RMIM Archive Article "388".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Lata's Best - Quiz
# Questions 15-17
# Posted by: Satish Subramanian
# Source: Illustrated Weekly of India
# Author: Raju Bharatan
#
---------------------------------------------------------------
Question 15:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
---------------------------------------------------------------
That Lata should deign to remember Hemant Kumar as
a composer on such an occassion is something that
comes as an surprise. But then the Hemant Kumar
tune picked by her for this album has always been
among her top favourites: "Kuchh dil ne kaha", as
articulated by her in "Anupama" is a number that
makes compulsive listening.
It sounds haunting enough to have gained prefer-
ence over other Hemant heart-stealers of Lata's
like
1. Meri taqdeer ke maalik (Shart)
2. Yeh khamoshiyaan yeh sama (Samrat)
3. Zindagi kitni khubsoorat (Bin Baadal Barsaat)
4. Pyaasi hirni ban ban dole (Do Dil)
5. Hum ne dekhi hai (Khamoshi)
6. Chhup gaya koi re (Champakali)
"Champakali" was the Filmistan movie that proved
Hemant Kumar's undoing at a time when he was still
at his zenith, following "Nagin".
Before "Champakali", Hemant had scored for yet
another Filmistan movie in which a Lata & chorus
number was viewed by him as one of his finest com-
positions ever.
Know that number and the Filmistan movie in which
it figured?
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 16:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
------------------------------------------------------------------
Listeners often wonder why Lata came around to singing
Khayyam's music much later than the tunes of certain lesser
composers. It is not widely known that a misunderstanding
with Khayyam over an early recording acted as a bar to
Lata-Khayyam's early tuning.
In fact, the two really began collaborating only with
"Barood" (1960) - and the 'Lata effect' was to be
immediately felt in numbers like,
1. Teri duniya mein nahin koi sahara apna
2. Rang rangila saanwra mohe mil gayo Jaamuna paar
3. Teri aankhon ka rang nirala hai
One would have expected her to pick a "Kabhi Kabhi" number
like "Mere ghar aayi ek nanhi pari" for Khayyam. But she has
conferred her choice upon "Aap yun faasalon se" (Shankar
Hussain), rather than "Apne aap raaton mein" from the same
film, or the "Ae dil-e-nadaan" from "Razia Sultan".
"Ae dil-e-nadaan" of course ranks among Lata's all time
greats. It underscores the fact that words and music blend
in a Khayyam composition as in no other maestro's.
Poetry has ever been the keynote of Khayyam's music and
Lata's vocals have always helped bring this out tellingly.
Among her earliest Khayyam numbers to stress this was the
euphonious duet she put over with Talat Mahmood in "Hum Hain
Raahi Pyar Ke", "Raaz seene mein mohabbat ka chhipaye
rakhna".
And you only had to turn this N53568 78 rpm record to get a
Lata solo in the typical Khayyam idiom. Know that Lata solo
from "Hum Hain Raahi Pyar Ke"?
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 17:
Lata's Best?
Raju Bharatan, for Illustrated Weekly of India
------------------------------------------------------------------
Laxmikant-Pyarelal came to films in 1963. Lata had noted
these two youngsters as a pair that was musically capable of
playing SJ at their own game. She created a sensation by
pointedly ignoring SJ and picking a LP number (jeevan dor
tumhi sang baandhi from "Sati Saavitri") in her silver
jubilee Ten Best.
LP's early compositions for Lata certainly seemed to justify
the confidence Lata had reposed in them.
1. Meghva gagan beech jhaanke (Harishchandra Taramati)
2. Kabhi to miloge jeevan saathi (Sati Savitri)
3. Neend kabhi rehti thi aankhon mein (Aasra)
4. Aankhon ki duniya hai tujh se jawaan (Laadla)
5. Suno sapana papihe ne (Aaye Din Bahaar Ke)
were early LP compositions for Lata that provided proof
positive of the fact that this was no team of upstarts.
Today, they have completed 25 years in films and Lata has
chosen to remember LP through two unusual compositions:
1. Yeh raat bhi jaa rahi hai (Sau Saal Baad)
2. Nigahen kyon bhatakti hain (Baharon Ki Manzil)
alongside,
3. Woh hain zara khafa khafa (Shagird)
How one wishes, though, that at least one selection of
Lata's for LP had been symbolic of Anand Bakshi's early
stage of writing for the duo. For instance, the solo that
this duo created for Lata in "Madhvi" (1969).
Remember that "Madhvi" solo by Lata for LP-Anand Bakshi?
------------------------------------------------------------------
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian