#491
 
       Song:    jag men aaye koi, koi jaaye re...

       Film:    Baabla (1953)
       Singer:  Talat Mahmood
       Music:   S D Burman
       Lyrics:  Sahir Ludhianvi
       *ing:    M Niren, Sova Sen

I had this written up as a part of the two-song tribute to Talat in
early May which I never got around to completing.

That one line, repeated four times, pretty much makes up the mukhada of
this lovely, lesser known Talat wafter. This sounds like one of those
'jogi-type' songs, crooned by wandering minstrels and embedded in the
movie at appropriately pertinent junctures when the theme of the song
reflects the situation in the movie or the emotional state of one or
more of the protagonists, or offers relevant philosophical counsel to
the same. In other words, the type of songs Manna Dey unmistakably found
coming his way.

This one is of the latter category - it waxes philosophical on all
cylinders (mixing metaphors wantonly here). Not sure how it relates to
the particular situation in the movie, but it is a lovely, unassuming
rendition from Talat. The orchestral trappings of this song are quite
typical for this genre - a gentle, non-intrusive beat that vanishes in
the antaraas and picks up on the return to the mukhda, and a light
instrumental ensemble (violins, mainly) following the tune of the
vocals. The tune and the rendition bring forth the sentiment in the
lyrics very effectively - there is a palpable wistfulness in the
ambience the song creates.

'Baabla' is a lovely offering from SDB, and spans a good gamut of
singers (four across the five songs I have) - Talat, Lata ("raat ke
raahi thak mat jaana","raat khushi ki aayi"), Manna (a tandem with Lata
on the latter), and a beautiful Rajkumari solo - "hamre mundere bole
kaaga sakhi ri bichhade baalam ghar aayenge" - that I had posted a
(long) while ago on the series.

Hoping to keep the series more regular hereon...

..Hrishi