Monday, September 22, 2008

Lata Mangeshkar in the 60s

Lata Mangeshkar in the 60s.

Lata Mangeshkar ruled the world of playback singing in bollywood films for over 50 years. In the 60s with advancement of recording techniques composers did innovative experiments with Lata and Rafi and the songs had created history over the period of time. Shankar Jaikishan composed songs for Lata ranging from “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” in Junglee, to “sayonara, sayonara” with Japanese andaz in Love in Tokyo, “aa ab laut chale” with chorus effect in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai to “aji ruth kar ab” in Aarzoo having classical touch. Even the song “aa aa bhi ja” in Teesri Kasam had folk effect embedded in them. The list can go on.

Salil Choudhury composed songs for Lata like “o sajna”, “tasvir tere dil me”, etc., having blend of western and eastern music. Naushad composed many classical tunes for Lata in that era ranging from “sawan aye yah na aye” with Rafi in Dil Diya Dard Liya, “phir teri kahani yaad ayi”, “teri husn ki kya tareef karun” with Rafi in Leader, “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhobbat ki kasam” in Mere Mehboob, etc.

Madanmohan composed very melodious tunes in the 60s for Lata including “naina barse”, “lagja gale”, in the film Woh Kaun Thi, “tu jahan jahan chalega” in Mera Saya, to name a few. Roshan had given evergreen tunes for Lata in that era including “dil jo na keh saka” in Bheegi Raat which was also sung by Rafi, “jo wada kiya woh, nibhana parega” in Taj Mahal, “duniya kare sawal to hum kya jawab de” in Bahu Begum, “rahe na rahe hum” in Mamta, “baharon ki manzil rahi” in Aarti, to name a few.

Jaidev’s composition for Lata titled “allah tero naam” in Hum Dono, had become national bhajan over the years, similarly SD Burman’s composition for Lata including “rulake gaya sapna mera”, “piya tose naina lage re” had combined effect of folk and romantic song.

Lata herself agreed that the standard of lyrics and compositions in the 60s were probably the greatest in all the decades and the compositions had become rich musical assets for the country.

The films and the songs should be preserved and restored.

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