On Lata Mangeshkar (A Song From Halaku - 1956)

A scene from Halaku (1956). The lead actress, Meena Kumari and a group of ladies are bound by ropes, at a palm-tree-laden oasis within a desert. The distraught heroine is questioning the Almighty about the veracity of His verdict.

bol mere maalik tera kya yahin hai insaaf
jo karte hain laakh sitam unko tu karta maaf
bol mere maalik tera kya yahin hai insaaf…

(Tell me o Lord whether this is your justice... That you would just pardon those committing such myriad crimes!)

It is human tendency to let emotions overcome our senses when questioning the Judge. When treated unfairly, we tend to start off on a high pitch and then, as the entire weight of emotions bear us down, we step down from the emotional crescendo. While doing so, we cannot help but stifle a sob or betray a ‘choke of the voice’.

This kind of muted yet assertive emoting was right up Lata Mangeshkar’s alley. Her tonal quality paints an image of a quintessentially petite and coy lady and yet, her enunciation, diction and general way of singing has *assertion* written all over it… something that one identifies with the ‘pucca’ classical singers of our subcontinent.

This delightful dichotomy is what, in my opinion, makes Lata Mangeshkar the immensely successful singer that she was (during her heydays, which spanned across at least two and a half decades) and 'bol mere maalik' is one shining example of this trait.

After an elaborate 90-second prelude (a situational requirement in the movie), Lata starts off on a high pitch, beseeching the Almighty. Once the rhythm starts, the line ‘bol mere maalik…’ is repeated thrice…  Twice, around the ‘Sa’ of the higher octave. Then, when the line is sung for the third time, the notes descend to the main tonic (‘Sa’) of the song. The protest is made in a raised voice, and the emotional deluge is indicated by the scaling down of the notes, thereafter.

It is here that Lata has resisted the temptation of slipping in a melodramatic quiver of her voice, or a sob, to convey this. All that she does is to constrict her articulation of the word ‘insaaf’ for a small instant to convey ‘choking with emotion’. This is executed so subtly and beautifully, that one can only marvel at the intellectual refinement that she brought in her singing, despite the situational temptation of ‘over-emoting’.

Peerles aesthetics.

She does it on two more occasions, during the two ‘antara’-s: first in ‘daaman mere habeeb ka haathon se chhut gaya’.. (on the word ‘gaya’) and later in ‘apni zubaan pe naam bhi teraa naa laayenge’… (on the word ‘laayenge’)

A memorable song from a memorable soundtrack.

Shankar Jaikishen, in the epicenter of their purple patch, used their Midas touch to craft this song on the soulful words of Hasrat Jaipuri. And, in typical ‘SJ-style’ they have internalized the phrases of raag Madhuwanti to leave their indelible stamp of class on this song.

Raag Madhuwanti’s introspective nature has mostly manifested itself in slow and contemplative songs like ‘rasm-e-ulfat ko nibhaaye to nibhaaye kaise’ (‘Dil Ki Raahein’ – 1973 – Madan Mohan) or ‘chukchukali paal ek’ (Marathi Non Film – 1968 – Shrinivas Khale).

Shankar Jaikishan’s collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar is arguaby one of the most radiant outputs in the history of light music of our subcontinent... especially in the decade of the 50-s. They brought forth an hitheto unheard flamboyance & flourish in their songs, which the frail lady from Mangeshi, Goa executed with elan.

The glorious use of cellos accentuates the poignancy of raag Madhuwanti and also gives a ‘symphonic’ feel to the orchestration. Then the chorus, hums in a subdued manner to lend a magical touch to this song.

Fusion of music at its very best... thanks to the two utterly talented music arrangers, Sebastial D'Souza & Dattaram Wadkar.

Sebastian D'Souza & Dattaram Wadkar

Here is the song:

bol mere maalik
Halaku (1956)
Shankar Jaikishan - Hasrat Jaipuri

A speculative thought... Lata Mangeshkar's brother Hridaynath, was a young and impressionable boy whe this song was recorded. It is said that he used to accompany his sister for several recordings in the mid-50-s.

I cannot help but feel that Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s use of the humming chorus for the Madhuwanti-based song of Lata Mangeshkar, ‘ko birahini ko dukh jaane ho…’ (Non Film – ‘Chala Wahi Des’ – 1974) is almost like a tribute to this magnificent composing duo.

Here is the song. An amazing rendition.

Shankar Jaikishan have been role models for an entire generation of composers and even Hridaynath Mangeshkar was surely impacted.

And when one has an artist of the stature of Lata Mangeshkar as one's elder sister, the possibilities of excellence are immense.

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Post script: 

Here are the links of the other two songs of Lata Mangeshkar, which are based on raag Madhuwanti. Both are laced with poignancy. It takes the genius of Shankar Jaikishan & his talented arrangers to infuse a touch of symphony in the song from Halaku

This is what the beauty of our cine-sangeet is all about... Clever and innovative fusion.

1. Rasm-e-ulfat (Dil Ki Raahein -1973)
Composer - Madan Mohan

2. Chukchukali paal ek (Marathi Non Film -1967)
Composer - Shrinivas Khale

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The four Bengali 'e-Songs' of Asha Bhosle.

