Melodies of Madan Mohan and Mohammad Rafi

 

Madan Mohan worked with all the legendary male playback singers of the time, including Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, and Hemant Kumar, the maximum songs were sung by the great Mohd. Rafi Saab. Between solos and duets, Rafi Saab sang almost 170 songs for Madanji.

 Madan Mohan scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950, which marked the beginning of a long-lasting collaboration with Mohammed Rafi. The song was 'Hum Ishq Mein Barbad' was a serious song. Next few years were the testing time for Madan Mohan, he gave more songs to Talat mehmood and one or two songs to Rafi. The song 'Basti Basti Parbat Parbat' from Railway Platform (1955) was the first hit song of this combination.The next memorable song was'Tujhe Kya Sunaun Mein Dilruba' from Aakhri Dao (1958). In the 1960s they gave many memorable songs. Here are a few of the great songs of this combination.

Song of Aankhen 1950

Song of Railway Platform (1955)

Song of Aakhri Dao (1958).

Song of Adalat 1958

Song of Aap Ki Parchhaiyan  1964

Song of Sharabi 1964

Song of Gazal 1964

Song of Haqeeqat1964

Song of Neela Akash 1965

Song of Dulhan Ek Raat Ki 1966

Song of Mera Saya 1966

Song of Naunihal 1967

Song of Naunihal 1967

Song of Heer Ranjha 1970

Song of Hanste Zakhm 1973

Song of Laila Majnu 1976

Bollywood Songs songs that do not have tabla, dholak or any other percussion instrument

Last night I was listening the song "Jalte Hain Jis ke Liye" sung  by Talat Mahmood from the film Sujata. One interesting point I noted  that this song has no sound of Tabla, Dholak or any other percussion instrument.This made me curious to research those songs which do not have any rhythmic instruments.
However, you may be surprised to learn that some of the most popular songs of the Golden era (mostly 50s and 60s) do not have any percussion instrument. Yes, you read that right. There are no percussion instruments in some of the most popular songs. 
We all know that Melody and Rhythm are two essential elements of any Hindi film song.  Melody is mostly identified with the vocals or the singable part and rhythm is identified with accompanying percussion instruments like Tabla or Bongo or Drums. 
You may say that the songs that do not have percussion must be sad or slow songs. But it was not like that.There are some bright, cheerful songs as well that have Nothing but melody.
It is possible to create the rhythm for a song without using percussion instruments. Most composers created rhythm by using guitars, banjo or some other stringed instrument like a Double Bass or a Piano. In film songs, guitar can be played in three ways – as a lead guitar, bass guitar or rhythm guitar.
In the above mentioned song the composer of the song SD Burman  usesd Piano to provide rhythm.Similarly SD Burman’s another masterpiece song from Pyaasa – Jaane woh kaise log in which piano supplements guitars and double bass for rhythm.
Hemant Kumar too seems to have a penchant for composing songs without percussion. His lively Bekarar karke from Bees Saal Baad, surprisingly does not have any percussion instruments, very unusual for the situation in the movie.
Here are few songs where the rhythm is provided by a variety of stringed instruments like Double Bass, Guitars and so on. I hope you enjoy these extremely popular Nothing but melody songs.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi 1958

Song of Dilli Ka Thug 1958

Song of Sujata 1959

Song of Kagaz ke phool 1959

Song of Lal Qila 1960

Song of Jhumroo 1961

Song of Bees Saal Baad 1962

Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1964

Song of Waqt 1965

Song of Anupama 1966

Song of Khamoshi 1969

The Sweet Melody With Flute is Missing today in Bollywood Songs

The beautiful sounds of flute gave us many evergreen and sweet melodies.The music composers of Golden Era used their creativity, inspiration and their expertise in arrangements to make attractive use of flute.Stalwarts like Naushad, S D Burman and Roshan seemed to have a preference for flute and used it extensively in some of their songs.S D Burman used flute in many of his songs to provide a breezy and light touch to complement the vocals composed in his unique style. But, it is his sad number Jaayen to Jaayen kahaan (Taxi Driver) that has extensive use of flute. Talat’s voice and the flute combine to create unforgettable pathos.
Remember the songs Gaye jaa geet milan ke (Mela) and Tu mera chaand main teri chaandni (Dillagi) What a beautiful and extensive use of the flute by Naushad
When we talk of a flute one name comes in our mind is that of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia He was involved in many of  the great melodies created in 60s. He played flute in many songs of the great Music directors of that time.
In this Blog I have selected 15 such songs having sweet melodies with flute.

Song from Sahibaan 1993

Song from  Abhimaan (1973)

Song from 'Prem Parbat' (1973)

Song from Amar Prem (1972)

Song from Heer Ranjha 1970

Song from Geet (1970)

Song from Hamraz 1967

Song from Saheli 1965

Song from Dosti 1964

Song from Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song from Soorat aur Seerat 1962

Song from Maya  1961

Song from Taxi Driver 1954

Song from Awara 1951

Song from Mela 1948