#388

        Song:   Koii pukaare piya piya o piya piya
                O saajan terii yaad mein
                O baalam terii yaad mein

        Film:   Paras (1949)
        Singer: Geeta Roy
        Music:  Ghulam Mohammed
        Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
        *ing:   Rehman, Kamini Kaushal, Sulochna Chatterjee, 
                Madhubala


A recent thread on RMIM  talked  about  assistant  MDs  borrowing
composing  styles in varying degrees from their assistees (?) and
vice-versa... it did cause some raised eyebrows (and  more)  with
criminal  insinuations  that  Hemantda's music sounds like Ravi's
(:-)) but Paras is a soundtrack that bolsters this  theory  some.
Ghulam  Mohd  has  created some perilously Naushad-esque music in
this movie, in almost  all  of  its  songs  ;  not  that  there's
anything  wrong  with  it (as Kramer would say :-)). In fact, the
prelude music to this  Geeta  Roy  tune  (played  as  the  camera
panoramically  captures the holy city of Banaras) carries a piece
that is almost identical to the opening bars of "taqdeer jagaakar
aayi huun" from Naushad's "Dulari" (1949).

Anyway, though not all songs in the  movie  are  quite  upto-the-
mark,  it  is still quite a collectible. It has its moments. This
Geeta Roy tune, for instance,  is  absolutely  charming  in  both
composition  and rendition (esp. in the "o saajan terii... baalam
terii yaad mein" in  the  mukhda).   A  set  of  Lata,  Rafi  and
Shamshad  tracks  (duets  and  solos)  make  up  the  rest of the
soundtrack, and the early sweet voice of  Lata  (with  delightful
songs  like  "dil leke chhupnewaale tuu hai kahaan bataa de" with
Rafi, "aaj merii duniya mein  din  hai  bahaar  ke",  etc.)  adds
another reason to own the soundtrack.

Quite an interesting movie too ; kind  of  a  random  melange  of
themes   -   the   evils   of  gambling,  master->servant  sexual
harassment,  revenge,  sacrifice,  and  a  romantic  triangle  to
complete  the mosaic (these, though quite avoidable in real life,
seem to possess a curiously appealing dramatic element, given the
number  of  watchables  delivered  on  this theme - Andaz, Aaram,
Sangam, Saagar... all the way down to the more recent Yeh Dillagi
and Gupt). Throw in some colorful characters like Madhubala (in a
non-heroine, secondary role as the  servant  girl),  Gope  (as  a
scheming  sidekick  wooing  Kamini  Kaushal), a garrulous aunt in
Banaras with a  platoon  of  seven  giggly  daughters...  and  an
interesting two-and-a-half hours are filled up.




Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit