Subject: Abhi To Main Jawan Hun (#454)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 01:12:44 GMT


 

#454

        Song:    kaise rokoge aese toofaan ko
                 ye umange ye dil hai jawaan ho
                 kaise rokoge aese toofaan ko..

        Film:    Anand Math (1952)
        Singer:  Geeta Dutt, Talat Mahmood
        Music:   Hemant Kumar
        Lyrics:  Hasrat Jaipuri/Shailendra
        *ing:    Geeta Bali, Prithviraj Kapoor

This one is ringing in my ears as I write. Add one more to the list of
great Geeta-Talat duets (headed, of course, by "armaan bhare dil ki
lagan"). Not having the pstats in hard print at this time, I can only
conjecture, albeit with a fair degree of certainty, that the male voice
in this lovely duet is Talat (HFGK-ed gentlefolk may please confirm
this, and while they're at it, also confirm the lyricist- it is one of
the two I mentioned). Which probably makes the song a rare instance of
this particular singer-MD combination, I think ? Or is my ignorance
making this a loose usage of "rare" ? :-)

For some reason, this song reminds me of Lata's "ek pal ruk jaana ruk
jaana" (the fast version) from Anilda's "Raahi", especially the way the
whole song is structured. They both start off in the same way, with a
slow, drawn-out prelude that makes way for a merrily trotting mukhdaa.
An inspired, pleasure-to-listen-to rendition by both singers,
especially Geeta. The antaraas have a lovely chemistry of male and
female voices: as one sings the words the other's alaapi (in higher
scale o~o~o's) supportively floats over the words. And then the singers
switch in the next line. Great effect.

This rather poignant (and at times melodramatic) treatment of Bankim
Chandra's classic is an absolute gem of a soundtrack, predominantly
featuring Hemantda and Geeta tracks. Most songs in this movie are
either devotional ("jai jagadeesh hare", "hare muraare", etc.) or
patriotic ("vande mataram", "vande mataram" - Hemantda and Lata
respectively), and there's gorgeous background music through most of
the movie, some instrumental, some as Lata and Hemantda's alaapi.
And I might mention that Geeta Bali looks absolutely adorable
(especially in the fervent and climactic "vande mataram") :-)
 
 


Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit