The first
and foremost populist duo music composers:
Husnalal Bhagatram
-Satish Chopra
‘Chup
chup kharey ho jaroor koyee baat hei, pehli mulaqaat hei jee pehli
mulaqaat hei’ sung
by Lata Mangeshkar & Premlata for film ‘Bari Behan’ in the
year 1949 was certainly one of the most popular melodies of its
time.
I
still remember, during my childhood days, open air evening theatre
and ‘Ramlila’ were the most conventional media of
entertainment for practically all sections and class of the
society. Before the start of the show, there used to be musicians,
who kept the waiting audience occupied with some popular melodies
from films or otherwise. And, invariably every day there used to
be one song- ‘Chup chup kharey ho____’.
More
than fifty years have since passed. Lata Mangeshkar sang
thousands of her songs and made a number of records.
The name of co-singer Premlata can merely be found in a few
nostalgic gramophone records,
those even if available cannot be played as the desired pins for
78 rpm record players are not in use. The music listening systems
have been replaced by totally
different concepts.
But,
the fact remains that as and when the melody is being played; the
young listening young lad cannot resist by asking
her or his grand parent, as to who composed such an
enthralling melody and is it the same Lata Mangeshkar who sang ‘Didi
tera dewar diwana’; the
popular song of much later years, but has fast faded away and is
no where in listening. Why
there is no good music of fifties and sixties in the air. The
reasons are many!
Amongst
a large number of initial music composers, who shaped the destiny
of Lata Mangeshkar, one of the foremost composers were duo-
Husnalal Bhgatram. The duet ‘Chup chup kharey ho’ was
certainly one such song, which was composed by Husnalal Bhagatram,
who commenced their music journey with film ‘Chand’ (1944)
starring Begum Para & Prem Adib. Its song- ‘Do dilon ko
ye duniyan, milnein nahin deti’ (sung by a totally unknown
Manju) became an instant success.
The
other notable endeavor followed
was ‘Pyar ki Jeet’ (1948) starring Suraiya & Rehman was a
musical super-hit. Some of the songs of singing-star Suraiya- ‘Tere
nainon ne chori kiya, mera chhota sa jia, o pardesia’, ‘O door
jaane waley’ & ‘Koyee dunian mein hamaari tarah’ are
still considered as her favorites. The beauty of virgin tonal
quality of voice of the singer- explored by the composers- in
these melodies is indeed superb.
Then
there was an all time popular song of Mohd Rafi in this film- ‘Ik
dil key tukre hazaar hue koi yahan gira’. Also, there were,
of course some fascinating duets sung by Surinder Kaur, the melody
queen of
The
film- ‘Badi Behan’ released in the year 1949 was a class in
the history of Indian cine music. Besides the most popular song- ‘Chup
chup kharey ho____’ just have a glance at other seven
numbers- ‘Wo pass rahein ya door rahein’, ‘Tum mujhko
bhool jaao ab hum naa
mil sakeinge’, ‘Likhnein waley ney, likh dee meri taqdeer mein
barbaadi likhnein waley ney’ & ‘Bigree bananey
waley, bigree banaa dey’ (Suraiya) and ‘Muhabbat ke
dokhe mein koyee naa akey’ (Mohd Rafi). And; the virgin and
simply heart throbbing Lata numbers are simply great. In ‘Chaley
janaa nahin’ and ‘Jo dil mein khushi ban kar ayey’ Lata
was perhaps at her best and there could not have been a better
return gift to the composer- Husnalal on her twentieth birth day (Lata
was born in 1929). The utterance
coming straight from the singer’s heart, at times makes
the listener cry, as an outcome of eternal pleasure. The quality
of a diamond-cutter in master violinist Husnalal in particular can
be visualized through these two everlasting melodies of Lata
Mangeshkar. The Punjabi
style dholak played by the musician, Shanker (of Shanker
Jaikishan duo) was again a notable landmark.
