Jaidev

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Jaidev

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Is there really any truth in the popular sayings like ‘Success begets success’ and ‘Failure is the stepping stone to success’? Because a talented artiste called Jaidev Verma seldom witnessed this happening in his life and career. In his personal life, he remained a bachelor with just a few people to call his own and in the film industry, he got labelled as an ‘arty’ composer who was good for critical acclaim but useless for box-office collections! Behind his impeccable attire and ever-smiling face lurked a strange sense of under-achievement and under-appreciation. His sensitive artistic soul seemed to be silently enduring some deeper pain. Otherwise why would a triple National Award-winning composer spend most of his life as a paying guest in a single room in company of drink and ultimately die an unsung genius?

Jaidev’s early life was full of interesting twists and turns. He was born in Nairobi, Kenya on August 3, 1918 but spent most of his childhood in his maternal aunt’s place in Ludhiana, Punjab. It was there that he first fell in love with films. Fascinated by the moving images of the silver screen, young Jaidev decided to become an actor!

Just like so many impressionable 15 year-old adolescents, he did the first impulsive thing that came to his immature mind. He ran away to Mumbai to gain a foothold in the film industry. The first stint was unsuccessful and ended in a dejected return to Ludhiana with his father. But the inner urge was too strong and soon, he once again decided that running off to Mumbai was the best course of action!

This time around, he got a slightly better reception. He was hired by Wadia Movietones and got to do small-time roles in mythologicals and the popular ‘Fearless Nadia’ stunt movies. But then came the bitter realization that his acting career was going nowhere. Earlier, to advance his acting prospects, he had taken some training in music from Pandit Barkat Rai. So now he decided to pursue that interest further. In 1943, he enrolled in Almora’s Music Centre run by two great musicians – Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pt. Ravi Shankar. But the famed music institute soon folded up and his training in Indian classical music and sarod-playing came to an abrupt end.

For the next few years, he dabbled in spirituality trying to find answers to his inner questions. Then a chance meeting with his musical Guru Ali Akbar Khan forever changed the course of his life. That meeting at a marriage function pulled him back firmly towards music. Jaidev started accompanying Ali Akbar Khan in his sarod recitals. Later the Ustad was signed up as a composer by Chetan Anand’s Navketan banner and Jaidev followed him back into the film industry.

Ali Akbar Khan composed music for Anand’s first two films – Aandhiyan (1952) and Humsafar (1953) and Jaidev assisted the maestro in those projects. Both the films and their music did not do too well and the dejected Ustad decided to call it quits. Jaidev though decided to stay on and started assisting Navketan’s new composer Sachin Dev Burman. With his excellent knowledge of Hindi and Urdu poetry and his expertise in Hindustani classical music, Jaidev provided handy assistance to Sachinda in many milestone soundtracks like Taxi Driver, Munimji, House No. 44, Kala Pani, Sujata, Laajwanti and Insaan Jaag Utha.

In 1955, Jaidev got his first break as an independent composer in Joru Ka Bhai. Thus began a memorable if none too prolific career where he composed music for some 40-odd films over the next three decades.

Jaidev’s music seldom tasted commercial success and the main reason for that was his inability to compose simple songs with catchy lyrics and crowd-pleasing tunes. Joyous fluffy songs like ‘Main Zindagee Kaa Saath Nibhaataa Chalaa Gayaa’, ‘Abhee Naa Jaao Chhodkar’ or ‘Do Deewaane Shaher Mein’ did occasionally shine through his music but otherwise his compositions were typically serious, intricate and at times, plain complex. He was mainly inspired by Hindustani classical and folk music. Even the lyrics of his songs were almost always too poetic for popular consumption. So a typical Jaidev song was never a simple hummable fun-and-dance number; it was a song that wove a rich tapestry of subtle musical and lyrical nuances. Its cerebral appeal to any intellectual mind was undeniable and that certainly got the connoisseurs swooning over his ‘different’, ‘original’ musical approach. But unfortunately the same strength turned into his biggest weakness when it came to wooing the common man! In this regard, his music was remarkably similar to his best friend Madan Mohan’s music.

