The Swan Song of R D BURMAN

The swan song is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.  Thenmavin Kombath, a Malayalam film by Priyadarshan was the last film R D Burman signed, but he died before he could score for the film.It was the song Ek Ladki Ko Dekha from 1942 A Love Story was the last song recorded before his death.But the real Swan Song is ‘Kuchh na kaho’.
R d Burman’s last recorded song is ‘Kuchh na kaho’ in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. It was recorded soon after RD’s death in January 1994.

The late 80s and early 90s were not good for Pancham. The general perception was that he had lost his touch.  The songs that he did, generally failed to make a major impact on the public.  Where R.D. Burman had made a career from Western "inspired" songs, he found that he was repeatedly being outdone by Bappi Lahiri's Western "inspired" disco.  In 1988 at the age of 49, he suffered a heart attack.  He underwent surgery and continued to make music.  But his career limped into the 1990's with very lackluster commercial success.  

Many Producers and Directors who were working with Pancham earlier have now dropped Pancham from their future projects. Anand-Milind were picked over Pancham da for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT), Subhash Ghai who signed Pancham earlier for his upcoming film Ram Lakhan also dropped him by replacing Laxmikant Pyare Lal.

It was Vidhu Vinod Chopra who worked with him in Parinda had faith on him repeated him in 1942 Love Story despite suggestions from his well wishers not to take him. 1942- A Love Story was one of Rahul Dev Burman’s last soundtracks and indeed he left the industry with a lot to remember.

Every song of this movie is a master piece “Kuch Na Kaho”, is featured twice, once by Kumar Sanu and the other by the illustrious Lata Mangeshkar. The slow tune is once again delightfully intertwined with the R.D. Burman touch in a violin.The teaser number, “Rooth Na Jana” brings us back to the golden era with its backdrop consisting essentially of the flute areas. The song is at times upbeat, sweet and Kumar Sanu once again emotes excellently.

“Ek Ladki Ko Dekha” the song sung by Kumar Sanu  was as whimsical and breezy as it is picturized. The light soft tune has a backdrop of a soft drum backdrop, which is complimented superbly by the sitar. The song being on of Sanu’s biggest hits cannot only be identified by the classes but the masses as well.

The film got all the 4  musical Awards,Best Music Director for R D Burman,Best Lyricist for Javed Akhtar,Best male Play back Singer for Kumar sanu and the Best female Singer to Kavita Krishnamurti.

Song from 1942 Love Story (1994)

