After reading my post, Not So Well Recorded: The Journey of the Hindi Film Song, a reader informed me of a forthcoming book on legendary composer Pancham. The book, R D Burman: The Man, The Music, is written by Anirudha Bhattarcharjee and Balaji Vittal and published by HarperCollins. The book can be pre-ordered from Flipkart at a discount of 30%.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Madhukar Rajasthani: The Song of the Unsung Poet
Lyricists have always played second fiddle to the music directors in Hindi movies. Yet, good lyricists have often drawn their own fan following. To the discerning listeners of Hindi Cine Sangeet, they have always been as important as the composer and the singer, if not more. And in the world of geets and ghazals, they have more fan following than the composers.
Yet, I was fairly surprised to find that even some of the connoisseurs of light music that I know could not even recognize the name of Madhukar Rajasthani. A few who did, correctly identified him as a writer of bhajans and were completely unaware that he has penned so many beautiful geets. That prompted me to write this post. Unfortunately, not much information on his personal life is available, except that he was born in Churu district of Rajasthan.
Madhukar, in my opinion, is the most underrated lyricist in the history of Hindi light music. One reason could be that he did not write for too many films. His first film was Bhed, with music by Mukul Roy. He did work with popular composers such as Husnlal Bhagatram, Roshan and Ram Ganguly but only occasionally. He has written for close to two dozen movies, none by a big banner.
His non-film work can be broadly divided into two broad categories (my classification): bhajans and geets. It is not just a genre classification. His bhajans are among the most popular bhajans in the history of recorded music in India, though they are identified with the singers and few know the lyricist who has penned such soulful words. On the other hand, his other songs are barely known.
Tere bharose hai Nandlala, written by Madhukar, is arguably the most popular bhajan song by Mohd. Rafi. Most of the popular non-filmi Rafi bhajans such as Shyam se neha lagaya, Paon padoon tore Shyam, and Main Gwalo rakhwalo maiya are written by Madhukar. These are bhajans many of us have grown up listening to.
That is, however, not the case with his other songs. Most of them are among the best that I have listened to – filmi or non-filmi. But few have even heard them. If anyone is interested, one can go to www.saregama.com and search for his songs. You would get some 30-odd songs. Here are some of my favourites. Each of them is an absolute gem.
1. Meri bhi ek Mumtaz thi (Manna Dey). One of my all-time favorites. In a class of its own. And if you listen, even if you are an occasional listener, you will ask: who is the poet?
2. Pal bhar ke pehchan aap se (Manna Dey). Another gem. One of the most soulful romantic songs that I have listened to.
3. Ja tujhe bhul gaye (Hemant Kumar)
4. Ek gaon ke ujale daman mein (Talat Mehmood). One of the best by Talat.
5. Yeh awara ratein (Manna Dey)
6. Chalo na gori (C H Atma). An extremely hummable song, very different from all the rest. I sing this often in small get togethers.
It is an absolute pity that so little is known about the poet. Would be delighted to know more.
I am compiling a list of his songs, which I will put up here as a separate page.
Filed under Music, Non-filmi light music
Not So Well Recorded: The Journey of the Hindi Film Song
(An updated version of this post is available here: Not So Well Recorded: But Now Well Recognized)
Nothing is as representative of the popular mass culture of India as the Hindi film music. Its appeal is pan-Indian and arguably surpasses that of the Hindi films per se. In the 2011 Jaipur Literature Festival, a discussion session on Hindi film music featuring lyricists Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi, drew so much crowd that the organizers had to repeat it, at a bigger space.
Yet, it is surprising that so little serious work has been done to record this incredible journey. As someone interested in the history of Indian music, I have often proactively looked for books on Indian recorded music, classical music and fim music. Recently, while researching, I discovered something that I did not know whether to feel good or bad about. I realized that I have read most of the books on the subject, published in India.
That prompted me to prepare a list and publish for those who would like to follow the subject. I am not an expert on the subject and this is just a labor of love for fellow Hindi film music lovers who would also like to know the stories behind the songs, singers, composers and the lyricists. I have added brief comments for the ones that I have read and have also provided links to buying those online in India, whereever I could find.
So, here is the list in this format: Title, Author, Publisher
1. K L Saigal: Piligrim of the Swara, Raghava R Menon, Hind Pocket Book. One of the earliest books on a singer to be published in English, the virtuosity of author Raghava Menon is evident, as it captures the evolution of Saigal as a singer. But strictly speaking, this is more around Saigal, right from his childhood days, and not really so much about film music. Could just find it now in Amazon for $173. I had bought it for Rs 30 in 1991/92!
2. Lata Mangeshkar: A Biography, Raju Bharatan, UBS Publishers & Distributor. Probably the best book on Hindi film music written so far, Raju Bharatan, arguably the most prolific writer on Hindi fim music presents a great history of the film music with Lata at the centre. All his pet topics–Kishore/Rafi choice of Dada Burman, Lata-Rafi rift and the likes–find place in it. Also gives a great portrait of Lata as a person. If you have to read just one book on Hindi fillm music, read this one. Unfortunately, could not find it in any site.
3. Yesterday’s Melodies, Today’s Memories, Manek Premchand, Jharna Books. It is more of a compilation, without neither serious analysis nor any great new anecdotal info. It is nevertheless a good short encyclopedia of music personalities. Could not find it any e-stores. I had procured it from the author directly when it was published around 2003.
4. Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries, Ashok Da Ranade, Promila & Company. A serious analysis of Hindi film music and its doyens, it is a great book for those who want to seriously learn the subject. Not really for light reading. Ranade is a well-known writer on music and has written extensively on Indian classical music, instruments and musical traditions. Buy: Landmark
5. Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song, Ganesh Anantharaman, Penguin Books India. Again devoid of any original research, but very smoothly written, a good read for the flight, if you want to learn about Hindi film music’s journey without getting heavily into lots of information. Published about three years back, it is widely available, thanks to its publishers, Penguin. Buy: Flipkart, Landmark
6. The History of Indian Film Music: A Showcaseof the Very Best in Hindi Cinema, Rajiv Vijaykar, Times Group Books. Yet another book on Hindi film music in a semi coffee table format, this is, however, widely available. Buy: Flipkart, Landmark
7. A Journey Down Melody Lane, Raju Bharatan, Hay House. This is the latest (2010) from Raju Bharatan and is far lighter to read than his earlier book. If his biography of Lata was meant for more serious readers, this is for everyone. If you want to pick up a first book on Hindi film music that is smooth reading and still want to be delighted with great pieces of information, then this is it. Just beware of one thing: some of the anecdotes are a little overplayed. Buy: Flipkart, Landmark
8. Notes Of Naushad, Shashikant Kinikar, English Edition Publishers And Distributors. A book for those who cannot stop humming those Rafi-Shakeel-Naushad tunes. Buy: Flipkart
9. Memories Come Alive: An autobiography of Manna Dey, Sarbani Putatunda (translator), Penguin Books India. A great book for Manna Dey fans and those who want to learn how the music happened in 40s. The chapters on K C Dey, with whom the young Manna worked as an assistant are a rare treat. No other published source can give that information. Buy: Flipkart
10. Mohd. Rafi: The Great Immortal Singer, Mohd. Saleem-ul-Haq. Published by the author himself, this book is actually a list of all the Hindi film songs of Rafi Saab, with a small biography. Comes with a CD of some rare songs including Rafi’s English songs, Although we hail from different lands and the She I Love. It was never available in the market. I had gone to the author’s house in Hyderabad to get it, some six years back.
11. Hindi Film Songs And The Cinema, Anna Morcom, Ashgate. I haven’t read the book but here is a good review. Buy: Flipkart
12. Lata Mangeshkar In Her Own Voice, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Niyogi Books. Buy: Flipkart, Landmark
13. K L Saigal: Immortal Singer and Superstar, Nevile Pran, Nevile Books. Buy: Landmark
14. Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance, Sangita Gopal & Sujata Moorti (Editors), Orient Blackswan. Buy: Flipkart, Landmark (After writing this post, I did buy this book, originally published in the US, but it is too academic and is a collection of few independent articles. )
15. A R Rahman: The Musical Storm, Kamini Mathai, Penguin Books India. Buy: Flipkart
I have not read the last five books. The ones by Morcom and Pran are published outside India.
Needless to say, will love to listen from anyone who can help me add to the list. Only books in English.
Filed under Books, Hindi Film Music
Nothing to Declare 