Tribute to Madan Mohan on 83 birth anniv

This Monday, June 25th was ghazal samrat Madan Mohan ji's 83th birth anniversary He was born on this day in 1924. On this occasion a book was released on him, written by Vishwas Nerurkar, who wrore biographies of many golden era composers. Here is the news.

book released on Late Madan Mohan
Monday, June 25, 2007 17:17 [IST] IndiaFM	</>
A book on the legendary composer, Late Madan Mohan, was released in Mumbai on Friday, 22nd June. The book was released by celebrated producer & director, Yash Chopra, at a musical show held in memory of the late composer. Yash Chopra, on the occasion said, "I had always been an admirer of Madanji's music but did not get the opportunity to work with him in his lifetime. It is indeed miraculous and historic that for my film Veer-Zaara, thirty years after his demise, his unused melodies formed the soundtrack of my film. It was almost as if he had left behind a tune for every conceivable situation in my film." The function featured thirty songs from the popular repertoire of Madan Mohan, rendered by wonderful, young talented singers. The immortal hits sung included Aapki Nazaron Ne Samjha, Hum Pyaar Mein Jalnewalon Ko, Lag Ja Gale, Tum Jo Mil Gayo Ho, Kaun Aaya Mere Man Ke Dware, Phir Wohi Shaam, Jhumka Gira Re, Dil Dhoondhta Hai and various others including Tere Liye from Veer-Zaara. Almost 40 musicians formed the orchestra that featured only acoustic instruments and no electronics - to recreate the sound of the Golden Era of music. The function was attended by all the members of the Madan Mohan family. The book entitled, "Ultimate Melodies", is written and compiled by Vishwas Nerurkar and Bishwanath Chatterjee. It features write-ups on the legend by Yash Chopra, Gulzar, Manna Dey, Sadhana, Bhupinder Singh, and Madan Mohan's family members. The book also documents various facets of Madan Mohan's life, and all the songs and films for which he composed. It is a journey through his twenty-five year-old career, which was cut short by his untimely demise at the age of 51. On the occasion, Madan Mohan's elder son, Sanjeev Kohli said, "It is our privilege that thirty-two years after the demise of our father, he is being honoured by his fans through this book that will further perpetuate his memory and melodies. With Veer-Zaara, the younger generation got more familiar with his compositions, and through this book his admirers will learn so much more about their favourite composer." Madan Mohan composed for over a 100 films during his illustrious career, and won several posthumous awards for the music in Yash Chopra's film, Veer-Zaara, including the coveted IIFA Award.

A nice tribute to the great composer...

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010708/spectrum/main5.htm

Dil dhoondta hai phir wohi...
M.L. Dhawan

MADAN Mohan Kohli was born on June 25, 1924, in Baghdad where his father Rai Bahadur Chuni Lal worked as accountant general with Iraq police. Madan Mohan returned to Punjab and when he was about 11 years old, his father moved on to Bombay to join Himansu Rai in Bombay Talkies. Madan Mohan joined the Army and received an emergency commission in 1943. As a lieutenant he could fire with rifles, mortars, hand-grenades and tommy-guns and also play the sitar, sarod and sarangi with equal felicity. He might have continued in the Army or gone into the business of looking after his father's interests in the film industry, but music was his obsession and passion. After doing bit roles in Shaheed and Munimji, Madan Mohan ultimately joined maestro S.D. Burman as an assistant.

Madan Mohan made his debut as a composer with Devender Goel's Aankhen made in 1956. From the very beginning, he was constantly striving for perfection in his creative endeavours. Every song that he composed was born from his creative instinct. He could brook no imperfection, much less mediocrity in his compositions. He had such a high level of creative commitment that he never settled for anything but the best. Madan Mohan shared a good rapport with all singers of his day, but his bond with Lata Mangeshkar was special. On account of her prior engagements, Lata could not sing for Aankhen, but after Aankhen she was always with her Madan Bhaiyya till Chalbaaz released in 1981, after his death.

This is one of the best tribute documentaries I have seen. A must see for those who haven't seen this before. Rich tributes paid by:

Lata Mangeshkar
Yash Chopra
Javed Akhtar
Sonu Nigam
Udit Narayan
Roop Kumar Rathod
....and many others

Making of Veer Zara songs -Tribute to Madan Mohan (30 min. total)

This contains many of Veer Zara's song tunes in Madan-ji's voice recorded more than 30 years back.

Tribute to Madan Mohan - Part I

Tribute to Madan Mohan - Part II

Tribute to Madan Mohan - Part III

thanks salil 😊 ..manna dey's new autobography is also a very good read..i purchased it after reading dolly's article..he has fond memories of madan and credits him with bringing punjabi folk tunes to hindi films..his first film with madan was in 1957'dekh kabira roya'...another fav songs is 'bheegi chandini,chayee bekhudi"..

will go down memory lane, the next few days and dig up my fav songs ...

Thanks for starting the thread salil ji..

Madan Mohan: The musician and the man

Found this article..the story behind veer zaara music.....

Pro Tools - Bollywood Style

By Stephen Bruel

By Stephen Bruel
A journey of a son completing his father's work against a backdrop of technological challenges in an exotic Eastern location - and this is just behind the scenes!

Welcome to Bollywood, the film-making hub of India where over 1000 feature films are produced annually. A place where the national pastime of going to the cinema is only interrupted by the other national treasure, cricket.

And welcome to Pro Tools – Bollywood Style.

India's current number one movie at the box office is Veer Zaara, a film produced by Yash Raj Films, and directed by Yash Chopra. Yash Raj Films chief executive officer Sanjeev Kohli, is the son of highly respected Hindi film music composer, the late Madan Mohan.

Throughout his career Madan Mohan composed music for over 100 films. Although proficient in all genres, his forte was light classical music, which earned him universal respect from the stalwarts of Indian classical music. His use of traditional Indian instruments, especially the sitar, has also been widely acknowledged.

The late Madan Mohan

When Sanjeev realised he had a collection of previously unreleased Madan Mohan recordings from the golden era of Indian music and cinema, it became his dream to share the masterpieces with today's audience.

"Some of the compositions were alternative tunes my father had composed for his well-known hits - dating back almost 30 years," says Sanjeev.

Sanjeev discussed his ideas with renowned film director Yash Chopra who was "only too delighted to bring alive the melodies of a musician unparalleled". Although they were from the same era in filmmaking, Yash had not had the opportunity to work with Madan Mohan before the musical legend passed away at a young age.

Yash listened to the collection and identified a film that would best showcase the maestro's work.

"He selected those tunes from that collection that went in perfect in sync with his movie theme," says Sanjeev.

To ensure the modernised recordings would remain as faithful as possible to his father's original recordings, Sanjeev contacted Pramod Chandorkar, chief engineer at Mumbai's Studio One which boasts a Pro Tools HD3 system and is housed in Mumbai's famous Empire Studios building.

Classic Bollywood "old world" charm – Monogrammed Mixing, Editing and Monitoring Room doors within Mumbai's famous Empire Studio's Building		Beautiful marble staircase at Empire Studio Building entrance

Owned by Mushtaq Nadiadwala and Feroz Lakdawala, the Empire Studios facility also has a film mixing stage featuring a Pro Tools Mix 3 system on the ground floor, and on the second floor is an additional music studio called Sound City that uses a Pro Tools Mix 3 system.

"To engineer and work on compositions by such a great person was a great honour and responsibility," says Pramod.

"We could only dare to think about such a technologically challenging project because we had ProTools HD3 in our studio."

Impressive space where Veer Zaara recording took place

The recordings were old and on a spool with a lot of hiss. And due to degeneration of the tape there were pitch problems in places. So modernising the musical style or arrangement of these recordings was not the only challenge for Pramod. As some of the analogue recordings were 30 years old and saved on quarter inch tape, sonic problems also had to be overcome.

Furthermore, the final mix would need to be in 5.1 surround to accommodate modern theatre sound systems.

Pramod says ProTools was optimally used in almost all the aspects of the recording.

"For the 5.1 music, the Neve was hardly used, it was entirely done on ProTools and the plug-ins used were predominantly TCX and Pitchshift. Other than the Lexicon, minimal outboard gear was used."

Studio One Veer Zaara Production Team (standing from left to right – Mr Anwar, Mr Yusuf, Mr Nadiawala, Mr Pramod, Mr Vijay, Mr Dinesh, sitting – Mr Ahhijeet, Mr Pranav)

The result is a powerful fusion of old and new. A dramatic and faithful reproduction of music by legendary Hindi film composer Madan Mohan produced in the digital Pro Tools environment and now being enjoyed by Bollywood film goers around the globe.

Perhaps the impact that Pro Tools has had in bringing a golden era in Indian music and cinema to modern audiences is most evident through the response by Lata Mangeshkar, who sang on the original compositions 30 years ago.

"Lata was almost in tears with joy, on listening to these tracks - this is the best compliment one could have," says Chandorkar.

Such an emotional response can only be music to the ears of devoted son and film producer Sanjeev Kohil.

This is Yash chopra's interview, in which he is talking about the same....

Inme bahut masala hai: Yash Chopra

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai | July 31, 2003 18:16 IST

Filmmaker Yash Chopra is rewriting Bollywood's music history. Twenty-eight years after Madan Mohan passed into the ages, Chopra is using music created by the late composer in his next, yet-to-be-titled project, which stars Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role.

"Many of Madan Mohanji's tunes have remained unused. He composed around 500 tunes, which were not used in any Bollywood film. When I came to know about this, I felt I must take his music for my new film," says Chopra.

Madan Mohan, who passed away in 1975, scored memorable songs in films like Woh Kaun Thi, Haqeeqat, Ada, Mausam, Parwana, Adalat and Anpadh.

The veteran filmmaker describes how he got the brainwave. "Madanji's son, Sanjeev Kohli [Kohli, who was formerly with the music company HMV as its senior marketing manager, has now joined Chopra's Yashraj Films as its chief executive officer], was discussing his dad's unused music with me. That's when I decided I must listen to these tunes. When I heard them, mujhe laga inme bahut masala hai and that I could definitely use them. I then asked Javed Akhtarsaab if he could pen songs for the tunes. He readily agreed. We decided to go ahead with the project."

When asked why he never worked with Madan Mohan when the composer was alive, Chopra says regretfully, "That was very unfortunate. I am happy, however, that I am now working with his music even though he is no longer with us."

Chopra's favourite tune by the legendary music director is Lag ja gale from Woh Kaun Thi.

Kohli feels his father's music has always been ahead of his times. "He could blend Western and classical music very well. Despite the passage of time, his music is still relevant. Good melody is always good. That is why remixes of old Hindi film songs are doing so well," he says.

Will the new generation accept his father's music? Kohli said, "My father's music for Laila Majnu [starring Rishi Kapoor and Ranjeeta] released after his death and went on to become a super hit. It was same case with Mausam [starring Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore] which was released after my father's death."

This is the fimfare article...

Madan Mohan : In The Name Of The Father
Source: Filmfare, December 1997

(By Sanjeev Kohli, Son of Madan Mohan and
Senior Marketing Consultant of HMV)

To be honest, I remember Madan Mohan more as a father than as a composer. He kept us far away from the recording studios. Perhaps because he was disillusioned by the music industry.

He was a very affectionate father, but strict. He wanted his children to have a normal childhood. He wouldn't allow my brothers or me to hang around the music sessions. But we did cheat a bit. On holidays, we'd insist that nothing would keep us from the recordings.

Today, I feel he craved much more appreciation than he actually got. I can't help feeling bitter about the frustrations that my father had to go through, hiding his hurt behind a smile.

Since I've been a part of the music business for 20 years myself, I find more and more people returning to Madan Mohan's music. In Meri Pasand, the TV programme which I produce featuring the favourite songs of celebrities, one of the seven songs is always a Madan Mohan composition. The invitees select the song of their own choice, and not because Madan Mohan was the producer's dad.

It has even become fashionable for music directors to associate themselves with the name of Madan Mohan. Whenever Khayyam or Naushad give an interview, they make it a point to mention his name. O.P.Nayyar has gone on record to state that the Lata Mangeshkar-Madan Mohan combination remains unparalled. For young composers like Jatin-Lalit, it's the in thing to say Madan Mohan was one of the greatest composers.

In Meri Awaz Suno, the participants often want to render Madan Mohan songs. And I wonder why people didn't express their appreciation when my father was alive. He would tell my mother that he didn't get his dues from the film industry. The biggest banners never came his way. All the hotshot stars and directors like Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand were his close friends... Raj Kapoor had offered him Satyam Shivam Sundaram. But I don't know what happened.

What I do know is that my father had an ego. Maybe that came in the way. Jaikishen had died and Mera Naam Joker had flopped. Raj Kapoor was making Bobby. After that, he wanted my father to do Satyam Shivam Sundaram. My father probably died before the deal could be finalised.

Raj Kapoor, Suraiya and my father were childhood friends. Suraiya and my father would sing together on All India Radio. My father would feel very hurt when his songs would become hits but the films would flop. If he had done better films with better film-makers, his compositions wouldn't have been underrated.

Today everyone loves his songs but they don't feature in any of the lists of the 50 musical movie hits of all time. Some of the best songs of my father were picturised on second-rung heroines. Like Woh bhooli dastaan on Anita Guha in Sanjog. Or on Priya Rajvansh, who was considered a bad actress. Though Chetan Anand was one of my father's best friends and loyal supporters, I don't think the songs of Heer Ranjha and Hanste Zakhm in a Chitrahaar would stand a fair chance against lesser songs filmed on better actresses.

Many of my father's song were also filmed on Mala Sinha who wasn't considered one of the greats of her generation. He didn't get too many Waheeda Rehman songs.

He did get a Nutan film -- Dulhan Ek Raat Ki. And he composed the lovely number Sapnon mein agar mere for it. But the film ran for just seven days. Jahan Ara, which had some of his best compositions ever, was removed from theatres in four days. It broke his heart.

There were several music camps in those days and they were all so good. Even my father couldn't deny that. Navketan had the Burmans. The R.K. banner hand Shankar-Jaikishen. They were all so comfortable working together that no one was interested in breaking up the teams.

Cont..
Today, film-makers are more open to change. Subhash Ghai worked extensively with Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He then dropped them for A.R. Rahman. He then dropped Rahman for Nadeem-Shravan. We don't know what he'll do next.

Once, the working environment was of the essence. My father had to feel comfortable with the film-makers he worked with. He worked a lot with Chetan Anand and Om Prakash, the character actor who produced Sanjog, Jahan Ara, Gateway Of India and Chacha Zindabad... none of them were hits.

My father worked closely with Raj Khosla. They would plan the films together. My father's first silver jubilee hit was Raj Khosla's Woh Kaun Thi.

There's an interesting story about Mera Saaya. The film was originally called Saaya. My father had a huge spool tape-recorder. After he had recorded the title song Tu jahan jahan chalega mera saaya saath hoga, he cooked dinner and listened to the song with Raj Khosla and other close friends over drinks. And they all agreed that the film's title should be changed to Mera Saaya. Back then, there was a constant give-and-take. Now there's just take.

I don't know why Raj Khosla switched to Laxmikant-Pyarelal after Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Saaya. My father was hot-headed... maybe there was some misunderstanding between them. Raj Khosla had his own ups and down.

Chetan Anand was the most important film-maker in the latter part of my father's life. Chetan Anand was planning a small film, Aakhri Khat, at the same time as Haqeeqat. He wanted my dad to score music for both the films. But my dad said, "Why don't you give Aakhri Khat to my friend Khayyam?" And the film went on to revive Khayyam's career.

Chetan Anand, Kaifi Azmi and Priya would often drop in at our house. Priya would come into our room where we kids would have our dinner separately. She played carrom with us.

My father almost died at Chetan Anand's house while working on the music of Salim Anarkali which was eventually shelved. He collapsed in Chetan Anand's house.

When we went on long car drives, dad would tell us to sing a song. Small and unfeeling that we were, we would start singing the songs composed by other music directors. He'd turn around and say, "Hey, even you!"

At that time, we couldn't understand what he meant. We wouldn't sing his songs because they weren't easy to sing. That used to hurt him. Even his failmy didn't appreciate him. He started drinking heavily. He died of cirrhosis of the lever. It's not something I'm ashamed of at all. I don't allow this fact to disturb me at all.

When my father died, I had to get out of his shadow. I was very keen to become a music composer. But he had gone out of his way to keep me away from music. He felt he hadn't made it... he didn't want his son to go through hard times. After he died, I tried to learn the sitar. But nothing came of it.

Memories linger on though. By the time dad got his first major award for Dastak, he'd become very bitter. He pretended not to be happy with the honour. But he was happy because Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan also got National Awards for the same film. So they all went together to Delhi for the function.