I haven't written a tribute here for the longest time, mostly because I was busy with other projects, but also on account of this thread being dead for a while! I have Madhu and Neha to thank for reviving it! ❤️
What better way to re-start the tribute section than with an ode to one of Hindi film music's greatest composers, Naushad Ali on his birthday, Dec 26?
One of my favorites and definitely my dad's favorite composer, his Baiju Baawra soundtrack was the only piece of music that could animate him in the bleakest of times. I have to admit it's his most unforgettable album (for me at least) and he's done plenty of impeccable ones including Mother India, Gunga Jamuna, Leader, Andaaz, Deedar, Rattan, Uran Khatola, Aan, and of course the grand epic Mughal-e-Azam.
Mohe Bhool gaye saawariya [in Bhairav], Insaan Bano [In Todi], Man Tarpat [in Malkauns] and the unforgettable O duniya ke rakhwale [in Darbari Kanada] never fail to move me to tears. And that's less than 50% of the album. Shame then that Naushad only won the Filmfare award once in his lifetime for Tu Ganga ki mauj [Beautifully composed in raag Bhairavi]. The songs made this movie what it is, and I hate the thought of a remake (please someone stop that SLB!😡😭)
Naushad was somewhat of a traditionalist, firmly sticking to Indian classical and folk tunes for his inspiration as opposed to Western tunes. Which also explains why his music connects to the soul because we have such a rich musical tradition in India.
Naushad was born in Lucknow and raised in a strictly conservative Muslim family. He showed an interest in music which was discouraged by his family, particularly his father. He ended up working in a shop that sold and repaired musical instruments and the owner gifted him a harmonium which was the start of his musical journey. Given the choice to pick music or family, he chose the former and ran away to Mumbai at the age of 18. From then on it was an uphill struggle for the composer, until he got a break as Khemchand Prakash's assistant moving on to being an independent composer for Prem Nagar his first major film in 1940. But what established him as a successful music composer was Rattan in 1944. Amusing, and somewhat ironical too then, that these songs played during his wedding - which was arranged by his father by lying to his would-be in-laws that Naushad was a tailor because telling them the truth would be too demeaning and they would probably refuse the alliance. And upon hearing Ankhiyan milake jiya bharmake, his father-in-law raged that the person who came up with such songs deserved nothing less than to be beaten with a chappal! 😆
But with such huge success, who could deny his talent for long? He was soon in the top league of music composers and probably the only one who could boast of waving his baton for the great K.L. Saigal, Noor Jehan, Suraiyya, and then Talat, Rafi, Lata among others, in addition to the great stalwarts of Hindustani classical music such as D.V. Paluskar, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Ustad Amir Khan.
Who can forget the visual of Salim (Dilip Kumar) and Anarkali (Madhubala) enjoying a secret lovers' tryst in the gardens while the strains of Prem Jogan banke sung by Tansen (Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan) in Raag Sohoni wafted across them?
Being a poet himself, Naushad was known to insist on his singers paying attention to the lyrics and bringing the right inflections to the Urdu words (Lata Mangeshkar had to especially work hard at this!). His partnership with Dilip Kumar began early on with Talat being his playback voice of choice for him. But once, after he discovered Talat smoking, (or so the story goes, correct me if I'm wrong) he stopped working with him and switched allegiance to Rafi. Add to this already formidable team Shakeel Badayuni's impeccable lyrics and you have a partnership so fruitful and so melodious that no one can contest the sheer beauty of the music that came about. Not surprising that when Naushad was asked what would be the song of choice for him to compose, all he said was just send Rafi miyan down from the heavens and I'll compose that for you. Fitting then that the music director and the singer celebrate their birthdays just two days from each other (Rafi's is Dec 24).
For all that, Naushad only composed music for about 70 films in his lifetime. Let's post our favorite Naushad songs then in tribute to this well-spoken man whose music was as full of tehzeeb as the man himself.
Posting some male solos (I'll save the Rafi collabs for a separate post since there are too many of them!) starting with K.L. Saigal (with a cameo by Rafi!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TySZbAkJdzM
Andaaz has amazing songs and most of them by Mukesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emuDkBWbibI
And here's Talat and Naushad's collaboration from Babul. I also love 'Husnwalon ko na dil do' from the same movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smzqmxWZKYE
Edited by LizzieBennet - 3 years ago
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