far as his music is concerned, So it is surprising that his work has not found its due on this amazing blog.

Regards

51 Subodh Agrawal June 21, 2021 at 12:16 pm

Thanks AK for this comprehensive review of Mr Pandey’s monumental work. I had already obtained a copy through Amazon, when another arrived through the courtesy of Mr Pandey and AK. I have been going over the list of music lovers locally, but I don’t think anyone here would appreciate this amazing work as it should be. I will be happy to mail the extra copy to any member of SoY family that wants it. Please communicate through AK – I will let him decide if there is more than one such request.

I don’t have Pandey ji’s ear for the notes, nor his knowledge of ragas. My approach to identifying ragas is intuitive. I hear a song and it evokes something familiar. Very few Hindi film songs follow a particular raga faithfully – as is clear from Mr Pandey’s compilation.

One raga that figures very frequently in the compilation is Nat Bhairavi. I am not familiar with it and I listened to some pieces I searched for on YouTube. I will continue to educate myself and seek Mr Pandey’s guidance if I get stuck.

Thanks once again to Mr Pandey and AK.

52 Mehfil Mein Meri June 21, 2021 at 7:58 pm

Oh!
This sounds so interesting. And it must have demanded a huge pile of work. Hats off to Pandey ji.
Thank you so much for introducing us to the book. It would certainly help a classical music illiterate like me. It will add to my knowledge many things.

Thank you so much again for this AKji and for your stupendous efforts Pandey ji.

Anup
🙂

53 AK June 21, 2021 at 9:44 pm

Subodh,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. You are absolutely the right kind of person to appreciate this book and Mr Pandey’s stupendous effort and its contribution in enhancing our knowledge. I am sure Mr Pandey would be responding to your query

54 AK June 21, 2021 at 9:47 pm

Anup,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. The book is indeed very useful. But one does need some basic literacy.

55 K.L. Pandey June 21, 2021 at 9:49 pm

There was a query about Nat Bhairavi, for which I have replied separately to Mr. Subodh Agrawal Ji. I am repeating the text for the benefit of our esteemed readers. I however request AKJi to please upload the images also.
I am giving little clarification about Nat Bhairavi. This Raag, although a Melkarta in Carnatic system is different from its lesser known Hindustani counterpart. It is Bhairavi with Shuddh Rishabh which is known as Mishra Bhairavi in common parlance. Since it has Komal forms of Ga, Dha & Ni, it is kept in Aasavari Thaat and kept it separately. In Sindhu Bhairavi however both forms of Re and Ni are present with Shuddh Ni more pronounced , hence although in Aasavari Thaat, it is different from Nat Bhairavi . I have also tried to know why the present day music directors try to compose more in this Raag and also a combination of Nat Bhairavi + Kirwani rather than Bhairavi because in the present day electronic instruments, it is easier to compose in one of the western chords which follow these notes. Surprisingly, after ample use of Synthesisers while composing a song since late 70s, this Raag has started making its appearance and is majorly present in the songs of post 90. In fact the present day songs are mostly on two Raagas viz. Nat Bhairavi & Pahadi. I have sent the images of references to AKJi, who may upload them if required.Thanks

56 AK June 21, 2021 at 11:46 pm

Mr Pandey, Subodh,
Technically it is difficult to upload images in the comments section. I would send it to Subodh and anyone, who is interested, may please send me a mail.

57 R Vasudevan June 22, 2021 at 12:40 pm

Normally the first raaga that is taught to students learning carnatic music is Kalyani and what about in Hindusthani music

58 AK June 22, 2021 at 1:17 pm

Mr Vsudevan,
To my knowledge the first raag that is taught here is Bhopali. Possibly because it is one of the simplest having five shuddh notes, though some pentatonic raags are quite complex to study and sing. Let us hear what experts say.

59 AK June 22, 2021 at 1:56 pm

Siddharth @50,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Now that I say it, it seems I have written only one post under the Category Khayyam, which is devoted only to the songs of Jagjit Kaur, most of which happen to be composed by Khayyam.

60 D P Rangan June 22, 2021 at 2:03 pm

@57
Vasudevanji according to what I have heard from many the first song that is taught is on Vigneswara – Lambodara lagu mika raa in raag Malhar. Children are taught janda varisai and sarali varisai in the beginning. Kalyani, a complete raag with all 7 swaras is more complicated, though it is frequently used in tamil films.

61 D P Rangan June 22, 2021 at 2:53 pm

&58
I made a wrong mention of raagam as it is spelt in Carnatic system of music – The raagam first taught is MALAHARI

62 N Venkataraman June 22, 2021 at 3:16 pm

Vasudevanji @ 57, AKji @ 58, Ranganji @ 60,
I am not an expert, still I am stick my nose.

As far as my (limited) knowledge goes, generally a learner of Carnatic music is introduced to Sarali Vaisai and Janta Varisai and other Varisais and Alankarams in Mayamalavagaula which corresponds to Bhairav of Hindustani music. Mayamalavagaula is a Sampoorna Ragam having all the seven notes, where the notes Ri/Re and Dha are Komal.

When they are introduced to Geethams (music having Sahityam), the very first Geetham is the composition which Ranganji has mentioned ‘Lambodara Lakumikara’, a prayer to Lord Ganesha/ Vinayaka, composed by Purandara Dasa. And it is in Raag Malahari (and not Malhar) and it is derived from the Melakarata Mayamalvagaula.

Yes Bhoopli (Carnatic equivalent Mohanam) is first Raag, a Hindustani Sangeet learner is introduced to. If I am not mistaken students are asked to practice the Sargams, Paltas……. in ‘Bilawal That’ first.

Over to the experts.

63 Shalan La June 22, 2021 at 4:40 pm

To AK

I congratulate you for writing a comprehensive review of this extremely worked out treatise on a complicated subject like Indian music and also Indian cine music, is a feat of un- puzzling task of Hercules knot with a Hercules labour by K.L. Pandey which is extremely admiring.

We all must thanks AK to bring this “Ajuba” to us to buy it quickly. I am far away and most of the big shops and small shops have been closed down due to Kovid Lockdown to venture a trip into the city.

But I hope soon all our troubles will be over and then we can go on an adventure trip in down town London.

Thanks again to AK and Mr Pandey.

Shalan Lalvani

64 AK June 22, 2021 at 5:12 pm

Shalan Lal,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. I guess it should be available on Amazon UK.

65 Ashwin Bhandarkar June 22, 2021 at 8:02 pm

Pandeyji @ 49,

With all due respect, I would like to make the following points:

1. Aabhogi is a raga that is an import from Carnatic Music (CM) to Hindustani Music (HM) and its name has been retained.

2. The Carnatic Sahana is not the same as the Hindustani Shahana.

3. The Carnatic equivalent of the Hindustani Kafi is not Kaapi but Karaharapriya. Kaapi is the Carnatic equivalent of Peelu.

4. The Carnatic equivalent of Yaman Kalyan is Yamuna Kalyani, not Kalyani. Kalyani is the Carnatic equivalent of Yaman. Yaman/Kalyani is supposed to be one of the raags that Muthuswami Dikshitar brought to CCCM after his stay in Kashi. Another very well-known instance of an HM-to-CM import that he is credited with is Dwijawanti, which was the name that he gave to Jayjaywanti.

5. Ragas like Patdeep, Maru-Behag, etc. are very recent imports into CM from HM, so do they not have the stature of other established ragas of the CM repertoire, and hence neither are there too many kritis in them nor are there too many artistes performing them in concerts of CM. As stated earlier, other raags like Kalyani and Dwijawanti that have their origins in HM, have been around in CM for almost 2 centuries, and have their established Carnatic identities. Ragas like Bageshri and Maand, which were later imports from HM, are also very popular.

6. CM has a very well-known raga called Mukhari but the Basant Mukhari of HM, while being imported from CM by S.N.Ratanjankar, is not the same as Mukhari of CM. The Carnatic equivalent is Vakulabharanam. Basant Mukhari was a name that Ratanjankar came up with. Here is an interesting article article by Deepak Raja, the well-known musicologist, on Basant Mukhari, and its second coming to HM:

https://srutimag.blogspot.com/2013/09/raga-basant-mukhari.html

7. Kalavati of HM is the equivalent of Valaji in CM. I understand that there is a Kalavati in CM but this Kalavati has a totally different DNA and structure compared to the Kalavati of HM.

8. I would like to point out that there could be cases in both Hindi film music as well as Tamil/Telugu/Kannada/Malayalam film music in which a specific raag (or its scale) from the ‘other’ system could have been used much before the raag made its appearance/became popular on its ‘own’ classical stage. For example, I understand that Bilaskhani Todi was used by M.S.Viswanathan (who used to look upto Naushad) several times in Tamil film songs but to date no one has taken it up for performance on the Carnatic stage, as far as I know.

I do have another comment to make on raags vis a vis film music/’light’ music but I will reserve it for another day.

66 K.L. Pandey June 23, 2021 at 8:51 am

Ashwin Ji,
Thank you so much for enlightening about Carnatic music. I have very little exposure to Carnatic and my work also does not pertain to it, hence shall not be able to comment much on it.
Yes, please do talk about Hindustani Classical, and light music which I have studied as a subject and also the film music which I have tried to learn through my passion and which is part of my life. I might have mentioned earlier that I have found 174 Raagas in Hindi Film music, but there may be many more. We can have Raag wise discussions or on the type songs like Thumris, Ghazals, Qawwalis, Devotional songs, Raagmaalikas, Lakshan Geets, Bandishes, Taraanas, Aalaps, Dhrupads in Hindi films, Seasonal songs, folk songs, Hindi songs in the films of other languages, Lories and any such specific category which can come to our mind along with their Raag patterns. We can discuss about changing Raag patterns from 1931 till date, favourite Raagas of the music directors, use of Western Classical music in Hindi films also. There are many undiscovered things which I have come across during my research of 14 years. Our inputs shall certainly benefit each one of us. Thanks.

67 K.L. Pandey June 23, 2021 at 4:41 pm

Rakesh Tandon@21
Sorry Rakesh,
I responded to you in some other group hence did not respond here. I sincerely thank you for all the appreciation. Thanks

68 K.L.Pandey June 23, 2021 at 4:51 pm

Dear Salim,
Thank you so much for all the appreciation. I can never forget your help in bringing me to Doordarshan. God Bless.

69 Sreenivas Mohite August 31, 2021 at 9:45 am

Where can I buy this book

70 AK August 31, 2021 at 3:44 pm

Sreenivas Mohite,
Welcome to SOY. The book is available on Amazon. Or you can directly contact the author, his contact details are given in comment #3.

71 BHARAT BHATT June 12, 2023 at 4:17 pm

I would like to buy Vol I to Vol 5 for Library in Mumbai benefiting larger people.

Please contact us on +91.9336242048

I am in Lucknow and advise a nearby location too.

Bharat Bhatt

72 AK June 13, 2023 at 4:01 am

Mr Bhatt,
Welcome to SOY. I believe you are in touch with Mr KL Pandey.

73 Rajiv Vohra October 5, 2023 at 2:32 pm

I already have Sur Sanvadini and Cine raag Encyclopaedia volumes I, II and III. What are the other books on music, raags and film music analysis by Mr KL Pandey? I would like to acquire those, i am in the UK.
Please help.

74 AK October 5, 2023 at 5:42 pm

Rajiv,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore. KL Pandey has brought out Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia Vol 1 and 2 in the first stage. Subsequently he brought out Volumes 3, 4 and 5 in the second phase. Both sets address classical raags in Hindi film songs on different parameters. I have reviewed the two sets separately. Here is my review of the Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia Volumes 3, 4, and 5. Both sets were available on Amazon. They should be available in UK too, or you can have some Indian friend procure for you and you arrange to get it. Best wishes.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: