Anarkali - The Magic of C.Ramchandra

The gentle giant who was affectionately known by several names: Annasaheb, Chitalkar and mostly as C Ramchandra, was born in Punatamba, Maharashtra in the year 1918. He was a student of Vinayakbua Patwardhan at Gandharva Maha Vidyalaya music school. He joined films with Y.V.Rao's flop, Naganand followed by chuck roles in Minerva Movietone (Saeed-e-Havas, Atma Tarang). He became a Harmonium accompanyist for Minerva composers Bindu Khan and Habib Khan. He often got opportunities to sing and act in Marathi films.

His debut film as a music director was in Tamil films with Jayakkodi and Vanamohini. He got his first Hindi film, Bhagwan's Sukhi Jiwan, in 1942. Ramchandra's juvenile songs may be sub-divided into those with highly westernized male and / or female choruses, duets or quawwalis. The mood of these songs was zany, saucy, raucous, irreverent, mischief-laden..joyful noice. The composer's natural ebullience, boyish vigor and state of camaraderie with the young man of the Hindi cinema are evident here. It was 'let's have a good time' music; on the screen the purveyors of these songs were either the raunchy comedy team of Yakub and Gope (Patanga, Saaqi, etc.) or the funnyman Bhagwan (Albela, Shin Shinaki Bubla Boo, etc.) who was often Ramchandra's juvenile persona on the screen.

An outstanding feature of many of these songs is their intense curiosity about western mores and manners; they often employed western musical idioms in exaggerated fashion either for satire or irony. These songs mirrored the curiosity of the educated, urbanized Indian youth of British India regarding their colonizers. Popular belief has it that Ramchandra introduced rock 'n' roll in India before it became a rage in the west. This is a paltry statement in the face of his numerous experiments in western/Indian and middle-eastern styles. For example, in 'Meri Jaan..Sunday Ke Sunday..' (Shehnai) he introduced the Benny Goodman style of jazz clarinet in combination with an Indian melody. The song is infused with hilarious verbal and musical incongruities resulting in a comical effect. Other westernized songs e.g. 'Shola Jo Bhadke..' and 'Ye Diwana Ye Parwana..' (Albela) employed cabaret type dance feturing bongo drums, oboes, clarinets, trumpets, saxophones, etc. The spirit and atmoshphere of these songs convey much hilarity, exuberance and gaiety of the sort one finds in opera comique of Jacques Offenbach.

Those who lavish extravagant praise - richly deserved, of course on the filmi ghazals of Madan Mohan and Khaiyyam, forget that C Ramchandra composed some of the most exemplary song in this genre. One need only to point to those sung by Lata or by Talat Mehmood in Parchhain, Yasmin and Kavi. Furthermore, those who simplistically claim that Lata Mangeshkar was at her best under Madan Mohan's baton engage in cruel, selective memory. Song upon song composed by Ramchandra for Lata Mangeshkar belie those contentions. Moreover, it is conveniently forgotten that Madan Mohan worked under Ramchandra for the songs od Shabistan (1951). No wonder, then, that Madan Mohan's music has an underlying Ramchandran flavour. The supreme lyricism of their melodies united them; further, their orchestra had similar sound and ambience. Except that Ramchandra's string section (violin) had a more dancing , 'waltzing' sound. In a Madan Mohan song the 'waltzing' effect was more muted, to create a more somber sound.

It is noteworthy that although C Ramchandra was most commonly associated with lyricists Rajendra Krishan and Santhoshi. In Anarkali he worked with three lyricists, Krishan, Shailendra, and Hasrat Jaipuri. In his later he employed Noor Lakhnavi (Parchhain), Jan Nissar Akhtar (Yasmin), Pradeep (Nastik), Shakeel Badayuni (Zindagi Aur Maut) and others. The diversity of poetic sources notwithstanding, his style remained intact.

If in the mid 50's someone had suggested that the artesian well of Ramchandra's creativity would shortly run dry, he would have invited scornful ridicule. And yet, this is exactly what happened. By the early 60's Ramchandra had fallen silent..this silence became permanent on January 5, 1982. He worked on Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Bhojpuri films. And briefly he turned producer with New Sai Productions in 1953 and produced Jhanjhar, Lehren, Duniya Gol Hai under his banner. In the late 60s, he composed for successful Marathi films: Dhananjay, Gharkul. He got his autobiography published in the year 1977.

C.Ramachnadra's "sham dhale khidki tale " from the movie "albela"became a rage in the 1950's. In fact he popularised fusion music with Albela.

Another catchy song from Albela is "shola jo bhadke". Then Eina mina dika is another song, which gets you into the foot tapping mood.

"Aadha hain chandrama,raat aadhi " -this is another song of his that I can remember. Bechain nazar,betaab jigar from yasmin is another song that i can remeber and offcourse the great Anarkali songs..

He had a distinct style and his songs always left an impression behind.

Thanks guys, I will post the links from youtube here, this is one of the movie's where I know I will only hear or watch the songs

Yeh Zindagi Usi ki hai

Aaja Ab To Aaja

Muhabbat aisi Dhadkan hai

will update as I finish watching 😉

C Ramchandra sings: Tum kia jano

*C Ramchandra, also known as Chitalkar, visited UK in 1979 and sang in aprivate gathering at Dr Mukund Joshi's residence in Birmingham. He was recorded on ordinary cassette recorder. We are grateful to Dr Joshi. Compiled and digitally processed by RAAbidi

1 Tum kia jano – C Ramchandra sings in a private gathering*

Tum kia jano – Lata – film Shinshinaki-Booblabu 1952

2 Aaja ab to aaja – Lata – film Anarkali 1953

3 Abhi sham aayegi – Lata – film Samadhi 1950

4 Aplam chaplam – Lata & Usha – film Azad 1955

5 Apni kaho – Talat & Lata – film Parchhain 1952

6 Apni nakami se mujh ko – Talat – film Subha ka tara 1954

7 Balma bada nadaan – Lata – film Albela 1951

8 Be'chen nazar betaab jigar – Talat – film Yasmin 1955

9 Chamka subha ka tara – Talat & Lata – film Subha ka tara 1954

10 Dil dhadke nazar sharmaye – Lata – film Albela 1951

11 Dil ki kahani kehna jo chahen – Lata – film Sagai 1951

12 Dil unko dhoondta hai – Lata – film Yasmin 1955

13 Do din ki zindagani – Lata, Sarswati Rane & chorus – film Sargam 1950

14 Dua kar gham-e-dil – Lata – film Anarkali 1953

15 Esi mohabbat se ham baaz aye – Lata – film Nirala 1950

16 Gham ki vadi main khushi ka karvan – Lata – film Saqi 1952

17 Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag – Hemant & Lata – film Anarkali 1953

18 Yeh zindagi usi ki hai – Lata – film Anarkali 1953

19 Mohabbat hi na jo samjhe' – C Ramchandra sings in a private concert*

Mohabbat hi na jo samjhe' – Talat – film Parchhain 1952