Presenting Naushad : Part 2

An intellectual who could understand the art of filmmaking...

The study of Naushad's work should include some more aspects other than his sheer talent to experiment with ragas and folk ballads. He understood situations in a movie and had deep intellectual pursuit. However, he was simple in his thoughts and effective in his execution choices. And never biased or pre-meditated. He changed as per the demand of a film sequence. Furthermore, he understood many other details of filmmaking in general. For example, the personality of an actor, his diction, his way of presenting the character on screen and such things. Talking about actresses, he could make out what the role of a female character is trying to convey and most importantly, how. 

I once heard Rajinder Kumar say that H S Rawail, the famous filmmaker, was not very pleased with the minimal orchestration of the fresh and breezy ghazal "Mere mehboob tujhe" (Mere Mehboob, 1963). Rajinder Kumar was the lead actor in the film and Rawail was the director. Naushad told the actor later why he had opted for so few instrument. To his credit, he could visualize how Rawail would try to shoot the song when the scene was described to Naushad. It would be a young poet reciting his nazms (free verse poem in Urdu language) on stage during a college mushaaira (an event where Urdu and Hindi poets can recite their poems) in front of his friends, followers and teachers. Naturally, one would not expect a lot of musical instrument to overpower the beauty of poetry. In fact, in those days (even some do this today), some poets would recite their poems in a tune to give it a feeling of a song. They do it with very minimal or no instrument. Naushad decided to go for the easy-for-ears and very soothing sound of santoor (traditional Indian musical instrument) played by the maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. This particular song went on to become a chartbuster and a highpoint of this very successful movie. The  sound of santoor and the voice of Mohammed Rafi, who sang this song, became inseparable and is still considered one of the best uses of this traditional Indian instrument in Indian film music. Marvellous thinking and unforgettable creation.

I can think of another song - "Duniya mein hum aaye hain toh jeena hi padega" (Mother India 1957), a very emotional song sung by Naushad's favourite female lead singer Lata Mangeshkar. The design of the song is pretty simple by Naushad's standard. The actress on the screen, the great Nargis, was going through a lot of pain and suffering due to her ill fate and unlucky turn of circumstances. She had lost her husband, her house and was left with two young kids and a terrible feudal society to deal with. When she is singing, all these emotions needed to come out though the song. Naushad decided to hold back his classical notes for this one and composed an uncomplicated tune for the character on screen. The cinema Mother India is regarded as a cult classic in India and was an official entry to the Oscars. The director of the film Mehboob Khan got a lot of appreciation. But I think Naushad's contribution was not much discussed in the circuit - in fact, some sources said that he had not lived up to his standard. I strongly disagree. 

There are several examples of the composer's unique sense of understanding of film. Take a romantic song like "Main hoon saqi tu hai sharabi" (Ram Aur Shyam, 1967). The lead actor, the great Dilip Kumar, was shown in a joyful and romantic mood. The great Waheeda Rahman was the female lead opposite to him. Dilip Kumar used to approach his acting with lot of preparations. He was also the first method actor of India and arguably of the world. In romantic moments, he had a unique style. He would never go over the top and express his emotions loudly. He believed in tender gestures and soft body movements, especially during a romantic song. Mohammad Rafi was his playback voice in this case, as in most of his films. Waheeda Rahman, on the other hand, was also of similar personality. She had a lot of grace and she never imitated or borrowed her acting skills from anyone - she was a natural and gifted actress. These two on-screen personalities were shown very much in a vein of love. There was a vast expanse of greenery - most of the romantic songs those days would be shot in such locations. Naushad decided to make the actor and actress look more beautiful, the location more charming and the mood more romantic. He designed this song in a way that binds personality, nature, mood and an element of nostalgia. The song is a personal favourite of me, I am sure you will also like it....

[To be continued]