Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen: Part 14 : Salil Chaudhary - A touch of genius

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Salil Chaudhary occupies a unique place in the pantheon of great Hindi film music directors. Many of his compositions were different from the regular style of other music directors. His ability to blend Western Classical elements in Indian film songs gave a different flavor to his tunes.  There were also a lot of sudden straight notes in his tunes: those were captivating but would have been a challenge for a singer. 

Salil Chaudhary, or Salilda as he was fondly called, and Lata's collaboration produced some amazing gems which are still popular amongst music lovers. (She sang for him both in Hindi and in Bengali, but since I am not conversant with the Bengali songs of Lata, I will restrict myself to Hindi.) Lata was Salilda's preferred female lead singer in Hindi film music. As with other music directors, Lata did immense justice to Salilda's songs as well.

Salilda's first Hindi film was Bimal Roy's, 'Do Bhiga Zameen.' All the songs in this film were quite popular. Lata got to sing a wonderful Lori in the film, 'aaja re aa nindiya tu aa' 

This was a 1953 movie. By this time, Lata's voice had matured, and she had a singing style of her own. The challenges in this song are the slow pace of the song and the vocal dynamics that are demanded. The volume control plays a great role in making this song an effective Lori. Salil's tune is extremely melodious, and Lata's voice enhances the melody. This is a song made for Lata and she makes it her own.

Salil was also known for his penchant for giving ebullient melodies that convey the happiness of the characters. Here is one such melody. 'jhim jhim jhim' from 'Tangewali' (1955)

The song's mukda is such a lot of fun and carries a lot of energy. The antara changes a bit, and overall this tune requires a lot of skill to sing because, in many places, you can hear Salilda giving flat notes for Lata to sing. That gives the song a different color. 

Salilda gave a different kind of song to Lata in 1956. From the movie, 'Jagto Raho', the song, 'Jago Mohan Pyare'

Right from the starting chorus to the chorus that comes after the mukda is sung the first time, you know that Salilda is trying something different, for the chorus is unlike anything you would have heard in Hindi films. A wonderfully harmonic chorus supplements a tune that is more traditional. Lata is made to sing more in the higher reaches, and as is usual with Salilda's compositions, she is asked to modulate the voice as per the dictates of the song. It is very difficult to imagine someone else singing this song, for it demands Lata's skills. 

Like the first song we saw, 'jhir jhir jhir jhir' from 'Parivaar' is another energetic and joyous song.

Salilda's touch comes to the fore in the antara where the tune moves in unexpected ways. The twists and turns must be negotiated perfectly without losing the song's energy. Lata's youthful voice is an added advantage to this song, for it effectively conveys the inherent joy of the tune.

If it is Lata, can the music director not give a classical based number to her? Salilda was no exception. 'ja those nahin' from 'Parivar.'

The tune is based on the famous Dikshitar Hamsadhwani krithi, 'vatapi ganapatim.' Lata is in her element delivering this song. We get a mesmerizing Hamsadhwani in her voice.

Here is a lovely song, unfortunately rarely heard, from the movie, 'Lal Batti.' 'hey jhilmil jhilmil'

You can almost immediately make out this is a Salilda's song going by both the tune and the orchestration. The mukda is complex in its structure. The rhythm is captivating. The whole melody is a joyous one, and Lata negotiates the difficulty easily and, at the same time, maintains the melody perfectly. Her voice is on top fiddle, which increases the song's melodic quotient. It is sad that such a wonderful melody is a rarely heard one. 

1958 was the year of one of the biggest hit films in Salilda's career, 'Madhumathi.' Lata and Mukesh shared the honors in this movie's soundtrack. I could not give you just one song from this, I am giving you two. First, the extremely popular and evergreen, 'aaja re pardesi.'

This song is what we can call a haunting song, and as we have seen in the part on Madanmohan, Lata was the best at delivering such melodies. You can hear how Lata modulates her voice throughout the song. The vocal control she achieves is what contributes to the success of the song. The song is interesting since the interlude orchestration is different from the tune but doesn't sound out of place. (You probably have already noticed that the first interlude was later used as 'bhaag mein kali kili')

The other song I want to play is a folk melody from the movie that did not become as famous as the other songs, 'zulmi sang ankh ladi'

I love Lata's tonal quality in this song. The rhythm is captivating, and more captivating is the honey in Lata's voice. The tune has all the hallmarks of Salilda's tune: the rhythm, the chorus, and the unexpected twists and turns. 

The year 1960 gave us another Lata - Salilda everlasting classic, 'o sajna' from 'Parakh'

I don't have words to describe this melody and Lata's singing. It is an excellent example of what can be achieved when the music director and singer are in tune with each other's thoughts. The tune is superbly mellifluous but not easy to sing, for Salilda is inspired and takes the tunes along different paths. The first mukda goes one way, the first antara a different way, and the second antara takes a different path. Yet, nowhere is the unity of the song destroyed. Tieing all different strands into one single emotion is the hallmark of a genius. Lata understands Salilda's requirements precisely and delivers the song with a great degree of confidence and precision.

'ja re ja re ud ja re panchi' from 'Maya' (1961) is another inspired song from Salilda. It immediately goes into the canonical Lata works.

The starting instrumental notes immediately proclaim that it is a Salilda melody. A song with a touch of sadness, and Lata imparts the right amount of melancholy into the singing so as not to make it maudlin. In this song, too, the antara goes a different way but is yet attached to the mukda. A song that touches your heart instantly, and Lata's voice helps achieve that magic.

'unse bichar ke jab' from 'Jhoola'(1962) is ghazal like in its tuning. Yet, Salilda introduces his own touches throughout the song.

A seemingly standard melody that isn't. It falls squarely in Lata's territory, and as expected, she is perfect for the song, conveying the mood with a minimum fuss.

In the 1965 movie 'Poonam Ki Raat,' Salilda gave another haunting melody, reminiscent of some of the Madanmohan melodies in this genre. 'saathi re.'

This song, too, is not our usual song. It changes almost immediately after it starts. The antara, too, is quite different from how the song starts. Lata, as expected, is in her element. By this time, she has become the master is singing such songs. We can safely say that one has sung so many such 'haunting' songs as she has and as effectively. 

The 1970 movie 'Anand' was another of Salilda's big hits. While the two Mukesh songs became the most famous ones, the Lata song, too, was brilliant. 'na jiya large na' is a work of great beauty.

Once again a perfect song in every respect. The tune is beautiful as well as challenging. The antara outdoes the mukda in sweetness. Lata is in great form, manipulating her voice with a level of exactitude that is not easy for mere mortals. It is not an easy tune to sing, for it has myriad variations, some obvious and some subtle. And the tune covers the whole octave. Lata pulls it off with ease and makes it an evergreen number.

I will give you two more Salilda songs without comment. Each of them is a gem.

The first one is from 'Rajnigandha'. 'rajnigandha phool thumari'

The second one is from 'Choti Si Baat.' 'na jane kyun.'

Unlike the other music directors we had spoken about earlier, where we could trace Lata's evolution along with theirs, in the case of Salilda, Lata started collaborating with him when she had already found her 'voice' Similarly, Salilda had also found his style which remained consistent over the years. Thus you see consistency in their output. There is also a certain consistency in the melodies that they delivered. Lata delivered some of the most tricky tunes for Salilda, probably the most difficult after Sajjad Hussain.  Lata - Salilda's output will always remain close to my heart. 

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links