C Ramachandra

C. Ramchandra: CR was a creative genius who had his own style in composing music. When film Azaad was to be produced in the south, the producer of this film was in a great hurry to remake his Tamil version into Hindi version. So he asked Naushad to give music for the film within a short period of three months. Naushad would never undertake a project with tight time constraints. So he refused the offer. So the producer requested CR and asked him if he could do it within three months. CR accepted the offer and completed the composition of all songs within seven days. CR proved that he could produce very good music even under pressure. Music of the film Azaad was a superduper hit. In fact, along with film Anarkali, music of film Azaad is considered to be CR's lifetime best.

Sometimes, CR also gave playback in his voice. Many a times, his voice sounded like that of Talat Mehmood. So when Talat fell sick on the recording day for the song 'Kitna haseen hai mausam' for the film Azaad, CR decided to sing it himself. He sang it very well and it was very close to Talat's voice. Similarly, he sang two songs for his film Baarish, which again sounded like Talat's voice.

Before CR came on the scene, many other music directors worked on the music composition for film Anarkali (1954). The producer of this film kept replacing music directors. It was like a revolving door. Finally, CR stepped in and fine tuned all the songs and gave one of the best music of his career. During the composition of the intoxicating song 'Mohobbat me aise kadam dagmagaaye' for this film, CR had a problem in fitting a proper word after '…peeke aaye' as there was a small gap. He decided to go home to think more about it. On his way back home, he bought lots of grocery and then while climbing the stairs of his home with heavy grocery bags, he started getting hiccups. Suddenly, he realized that he could use hiccups after '…peeke aaye'. After entering his home, he immediately played the tune on his harmonium with a hiccup added at the end. The gap after the lyrics '…peeke aaye' was filled up and the song was completed. Next day, he recorded this song with Lata's voice and when Beena Rai as Anarkali sang this song on the screen with a hiccup, the effect was tremendous.

CR accepted suggestions from other music directors as well. In his song "Ye zindagi usi ki hain" (Film: Anarkali), he accepted the suggestion from music director Roshan to add "Alvida" at the end of the song which made the situation very effective in the last scene of the Film Anarkali when this song was sung by actress Bina Rai as Anarkali.

CR also gave suggestions to other music directors. He suggested to S.D. Burman to add 'La la la la' in the song 'Thandi hawayen' (Film: Naujawan), which SDB gladly accepted and implemented. With this addition, the song became even more romantic.

Gr8t job Swar_Raj,Thanks a lot for this post.

Name : C Ramchandra

Full / Real Name : Ramchandra Narahar Chitalkar

Born :

Died : 5 Jan 1982

Notable Films : Anarkali, Azad, Albela, Asha, Jhanjhar, Navrang, Parchhain, Patanga, Sagai, Stree, Yasmin

Contributed by : Neha Desai

Chitalkar Narhar Ramchandra, also called Annasaheb fondly, was born in 1918 in Punatambe, Maharashtra. He studied music under Vinayakbua Patwardhan at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school. His first movie as an actor was Y.V.Rao's flop NAAGANAND. After a short stint with Marathi cinema, then Centered around Kolhapur, he veered towards Bombay and landed in a film directed by Sohrab Modi for his Minerva Movietone. Modi despaired over young Ramchandra's acting ability but recognised his ability as a harmonium player. A fateful shift to the music department followed. He became a harmonium accompanyist for Minerva composers Bindu Khan and Habib Khan in a 1939 film PUKAAR. He debuted as a music director in Tamil films with JAYAKODDI(1939) and VANMOHINI. His first Hindi movie as an independent MD was SUKHI JEEVAN(1942)for Master Bhagwan, which established a long-term association that culminated with the musical megahit ALBELA. Briefly turned producer with New Sai Prod. in 1953 with JHANJHAR, LEHAREIN, and DUNIYA GOL HAI. Influenced by Benny Goodman, he introduced e.g. the alto sax in combination with guitar and harmonica, also whistling in one of his most famous songs 'aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday' in SHEHNAI. He also used a bongo, oboe, trumpet, clarinet and sax combination for 'shola jo bhadke' in ALBELA. He also introduced scat singing in AASHA. In SHIN SHINAAKI BOOBLA BOO, he featured his own voice along with Lata's to sing the title song, and incorporated the authentic blue note and rhythm. The raw blue sound seems not have been capitalized on by our composers. The Kishore- Rafi duet from OP's BHAAGAMBHAAG ("chhoD chaley pyaari duniyaa ko") and Asha's brilliantly rendered "tum jaiso.n ko to paayal mei.n baandh loo.n" from RD's GARAM MASAALA are by far the only ones that readily comes to mind. He sang a number of songs using the name 'Chitalkar', mostly of his own composition. He was a tellingly effective match for Bhagwan (Albela) and for Raj Kapoor (Sargam), but did not quite do justice to this aspect of his music. For Azad, he had lined up Talat Mahmood to sing "kitna haseen hai mausam" but an emergency kept the singer from attending the recording. Ramchandra went ahead and recorded the song in his own voice, doing a fairly good imitation of the famed Talat tones. Outside of the Hindi space, Anna worked on Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Bhojpuri films. His style has inspired an entire generation of composers from the South. Quite a few of them have gone to school on the soft Chitalkar signature. His fallout with Lata also signalled a major downturn in his music and his popularity. The Lata solo from the 1966 PAAYAL KI JHANKAAR ("tu aaye na aaye magar jaane waale") may well be her last song for CR. To overcome a fallow period in the late 60s, he relaunched himself as music director, producer and actor in successful Marathi films: DHANANJAY, GHARKUL. His autobiography in marathi called 'majhya jeevanachi sargam' (Melody of my life) was published in 1977. On 22nd December 1981, he was admitted to the KEM hospital in Mumbai. He had been suffering from ulcers for some time. He was 72 when he breathed his last on 5th January, 1982. His death left behind a vacuum and a silence. Always open and generous, Ramchandra created one of the strongest musical signatures in the business. The gentle orchestration, the clean melody devoid totally of unnecessary complications, a light approach to orchestration except when the situation really demanded it, total understanding of the Mangeshkar voices - the end result carried that unmistakable CR stamp.

He was not in the least embarrassed about borrowing the occasional musical phrase from his colleagues, as exemplified by the opening bars of "tum kyaa jaano", a Hemanta Mukherji orignial from the Bengali SOORYATORAN. Perhaps there was a special bond between the two contemporaries. Perhaps they shared their views on the virtues of simplicity. One doesn't quite know.

http://thaxi.usc.edu/rmim/cisb/Profiles/CRamchandra.html

Narhar Chitalkar Ramchandra: A Biography
(1918-82)
Source: 'Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema', British Film Institute, 1999
(By Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen)

Composer born in Putnatambe, Maharashtra. Best known as C.Ramachandra but also signed his name as Annasaheb (Bahadur Pratap, Matwale, Madadgaar), Ram Chitalkar (Sukhi Jeevan, Badla, Mr Jhatpat, Bahadur, Dosti), Shyamoo (Yeh Hai Duniya). Often sang and acted in Marathi films under the name R.N.Chitalkar. Music student under Vinayakbua Patwardhan at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school. Joined films playing the lead in Y.V.Rao's flop, Naganand. Then bit roles at Minerva Movietone (Saeed-e-Havas, Atma Tarang). Became Harmonium accompanyist for Minerva composers Bindu Khan and Habib Khan. Debut as music director in Tamil films with Jayakkodi and Vanamohini. Broke through as composer in Master Bhagwan's Sukhi Jeevan, establishing a long-term association that culminated with the musical megahit Albela. Influenced by Benny Goodman, he introduced e.g. the alto sax in combination with guitar and harmonica, also whistling in one of his most famous songs, Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday in Shehnai. Used a bongo, oboe, trumpet, clarinet and sax combination for Shola Jo Bhadke in Albela. Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo featured him singing the title song with Lata Mangeshkar assimilating some rock rhythms. Introduced scat singing for Ina mina dika in Aasha. Worked on Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Bhojpuri films. Briefly turned producer with New Sai Prod. in 1953 (Jhanjhar, Lehren, Duniya Gol Hai). To overcome a fallow period in the late 60s, he relaunched himself as music director, producer and actor in successful Marathi films: Dhananjay, Gharkul. Autobiography published in 1977.

http://www.indianmelody.com/cramachandraarticle1.htm

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