Such was Jaidev’s musical genius that even within his rather limited repertoire of film soundtracks, he was able to create so many memorable classics in so many different voices. Songs like Lata’s ‘Subah Kaa Intezaar Kaun Kare’, Rafi’s ‘Kabhee Khud Pe Kabhee Haalaat Pe Ronaa Aayaa’, Mukesh’s ‘Jab Gham-e-Ishq Sataataa Hai’, Talat’s ‘Dekh Lee Teree Khudaaee’, Manna Dey’s ‘Pyaas Thee Phir Bhee Takaazaa Na Kiyaa’, Kishore’s ‘Yeh Wohee Geet Hai’, Yesudas’s ‘Chaand Akelaa’, Bhupendra’s ‘Ek Akelaa Is Shaher Mein’, Suresh Wadkar’s ‘Seene Mein Jalan’, Asha Bhosle’s ‘Maang Mein Bhar Le Rang Sakhee Ree’, Chhaya Ganguly’s ‘Aap Kee Yaad Aatee Rahee Raat Bhar’ and Runa Laila’s ‘Tumhein Ho Naa Ho’ presented a brilliantly varied spectrum of classy compositions. Even his non- film compositions for Manna Dey’s Madhushala and Asha Bhosle’s geet, ghazal and bhajan were simply brilliant.

In the 1960s, barring the music of Hum Dono and Mujhe Jeene Do, Jaidev could not make much headway when it came to winning box-office approval. Then came the decade of the 1970s where Jaidev proved to be one of the few composers consistently tapping the best out of Lata’s slowly declining vocals! His two defining Lata-dominated soundtracks from this decade were Reshma Aur Shera (1971) and Prem Parbat (1973) and what body of work he left there for all of us to admire!

Reshma Aur Shera bombed at the box-office but Jaidev won a National Award for its music. It was a perfect recognition for his meritorious melodies. Just like the 60s, the 70s too had begum promisingly foe the maestro but once again, this decade would only flatter to deceive in commercial terms. Even in these years, Jaidev could not really break free from his ‘intellectual composer’ tag or perhaps he himself did not want to!

Whatever may be the reasons behind his inability or indifference to adopting and adapting to the popular film music conventions; one thing was sure. That by not bowing to the so-called box-office demands and always remaining true to his musical instincts, Jaidev had carved a special niche for himself in the pantheon of great Hindi film music directors. When he took the final bow from the world-stage on January 6, 1987, Hindi film-music lost an exceptionally talented composer, who never really got his due in his lifetime. (Source – Lata – Voice of the Golden Era – By Dr. Mandar V. Bichu).

N. Dutta

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N. Dutta

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Datta Naik alias N. Datta was born in 1930 in Oroba, a small village in Goa. At the age of 12, he ran away from his family and came to Mumbai. There he learnt classical music and later worked as an assistant to Ghulam Haider. He also used to participate in street music programs, where Sachin Dev Burman spotted his talent. The maestro employed him as his assistant and while working there, N. Datta also developed a notable career as an independent composer. His compositions showed a fine sense of melody and orchestration. His close association with lyricist Sahir also ensured that his songs were always blessed by meaningful poetic lyrics.

Noted Marathi writer and music aficionado P.L. Deshpande had once famously written that whenever he listened to Lata’s emotional Dhool Ka Phool title song ‘Too Mere Pyaar Kaa Phool Hai’ (composed by N. Datta), he got the impression that each word, each note was rendered as if a tender flower petal was gently placed in flowing water! Lata and Mahendra Kapoor’s qawwali ‘Tere Pyaar Ka Aasraa Chaahataa Hoon’ from the same soundtrack was a huge hit and has remained popular till date. In Naach Ghar, Lata’s silken rendition of N. Datta’s waltz based club song ‘Aye Dil Zubaan Naa Khol’ subtly exposed this materialist world’s duplicity in Sahir’s sarcastic socialist lingo.

N. Datta’s later years were spent fighting ill health and commercial failure. The 1980 film Chehre Pe Chehra was his last Hindi film and on December 30, 1987 he breathed his last (Dr. Mandar V. Bichu)

Snehal Bhatkar

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Snehal Bhatkar

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Snehal Bhatkar was from Maharashtra and his real name was Vasudev Bhatkar. While officially working for HMV, he used to secretly work as a composer under various pseudonyms like ‘B. Vasudev’, ‘Snehal’ and ‘Snehal Bhatkar’ – out of which the last one seems to have stuck forever! By the way, this pseudonym was a shorter version of his daughter’s name – Snehlata!

Bhatkar and lyricist Kidar Nath Sharma shared a special bond. Bhatkar’s main claim to fame remains Mubarak Begum’s ‘Kabhee Tanhaaiyon Mein Yoon’ – the immortal title song for film maker Kedar Sharma’s Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961). Actually Bhatkar had originally composed this song for Lata. She had earlier recorded two duets (‘Sochtaa Hoon Yeh Kyaa Kiyaa Maine’ and ‘Jawaan Mohabbat’ with Mukesh) for the film but later in her busy schedule, she could not fit in the new recording. She then suggested that Bhatkar use Asha for this song, but Kedar Sharma opted for Mubarak Begum instead. Mubarak’s distinctive voice and Bhatkar’s exquisite tune then combined to produce an all-time classic!

Other melodious songs to his credit include ‘Ham Par Jaadoo Daal Gaye’ (Gunaah), ‘Raadhaa Ke Man Kee Muraliyaa Pukaare’ (Nand Kishore), ‘Dil Kaa Milnaa Mushkil Hai’ (Hamari Beti), ‘Woh Chalee Gham Kee Hawaa’ (Aaj Ki Baat) and ‘Lehroun pe Lehar’ (Chhabili). The last-mentioned song is perhaps Bhatkar’s best Hindi collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar. Right from the opening couplet ‘Mohabbat mein kaheen do dil hasenge, geet gaayenge/Magar ham gham ke maare raat bhar aansoo bahaayenge’, the song immerses the listener in a moody melancholy!

On May 29, 2007 Bhatkar left this world at the ripe old age of 88 at his residence in South Mumbai. He is survived by two sons, including noted Marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar and a daughter. His funeral was held at Dadar in Central Mumbai. (Dr. Mandar V. Biuchu)

Nazir Begum with Mala - contributed by Dr. Asad Minhas

Nazir Begum was a Pakistani playback singer active from mid-50s to 60s in Urdu and Punjabi films. She sang two of her earliest duets with Mehdi Hassan for Miss 1956 (1956) and remained middle-of-the-range singer throughout the late 50s and 60s singing for many Urdu and Punjabi films including Hasrat, Saperan, Chaudhary etc

1963 was an important year in Nazir Begum’s career because she sang some of the biggest hits of her career that year including Sama jab payara pyara ho, Suno ji baat (both were duets with Ahmed Rushdi) for Maa Ke Aansoo and Nimbhuan da jora for Punjabi film Tees Maar Khan.

With the increasing popularity of Noor Jehan as a playback singer in the early 60s, Nazir Begum along with many other playback singers took back seats and their careers started to go downhill. However, Nazir continued to sing in films like Neelam, Hath Jodi, Naghma-e-Sehra, Chattan, Samunder, Neela Parbat etc before she disappeared into oblivion with the arrival of the 70s.

Hindi Playback Singers

I filtered my master Hindi Film Database from 1931 – 2010 (excluding the silents from 1931 – 1935) and I came out with the following numbers -

Total Number of Hindi Films Produced – 9418 (approx)

If each film had an average of 7 songs, then approximate number of Hindi film songs composed so far – greater than 65000

Playback singers from the Golden Era who sang more than 1000 songs in Hindi Films -

Other well known singers from the Golden Era who sang less then 1000 songs in Hindi Films -

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Please Note – By conservative estimates, Noor Jehan’s song output in Pakistan is somewhere around 3000 songs in Urdu AND Punjabi films. However, I am not sure of her approximate output in Urdu/Hindi films. Therefore, she is not included in the list until further details are available.

Lata Mangeshkar and Anil Biswas

Lata sang approximately 120 songs for Anil Biswas in 29 Hindi films. Out of these, approximately 88 were solos and the rest were duets or songs involving more than 2 singers.

