Provoked Thoughts Options

[zippoo]

Aaj HF padhhtey padhhtey desh ki bahut yaad aa gayi. Abhi ja toh nahi sakta, socha gunh gaan hee sun loon.

[hits]

Aaj HF padhhtey padhhtey desh ki bahut yaad aa gayi. Abhi ja toh nahi sakta, socha gunh gaan hee sun loon.
Dulhan_Chali_O_Pehen_Chali.zip ( 6.15mb )

Dulhan Chali Ho Pahen Chali - Mahendra Kapoor, Chorus - Purab Aur Pashchim - 1970 - Manoj Kumar

[AzgarKhan]

Superbbbbbbbb SONG!! A true picture of India.

[zippoo]

The lyrics, the tune and the voice come together for one of the greatest love songs ever. No wonder they don't try this anymore.

[rom]

ZIPPOO:
The lyrics, the tune and the voice come together for one of the greatest love songs ever. No wonder they don't try this anymore.

Excellent song... but I couldn't even positively identify the singer. Is it Surendra? What movie is it from?

[unni]

Excellent song... but I couldn't even positively identify the singer. Is it Surendra? What movie is it from?

Pankaj Mullick. I think it is a non-film song composed by him.

As I recollect, Lata-ji sang it in her "Shraddhanjali".

[rom]

Thanks!
Pankaj Mullick was an acclaimed composer as well, wasn't he? Even Saigal-saab has sung for him.

[unni]

Thanks!
Pankaj Mullick was an acclaimed composer as well, wasn't he? Even Saigal-saab has sung for him.

Yes, Pankaj Mullick was an acclaimed composer and several of Saigal-sahab's songs were composed by him.

As a little kid, I saw him at a function of the Malayalee Association in Kolkata. He was the special invitee and appeared on stage to sing a few lines of the popular Malayalam song "Ambili Amaava". It was a great honour for the Malayalee community of Kolkata, since he was a legend in his lifetime and the pride of Bengal.

Here is a brief write-up about him, from an internet site:



In 1973 Pankaj Mullick was most deservedly named for the Dadasaheb Phalke award for the year 1972. Deservedly, because music composition of Pankaj Mullick have held a unique position right from the early thirties to the present day, maintaining an unfailing popularity for both young and old.

Pankaj Mullick was son of Manimohan Mullick who had a great interest in traditional music, and would invite eminent singers and instrumentalists to perform during religious festivals. Born in a middle class Bengali family, it was here that Pankaj Mullick drew inspiration from classical Hindustani music. From a very early age, he decided that his vocation would be music, and though enrolled in college, he did not pursue higher education.

Pankaj Mullick was lucky to be introduced to the Tagore family, which was to have an everlasting influence upon him. Rabindra Sangeet became his forte, and he is the only man who has tuned a Rabindranath poem to music, Diner Seshey, Ghoomer Deshey with the great poet's total approval. The approval of the great poet came to Pankaj after endless numbers of hours of waiting on him, and the story has it that it was for a college function that Pankaj had approached the great poet to have his permission to perform one of his poetries, to which Rabindranath Tagore asked him to sing out the composition that he had in mind. It was after hearing his composition that Rabindranath was so very overcome with the tune that he granted him a total approval for all his poetries. Thus was through Pankaj Mullick's songs that Rabindra Sangeet became popular in every Bengali household, even raising great interest among Western music connoisseurs.

Pankaj Mullick regarded the balance and equanimity of the mind as his best asset, providing him with status as a human being and an artiste. Pankaj Mullick enjoyed a very close relationship with AIR (All India Radio) since its very inception in 1928, then a private broadcasting organization. For very many years, his Sunday music lessons had thousands of listeners, specially among young girls. It was at his initiative that the use of the tabla was introduced to keep rhythm for Rabindra Sangeet, which the poet had not previously adopted.

Though not really an actor, even though appearing in some six or seven films, his first experience was in a small role in Chashar Meye. It is interesting to note that when this silent film was being exhibited at Calcutta, Pankaj Mullick would conduct his orchestra to provide background music.

Pankaj Mullick and Raichand Boral supplemented each other on many occasions whilst composing music for New Theatres' films. One of the Pankaj Mulick's most notable scores was for Mukti in which director P.C. Barua had assigned him a role.

K. L. Saigal's Bengali song hits owe their existence to Pankaj Mullick, who persuaded the singer to bring down the pitch of his singing, as earlier he would sing with a high pitched voice. He trained Kanan Devi to understand and get the feel of Rabindra Sangeet.

