Naushad Passed Away! - Page 6

andaaz (1949)

Starring
Nargis, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Cuckoo, V.H. Desai, Murad and Sapru

Story
Shums Lucknavi

Screenplay and Dialogues
S. Ali Raza

Cinematography Faredoon Irani

Art Direction Keshav Mistry

Sound Kaushik

Choreography Krishna Kumar

Editing Shamsuddin Kadri

Lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri

Music Naushad

Produced and Directed by
Mehboob Khan

Synopsis

Neeta (Nargis) is saved by Dilip (Dilip Kumar) when her horse veers off control. A friendship develops between the two with Dilip falling in love with Neeta and as it appears her with him. Her father warns her against this friendship with Dilip and her 'modern' ways but Neeta brushes his warning aside. In fact she turns to Dilip's shoulder when her father passes away and even makes him a partner in the family business that she inherits. However it turns out that Neeta is in love with and engaged to Rajan (Raj Kapoor) and marries him once he returns from abroad. When Dilip declares his love for her on her wedding night, she tells him that she has always looked upon him as a friend and nothing more. Rajan soon begins to suspect Neeta's infidelity keeping her away from their little daughter even as Dilip starts getting more and more frustrated under the pressure of his thwarted desire. Things come to a head as there is a violent clash between the two men and Rajan beats Dilip silly. Going out of his mind Dilip turns on Neeta telling her she really loves him and not Rajan. Neeta shoots down the advancing Dilip and is tried for his murder. Rajan comes to know that Neeta has always loved him and no one else but it is too late by now as he himself had testified against her behaviour with Dilip in court. Neeta is sentenced to life imprisonment and when Rajan comes to meet her in jail she implores him to bring her up peoperly and not to let her daughter make the same mistakes she did. If she had only listened to her father's warnings about her 'errant and modern' ways, events would not have come to such an end...

The film

Andaaz is till date regarded as the mother of all triangles (love triangles were made frequently even before Andaaz but such is it's impact on Indian Cinema that whenever the genre of love triangles in Indian Cinema is discussed, the first film that comes to mind is Andaaz!) of Hindi Cinema. The film had everything going for it right from its sensational star cast of Nargis, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Though Andaaz is talked about its unique casting coup of bringing together the superstars Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, it must be admitted that at the time of Andaaz's making, both were just beginning to become stars and hence their coming together is today regarded as a coup and not then when the film was made.

In Andaaz, Mehboob targets the youth of the 1940s whom he felt were wrongly aping western culture, behaviour and fashion and addresses to them the greatness of indian tradition. However this aspect of the film ends up dramatising the contradictory proposition that new, independent India should value capitalist modernization while retaining feudal family and moral values. What really makes this film (regarded as independent India's first 'modern film' looking at its affluent urban class) work is its high production value, technical gloss hitherto unseen in Bollywood (superbly photographed by Faredoon Irani) and of course its highly charged and engrossing dramatic content and lead performances that elevate the film several, several notches above the commonplace.

In fact central to the film are the three superb lead perfomences. Andaaz took Nargis right to the top and established her without doubt as India's finest dramatic actress. Andaaz was one in a series of films where she played a heroine caught in the dilemma of the heart leading to tragic results, the kind of roles played by Patience Cooper in the 1920s. Dilip Kumar too consolidated on his image of paying the tragic lover as he handles the author-backed role of the doomed lover with ease. Raj Kapoor in the more difficult role of the husband suspecting his wife's infidelity more than manages to match strides with Dilip Kumar. Developing an individialistic set of mannerisms overdone for effect, his performance is a total contrast to Dilip Kumar's subtle underplaying and goes extremely extremely well with the flow of the film. The support by Cuckoo, Murad and V.H. Desai is adequate although the comedy sequences with Desai seem to go on and on and add nothing to the film.

The film is a musical triumph for Naushad. Each and every song in the film was a raging hit - Tu Kahe Agar, Jhoom Jhoom ke Nacho Aaj, Tootena Dil Tootena, Hum Aaj Kahin Dil Kho Bhaithe, Uthaye Ja Unke Situm, Tod Diya Dil Mera are among the finest songs that Naushad has composed. The last two sung by Lata Mangeshkar represent her early singing work in the year when she finally broke through to become India's leading playback artist and it is interesting to see her initial singing style highly reminiscent of the great Noorjehan. Further, Naushad uses Mohd. Rafi to sing for Raj Kapoor and Mukesh for Dilip Kumar in a total reversal of singing roles. But again at this state of their careers the Raj-Mukesh and Dilip-Rafi were yet to be solidly established and in fact Mukesh had scored heavily under Naushad's baton singing for Dilip Kumar in Mela (1948), just the previous year.

However what gives Andaaz it's cult status and timelessness is that the film remains startlingly modern even in today's times though propagating traditionalism. And not just due to its Hollywood like gloss and high technical standards. Even as Mehboob on the surface propagates traditional Indian values and questions whether friendship between members of the opposite sex can ever be platonic, somewhere the film aquires an additional depth and layer through the playing of the centre character by Nargis, maybe unintentionally, because Mehboob never spoke on this aspect of the film ever. Though Nargis claims that she was just friends with Dilip Kumar and clearly loves Raj Kapoor whom she has married, she has in fact responded to Dilip Kumar's love for her deep in her heart in Raj's absence. One cannot blame Dilip Kumar. Even the audience feels that she is indeed in love with him. When her father dies, she turns to him rather than Raj and makes him her partner. It is only later that Raj's existence is revealed thus surprising the audience. Mehboob cleverly develops the 'romance' between Dilip Kumar and Nargis. Remember it was 1949 and audiences would not have accepted a woman's friendship with a man when she is already engaged to another. So Mehboob brings in Raj Kapoor as a surprise element. Just when you think the love story is developing between Dilip Kumar and Nargis, she tells him of Raj's arrival and immeditely picks up the threads of her love story with Raj Kapoor. If one knew that Nargis was bethrothed to Raj Kapoor and she was this open with Dilip Kumar, she would have been labelled a slut but bringing him in later not only brings a twist in the tale but heightens the drama of the film. In fact to further push this point home, when Dilip Kumar declares his love for Nargis on her wedding day, her reaction is not one of shock that how could he think my friendship was love but one that only confirms her worst fears thought best unsaid as she finds herself torn between two men. Consequently what comes out is a highly charged and volatile love triangle rising to great levels of Greek tragedy. Thus rather then a film of simply pitting 'Western Modernity' v/s 'Indian Tradition' Andaaz emerges as a timeless classic - a rich, complex journey into the very depth of the human heart. It is perhaps Mehboob's finest film, even Mother India (1957) notwithstanding.

Originally posted by: punjini

Qwestji, the songs of "Ganga Jamuna" are truly great. "Dhoondo shoondo re saajana" is such a wonderful composition. And "nain lad jayi hey" is so catchy and vibrant that one feels like dancing to it!

punjini ji,

Agreed like that song too it is catchy.

😭 this is terrible..may his soul rest in peace 😭

The musical score of Mother India was brilliant as well... I simply cannot get over listening to 'Duniya me hum aaye hain to' and 'Nagri nagri dware dware'... Only naushad could have done justice to a classic like 'Mother India'

Kis kis film ka naam lenge? He has given very good music in numerous films that's commandable. We will never forget him as we will always be humming his songs.

AAN
("Pride"), Hindi, 1952, 162 minutes
Produced and directed by Mehboob Khan
Story: R. S. Chaudhary; Dialogs: S. Ali Raza; Lyrics: Shakil Badayuni; Music: Naushad; Cinematography: Faredoon S. Irani; Art Director: M. R. Acharekar; Sets: D. R. Jadhav; Costumes: Fazal Din, Chagan Jivvan, Alla Ditta

