Music And Movies

  The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links In the last part, we saw the partnership between Lata and C.Ramachandra and the many hits they gave together. Another important music director (duo) who established Lata as the numero uno of Hindi film music singing was the Shankar-Jaikishen duo. Shankar-Jaikishen broke into the Hindi film music world through the movie 'Barsaat.' They then went on to rule the Hindi film music world for over two decades, churning out super hit numbers for many films. They formed successful partnerships with major heroes like Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, and Rajendra Kumar, to name a few. They were the court musicians of RK Films. They withstood competition from music directors like Naushad, C.Ramachandra, O.P.Nayyar, and S.D.Burman to remain in the top slot.  Their association with Lata started from their first film itself. 'Barsaat' was not a major milestone in their career, but the songs of that film became a major milest...

  The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links Great music directors like Anil Biswas and Sajjad Hussain showed the world what Lata was made up of musically. They gave her complex compositions that required great vocal range, voice control, vocal dynamics, and the ability to emote perfectly. Lata, though she was in her teens, rose to the challenge and satisfied the demands of the music directors. An important aspect of becoming a great singing star is the ability to deliver blockbuster hit songs and the ability to sing songs that capture the imagination of the masses. The songs may structurally be simpler compared to certain other songs, but these are the songs that filmgoers sing repeatedly, and many visit the cinema hall multiple times to hear these songs. The songs demand a different kind of singing, and singing these songs expands the singer's repertoire. Lata, in her formative years, was lucky to be associated with two music directors who gave her many bloc...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links When you read this series in its entirety, you will be surprised that I had dedicated a chapter to Lata Mangeshkar - Sajjad Hussain's partnership while not bothering about some other partnerships that produced a lot more songs. That is because of the quality of music delivered by Sajjad Hussain and the great regard Lata had for him. In an interview whose link I can't find, she had said that Sajjad Hussain was the best music director she worked with. She also mentioned that only when she had to sing a song for him she used to feel scared. Lata had mentioned that he was a perfectionist and would not tolerate anyone playing out of tune. (There is a lot more to say about Sajjad Hussain's music and his temperamental character, but I will say that in a different article dedicated to Sajjad Hussain.) Sajjad Hussain, too, had great regard for Lata. He knew what she was capable of. You can hear him talk about Lata in t...

  The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links Though Lata's first Hindi film song, for Ghulam Haider, was in 1948, by 1950, she had already built a reputation for herself in the film industry. She was slowly becoming the number one female singer, with music directors trusting her to carry the film's music on her frail shoulders. Lata showed that she was ready to take on the responsibility and delivered hit after hit. Anil Biswas was to say, "After Lata entered the field, music directors lost their fear. Now they could compose fearlessly, being confident that Lata would deliver whatever they had conceived." By the time we enter the 1950s, we see Lata was already the emerging star. The 1950s also saw the rise was newer music directors, who would later make a great name for themselves: Madanmohan, Salil Choudhary, Jaidev, S D Burman, and O P Nayyar. The other music directors like Shankar Jaikishen, Roshan, and C Ramachandra, who had started their car...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links In the last part, we saw the partnership between music director Anil Biswas and Lata Mangeshkar. Anil Biswas was a hugely influential music director and I had mentioned how he had mentored Lata in her early days. The other major music director of those times was Naushad. He was one of the 'hit' music directors of those and was much sought after by everyone. By the time Lata entered the industry, he was already a leading music director who had given major hits with Noorjahan, Zorabai, and others. In this part, we will look at the songs of the Naushad Lata combination. Naushad's orchestration was different from that of Anil Biswas. In Anilda's orchestration, the rhythm is subtle in most songs; it doesn't dominate the song. The singing also requires more modulation. In Naushad's early Lata songs, the domination of rhythm can be clearly heard. The singing is more open-throated. In fact, in the early so...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links When Lata entered the Hindi music field, Anil Biswas was already a well-known music director. 'Kismet', the movie for which he had scored music, is still considered to be one of the biggest hit movies in Hindi Film history. Anil Biswas is credited with bringing in a full orchestra for composing film music. He was the mentor of C.Ramachandra and influenced other music directors like Roshan and Madanmohan. He was also a guide for many singers, including Mukesh and Talat Mohammed. Lata said in one of her interviews that Anilda, as he was lovingly called, taught her a lot of things about singing for films in her early days. He taught her how to hold her breath, at which point in the song, and how to move away from the microphone when taking a breath. He seemed to have taught her a lot about voice modulation as well. His songs, even in the 40s, are quite sophisticated and modern. They demand that the singer modulate hi...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links In the last episode , we had a look at the milieu of the 1940s Hindi film music and got an idea of who were the major singers of those times. We also got a good idea of the singing style of the 40s. In this part, we look at some of Lata's songs in the 1940s and the partnerships she started building with music directors. In the last part, we saw that Lata got her major breakthrough in Hindi film music in the film 'Majboor'. Ghulam Haider was the music director. This film was released in 1948. Other music directors also started showing interest in her singing that same year. In 1948 and 1949, Lata managed to sing some memorable songs and started a partnership with some legendary music directors. We saw that Kemchand Prakash's 'ayega ayega' from 'Mahal' was Lata's breakthrough song. The song that launched her stardom. This is in the year 1949. In the year, 1948 itself, Kemchand Prakash ma...