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The National Award wasn't widely understood then. It was not getting the Filmfare Award that really bothered my father. In the year when Mera Saaya was in the reckoning, he told us that all the issues of Filmfare had been bought. I'm not saying there was any cheating but when consumers had to fill in the coupons about their choices, it was so easy to manipulate the awards. I think my father lost out because he couldn't play such games.
My father was very sentimental. He cried easily. There was a very good arranger called Sonik who later became a composing duo with his nephew, Sonik-Omi. Sonik would arrange the songs for my father. Omi, who was the spokesperson of the two, said in an interview after my father died, that most of Madan Mohan's tunes were composed by Sonik. My question to them is--why didn't Sonik-Omi come up with one memorable tune when they were on their own?
My father's favourite sitar player was the renowned Rais Khan. If you've heard the Madan Mohan compositions carefully, you'd know that the sitar base is very crucial. Rais Khan claimed that he had composed all the sitar interludes. It's possible that he did. The point is, they sat together and worked in a room.
My father was so fond of Rais Khan that when there was a musical soiree at our home, he would invite Rais Khan to play the sitar. My father was too embarrassed to discuss money with his friend, so he told his manager to ask Rais Khan what kind of money he should be paid. Rais Khan took tremendous umbrage. A few days later, he called up my father and said there's a wedding at a friend's house and would my father like to sing there. If yes, how much money would he charge?
My father was very, very hurt. He decided that Rais Khan would never again play in his songs. From that day onwards, in 1972 to the day he died, the sitar disappeared from Madan Mohan's tunes.
He was a Sagittarian and completely emotional. My father never used the ghazal as a ghazal per se. He used it as a love song, a sad song etc. Like Zameen se hamen aasman par in Adalat and Aapko pyar chhupane ki buri aadat hai in Neela Aakash. At times, he even copied Western tunes. Like Dil dil se milakar dekho in Memsaab.
But because the ghazal was his forte he became typecast. Naushad goes on and on about the two ghazals from Anpadh -- Aap ki nazron ne samjha and Hai isi mein pyar ki abroo being equal to his entire oeuvre. I don't remember him saying that when my father was alive.
I'll tell you something about Naushad sa'ab. My father used to take us to his house for dinner every two or three months. I remember hearing the songs of K Asif's Love And God at Naushad sa'ab's house. On our way home my father praised his songs wholeheartedly.
I vividly remember attending a recording for the song Chhayee barkha bahaar in Chirag. While Lataji was at the mike, my father said, "See how I'm going to make her say chhayee." The word actually spreads itself out when she sings it.
It was a very tough song to put together. The musicians were making a lot of mistakes. Lataji had to sing it about 15 times to get it right in one take. I remember asking her if she was exhausted. She said, "What to do? Most of my biggest hits have been sung at my tired worst". Today, of course, it isn't like that. Everything is dubbed.
For the doli song in Heer Ranjha, the main theme was derived from traditional sources. But all the antaras were my father's, I remember everyone was crying at the end of the recording. Kaifi Azmi, his wife Shaukat, Chetan Anand. They all went up to Lataji and my father to say, "You made us cry."
The National Award wasn't widely understood then. It was not getting the Filmfare Award that really bothered my father. In the year when Mera Saaya was in the reckoning, he told us that all the issues of Filmfare had been bought. I'm not saying there was any cheating but when consumers had to fill in the coupons about their choices, it was so easy to manipulate the awards. I think my father lost out because he couldn't play such games.
My father was very sentimental. He cried easily. There was a very good arranger called Sonik who later became a composing duo with his nephew, Sonik-Omi. Sonik would arrange the songs for my father. Omi, who was the spokesperson of the two, said in an interview after my father died, that most of Madan Mohan's tunes were composed by Sonik. My question to them is--why didn't Sonik-Omi come up with one memorable tune when they were on their own?
My father's favourite sitar player was the renowned Rais Khan. If you've heard the Madan Mohan compositions carefully, you'd know that the sitar base is very crucial. Rais Khan claimed that he had composed all the sitar interludes. It's possible that he did. The point is, they sat together and worked in a room.
My father was so fond of Rais Khan that when there was a musical soiree at our home, he would invite Rais Khan to play the sitar. My father was too embarrassed to discuss money with his friend, so he told his manager to ask Rais Khan what kind of money he should be paid. Rais Khan took tremendous umbrage. A few days later, he called up my father and said there's a wedding at a friend's house and would my father like to sing there. If yes, how much money would he charge?
My father was very, very hurt. He decided that Rais Khan would never again play in his songs. From that day onwards, in 1972 to the day he died, the sitar disappeared from Madan Mohan's tunes.
He was a Sagittarian and completely emotional. My father never used the ghazal as a ghazal per se. He used it as a love song, a sad song etc. Like Zameen se hamen aasman par in Adalat and Aapko pyar chhupane ki buri aadat hai in Neela Aakash. At times, he even copied Western tunes. Like Dil dil se milakar dekho in Memsaab.
But because the ghazal was his forte he became typecast. Naushad goes on and on about the two ghazals from Anpadh -- Aap ki nazron ne samjha and Hai isi mein pyar ki abroo being equal to his entire oeuvre. I don't remember him saying that when my father was alive.
I'll tell you something about Naushad sa'ab. My father used to take us to his house for dinner every two or three months. I remember hearing the songs of K Asif's Love And God at Naushad sa'ab's house. On our way home my father praised his songs wholeheartedly.
I vividly remember attending a recording for the song Chhayee barkha bahaar in Chirag. While Lataji was at the mike, my father said, "See how I'm going to make her say chhayee." The word actually spreads itself out when she sings it.
It was a very tough song to put together. The musicians were making a lot of mistakes. Lataji had to sing it about 15 times to get it right in one take. I remember asking her if she was exhausted. She said, "What to do? Most of my biggest hits have been sung at my tired worst". Today, of course, it isn't like that. Everything is dubbed.
For the doli song in Heer Ranjha, the main theme was derived from traditional sources. But all the antaras were my father's, I remember everyone was crying at the end of the recording. Kaifi Azmi, his wife Shaukat, Chetan Anand. They all went up to Lataji and my father to say, "You made us cry."