AAN is said to have been India's first technicolor feature, and director Khan went wild with the possibilities, crafting a highly surreal swashbuckler about a princely kingdom that lies, visually speaking, somewhere between Rajasthan and mad King Ludwig's Bavaria. Though there are echoes here and there of the real excesses and hybrid architectural fantasies of India's pre-independence maharajas, as well as themes glorifying peasant resistance and social egalitarianism, mostly this is an over-the-top operatic fairytale that looks, at times, like Disney animation come to life—though Disney would not have dared the out-front eroticism and fashion and footwear fetishism that permeates Mehboob's mise-en-scene. There is clear influence of Hollywood fantasy adventures such as THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (both the 1924 silent version with Douglas Fairbanks and the 1940 sound version with Sabu were well received in India), as well as of imperial Roman spectacles. Indeed, there are few stops that Khan does not eventually pull out, throwing in a camel stampede, a Dungeons-and-Dragons prison complete with rampaging lions, a Joan of Arc-like burning at the stake, and a floridly orientalist dream sequence that looks like something ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev might have hallucinated on LSD.

Nevertheless, those familiar with the director's most famous film, MOTHER INDIA (1957), will also recognize his fondness for sunsets, vast Deccani landscapes (juxtaposed unconcernedly with obvious soundstage simulacra), a Soviet-influenced populism (exemplified by busty women silhouetted against bullock-carts), florid poetic dialog full of Urdu conceits (lover as moth, beloved as flame, etc.), and music, music, music. This is from the famous Badayuni and Naushad team, is all pervasive (twelve songs) and generally excellent.

So is the casting, with Dilip Kumar at the height of his romantic charm as the roguish peasant leader Jai Tilak, and the Bombay Jewish actress Nadira (better known for roles as modernized vixens—e.g., Maya in 1955's SHRI 420) as a terminally proud princess, who favors a semi-dominatrix wardrobe and keeps one eyebrow severely arched throughout most of the movie. Naturally, the farm boy falls for the ice queen big time and much of the film revolves around his taming of this shrew (hint: when she begins to appear in saris, you know it's working), against a backdrop of palace intrigue and rustic exuberance.

An opening narration, against a shot of Jai (Kumar) plowing his field, sketches an idealized Nation in which sturdy yeomen till the land in peacetime but trade their agricultural tools for swords when war threatens—here the community is known as the Haras (historically, this suggests semi-martial landowning castes like the Marathas and Gujars, who have sometimes consolidated their own kingdoms and even empires—though Indian history is hardly the point). The benign Maharaja to whom Jai owes allegiance (Murad), has a cruel younger brother, Prince Shamsher Singh (Premnath), as well as a spirited junior sister (Nadira) given to breaking horses and would-be suitors. Shamsher Singh's ambitions are as flamboyant as his wardrobe, and he conspires to assassinate the raja—who his subjects believe has gone abroad for medical treatment—and to launch an increasingly despotic regime, signaled by his ranging the countryside in a Cadillac convertible and casting lustful eyes on village belles, especially the headstrong Mangala (Nimmi), who loves Jai. This in itself would be enough to set the two men at odds, but for good measure, Jai (who evidently likes challenges) falls in love with Shamsher's icy sister, after taming her wild stallion in a tournament. Though she truly appears to hate him (generally a sign, in Hindi cinema, that love is just around the corner), he woos her by dropping in and out of her Sleeping Beauty-art deco castle, stealing her scarf, squirting her with Holi colors, and dispensing double entendres rich in imagery of romantic martyrdom.

Will this approach eventually work? Will Shamsher Singh, after kidnapping Mangala and trying to rape her, finally get his comeuppance? Will the kindly old Maharaja turn out to not actually be dead but just disguised behind a really ridiculous false beard, and actually intent on abolishing the monarchy and instituting Democracy? Use your imagination, or rather, let Mehboob Khan beguile you with his own more frenzied one, as well as his everything-including-the-kitchen-sink approach to visual spectacle. Dilip Kumar, who had by this time earned a reputation as Bombay's "king of tragedy" and was allegedly beginning to identify too much with his morose characters, is said to have accepted the role of Jai after a psychiatrist advised him to do "lighter" films. Indeed, the good doctor should have been well pleased by AAN, and you should be too.

Naushad remembers Mughal-e-Azam

At 85, music director Naushad Ali is one the few surviving titans associated with the epic Mughal-e-Azam. Most of his colleagues associated with the project have passed into the ages, including illustrious director K Asif.

His unforgettable Pyaar kiya to darna kya has been an anthem for romantic rebellion ever since it was picturised in 1960.

He is very excited about the colourisation of the film and its new look for a new generation as it hits the screen on November 12.

Naushad spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf about recreating the music of the film from mono to Dolby sound. Here are some excerpts:

"I remember clearly when we were told to write Pyaar kiya to darna kya, the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni first came with lyrics like Prem kiya tha chori nahi kari.

I didn't like that and then he came up with the words 'Pyaar kiya to darna kya'. Me, the director, K Asif and Shakeelsaab sat through the night and finished the song by early morning.

Then a problem arose because Asifsaab wanted a line in the lyrics to insult Emperor Akbar, but subtly, with dignity. So we were caught in a bind. Shakeelsaab then came up with the line," 'Aaj kahenge dil ka phasana, jaan bhi chahye le leye zamana, parda nahi jab koi khuda se banda se parda kya'. Asifsaab immediately agreed, and I too said fine. It was six in the morning!

"We went without food and water and don't know how that night passed. I can talk all night about making the music of this film because it really was an epic effort!

Another difficulty was to get the right voice for Tansen in the film. We just didn't know whom to approach. I initiated the idea that we must take Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. I took Asifsaab over there to convince him.

When we met him, he flatly refused to do the song because he was not interested in doing films.

I told him that it was for Tansen, and we all felt there was no one better than him who could do justice to the song.

When Asifsaab intervened, Khansaab was irritated and told him not to talk to him. Asifsaab then told him he would give any amount for him to sing. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan quoted some astronomical amounts, in thousands, which was huge in those times! He thought Asifsaab would reject the offer, but he said the deal was done and thus he sung the song in the film!"

"While re-recording the songs from mono to Dolby, I felt this film was taking on a new life. I got an orchestra from Chennai and did re-recording in nine days for Rs 26 lakhs! If you hear this music in theatres, you will be amazed. It is the same music but the sound quality is different.

I am grateful to music director Uttam Singh and his son, who agreed to work with me and did a fabulous job. I have a pain in my knees and cannot speak much because of my age, but all of us as a team have done a good job. I only hope the people love our work.

I am sure my fans, those who made me, will love it. I hope today's generation also likes it.

These are real classical songs! We used Raag Darbari and Raag Durga, which have touched peoples' hearts. It is unfortunate our countrymen have forgotten Indian classical music."

"Indian music styles are of three types: Baazari, Darbari and Shastriya Sangeet. In Mughal-e-Azam, I have used Shastriya Sangeet. This film has music from the heartland of India, and therefore it is alive even after 44 years of the film.

It is very unfortunate that today's generations don't know about our music. Today, Kaanta laga and Bhel puri kha raha tha are selling in the market. These songs have no lyrics and there is no sense in them!

My only request to audiences is that they must ask filmmakers for good music. I feel our children must know what our music is all about!"

Muslim Ethos In Indian Cinema

Iqbal Masud


In term of quantitative output - more than 800 films a year - the Indian cinema industry is the largest in the world. A major portion of the films constitute 'popular' of 'commercial' cinema. This term is not to be understood in any derogatory sense. Cinema is the main entertainment of the Indian masses and has been so since the 1930s. It has created archetypes, myths, icons which have dominated the Indian consciousness - and the Indian unconscious for the last 50 years. It's a major source of collective fantasy. There is another important aspect of Indian cinema. It caters to the needs of a population dazzlingly diverse in language, religion and culture. Today what is called the 'regional' cinema is as important as Hindi cinema. But Hindi cinema (with which this article will be concerned) was the primary source of themes and styles at least till the late 70s. It was in the domain of popular cinema that the diverse cultures of India met and negotiated their differences. They did not merge but they worked in harmony. In fact 'harmony' is the key world in India cinema. It is the one Indian cultural-industrial structure which has resisted separatism. It's because of this element that Indian cinema has become over the past 50 years - despite its many distortions and contractions - a major instrument of national consolidation - a true unity in diversity. To this 'unity diversity' the Muslim ethos in India has made a notable contribution. What is the 'Muslim ethos' in India? Very briefly, one can answer this question at two levels: a) 'Classical' or high culture - a mix of Arabic-Perso-Turkish elements in historical work, fiction, music and painting such as in the work of poets and novelists like Ghalib, (or today Ms Qurratulain Hyder), artists like Abdur Rahman Chughtai, or the Ustads in the field of music.

b) At a popular or folk level, the work of Urdu dramatists like Aga Hashr Kashmiri used in popular theatre of the 1930s; the Nautanki Folk-theatre culture of Uttar Pradesh, compounded of mythological and folk tales rendered in song-dance and rustic revues in a mix of ornate Urdu and dialect Hindi of north India; and the rich Qawwali musical tradition, sufic in origin and retaining traces of devotional and ecstatic singing today.

As far as cinema is concerned, both these influences are important. The Muslim ethos in Indian cinema was not represented by 'Muslim' artists alone. A host of non-Muslims like Sohrab Modi, Guru Dutt or Shyam Benegal can well claim to be part of the 'Muslim' ethos of north India. There was, and is, certainly a 'Muslim' ethos of Bengal and South India which is equally important. But that deserves fuller treatment elsewhere.

The point is that in the popular entertainment genre par excellence - cinema - the 'Muslim ethos' was an important element since the 1930s - the coming of sound. It diminished after 1947 but remains an important element today. In fact the persistence of the 'Muslim ethos' in Indian cinema today is one of the most hopeful signs of Indian secularism. Manmohan Desai, prolific maker of film hits and part creator of the Amitabh Bachchan legend (the superstar of the 70s who signified the new angry hero culture) has said in a recorded discussion: If the Muslims don't like a film it flops'.

One of the most important elements of the Indian film is music. A great music director, Naushad, brought both the vigour of Uttar Pradesh's folk music and the grace of the old UP Nawab Courts to his immortal music of the 40s and 50s. The dialogue of the 30s and 40s 'Muslim socials' was in Persianised Urdu but even in 'Hindi' films today the dialogue is in Hindustani - perhaps the only place where this 'language' is practiced with ease and confidence.

In this matrix of music and dialogue, 'high' and 'popular' Muslim cultures come together. As late as the 60s, a film villain traps a heroine by using a disguise and quoting Ghalib: 'Badal kar faqiron ka hum bhes ...' Ghalib/'Tamashai-I-abl-I-karam dekhte hain ...' (we put on the garb of a beggar to test the generosity of the rich). The audience understood and applauded the quote.

Today this delicate irony may not be understood. But in the '80s this last couplet of Sahir Ludhianvi sung in a film called Laxmi went to the heart of the audience: 'Halat se ladna mushkil tha balat se rishta jod liya/ Jis raat ki koi subha nahin us raat se rishta jod liya...'. (I could not fight circumstances I compromised/I made a pact with endless night). The couplet lit up the films; it also seemed like an epitaph on Sahir.

I take these two examples to illustrate the Muslim 'ethos' which E.M. Forster once described as an 'attitude towards life both exquisite and durable'. This attitude is denoted by a cultural elegance, irony, stoicism, a throw away humour, and what is called 'grace under pressure'. Certainly such an attitude could be trivialised. But supreme artists like Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Nargis and Shabana Azmi brought to this attitude a meaning and individuality of their own.

It would be appropriate at this stage to look at the Muslim ethos in a chronological fashion modified by the need to pursue specific trends back and forth across decades.

Originally posted by: Qwest

Anol Da, That what prove again what kind of dedication desire and Passion he had for his Music as he said. "I never give up till I am satisfied with the result"

Qwest da - only 64 movies in 66 years - you can imagine amount of dedication went behind single song!!