In 1977, HMV released a compilation LP record of a dozen songs of Asha Bhosle. All the songs were composed by Rahul Dev Burman and the original recording dates of these songs ranged from 1968 to 1976.

The LP record was such a raging hit that I can scarcely recall a Puja Pandal that did not play those dozen beauties, with monotonous regularity.

The outcome of this vinyl disc's monstrous popularity was that common listeners, assumed that this was the complete set of solos that Asha Bhosle had sung for R.D. Burman since 1968.

It was not so. R.D. Burman, from the very first disc of his collaboration with Asha Bhosle, started to experiment with melodies that revealed his deep love for western musc (especially jazz, pop, blues, etc.)

Four such solos were left out from the LP. One each from 1968, 1969, 1972 & 1973.

Asha Bhosle & R D Burman continued to record songs regulary, from the late 70-s all through the 80-s. Hence, the subsequent LP compilations had the more recent songs and these four old gems were relegated to relative obsurity.

Interestingly, all the four songs start with the same Bengali letter 'এ' ... the phonetic equivalent of the English letter 'E'

That was the phase when the composer was at his creative best & the singer could render just about every type of song, composed by any composer of the sub-continent.

These four lesser heard 'E'-songs are:

• Ei... edikey esho (1968)
• Elomelo katha (1969)
• Ekti katha... aami je shudhu (1972)
• Ekti katha... haay shey toh (1973)

Across these four songs, the singer displays the matchless sassy sensuousness of her singing style. All the four tunes were utilised in Hindi movies by R D Burman in the subsequent years.

Song # 1:

Ei... edikey esho (1968)

Music: R D Burman     Lyrics: Gauriprasanna Majumdar

Equivalent Hindi film song: 'aye dekho toh yahaan'

Asha Bhosle - Raaton Ka Raja (1970).

Song # 2:

Elomeo katha (1969)

Music: R D Burman     Lyrics: Gauriprasanna Majumdar

Equivalent Hindi film song: 'dekho mujhe dekho'

Asha Bhosle - Humshakal (1974). 

Song # 3:

Ekti katha aami je shudhu jaani (1972)

Music: R D Burman     Lyrics: Gauriprasanna Majumdar

Equivalent Hindi film song: 'tum toh kya ho ji'

Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle - Raakhi Aur Hathkadi (1972)

(This melody of the mukhda is a very deft adaptation of a popular Cuban song, Guantanamera. The antara-s are nicely crafted to match with the melody of the opening lines.) 

Song # 4:

Ekti katha... haay shey toh (1973)

Music: R D Burman     Lyrics: Gauriprasanna Majumdar

Equivalent Hindi film song: 'ruk meri jaan kidhar jaata hai'

Kishore Kumar - Bundalbaaz (1976).

This genre of singing was virtually an exclusive domain for her. While it suited Hindi movies, where the storylines demanded 'dance-club' situations, the Bengali audience was probably a bit startled to hear such unbridled oomph in non-film songs, specially during the late 60-s & early 70-s. :)

Interestingly my mother, despite having a conservative upbringing, was overtly fond of these songs.., just for the singing ability of this colossal artist.

'Ignore what she sings... just admire how beautifully she sings' used to be her comment about these four songs.

I ended up loving both the 'what' & the 'how'. :)

As the Durga Puja Season starts off, these songs cause a rush of nostagia. :)

A 'once in a lifetime' artist.

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An anecdote about my father

 

Tusar Kanti Mozumder

Being the eldest among five brothers & one sister (and several cousins in a joint family), my father, during his teenage years, was entrusted with the responsibility of purchasing one 78 rpm record, every month (from the famous music store named 'The Melody' at Rashbehari Junction in South Calcutta).

The monthly choices had to be judicious as funds were tight during those stark days of the mid 40-s. The safe staples were Bengali songs of Pankaj Mullick, K L Saigal, Sachin Dev Burman & Kanan Devi.

One particular month, as he stepped inside 'The Melody', he heard a 'different type of a song'. It sounded riveting enough... and he purchased that Columbia label disc on an impulse.

At home, after the record was played, the entire family of seniors, peers & juniors berated him for wasting money on a record where the singer 'sang unintelligible words in a wailingly high-pitched voice'.

By then, my father was completely smitten by the emotive impact of the voice & the flawless application of notes, replete with beautiful vocal ornamentation.

Also, the raag being the 'easy to enjoy' Bhairavi, made a telling impact.

Jamuna Ke Teer, by that high priest of Kirana Gharana... Abdul Karim Khan, transformed my father into a first-generation lover of Hindustani classical music, in his extended family (with absolutely no previous listening initiation from his elders or peers or his teachers). This serendipitous experience also enabled him to appreciate other classical artists, across Gharana-s, without any agenda or bias.

Correction... He had an unabashed bias towards Abdul Karim Khan.

Just a first few seconds of the recordings of Abhogi, Shudhh Kalyan, Sindhi Kafi, Devgandhar, Jhinjhoti, Basant, Gara Shuddh Pilu or Anand Bhairavi made him drop everything & listen with undivided attention.

Since Sept 6th, 2022, my father now has the special privilege of hearing Abdul Karim Khan, live, in a celestial, music-laden land.

(Here is the timeless Bhairavi of Abdul Karim Khan, recorded in 1934.)