Remembering KANAN DEVI on her 24th Death Anniversary

Remembering KANAN DEVI (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) 

She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema.KANAN has been honored as THE NIGHTINGALE OF BENGAL , by Miss Sandhya Sen, the eminent Bengali journalist. KANAN has been referred to as THE MELODY QUEEN OF INDIA by none other than the queen herself, that is Lata Mangeshkar.

                                            kanan devi..morey angna mey aaye..vidyapati..1934

She came in contact with the music maestro Rai Chand Boral who not only coached and familiarized her in the Hindi accent but experimented with many classical Western and Indian forms in his music. She received her initial musical training under Alla Rakha. She was employed as a singer at the Megaphone Gramaphone Company, receiving further training under Bhishmadev Chatterjee.
She worked with the biggest names in Indian cinema from K. L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Pramathesh Barua, Pahari Sanyal, Chabi Biswas and Ashok Kumar.M.P. Productions's Jawaab, was perhaps her biggest hit. Her song Duniya Yeh Duniya, Hai Toofan Mail was well received. She repeated the same feast in Hospital (1943), Banphool (1945), and Rajlakshmi (1946). Kanan Devi's last Hindi film was Chandrashekhar (1948) with Ashok Kumar.

                                          Duniya Yeh Duniya Toofan Mail Jawab 1942 Kanan Devi

This song when it got released in 1942 was a super hit. In the household both young and old this one was in their lips and outside too. A wonderful creation I should say.The train puffing end is very pleasant and entertaining to the ears, steam engine and the great Toofan mail

 

                            Ae chand chhup na jana..Kanan Devi - Part 1,2 & a tribute by Lata - Jawab1942

KANAN quit film acting in 1959 but continued to be associated with film making as a producer. The films produced by her, mostly based on Sarat Chandra stories anddirected by husband Haridas Bhattacharjee remain assets of the mainstream Bengali cinema.

KANAN's musical talent was first discovered by none other than Kazi Najrul Islam, the rebel poet of Bengal from the notorious Gholadanga area of Howrah. KANAN had already played in two films (JOYDEB and SHANKARACHARYA) as a child artiste and was taken to HMV for her first recording session-her voice still raw without any training worth the name. The record was published in 1929-RECORD NUMBER- P 11580 and the songs : 1) BALO SAKHI BALO TAREY and 2) OGO BOLO KENO SAKHI NAYANA JHAREY. This was KANAN’s only black label record and her name was written as Miss Kanan Bala. 

                              Duet From Street Singer (K.L.Saigal and Kanan Devi)

                                              Kanan Devi & K L Sehgal Duet from Lagan

                                                     A Non Film song by Kanan Devi

                                                Song from Mukti Sanwariya Man bha gaya
Kanan Devi, as the first lady of the Bengali screen, received many honours for her contribution to Indian cinema. An honorary degree from Vishwabharati, the Padma Shree in 1968 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1976.
Her greatest achievement was perhaps earning respectability for womenin the industry. She joined films at a time when all actresses came from red light areas of Calcutta. The same was true for Bombay and Lahore. Attempts at introduction of respectable women were done by Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (with his own wife and daughter), Dadasaheb Phalke (with daughter) but the trend was not generalized and films largely depended on social outcasts. KANANs phenomenal rise undoubtedly set a brilliant example of upliftment.

After a long  courtship KANAN married Shri Ashok Maitra, son of the puritan Brahmo leader, Heramba Chandra Maitra.The marriage could take place only after Heramba Maitra’s death. The civil marriage took place on the fourth day of December,1940. Mr P. N. Roy, Mr Anil Chanda were amongst the distinguished guests cum witnesses as required in a registry marriage.Their marriage could not survive in spite of the love and admiration that each had for the other. The marriage ended in a formal divorce and it was mutually decided that KANAN and Shri Ashok Maitra were never to meet again after their separation. 

 In 1949, KANAN married Haridas Bhattacherjee, who left his job and came to live with his wife at her palatial  Tollyganj Regent Grove residence. KANAN  wanted to be the proud wife of a worthy husband and took him abroad to qualify as a barrister. However, Haridas was not to willing to be a student at that age and finally, considering his literary inclinations, KANAN got her husband a place in her own film production unit SHREEMATI PICTURES as a screenplay writer for Mejdidi. From 1952 onwards, all films of her home production were directed by Haridas Bhattacharjee and he did make a place for himself in the film world of Bengal.

KANAN was in indifferent health condition ever since her first heart attack in the late sixtees. However, she continued to take part in every social function and never failed to turn up at such gathering if she had promised to attend.She died on 17th july 1992 night In spite of the best efforts of the attending doctors, she breathed her last around twenty minutes past ten from Left Ventricular Failure. 

Great songs by Forgootten Composers

SARDAR MALIK - Part 8

In my one of the earlier Blogs I wrote that Destiny play an important role in man's career.In the Film Industry also it plays its role.There are many instances when some one wants to become an Actor but he fails in that later he tries his hand in other field and he becomes successful in that area

 Guru Dutt (Choreographer to Actor/Director), Ashok Kumar ( Lab Technician to Actor), Mehboob Khan ( Extra actor to Producer/Director), Shashi Kapoor Sr. ( actor to Professor of Maths in USA ), Ashraf Khan (actor/singer to Sufi Saint), Mukund Rai Trivedi (Music composer to Mine owner/Businessman) etc etc.

Uma Devi, who became a singing sensation overnight with her ” Dard “-1947 song ” Afsaana likh rahi hoon “, left singing and became a Comedy actress. What a turn of events to her Career! There are a few other cases like Amirbai Karnataki, who left acting to concentrate on singing, Singer Shyam who was forced to do only acting in later life as there were no song assignment for him and Sailesh Mukherjee, who became a hero in films-with a New name, Shrikant Gaurav- after leaving singing/composing.Subhash Ghai started his career as a Hero but he got Name and Fame as a Director.

Aab-e-Hayat - Ae Dil-e-Nashad Tera Shukriya

Sardar Malik who was a trained dancer  under the famed Uday Shankar at his residential school at Almora. He was a gifted singer and started getting both singing and composing assignments. Seeing the rise of independent playback singers such as Rafi and Mukesh, he realised he could not match them, and confined himself to music direction, and came over to Bombay.  He and Mohan Sehgal started their careers as dancers. They were appointed as dance direc­tors by Nanabhai Bhatt for a film titled 40 Crore This assignment didn't help him further to get more work.He continued performing with Uday Shankar’s troupe and it was here that his singing was noticed by Ramesh Sehgal, a director who gave him a Break as Music Director in "Renuka" released in 1947 in this movie he also sang 4 songs.,the song  Sunti nahin hai duniya fariyaad kisiki. was liked  but even after that his career was not moving.He  tried his hand in composing music for few more films like Ren Basera,Raaz but his luck was not favoring him,the movies for which he was composing were either not running or getting shelved.

Ae ghame dil kya karoon

His first hit song was" Ae ghame dil kya karoon" sung by Talat Mahmood in the film'Thokar" starring Shammi Kapoor.

Next year1954 his film Aulad came,the movie had some great songs"Duniya Tasveer Hai"by Talat Mahmood and"Tum Salamat Raho Hazar baras'by Asha were very popular.same year another film"Chor Bazar"came out with beautiful songs by Lata,'Chalta Rahe Yeh Carvan"and'Dar Dar Ki Thokren Hain"were hit.

Though Sardar Malik has composed for not more than 30 films he is recognized for the quality of his work. It was he who could get Mukesh to sing most tunefully in Saranga. Mukesh always felt that in his rendering of a song his voice fell somewhere. Malik’s composi­tion Saranga teri yaad mein and all the numbers of Saranga are remembered for Mukesh’s beautiful rendering. 

Saranga's songs were very popular and it remains Sardar Malik's best composition.In this movie the title song "saranga teri yaad Mein"is remembered for Mukesh but the same song was also sung by Mohammad Rafi,I am posting that version also.

Mohammad Rafi's Version of Saranga Teri Yaad Mein

Sardar Malik's career as Music composer ran for many years but he was not considered as a hit Music Director by the Industry.Later he started teaching music,in an interview he said that whatever he possesed like House all came from the earnings from teaching.
Sardar Malik was married to Kausar jehan who was a sister of famous lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri,he had three sons-Anu Malik,Abu Malik and Dabbu Malik.He passed away on 27th Jan 2006,he is no more with us but his compositions are still in our heart.
As my Tribute to this great Composer I am Posting rare songs by Sardar Malik

Aaja re sanam Geeta Dutt Film Maa Ke Ansoo music Sardar Malik.

Sun chand meri ye dastan by Mukesh from Nag Jyoti (1963),

Mujhe tumse mohabbat hai magar main kah nahi sakta by Rafi from Bachpan (1963),

 Chanda ke des mein rahti ek rani by Mukesh from Mera Ghar Mere Bachche

 Hui ye humse nadani ki hum teri mehfil me aa baithe by Lata Mangeshkar from Chor Bazar (1954), lyrics Shakel Badayuni

Baharon ki duniya pukare tu aa ja by Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle from Laila Majnu (1953), 

Great songs by Forgootten Composers

IQBAL QURESHI -Part 7

Remember the songs Ta thaiya karte ana – one of the best female duets ever – or  Mukesh song Mujhe raat din ye khayal hai, or Rafi’s evergreen Subaha na ayi sham na ayi and Wo hum na the wo tum na the wo rahguzar thi pyar ki or Rafi’s duets like Phir aane laga yaad wohi pyar ka aalam and Ek chameli ke madwe tale.

                                                             Ek Jhalak of Milestone Music of Iqbal Qureshi
All  the above mentioned songs were composed by Music Composer  IQBAL QURESHI who was a true maestro in every sense, he composed music for less than twenty Hindi movies,but the movies he did in the sixties had  musical gems that made a lasting mark on the viewers memory.
His first movie as an independent composer was Jasoos in 1955, though most of the films were low budget movies with lesser known actors, it did not deter him from creating good tunes and he did total justice to the songs. 

In 1956 his second movie"Sipahsalar"released  “Dil ne chheda hai Tarana” sung by Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle and “Ankhon mein ankhen daal ke” a duet by Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle. Both the songs had catchy tunes which became popular.
The next movie for which Iqbal Qureshi composed songs was Panchayat (1958) which was Manoj Kumar’s second movie it also had Raj Kumar and Shyama in the cast.“Ta Thaiya karke Aana” duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Geeta Dutt is from this film,another song “Haal yeh kar diya Zalim” sung by Mohd. Rafi and Geeta Dutt .

After the musical success of "Panchayat" Iqbal Qureshi got his next assignment with big banner Filmalaya’s, he was signed on as music director for Love in Simla, this film launched the career of Joy Mukheerji and Sadhana and directed by R. K. Nayyar It had some catchy songs,"Yu Zindagi Ke Raste " by Mohammad Rafi,"Kiya Hai Dilruba Pyar Bhi Kabhi'a duet by Asha and Rafi and"Dil Tham Chale Hum Aaj Kidhar"by Rafi

Iqbal Qureshi also composed songs for "Bindya' in 1960 a Balraj Sahani and Padmini  starer,”Main apne Aap Se Ghabra Gaya Hoon” sung by Mohd Rafi is still remembered and is a classic.

"Umar Qaid" was released in 1961 and had some beautiful songs composed by Iqbal Qureshi, “Mujhe Raat Din yeh Khayal hai” is one of the song from this film.

In 1963 he did "Yeh Dil Kisko Doon" which had Shashi Kapoor and Ragini in the lead and was directed by Kewal Mishra. “Phir aane laga yaad wohi” was one of the popular number from this film.

After "Umar Qaid'there was a lean period in his life .he was not getting big banners on the other side Music directors like S D Burman,Naushad,Shankar Jaikishan were at their peak . Lots of immortal songs were being created.Hindi Film Music was at its peak,Iqbal Qureshi could not churn out quality songs, maybe he could not catch up with the changing trends of music in the films.

In 1964  his film "Cha Cha Cha"released.It was produced and directed by Chandrashekar who was also in the lead with Helen, though the name of the movie gives the impression a western music based story but most of the songs were traditional and were the highlight of the movie.”Wo hum na the wo tum na the” and “Subah na aayi Shaam na aayi” were outstanding compositions in the movie.

In the same year we saw the release of "Qawwali Ki Raat" where Iqbal Qureshi had the opportunity to compose qawwali. There were three qawwali songs in this film which one cannot forget easily.

Inspite of some good music , the luck was not favouring Iqbal Qureshi,he was getting low budget movies,his songs were getting unnoticeable.In 1970 he did Bombay by Nite which had Prithviraj Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. “Baharon ne kiye sajde” a beautiful composition was sung by Mukesh.

 In 1985 he did Sautela Pati directed by B. R. Ishara with Raj Kiran and Asha Sachdev in the lead. His last movie was Pathron ke Shehar in 1986.
There is one movie of Iqbal Qureshi which was never released and that is ….Pyar bana afsana [ 1960s]…. . This movie had some good five or six songs mostly by Asha, rafi and Krishna kalle .

Shamma jali to jala parwana……Krishna Kalle

                                       A Rare song of Rafi from unreleased film Pyar bana Afsana

Remembering MADAN MOHAN on his Death Anniversary

A Tribute to MADAN MOHAN on his Death Anniversary(14th July)

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

Lag jaa gale ke phir yeh (Woh Kaun Thi?, 1964)

 Unko yeh shikaayat hai (Adalat, 1958):

 Hoke majboor mujhe usne bhulaaya hoga (Haqeeqat, 1964)

Bhooli hui yaadon mujhe itna na sataao: Sanjog 1961

Tu jahan jahan chalega, Mera Sayaa saath hoga.”Mera Saaya

Baiyan na dharo from Dastak

 Kaun aaya mere mann ke dwaare (Dekh Kabira Roya, 1957):

Un released song by Rafi and Asha from Neela Akaash

Remembering ROSHAN the Music Director on his 99th Birth Anniversary

ROSHAN  (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967)

Roshan was born in Gujranwala now in Pakistan.In 1948, He came to Mumbai to find work as a Hindi film music director and became Assistant of Music Composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar in film Singaar. He struggled until meeting Kidar Sharma, who gave him the job of composing for his film Neki aur Badi (1949). While this film was a flop, Roshan emerged as a player on the Hindi film music scene with the film Baawre Nain, released the following year..

Baawre Nain established Roshan as Music director at par with other famous music directors of that era.The movie had 9 songs and almost ll the songs were hit.The song"Khyaalon Mein Kisike Is Tarah" became immortal song.This song was sung by Geeta Dutt ( then she was Geeta Roy) and Mukesh, both newcomers as playback singers. The voice of Geeta Dutt sounds so refreshing and different from what we are used to. Mukesh, just breaking out of K L Sahgal’s influence.

In 1951 his film "Malhaar" released It was produced by Singer Mukesh.Each song, led by the remarkable “Bade Armaanon Se Rakha Hai Sanam Teri Qasam, Pyaar Ki Duniya Mein Yeh Pehla Qadam” is a gem.

 Roshan was undoubtedly helped by the lyricists, debutant Indeevar and Kaif-Irfani- who penned sheer poetry, including “Dil Tujhe diya tha Rakhne ko, Tune Dil ko Jala ke Rakh Kiya” and “Tara Toote Duniya Dekhe”. Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, needless to mention, made them immortal in their voice.
He was not always commercially successful. He gave Indeewar and Anand Bakshi their first breaks in the industry as lyricists; these two would later become two of the most sought-after songwriters in Mumbai from the late 1960s onwards.

In 1952 his another gem of a movie"Naubahaar" starring Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant released,again its music became very popular,Another immortal song “Ae ri main to prem deewaani” is a traditional Meera Bhajan which is adapted as a lyrics by Satyendra Athaiyya. It is sung by Lata and it is picturised on Nalini Jaiwant and Ashok Kumar.Most of the songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar, one by Rajkumari and one by Talat Mahmood. Whether it was the vivacious “Unke bulawe pe dole mera dil” or the tenderness of “Dekho ji mera jiya churaye liye jaaye” or the devotion and pathos of “Ai ri main to prem diwani” (which Lata has included in her best ten list) or the restlessness and anguish of “Woh paas nahin majboor hai dil, hum aas lagaye baithe hain”, Lata has shone like a dazzling star.
In the 50s Roshan gave many musical hits likr Shesham and Anhonee,the song "Main Dil Hoon Ek Armaan Bhara" is a classic from Talat Mahmood This is a song sung by Talat Mehmood and picturised on Raj Kapoor. It is a rare combination of singer and actor, but the song itself is quite well known 

The 1960s proved to be the golden age for Roshan and his music. His ability to mould folk music with Hindustani classical music became his trademark and resulted in movies scores. During this time Roshan gave hits such as Na to karavan ki talaash hai from Barsat Ki Raat and Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat (Barsaat Ki Raat, 1960),Ab kya misaal doon and Kabhi to milegi, kahi to milegi (Aarti, 1962), Jo vada kiya vo nibhana padega, Paao chhoon lene do and Jurm-e-ulfat pe (Taj Mahal, 1963), Nigahen milane ko jee chahata hai and Laaga chunari mein daag (Dil Hi To Hai, 1963), Sansaar se bhaage phirte ho and Man re tu kaahe (Chitralekha, 1964), and Oh re taal mile andKhushi khushi kar do vida (Anokhi Raat, 1968).

 He composed some melodies for the movie Mamta (1966) with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri, 'Rehte the kabhi jinke dil mein',Rahen Na Rahen Hum sung by Lata Mangeshkar and her hit duet, Chuppa Lo Yun Dil Mein Pyar Mera with Hemant Kumar.^[1] Devar (1966): "Aaya hai mujhe phir yaad woh zalim, guzara zamana bachpan ka"; "Baharon ne mera chaman loot kar"; "Duniya mein aisa kahan sab ka naseeb hai".

Roshan in my opinion was a very under-rated music director who got his due recognition very late. He created some of the most outstanding scores. His biggest strength was mixing of Folk Music with classical music, this approach made him different from other music directors. In1963 Filmfare Best Music Director Award for Taj Mahal.

Roshan had been suffering from chronic heart trouble for over 20 years. He died of a heart attack in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, on 16 November 1967 aged 50, leaving behind a wife, two sons and two daughters. Besides immediate family, Roshan left great admirers of extended family—Nagrath and Khokha family