Kachha Dhaaga Options

[unni]

I thought I should share with you, for a change, some instrumental pieces. I am starting off with 3 pieces of Fusion Music. Hope it appeals to you. Would welcome some feedback.

Here's track 1.

Cheers!

[unni]

Since this article is about use of Ragas in Hindi Film Songs, it is being featured in SKS instead of Raag Rang:

Extract from an article by Rajan P. Parrikar, a recognized expert on Indian Classical music who has written a series of articles on Classical Indian Music.)

We turn our attention to one of the foundational blocks of the Hindustani melodic edifice - Raganga Raga Kalyan- we shall use the name interchangeably with Yaman.

As the preeminent night-time Raga, Yaman embodies considerable gravitas. No other Raga has cut so wide a swathe across all genres of music and no other Raga has purchased so viselike a hold on the Indian's thoughts and feelings. Every child embarking on a preliminary study of classical music brings with her a working familiarity of Kalyan obtained through folk and other sources. Yaman has come to be acknowledged as the touchstone among classical musicians in calibrating a peer's quality and depth, its mastery deemed a sine qua non for any serious student. The magnitude and extent of Yaman's reach impel us to offer here a substantial listening experience both in the realm of the 'light' and the classical. In the posse of clips that follows, the Yaman and Yaman Kalyan instances are commingled.

Ragas Yaman, Bhairavi and Pahadi have been mined extensively by the Hindi film composers. The tunesmith Roshan, in particular, shared a very special relationship with Yaman. Roshan and Madan Mohan were, in some sense, musical twins: in their shared penchant for conceiving melodies that blended intimately with the lyric, in their drawing on India's classical music and traditional bandishes, and in their attention to the design of the interludes, they seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Both remained in a state of creative ferment throughout their relatively short lives. Roshan's genius came to full flower in Yaman as witness some of the extraordinary compositions that follow.

Yaman - The 'Lighter' Side

That Yaman has seduced every creative mind of the post-recording era generation is evident from the enormous volume of documented work. Here, we must content ourselves with only a modest slice of that output. Not every 'light' composition will align with Yaman according to Hoyle, but some important, and sometimes surprising, gesture will be manifested in each of the adduced clips. To the non-Indian readers, this will be an object lesson in driving home the nexus between classical and 'light' music.

Lata Mangeshkar

Kalyan is Lata and Lata is Kalyan. Not even the classical masters can hope to hold a candle to the magic she conjures in Yaman.

Meerabai's bhajan, Hridaynath's tune: keNu sanga -

From BHABHI KI CHOODIYAAN (1961), a luscious Yaman-based beauty set to music by Sudhir Phadke: lau lagAti -

The next two corkers were conceived in the highly discriminating mind of Madan Mohan. From BAHAANA (1960), jA re badarA bairi jA -

Film: ANPADH (1962), jiyA le gayo -

Ghalib's exceptional ability with verse more than meets its match in Lata in this memorable composition set to music by Faiyaaz Shauqat: har eka bAta pe -

Vasant Desai's gentle communion with swara finds an ally in Lata's equally gentle treatment of swara. From ARDHAANGINI (1959), baDe bhole ho -

Film: SHOKHIYAAN (1951), Music: Jamal Sen: supnA bana sAjana Aye -

Film: SUNHERE QADAM (1966), Music: Bulo C. Rani: Mangne se -

Film: PAKEEZAH (1971), Music: Ghulam Mohammad: Mausam hai -

Film: SATI SAVITRI (1964), Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal: Jeevan Dor -

Film: RAGRANG (1952), a take on the very popular classical cheez, Eri Ali Piya bina sakhi. The words of the mukhDA are attributed to Meerabai. Lata delivers admirably -

A hauntingly beautiful composition from MAMTA (1966), distinguished by Lata's intensity of feeling -

In this immortal composition, with its celebrated sarod and flute interludes, Roshan draws inspiration from a famous old Yaman Kalyan bandish, manA tu kAhe nA dheera dharata aba, words of which are attributed to Tulsidas. Sahir Ludhianvi's mukhDA reflects Tulsi's sentiment in the movie CHITRALEKHA (1964). Mohammad Rafi: Mana re tu kahe na dheer dhare.

Roshan and Sahir combine again in the following three classics.

Mohammad Rafi in BARSAT KI RAAT (1960): Zindagi bhar nahin

Asha Bhonsle's tour de force in the qawwali from DIL HI TO HAI (1963): Nigahen milane ko jee chahta hai
http://www.sawf.org/audio/kalyan/asha_nigahen.ram

Film: BABAR (1960), Voice: Sudha Malhotra: Salam-e-hasrat

An evergreen hit from K.L. Saigal is inspired by the Kalyan spirit. Film: ZINDAGI (1940), Music: Pankaj Mullick: maiN kyA jAnu -

K.L. Saigal in TANSEN (1943), Music: Khemchand Prakash: diyA jalA'o -

Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh

The transparent sincerity in Mukesh's voice has deposited quite a few Yaman-based compositions permanently into the public memory bank. This bhajan composed by Lacchiram, for instance: chhoDa jhamela jhooThe jaga kA -

Madan Mohan's gem from SANJOG (1961): bhooli hui yAdoN -

Who hasn't heard of this jeremiad from PARVARISH (1958), tuned by Dattaram? Aansoo bhari haiN -

Every college Romeo has at some stage allowed himself the fantasy of wooing a babe with this well-worn number from SARASWATICHANDRA (1968), under Kalyanji-Anandji's baton: chandana sA badana -

Mukesh finds some more romance in this Sardar Malik classic from SARANGA (1960): sArangA teri yAda meN -

Pt. Kishore Kumar of Khandwa --

We now turn to the suzerain from Khandwa, Pandit Kishore Kumar. Panditji's first offering is a canonical Khandwa cheez from ANURODH (1977) composed by Laxmikant- Pyarelal: Aapke anurodh pe -

Panditji now gives a dhrupad-anga treatment to this Sadra in Jhaptala, composed by the Punjabi ruffian O.P. Nayyar in EK BAAR MUSKURA DO (1972): savere kA sooraj -

Panditji coos wistfully in this cheez specially procured here from the Khandwa bag of tricks. Hemant Kumar is the composer in KHAMOSHI (1969): woh shyAm kuch ajeeba thhi -


In the final contribution of this God-in-human-clothing, Panditji, for a change, presents a 'light' composition. Anu Malik's tune in AAPAS KI BAAT (1982): terA chehrA -


Ghalib's classic Ghazal is tuned by Ghulam Mohammad in this Suraiyya number from MIRZA GHALIB (1954): nuktAcheeN ha gHam-e-dil -


Another superb Ghazal of Ahmad Faraz delivered by the richly gifted Mehdi Hasan: ranjish hi sahi -

The Pakistani songstress Farida Khanoum's stentorian voice takes charge: woh mujhse -

Only rarely did Laxmikant-Pyarelal surpass themselves, one such instance being the movie PARASMANI (1963): woh jaba yAda Aaye -

Ravindra Jain's handsome tune in CHITCHOR (1976) was a rage following its release. K.J. Yesudas: jaba deep jale AanA -

We wind down the Ya'mania' with a couple of Shankar-Jaikishan compositions. Their folksy number in TEESRI KASAM (1966) was its time the national chant. A rollicking Asha rises to the occasion: pAn khAye saiyyAN humAro -

In LAL PATTHAR (1971) we watch in despair as Manna Dey comes a cropper. It hurts to see an adult man whipped so badly by a girl but the pain is instantly diminished by the realization that the male in question is a Bong. Those Manna Dey tAns are indistinguishable from the first cries of a freshly baked baby as it tries to cope with life outside the amnion: re mana sur meN gA -