One song at a time - 37. Yeh Shaam Ki Tanhaahiyan
(Shankar Jaikishan)
Given the A/C room bound lives that many of us lead, we have forgotten that every day has its own seasons. The winter of the mornings, the summer of the afternoon, the spring of the dusk. Of these, it is dusk which I miss nowadays, either being stuck in my job or in traffic!! I still remember fondly the evenings my friend Bala used to walk from Boiguda via Secunderabad Railway Station all the way to Paradise to have a burger at Universal Bakery. The walk inevitably happened during the time when the day started preparing itself to meet the night. The sound of the birds in tree lined road leading to station, the dim light on the horizon and the vehicles slowly switching on their headlights. A strange feeling comes over you at that time. A feeling that cannot be described in words.
For lovers, it is that time of the day to be with their beloved. If your beloved isn't around, the pain of the separation hits them hard during this hour. I have read many Sangam poems which talk about the pang of separation and many a times it is the twilight hour they refer to. There is something in this hour which makes the heart to yearn for the loved one.
One of the best songs which captures this hour and the pangs of separation perfectly is 'yeh shaam ki tanhaahiyan' from the movie 'Aah'. This song tuned by Shankar Jaikishan is rendered superbly as only Lata can. This Bhoop based beauty so effortlessly captures the intended emotion. The impact of the song in evoking the mood is such that when he went to do a concert in Italy, Illayaraja chose this song instead of his own songs to highlight how musically you can evoke the evening time and the pain of separation. I am not sure if the western ear could discern this mood but for the Indian ear the mood is unmistakable.
Shankar Jaikishen were one of the most famous composers in Hindi film music history. They had created lot of melodies which were huge hits. Their association with Raj Kapoor and his RK films is legendary. As can be expected with music directors who were doing lot of movies, you got some gems and you also got lot of not so great tunes. All said and done, they left a lasting impression on Hindi film music. I would say that only two styles have survived in Hindi film music. One that of Shankar Jaikishen, which came through Kalyanji Anandji, LP and then through Anu Malik. The other style is that of RD Burman. You can even now hear the SJ style in modern Hindi music. The loops, samples and recording techniques may have become modern but the soul of many of the songs still remains similar to what SJ did a long time back. And whenever I go to North India and the cab driver plays his favourite songs, invariably the tune has the style of Shankar Jaikishan!!! While I have to confess that my love for music directors like Madanmohan, Roshan, Salilda, Dada Burman and few others is more than that for SJ's music, I cannot discount the fact that SJ's impact on Hindi film music is very high and also the fact that they did create some very delectable melodies.
Comments
Thanks for the comments. The song that immediately came to my mind (and which also figured in a youtube comment) was 'chaand phir nikla'. And as you mention there are quite a few such bhoop (and associated raga) beauties in Hindi film music which has impacted music directors all over India.
Coming back to the topic, SJ had a special tuning with Raj Kapoor. But in my opinion, they were equally good and sometimes even more, in Non-Raj Kapoor films too. Films like Daag, Patita, Basant Bahaar, seema, Dil Ek Mandir, Dil Apna Aur Preet Paraye etc stand as a testimony of their talent, minus the Raj Kapoor factor.
They loved raagas like Bhairavi, Keeravani and even tried some less familiar (in films) & complex ones like Asavari etc. And interestingly, most of their songs, while retaining the soul & school of thought intact, were very different from one another. even if the raagas were same and the treatment (arrangements) was same, the difference used to be in the basic tune. with other composers, one can feel some similarity, with some of their songs atleast.
Commanding a huge (biggest) orchestra at their disposal, back then, they competed remarkably with other composers.
Now that you reminded me of them, off i go to dig out and listen one of my favourite songs by them: Tu Pyaar ka Saagar hai (Manna Dey sounds divine)
Trivia: Do you know that Shankar Jaikishan were among the first (atleast from film composers) to try fusion music in India? They came up with an jazz-indian classical fusion album way back in 60s.
Thanks for sharing and hats off for your poetic introduction..(that took me to my good old days in Secunderabad)
Aah was scored by the GREAT Salil Chaudhary, not the GOOD Shankar-Jaikishen. It is very important to make this distinction, IMNSHO. More after reading the piece fully.
'Aah' was definitely by Shankar Jaikishen. Not by Salilda. Here is a link which give the stats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankar_Jaikishan#Selected_filmography
The Raj Kapoor film which Salilda scored was 'Jagte Raho'.
'tu pyar ka sagar hai' was also by SJ. The movie was 'Seema'. I think you would have thought of SDB or Naushad since similar such songs exists in movies like 'Amar'(Naushad), and 'Bandini'(S D Burman). A philosophical song which runs in the background. Ex: Mukesh's "o jane wale ho sake toh laut ke aana' from 'Bandini' and Md.Rafi's "insaf ka mandir hai yeh" from 'Amar'.
Next time I open my mouth, I will be careful :-0
Thanks for the comment. As Dr.Venugopal had mentioned earlier, all these songs, 'yeh shaam ki', 'rasik balma' and 'chaand phir nikla' all fall under the same ragam. (Suddha Kalyan)