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha

Rim Jhim Rim Jhim

Pankaj Mullick- The Man Who Popularized Rabindra Sangeet To The Masses

Rabindranath Tagore was a prolific composer with around 2,230 songs to his credit.The songs have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India and Bangladesh.He was was very stringent about the fact that his poetry should be sung with purity. The aspiring singers were asked to sing in his presence and only after seeking his approval they could sing in public. 
Pankaj Mallick started singing Tagore's song very early in his life.One day he came across a poem by his favourite poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. 'Jokhon porbe na mor payer chinho' enchanted him to the extent that he composed a musical version of this poem and started singing it. Later on, when Pankaj got to know that this very poem had been composed and sung by Gurudev himself, he also listened to the record, and naturally felt ecstatic that his composition was identical to that of Gurudev. This was his incipient introduction to Rabindra Sangeet. 
He started musically tuning and rendering Gurudev's poems by singing in public functions as well. One such composition, 'Diner sheshe, ghoomer sheshe,' he sang very frequently.
When Tagore came to know that some one is composing and singing his poems in public and being appreciated by the people,he was summoned before Tagore and asked to sing in his presence. Pankaj was naturally quite nervous when he sang 'Diner sheshe' in the courtyard of Gurudev's mansion. Just as the song was over, Pankaj ran away. Tagore was amazed by his singing prowess and didn't object to his singing and composing his poems. When Pankaj came to know about Gurudev's reaction he felt exhorted and inspired to sing Rabindra Sangeet as his life's sole mission.
Dinendranath Tagore was the grandson of Gurudev's elder brother Dwijendranath Tagore and son of Dwijendranath Tagore. After listening to Pankaj he gladly accepted him as his disciple. Under his tutelage young Pankaj learnt the finer nuances of Rabindra Sangeet. He taught him the first song from Gurudev's most celebrated work, 'Gitanjali'. He taught Pankaj the importance of verbal sequence and stressed that verses should never be overtaken by music. And that the spirit of lyrics was of supreme importance.He started singing in Radio Station Calcutta which was started on 26th August 1927 In September  1927 Dr Iyengar took Pankaj to the radio station and introduced him to the Programme Director Nripen Majumdar. Quite impressed with his voice, he asked Pankaj to sing for them. And Pankaj sang two songs penned by Gurudev. This historic stint with radio lasted for more than five decades.
The production of the first radio play on Calcutta Radio is also credited to him. Pankaj was equally responsible for popularising Rabindra Sangeet on radio. During his radio days, he came into close contact with Rai Chand Boral.With him he started giving music in films.In 1929 this duo was approached by BN Sircar to compose for his silent films, Chor Kanta and Chasher Meye. During the era of silent films, music was given live from the pit dug near the screen. Later in 1931 Sircar founded his New Theatres Studio and asked Boral and Pankaj to join its music department. Pankaj was co-composer of Boral in Dena Paona, the first talkie in Bangla that year. Pankaj had assisted Boral in most of the films and some of the credited compositions of Boral in Puran Bhagat and Chandidas were actually composed by Pankaj.
Pankaj Mullick was given a chance to compose the songs of the film Mukti independently by P C Barua.There is an interesting story about this film. When Barua was narrating the story of this yet to be titled film to Pankaj Babu, he started humming 'Diner sheshe, ghoomer deshe'. Barua heard this and asked Pankaj Babu that he would like to use this rendition in his film. Pankaj Babu told Barua, "Though I have composed this poem and sung it in concerts, we would require the permission of Gurudev to use it in the film."
Tagore not only gave permission for 'Diner sheshe', but even two more songs for the film. He also suggested the title Mukti for the film. It was the very first time that Rabindra Sangeet was used in a feature film. These three songs of Gurudev became instant hits after the film was released in 1935
Following the success of Mukti/Mukti, Pankaj Babu’s screen appearances became more frequent. He appeared as an elderly singer in the Hindi version of Kapal Kundala (1939), an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, directed by Phani Majumdar. He composed and sang the unforgettable Piya Milan Ko Jaana, undoubtedly his most well-known song in Hindi. The next highlight of Pankajbabu’s career was Debaki Bose’s musical extravaganza Nartaki (1940) where he sang the evergreen hits Ye Kaun Aaj Aaya Swerai, Madbhari Rut Jawan Hai and Prem Ka Nata Chhuta in his rich, sonorous vibrato. 1941 saw Pankaj Mullick reaching the zenith of his career as an actor-singer with the film Daktar/Doctor. 
During the Second World War and its aftermath, New Theatres went into decline and many of its luminaries went to Mumbai but  Pankaj Mullick preferred to stay at Calcutta. In 1944, he composed music for Meri Bahen and this film he had Saigal singing some of his best ever songs Ae Qatib-e-Taqdir Mujhe Itnaa Bata De, Do Naina Matware and Chhupo Na Chhupo Na. Pankajbabu also worked for some Mumbai productions among which were the Dev Anand-Geeta Bali starrer Zalzala (1952),
Pankaj Mullick was also a music scholar and theoretician and he wrote several books on Indian classical music. He also recorded the definitive version of the Indian national anthem Jana Gana Mana in deference to Premier Jawaharlal Nehru’s wishes.
Yatrik (1952) and Raikamal (1955) won Pankaj Mullick the President’s Award for the best film music. He was honoured with the Padmashree in 1970 and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for his ground-breaking contributions in Indian cinema in 1973. A commemorative postage stamp honouring Pankaj Mullick was issued by the Department of Posts, Govt. of India on the occasion of his birth centenary.He died on 19th Feb 1978.
 It is a matter of special pleasure for me to present a compilation of my favourite Pankaj Mullick songs as my tribute on his birthday May 10.

