Path: Lehigh.EDU!netnews.upenn.edu!dsinc!ub!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!gatech!purdue!haven.umd.edu!news.umbc.edu!cs.umd.edu!not-for-mail From: preetham@umiacs.umd.edu (Preetham Gopalaswamy) Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.misc Subject: Variations in song lyrics/tunes (was Re: Question about CHHALIA song) Date: 7 Jan 1996 20:49:45 -0500 Organization: UMIACS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 Lines: 83 Distribution: world Message-ID: <4cpt7p$9un@chisti.umiacs.umd.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: chisti.umiacs.umd.edu In article , Ashok wrote: > >The Chhalia title song does have two versions. Or rather, two different >releases: audio and film (it comes only once in the film). The version I >grew up listening to on the radio and blaring from town loudspeakers is: > > chhalia mera naam, chalnaa mera kaam x2 > >I saw the film many years later and was surprised to hear the song go > > chalia mera naam, chhalia mera naam x2 It is not uncommon in Hindi films for the version on the record to be different than the version in the film itself. The common difference was that the film version had more verses and the reason for the the reduction in length was so that the song would fit into a 78 rpm record which was I think about 3 minutes long (number is off the top of my head). Longer versions sometimes made it into the 45 rpm version which also occasionally had 2 short songs on 1 side. Longer songs also found their way as Side 1 and Side 2 of a 78 rpm. Examples of this were "Jaago mohan pyaare" from "Jaagte Raho" or "Jinhe naaz hai hind par woh kahaaN haiN" from "Pyaasa". However what Ashok brings up is not so common. There is a song in the film "Jaali Note" which had been recommended to me by a friend. So, the moment I saw the film at the local friendly Indian store, I got hold of a copy and taped the song off of it. The song was "ChaaNd zard zard hai, chaaNd zard zard hai". Well the version that my friend had said "Raat sard-sard hai, chaaNd zard zard hai". In addition to this variation, there were also some differences in the verses. The song occurred only once in the film, the pace and mood of both the recorded versions was identical. Yet, there are 2 versions available. So what gives ?? A song in "Phagun" however had a better documented history. The song in question is the lovely Asha/Rafi duet "Mai soya akhiyaN meeche". There is a set of lines in the song when Asha first joins in (with words i.e. as opposed to humming) "Mai soyi akhiyaN meeche, teri baahoN ke neeche" The censor boards objected to the obvious image of these lines and demanded that they be removed. So, they are replaced by a horrible sounding violin/sarod which jars with the mood of the whole song. It almost seemed like OPN (if it was indeed he who recorded this part) was so disgusted by the replacement that he did it in the most awful possible way. The original version however is quite easily available though, perhaps all the current version on tape/CD are the original. A third such case that I know of is a song from the film "Prem Patra" where the film version of the song (which was the one I heard first) "Yeh mere andhere ujaale na hote" by Lata has only 2 verses while the more recently released versions on CD/tape have 3 verses. Another similar situation is in the famous Lata/Madan combo "Jiya le gayo ji mora saaNvariya" from "AnpaDh". I distinctly remembered the song ending with Lata adding an extra "gamaka" (for lack of a better term) to the word "saaNvariya". However I have not been able to find that version again. The song simply ends with that line being sung just like all the other times in the song. There are similar embellishments missing in other songs like Hemant's solo "Jaane woh kaise log thhe jinke pyaar ko pyaar mila" from "Pyaasa" or Rafi's "TooTe hue khaaboN ne" from "Madhumati". The latter 2 songs have the embellishments in the film version. However I do not know if the same is true for the song from "AnpaDh". In cases of songs with embellishments, it would seem like it was originally recorded twice, once with and once without the frills, which I find quite strange. The strangest result was probably in the film "Anokha Pyaar" where quite of a few of the songs were re-recorded in Lata's voice despite the fact that the film has them in Meena Kapoor's voice. I recall reading something about Meena Kapoor being ill when the time for recording the songs for the LP came. And that explains the existence of 2 versions of classics like "Yaad rakhna chaaNd taaroN is suhaani raat ko". Surprisingly (since I almost always favor the Mangeshkar sisters Lata and Asha over any other singer), I prefer Meena Kapoor's rendition. I tried to analyse the reasons and the only one I could come up with was that Lata's voice was too young and lacked the depth needed for the songs. Meena Kapoor's was sort of heavy and automatically was able to carry of sadder tunes. And in addition to that, I am quite a fan of her voice. I had long mistaken her song "Rasiya re man basiya re" from "Pardesi" as being a Geeta Dutt rendition. As an aside, to those who have not heard her much, I recommend the song "Kachhi hai umariya" from "Chaar Dil Chaar RaaheN" and "Ab yaad na kar dil ko gaye" from "Anokha Pyaar". P