RMIM Archive Article "387".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Lata's Best - Quiz
# Questions 12-14
# Posted by: Satish Subramanian
# Source: Illustrated Weekly of India
# Author: Raju Bharatan
#
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Question 12:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
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Jaidev is no more, but his creations for Lata
abide.
Especially "raat bhi hai kuchh bhigi bhigi" (Mujhe
Jeene Do) which as a choral creation on a par with
anything composed by Naushad in his heyday, is a
happy choice by Lata. Her other Jaidev pick is
"Yeh dil aur unki nigaahon ke saaye" (Prem Par-
bat).
More a pleasing than a thrilling composition by
Jaidev, this "Yeh dil aur unki". A fitter choice
from the same "Prem Parbat" would have been "Yeh
neer kahaan se barse hain".
Somehow a lightweight choice like "yeh dil aur
unki" does not seem to fit the depth image we
carry of the Lata-Jaidev combine from compeling
compositions like
1. Subah ka intezaar kaun kare (Joru Ka Bhai)
2. Kis kis ko deepak pyaar kare (Anjali)
3. Aaj achanak toot gaye kyon (Kinare Kinare)
4. Allah tero naam (Hum Dono)
Therefore, even from Jaidev's later years, one
would have expected Lata to pick something like
"Badra chhaye re" (Maan Jayiye). Or that exquisite
solo she put over for him in "Sapna" (1969).
Can you summon to memory that "Sapna" solo symbol-
izing the best of Lata and Jaidev?
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Question 13:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
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In film music, Lata and Madan Mohan were made for each
other. That Madan Mohan enjoyed Lata's special esteem
became obvious during her silver jubilee when, while
summarily ignoring compositions of the stature of Anil
Biswas, Sajjad Hussain, C Ramchandra, S D Burman, Husnlal-
Bhagatram, and Shanker-Jaikishan, Vasant Desai, S N
Tripathi, Hansraj Bahl and Chitragupta, Lata (in her Ten
Best) chose to make Madan Mohan the only one to be favoured
with two compositions,
1. Lag jaa gale ki (Won Kaun Thi)
2. Bairan neend na aayee (Chacha Zindabad)
Now the quantum had doubled - there are no fewer than four
Madan Mohan creations in this album.
1. Khelo na mere dil se (Haqeeqat)
2. Naghma-o-sher ki saughaat (Gazal)
3. Sapnon mein agar mere (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki)
4. Jab jab tumhen bhulaya (Jahan Ara, with Asha)
It passes one's comprehension, though, as to why Lata should
have come round to picking creations of Madan Mohan's only
starting 1963?
Surely, this was the stage in his career by which Madan was
tending to become stylized in his presentation of ghazals.
Maybe this stylization was what won for him the title of
Ghazal King.
But there is also this theory that Madan became, by 1963, so
set in his style of ghazal tuning that it made for the kind
of creativity that acted as a bar on wider popularity.
That may or may not be a fact, but Lata, one feels, could
have taken at least two picks from Madan's pre-1960 reper-
toire.
How come she came so totally to ignore pre-1960 Madan ever-
greens like,
1. Hamare baad ab mehfil mein (Baghi)
2. Dukhiyare naina dhoondhe piya ko (Nirmohi)
3. Sitaron se poochho nazaron se poochho (Dhoon)
4. Chaand madham aasmaan chup hai (Railway Platform)
5. Hum pyaar mein jalne waalon ko (Jailor)
6. Tum ho saath raat bhi haseen hai (Mohar)
7. Ajab hai yeh duniya (Naya Aadmi)
8. Preetam meri duniya mein (Ada)
9. Tu pyaar kare ya thukraye (Dekh Kabira Roya)
In this pre-1960 oeuvre is also included that lovely Lata
solo composed by Madan Mohan in the movie "Jaagir".
Track down that Lata solo.
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Question 14:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
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Such was the impact made by Pt. Ravi Shankar with
his compositions in the 1960 Hrishikesh Mukherjee
film that the impression prevails that, Lata is
Anuradha and Anuradha is Lata!
1. Saanware saanware kaahe mose karo jora jori
2. Jaane kaise sapnon mein kho gayin aakhiyaan
3. Kaise din beete kaise beeti ratiyaan
4. Hai re woh din kyon na aaye
These four Ravi Shankar creations for "Anuradha"
offered a hard choice for Lata.
From the four, Lata has put "Saanwre saanwre" in
the current album.
Now one of Lata's four solos in "Anuradha" which
she had to later dub since she had failed to turn
up for its original recording, led to a misunder-
standing between her and Ravi Shankar. This
resulted in his ultimately opting for the vocals
of Vani Jayram for Gulzar's "Meera".
Which "Anuradha" solo led to that misunderstand-
ing?
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian