RMIM Archive Article "372".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Vasant Desai - 1
#
# Posted by: Veena S Nayak (vnayak@acsu.buffalo.edu)
# Source: SIRC publications
# Author: Suresh Chandvankar
#
Friends,
Beauty and integrity is a rare combination of traits in the
world of film music. As film-making changed its character
from being an expression of creative and artistic impulses
to a business venture driven by profit motives, so did the
qualities that make for a "successful" music director. The
ability to deliver music that is inextricably linked to the
film situation or do justice to the lyrics gave way to
expertise in the bait-n-hook approach: sell the songs so
that they come in to see the movie. In such a milieu, the
"winners" were the ones who could capture the charts, grab
the sales and bag the Filmfare awards. "Keeping up with the
times" has became a much-touted virtue in a film composer. I
believe it is a euphemism for mediocrity and compromise (the
two usually go hand-in-hand): those who change their tune
with this and that trend usually have no musical truths or
ideals of their own.
It is the quality of uncompromising idealism combined with
the manifest beauty of his compositions that endears Vasant
Desai to me. He had a musical vision which remained intact
to the very end of his life. His ideals, increasingly
anachronistic in the quickie era, must surely have cost him
in terms of awards and ratings, but one heard nary a word of
bitterness from him. As for his music, it speaks for
itself. Readers need no introduction to his grasp of
classical Hindustani and folk traditions, the innovative use
of instruments and his adeptness at the choral element. I
have yet to go back to one of his compositions and not find
something new in there.
The two-part posting on Vasant Desai was originally intended
as a tribute to the composer on his death anniversary (Dec
22), but I was unable to put it up on time due to various
reasons. The loss of timeliness, however, has brought
substantive gain in content: since then I have obtained the
tapes of a listening session on Vasant Desai held by the
Society of Indian Record Collectors in Bombay in 1995. His
nephew, Vikas Desai, spoke extensively on the composer at
that session; Part II will present his reminiscences.
Part I is a translation of an article which appeared in the
Marathi newspaper, Maharashtra Times, dated 25th March
1995. Thanks are due to Ajay Nerurkar: my endless queries
about Marathi words must have been an irritating disturbance
to his meditations on complexity theory, but he was ever
patient and obliging.
Veena
......................................................................
TYAANCHA SUR, TYAANCHA TAAL.....
(His SUr, His Taal)
By Suresh Chandvankar
He had a fondness for exercise and was endowed with a
strong, muscular physique. It is almost twenty years since
music director Vasant Desai expired in a shocking
accident. However, his compositions continue to be cherished
favourites of music lovers even today.
Vasantrao was born in 1912 in the village of Sonawade which
was in the KudaL taluk of Sawantwaadi (now known as
Sindhudurg). His father passed away when he was eight years
old; Vasantrao and his elder brother were raised by their
mother. His maternal grandfather was a keertankaar. The
ovees and bhajans that he heard from his mother and
grandfather had a deep, lasting effect on Vasantrao's
impressionable mind.
For his education, Vasantrao stayed with his paternal
grandfather who was also lived in KudaL taluk. Here he was
exposed to the dashAvatAri plays wherein he played bit roles
and saved enough money to buy an old harmonium. From that
point onward, a permanent bond was established between him
and the notes of the harmonium.
In 1927, at the age of eighteen, Vasantrao left KudaL and
came to Kolhapur. In those days, Kolhapur was in all
respects 'Kalapur'. There he met V. Shantaram and entered
the acting department of his newly-formed Prabhat
Company. He had to work without pay for an entire year, but
by working on all the varied aspects film-making, he gained
invaluable experience which proved useful throughout the
rest of his life.
Vasantrao had a penchant for physical training, acting and
music. His build was such as befits a wrestler. He also
displayed his acting skills by performing various roles. But
finally, it was as a music director that he found his niche.
When Prabhat moved to Pune, Vasantrao went along with the
Company. In view of Vasantrao's passion for music and his
expertise on various musical instruments, Govindrao Tembe
took him on as an assistant. Vasantrao worked with Master
Vinayak who was also an assistant to Govindrao. In addition,
he got the opportunity to sing in the chorus song, "Jai Jai
Rajadhiraj" in the film "Ayodhyecha Raja".
In the latter part of the Prabhat phase, he worked as an
assistant to Master Krishnarao and Keshavrao BhoLe. He
played a significant role in composing the numerous hit
songs of Prabhat talkies and their background scores. Under
the tutelage and guidance of these three great music
directors, the composer in Vasant Desai began to evolve.
Due to the varied nature of the themes of Prabhat films, he
also got trained in diverse forms of music.
FIRST OPPORTUNITY
It was around 1940 in Bombay that Vasantrao got his first
break in independent music direction with J.B.H Wadia's film
'Shobha'. After V. Shantaram came to Bombay, Vasant Desai
was entrusted the responsibility of composing music for
films under the Rajkamal banner. At the very mention of
these movies, their songs begin to play in one's mind. The
songs sung by Jayashree in his very first film 'Shakuntala'
became runaway hits.
His music in films other than those produced by Rajkamal
also became very popular. Master Vinayak's 'Subhadra' (1946)
and 'Mandir' (1948), Sohrab Modi's 'Narasimha Avtaar'
(1949), 'Sheesh Mahal' (1950) and 'Jhansi Ki Rani' (1953),
Paul Zill's 'Hindustan Hamara' (1958) and Vijay Bhatt's
'Goonj Uthi Shehnai' (1959) came to be known for his
music. The background score in Sunil Dutt's songless
'Yaaden'(1964) gave the film a unique effect... In 'Guddi'
he opened up the field of Hindi playback singing to a new
voice, Vani Jairam.
[.. Was the Lata solo 'Dekha hai sapna koi' edited out of
the film? - V ..]
Through his manifold compositions, Vasantrao provided music
in the field of Marathi stage as well. He has composed for
almost ten Marathi dramas and twenty Marathi films. The
titles which immediately come to mind are the plays
'Panditrao Jagannath', 'Jai Jai Gaurishankar', 'Dev
Deenaghari DhAvala', 'Saubhadra' and the films
'SaakharpuDa', 'Hee Maajhi Lakshmi', 'Kanchanganga' and
'Shyaamchi Aayi'.
In the last fifteen years of his life, Vasantrao was
completely involved in his enterprise of 'Chorus Songs'.
'Ek sUr, ek taal' was its central idea. He achieved the feat
of making thousands/lakhs of ordinary people sing in
unison. The idea for this endeavour took seed in a trivial
incident. In 1950, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
had organized a baithak in Delhi. At the gathering, a
government official contemptuously remarked on the
ineptitude of Indian school-children: two of them could not
sing even the national anthem in one sUr and one taal, he
said. Vasantrao heard this but said nothing. The music
director in him was roused. He vowed then and there that he
would make not just two, but thousands and lakhs of children
and youths sing in one sUr and one taal.
He didn't stop with a mere vow; painstaking efforts were
expended to implement the idea. He researched similar
projects undertaken in foreign countries and began to teach
group-singing of 'Jana Gana Mana' in several high schools of
Bombay. One day, Dassera, a lakh children sang in harmony at
Shivaji Park; Pandit Nehru was present at that programme and
was visibly moved on hearing the chorus songs.
The project received considerable support from the
Maharashtra Government. An office for the project 'Ek SUr Ek
Taal' was instituted in two rooms at Ravindra Natya Mandir
(* in Bombay *). Two or three camps were organised each
month. The ideas of teaching and singing patriotic songs and
chorus songs began to gain momentum. They elicited the
cooperation of newcomers as well as veterans in music: BaaL
Deshpande, Sharad Jambhekar, Prabhakar Nagvekar, Vasantrao
Achrekar, Jaiwant Kulkarni, Somnath Parab, etc. The
undertaking also began to widen in scope to areas outside
Bombay and Vasantrao became totally immersed in this work.