                                            Ye Ratein Ye Mousam - Pankaj Mullick.

Song from Manzil (1936)

Song from Mukti (1937)

Song from  Adhikaar (1938)

Song from Kapalkundala (1939)

                                    ye kaun aaj aaya savere savere Song from Nartaki 1939  

Song from Doctor (1941)

                      Guzar Gaya Woh Zamana (Pankaj Mullick) Song from Doctor 1941

Song from My Sister

       Tere Mandir Ka Hoon Deepak Jal Raha 

The Great Ghazals Of TALAT MAHMOOD

Talat Mahmood is known as The King Of Ghazal a title  he consolidated over the period of years to become the greatest name in ghazals He began his music career at the young age of 16 when he began singing the ghazals of Ghalib, Dagh, Mir and Jigar on All India Radio, Lucknow. His  first disc was released in 1941, "Sab din ek samaan nahin tha, ban jaoonga kya se kya main, iska to kuch dhyan nahin tha"
In 1944 came the smash hit "Tasveer teri dil mera behela na sakegi". It took the country by storm. It's popularity was so phenomenal and unrivalled that even today it remains one of the biggest non-film hits! This disc brought Talat fame throughout India and soon he was beckoned by the Calcutta Film Industry, which was then the premiere hub of film production in the 40's. 
He came to Bombay in 1949,His name and fame had already preceded him and people in the Mumbai Film Industry were already aware of this handsome and talented young singer and soon he was offered the song "Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho" composed by the then reigning music director Anil Biswas and picturised  on the great Dilip Kumar. The song was a great hit,it layed the fpoundation of a new trend of Ghazal in Bollywood.The mellowness, sweetness and pathos in his voice set him apart from all the other singers. Here was a voice that was fresh !  The style absolutely new !!  He was unanimously hailed as "The King Of Ghazals"
Towards the late 60's the filmi ghazals and good romantic songs gave way to the electronic rhythms of the disco generation. Disliking the new trend towards loud meaningless music, Talat decided to cut down his film singing assignments but continued his non-film ghazal recordings. 
 His last soundtrack recording, in 1985, is the song "Mere Shareek-e-Safar", a duet sung with Miss Hemlata, from the movie "Wali-e-Azam" composed by Chitragupt and written by Ahmed Wasi.He  influenced a whole generation of young singers who succeeded him; including legendary ghazal singers Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas (who always honors him with the title of Shahenshah-E-Ghazal), singer Sajjad Ali and playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya.
My Favourite Ghazals Of TALAT

Song from Aarzoo (1949) Aye Dil Mujhe Aisi Jaga Le Chal

Song from Baabul (1950) Milte Hi AAnkhen Dil Hua Deewana

Song from Madhosh (1951) Meri yaad me tum na

Song from Daag (1952) Aye mere dil kahin aur chal 

Song from Foothpath (1953) Sham-E-Gham ki qassam

Song from Dil-e-Nadaan (1953) Zindagi dene wale sun

Song from Taxi Driver (1954) Jayen to jayen kahan 

Song from  Mirza Ghalib (1955) Dil-E-Nadaan tujhe hua kya hai

Song from  Sujata (1959) Jalte hain jiske liye 

                                                         

The Voice Over or Dubbing Artist of Bollywood

Dubbing is a post-production process used in film making in which additional or supplementary recordings are "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.
When a film is shot, there is a recordist on the set who records all the dialogues of the characters. This is generally done either with a wire-less microphone hidden in the costume of the character, or a professional guy holds a microphone attached at the end of a boom-pole. The boom pole method is  generally accompanied with close-up shots.
After the completion of shooting Dubbing of the scenes is done.A dubbing session is actually another acting session, where the actor has to 'act-out' his voice looking at the original video footage.
There are so many actors in Bollywood who have faced a problem with language, diction or just simply their tone while doing certain films. The directors in these cases have no second option but to turn to a dubbing artist!
There are also circumstances that the original actor is not available at the time of dubbing then the Voice Over Artist is called to give their voice for the scene.Earlier Chand Usmani used to give her voice for Mina Kumari.

Meena Gokulas  she has been involved in the dubbing industry for about 28 years—she has been dubbing for foreign productions as early as 1986.

She has also given her voice for Bollywood movie ''Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon for the parrot character Raja. She quit the profession last year. The work was challenging but little recognition and remuneration came her way. 

Naaz Popularly known as Baby Naaz was the voice of Sri Devi.She was a leading Voice Over artist of India.

Chetan Shashital 

He is considered to be one of the most prominent voice artists of India,he is mostly recognized for working in the dubbing industry and considered to be one of the more well-known voice artists in India.He is an  official dubbing artist for Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan, as well as for such other Bollywood actors as Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Dharmendra.

Viraj Adhav 

he has lent his voice to John Abraham ,has dubbed for John Abraham in his first four films. and Dino Morea, among many others, Viraj has also been the Hindi voice of the Character Mickey in Mickey Mouse for the past 13 years. Viraj is also the voice of M.S.Dhoni in all of his commercials.

Malavika Shivpuri 

She has dubbed for Bipasha Basu in Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and Meera in Nazar besides many other actresses in different films. Her mother Kanika Shivpuri is a character artiste in films and television.
Javed Jaffery 

He dubbed Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Don Karnage in Hindi for Disney; screen played the Hindi description of Disney’s Jungle Book 2 and Pixar’s The Incredibles along with expression for the rival. His personality as Charlie Anna in the first full-fledged commercial dynamic film Roadside Romeo (a mutual attempt of Yash Raj Films and Disney) was tremendously cherished. His comments on the famous Japanese TV show Takeshi's Castle and Ninja Warrior on Pogo television and Hungama correspondingly has also acquired an enormous fan following with teens and grown-ups.
Rajesh Khattar 

he is the B-town veteran artist, story/playwright and accent-dubbing performer who is assured in the English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu languages. As a Hindi voice-dubbing entertainer, he has called greater than many Hollywood celebrities: Tom Hanks, Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr., Lambert Wilson, Michael Fassbender and several more.
Mona Ghosh Shetty 

She is the daughter of former voice-dubbing artist Leela Roy Ghosh, who was a veteran in the field. Just like Leela, she can also speak Hindi, Bengali, English, Marathi and Urdu. While she dubs her foreign roles in Hindi most of the time, she also performs her voice-dubbing roles in English and Bengali. For more than 15 years, she has been dubbing in Hindi for many leading female roles such Jacqueline Fernandez, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and other celebrities.She recently dubbed for Nargis Fakhri in the 2011 film "Rockstar" at Yash Raj Studios.

In Nirnayak (1997) she dubbed for Indrani Banerjee.It was her first film dubbing for a Hindi film. In the past, she used to dub for Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Amisha Patel, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, and Koena Mitra.

Sharad Kelkar A noted TV actor did the voice over for Prabhas.in hindi version of Bahubali

Rabindra Nath Tagore Remains the Most Inspiring Figure in Bollywood Songs

Noted litterateur Rabindranath Tagore’s own composed song popularly known as Rabindra Sangeet has been an inspiration for many popular Hindi film songs.Tagore’s composition was first introduced to Hindi cinema in 1941 by Pankaj Kumar Mullick for the film titled Doctor.K L Saigal was the first non-Bengali singer to sing Rabindra Sangeet. Mullick later used the tune of Kharo vayu vayu meghe in the film Zalzala popular song Pawan Chale Zor. The far reaching influences of the Rabindra Sangeet is apparent on several music directors and not all of them were Bengali.

 Song from Doctor 1941

Sachin Dev Burman, whose compositions tend to draw upon inspiration from Bengali folk traditions (e.g. bhatiaalii, saari, etc.), have composed several tunes derived from Rabindra Sangeet. Mera sundar sapna beet gaya (Do Bhai, 1947) draws a faint inspiration from O je maane na maana. In fact S D Burman gave us many hit songs from his Bengali Tunes such as Ghum bhulechhi made way for the leisurely Hum bekhdudi mein tumko; Mono dilo na bondhu was turned into Jaane kya tuney kahi(Pyaasa);  Dur Kon Parabase became Wahan kaun hai tera musafir jayega kahan (Guide) to name a few.

meraa sundar sapnaa biit gayaa (Do Bhai, 1949): From one of S.D. Burman’s first hit scores in the Bollywood industry, this song is considered to be Geeta Dutt’s breakthrough as a playback singer in Hindi films. The mukhDaa of this song is inspired by a Bilaaval-based Tagore composition called “radono bharaa e basonto.” 

Song from Do Bhai, 1947

Nain diivaane (Afsar, 1950): this is another great song based on an extremely popular Tagore composition called “sediin duujane duulechhiinuu bone.” S.D. Burman literally did a copy-paste job here, as the melody of the entire Hindi song is identical to the Bengali original. 

Song from Afsar, 1950

 Jaayen to jaaye.n kahaan (Taxi Driver, 1954): S.D. Burman modified the raga of his composition to more closely resemble Jaunpuri, the first line of the mukhDaa is instantly recognizable as the main phrase from Tagore’s Bhairavi-based classic  “ he khoniiker otiithhii.”

Song from Taxi Driver, 1954

Jalte hai.n jiske liye: (Sujata, 1959):  the mukhDaa is taken directly from a Tagore composition named “ekodaa tumii priye.”

Song from Sujata, 1959

tere mere milan kii yeh rainaa (Abhimaan, 1973): By far, this is the most famous example where  S.D. Burman has been inspired by Rabindra-sangeet. 

Song from Abhimaan, 1973

The influences of the Rabindra Sangeet too ran deep in RD Burman’s music. The proverbial Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hain jo makaam, woh phir nahin aate (Aap Ki Kasam, 1974) draws an inspiration from Tagore’s Jaagorone jai bibhaabori. The song Chhoti Si Ek Kali Khili Thi (Jurmana) is highly inspired from Tagore’s Basante Phul Ganthlo. here I’d like to draw your attention to a collection of S.D. Burman compositions that are derived from Rabindra-sangeet:

Song from Aap Ki Kasam, 1974

R D Burman also used Tagore’s Gram chara oi ranga matir path’s tune instrumentally in the cross line of the song Jab bhi koi kangana bole (Shaukeen). RD Burman’s last movie 1942 A Love Story (1994) had heavy Bengali influences in Kuch na kaho and Yeh safar bahut hai kathin magar. And the Kavita Krishnamurthy solo Pyar hua chupke se is also influenced by Rabindra Sangeet.

Song from Shaukeen 1982

Rajesh Roshan was very much influenced by Rabindra Sangeet many of his songs were inspired by Rabindra Sangeet.One of his great songs Chhokar Mere Mann Ko from Yaarana was inspired by this song Tomar holo shuru, amar holo shara.

Song from Yaarana 1981

In the present Century of Indi Pop or Bhangra Music we can sometime hear  beautiful melody from Bengal."Piyu bole" from Pareenita 2005 is one such composition from Shantanu Moitra.And thus Bengal’s music continues to leave its lyrical and melodious stamp in Hindi film music…

Song from Pareenita 2005

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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