In
view of the grand success of music of ‘Bari Behan’;
immediately there after Shanker Jaikishan formed the team for Raj
Kapoor’s all time great film- ‘Barsaat’, replacing Ram
Gangoli. In all time great melodies of ‘Barsaat’ we can very
well observe the glimpses of instrumentation of the mentors of
Shanker. The playing
with excellence dholak and violin in particular was the soul of
its immortal melodies. Just listen to some
its songs ‘Jiya beqraar hai’, ‘Patlee qamar hai’
& ‘Barsaat
mein___’. The touches of dholak in practicall all the
numbers is simply outstanding. And then violin in another song- ‘Mujhe
kisi se pyar ho gaya___’. Thus, another duo music composers
created a chapter in the history of Hindi cine music.
Consequently, we cannot overlook, the vital training Shanker had
from his genius mentors- Husnalal Bhagatram.
Husnalal
Bhagatram composed music for fifty films and created some soul
throbbing melodies. A
few of their memorable numbers include- ‘Teri is do rangee
duniyan mein’ (Lata)- film ‘Sawan Bhadhon’- 1949; ‘Lut
gayee ummidon ki dulian’ (Lata) and ’Hei kaam mohabbat
ka fariyaad kiyey janaa (Rafi)- film ‘Jaltarang’- 1949; ’Dil
hi to hei jo tarap gayaa’ (Lata) –film ‘Aadhi Raat’-1950;
‘Chhota sa fasanaa hei terey merey pyar ka’ (Lata &
Rafi)-film ‘Birha ki Raat’-1950; ‘Mujhse ye keh rahee hei
taqdeer ki lakirein’ (Geeta Roy & Shamshad), ‘Tootey
huey dil se morey awaaz ye aayee’ (Rafi), ‘Agar dil
kisi se lagaya na hotaa’ (Lata)- film ‘Gauna’-1950; ’Dil
le ke dil diya hei, ehsaan kya kiya hei’ (Lata & Rafi)-
film ‘Stage’-1951; ‘Mohabbat ki hum chot khhayey huey
hein’ (Talat Mehmood)- film ‘Farmaish’-1953; ‘Wo
paas bhi rehkar paas nahin, hum door bhi rehkar door nahin’ (Lata)-
film ‘Afsanaa’- 1951; ‘O parwaney, shamma ko apni ruswa
na karna’ (Suraiya)- film –‘Shamma Parwana’-1954; ’Aye
meri zindagi tujhey dhundhun kahan’ (Talat Mahmood)- film
‘Adal-e-Jahangir’- 1955 ‘Manwa mein pyar doley’ (Mukesh
& Zohra) –film ‘Sartaj’-1950;
‘Yaad aa rahaa hei dilko bhoola hua fasanaa’ (Suraiya)-film
‘Amar Kahani’- 1949. .
A
glance at the profile of duo- Husnlal Bhagatram. They were the
younger bothers of Pt Amarnath-who himself was a musician of
eminence and died young. He was also associated with the all time
great music of film ‘Mirza Saheban’ (1947) starring Noorjehan
& Trilok Kapoor). Both the bothers -Husnalal (born- 1920) and
Bhagatram (born-1914) -had their initial music training under the
guidance Pt Amarnath
and thereafter from Pt
Dilip Chand Vedi, a highly respected personality in the field of
classical music.
Husnalal’s
zest for learning of violin took him to Ustad Bashir Khan. The
beauty of command over violin can be seen in different
compositions of duo’s songs in
various films. In his personal life as well, the first
passion of Husnalal was classical playing of violin. A day before
his demise, he played classic violin at yearly ‘Harballabh Music
Festival’ at Jullundhar. His favorite raag was ‘Malkauns’.
More
than an ardent composer, he was a dedicated violist. His favorite
raag was Malkauns.
In giving shape to Lata Mangeshkar’s tonal cord for a
song, Husnalal used to
play the tune on violin. Years after his demise, I was given to
understand by Nirlmalaji, his beloved wife that before going to
sleep, he used to invariably play violin, what ever may be the
time.
As
stated, the duo (along with their elder brother, Pt Amarnath)
composed some admirable melodies for Noorjehan for the film
‘Mirza Saheban’ (1947)- ‘Kya ye tera pyar thaa’,
‘Aajaa tujhe afsanaa judai ka sunayein’ (solo); ‘Haath
seeney pe jo rakh do, to karaar aa jayey’, ‘Tum aankhon se
door huyee, neend
aakhon se door’ (with G.M. Durrani). The list of memorable
songs of Noorjehan- whether sung
in undivided India or later in Pakistan- is certainly incomplete
without these fabulous numbers.
If
a collection of all time great film duets (sung in male &
female voices) is prepared, it will be predominantly incomplete
without incredible- ‘Sun merey sajnaa, dekhoji mujhey bhool
na janaa’- based on raag Pahari and
sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd Rafi for film-‘Aansoo’
(1952). Due to length of the
song, it was recorded
on both sides of a 78 rpm record. Just listen to the opening
notes, sung by Lata Mangeshkar –the taan in singing word ‘Saajnaa’.
The quality of flute and drum playing. The pauses in the vocal
articulations, the delivery of lyrical dialogues mixed with deep
feelings, in-between remarkable touches of shehnai,
fascinating style of rendering of words bhool
and rooth by Lata;
creating a unique soul stirring
impact on the listeners’ head and heart.
Kishore
Kumar sang just two songs for Husnalal Bhagatram for the film
‘Kafila’ (1952). Simply have a note of his fascinating
numbers, when he sings -‘Wo meri taraf yun chale aa rahein
hein’ and also ‘Dil lekey dil diya hei’ (with
Lata).
In
B.R. Chopra’s maiden film ‘Afsana’ (1950) music was
composed by the duo. In
this film Lata sang a classic number- ‘Wo
paas bhi reh kar paas nahin, hum door bhi rehkar door nahin’ and
‘Abhee to mein
jawan hoon’ which is considered by some a better than the
earlier version of Mallka
Pukhraj.
The
chapter on Husnalal Bhagatram will be certainly incomplete, if a
mention is not made to -‘Suno suno aye duniyan walo, Bapu ki
ye amar kahani’, which was recorded after the demise of Mahatma Gandhi. The
singer-in- making 24
years old Mohd Rafi became a celebrity overnight with this
recording. The lyrics were
written by Rajinder
Krishan and composed
by the duo within a record
time of just 24 hours, soon after the sad demise of Mahatma
Gandhi, father of the
Nation. More than a million copies of a set of two 78 rpm discs of
this recording were sold within one month. In a way, during those
days, who so ever owned a gramophone, supposed to have bought
these two records.
What
better popularity in the annals of music history- film or
otherwise- one can expect. However, the destiny unfolded another
event. The complexities of relationships and consequent discard by
the industry, compelled Husnalal to leave Bombay and settle in a
large disputed compound in commercial Paharganj area of Delhi for
his remaining short span of life.
In
Delhi, he taught music to his music loving disciples. nstead of
charging any fee, at times he offered
them meals and tea. He, also performed
violin recitals on All
India Radio and at other renowned concerts.
On
the chilly morning of 28 December, 1968
he went out for his routine
morning walk and had a cardiac arrest on the way. He fell
down at nearby Gole Market vicinity and was taken to the then
Willington Hospital (presently RML) where he was declared as
–“an unknown body brought dead.”
The
fate of his elder brother Bhagatram
was no better. For his survival, he worked as a mere musician with
different composers. He too died unsung in the year 1973.
-Satish
Chopra, BA/26B Ashok Vihar-I, Delhi-110052 # 8802805055/27134229
Email:
satishchopra@rediffmail.com