RMIM Archive Article "25".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Music Directors and their Styles
#
# Original Authors: Abhay Avachat (for most part of this document)
# Hemant Varma (end portions)?
# Satish Subramanian (some portions)
# Compiled by: Ramesh Hariharan (hariharn@phoenix.princeton.edu)
#
1. C.Ramachandra.
Anarkali, Albela, Azad (old).
His music was many times typical. But it is the one which I find
real sweet, sweet and sweet. Melody is synonymus to his Music.
He gave the songs which are truely immortal. "Yeh zindagi usiki
hain" was a turning point in his career. And who can forget the
"Bholi surat dil ke khote", which is used even today for the "Ta-
pori" or street dance ? (atleast in Bombay). The non-filmi "Ai
mere watan ke logo" is supposed to have moved Pandit Nehru to
tears.
2. Vasant Desai.
Do Aankhe Bara Haath, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Goonj Uthi
Shehnai.
It's perhaps a loss to Hindi film music, that Vasant Desai was in
contract with V.Shantaram and could give music to his movies
only. "Ai malik tere bande hum" is one of the best "bhajan"s of
Hindi movies
3. Naushad.
Baiju Bawara, Kohinoor, Leader.
If any MD can be called as "Ustad" in Hindusthani Classical, then
it's Naushad. Be it Malkans of "Man tarpat hari darashan ko", or
be it Hamir of "Madhuban me radhika nache", he is just unbeat-
able. That of course is not the only thing which makes him great.
He is also one of the best MDs for songs whose lyrics are excel-
lent "shayari". The Rafi-Naushad combination is a blessing to
Hindi music and nobody else can do justice to Shayari of Shakeel
Badayuni. "Ek shehanshah ne banwa ke hasin Tajmehal" is one of
the many. Needless to say, he has given great music to non-
classical, non-shayari songs also.
4. SJ or Shankar-Jaikishan.
Basantbahar, Aawara, Evening in Paris.
Is their any MD whose Music is not typical ? Who is the
MD with maximum variety ? The answer according to me is SJ. From
the Bhairavi "Duniya na bhaye mohe", to the simple "Dum bhar
toudharmuhphere" to the noisy "Evening in Paris" the variety is
tremendous. RK-SJ-Mukesh combination has produceding numerable
great songs. When the public shifted to Shammi Kapoor songs, SJ
did not fall behind. They were perhaps the first MD to use
western orchestra concept in Hindi music. Arguably they are the
MD with maximum number of popular songs.
5. Madanmohan.
Woh kaun thi, Heer-Ranza, Ghazal.
Madanmohan the genius ! I don't think I have the ability
to praise his talent, but still I will try. I have always found
his music to the mood of the lyrics. A rare ability indeed.
Another quality I find in many of his songs is - they cannot be
categorised as old or new. The music is always fresh. Also listen
carefully to the pieces which come in between the stanzas. They
are never out of place. In many of his songs, there is a faint
sound of violins suddenly filling some gaps ; you will notice it
if you listen attentively. Many many violins, at the peak of
their frequency and the volume is just enough to reach your ears.
It lasts for just 2-3 seconds, the effect is astounding. The
best example which comes to my mind is "Na tum bewafa ho". Sorry
I don't remember the movie name. They say his songs always became
famous, but his movies rarely. I think Madanmohan's success ratio
of songs is very very high.
6. Roshan.
Barsat ki Raat, Tajmahel, Dil hi to hain.
One of the great-oldtime-MD. He has given great music to
many many songs. But no song is as famous as the "Na to karawan
ki talash hain". It's THE Quawwali of Hindi movie songs. Tajmahel
with Pradeepkumar and Beena Roy was watchable only because of
songs like "Paav chu lene do phulo ko inaayat hogi" and "Jo vada
kiya wo nibhana padega". Does anyone like "Tum agar muzako na
chaho to koyi baat nahin" ? Well, I like it a lot. It is exactly
my viewpoint :). The credit goes more to Sahir, but Roshan did a
very good job too !
7. Salil Chowdhury.
Madhumati, Parakh, Anand.
What is it that I like in Salil's music ? What is it ? I
can't pin it down. But it's good. It's quite different from the
music of other directors. It's sometimes not to the mood of the
lyrics and there are sometimes inconsistent music pieces in
between, but maybe that's the beauty ! In many songs I find a
slight haunting melody. But he is always a pleasure a listen to.
"Zindagi kaisi hain paheli" is perhaps the best of the songs
based on that Zindagi theme.
8. O.P.Nayyar.
Kashmir ki Kali, CID, Naya Daur
OP the great ! This fellow is wonderful !! He is supposed
to be the one who hasn't got any formal teaching in Music. He is
the one who said "I will become famous without using Lata" and
did. He is the one who has repeatedly used the "Ghodagadi"
rhythm in his songs and still never sounded monotonous. He is the
one who has given so many films in which all the songs are good.
The film industry has almost forgotten his talent, it's a shame.
His many successes came with Guru Dutt and Shammi. If anybody
thinks that he could give only those typical songs then he cannot
be more wrong. Listen to Naya Daur songs, ".. Dil meriye", and
the ""Yeh desh hain weer jawanon ka". He has used folk tunes very
nicely and effectively in his songs.
9. S.D.Burman
Guide, Tere Gharke Samane, Aaradhana.
A master Music-Director. SD-Dev Anand combination has been very
successful. Many of his songs have a unique refreshing quality,
like a baby's smile. It makes you feel good. It has a playful na-
ture, again like a baby. Just hear the "Gata rahe mera dil", "Tu
kahan, yeh bataa, is nashilee raat main". Also don't forget the
sexiest song in male voice "Roop tera mastaana".
10. R.D.Burman
Teesari Manzil, Amar Prem, Ijazat.
Baap se betaa sawaai ! Once SD came form his walk and ex-
citedly told 'Poncham', "Today when somebody saw me, he said --
life." And why not ? RD has always been very original. RD-KK duo
has given many great songs. You may not find "Teesari Manzil"
music extraordinary, but "Chingari" is unforgettable. Even today
he is producing great tunes. Ijazat is the best example. RD is
perhaps the last of the greats.
11. Kalyanji-Anadji or KA
Chhaliya, Safar, Janbaz.
Had the chain of great MDs continued across generations
of Hindi films, then I would have called KA as the bridge between
old and new. This duo repersents a transition in Hindi music from
the old "Mere tute hue dilse koi to aaj ye puche" to "Jindagi ka
safar", till "Har kisiko nahin milta yahan pyar jinagi me". Some
of you may object KA in the class of others, but I honestly feel,
KA is as good as anybody else, if not better. They have produced
unlimited number of good songs for many years. The songs are not
typical, and invariably good, a joy to listen. I feel slightly
hurt when they are not mentioned in list of greats. Also some
may object the mention of Janbaz in their good music. I really
liked it a lot. The rhythm was great and so was the use of Sitar
and Tabla in the western-like songs.
Class II
---------
This list might ignite some flames. I have different rea-
sons for different MD to be put in this class. Many times _ONE_
of the reasons is indeed the number of great songs. This might be
objectionable to some. But you see, these are my opinions.
12. Hemantkumar.
Nagin, Bees saal bad, Khamoshi.
It's indeed unfortunate that Hemantkumar hasn't given music to so
many films as others. But it seems his talent is no less. The
"Nagin" tune is the best Snakecharmer's tune in Hindi films. And
"Kahin deep jale kahin dil" is always a tough candidate for the
top haunting melodies. "Khamoshi" came after the days of oldies,
but Hemant was still good.
13. Lakshmikant-Pyarelal or LP.
Bobby, Daag, Khilona.
ALthough this duo has given many good songs, I somehow do not
like them as much. I cannot listen to their songs often. The
sweetness is not there. But they have been very successful.
Their music was undoubtedly a reason for Bobby's huge success.
Lately their standard has gone down.
14. Ravi.
Dilli ka Thug, Chaudavi ka chaand, Nikaah.
Why hasn't the MD of "Chaudavi ka chaand ho tum" got as many fans
as anybody else ? I do not know, nor do I consider him in the
first class. Actually I feel, it's not that Ravi was not good,
others's were just a lot better. And I may not like Salma Agha's
voice, but the tunes of Nikaah were excellent. Esp. the one be-
fore "Fizaa bhi hain jawaan jawaan".
15. Jaidev.
Hum Dono, Muze Jeene Do, Gaman.