Pankaj Mullick continued with his singing lessons on AIR for four decades, and after he retired in 1975,, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. B.C. Roy, appointed him as Advisor to the Folk Entertainment section of the Government's publicity Department. Towards the end of his career, he came to Bombay to compose music for Kasturi by Gyan Mukerji. He is the author of four books on music, which illustrated the correct structure of Ragas, the rukes and canons of Indian classical music.

Honours & Awards:
1956-Sangeet Ratnakar
1970-Padmashree
1975-Rabindra Tagoracharya
BFJA Awards :
1945-Best Music Director for Dui Purush (Bengali).

[rom]

Unni:
As a little kid, I saw him at a function of the Malayalee Association in Kolkata. He was the special invitee and appeared on stage to sing a few lines of the popular Malayalam song "Ambili Amaava". It was a great honour for the Malayalee community of Kolkata, since he was a legend in his lifetime and the pride of Bengal.

Thanks once more, sir!
Why don't you tell us more about your musical experiences? There are few on the HF who've actually seen legendary singers, musicians perform live... you have, and I'm sure you haven't exhausted your store of tales. I'm sure we'd all love more of those.

[hits]

Excellent song... but I couldn't even positively identify the singer. Is it Surendra? What movie is it from?

Pankaj Mullick. I think it is a non-film song composed by him.

As I recollect, Lata-ji sang it in her "Shraddhanjali".

That is accurate.

[unni]

Why don't you tell us more about your musical experiences? There are few on the HF who've actually seen legendary singers, musicians perform live... you have, and I'm sure you haven't exhausted your store of tales. I'm sure we'd all love more of those.

rom:

You would recollect my posts of recollections of some live concerts I've attended: a few of Rafi-sahab, and one each of Kishore-da and Talat-sahab, while in India. One of those concerts, held over two evenings, also featured Manna Dey, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Suman Kalyanpur and Usha Khanna. Apart from those, I've attended Lata-ji's (where Dilip Kumar sang a song too) and Asha-ji's (with Amit Kumar) concerts in the USA. I guess, apart from Hemant Kumar, I've had the opportunity to see/hear most of the legends in person. If I were to recount them again, it would be a rehash of earlier posts.

I consider it "special" that to see/hear Pankaj Mullick. At least I can say that I had the opportunity, although it was so brief and even though I was then only about 6 years old! But the amazing part is that his fame was such that even I, as a kid, was aware of his stature. Thinking back, it was the next best thing to seeing/hearing Saigal-sahab in person! Of course, Saigal-sahab had passed away even before I was born. But Pankaj Mullick was a hark-back to that generation and the music of that era.

The atmosphere at the venue would be different, depending upon the artiste. In the instance of Talat-sahab, the audience had a sober, serious approach to the concert. For his songs were slow, melodious and drawn from the past. Only connoisseurs of old HFM would attend and appreciate a concert by Talat-sahab in the 60's and later, when he was no longer "current". It was not excitement but nostalgia that characterized the event. But to such a "niche" audience, a musically sophisticated one, the experience of listening to Talat-sahab live was just divine! In the midst of a small, select audience, I realized my ignorance when I heard the "requests" called out for rare non-filmi ghazals. In the 80's he gave a live-performance in USA in the same city where I lived then. But I declined to go. For he was then well past his prime and I didn't want to spoil the memory of the earlier concert.

Kishore-da was at the height of his popularity at the time I saw/heard him. The audience expected both soulful numbers as well as 'chaptpati' ones. And he gave them both, but carefully segmented. The expectations of the audience would be built up with his opening number, "Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam", and he would continue in that vein of catchy, popular songs for some time. Then move on to what he called "heavy-weight" songs --- the slow, sad melodies. For me, that was the highlight of the program, when he would immerse himself in soulful tunes/lyrics such as "Jeevan Se Bhari" and "Chingari Koi Bhadkey". And he would bring the house down with his final "Eena Meena Deeka"!

For Rafi-sahab, the audience came with a sense of awe, of respect. Apart from his immense popularity, his stature in HFM was already an imposing one. We knew we would hear some nostalgic old songs and also some 'mast' ones plus some melodious current songs. Every time I heard him, he would start off with the semi-classical "Madhuban Mein Radhika", almost like 'riyaaz' before the performance! From the visual aspect as well as the musical one, it was most memorable when he sang "O Duniya Ke Rakhwaley". He would be totally "involved' in the rendition, oblivious of the audience --- just his heart, his voice and his harmonium. At the end of the song at its highest pitch, it seemed as if the audience collectively held their breath. There would be pin-drop silence for a few seconds, followed by prolonged rapturous cheers. Yet later, there would be spontaneous dancing in front of the stage when he switched to "Yahoo"! And on every occasion he sang "Suhani Raat Dhal Gayi".

