Talking about the romantic duets sung by Rafi & Lata under Pancham's
baton, here is another of their classics- one of my favorite.
Once again, a Nasir Hussain, Pancham & Majrooh combination. The
song is set amidst a valley, which gave a reason to Pancham to make one
of his first forays into using folk as the base for his composition. The
Composition has a lovely and very interesting prelude. It opens with
guitar chords followed by an echoing alaap by Rafi & Lata. This is in
turn followed by a heady mix of santoor, guitar & clicking of
fingers before Pancham's own brief "O...", somewhere in the distance,
takes the prelude into the main song.
Picturised on Shahi
Kapoor & Asha Parekh, the composition has a beautiful rhythm.
Interestingly, song also features a very young actress who later on went
on to become one of the most famous TV anchors - during Doordarshan's
Black & White era – Tabassum of Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan.
With formula driving the Hindi movies always, almost each movie has a
tailor-made situation to infuse a romantic duet. And irrespective of the
actors performing, the most popular duo to perform these duets were
Lata & Rafi. With their mellifluous & pure rendition, and their
command over ragas, together, they always managed to create that effect
of pure romance which was difficult to match for most of the other
singers.
Pancham had worked with them , as assistant to his father
in a number of movies - specially those of Navketan banners. However,
there have been very few numbers where he himself used their magical
chemistry for a romantic duet. This, despite Lata being one of his
favourite singers. Partly, this could have been due to him preferring
Kishore for most of his male songs.
Yet, when he did work with
them together, the compositions & the songs turned out to be not
only super hits, but also have been rated amongst Rafi & Lata's best
songs together.
One such song was in 1971 from the Jitendra
& Asha Parekh starrer - Caravan. Being a Nasir Hussain movie, with a
story woven around gypsies, the compositions - across the movie - were
outstanding. Pancham used the theme of road journey to bring in sounds
that were as varied as jazz, the blues as well the folk. Amongst all the
compositions, one closest to Hindustani sound was this lovely duet with
a two-paced composition. The interesting part is the way song ends with
a refrain on Harmonica as the caravan moves on. This refrain was later
used by Pancham for another of his composition - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na -
from Aa Gale Lag Ja.
Of course, with Majrooh in his prime,
Lata & Rafi lending their voices to suitably subtle & coy Asha
Parekh with dancing Jitendra - much before white shoes became his
trademark - the songs could not have been anything but sweet &
melodious - to remain a chart toppers for years to come.
Almost
forty years ago to date, Nasir Hussain released, perhaps his most
ambitious, and most successful movie – in its own right a cult movie (my
wife and her three brothers still sing the theme song with the same
fervor) – Yaadon ki Baraat.
Working on his favourite formula
of Lost & Found – this time about three brothers, the movie also had
some of RD’s most amazing compositions – which ensured a recall & a
repeat value for the movie, forever.
One of the songs was very
unlike a normal movie song for those times. A friend had remarked once:
Pancham’s music was the celebration of life itself. That being the
case, this song is a perfect example of joie-de-vivre.
The sequence had a fair share of drama to begin with. Tariq, one of the
heroes – who being a singer in the hotel, is entertaining the patrons
with some serious jamming, before in a very formulaic manner, misses out
reuniting with one of the lost brothers - Vijay Arora. The actual song
starts after this melodrama – with Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle
grooving to some excellent guitar chords.
What makes the
composition different is the whole treatment – conversational in style
as well as lyrics – with the singer also inviting patrons to join him in
chorus.
However, before showcasing this song, today being the
Dashmi – last day of Durga Pooja, sticking to my promise, let me first
give you the original Bangla composition.
Bandho Dared Andho Kare ,
from black & white movie of 1970 -Rajkumari - starring Uttam Kumar
& Tanuja, and sung by Asha & Kishore..
And now the song from Yaadon ki Baraat.
An
absolute turnaround in the treatment as the composition turns into a
full-fledged rock sound. While Kishore pitches in for both the heroes,
once the final jamming starts, RD grabs the opportunity to pitch in with
his own voice too. Since the song had Zeenat Aman as one of the
characters, Asha brings in Dum Maro Dum – thus increasing the heat &
the glam quotient of the entire composition.
Enjoy this amazing number..
Agar main kahun jo dekha, nahee tha woh koyee kwaab Pada tha table pe chasma, woh kiska janaab