#336

        Song:   Kar gayaa re, kar gayaa re
                Kar gayaa mujh pe jadoo
                Sanwariyaa, kar gayaa mujh pe jadoo

        Film:   Basant Bahar (1956)
        Singer: Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar
        Music:  Shankar Jaikishen
        Lyrics: Shailendra
        *ing:   Bharat Bhushan, Nimmi (?)

Today being the death anniversary of music director Shankar,  and
me  being  in  the middle of an unprovoked Asha series, it seemed
like the perfect day to post  this  beautiful  duet  from  Basant
Bahar.  A  richly  orchestrated  melody,  rendered  like only the
Mangeshkar sisters could  ;  this  is  one  of  my  two  all-time
favorite  Lata/Asha  duets  (the  other  one being CR's lovely 'O
chand jahaan woh jaaye' from Sharda (1957)).

This song, I feel, brings out  the  inherent  difference  between
both  the  voices  and  singing  styles  of  Lata  and Asha quite
perceptibly- the contrast is very evident :  Lata  sounds  mellow
and   velvety,  while  Asha's  voice  has  got  the  unmistakably
trenchant edge to it ; neither, however, are able to  divert  our
attention  from  the  common  threads they share - the impeccable
rendition and the ineffable sweetness. Really makes it  difficult
to  figure  out  whom  you  like  better-  they're  frustratingly
flawless in their respective domains... and hence I  continue  to
straddle the fence in Lata v. Asha debates :-)

As is mentioned above, this post is dedicated to  the  memory  of
music  director Shankar. Also, a disclaimer- I may have goofed in
the lyricist credit- it's either Shailendra or Hasrat. AFAIR,  it
is Shailendra ; please correct me if I'm wrong.








Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit