#453
Song:
maane na maane na maane na
tere bin mora jiya na maane
aese naina bhaaye re diwaane
raam, haaye raam...
Film:
Savera (1957)
Singer: Geeta
Dutt
Music: Sailesh
Lyrics: Shailendra
*ing:
Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari
A tribute to Geeta Dutt on her 27th death anniversary (that passed
on
July 20). I'll spend the next few posts on some of her not so widely
known gems.
'Savera' probably qualifies as a desert island soundtrack for the
lesser known Sailesh Mukherjee(?). A lovely array of songs, inaugurated
by this Geeta solo.
This is a rather fast-paced, typical "mujra" song, with a flamboyant
orchestral backdrop, rich with a medley of instruments and a vibrant
beat. One of the most striking features of this tune is the way
the
mukhdaa is composed: it's like a vertical, high-gradient parabola.
The
first two "maane na"s are in low notes, and the third one (specifically
the "na") suddenly lofts her an entire octave higher, hovers at
those
heights awhile with the second line, and then brings her sliding
down
with the third and fourth (the "raam haaye raam"). Very imaginatively
composed (the "haaye raam" descent is lovely), and Geeta comes
across
triumphant in the vocal gymnastics... her voice displays just the
optimal amount of (for want of a better word) elasticity to make
the
rendition sound almost effortless despite the complexities in the
tune.
This song is a pleasure to listen to... one of her best, I'd say.
Some other noteworthy songs in the movie include a devotional piece
by
Manna Dey ("jeevan ke raaste hazaar"), a charming Lata-Manna duet
("chhupa chhupi o chhupi aagad baagad jaayi re") and the Lata solo,
the
only commercially released song from this soundtrack I know - "nadiya
ke paani o re nadiya ke paani".
Strange thing is, I could only get five or six songs off the video,
but
the Geet Kosh, IIRC, lists more than that for the soundtrack. More
songs lost into oblivion, dagnabit!
More Geeta to follow...