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While the qualities intrinsic to a song are clearly absent among new singers, it is hard to believe that just half a century back, there were so many gifted artistes who left behind a treasure trove of music, writes M. L. Dhawan With the advent of first talkie Alam Ara in 1931, the films started providing songs for every conceivable situation. Wazir Mohammad Khan who acted as a faqir in the film sang the first song of Hindi cinema De de khuda ke nam taqat hai gar dene ki composed by Ferozeshah and B. Irani.
K.L. Saigal first appeared in Mohabat Ke Aansoo released in 1932. The credit for laying the foundation of film music goes to Saigal, though other singers, too, contributed substantially towards the development of film music. One has to listen to K.C. Dey in Javo javo ae mere sadhu, Saigal in Tadpat beetat din raina, Umadevi and Pahadi Sanyal in Meri prem ki nayya chali re, Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani in Main ban ki chidiya, among others, to know the great musical waves these singers created during their hey days. They came at a time when recording techniques were in a primitive stage and unlike the latter-day singers, they were not aided by technology to prove themselves. Yet they delivered so much quality that music aficionados worship them till date. Saigal was a role model for singers that came after him. If Talat Mahmood’s first song Sab din ek samaan nahin tha reminds one of Saigal so does Mukesh’s Dil jalta hai to jalne de, C.H. Atma’s Preetam aan milo, Surrendra’s Aawaaz de kahan hai, Kishore Kumar’s Jagmag karta nikla chaand punam ka pyara. It was difficult for male singers to break away from the Saigal hypnosis, so much had Saigal’s voice gripped the music lovers. Lata Mangeshkar joined the Hindi film music scene with Pa lagu kar jori in Vasant Jogelkar’s Aap ki sewa mein. With Aayega aanewala she was considered as the aural stamp of success for the heroines on whom her songs were picturised. Heroines started including a condition in their contracts that only Lata would sing for them. Asha’s sultry, romantic, passionate voice articulated the sentiments of every heroine she lent her voice to. Talat Mahmood distilled a lifetime of pain in Zindagi dene wale sun, Ae mere dil kahin aur chal. Manna Dey touched the heights of classical grandeur in songs like Kaun aaya mere man ke dware payal ki jhankar liye. Aawra hoon, Mera joota hai Japani catapulted Mukesh to dizzy heights, Rafi mesmerised with O duniya ke rakhwale sun dard bhare mere nale. Geeta Roy’s Yaad karogey yaad karogey ik din hum ko yaad karogey in her dulcet, husky voice worked wonders. Kishore Kumar sang his way in the hearts of the music lovers with Chhota sa ghar hoga. Mahender Kapoor put a lot of feeling into songs like Chaand chhupa aur tare doobey. Hemant Kumar’s voice had all the elements of pain in O zindagi ke denewale and he spelt class and showcased quality both as a singer and a composer. Whatever their background, composers like Ghulam Haider Khemchand Prakash, Hunsanlal Bhagatram, C. Ramchander, Sajjad Hussain, Hafiz Khan, S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, Shankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Khyyam, Roshan, Ravi, Naushad, etc. had in common an intense love for music to which they brought a new vision and changed the concept of film music. They chiselled the voices of Rafi, Mukesh, Talat, Lata, Asha, Geeta, etc and shaped them to become milestones of music. It was during the tenure of these stalwarts that music of great quality was made. The 1950s and 1960s are considered as the golden period of film music. The music, lyrics and the singer’s voice all jelled to create melody and harmony that has not been surpassed and excelled either before or since. If songs like Tum kya jano tumhari yaad mein hum kitna roye, Rote rote guzar gaya raat re, Dil ka khilona hai toot gaya, Kaunsi duniyan main jayengey yeh dil toote huye, Tu such batla mujhe jogi, Hum pyar mein jalne walo ko, Meri Veena tum bin roye, Sham-e-gham ki kasam, Ab tera intzaar kaun karey, Na yeh chaand hoga, etc. were chastbusters in their era, time burnished them into treasured objects d’art year by year. After 1965, film music scene changed and the fusion of Indian film music and western tunes resulted in producing ear-splitting rather than soul-stirring music. With dominance of violence and vulgarity in films, the hero breathed fire and brimstone and the heroine titillated and sizzled When artistes like S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, Naushad, Lata, Rafi, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh etc tried to face the western onslaught, they failed to wean away the people from sex and violence which was being glorified those days. The music became market savvy. Singers like Lata, Talat, Manna Dey etc curtailed their assignments on health rounds, but more than their own it was the ill health of the film music that kept them away from the recording studios. With the death of
artistes like S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandera, Jaikishan,
Roshan, Sahir, Shailendra, Shakeel etc, there was a downslide in the
quality of music. However, the departure from the music scene of
singers like Rafi, Talat, Kishore, Mukesh proved to be the proverbial
last straw on camel’s back. Those who followed suit—Sonu Nigam,
Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, etc—were more like clones of Rafi and
Kishore. Lata, Asha, Geeta, Shamshad Begum, Suraiyya etc have not
found replacements in Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik and Kavita
Subramanium. In the given dismal situation, it seems to be a daunting
task for the composers ruling the roost to go beyond the work already
done by titans. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young
was very heaven.
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