One Song at a time - 52. Suno Sajna Papihe Ne

 (Lakshmikanth Pyarelal)

The last song on the 'Chitrahaar' program was 'suno sajna'. We had all gathered in the TV room of or gymkhana to watch the program. Once it ended, the discussion started. Those were the times when we were learning to identify the signature of the music directors. Who could be the music director of this song? Was it Madanmohan or Roshan or Salil? Lot of names were proposed by Siva and me and were disposed off. Probably unable to overcome his hunger pangs, a vexed Krishnamohan said, "For all the debate, it may end up being a Lakshmikanth Pyarelal song." All of us laughed out loud. The discussion ended with us proceeding to the canteen for dinner.

It was Lakshmikanth Pyarelal who had the last laugh. That song from the movie, 'Aaye Din Bahar Ke', was indeed tuned by them. The incident clearly indicates the image that Lakshmikanth Pyarelal had in our midst. We had grown up with lot of their songs and unfortunately could associate only mediocre songs with them. Some of the songs like 'mere naseeb mein tu hai ki nahi' still give me the creeps. They scored for lot of Amitabh movies and also big budget movies. The tunes were functional, the orchestration cliched. Overall a lot of uninspired music in Hindi films happened during the best years of our childhood. So it was no surprise that we could not associate 'suno sajna'  with Lakshmikanth Pyarelal.

They did start out well with songs from movies like  'Parasmani', 'Dosti', Milan' being liked by many. They got the big banner, big budget, showman directors movies. Unfortunately they couldn't really break away from the requirements of commercial cinema to give melodious music. While they did show their capability to produce a good melody once in a while, for most part they were content with giving middle-of-the-road songs. For us, when we hear a jaded song, we immediately ask if it is a LP song whereas a good melody immediately gets associated with other music directors. Many of the great music directors are known for the great melodies but LP on the other hand bring forth memories of the enormous mediocre output. This is unfortunate but that is how their image has got burnt into my memory.

Yet, they have given some nice melodies like the the song for today, 'suno sajna'. If only they had tried more melodies in this mould...


Comments

Raj said…
This is a revelation..
Though I have listened to this many times,I had never wondered who the composer could be..
And if somebody had told me 'LP', I would have had a hearty laugh and moved away..

Great composition..

I feel it follows the Bilawal scale(more or less)..
Suresh S said…
Hi Raj,

Exactly. Somehow it is very difficult to associate this with LP.

Another friend also said it seems to be following Bilawal. Though the initial part does have some Kalyani tinge. Another person said it could be Shyam Kalyan. So I am confused :)
Raj said…
Bilawal does allow the sparing use of Teevra Madhyam..

That is why that KalyaNi feel..
Anonymous said…
This pretty Lata's song was composed in Raag Behaag. The song was made in the studio when Pandit Hariprasad was just playing a bit on his flute. Inspired by it, Lakshmikant asked him to further eloborate it. Then came this beautiful version. This was the fact told by Pandit himself on AIR (Vividh Bharati- Sangeet Sarita at 07.30 AM). Few beautiful melodies in Telugu in this Raagam are: Manasu paadindi sannaayi paata (composed by Ghantasala), ilaku digina andala taaravo ( composer: S Hanumantha Rao, elder brother of S Rajeshwara Rao), siri siri laali chinnaari laali( C:S.Rajeshwararao, sung by S Janaki & Dr Balamurali) along with Narayanate namo namo (Annamayya samkeertan)
Suresh S said…
Venugopal Gaaru,

Nice to know that this song was inspired by Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute bit. So in a way we must thank him for the song then :)

I have heard 'manasu paadindhi'. That is a lovely song. I haven't heard the other two songs. I shall try and get them. I love 'manasu paadindhi'. Excellent singing by Ghantasala and Susheela.
Anonymous said…
Well, I forgot two more- Neevaina cheppave o murali, a Ghantasala-Suseela duet in Behag raagam from Shri Krushna Anjaneya Yuddham, composed by T V Raju and Sridevini nee deverini, sung by S Varalakshmi from Shri Venkateshwara Mahatmyam (composed by Pendyala). The young artiste Apoorva Gajjala (Saregama fame) though likes to render Asha's versatile songs, has never done unjustice while singing 'Suno sazna' on stage. Another raagam -Maroo Behag is similar but differs a lot. For this, examples are: Tumko pyaar ho saznaa (Sahra), Jamuna kinaare -- radhaa (mehbooba).
Aakarsh said…
A joint favourite of everyone in my family. Your opinion on LP matches very much with mine, although I must say that you have sugarcoated your opinion pretty well with less strong words :-)

I feel that they are plain Lucky, to be born in that era - that their name gets tagged everytime people list out great composers of that era. In my opinion, there were no great shakes and many a time, I see people comparing them with R.D.Burman, which i feel is not at all justified. The commercialization of Hindi Film Music, stripped of all the beauty/elegance/class was in its full glory in their repertoire. Shankar Jaikishan planted the seeds to such commercialization, although they have given some phenomenal compositions that can outweigh all their mediocre numbers. LP couldnt redeem their mediocre numbers with such degree of stunning work.
But yes, they did give "few" good compositions like these which are undeniably great. That too till late 70s. In 80s, they did surprise us with some good music in films like Utsav, a rarity... but otherwise, they delivered junk...

I shall remember them for those few selected great songs from Parasmani, Saraswati chandra, Aaye din bahar ke etc.


PS1: My wife is quite famous among our friends/relatives for her rendition of this song - she sings it very well.

PS2: I think R.D.Burman did a reverse-integration kind of thing, to this song, for his phenomenal "Jaane Kya Soch Kar Nahi Guzraa" in Gulzar's film Kinaara. The similarity is extremely mild, confined only to few notes probably. Or it cant be just a coincidence!
Suresh S said…
Kamal,

To a certain extent I have probably sugar coated :) Didn't want to sound too harsh.

BTW, Saraswathi Chandra is by Kalyanji Anandji.

Must listen to Harini sing this song next time we meet.

I personally think this song is more akin to 'yu neend se woh jaane chaman' from 'Dard Ka RIshta'.

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