#447

        Song:   chanda gaaye raagini, chham chham barse chaandni
                mast jiya lehraaye mora mast jiya lehraaye

        Film:   Dil-e-Nadaan (1954)
        Singer: Jagjit Kaur
        Music:  Ghulam Mohammed
        Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
        *ing:   Talat Mahmood, Shyama, Peace Kanwal
 

Recently stumbled upon this video on one of my music treasure-hunts to
Berkeley. Quite a few songs from this delightful Ghulam Mohammed
soundtrack have been released commercially; mostly Talat solos
like "zindagi denewaale sun", "jo khushi se chot khaaye",etc. This one
got left out in the publicity.

This happy tune, picturized on beauty queen Peace Kanwal (she
apparently won some beauty contest that got a break in the movies)
breathes Ghulam Mohammed in every note, especially the orchestral
trappings. A combination of piano and violin strains start the
song off, accompanied by his trademark beat (the other Jagjit Kaur
solo "khamosh zindagi ko afsaana mil gaya" is built on an almost
identical rhythmic base. The two songs, come to think of it, are very
similar). One of the distinguishing features of Ghulam Mohammed's music
is "instruments in pursuit of vocals": the moment the vocalist
finishes singing a certain line/misra/whatever, a bunch of instruments
take up where the singer left off and, without a break in the rhythm,
play the exact same lines again; it's almost like having an extra
vocalist.

There is a charming 'twang' at the end of the mukhdaa of this song, in
the second "lehraaye".. it sounds very sweet, the way Jagjit Kaur sings
it, almost like an informal invitation, the way she tentatively lets go
of it at the end. There is another lovely (truet? triplet? troika?) in
this movie with Talat, Jagjit and Sudha Malhotra - "mohabbat ki dhun
beqaraaron se poochho", as the three try out the budding  but hesitant
composer's new creation (Talat plays an aspiring music director in this
movie). I had posted this a (long) while ago, on ATMJH.

Another song that has gone by unnoticed in this movie - a mournful,
slow Asha track "lijo baabul hamaaa salaam re, hum to jaate hain saajan
ke gaanv re".