InDepth

[Concluding part]                             So, how can one assess Naushad-Sahab's work and what were the aspects that were his trademarks? Well, to start with, it was his knowledge about the various Indian traditional instruments. His orchestration inevitably contained flavours from these different instruments. While using these, he kept in mind the situational demand as well as the overall musicality of the song. To elaborate more on this, he never composed any song that had a musical instrument that felt out of place with the situation of the song. He never composed any song, the orchestration for which became over-the-top and killed the subtleness of its melody. Next, he had a terrific knowledge and conception on the Indian classical music. The fact that he understood the semantics of various raga- s was beyond any doubt but what strikes me more is the fact that he understood the mood, feel and complexity of the...

The research continues.... 13. Dil mein baji pyar ki (Kohinoor)    A very simple-flowing melody having all the elements of a typical Lata-Naushad combo. On the screen it was the great Meena Kumari with her vivacious presence and charming dance steps. This one, together with " Tere pyar mein dildar " from the movie Mere Mehboob, stands out as two extraordinary tunes by Naushad depicting happiness, charm and frolic. The shehnai interlude, together with nice tabla beats, go very well with the mood and tune of the song. Lata Mangeshkar makes a deliberate attempt to thin her voice so that the rhythm comes to the forefront and the song primarily remains as a dance number. Just listen to the wonderful alaap in the beginning when Rafi lends his voice shortly. Kohinoor is also a nice lighthearted movie, with great acting by Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari. I give you a trivia - like many other Naushad gems, this one too has different tunes for different antara -s!      ...