The songs of Hum Dono are known to almost everybody. What many
may not know is "Allah tero naam, Ishwar tero naam" was also
equally popular at that time. Again the same question. Why in
class II ? I guess the competition is too much.
16. Ravindra Jain.
Chor machaye shor, Geet gata chal, Ram teri ganga maili.
The MD who is also a lyricist. I think he was teamed up with Ra-
jashri Productions, I am not sure. He is still giving good music.
Recent RK films are a proof that he is still very much there.
17. Kishore Kumar.
Jhumroo, Door Gagan ki Chaaon Mein, Door Ka Raahi.
The best all-rounder of Hindi film industry was a good MD. Jhum-
roo is perhaps his best.
18. Shiv-Hari or Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Pt. Hariprasad Chau-
rasiya.
The renowned Masters of Hindusthani Classical Music have given
good music to films like Silsila, Chandani, Lamhe which was ap-
preciated not just by clasical music gurus but mainly by general
masses. Their music has the elemets of folk music too and is
quite original.
19. Khayyam.
Kabhi kabhi, Umrao Jaan, Raziya Sultan.
Was Khayyam born to give music to Ghazals ? Maybe. But if you
think that's the only thing he does then you are completely
wrong. His non-filmi ghazals are famous. And so are his filmi
ones. The whole music of Umrao Jaan is a masterpiece. Does anyone
like "Khuda khair kare" ? I find it fantastic. And in non-Ghazal
music, which is the best example but Kabhi-Kabhi ?
20. Bhupen Hazarika (very well known folk singer from Assam but
not very well known as a music director in Hindi films). I think
that he scored the music for the film for which Dimple Kapadia
got the national award for best actress this year. Bhupen Ha-
zarika is very well known for his Bengali songs as well.
Bupen Hazarika was the music composer (and also executive produc-
er ) of Kalpana Lajmi's 'Rudali' in which Dimple gave a great
performance and got the national award.
And also Bupen Hazarika was the recipient of 1993's Dadasaheb
Phalke Award for his contributions to Indian Cinema. ( He is an
accomplished poet, music composer, singer, actor, journalist, au-
thor and filmmaker.)
While the above composers have contributed tremendously one can-
not forget the contributions made by LP, KA and RD. LP has scored
music for twice as many films as SJ and are still going strong
while KA and RD have as many films as SJ.
Starting with their first movie PARASMANI (1963), LP has been
churning out hits.In DOSTI (1965) they won their first filmfare
award. Their orchestral arrangement and rhythm section is beyond
par. They have used ordinary folk songs and popularized them -
CHOLI KE PEECHEY KYA HAI and YASOMATI MAIYA SE BOLE NAND LALA to
name a couple. CHAHOON GA MAIN TUJHE SAANJH SAVERE and NEEND KA-
BHI REHTI THI AANKHON MAIN are just a couple of their classical
compositions, while songs like SHARAFAT CHOD DI MAIN NE and SANAM
TU BEWAFA KE NAAM SE (from SHARAFAT and KHILONA respectively)
were immensely popular 'mujra' hits. These songs most certainly
had a Hindustani touch to them. While SD Burman's songs were
based on Assamese and Bengali folk music and OP nayyar on Punjabi
folk style, LP's music is mostly based on Marathi, Gujarati and
Rajasthani music (as is Kalyanji-Anandji's). A little known fact
is that LP were assistants to KA in movies like CHALLIYA and
JOHAR MEHMOOD IN GOA - DUM D UM DIGA DIGA and NA KOI RAHA HAI NA
KOI RAHEGA are really LP songs. LP has also composed many western
style songs- like caberet songs in INTEQAM.
RD Burman was trained under maestro Amir khan and was an accom-
plished Tabla play er. His extensive classical music background
can be seen in his many songs - GHAR A A JA GHIR AAYEE BADRA
SAWARIYAN from his first movie CHOTTE NAWAB (1961), and songs
from A MAR PREM, AANDHI and PARICHAY. RD has certainly composed
numerous popular songs with the Hindustani touch. RD was also as-
siatant to his fatherand has composed songs for JEWEL THEIF and
ARADHNA just to name a couple. His orchestral arrang ement, spe-
cially, for western style songs was unmatched - songs from MERE
JIVAN SAATHI, HARE RAM HARE KRISHNA , THE TRAIN etc. He also com-
posedmany songs which, like his father's, were based on Assamese
and Bengali music - DO NAINON MAIN AAN SOO BHARE HAIN from AANDHI
etc. It is very unfortunate that he has passed away. He will be
missed sorely.
