Madan Mohan, was an Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is particularly remembered for the ghazals he composed for the film industry.
Madan Mohan was fascinated with the ghazal singing of Talat Mahmood, and the bond they shared ever since their early days in Lucknow, culminated in some memorable hits till "Jahanara". In fact, when Talat Mahmood was singing less and Rafi was the most sought after singer, the director of "Jahanara" insisted that Rafi sing all the male songs. Madanji was adamant that Talat would sing at least 3 songs in the film, while Rafi would sing the rest, as he had composed accordingly. He volunteered to give up the film on this issue. It was the producer, Om Prakash, who let Madanji have his way and thus 'Phir wohi shaam', 'Teri aankh ke aansoo' and 'Main teri nazar ka suroor hoon' became landmarks in Talat Mahmood's career.
Famous ghazal singer Begum Akhtar was a great admirer of Madan Mohan's tunes.After hearing the song "Qadar Jaane Na" from "Bhai Bhai" on Radio Ceylonshe immediately rang up Madan Mohan from Lucknow and urged him to sing this song for her and he did it repeatedly for eighteen minutes on telephone.
'Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim' was a tune Madan Mohan had composed in 1952. For want of an appropriate situation as well as being rejected by filmmakers, it remained unused. When Raj Khosla, a close friend of Madanji, needed a haunting melody for "Woh Kaun Thi", the composer remembered his forgotten melody, and Raj Khosla jumped at it. 'Naina barse' became a major hit.
Madan Mohan was very finicky about his musicians and was indeed feared by them for his quest for perfection. Top musicians of India have played for him in his songs, including Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pt. Ramnarain, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia. In fact Hariji made his debut in a film recording with the song Phir Wohi Shaam, from Jahanara. Well known composer Pyarelal played the violin often for him, including in the song KAISE KATEGI ZINDAGI TERE BAGAIR.
Some of my favourite songs of Madan Mohan
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