One song at a time - 11. Two short stories
(Roshan)
"In our times, music was different." This is constant refrain we hear all the while. Our parents heard it from their grandparents, we from our parents and our children from us. (Reminds me of the 'Woodwords Gripewater' advertisement. Every generation in the family saying the same thing.) While it is easy to dismiss such talk as the rambling of a person who is not modern enough, there is generally some truth in it. Music has to change, evolve, move forward etc and in this process something gets added and something gets lost. Whether the march forward is always evolution / revolution or degeneration has always been debated and I don't think anyone has arrived at any conclusion. That is fine, because to many of us the discussion is important. Conclusions be damned !!!One of the major aspects in film music which has changed is the way the song was used earlier. The usage of songs in films had multiple dimensions. Be it conveying the heroines happiness of finding her match, be it the hero singing about nature, the father singing about his helplessness, the inner turmoil of a girl in love, the anguish of homeless people. You get the general idea, right? Any and every situation was ripe for a song.
What we will see today is the way that the song was used to tell a small story within the larger story. Seeing the song gave you a part of the picture. Such songs also helped move the story forward. (Ofcourse it has to be done aesthetically. There are many songs in this genre which can be unbearable.) Nowadays these are quite disparagingly called 'situation songs.' It is very rare in modern times to find such songs in movies. The song and its filming have turned as generic as possible due to the mushrooming of TV music channels and the morphing of many normal TV channels in predominantly music channels. Situation songs do not lend themselves well to the MTV culture which depend a lot on the editor's dexterity with the scissors!! And in the 'India Shining' times, the last thing anyone wants to see is tears in a song!!
Today we will see two such story telling songs. I have picked two instead of one because each of this is a very short song. Both of them are tuned by the master tunesmith, Roshan. The first one we will see is from the movie, 'Tajmahal' and was probably not heard as much as the other songs in this movie like 'jo bhaat tujh mein hai', 'jo vaada kiya tha', 'paaon cholene do'. Yet I consider this short song as the best in this movie. Lata's pitch perfect voice complements Roshan's superb tune. I don't need to explain to you the situation. Once you watch the video, you will know it immediately. The 'hero' to me looks like he is doing a perfect imitation of a robber caught trying to steal chickens on a Friday!! This is basically a ghazal and the lyrics are by Sahir. The arrangements are minimal. Roshan lets Lata's voice and the poetry dominate the scene.
The second song we will see today is from the movie 'Mamta' Music by Roshan and lyrics by Majrooh. A very tender tune lovingly rendered by Hemanth Kumar and Lata. The contrast of the two voices adds to the beauty of this song. Again a song with minimal musical accompaniment. A tune based on Kalyani. Here too something is happening on the screen. Though I have no clue on what is actually happening, since I have not watched this movie, the whole scene is interesting, making you want to watch this movie!!
Song such as these made movie watching a great experience and we must be thankful to the directors and music directors of the past for giving us such songs.
Comments
Chupa Lo Yun - Yes, Rahen Na Rahe Hum became hugely popular. But this subtle fragile piece of composition actually tops that, in terms of mesmerizing tune, heavenly ambience and infectious rendition.One of my most favourite songs!
The 'Tajmahal' / 'Barsat Ki Raat' combination album is just unbeatable. Roshan at his absolute best.
The two songs here showcase the importance of tune and the way Roshan builds the ambience.
Thanks for you informative comments.
Roshan's masterpieces in Chithralekha ("Man re tu kaahe na" which typically tops any Rafi list), Baware Nain are indeed evergreen.
Mamta's Tamil version was "Kaaviya thalaivi" *ing Gemini, Sowcar Janaki. I believe the Tamil version came earlier, and the original was "Uttar Phalguni" in Bengali (also with Suchitra Sen).
I am absolutely not new to such refrains..I used to hear this constantly during my teens.Are we in the same situation now?
Point to ponder!
I have my own views on this..
Though one can talk about 'Generation gap' endlessly,there is a difference between what our previous generation said and what we say now.
Taking a very objective view, it is a fact that what we hear today from Internationally renowned and acclaimed Music Directors cannot be called as Music at all.There may be a few exception alright but these just form a miniscule percentage.
For example, look at the two songs you have discussed.After nearly 5 decades, don't they sound fresh?For sounding fresh, did they use Sound technology?Did they have awards in mind?Did they look at anything else?
What was important to them was the composition-like the legendary story of the Arjuna and the bird!
Thanks a lot Suresh for bringing up such songs that deserve real attention from all generations!
Keep up the good work!!
I am sure there are many who resonate with your comment. The difference between the music of various generations earlier was still related to music!!! Now it has shifted to technology and therein lies the problem. This requires a real detailed post. Maybe I will do this sometime later.
To add to your comment, there is a tape in which Lata speaks about Madanmohan. She says that when Madanmohan heard one of the instrument players going off pitch, he was furious. Shouting, "tum besura bajate ho. sur ke saath bemani karthe ho", (why are you playing out of pitch. Why are you betraying the shruthi) he banged on the glass panel separating him from the musicians, thereby breaking the glass and hurting his hand. Contrast this to what I heard a judge (a musical personality) say on a singing show. "Your voice is good. You were a bit out of pitch in some place. No problems. We can easily correct that in the studio with the pitch correction software!!!"
Therein lies the difference between immortality and instant (but evanescent) fame.
They want to 'sound' different you see :).
Anyway, your replug made me revisit the 2nd song "Chupa Lo Yun" amidst lot of work in office! Tranquility prevails!
keep writing!