From: Renu Thamma -- Hi all! My $0.02 worth. Special thanks to Rajan Parrikar for all the useful information and encouragement provided while writing this up. ________________________________________________________________________________ Continuing from where Sami left off ... Rajesh Roshan - ------------- To be called a music director of merit, he or she must demonstrate consistency of quality over an extended period of time. He or she must also bring something new by way of style to their work, something by which the listener can identify the music director with. Among the second-generation music directors - from the 70s and 80s - Rajesh Roshan was one who showed a lot of promise. Rajesh Roshan was given his first break by Mehmood for Kunwaara Baap and he most definitely delivered the goods. Be it KK's 'Aa ri aajaa' or 'Main hoon ghoda yeh hai gaadi' or the hijra song, 'Main mandir pahuncha haaN ji, ik baccha dekha..' Having gained recognition he gradually evolved his own distinct style, which was very different from that of his illustrious father Roshan. He was very strong on orchestration, and like RD could be recognised by his music, which had a very unusual lilt to it. His most distinguishing feature is the use of the percussion. Most notable is his innovation of the 'muted-congo` rhythm which adds a twang to the song, and gives the song an 'effect of motion' as Rajesh Roshan himself once called it. Examples of this can be seen in 'Ek raasta hai zindagi from Kaala Patthar, 'Hans tu hardam' from Lootmaar, and 'Nazraana bheja kisne pyaar ka' from Des Pardes. His use of the drums is also very uniquely Rajesh Roshanian. Take for example the pacy 'Oonche neeche raaste aur manzil teri door' from Khuddar, or the Lootmaar hit, 'Jab chaye mera jaadu..' where he combines the drums and the congos beautifully. That was Rajesh Roshan at his rhythmic best. But he was no less competant using the tabla and dholak. Notice his lively dholak beat in Kala Patthar -'Baahon me tere masti ke ghere' or in 'Bhole o bhole' from Yaarana or the crisp tabla in the Lootmaar mujra by Lata 'Paas ho tum magar karib nahin' or once again the dholak in 'Beliya, ab ke yeh bahaar koi gul naya khilaayegi' from Nishaan. RR was at his very best when he gave us 'Doosra Aadmi'. Like Sami already said, every song in this movie is a masterpiece. Be it the effervescent 'Aakhon mein kaajal hai' with a terrific beat or the fantastic Kishore/Rafi/Lata classic 'Kya mausam hai', the 'nashila' 'Aao manayen jashn-e-mohobbat' or 'Nazron se keh do pyaar mein milne ka mausam'. He even had a Holi [ I think!] song, 'Mathhe pe lagaike bindiya, .. angna aayenge sanvariya' sung by Deven Verma! And of course! 'Jaan meri rooth gayi jaane kyon humse'- naughty, chirpy, and truly a less-known Kishore classic. Kaala Patthar [along with Doosra Aadmi] came when RR was at his peak. The dholak in 'Dhoom mache dhoom, aaj ki raina..', the baaraat-song 'Meri dooron se aayi baraat maiyya main to..' or the Rafi/Lata duet 'Baahon mein tere masti ke ghere' all have the unmistakable stamp of Rajesh Roshan. 'Kaamchor' was another one of RR's better movies. With 'tumse badhkar duniya mein na dekha koi aur' or 'Tujh sang preet lagayee sajna' he proved beyond doubt that he was a musician of merit. 'Nishaan' like Sami said, had some nice tunes too. Other than 'Akhiyon hi akhiyon mein, teri meri baat..' and 'Beliya, ab ke yeh bahaar..' which have been mentioned there's 'Lehron ki tarah yaadein dil se takraati hain..' a soft Kishore solo, which has the distinct gush of violins which once again was a la RR! And then, he had some beoooooooooootiful songs from 'Baaton Baaton mein'. The catchy 'Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha', the zesty 'Utthe sab ke kadam dekho ram pam pam' the soulful 'Suniye kahiye.. kehte sunte baaton baaton mein pyaar ho jayega' [ again the RR-congos at work ] and the Kishore solo 'Kahaan tak ye man..' Wow! What songs! And I *have* to mention - 'Khatta Meetha'. 'Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai' is just simply fabulous. Especially the music *just* after 'sun sun sun hawaa chali..' where there is a rush of music and the quickening of the pace, and then Kishore goes 'baadal pe udna ho-gaaa' is just out of this world! 'Rok rok makunisa, makunisa kobara' [ pardon spellings! ] was the more goofy one, and another Lata-Kishore duet 'Tumse mila tha pyaar kuch achhe naseeb se, hum un dinon ameer the jab tum kareeb the' is one of my favourite romantic numbers. Then there's 'Gori chali saath chale gori se kehna...' [ RR-congos at work here again! ] and 'Freni oh Freni, I want to sing a song' and 'Yeh jeena hai angoor ka daana', all great songs! Then there was 'Mr. Natwarlal'. 'Mere paas aao mere doston ek kissa sunaon' surprised everyone with Amitabh's singing capabilities, but few people noticed the 'narrative-effect' that RR had created with his drums. Then there was 'Pardesia yeh sach hai piya', a great duet, and Asha's catchy 'Tauba tauba kya hoga hone hai jo'. And..... *trumpet blasts* - Sami, how *could* you forget this one! - JULIE! 'Dil kya kare jab kisiko kisi se pyaar ho jaaye' and 'Bhool gaya sab juch yaad nahin ab kuch' will always be among Kishore and RR's very best! Or the soft 'Yeh raatein nai puraani, aate aate jaate..'and 'My heart is beating, keeps on repeating' which catapulted Preeti Sagar into fame. His score for 'Aap ke diwaane' and 'Des Pardes' are worth a mention too. From the former he had 'Mere dil mein jo hota hai, tere dil mein hota hai kya' and 'Tum ko khush dekh kar, main bahut khush hua' a nice KK/Rafi [ i think?] duet. 'Des Pardes' had the divine Lata solo, and one of my favourites, 'Aap kahen aur hum na aayen, aise to haalat nahin', the Kishore solo 'Nazraana bheja kisine pyaar ka' amongst others. And of course who can forget 'Tu pee aur jee!' Around the early 80s RR strangely started dishing more of trash. Khuddar itself was a mixed sort, in which the Lata/Kishore duet 'Oonche niche raaste aur manzil teri door' and the other KK song 'Maa ka pyaar, behen ka pyaar' saved the show while 'Angrezi mein kehtein', 'Hat ja baazu nahin to' and 'Disco 82' were forgettable to say the least. 'Mach gaya shor saari nagri re' was another song with a lively dholak accompaniment. After Khuddar, Rajesh Roshan has given scores occasionally, and those too never matched up to what he was in the late 70s. His scores for Jurm were popular and undoubtedly good, but he did resort to some blatant plagiarization. 'Kishan Kanhaiyya' had a couple of good songs too. 'Aap ko dekh ke dekh dekh ke raaz gaya yeh jaan' once again brought back memories of the Rajesh-Roshan-with-his- fantastic-percussion era! More ramblings later. By the way, can anyone add to the list of RR movies we already have..? Renu.