By Dr Amjad Parvez

Daily Times August 26, 2014

The film ‘Aaye Din Bahar Ke’ (1966) needs a special mention for its music. It was a Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Balraj Sahni and Nazima film. Anand Bakshi was the lyricist for the songs of this film. All the songs became very popular especially “Suno sajna” by Lata Mangeshkar. During 1971 to 1980, Mangeshkar’s voice was again used for the films ‘Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli’ (1971), ‘Mehboob Ki Mehndi’ (1971), ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’, ‘Pathar Ke Sanam’ (1971), ‘Piya Ka Ghar’ (1972), ‘Shor’ (1972), ‘Dushman’ (1972), ‘Gora Aur Kala’ (1972), ‘Mome Ki Gudiya’ (1972), ‘Bobby’ (1973), ‘Daagh: A Poem of Love’ (1973), ‘Loafer’ (1973), ‘Majboor’ (1974), ‘Roti’ (1974), ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’ (1974), ‘Anurodh’ (1976), ‘Charas’ (1976), ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), ‘Chacha Bhatija’ (1977), ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’ (1978), ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ (1978), ‘Sargam’ (1979), ‘Suhaag’ (1979), ‘Aasha’ (1980) and ‘Hum Paanch’ (1980). Mangeshkar’s songs for Raja Nawathe’s film ‘Patthar Ke Sanam’ like “Koi nahin hai phir bhi hai mujh ko kya janey kis ka intizar”, “Bata dun kaya laana tum laut kei aa jana” and Lata-Mukesh’s ‘Mehboob merey’ need special mention. The film ‘Mehboob Ki Mehndi’ had lilting songs like Rafi-Lata’s “Itna tau yaad hei muhje” picturised on Leena Chanderwerker and Rajesh Khanna, “Jane kyun log muhabbat kiya karte hain” by Mangeshkar. It was director HS Ruwail’s film. My all time favourite is the song “Ik payar ka naghma hai” with a violin playing melodious interludes by Mangeshkar supplemented by Mukesh from the film ‘Shor’ picturised on Nanda and Manoj Kumar. The film “Main yulsi terey aangan ki” had a lovely melody of the same lyrics as that of the name of the film by Mangeshkar picturised on Parekh. Hazrat Amir Khusro’s “Chaap talak sab cheen li” by Mangeshkar and Bhosle in qawwali beat with sarangi interludes was included.

In the decade of 1970s, director Raj Kapoor gave break to LP for his Zeenat Aman-Shashi Kapoor starrer movie ‘Satyem Shevam Sundram’. This movie had strong direction by Raj Kapoor and excellent support of its music. Lata sang inviting melody ‘Bhor Bhaei Panghat Pei Mohe Nat Khat Shyaam Satei’ in an opulent sequence. Lata also sang ‘Sateyam Shevam Sundram’ in two parts, one a soft melody and the other a dramatic one when she complains to her God about her inner beauty being compromised with the outer one. Earlier Raj Kapoor had also used LP for his movie ‘Bobby’ to launch his younger son Rishi Kapoor with Dimple Kapadia. Songs of this movie were hit like ‘Hum Tum Ik Kamrey Mein Band Haun’ by Shelinder Singh and Lata, Lata’s ‘Jhoot Boley Kawwa Katey’, ‘Mujhey Kutch Kehna Hei’ (duet by Lata and Shelinder) and finally ‘Lata’s ‘Akhion Ko Rehney Dei’ based on Punjabi folk. For 1979 movie ‘Sargam’ three duets by Lata and Rafi stood out - “Dafli wale dafli baja”, “Parbat ke us paar”, ‘Hum to chale pardais” and “Koyel bole duniya Dili”. The film became a super hit and took the third top spot at the box office in 1979. It made Jaya Pradha a star in Bollywood and she also earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.

I shall talk of the music for ‘Prem Rog’ and ‘Hero’ from among the movies of LP in the decade of 1980s. These movies were ‘Judai’ (1980), ‘Kali Ghata’ (1980), ‘Qarz’ (1980), ‘Ik Duuje Ke Liye’ (1981), ‘Pyaasa Sawan’ (1981), ‘Kranti’ (1981), ‘Naseeb’ (1981), ‘Prem Rog’ (1982), ‘Hero’ (1983), ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ (1983), ‘Utsav’ (1984), ‘Sur Sangam’ (1985), ‘Nagina’ (1986), ‘Mr. India (1987), ‘Tezaab’ (1988), ‘Chaalbaaz’ (1989), ‘Ram Lakhan’ (1989), ‘Agneepath’ (1990), ‘Hum’ (1991), ‘Saudagar’ (1991), ‘Khuda Gawah’ (1992), ‘Khalnayak’ (1993), ‘Bhairavi’ (1995), ‘Trimurti’ (1995) and ‘Poonilamazha’ (1997) -   a Malayalam film. Lata’s vocals were abundantly used. 1982 film ‘Prem Rog’ had songs ‘Yeh Galian Yeh Chaubara’ by Lata, duets ‘Muhabat Kaya Hei Cheez’, ‘Bhanwarey Nei Khilaya Phool’ by Lata and Suresh Wadekar. Subhash Ghai’s 1983 film ‘Hero’, the debut film of Jackie Shroff had Lata’s songs ‘Nindya Sei Jaagi Bahaar’ and ‘Pyar Karne Wale Kabhi Darte Nahi’ by Lata Mangeshkar and Manhar Udhas. For times to come, my all time favourite song of LP however remains Lata-Rafi’s ‘Yeh Dil Tum Bin Kaheen Lagta Nahin Hum Kaya Karein’ from the movie ‘Izzat’ picturised on Tanuja and Dharmendra.

I have mentioned that apart from the basic tune, the instrumental support made LP’s compositions different and appealing like in Mangeshkar’s song “Urtey pawen ke sang chalungi” from ‘Merey Hamdam Merey Dost’ where the pleasant effect of the birds flying was enhanced through orchestral mode. Despite bagging seven Filmfare Awards for the films ‘Dosti’ (1964), ‘Milan’ (1967), ‘Jeene Ki Raah’ (1969), ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ (1978), ‘Sargam’ (1979) and ‘Qarz’ (1980), LP narrowly missed the awards for musical hits like ‘Aaye Din Bahar Ke’, ‘Intiqaam’, ‘Do Raste’, ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’, ‘Shor’, ‘Daag’, ‘Bobby’, ‘Ik Duje Ke Liye’, ‘Utsav’, ‘Sur Sangam’, ‘Farz’, ‘Shagird’, ‘Tezaab’, ‘Hero’ and ‘Mr. India’.