The Story of the 'Richly Evergreen'......(Part3)
O.P.Nayyar's amazing run at the box office was somewhat halted by the Shakti Samanta failure “Kashmir Ki Kali”. Despite the fact that the movie had some of the most exquisite songs ever composed for Indian cinema, it failed to do well on the business front [Contrary information also exists which states that the movie was rather a big success].
The songs have a very special place in my heart. Back in my childhood days, I had a friend in my school who was a big fan of Rafi and he used to tell me about songs from this film. I, on the contrary, was growing up more listening to Bengali songs and some Bhajans (devotional songs) and had little exposure to Rafi’s song until one day the Doordarshan (India's national TV channel, and the only one present those days) decided to telecast the movie Kashmir Ki Kali on TV! I watched the entire movie and liked all the songs in that.
The effect that those songs had in me was just fantastic. I kept on humming the song “Kisi na kisi se kabhi na kabhi”. The song has a brilliant prelude and an equally beautiful interlude piece done entirely on mouth-organ. Watch out! Or rather, listen in! You will not regret! Also, one more thing - there is a Sanchari (an alternate tune to one of the stanzas) piece in the tune which was quite rare those days.
Other than that song, I was madly in love with the super fine "Deewana hua badal". There are several memories associated with this song. One of them is truly amazing. There was once an occasion on Indian Television when the legendary singer S.P.Balasubramaniyam was asked to say a few words on Mohammad Rafi. He said that Rafi-sahab had been his guru since childhood. Along with that, he mentioned a tiny fact which is worth sharing here. He said something like this - When he was a college student he used to pass through a “Paan” (beetle leaf) stall and this song would be played on the local radio. Each time he listened to the prelude (Alaap) sung by Rafi which goes like “O ho ho O ho ho Aaa haa haa….”, he would get an intense feeling which is that of romance and longing and that would set him up to listen to the song one more time, even though he had heard it many times before. Notably, this song too has one stanza with a different tune as compared to the others - the crafty composer was breaking a statutory pattern followed by most of his contemporaries!
Kashmir Ki Kali was a career defining soundtrack by Nayyar-sahab. The locales, the script, the dialogues, the ambiance in the film were very musical. “Taarif karoon kya uski” is an amazing O P genre classic song sung by Rafi and if there is someone who has not watched the video of this song but has seen Shammi Kapoor, he or she would easily make out that this one is a Shammi Kapoor song. The rhythm is made of several instruments and includes the famous horse-shoe tapping beat that is so O.P-like. Rafi-sahab improvises a bit here and there. If one listens carefully, at each edge of each beat, he modulates his voice. This is a masterpiece performance because here is a song where melody is inherent within the beats and where melody actually takes a backseat. So, in essence, any romanticism that can lift this rendition must focus on the beats. The ultimate result comes through when he utters the word "Taarif"- a measured, pitched and direct throwing of this particular word which rises and falls within the span of the beat in which it is meant to come.
[To be continued]
Other than that song, I was madly in love with the super fine "Deewana hua badal". There are several memories associated with this song. One of them is truly amazing. There was once an occasion on Indian Television when the legendary singer S.P.Balasubramaniyam was asked to say a few words on Mohammad Rafi. He said that Rafi-sahab had been his guru since childhood. Along with that, he mentioned a tiny fact which is worth sharing here. He said something like this - When he was a college student he used to pass through a “Paan” (beetle leaf) stall and this song would be played on the local radio. Each time he listened to the prelude (Alaap) sung by Rafi which goes like “O ho ho O ho ho Aaa haa haa….”, he would get an intense feeling which is that of romance and longing and that would set him up to listen to the song one more time, even though he had heard it many times before. Notably, this song too has one stanza with a different tune as compared to the others - the crafty composer was breaking a statutory pattern followed by most of his contemporaries!
Kashmir Ki Kali was a career defining soundtrack by Nayyar-sahab. The locales, the script, the dialogues, the ambiance in the film were very musical. “Taarif karoon kya uski” is an amazing O P genre classic song sung by Rafi and if there is someone who has not watched the video of this song but has seen Shammi Kapoor, he or she would easily make out that this one is a Shammi Kapoor song. The rhythm is made of several instruments and includes the famous horse-shoe tapping beat that is so O.P-like. Rafi-sahab improvises a bit here and there. If one listens carefully, at each edge of each beat, he modulates his voice. This is a masterpiece performance because here is a song where melody is inherent within the beats and where melody actually takes a backseat. So, in essence, any romanticism that can lift this rendition must focus on the beats. The ultimate result comes through when he utters the word "Taarif"- a measured, pitched and direct throwing of this particular word which rises and falls within the span of the beat in which it is meant to come.
[To be continued]
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