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A phenomenon called Lata!
Lata Mangeshkar completes 70 years today. Dr Mandar V.
Bichu describes how one beautiful song set the legendary
singer on the path to the heights of success
AN EERILY still night. A lone standing palatial
house shrouded in the dark. The slowly
rocking swing with no one around. The
magnetic, mystifying Madhubala as a lady in
white. The bewildered look on Ashok Kumar's
expressive face.
Against the backdrop of the bewitching black
and white celluloid imagery, a mesmerising
song pierced through:
Aayega, aayega, aayega
Aayega aanewala aayega
Aayega! Aayega!! Aayega!!!
The film was Mahal, the composer Khemchand Prakash and the
singer -- Lata Mangeshkar. It was an unforgettable, haunting
audiovisual odyssey. An odyssey that marked the birth of an era.
It was a crucial period in Indian history. Independence was just
round the corner. Ghulam Haider was a big name among Hindi film
music composers those days. So when he started praising a new
female singer as a potential musical genius, many an eyebrow went
up. Most of the 'knowledgeable' people just laughed at Haider's
prophecy. How could a tiny, teenaged, two-braided Maharashtrian
girl with such a thin voice survive in Hindi film music? That era
belonged to robust, rustic Punjabi voices like Shamshad Begum,
Johrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki and Noorjehan. Yet
somehow composers like Shyamsunder, Husnlal-Bhagatram, Anil
Biswas and Naushad found something different in the new voice.
Soon her songs in films like Bazaar, Badi Bahen, Anokha Pyar and
Chandni Raat were played frequently on the juke-boxes. But most
of those songs had an unmistakeable Noorjehan-tinge and failed to
establish her uniqueness. But this was to change very soon.
For that destiny had chosen Khemchand Prakash. This veteran
composer from Rajasthan had already made his musical mark in
films made by Ranjit Movietone, a famous film studio of those days.
Even bigwigs like Naushad had worked as his assistant early in
their career. When he couldn't convince Ranjit Movietone's owner
Sardar Chandulal Shah to take Lata as his singer, he just left the
job and entered the rival studio Bombay Talkies.
That was the time when Bombay Talkies were planning to make
Mahal -- a movie with a seemingly supernatural, mysterious
storyline which was to be the first-ever Hindi film of this genre.
Kamaal Amrohi was entrusted with the job of directing the film and
Khemchand Prakash fitted the bill perfectly as the composer.
'Masterji' -- as he was fondly called -- selected Lata as the singer
to sing the theme song for the movie. Nakshab Jarchavi penned
the lyrics. After numerous rehearsals the final recording session
started and to quote Usha Mangeshkar, "The final rehearsal
started at 6pm and the song was recorded at 7am the next
morning!" Aayega aanewala had arrived!
The first reaction from the Bombay Talkies' chief Shashadhar
Mukherji was depressing. "Will such a slow song run?" He let that
song remain on the soundtrack only at the insistence of
Khemchand Prakash who was supremely confident of its worth.
The composer had the last laugh when the song made history on
Radio Ceylon. According to the prevailing custom then, the
gramophone record carried the singer's name as Kamini -- the
character played by Madhubala in the film. But the radio station
director who was deluged with listeners' letters finally had to find
out the real name of the singer and then it was announced --
'Singer -- Lata Mangeshkar'! From then on, this announcement was
to become an integral part of Indian music.
What makes this song so special? It's a musical gem with fine,
intricate facets. Right from the moment it starts with the couplet
-- Khamosh hai zamana, chupchaap hain sitaare it creates a
chilling, haunting atmosphere never experienced before. The
orchestration -- so limited yet so effective -- blends beautifully
into the texture of the song without ever distracting from the
lilting melody. The most fabulous aspect is the expressiveness of
the voice -- so mysterious, so moving and so magical! No wonder
then that every composer -- be it Naushad, S.D. Burman,
Khayyam, Jaikishen or Salil Choudhury -- would later trace their
fascination with Lata's voice to this song. This was the song that
really made them aware of the tremendous range and potential of
her voice. They had found a voice for which they could conceive
any tune and be assured that Lata would do more than full justice
to that tune. So in that respect this was the song that made Lata
the musical phenomenon that she is! But strange are the ways of
destiny for the melody queen did not get due payment for the
song which opened the doors of success for her.
Aayega was also to be the forerunner of many a haunting song --
a genre in itself. Aaja re pardesi (Madhumati), Kahin deep jale,
kahin dil (Bees Saal Baad), Jhoom, jhoom dhalti raat (Kohraa),
Naina barse rimjhim, rimjhim (Woh Kaun Thi), Tujh bin jiya udaas re
(Poonam Ki Raat), Yeh raat bhi jaa rahi hai (Sau Saal Baad),
Gumnaam hai koi (Gumnaam) -- so many songs followed the
'haunted' path in its wake. Lata's ethereal voice became the
standard instrument of expression for such songs. As exceptions in
between we heard Rafi's Sau baar janam lenge, Asha's Mera man
bhatak raha deewana, Suman's Mere mehboob na ja and Kishore's
Tere ghunghroo ki aawaz.
All these haunting songs became popular in their own right but
none could really surpass what Aayega aanewala achieved in terms
of class and creativity. Why? Because an artistic marvel changing
the face of history comes into being once in a millennium -- like
Shakespeare's Hamlet, like Leonardo's Monalisa, like Lata's Aayega
aanewala.
And then all we can do is to remain mute, admiring witnesses to
the changed course of history.
Is she the greatest?
The pluses:
1. Lata was the first singer to have really
brought an aura of respectability to the
often-tainted film music medium. She was
acclaimed for her virtuosity by practically
every stalwart of Indian music from Bade
Ghulam Ali Khan to Pandit Ravishankar.
2. Her voice was the major factor in the success of almost all the
leading Hindi film music composers of the Golden Era. Her songs are
associated with practically every major cinematic milestone in Hindi
cinema.
3. Lata has always maintained a certain dignity and decorum in her
song selection. She is a shining example of class and culture
overcoming the crass crudity -- often touted as an essential
ingredient for commercial success. "She could sing all types of
songs but she defined her own limits. She was the only singer who
knew upto what point she should go and at what point she should
stop. That's why she remained the real melody queen." These are
Manna Dey's words!
4. Adapted so well to the changing tastes of audiences over five
decades without ever really sacrificing the essential Indianness of
her music.
The minuses:
1. The stranglehold exerted by her voice over the composers'
minds limited the opportunities for the rest. Be it Geeta, Asha,
Suman or Vani Jairam -- no one could really get over this
handicap.
2. Her many tiffs with co-artists like Sachin Dev Burman, C.
Ramchandra and Mohammed Rafi denied the listeners of many more
probable gems. (But it also proved to be a boon in disguise for
competitors!)
3. The progressive ageing of her vocals over the last two decades
might not have affected her phenomenal ability to deliver hits but
the ethereal, aesthetic charm which was the essence of her
singing has been a casualty in the process.
The verdict
To reach a verdict, I suggest a simple litmus test. Take almost any
major musical maestro on the Hindi film music scene and just
consider his music without Lata. See how hollow and incomplete it
sounds. She has been the lifeline of Hindi film music for over 50
years. No doubt, she is the greatest!