Kalyanji-Anandji have composed numerous songs with the Hindustani
touch. Starting with SAMRAT CHITRAGUPTA with CHAAHE PAAS HO
CHAAHE DOOR HO (1958?) (Kalyanji provided music by himself in
this movie. Anandji joined h im later) and later movies like
BEDARD JAMANA KYA JAANE, CHALLIYA, BLUFF MASTER, DULHA DULHAN and
later SAFAR, SARASWATI CHANDRA, UPKAR etc. Apart from the vari-
ous singer that have sung for KA, Hemant Kumar has sung a f ew
hits for KA. NEEND NA MUJKO AAYE and TUMHE YAAD HOGA (both(?)
from SATTA BAZ AAR) and AI DIL AB KAHIN NA JAA from BLUFF MASTER
(and don't forget the hit GOVI NDA AALA RE by Rafi from the same
movie). Before becoming music director Kalyanj i was assistant to
Hemant Kumar and composed the famous 'Been' piece for the mo vie
NAGIN (MAN DOLE MERA TAN DOLE).
RD, KA and LP have been more versatile than many music directors
that came before them because they were able to compose diferent
kinds of songs and were able to change their music with time.
Many of the previous composers like C. Ramchandra were never able
to survive the change. Naushad was successful in a few movies
like SAATHI, RAM AUR SHYAM and GANWAAR where he changed his music
style but I guess it was not enough. SJ did change their music
but inf ighting between Shanker and Jaikishen and later
Jaikishen's demise was what even tually destroyed this duo. Ex-
cept for PEHCHAN there was not too much produced by this pair in
the 70's. Their golden period was the fifties and sixties where
they ruled the air waves.
There is no doubt that their music was then exceptional - YAHUDI,
SEEMA, BASANT BAHAR, AWARA SHREE 420, ANARI just to name a few.
It should also be noted that t hey were the first music directors
who had a 100 piece orchestra. However, it sh ould be reminded
that SJ were not averse to copying form western tunes (just as
RD, LP and KA copied). Songs like YAADEN NA JAAYEN and KAUN HAIN
JO SAPNON MAIN AAYA to name a couple, the latter copied from an
Elvis song from the movie GUADALAHAR A. [*] (See note at end of
this article).
Their most famous plagiarism was from the movie JANWAR with the song
TUMSE HAIN DIL KO PYAR which taken from the BEATLES song I WANNA HOLD
YOUR HAND. Nevertheless this was an exception.
SD Burman was the only one who changed with the times. He was in
demand till he died and till then his music was of exceptional
quality. He was however careful not to accept too many movies at
a time - never more than 5 or 6 a year. OP Nayyar's music has al-
ways been exceptional. He suffered because he refused to sacri-
fice his style or integrity. Never using Lata in his songs, his
affair and songs with Asha have been very popular. Madan Mohan
who was an Army officer before becoming music director, never had
any formal classical music training yet composed numerous hits
which were based on classical music. Other composers like Salil
Chaudhry (MADHUMATI) and Vasant Desai (DO AANKHEN BAARA HAATH)
composed some wonderful tunes although they never made too amny
movies.
It is unfortunate that the music directors today are not paying
much attention to orchestral arrangement. Except for Rajesh
Roshan - who was assistant to LP - all others are poor. Nadeem
Sravan and Anand Milind (who are the sons of music director Chi-
tragupta) barely pass. Blatant copying from western tunes sounds
more like noise eg. Bappi Lahri copying the Brazilian tune of
LAMBADA. Songs based on folk tunes are also of very poor quali-
ty. Let us all pray that the quality of songs and orchestrization
will soon improve.
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[*]
Note from Nita (nawatramani@omnisource.com) on the SJ song copied
from Elvis:
In the above article, the song 'Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aaya' is
said to be a copy of an Elvis song. This is correct. However,
the film mentioned is incorrect. The song is a copy of an Elvis
song "Marguerita" from the film "Fun in Acapulco". The first line
of the song is "Who makes my heart beat little faster".
'Marguerita' in the song is replaced by 'O Priya'.
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian