Friday, September 26, 2008

Songs in the films of Manoj Kumar

Songs in the films of Manoj Kumar.

Manoj Kumar entered bollywood films in the early 60s when there was stiff competition with stars like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor dominating the film world and actors like Shammi Kapoor, Rajender Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Raj Kumar, Bharat Bhushan already created their recognition. Manoj Kumar initially acted in romantic films and most of them became hits for having very impressive music.

His film Hariyali Aur Raasta had melodious songs like “yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta”, “iftedah-e-ishq me hum”, etc, sung by Lata and Mukesh and composed by Shankar Jaikishan were very popular. The songs in Raj Khosla’s crime thriller Woh Kaun Thi composed by Madanmohan were excellent by every musical standard. Although most of the songs were picturised on Sadhna as Manoj Kumar was the doctor in the film who unearthedthe mystery relating to existence of Sadhna, the songs of Lata like “Lag ja gale se phir”, “naina bares”, etc., became historical hits in the long run and the film became extremely successful.

Even in Manoj Kumar’s Gumnaam, which was another crime-thriller, the songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan created a spooky atmosphere. Rafi’s song “ek ladki ne”, “o mere man”, and Lata and Asha’s songs in the film including “gumnaam hai koi”, “is duniya me jeena hai to” became super hits in the mid-60s and had not lost their popularity even today. Even Mehmood’s song by Rafi in comedy andaz titled “hum kale hai to kya hua” amused the viewers.

Even Manoj Kumar’s songs in the film Upkaar, composed by Kalyanji Anandji, impressed the crowds. From that film Manoj Kumar’s directorial talent was unearthed and his patriotic feelings made him Bharat Kumar. Songs of Manna Dey like “kasme wade”, Mahendra Kapoor like “mere desh ki dharti” stormed bollywood in 1967. Also the songs in the film Do Badan, composed by Ravi became hits, including Rafi’s song “raha gardishon me”, and Asha’s song “jab chali thandi hawa”.

LP’s composition for Manoj Kumar in the film Patthar Ke Sanam was also hit including Rafi’s song “patthar ke sanam” and Mukesh’s song “tauba yeh matwaali chaal”, to name a few. Manoj Kumar continued to make patriotic films and the songs in all these films like Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti had very meaningful music. Music created a special attraction for viewers of Manoj Kumar’s films and for those reasons both his films and the songs should be preserved.

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