When I did a post on Kamal Barot it was natural that I should do one on Subir Sen as well. One connection between the two was that among the most famous Kamal Barot songs is a duet with Subir Sen Dil le ke jate ho kahan. Another similarity would be that he was also not among the top singers. But there was a vital difference between the two. While Kamal Barot had a distinct voice which you could recognise miles away, Subir Sen’s was indistinguishable from Hemant Kumar. Not much biographical detail is available about him except that he was also like Hemant Kumar a popular and prolific singer in Bengali. Many of his Hindi film songs are quite well known, but unless you know that he was the singer, you might attribute them to Hemant Kumar.
‘She’ ne khela ‘he’ se aaj cricket match
When the entire country is caught in the frenzy of the One-day Cricket World Cup, I get to hear today a fun song on cricket from the film Love Marriage (1959). It is surprising I had not heard this song before. Had Vividh Bharti kept it on hold to play before the final match between India and Sri Lanka at Mumbai on April 2, 2011?
Dev Anand is the debonair cricketer on the field. Among the spectators is Mala Sinha who is surprised to see him as the star player of the opposite team. Dev Anand bugged her no end as she was persuaded into taking him as her flat mate when she was looking for a female house mate to share her rent. And as you could have guessed he rains fours and sixes taking his team to victory, and in the process winning the heart of the hostile heroine. In the after-match dancing and singing of this song amidst his admiring cronies and a giggling gang of girls, including by-now-bowled-over Mala Sinha, seeking his autographs, he proclaims with unconcealed glee क्रिकेट में तो जीत गए पर हारे प्यार का मैच.
When I started this blog I had not thought I would be ever writing about Kamal Barot. She was not one of the biggies like Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosle. She was not one of the smallies who gave at least a couple of immortal songs which you instantly recall – in this category I can think of Mubarak Begum’s Kabhi tanhaaiyon mein yun hamari yaad ayegi from Hamari Yaad Ayegi (1961) or Jagjit Kaur’s Tum apna ranj-o-gham apni pareshaani mujhe de do and Gori sasural chali from Shagun (1964). She did figure though in a large number of hit songs as one of the voices in a duet or a treblet or a multiplet (purists will pardon my freewheeling coining of new words), but none that you could solely associate with Kamal Barot.
Humse nain milana BA pass kar ke
Commuting to your office could be a pain, but if your driver’s musical taste goes back to the Golden Era, ranging from Mukesh to Hemant Kumar to Talat Mehmood to Shamshad Begum to Suraiya, you look forward to the drive; the traffic jam is no longer an irritant, in fact it only lets you linger over the melodies a little longer.
I had become accustomed to these melodies playing on the car stereo. One day it was the turn of Shamshad Begum. After the familiar Kabhi aar kabhi paar, Saiyan dil mein ana re, Chandni ayee ban ke pyar, Kahe koel shor machaye re etc, I was struck by a very peppy, very light hearted number Humse nain milana BA pass kar ke.
Wonderful Rafi, Talat songs on Raj Kapur
When Mukesh died (in 1976), Raj Kapur said he had lost his voice. And rightly so. When you think of Raj Kapur, you think of Awara hun, Mera joota hai japani, Ruk ja o janewali ruk ja, Chhalia mera naam, Mera naam Raju gharana a-naam, and countless other Mukesh songs lip-synched by Raj Kapur on the screen.
You are also aware of the outstanding Manna Dey songs in duets such as Pyaar hua ekraar hua, Ye raat bheegi bheegi, A ja sanam madhur chandni mein hum etc. This came about when Mukesh was distracted from playback singing as he became convinced by his handsome looks that he was hero material.
Mahendra Kapoor was the favourite singer of BR Chopra Films, and Ravi was their favourite composer. BR Films-Ravi-Mahendra Kapoor combination gave a large number of well known songs. After Ravi, the only music director who used Mahendra Kapoor in a significant manner was OP Nayyar, apparently on rebound when he had some rift with Mohammad Rafi. Following behind would be Kalyanji Anandji, who used Mahendra Kapoor to some degree following the great success of Mere desh ki dharti on Manoj Kumar in Upkar (1967). His songs with other music directors are few and far between.
Chalo ek baar phir se ajanabi ban jayen hum dono
If ever there was a song that could be described as the defining song of a singer, Mahendra Kapur’s Chalo ek baar phir se ajanabi ban jayen hum dono is one such song.
Mahendra Kapur, who came to the film world through a singing talent competition in the late fifties, was seen as a Rafi clone. That can be a great handicap; the world of film music is replete with the tragedies of clones not being able to come out of the shadow of the original star.
An era changes with Aradhana (1969)
When Aradhana unfolded in 1969 with the heroine sitting by the window of the hill train, tentatively browsing a book, and the hero being driven in a jonga by his friend on the hilly road alongside the toy train, with an innocent smile, a wink in his eyes and the harmonica on his friend’s lips, singing Mere sapno ki rani kab ayegi tu, a phenomenon called Rajesh Khanna was born. Also born was another and perhaps more startling phenomenon – a new Kishore Kumar who with this one film swept aside Rafi to emerge as the No.1 male singer. Rafi did have two duets in the film Bagon mein bahaar hai (with Lata) and Gunguna rahe hain bhanwre (with Asha Bhosle), but Kishore Kumar with Lata surpassed him with Kora kagaz tha ye man mera, and Rafi had nothing to counter his two solos Mere sapno ki rani kab ayegi tu and Roop tera mastana.
The Ultimate in Melody
Hemant Kumar in his voice brought the beauty of Bengal and melody of Rabindra Sangeet. When he joined with Lata Mangeshkar the effect was magical. Easily the best duets of Hindi films are of Hemant-Lata. One can also safely say no song of Hemant Kumar was pedestrian. With his deep resonant voice he could be nothing but melody personified. As for Lata, she surpasses any superlative. Here is my selection of their best duets.
Haal-e-dil unko sunana tha sunaya na gaya
Suman Kalyanur had to remain in the shadows of Lata Mangeshkar because of her uncanny similarity to Lata’s voice. Many of her songs are indistinguishable from Lata’s style, either because she was subconsciously imitating her style or the music directors were viewing her essentially as Lata’s replacement. Yet there are several songs which bear her special imprint. There is one particular song in which she seems to have clearly overshadowed Lata. I am referring to Haal-e-dil unko sunana tha sunaya na gaya from the film Fariyad (1964).
The beautiful lyric by Kedar Sharma is worth reproducing in full:
When I did a post on Kamal Barot it was natural that I should do one on Subir Sen as well. One connection between the two was that among the most famous Kamal Barot songs is a duet with Subir Sen Dil le ke jate ho kahan. Another similarity would be that he was also not among the top singers. But there was a vital difference between the two. While Kamal Barot had a distinct voice which you could recognise miles away, Subir Sen’s was indistinguishable from Hemant Kumar. Not much biographical detail is available about him except that he was also like Hemant Kumar a popular and prolific singer in Bengali. Many of his Hindi film songs are quite well known, but unless you know that he was the singer, you might attribute them to Hemant Kumar.
