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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