JINKU KIN.VA MARU
1962 dawned. During the Chinese aggression, he requested the
poet, G.D. MaadguLkar for a new patriotic song. MaadguLkar
was on his way to Pune just then. "You and your patriotic
songs", teased Ga-di-ma [.. as G.D. MaadguLkar is
affectionately known in Maharashtra - V ..] as he boarded
the train. However, he wrote the song in transit and mailed
it from Lonavala railway station before proceeding on to
Pune. Vasantrao had the song rendered by one lakh children
- 'Jinku kin.va maru':
'MaNuskichya shatru sange, | With the enemies of humanity
yuddh aamche suru, | our war has begun;
jinku kin.va maru'. | victory or death!
Until the very end of his life, Vasantrao remained active in
this enterprise. Subsequently, 'Vasant Sur PrathishThan' was
established and chorus-singing became widespread in
schools. Vasantrao was honoured with a Padmashree. The State
Government of Maharahstra bestowed upon him the title of
'SanmAneeya Sangeet Digdarshak'. He was also a member of the
Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad.
In his personal life, Vasantrao was intensely devout and of
a religious bent of mind. He would spend considerable time
on his daily worship and prayers. He frequently visited the
holy AaLandi to worship JyAneshwar's shrine and would sing
bhajans in the temple.
Vasantrao's cheerful and smiling countenance is seen in
various photographs; likewise, the 'gajra' tied around his
wrist reveals the 'rasik' in his nature.
AN UNFORTUNATE DAY
22nd December 1975 was the last day of Vasantrao's life. He
was working until late evening at the HMV recording
studios. Those were the days of Emergency and he had just
finished recording a song on the Prime Minister's 20-point
programme and some related speeches by Chief Minister
Shankarrao Chavan and government official P.K. Sawant.
Accompanied by HMV executive Shri Kashinath Jaiswal, he
returned to his residence on Peddar Road. On seeing the
elevator with both its doors open, Jaiswal got suspicious
and said, "Something seems to be wrong with it. Let's walk
the stairs slowly". But Vasantrao was tired. Saying "let's
see", he stepped into the elevator and before either of them
realised what was happening, the machine started and the
calamitous accident occurred.
In this sudden and unexpected manner, Vasantrao passed away.
However his film compositions and chorus songs are immortal
and will continue to inspire generations to come.
-------------------
There were a couple of errors in the first post made by me
on Vasant Desai. Thanks to Aruna Donde for bringing them to
my attention. -- Veena
The article said:
> Through his manifold compositions, Vasantrao provided
> music in the field of Marathi stage as well. He has
> composed for almost ten Marathi dramas and twenty Marathi
> films. The titles which immediately come to mind are the
> plays 'Panditrao Jagannath', 'Jai Jai Gaurishankar', 'Dev
> Deenaghari DhAvala', 'Saubhadra' and the films
> 'SaakharpuDa', 'Hee Maajhi Lakshmi', 'Kanchanganga' and
> 'Shyaamchi Aayi'. ]
I am reproducing the relevant part of Aruna's email:
1. The play Saubhadra was written by Annasaheb Kirloskar
and was first performed on stage in 1886. As far as I know,
there has not been any other play by that name in Marathi
theatre. Incredible music BTW. There was also a movie made,
perhaps in early 60's on the Saubhadra theme, starring
Chandrakant, Seema etc., Vasantrao may have composed the
music for the movie but not for the play.
2. The name of the Vidyadhar Gokhale play is PanditRaj
Jagannath, a story of Sanskrit poet Jagannath, who composed
Ganga Lahari during Akbar's period and was awarded the title
PanditRaj. Bhalchandra Pendharkar was in the Jagannath role
and Mama Pendse in the Badshah role. Faboulous music. Songs:
Nayan Tuze Jadugar, Madanachi Manjiri, Jaya Gange Bhagirathi
etc.
Aruna.
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian