Remembering Jaidev: The Musical Genius

Recently, the movie Hum Dono was re-released in colour. The movie was a rage when it was first released. The songs were very much appreciated. During its re-release in colour, Hum Dono trended to the top 5 spot on Twitter, the present generation social barometer.

On the eve of the re-release, Devanand spoke highly of Asha Bhosle's philosophical 'Jahan Mein Aisa Kaun Hai...' and Lata Mangeshkar's ethereal 'Allah Tero Naam ...'. But I do not quite remember Devanand talking about the man behind these songs, Jaidev. Perhaps, I missed it.

In any case, I think Jaydev did not get the recognition he deserved. He received the National Award for best music thrice. The only other music directors to have received the National Award thrice is A R Rehman and Ilayaraja.

Since Devanand did not remember him, and since most of you either do not know him, or have forgotten him, I have compiled his songs here => http://www.squidoo.com/jaidev-the-underrated-musical-genius

Musical Lenses Featuring Lata, Kishore, Manna, Hemant and many more

The last week and the weekend were spent in absolute ecstasy: listening and choosing music of the golden era of Hindi playback singing.
There is magic in these songs and now that I have created webpages that is a mini-collection of sorts, I now have two wishes:

a) that more people listen to these - both those who understand Hindi and those who don't
b) that these songs find their rightful place in world music.

Today, if you search music in Internet you will find Beatles or other pop-music at the top of the heap. I do not deny their rightful place, but is there any reason why Lata, Rafi, Kishore, Hemant, Manna, Asha should not rub shoulders with them.

So, here is a request. Please visit the webpages I have built. Give me your suggestion to make it more attractive. But more importantly,spread the word. Please tell at least 10 people you know to visit these webpages, and they can tell 10 more and so on ...

Here are the pages:

25 songs from the Nightingale of India: Lata Mangeshkar
25 songs from a musical maestro: Manna Dey
21 songs by Music Directors singing their own composition
25 songs from the minnows of Hindi Playback

You can rate the songs you like best. I hope you enjoy listening to these songs as much as I enjoyed creating the webpages.

Eco-friendly couplet

This is not exactly a bhajan. It is what might be called a nazm, I think.

Anyways, coming back to the topic ...


This is from the collector's item of a musical album called Sajda. Sajda is one of its kind because it brought together the Nightingale, Lata, and the person who gave a new meaning to Ghazals, Jagjit Singh.

In the album Sajda, the first song - sung by Lata, the first has a wonderful couplet. And it goes something like this ...

Ya dharti kay zakhmon par marham rakh day,

Ya mera dil pathar kar day, ya allah

Either apply ointment to earth's wound,

or turn my heart into a stone, Allah.

(because, I can no longer tolerate earth's wound)

Urdu couplets have this wonderful habit of not stating the obvious; I know what I have typed out in the parenthesis above destroys the beauty of the couplet; in fact the mere act of translation has already destroyed the pain the couplet carries.

Have you come across any such song? Then enlighten me. Only those songs that have not been written to celebrate Earth Day and the like, please.

By the way the lyricist of dard say mera daaman bhar day (from which I extracted the 'ecological' couplet) is Qateel Shifai. You would be hard pressed to find a more soulful number. The first strains of the song, when Lata Mangeshkar calls out the name of Allah is absolutely ethereal. I would recommend the album, Sajda, unhesitatingly.

My Top 10 Lata Mangeshkar Songs

30,000+ songs. How does one choose? Obviously I am not going to sift through this huge data. I have a simpler way. I will type in whichever Lata song comes to my mind as I blog. Blogging does not get much live than this.

So here's my list of Lata Mangeshkar Top 10:

1. Lag jaa galey ki phir yeh haseen raat ho na ho, shayad is janam mein mulakat ko na ho - from Woh Kaun Thi? The music is by Madan Mohan

2. Tera jaana, dil key armaanon ka loot jaana, koi dehke bun kay taqdeeron ka mitt jana - from Anadi. The music is by Shankar Jaikishan. Nutan is absolutely heartbroken.

3. O! Sajana, barkha bahar aayi, ras ki phuhar layi, aankhiyon mein pyaas layi - from Parakh - this one is brilliant. The music is by Salil Chodhury

4. Chura kay gaya sapna mera, baithi hoon kab ho savera - from Jewel Thief. The music is by S.D. Burman. Vyjantimala never looked more beautiful.

5. Aaa! Jaan-e-jaan, aa mera yeh husn jawan - from Intequam. The music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal. This one is special: the only cabaret number by Lata. Helen gives her best; so does the man, painted all black, in the cage. (Actually there is one more song from Intequam that I love - Kaisay rahoon chup kay meinay pi hi kya hai.)

6. Dilbar dil say pyare - from Caravan. The music is by R.D. Burman. Perhaps Aruna Irani's best dance number.

7. Biti na bitai raina, birha ki jayi raina - from Parichay; the brilliant Hindi remake of the Sound of Music. The music is by R.D. Burman. (Actually this is a duet with Bhupendra doing a cameo at the end). Gulzar, RD and Lata were a deadly combination.

8. Another Gulzar-Lata-RD number from Andhi: Tere bina zindagi say shikwa. Duet with the man with the golden voice, Kishore Kumar. (I love all the three songs from this movie. The other two ... tum aa gaye ho, nur aa gaya hai; and iss mod say jaatey hain, kuch sust kadam rakh kar. All three songs are filmed on Suchitra Sen, Bengal's pride and Sanjeev Kumar).

9. Thinking of Suchitra Sen ... this one is from another Hindi movie of hers, Mamta. The song ... Rahein na rahein hum, mehka kareingay ban kay kali .... I think the music is by Roshan.

10. A non-filmi song which brings a lump to my throat every time I even think of it ... Aye meray watan kay logon, zara aankh mein bhar lo paani. I think the music is by C Ramachandra.

Is it already number 10? Hmmm... sad. I have so many more to go.

Which are your favourite Lata Mangeshkar songs?

Hounouring Gandhi the Montblanc Way

Two reasons to be proud of India: Mahatma Gandhi and Lata Mangeshkar. These two people define the essence of India for me. One the apostle of peace - the greatest human being to have walked the earth; and the other the sweetest voice known to mankind. A country that gave birth to these two gems is definitely a country worth living and dying for.

But then you come across an advert (in India Today's some supplement that features only the most expensive stuff - beyond the reach of ordinary human beings) - Montblanc has launched limited edition gold and silver pens celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. Gold and Silver?!?! Mahatma Gandhi - the man who gave up his every comfort to identify with the men and women he led - must be crying in heaven.

I am sure we Indians have done lots of things that must have caused the Mahatma lots of pain - the values he held dear are no longer the central theme of Indian mindset; but honouring him in gold is simply ridiculous. I am sure the makers of Montblanc will donate the money earned from this pen to charity. No? :)