Can Classical music make a comeback? - Page 5

An example of an instrumentally "weak" song (to me) is Chori Chori Solah Singaar Karoongi from Manoranjan. I just love the pieces sung by Asha and can't stop humming the song once it comes to my mind, but the instrumental pieces (esp prelude) just pass me by.

But that doesn't make me think any less of Pancham Da. He was a genius!! 👏 👏 👏

While on Panchamda and on the mukhda-antara topic, did you realize that in the song "Tu tu hai wahi dilne jise.....yeh vaada raha" from the film "Yeh Vaada Raha", it is actually the mukhda which is longer than the antara? Again, Panchamda's innovation. A brilliant composer. Gifted.

Originally posted by: adwarakanath

A very mast song from two unknown composers with excellent Piano and Violin pieces comes to mind. It's an absolute favourite of mine, sung by Mukesh

Jinhein Hum Bhoolna Chahein....

From which movie?

Originally posted by: ekbaaraaja

There was a film called Chasmebaddoor. A comedy film interspersed with 2 very good classical numbers
1. Kali ghodi dwar khadi..
2. Kahan se aaye badra
So it can be done if the producers want to take a chance.

Yes, I liked these songs as well as their picturizations. Classical songs CAN become hits and situations can be created for them.

Originally posted by: jhsurti

While on Panchamda and on the mukhda-antara topic, did you realize that in the song "Tu tu hai wahi dilne jise.....yeh vaada raha" from the film "Yeh Vaada Raha", it is actually the mukhda which is longer than the antara? Again, Panchamda's innovation. A brilliant composer. Gifted.

Haven't heard this song. Let me try to locate it.

Found this article on the net

The saregama of Hindi film music


Classical music may be called elitist music but that hasn't stopped the popular mainstream Hindi from borrowing generously from that genre. Of course, it is true that most music is based on the seven notes, sa re ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. Nothing that is music can be found outside the realm of these seven notes. But Hindi film music directors have always turned to ragas for inspiration. Many a catchy Hindi film song is based on some raga or the other. The most popular ragas have generally been Bhairavi, Jaijaiwanti, Maru Bihaag, Megh Malhar and Malkaus. Over and above this indirect influence of Hindustani classical music on Hindi film songs has been a genre of films whose very basis is shastriya gayan. The most famous among such movies would be classics like 'Baiju Bawra, Basant Bahar, Tansen, Kohinoor' and 'Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje.' Then there have been films which have an odd classical number or two, or films which have used light classical forms like thumri, dadra, chaiti and kajri or even the ghazal for that matter.

Music director Naushad Ali's greatest contribution lay in bringing Indian classical music into the film medium. Many of his compositions were inspired by ragas and he even used famous classical artistes like Ustad Amir Khan and Pandit DV Paluaskar in films like 'Baiju Bawra' (1952) and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in 'Mughal-e-Azam' (1960). 'Baiju Bawra' demonstrated Naushad's grasp of classical music. He used different ragas in the film for different situations and tried to preserve the purity of the ragas. The Raga Malkauns based number 'Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj' is still as popular today as it was in 1960. In Mehbood Khan's magnum opus 'Mughal-e-Azam', Naushad used the voice of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan for two numbers, 'Shubh Din Aayo' and 'Prem Jogan ke Sundari Pio Chali.'

Music directors Shankar-Jaikishan tried their hand, quite successfully at that, with classical music in the Bharat Bhushan-Nimmi starrer 'Basant Bahar.' Other directors who handled classical music in Hindi films with sensitivity were the likes of SD Burman, and in later years, Vanraj Bhatia of 'Sardari Begum' fame, Ismail Durbar in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' (the Sultan Khan number) and Hridayanath Mangeshkar in his home production 'Lekin.'

The history of Hindi film music is replete with instances of classical music artistes, vocal and instrumental, handling the baton, or just performing. In the early years of playback singing, there were classical music singers like the famous Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki who regularly lent their voices to films. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of course lent his voice for 'Mughal-e-Azam.' But besides him, Ustad Amir Khan, and much later, Kishori Amonkar, Shubha Mudgal, Shubha Joshi, Aarti Akalikar and Shubha Gurtu have all done playback singing in Hindi films. Kishori Amonkar, of course, even gave the music for the off-beat Shekhar Kapur-Dimple Kapadia starrer 'Drishti.' Shubha Mudgal and tabla genius Ustad Zakir Hussain ('Saaz') have also successfully wielded the musical baton.

But the most commercially successful have been the Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia, going under the name of Shiv-Hari. They gave music for top-notch director Yash Chopra in films like 'Silsila' and 'Chandni.' The greatest example of a classical artiste also donning the robes of a music director is surely Pt Ravi Shankar. The sitar maestro gave music for Hindi films, 'Anuradha' and 'Meera', besides the Satyajit Ray classic 'Pather Panchali.' In the forties, tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, gave music for Hindi films under the pseudonym A R Qureshi to earn his living in Bombay.

While the marriage of the classical and mainstream may not always have seen an amicable harmony, it did give us some unforgettable classics like the KL Saigal number, 'Diya Jalao' (Tansen), Rafi's 'Man Tadpat' (Baiju Bawra) and 'Madhuban Main Radhika' (Kohinoor), Bade Ghulam Ali's 'Shubh Din Aayo' and Manna Dey's 'Laga Chunri Main Daag.' Despite most classical musicians looking down on Hindi film music, it is a known fact that many of them have turned to it at some point of time in their careers. Musicians like flautist Pannalal Ghosh, Timir Baran, sarangiyas like Sultan Khan and Ram Narayan have regularly been playing for Hindi films. And their contributions have only gone on to enrich the tradition of Hindi film music.


Manisha Vardhan

Thanks for the article Punjini.

When it comes to classical music legend Naushad as mentioned above tops the list any day.He never ever compromised on this issue.I believe 99% of all his compsitions are based on ragas. Perhaps Tangewallah was the only film where he had a few songs that were not raga based.He has used all the great singers from Khan Mastan to
S.P.Balsubrahmanyam.(Tere Payal Mere geet) And those who did not sing for him are not worth listening to. That excludes singers before his time and after he slowed down.

He Rafi and LAta were his prime singers. But he has used Mukesh, Talat, Mannadey, Mahendra Kapoor, Aasha, Surayya, Shamshad begum, Suman Kalyan pur to name a few. BAde ghulam Ali Khan refused to sing for movies but with his and K. Asif the director of Mughal e Aazam he finally agreed to sing for the only movie. He has given many a immoral compositions that are listened to even after 50 years.

Some Immortal songs of Naushad

1. Akhian milake jiya bharma ke Film Ratan - Singer - Zohra bai
2. Yeh zingi ke mele - Film Mela - Rafi
3. Aaja mere barbaad mohabbat - Anmol Ghadi- Noor Jahan
4. Afsaana Likh Rahi hoon - Dard - Uma Devi (Tun Tun)
5. Tu Ganga ki Mauj -Baiju Bawra-Rafi
6. Milte hi aankhe dil huva Talat/ Shamshaad

Naushad Ali is regarded as one of the greatest Music Directors of Indian Cinema. Since early childhood in Lucknow he was an avid listener to the live orchestras accompanying silent films. He studied under Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali and Ustad Babban Saheb. Before coming to Bombay, he repaired harmoniums and composed for amateur theatricals such as the Windsor Music Entertainers.

He moved to Bombay in the late 1930s to try his luck as a musician but had to really struggle and saw days of acute deprivation. He even had to spend nights on the footpath before he worked as a pianist in composer Mushtaq Hussain's orchestra. He joined music director Khemchand Prakash (whom he considers his teacher) as his assistant.

Prem Nagar (1940) was his first Independent break but he first got noticed with Sharda (1942) wherein 13-year-old Suraiya did the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan (1944) that took Naushad right to the top and enabled him to charge Rs 25,000 a film then. Ankhiyaan Milake and Sawan ke Badalon became the most popular songs of the day.

Naushad churned out hit after hit in the 1940s mainly in the films of A.R. Kardar - Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949), Dulari (1949) and Mehboob Khan - Anmol Ghadi (1946), Elaan (1947), Anoki Ada (1948), Andaaz (1949). Naushad was among the early composer who gave Lata Mangeshkar an opportunity to sing and Andaaz and Dulari were instrumental in her rise to the top along with Mahal and Barsaat that year.

Naushad was one of the first to introduce sound mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing. He was the first to combine the flute and the clarinet, the sitar and mandolin. He also introduced the accordion to Hindi film music and was among the first to concentrate on background music to extend characters' moods and dialogues through music.

But perhaps Naushad's greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium. Many of his compositions were inspired by Ragas and he even used distinguished classical artistes like Amir Khan and D.V. Pulaskar in Baiju Bawra (1952) and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in Mughal-e-Azam (1960). Baiju Bawra demonstrated Naushad's grasp of classical music. To quote India's greatest playback singer Lata Mangeshkar who sang for him in the film.

"The music he composed for Baiju Bawra surprised even me. It was entirely different from what he had done before. Different ragas were used for different situations and the purity of the ragas were maintained to the greatest possible extent."

Naushad has been criticized about the lack of variety in his music but that is unfounded. He could compose with a 100-man orchestra as he did in Aan (1952) and could go Western if the situation demanded it (Jadoo (1951)). Naushad used to study every aspect of his tunes thoroughly. If he weren't satisfied with even one word, he would ask the lyricist to write the whole line. He would take a fortnight to compose a single song and often could compose music for just two films a year. To quote him,

"In my 62 years in the film industry, I composed music for 66 films. These days, you come across people who have done the music 200 films in two years. What I'm saying is that, we used to agonise over every tune and phrase in music, spend sleepless nights over a song, and work on it until it was perfected. And I am still looking for perfection."

This reduced workload worked to his advantage as he went on to score the music for perennial classics - Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961) and Mere Mehboob (1963). In Mughal-e-Azam, Naushad's musical score was outstanding particularly the two songs by noted classical singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (Shubh Din Aayo and Prem Jogan ke Sundari Pio Chali) not to mention the Lata Gems (Mohabbat ki Jhooti Kahani pe Roye, Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya) and Mohd. Rafi's Ae Mohabbat Zindabad with a chorus of 100!



Today Naushad leads a retired life in his Bungalow in Bombay, still searching for that perfection.

Very true Abhi. They were all masters and one cannot neglect them.

I just remembered that O P Nayyar composed all the songs of Naya Daur in Raag Piloo!