Quiz talk

Was Madan Mohan loud
in his orchestral scores?

Comments, insights, trivia, barbs, repartees, jokes and all the fun that went into the skewed duets quiz set by Radha and Abhay

21. [21/22]

aatii hai sadaa terii TuuTe hu_e taaro.n se..

No more is needed, surely! The OS's lines recur in a tandem version. A marvellous song that weaves a net of magic around the listener.

ye raat ye chaa.Ndanii phir kahaa.N, sun jaa dil kii daastaa.N...
chaa.Ndanii raate.n pyaar kii baate.n kho gayii jaane kahaa.N

OS: Hemant Kumar [19/22]
LS: Lata Mangeshkar
Film: Jaal
MD: S D Burman
Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi

HK repeats the first line on each return to the sthaayii.

22. [19/22]

aa.Nkh me.n tairatii hai tasviire.n
teraa cheharaa teraa khayaal liye
aa_iinaa dekhataa hai tab mujhako
ek maasuum saa savaal liye

A fairly good song, but the older film of the same name, and with the same MDs, had much better music. The OS here is reputed to be the cause of a rift between the MDs and their one-time favourite star singer.

jab bhii ye dil udaas hotaa hai
jaane kaun aas paas hotaa hai

OS: Sharda [15/22]
LS: Mohammed Rafi
Film: Seema (1971)
MD: Shankar-Jaikishen
Lyricist: Gulzar

Sharda goes "aa..aa..aa" along with Rafi as he repeats the mukhaDaa after the first and second stanzas, and also joins in singing the mukhaDaa after the second and third stanzas.

CP> jaane kaun o.s hota hai!

A&S> Are there any other such pairs (same film name, different year, same MD)?

AD> As for the earlier 'Seema' having better music, why blame only the MD? That one had lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat, while this one by Gulzar and Varma Malik!

QM> What's wrong with the lyrics of the song here?

V&S> The ONLY sharada song that I like. Rafi sounds nice, she sounds okay when she hums in the interludes and sings the "jaane kaun aas paas" line at the end along w/ rafi. The MD - lyricist pair is interesting, SJ and Gulzar, can't think of any other movie offhand with that combo.

AR> On musicindiaonline.com they have put this song and "manamohana bade jhoothhe" both under the same film Seema.

QM> Well, HMV has competition!!

23. [22/22]

barfiilii sardiyo.n me.n kisii bhii pahaaD par
vaadii me.n guu.Njatii hu_ii khaamoshiyaa.N sune
aa.Nkhon me.n bhiige bhiige se lamhe liye hu_e

Our expert in complex images in back! Building on a Ghalib couplet, he weaves a series of seasonal images that are magical. The OS has a solo tandem.

dil Dhuu.NDhataa hai phir wahii phursat ke raat din
baiThe rahe.n tasavvur-e-jaanaa kiye hu_e

OS: Bhupinder [15/22]
LS: Lata Mangeshkar
Film: Mausam
MD: Madan Mohan
Lyricist: Gulzar (using Ghalib as a launching pad!)

Bhupinder sings the sthaayii by himself throughout the song till the end, when he and Lata sing it together. After the music dies out, he again sings it alone, this time in a slower version of the tune of his tandem solo.

AD> [This version has an atrocious tune; Bhupinder's version has a mellower tune.]... Orchestration here is an example of Madan Mohan's tendency to be overly loud.

V&S> You should have picked the verse "jaa.Do.n kii narm dhuup aur" since it clearly differentiates between the Bhupinder solo (aa.Nchal ke saaye ko) and the duet (daaman ke saaye ko).

QM> Hadn't noticed this earlier, or we would indeed have used that verse!

24. [17/22]

merii chhoTii bahanaa naazo.n kii paalii shahazaadii
jitanii bhii jaldi ho mai.n kar duu.Ngaa usakii shaadii
achchhaa hai ye balaa hamaarii jaa_e duuje gaa.Nv me.n

A house in the clouds, mom on a throne of gold, and sis banished to distant lands - this is the stuff dreams are made of? No wonder he can hear something buzzing in his head!

chhoTaasaa ghar hogaa baadalo.n kii chhaa_Nv me.n
aashaa diwaanii man me.n bansurii bajaa_e
ham hi ham chamake.nge taaro.n ke us gaa.Nv me.n
naino.n kii raushanii haradam ye bataa_e

OS: Shaila Belle [13/22]
LS: Kishore Kumar
Film: Naukri
MD: Salil Choudhary
Lyricist: Shailendra

The OS joins in with "aa..aa..aire" just before the last repeat of the sthaayii, and then join the LS in singing the sthaayii. [Note: Since the "official" records of HMV credit Usha Mangeshkar for this song, answers with her name as OS have also been accepted as correct for scoring purposes.]

AD> The song has a tandem: a brief, sad version by Hemant. Salil perhaps didn't trust Kishore with sad songs?

ASR> What's the meaning of the reference to "something buzzing in his head"?

QM> "aashaa diiwaanii man me.n bansurii bajaa_e" :-)

25. [21/22] ...insaano.n kii izzat jab jhuuThe sikko.n me.n na tolii jaayegii

Our much-featured OS (ref. clue 6) makes an appearance yet again. One of the best-known leftist anthems in Hindi cinema, this song seems to draw on the Psalms (or maybe Wodehouse!) - "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning". The question is: will morning come? Yes, says the title of the film.

wo subah kabhii to aayegii, wo subah kabhii to aayegii

OS: Asha Bhosale [16/22]
LS: Mukesh
Film: Phir Subah Hogi
MD: Khayyam
Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi

AB sings the mukhaDaa along with Mukesh after each stanza, and hums and goes "aa.aa.aa" before and during the stanzas.

QM> The one-line clue experiment paid off! All the songs that had just one line from the antaraa as a clue - this one, # 21 (chhaa.Ndanii raate.n) and # 18 (kabhi kabhi mere dil me.n) - were correctly identified in 21 of the 22 entries.

ND> Didn't Asha excel... as the other singer:) she has way too many duets where she hardly sings... wonder if singers were paid for that too...:)

QM> Given that the singers concerned were fairly big names, we are sure they would have been paid.

AD> The song has three tandems: one normal-length solo by Mukesh; one brief solo by Asha; and a brief happy version, with variant words, by both and chorus toward the end of the film. I think two stanzas in the Mukesh version are not in the soundtrack.

QM> Which verses are missing from the soundtrack?

V&S> Asha hums, Mukesh sings. If what Mukie-boy does can be described as singing.

26. [13/22]

chunarii ke kiye Tok oDh le_ii lo_ii
motii muu.nge utaar banamaalaa po_ii

A legendary court singer brings his royal patron to hear a mystic sing her love for God...and can't resist joining in. Our complex imager, who was responsible for "adapting" the lyrics, is into mix-and-match in this film - the solo version of this song uses verses from a totally different song of the famed mystic. Any idea what "po_ii" means, anyone?

mere to giridhar gopaal duusaro na ko_ii
jaake sar moramukuT mero pati so hii

OS: Dinkar Kaikini [8/22]
LS: Vani Jairam
Film: Meera
MD: Ravi Shankar
Lyricist: Meerabai (adapted by Gulzar)

DK sings the mukhaDaa at the end of the song - the first line by himself, the rest with VJ.

V&S> Of all the folks who have sung for Tansen in movies (Saigal, Kamal Barot, Krishnarao Chonkar, Mahendra Kapoor, Manna De, Rafi, Poorna Seth, Amir Khan, Mukesh ...) Dinkar Kaikini is the only one who seems remotely plausible. Flame retardant to protect myself from Amir Khan fans: I don't think Tansen sang endless jhoomras in ati-vilambit; Kaikini's more rigorous hewing to laya is closer to the dhrupad gaayaki supposedly prevalent in Tansen's day.

QM> You find him more plausible than Amir Khan??

R&M> ...the word po_ii though I think I know it's origin. It comes from piroyi.

AD> ponaa is in the Oxford Dictionary: to string, for example, pearls; to thread for example, a needle. ...I would be interested in reading more about the mix and match of stanzas...

QM> Oh, it's quite simple: in the solo version of "mere to giridhar gopaal", Gulzar has used the stanzas from "mai.n to lino govi.ndo mol".

VT> Why do you accuse Gulzar of mixing the verses when Ravi Shankar could equally be guilty[?] anyway..... a great soundtrack.... po means 'Pehanna' or 'Pirona'....fairly part of vocab from the place I come from.

QM> Why blame the MD when the film-maker is a lyricist himself?

27. [4/22]

Dhuu.NDhe merii priit re, tuu hai kahaa.N miit re
aa.Nsuu bane giit re, aahe.n sa.ngiit re

The feverish romantic imagery of this song - and the other two from the film - is at odds with both the graphic brutality of the film and the harsh reality that inspired it. One of the two (AFAWK) films MD-ed by a musical icon from across the border who is also the lead singer here.

saa.Nware tore bina jiyaa jaa_e naa
jaluu.N tere pyaar me.n, karuu.N intazaar teraa
kisiise kahaa jaa_e naa

OS: Humera Chana [0/22]
LS: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Film: Bandit Queen
MD: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Lyricist: Riaz-ur-Rehman Sushir, Ayub Anwar

The OS sings the clue lines thrice: after the sthaayii, between the two stanzas, and after the sthaayii is repeated at the end.

QM> In the cassette insert, there are no singer/Lyricist credits against each song - there are only credits listed for the album as a whole. Two names are listed as "Female Singers" - Humera Chana and Sunita. This song has only one voice as the OS; the other song featuring female voices ("more sai.nyaa to hai.n parades", with the interlude, "saawaan aayaa rim jhim saa.Nware...") clearly has two voices singing the interludes in tandem. We are guessing that the singer whose name is listed first (Humera Chana) has the solo interludes in this song. [It _could_ be Sunita too, and we would have given marks for either answer, but neither name was mentioned in any entry.]

AD> Who is the OS and who are the lyricists for the songs of the film? (there is a fourth song, by the way: chhoTee see umar me.n ..) The BPL cassette doesn't give any information. Even Hamraaz hasn't been able to get the lyricist information.

QM> ????? As we said above, the cassette insert (the BPL one itself!) DOES list two Lyricists.

AD> Where do these three songs you referred to appear in the film? I saw the film long ago, when it was specially screened at my work place. I don't recall there being any such songs, which are 6-8 minutes long. Just used briefly as effects, but full versions were released? If so, I do like the idea. I find the melodies and singing excellent--worthy additions to Nusrat's body of work, unlike the music of 'Aur Pyar Ho Gaya,' which was totally uninspired.

QM> Not very sure how and where these songs appear in the film. And we agree with you - NFAK's work in this film is excellent. Haven't heard the fourth song you mention: "chhoTii sii umar me.n"...(the words only bring to mind the Lata atrocity from "Bairaagi"!!). Where is it available?

VK> According to www.nfak.com (the "official" NFAK site), he composed the music for Aur Pyar Ho gaya, Kachche Dhage & Kartoos as well.

QM> We knew about "Kachhe Dhage" (no great shakes), but had not heard of the other two. How is the music? Ashok says "Aur Pyar Ho Gaya" was totally uninspired; how were the songs of "Kartoos"?

ASR> I got this one thanks to a friend who's absolutely nuts about the songs of Bandit Queen. I also received a copy of the soundtrack from this friend, after which I had to agree the praise was well-deserved. NFAK's "more saiyyan to hai pardes" from this album is truly wonderful

QM> That it is!

28. [20/22]

mantar pheruu.N
komal kaayaa chhoD ke jaa re

Almost all that the OS gets to sing in this song! But his 'jantar-mantar' doesn't work - only the arrival of the lover does! The strong folk music influence in this song is a hallmark of the MD. A musical feast of a film; the lead singer won her first Filmfare award for another song from the same film.

o....bichhu_aa....

OS: Manna De [17/22]
LS: Lata Mangeshkar
Film: Madhumati
MD: Salil Choudhary
Lyricist: Shailendra

Manna De sings the clue lines, and one more line along with the chorus toward the end of the song.

AD> This is a great folk-influenced song, but is that aspect really the hallmark of Salil?

R&A> Well, perhaps "hallmark" was a bit of a stretch, but the impression that he used folk music often and well is strong. Let's see: this song, "julmi sa.ng aa.Nkh laDii", "hariyaalaa saawan Dhol bajaataa aayaa", the bhangra in "Jagte Raho" - oh, we're sure there will be many more. And, FWIW, this is what Gautam Choudhury says in his introduction to Salil's film music: "During his early years Salil was very much influenced by the large and diverse folk tradition of India."

29. [12/22]

mahaaraanii miiraa ne jogan ban mahalo.n kaa tyaag kiyaa
le ikataaraa chalii Dhuu.NDhane manamohan kaa kahaa.N pataa
The same OS as above, with a few more lines this time. The declamatory tone of these lines seems to match the singer perfectly! References to Meera pop up twice in the film: here, and in a Meera bhajan sung by the heroine in a Meera get-up. How and why she is being compared to Meera is never made clear! The film, which supposedly dealt with "classical dance", also had an impeccably "equal" duet (with a different male singer) that ranks on our top-ten list of duets.

mere ai dil bataa, mere ai dil bataa
pyaar tuune kiyaa paa_ii maine sazaa
kyaa karuu.N, kyaa karuu.N

First (Songs 1 to 10)

Second (Songs 21 to 30)
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