Raaga Based Song of the day: Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi.
Raag Bhimpalasi, Tal Dadra.
Third day of a new series on this blog. The first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge. It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.
The second post was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #2’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi song from the 1971 Sushil Majumdar movie Laal Patthar: Unake khayal aaye to aate chale gaye. It is in Raag Gara, Tal Kaherava.
This blog has a number of posts on Raaga based songs in Hindi movies titled similarly; for example: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies – Raag Darbari Kanada – Part -I’.
Today we shall take up a song in Raag Bhimpalasi, Tal Dadra.
This means that we have third consecutive day of Mohammad Rafi songs. And why not? He was the greatest.
Raag Bhimpalasi also belongs to Kafi Thaat just like Raag Pilu (of whose song Dhadakte dil ki tamanna ho I had given earlier).
Some of the popular songs in Bhimpalasi are: Aa neele gagan tale, Ai ajnabee tu bhi kabhi, Aaj mere man mein sakhi, Dil ke tukade tukade, Eri main to prem diwani (Roshan’s and not Pt. Ravi Shankar’s), Khilate hain gul yahan, Kuchh dil ne kaha, Main garibon ka dil, Mere man ka bawra panchhi, Naghma O sher ki saugat, Nainon mein badra chhaye, O beqaraar dil, Samay O dheere chalo, Tere sadke balma, and Tum mile gul khile.
What is our learning about Raagas on this third day? I have already told you the basics of Raaga system, Thaats and Tal. Today we shall take up what makes up a Raag or the very basic elements of the Raag.
I have already told you that the word Raag literally means Colour or Tinge or Hue (Sanskrit word ‘Ranj’). Hence, a Raag does exactly what a colour does: it fills us with varied emotions.
- It is easy to make out that a Raag must have notes. These are called Swar.
- The number of notes used in a Raaga is called Jati.
- Raagas have structural modes. These are called Thaats. In Bhatkhande system that is followed for Hindustani music (North India) there are a total of ten Thaats to which almost all the Raagas belong.
- Raags have both ascending and descending structures. These are called Arohana and Avarohana respectively.
- It is easy to visualise that the Raagas won’t have notes or Swar of equal importance. The important ones are called Vadi and Samavadi.
- The characteristic movement of a Raag is caled its Pakad.
At this stage it is well to remember that Hindi films MDs were innovative and mixed and matched to get popular tunes. Hence, it is rarely that one can come across a pure Raaga based song.
Raaga mixing is not a simple and ad-hoc skill. One has to know the Raagas very well before attempting it. Raaga mixing has two elements: Teerobhav that translates into ‘conceal’ and Aavirbhav that means to ‘reveal’.
Hindi films MDs often mixed Raagas that would be looked down upon by the purists. However, such intermixing would create some very enchanting tunes. Indeed, some like SD Burman would create tunes that would appear to be Raaga based but are not; eg, Deewana mastana hua dil jaane kahan hoke bahaar aayi. As I said one has to know Raagas really well before attempting what MDs like SD Burman did.
Coming back to the Song of the Day, Bhimpalasi is a raag of the afternoon. Its mood is often an upbeat one (eg, Aaj mere man mein sakhi) before one gets into the sunset, evening and night raagas with their essential sadness.
Tal Dadra derives its name from Dadra style of singing prevalent in Dadra. It is a six or three beat Tal:
Clap, 2, 3, Wave, 2, 3; that is two vibhags of three matras each. The theka is:
Dhaa Dhin Naa Dhaa Tin Naa
I have already given you a song in this Tal and Raag Pahadi: Aaj ki raat piya dil na todo. Aaj mere man mein sakhi has similar tal or rhythm.
Today’s song is from 1956 movie Chandrakanta starring Bharat Bhushan and Bina Roy. Sahir Ludhianvi penned the song and N Dutta or Datta Naik (who did as many movies with Sahir as SD Burman did) composed it.
Please enjoy in Raag Bhimpalasi Tal Dadra: Maine chand aur sitaaron ki tamanna ki thi……
Maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
mujhko rato ki siyahi ke siva kuch na mila
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
mai vo nagma hu jise pyar ki mahafil na mili
mai vo nagma hu jise pyar ki mahafil na mili
vo musafir hu jise koi bhi manzil na mili
vo musafir hu jise koi bhi manzil na mili
zakhm paye hai baharo ki tamanna ki thi
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
kisi gesu kisi aanchal ka sahara bhi nahi
kisi gesu kisi aanchal ka sahara bhi nahi
raste me koi dhundhla sa sitara bhi nahi
raste me koi dhundhla sa sitara bhi nahi
meri nazro ne nazaro ki tamanna ki thi
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
mujhko rato ki siyahi ke siva kuch na mila
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
meri raaho se juda ho gai raahe unki
meri raaho se juda ho gai raahe unki
aaj badli nazar aati hai nigahe unki
aaj badli nazar aati hai nigahe unki
jisse is dil ne saharo ki tamanna ki thi
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamana ki thi
pyar manga to sisakte huye araman mile
pyar manga to sisakte huye araman mile
chain chaha to umadate huye tufan mile
chain chaha to umadate huye tufan mile
dubte dil ne kinaro ki tamanna ki thi
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
mujhko rato ki syahi ke siva kuch na mila
maine chand aur sitaro ki tamanna ki thi
I hope by this time you are as hooked as I am on to learning about Raagas whilst being entertained with raaga based songs. We shall collectively enjoy and learn. I can assure you that the journey would become even more interesting.
Please stay tuned!
