Music And Movies

Here is the link to read all parts of this series. Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi were probably seen as a natural pairing due to their being the most in-demand female and male voices, respectively, and also because both were trained in classical music. Their approach to music was different, though. Rafi believed in emoting very explicitly with his voice, while Lata preferred her voice to be under her control all the time. Rafi's tone, too, was different from Lata's. His vocal modulations had a more in-your-face attitude compared to Lata's polished performance in this aspect. Of course, the way they sang depended quite a bit on who the composer was, but overall these can be seen as the major difference in their approach.  Lata and Rafi had some differences in the early 1960s and didn't sing together for a few years. During the rift, Rafi was mostly accompanied by Suman Kalyanpur instead of Lata, while Lata was accompanied by Mahendra Kapoor during that time. (I would say that ...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links The later part of the 60s is an important transition era for Hindi film music. This is when new music directors started entering the field and making a name for themselves. The earlier music directors were slowly fading away. By the 1970s, this transition would be fully complete, but the seeds were sown in the late 60s. R D Burman, Laxmikanth Pyarelal, and Kalyanji Anandji - the three music directors who would dominate a large part of the 70s - had their initial success during this time. The music, too, started changing, and Lata had to adapt herself to the new music the newcomers were putting up. Of course, the earlier masters still made good music, but the trend change was in the air. Let me initially talk about Lata and Roshan before moving to the other songs of the second half of the 1960s. Like Madanmohan, whose music we heard earlier, Roshan was a genius when at producing great melodies. Lata had great respect for h...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links Due to various circumstances, the series was delayed. Finally, I got time to pen down this part of the series. In the last part, I wrote about Lata and Madanmohan combination in the 1950s. They gave some superb songs during that time, as you would have noticed. While that output was good enough to establish the brilliance of this combination, they peaked in the 1960s, giving some of the most loved hit songs of their combination.  In the 1960s, Madamohan's music became more sophisticated, his handling of various ragas reached new heights, and his melodies had a timeless quality about them. Lata, too, was at her peak, her voice obeying her every diktat. Madanmohan made Lata sing with great sensitivity, and her ability to modulate her voice to convey this sensitivity stood her in good stead. We can say without any hesitation that those melodies could only have been composed by Madanmohan. We could add that Madanmohan may...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links Many collaborations are famous in movies. Director-Actor, Director-Music Director, Actor - Music Director, Producer-Actor, Producer - Director, and so on. One of the most popular collaborations in Hindi film music was that of Lata and Madanmohan. Madanmohan is probably one of the greatest melody makers in Indian film music. His melodies are haunting, mellifluous, and complex. Lata's bond with him was much beyond that of a singer and a music director. She lovingly referred to him as 'Madan Bhaiyya,' and he was her rakhi brother. On his part, he gave her some of the greatest melodies that have ever been tuned. Madanmohan is mainly known for his melodious numbers, and that too solo numbers. The Hindi film world probably did not see him as a versatile music director who can churn out hit after hit, a la C. Ramachandra or Shankar Jaikishen. His concentration seemed to be on the melodic aspect more than anything els...