The Story of the 'Richly Evergreen'......(Part2)
Nayyar-sahab followed his tremendous success of “Aar Paar” with another gem of a soundtrack in the film “Mr and Mrs 55”. I think I should write some more words about the songs of these two films. “Babuji dheere chalna” was my mom’s favorite song for a long time. It was one of those songs that had my most favorite actress of all time, the great Madhubala and it was sung by my grandmother’s most favorite playback singer, the late Geeta Dutt.
I have been hearing Geeta Dutt since my childhood. Listening to her songs has given me immense satisfaction. Over here, in this song, several great things come together. First, it is the masterful presence of Madhubaala and her acting on screen. Next, it is the excellent piece of cinematography by V K Murthy, a legend in his field. The camera captures the mood of this song in the absolutely correct way. Then, it is this amazing orchestration that is so intelligent and way beyond its time. Finally, it is the cupid-struck facial expressions of Guru Dutt, the actor. Over generations since his premature death, people have remembered Guru Dutt as one of the legendary film-makers of international quality but many of us seemed to have forgotten how great an actor he was. All these known idioms like “Guru Dutt shot” typifying a close-up and this very talk of acting through face were, by-products of Guru Dutt, the actor, rather than Guru Dutt, the director. If we take a look at his filmography, we can by and large cut the body of his work into two parts – 1. The mystery/adventurous/thriller kind of films and 2. The serious, literary-emotion-brought-to-celluloid kind of films. To his credit, he could identify O P Nayyar’s talent to deliver his visions for the first kind of films.
This Guru Dutt – O P Nayyar combination was well planned and executed on all quarters and resulted in hits after hits. Someone who is familiar with the films of that generation knows how beautifully these two elevated the role of comedian in films. Although one must note that Johnny Walker was a great actor who ushered under Guru Dutt’s patronage but one can never forget the contribution O P had on the scheme of things. Guru Dutt was casting Johnny for virtually every film that he was making. “Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji” (Mr and Mrs55) was sweet, rhythmic, soft and comic; even after so many years, if we listen to this song just once, we will fall in love with it. One thing must be noted here – the fact that Rafi-sahab used to sing both for the lead actor as well as for the comedian always demanded extra effort from his part. How he approached these two facets was something that only he could have known, however, to the ordinary listeners, they always seemed to be sounding different.
Let me take an attempt to describe what I mean here. As for example, let us take the song “Ankhon hi ankhon mein” from the film CID which is picturized on Dev Anand and …… In this song, Rafi’s voice is soft and romantic so that it fits to the mood that Dev-sahab is trying to portray.
But, then take the other song “Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan” from the same film picturized on Johnny Walker. This one is fun-filled light hearted romantic tune with lot of Western styled beats imbibed inside. For this one, Rafi-sahab brings out certain kind of naughtiness that is unique and in no way comparable to the earlier song. That was Rafi-sahab and he set such standards for himself that unfortunately he could only supersede.
O P Nayyar was in sublime form all throughout the mid and late fifties, often charging huge amount of money to sign a film. In a sense, he was bigger than the biggest stars of Hindi cinema in those days. A producer signing him was sure to get a return for his investment. Such was his popularity!
I have been hearing Geeta Dutt since my childhood. Listening to her songs has given me immense satisfaction. Over here, in this song, several great things come together. First, it is the masterful presence of Madhubaala and her acting on screen. Next, it is the excellent piece of cinematography by V K Murthy, a legend in his field. The camera captures the mood of this song in the absolutely correct way. Then, it is this amazing orchestration that is so intelligent and way beyond its time. Finally, it is the cupid-struck facial expressions of Guru Dutt, the actor. Over generations since his premature death, people have remembered Guru Dutt as one of the legendary film-makers of international quality but many of us seemed to have forgotten how great an actor he was. All these known idioms like “Guru Dutt shot” typifying a close-up and this very talk of acting through face were, by-products of Guru Dutt, the actor, rather than Guru Dutt, the director. If we take a look at his filmography, we can by and large cut the body of his work into two parts – 1. The mystery/adventurous/thriller kind of films and 2. The serious, literary-emotion-brought-to-celluloid kind of films. To his credit, he could identify O P Nayyar’s talent to deliver his visions for the first kind of films.
This Guru Dutt – O P Nayyar combination was well planned and executed on all quarters and resulted in hits after hits. Someone who is familiar with the films of that generation knows how beautifully these two elevated the role of comedian in films. Although one must note that Johnny Walker was a great actor who ushered under Guru Dutt’s patronage but one can never forget the contribution O P had on the scheme of things. Guru Dutt was casting Johnny for virtually every film that he was making. “Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji” (Mr and Mrs55) was sweet, rhythmic, soft and comic; even after so many years, if we listen to this song just once, we will fall in love with it. One thing must be noted here – the fact that Rafi-sahab used to sing both for the lead actor as well as for the comedian always demanded extra effort from his part. How he approached these two facets was something that only he could have known, however, to the ordinary listeners, they always seemed to be sounding different.
Let me take an attempt to describe what I mean here. As for example, let us take the song “Ankhon hi ankhon mein” from the film CID which is picturized on Dev Anand and …… In this song, Rafi’s voice is soft and romantic so that it fits to the mood that Dev-sahab is trying to portray.
But, then take the other song “Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan” from the same film picturized on Johnny Walker. This one is fun-filled light hearted romantic tune with lot of Western styled beats imbibed inside. For this one, Rafi-sahab brings out certain kind of naughtiness that is unique and in no way comparable to the earlier song. That was Rafi-sahab and he set such standards for himself that unfortunately he could only supersede.
O P Nayyar was in sublime form all throughout the mid and late fifties, often charging huge amount of money to sign a film. In a sense, he was bigger than the biggest stars of Hindi cinema in those days. A producer signing him was sure to get a return for his investment. Such was his popularity!
Asha Bhonsle was O P Nayyar’s greatest gift to the film industry. I think the earliest gem of this combination was “Aaiye meherbaan” from the film Howrah Bridge. As Lataji was very fond of Madam Noorjahan to the point that she sang the latter’s song on her first meeting with Naushad-sahab, so was Asha-ji fond of Geeta Dutt and her style of singing. This song was very much Geeta Dutt-like, almost as “Uthaye ja unke sitam” is very much Noorjahan-like. Still, if one listens carefully, there is a lilting girlish tinge that Asha-ji’s voice offers in this song, keeping the overall sensuality intact. As most of Nayyar-sahab’s composition starts with a different rhythm for the antara-s, the singer needs to handle that accordingly, adjusting the voice and accommodating the pulsating effects of the tabla or the drum-beats. In this song, Asha-ji does just that and how beautifully she moves her voice from the ending line of the antara-s to the sthayee ( starting ) lines of the song! It is truly a masterpiece and has become a timeless classic. I remember the great film-maker Shekhar Kapoor once mentioning in a television program the fact that this one has been one of his most favorite songs for the sheer sensuous effervescence that it offers through the gorgeous Madubaala and the enigmatic Asha Bhonsle.
Talking about Howrah Bridge, I would like to mention about another sensational hit song “Mera naam chin chin chu” by the late Geeta Dutt. This song has no extraordinary element in it, nothing out of the box, the same rhythmic presentation of a soulful tune, but even after more than 50 years since it was released, I am unable to find an answer to the question as to what makes this song work. I guess it is a proof of the concept that rhythm is as timeless as melody; let us leave it at that.
Talking about Howrah Bridge, I would like to mention about another sensational hit song “Mera naam chin chin chu” by the late Geeta Dutt. This song has no extraordinary element in it, nothing out of the box, the same rhythmic presentation of a soulful tune, but even after more than 50 years since it was released, I am unable to find an answer to the question as to what makes this song work. I guess it is a proof of the concept that rhythm is as timeless as melody; let us leave it at that.
[To be continued]
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