You hear it occasionally - a song pleasant to the ears and very soothing to the minds, but rendered by a different rather than a familiar voice, though the song and singing are impressive. Yes, we are referring to songs sung by the creators themselves.
Some of our prominent music directors who have created history with their fabulous tunes (as sung by our renowned playback singers) have themselves tried their hands at singing. This two-fold job of composing and singing proved very effective because the composer’s own voice was instrumental in bringing out the full depth in a particular situation of the film, apart from the nuances of the compositions themselves. At other times, a particular song situation or composition demanded that the song be sung by the music director himself.
Probably the oldest frontline composer-singer was Pankaj Mullick whose majestic voice and pleasant tunes fused in recall-worthy songs like ‘Chale pawan ki chaal jag mein chale pawan ki chaal...’, ‘Aayi bahar aaj aayi bahar...’ and ‘Mehak rahi phulwari...’ (all three from the film Doctor) and ‘Piya milan ko jaana...’ from Kapal Kundla which can be considered his trademark song. Composer Anil Biswas also sang his own ‘Hamein maar chalaa yeh khayaal yeh gham...’ (Arzoo).Let us now look at all the songs composed by C Ramchandra and sung by Chitalkar - Ahh, does that ring a bell? It should, because both these names are of the same person, as composer and singer respectively! Avid radio listeners can recall this familiar announcement, that obviously continues even today. An ace composer who was ahead of his times, C Ramchandra has given us Western numbers (like ’Ina mina dika...’/ Aasha) way back in the ’50s. But his role as a singer too has been well certified. All the songs sung by him, most of them duets, are cherished even today. A very early song sung by him, ‘Kabhi yaad karke gali paar karke chali aana hamare angana...’ (Safar/1946) with Binapani Mukherjee touches your heart to the core.
1950 boasted of his musical diamond-studded chain called Albela, with its joyous, foot-tapping numbers like ‘Shaam dhale khidki tale...’, ‘Mere dil ki ghadi kare tik tik...’,‘Bholi soorat dil ke khote...’, ’Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke...’ and the serene ‘Dheere se aaja ri ankhiyan mein...’all with Lata Mangeshkar. Other Chitalkar hits include the melodious ‘Kehte hain pyaar kis ko panchhi zara bataa de...’(with Lata again) from the film Baarish (with his sad solo version), the philosophical ‘Daane daane pe likha hai khaanewale ka naam’ from the same film, the fast number ‘Naacho ghoom ghoom ghoom ke...’ (Sarhad), the pathos-filled ‘Woh hum se chup hain hum unn se chup hain...’ (Sargam) and ‘Ae aankh ab na rona...’ (Sipahiya) and the joyous ‘Kitna haseen hain mausam kitna haseen safar hain...’ (Azaad) with Lata yet again.
Sachin Dev Burman - the name that spells class as a composer-proved that his voice could enhance a situation in a film very effectively as is evident from his songs in Bimal Roy films like ’Sun mere bandhu re sun mere mitwa...’ (Sujata) and ‘O re maanjhi - mere saajan hain iss paar...’ from Bandini. Burman-da’s ‘specials’ for Dev Anand included ‘Wahaan kaun hai tera musafir jaayega kahaan...’ (Guide) and ‘Prem ki pujari...’ (Prem Pujari). Among the other SD Burman-sung hits were ‘Kaahe ko roye...’ (Aradhana) and ‘Meri duniya hai maa...’ (Talash).
Rahul Dev Burman, who stormed the nation with fabulous music that spelt magic throughout the ’70s, was no less than his father. RD Burman gave a modern color to Hindi film music while retaining the desi mould. The singer in RD Burman played the role of a booster to his compositions. Most of the songs sung by him were smash hits, like Asha Bhosle’s sizzler from the film Caravan - ‘Piya tu ab to aaja...’ had him singing the line ’Monica O my darling...’ which sent the audience into a tizzy, or ‘Mehbooba o mehbooba...’ (Sholay) proved to be a crowd- puller. ‘Sapna mera toot gaya ...’ with Asha from Khel Khel Mein showcased RD Burman’s ability to sing a number of the soft genre.
In a particular seqence in Hum Kisise Kum Nahin featuring four songs in succession, RD Burman chipped in with ‘Ho tum kya jaano mohabbat kya hai...’. Other hits sung by Pancham-da include ‘Yamma yamma ye khubsoorat samaa...’ (with Rafi) with a lot of Shaan and ’Jaana o meri jaana...’ (Sanam Teri Kasam).
Madan Mohan. almost another name for ghazal, took everyone by surprise when he sang ’Mai re main kaase kahoon...’ in the ghazal -studded Dastak.
Among the juniors, Bappi Lahiri, the name synonymous with disco, was responsible for the turn that music took in the ‘Eighties. Much earlier, Bappi Lahiri had already taken off with a vocal bang in the Vinod Khanna film Aap Ki Khatir with the song ‘Bambai se aaya mera dost...’. It became an uncontrollable craze whose hangover is being experienced even today. Around the same time, in Chalte Chalte, which established Bappi Lahiri as a music director, the smooth ‘Jaana kahaan hai pyaar yahaan hai...’ had him sharing honours with Sulakshana Pandit. In the early ’90s, in marched a film called Thanedaar, which once again proved Bappi Lahiri’s skill at composing a perfect dance number - the Anuradha Paudwal - Bappi Lahiri duet, ‘Tama tama loge...’ which was a big hit.AR Rahman, the Southern super-sensation with an international touch, made substantial inroads and gave a new definition to hit music. His electronic display in his compositions was a mega-success, as was evident from his tunes in the film Roja and Bombay. AR Rahman proved his singing abilities with ‘Dil se re...’ (Dil Se...), ‘Columbus Columbus...’ in Jeans and the Taal hit ` bina kya jeena yaaron...’ with co-singers Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Sriram and Sujatha.
Anu Malik is a frequent visitor to the recording cabin too, under his own direction. Among his many super-hits, solo or otherwise, are ‘Oonchi hai building...’ (Judwaa), ‘Sexy sexy sexy...’(with Alisha in Khuddar), ‘Gore gore gore gore...’ (Main Hoon Na) and so many others with a few lines by him (like ‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen...’ in Baazigar). Anu Malik’s hit entry on the charts was of course, ‘Julie Julie...’ (Jeete Hain Shaan Se).Anand Raaj Anand (a music director and lyricist) is another frequent vocalist, with hits under his belt that include ‘It happens only in India...’ (Pardesi Babu) and ‘Oye Raju...’ (Hadh Kar Di Aapne) to ‘Dil de diya hai’ (Masti).
...And Lyricists Too
Let us focus now on lyricists. One of our seniormost lyricists was Kavi Pradeep, who with his meaningful and thought-provoking verse has made our film and music industry so much richer. The very mention of Kavi Pradeep brings forth that much-needed patriotic instinct. In the 1940s, Ashok Kumar’s Kismet ran for three years in Kolkata. The songs in this film written by Kavi Pradeep and composed by Anil Biswas were a rage. Here we recall some of the gems coming from the great lyricist-cum-singer - ‘Pinjre ke panchhi tera dard na jane koi...’ (Naagmani), ‘Tere dwaar khadaa bhagwan...’ (Waman Avtaar), ‘Kitna badal gaya insaan...’ (Nastik), ’Doosaron ka dukhda door karnewale...’ (Dashera), ‘Mukhda dekh le praani...’ (Do Behne) and the classic from Jaagruti - ’Aao bacchon tumhe dikhaayen jhaanki Hindustan ki...’, which has almost become a sort of a regular lesson.
Another very popular lyricist who turned singer was Anand Bakshi. His song from Mom Ki Gudiya, ‘Baaghon mein bahaar aayi...’ with Lata Mangeshkar turned out to be a smash hit. There was a solo by him in the same film - ‘Main dhoondta hoon sapnon mein...’. His small vocal portion ’Dil insaan ka...’, a prelude in the main song ‘Aaja teri yaad yaayi...’, (Lata-Rafi/Charas) was significant. Balika Badhu also had Anand Bakshi rendering a soulful number ‘Jagat musafirkhana...’.
N bangs her head on the nearest wall *thump thump*
yaad aa raha hai is not Bappi Lahiri...it's B. Hiremath...(only Bappi clone 
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