Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen : Part 10 - The Early 60s - The Undisputed Queen
Every music lover has their own concept of what was the Golden Era of Hindi film music. Some, like me, believe that the late 40s and the early 50s were the greatest time for Hindi film music. Some claim the 60s, and some love the RD Burman era of the 70s. Whatever it may be, when it comes to Lata, as far as popular imagination is concerned, her greatest 'hits' happen to be in the 60s. (Of course, it is not logical to divide musical progress by decades. It is not as if when the decade changed, some changes abruptly happen. This is more for our convenience.) Before some of the lovers of 1950s Lata ger angry with me, I want to state that the decade of the 60s has the most number of hits that are still present in the popular imagination. These songs define Lata to even the current generation of music lovers.
The music directors, who were initially responsible for providing Lata with hits and guidance, were slowly fading away, and newer music directors were making a name for themselves in the 60s. Anil Biswas was not actively involved in the 1960s musical scene. Neither was Sajjad Hussain. Music directors like Salil Choudhary, Madan Mohan, and Roshan, who had made a mark in the 1950s, gave some of their biggest hits in the 1960s. Shankar Jaikishen and S D Burman were still in top form, and newer music directors like R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, and Laxmikanth Pyarelal entered the scene in the first of the 60s. All of them gave major hits using Lata's voice.
Lata, by the early 60s, had become the undisputed numero uno. She had found her own voice by the mid-50s, and by the early 60s, her signature was clearly visible in every song. She proved that she could sing any kind of song. By this time, she has become the female singer of choice for all music directors (with the exception of O P Nayyar.) And it is no wonder that everyone wanted her to sing under their baton because she delivered major hits for every one of them.
In this part, we will look at Lata's hit songs under various music directors in the first half of the 1960s. These are just a sample. The actual number of hits of Lata from this period is humungous, and I am just providing you with a very small sample here.
Let start with a song that uses Lata's voice to great effect. 'kahin deep jale kahin dil' from 'Bees Saal Baad' (1962). Music of Hemant Kumar. Lyrics of Shakeel Badayuni.
This song probably defined how a haunting song should be tuned. You can see the effect of this song on later-day composers like Madanmohan and even Illayaraja. Lata's voice is perfect for this song. The voice modulation she does is perfect for this song. She has already sung, 'aayega aanewala', another song in this genre earlier for 'Mahal.'
'naina barse rhim jhim rim jhim' from 'Woh Kaun Thi' (1964). Music of Madanmohan. Lyrics by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.
Another haunting song in Lata's voice. Madanmohan takes the haunting song to greater heights. Lata's voice echoes the haunting effect perfectly. In this song, her brilliant ability to modulate her voice comes to the fore. The way she controls her voice in the song or the humming is a master class on the volume control. The way her voice trails at the end of each antara adds to the overall effect. This is a song where we can, without being contradicted, say that Madanmohan would not have composed this song had Lata not been present. This song requires the voice of Lata. Madanmohan and Lata went on to create a huge number of everlasting songs. We will cover the Lata - Madanmohan combination in a different episode.
Next, we will look at another song that always appears in the 'Best of Lata' kind of collection: from the movie 'Parakh' (1960), the indescribable melody, 'O sajna barkha bahar aayi.' Music of Salil Chaudhary. Lyrics by Shailendra.
Salilda was a maverick genius, and his compositions were not straightforward. They were a result of complex musical thoughts. You can hear that complexity in this song as well. The way 'tere hi khwab mein so gaye' should be sung and the change in the pace of the rhythm towards the end of the antara are all challenges thrown at the singer. Lata effortlessly grapples with these challenges. You can hear the confident tone in her voice. The first antara has a different tune compared to the second antara, which is not always the case. This is one more melody that required someone as confident as Lata to deliver it. Her voice is in top form, the modulations are spot on, and as usual, in Salilda's compositions, volume control is an essential part, and Lata was a master in that aspect, as can be heard in this song.
Roshan was another music director who gave some immortal melodies to Lata. Their combination peaked in the 1960s. Here is a gem of a song from 'Tajmahal', 'jurm-e-ulfat.' Lyrics by Sahir Ludhyanvi.
Roshan's tune drips the melody right from the initial humming, and Lata complements the melody with honey in her voice. A ghazal that is composed to be extremely melodic. The pace is slow, and Lata has a tight grip on the pace. Roshan uses Lata's voice mostly in the mid and lower registers, and it is clear that Lata need not touch the heavens all the time. There is so much melody all across the vocal range for her.
Up next is a Shankar Jaikishen hit, 'ajeeb dastan hai yeh' (1960). From the movie, 'Dil Apna Preet Paraya.' Lyrics of Shailendra.
This was one more hit from the Shankar Jaikishen stable and is heard even to this day. The tune, when compared to the other tunes we saw earlier, is fairly straightforward, and Lata would not have had much difficulty singing the song. Her ability to keep a perfect pace and the melody in her voice helps the song, but my own feeling is that this song would have been a hit even if someone else had sung it.
There were a lot of Lata - S D Burman hits and 'piya tose naina large re' is an undisputed immortal song in their combination.
This song has so many twists and turns and uses Lata's voice to the fullest extent. Lata is brilliant in every antara, with her voice doing full justice to S D Burman's tune. This song requires the singer to have perfect control over rhythm, melody, and voice. Lata's absolute confidence shows up in this song. She is so sure of herself and her singing throughout the song: be it volume control or voice modulation, she is spot on.
Another song that will forever be associated with Lata is 'allah tero naam,' from 'Hum Dono' (1961). Music of Jaidev. Lyrics of Sahir Ludhyanvi.
Lata was already a master when it came to singing bhajans, and she delivered this bhajan with the right amount of melancholy. A heart-touching bhajan by Jaidev requires a soft touch, and Lata's voice is like the peacock feather in this song. (I had read somewhere that when 'Hum Dono' was being made, Lata and Jaidev were not on good terms. So when Jaidev had composed this song, he was trying to find a suitable singer for it. When Lata heard that Jaidev had composed a great bhajan, she immediately called Jaidev, made up with him, and sang the song.)
Another bhajan kind of song, 'jyoti kalash chalke' from the movie, 'Bhabi Ki Chudiyan' (1961). Music of Sudhir Phadke and lyrics of Narendra Sharma.
A lovely melody from Sudhir Phadke, based on Mohana Kalyani (Suddh Kalyan), this song also requires a feather-lite touch that Lata provided. Lata's ability to invoke the spirit of a raga comes to the fore in this song. It is an important feature in songs like these because the song gains so much from the usage of a particular raga. Not to mention the standard characteristic of Lata's singing: voice modulation. This song is still a well-loved song, both because of Sudhir Phadke's tune as well as Lata's singing.
Music director Ravi makes full use of Lata's ability to enhance any bhajan with her voice in this bhajan-like song from the movie, 'Khandan' (1965). 'tum hi meri mandir.; Lyrics by Rajendar Kishen.
This song was also a major hit, but it is quite a straightforward song and does not challenge Lata in any way.
The Pandit Ravishankar tuned song from 'Anuradha' (1960), 'kaise din beete, kaise beeti rasiya' is not a straightforward melody. Lyrics of Shailendra.
This requires a bit more from Lata. The mukda itself is a bit asynchronous with the beat, and the antara requires Lata to modulate her voice, and her voice is used effectively in the upper regions. A challenging song, well sung by Lata.
Anil Biswas's song 'ja main tose nahin bolun' from 'Sautela Bhai' (1962) is what we can call a semi classical song. I guess it will also be classified as a mujra.
This is a song that requires someone with excellent classical music skills, for the song is filled with brigas and taans. The way Anilda varies the mukda the second time is brilliant. The brigas in the mukda and later the taans require great precision and understanding of the raag. The song depends on the precision with which the singer lands on the sam, as is usual in Hindustani classic music. It is an excellent composition that challenges Lata's classical music skills. She, on her part, relishes the challenge, and we, in turn, get a wonderful song.
R.D. Burman made his debut with 'Chote Nawab' (1961). Lata sang this semi classical number for him, 'ghar aaja ghir aayi.' Lyrics of Shailendra.
You can hear how much this sounds like 'piya tose naina lage re.' It is a well-known fact that S.D.Burman and Lata were not on talking terms during this time. When R D Burman got his first chance to compose for a movie, S.D.Burman immediately called up Lata and requested her to sing for R.D.Burman. She readily agreed, and the feud between her and Dada Burman came to an end. When you hear her sing this song, you can understand why Dada insisted that only she should sing this song.
I have already mentioned a lot of hit songs. Lata had more hits with other music directors like Naushad, C Ramachandra, Chitragupt, Laxmikanth Pyarelal, and Kalyanji Anandji, to name a few. I am not putting them up her due to lack of time.
In the coming parts, we will start looking at Lata's partnerships with some of the music directors of the 1950s and 1960s.
The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links
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