#434
         Song:   jaago musaafir jaago, jaago musaafir jaago
                 kholo man ka dwaar, jaago musaafir jaago
                 jaag uthaa hai aalam saara, jaag uthaa hai aalam saara
                 prem ki aayi pukaar, jaago musaafir jaago...

         Film:   Raj Laxmi (1945)
         Singer: Talat Mahmood
         Music:  Robin Chatterjee & Dhiren Mitra
         Lyrics: Suresh Chowdhury
         *ing:   ?

 Talat Mahmood passed away a year ago from yesterday, May 9. I remember
 I was in the middle of a similar Nargis tribute on ATMJH last year,
 when the news came, and since I could not come up with any songs Talat
 had sung for her (;-)), I posted the single Talat solo from Jogan:
 "sundarta ke sabhi shikaari". And all this has no relevance to anything
 in particular.

 HMV has been kind to Talat fans. A bountiful set of his songs has been
 released, and between the various soundtracks, Rare this, Rare that,
 Silken melodies, Melodies forever, golden collections and similar
 compilations, most of his output has been covered.

 What I'd like to do for this Talat tribute, is talk about a set of
 rare Talat songs that have been made available by HMV all on one
 compilation. ("rare" songs made "available" ?? my contribution to the
 RMIM oxymoron parade :-) "lesser-known" songs, mebbe). The strike-rate
 of the various CDs released in terms of song quality varies, but this
 specific CD manages to top the lot. Eighteen sets of grooves, and not
 one of them disappoints. At the end of this I hope I will have
 encouraged all closet and non-closet Talat fans to go out and get
 themselves this precious collection. The details:
 "Once More Rare Songs of Talat Mahmood", CDF 132282 (EMI)

 Having said that, let me start the tribute to this gentle voice with
 the song that starts the CD off. And in fact, this is also the song
 that started Talat's career off, way back in 1945. The Talat
 commemorative tape from last year's DC RMIMehfil featured this lovely
 debut track.

 The song is captivating down to every last note in every last antaraa.
 A palpably positive and joyous aura floats around it's uplifting words,
 and a faint set of violins floats around Talat as he softly croons
 them. The three antaraas are all set in different tunes, something that
 always makes a song very appealing to me. And each tune is in perfect
 harmony with the encouraging message delivered by each antaraa,
 building up the mood beautifully to the last one, which I must have
 rewound and re-listened to a record number of times :

 ajab tamaasha woh dikhlaata, ajab tamaasha..
 ajab tamaasha woh dikhlaata, jod kisi se kisi ka naata
 koi na jaane kaun taar mein woh, koi na jaane kaun taar mein woh
 baandhe kaunsa taar, jaago musaafir jaago..

 Few male voices sound pleasant when they rise into the higher octaves,
 but the tremor in Talat's voice tempers the high notes beautifully as
 he soars to the skies with this last antaraa taking the song to it's
 melodic climax. Probably some of Talat's best sung lines ever.

 Is Robin Chatterjee the same "R.Chatterjee" we keep seeing in 40s/50s
 movies in the credits for "Sound" ?