One song at a time - 41. Amay Prasno / Kahin Door

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It is always interesting to compare and contrast two versions of the same song sung in different languages by different singers. I am not talking about dubbed movies but where the songs were made in each of the language with the same intensity and was a hit in each of these languages. Rafi's "chal ud jaa re panchi' from Bhabi can be contrasted with Ghantasala's rendition of the same song in Telugu, "payaninche o chiluka". (If fans of respective singers are involved in this comparison business it can lead to bloodshed. Just check out the youtube comments for this Telugu song!!) 

A movie which moved everyone to tears and made Rajesh Khanna almost a legend was 'Anand'. Other than Rajesh Khanna's acting, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's direction, the film is also known for its superb music. How many films can boast of songs like, 'maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chuni', 'naa jiya laage na', 'zindagi kaisi hai paheli' and the song we will see today, 'kahin door jab din dal jaaye'. Salilda's stamps his magic on each of these songs. What melody, what innovation!!! 

For a long time I was not aware that 'kahin door jab din daljaye' had a Bengali counterpart (which ofcourse is the original.) I bought a CD of Bengali songs composed by Salilda and was pleasantly surprised to find the Bengali version of this song. The Bengali version is sung by Hemanta Mukherjee (aka Hemant Kumar) and goes, "amay prasno kare'. His baritone voice adds so much depth to the song. While I cannot understand more than a couple of words in this song, I can't miss the sheer beauty of Bengali language. The words sound so soft as if saying anything harsh may wake up a sleeping infant. Salilda, as usual, works his magic both in the tune and the interludes. The song overall is very soothing. Listening to it late in the evening, sitting on your balcony, when all city traffic sounds have ceased, will be a good antidote for all the stress we develop within ourselves.



Now let us listen to the Hindi version. What a contrast the voices are. While Hematda's is a bass voice, we have Mukesh here starting off in his nasal voice. In some places it is sung a bit more loudly than the Hemantda's version. Yet the song sounds equally sweet in its Hindi version as well. That you understand this language does have a bearing on your enjoyment. We can dissect this further but I will leave it here.

I always believe that in case of music, more the merrier. So instead of being a fan of any singer, I just take both of them. And my joy doubles.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well! Music has no language barriers as MUSIC intself is a universal language and it is gr8 to hear both as you mentioned. Both sound good to me.
June 4, 2011 at 3:27 AM
Venkatesh said…
>when all city traffic
>sounds have ceased

And when will _that_ happen?!
June 4, 2011 at 5:01 AM
Raj said…
Thanks for sharing!

Recently, my wife sang Rabindra Sangeet to an invited audience and I was amazed to disover the striking similarities between the songs and the old hindi film tunes.But again, there is nothing wrong in getting inspired and that too by one of the greatest poets the world has seen..

Here too, the 'Anand' version is not a carbon copy of the original..And maybe because of the familiarity factor, I prefer the Hindi one..
June 5, 2011 at 4:52 AM
Suresh S said…
Venkatesh,

:)

Raj,

It is indeed true that lot of Bengali music had transposed itself into Hindi film music. That would be natural given the number of directors and music directors who came from Bengal. My another friend in an email had also pointed out the Rabindrasangeeth influence on Hindi music.
June 6, 2011 at 10:26 PM
Aakarsh said…
I heard the Hemant Kumar's version about 8 years ago. Beautiful composition! The tune somehow has a very breezy feel to it. Probably thats why Hrishikesh Mukherjee choose it for Anand.
June 8, 2011 at 12:37 AM
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