My recollections about other artistes, I shall post separately.

[Priya]

Add my request to Romji's. Continue with Ur recollections Unni--make lovely reading---esp as I missed many of Ur earlier posts.

[rom]

Thanks for sharing your recollections, Unniji! I indeed remember well what you'd related in the past, and have even saved them on my comp.
I haven't been to any of the legends' shows, and was not old enough to travel to concerts when Kishoreda was alive, so had no real opportunity. (I, however, have a co-worker who attended a Guru concert in 1985 in Delhi, and he assures me that it was truly unforgettable. I myself came closest to seeing Guru live when I made it to an Amit Kumar concert and was able to meet him too.) Later, however, I've had the opportunity of attending live concerts of some ghazal/sufi music stalwarts, like Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh and Abida Parveen.

[unni]

rom:

Thanks for sharing that with us. It made interesting reading. I've not had the opportunity to see either Jagjit Singh or Ghulam Ali in concert, although they've appeared frequently in these parts.

In terms of pure music, devoid of any popularity hoopla, the Mehdi Hassan concert was memorable. Like attending a classical concert. Although unfamiliar with the ghazals and with very basic knowledge of Urdu, I could still enjoy the event for the sheer beauty of the singing. That famous artistes of Madras film-music were attending the event was an indication of his stature in the music world.

I always felt that attending a live performance was more a visual experience than a "listening" one. By that token, watching Lata-ji and Asha-ji "live' was like putting another notch on the belt, to be able to say, "That's one more artiste I've seen in person". In all fairness to these legends, they were past their best singing days at the time I witnessed them. But even otherwise, the voice of the artiste seems a little different in live shows. Perhaps because of the acoustics. Or that the voice has changed slightly over time and it becomes noticeable in songs originally recorded in their younger days.

It wouldn't be fair to compare live renditions with recorded ones. Some would find it more interesting if artistes made innovative variations from the original studio recordings. But others judge the rendition by its faithfulness to the original.

Lata-ji was the featured artiste at a concert in a large auditorium in mid-down New York. The revolving stage and circular seating gave all sections of the audience the benefit of seeing the artiste face-on. As expected, she sang a cross-section of her most famous/popular numbers, old as well as the relatively new. The first time she stepped on stage, she bent down to touch the floor in obeisance. And she would remove her sandals before each singing session and stood barefoot at the mike. Artificial smoke billowed across the stage as she sang "Aaja Re Pardesi"! (She looked startled when a total stranger came on stage between songs and brushed past her. A friend of mine attended a party held later in her honour; he reported that she mentioned the incident as a 'security concern').

With great fanfare the MC announced that Dilip Kumar would sing a song, which he did, only to be booed off stage with cat-calls! It was amusing to read later in the local Indian media that his singing was "greatly appreciated"! Yes, when it ended!

Today's audiences expect a thrilling stage-show, replete with lights and colours and dancing. I had a friend "complaining" about another concert by Lata-ji, that she was expression-less and rooted at the mike. But that's true of virtually all singers of the last generation. That Mukesh-ji or Talat-sahab would stand behind the harmonium and just sing was expected. A spoken word from Rafi-sahab was a rarity, even at the behest of the organizers. But he would inject humour into a 'mast' song with an unexpected sharp whistle, or impart a "sexy" inflexion to a word ("kajra" in "Madhuban Mein Radhika"), or by changing some words in a song ("Le Gayi Dil, Gudiya Madras Ki"). But, with the exception of Kishore-da and Asha-ji, none of the other singers I've seen, moved about on stage. Infact, Asha-ji has kept pace with the current trends in live shows, with costume-changes, back-up singers and dancers. There she was, dancing on stage with Amit Kumar --- and she was 64 then!

Indian artistes would do well to take lessons from Asha-ji on how to dress for a stage appearance. Sadhana Sargam looked as if she had stepped out of the kitchen. Chitra in mourning white. Kavita Subramaniam in some non-descript outfit. Shankar Mahadevan in leather during summer!

[zippoo]

An upload "provoked" by the most recent entry in the "Library" thread of this forum (my humble way of expressing Bahut Shukriya).