Lata Mangeshkar on Anil Biswas

Another music director steeped in classical and folk music is Anil Biswas. A master of Bengali folk music, Anil also has a good knowledge of Urdu poetic and musical traditions. Out of this rich treasure-house he has evolved a distinct style. I remember we were recording a song in one line of which the word hazaar occurred and Anil asked me to prolong the taan on that word to heighten its significance. While working on a song, music directors usually have in mind the voice of the singer who is going to sing it. Not so Anil. He does not take into consideration the voice of the singer. Once the song is composed, he would literally pull it out of the singer’s throat — successfully.

Anil gives form to his melodies according to the situations in the film. In Indian classical music, there are raagas for different parts of the day and night. Anil’s music is based on the raagas appropriate to the time at which the situation is supposed to occur in the film. I have learnt many things from Anil Biswas. In Maharashtra, it is generally found that singers neglect the words and concentrate on the taan. At one time, I too did this. But Anil taught me how to concentrate on a clear enunciation of the bol for clarity on the microphone. For many months, I studied voice modulation with Anil.

Another ability I acquired through Anil’s training is to inhale while singing without in the least interrupting the song. I worked at this until I reached the stage when it was not possible to tell when I took a breath. Yet another invaluable lesson I learnt from Anil was to avoid any change in voice, whether I was taking the highest note or the lowest. “Your voice must remain the voice of Lata Mangeshkar, no matter at which pitch you are singing,” Anil told me. This is very difficult to do. (Interview conducted in January 1958)

Anil Biswas on Lata Mangeshkar

Lata was a godsend to us composers. With her around there was absolutely no limitation placed on our range. Such was her vocal artistry that we could explore the most complex reaches of composition in the knowledge and confidence that she could take it all in her stride.

Lata Mangeshkar – Anil Biswas Song List

Mohammad Rafi and Naushad

Naushad on Mohammad Rafi

Naushad with Mohammad Rafi

Speaking about Rafi Saab’s singing qualities, I have always been of the opinion that he was very sentimental and worked extra hard at songs which were raga based and melodious. Though people call him versatile, which he was in many senses of the term, I feel he was not happy singing cacophonic songs. This was because there are two distinct types of singing: one from the throat and another from the heart. Rafi used to sing melodious songs from the heart but this heart was never there in the other types of songs.

Rafi use to falter slightly in lower tones. If he was asked to sing in low tones, his voice used to become loose but in the high tones his voice was just like an arrow.

He loved to rehearse his songs. At times he would rehearse as long as five days before turning up for recording. He used to let the song sink completely in his psyche. But if the music director or lyricist wanted to change a word here and there then Rafi would need an hour to adjust as he had already taped the songs in his mind.

Rafi started to sing for me immediately when he came to Mumbai. Since he hailed from Punjab, his Urdu accents were not clean and clear. As such, I had to explain to him first to make his Urdu diction suitable for songs. He was so studious, intelligent and painstaking person that he grasped the required tonal accents in a short time. While grooming him I realised that he had tremendous range but he was singing initially in the low tone since K. L. Saigal was his ideal. I recorded some of his songs in low tone itself in films like “Anmol Ghadi”, “Mela”, “Dillagi”, “Jadoo”, etc. but slowly I started using his voice in higher pitch in films like “Deedar” and “Aan”. However till “Baiju Bawra” even I never had the opportunity to make full use of it. It was from “Baiju Bawra” that people realized the tremendous potential of his range.

Rafi Saab’s greatest asset was that even after scaling highest notes he would stay at the peak without shaking his voice and used to remain firm at it. But again, if he didn’t like the tune he would falter and take a longer time to record it. But if the tune was to his liking, one could get a perfect take in the first round.

As a person he was one of the finest persons I have known. I had a very long association with him. He was very modest. He had a perfect sense of time. He never came late for any song recording and used to meet people around always with a smiling face.

The last song he recorded for me was a gazal in a film called “Habba Khatoon”. He was so enamored with the lines and the tune that immediately after recording it he came to me and enveloped me in his arms and said, “After a very long time, I got the opportunity to sing such a beautiful song. Otherwise I had to make sounds of cats and dogs in my recent songs”. He was so happy with my song that he even did not accept payment for the song. Such a great person he was!

Mohammad Rafi – Naushad Song List