I started this series on my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne on 23 Aug 20. Since then, many other members have put up these songs. Here, I shall be giving you one of my own, per day.
Last time, I gave you Beautiful Duet #32 – Ishaaron ishaaron mein. So here, then, is the next one:
Song #33
Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le
Sorry, Again, for the Lateness of Hour
In the Raat or Din post of today: Dil ka haal sune dilwala, I had brought out the inability of Evani Leela to put up the songs today and hence at the last minute I came in. When I finished writing the post (no it wasn’t a copy of the previous post) I glanced at my tote and found that I had already posted it earlier on 21 Sep and the word Repeat was added.
This one is not a repeat, though.
Raag and Tal
It is in Raag Pilu and Tal Kaherava.
Raag Pilu belongs to the Kafi thaat. Its Jati is Audhav – Sampoorna, which means it is pentatonic (five notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) and heptatonic (all seven notes or sawr) in Avroha (descending). The swar that are vrajay (missing) in Aaroha are Re (Rishab) and Dha (Dhaivat). The dominant note (Vadi) is Dhaivat that lends to this raaga a light and tranquil touch. The raaga is full of devotion and piety and as both Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab lip-sync it you can notice these in the eyes and mannerisms of the protagonists. The raag is well suited for the third prahar of the day; that is, early evening and that’s precisely when it is played in the movie too.
Chitchor – 1976 Movie
This song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, Chittachakor by Subodh Ghosh.
Lets understand the story-line to see where the song fits in the movie:
Geeta’s (Zarina Wahab) Mumbai based sister Meera sends a letter to Geeta’s father Pitamber (AK Hangal) that an engineer would be arriving at their village and he is a possible match for Geeta. The family dutifully receives Vinod (Amol Palekar) at the railway station. He takes an instant liking to the family, especially Geeta and even tries to teach her music and singing. The two fall in love. All seems to be going well until another letter is received from Meera informing the family that the engineer Sunil (Vijayendra) was earlier delayed and would be arriving soon. Vinod (Amol Palekar) was merely the overseer.
He was nevertheless the Heart-stealer (Chitchor) for the naive village belle Geeta. There is a happy ending for the two.
The song is lip-synced by Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab when Vijayendra arrives from Mumbai and the family is in the process of telling Zarina Wahab to switch her attention from Amol Palekar to Vijayendra.
The Lyricist and Composer
The lyricist of the song was Ravindra Jain and he composed the song too.
Ravindra Jain was born on 28 Feb 1944 in Aligarh. He was born blind to Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedacharya, Pandit Indramani Jain and mother Kiran Jain.
He started singing at a very early age singing bhajans. His parents gave him music training fairly early. Ravindra Jain received basic training under Pandit GL Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma, and Pandit Nathu Ram. His entry into the films world was at the age of 16 in Calcutta. Ten years later he moved to Bombay wherein he made his debut as a composer for Prathibhushan Bhattacharya’s movie Kranthi. In 1972 he became a full fledged Music Director when Mohammad Rafi recorded a song composed by him that was never released.
Jain progressed his career in the early 1970s, composing for films such as Saudagar (1973 film), Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976), Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977), Paheli (1977) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) and Nadiya ke paar (1982). Along with composing music, he also wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Ravindra Jain’s father died during the recording sessions of the film Saudagar. However, Jain did not leave the studio until the recordings were finalised giving utmost importance to his work.
As far as his association with Yesudas is concerned, Jain is credited for bringing this great South Indian vocalist to Hindi movies, in singing in many of his movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
It is said that Jain was so enthralled by Yesudas’s voice, if he ever received his vision, Yesudas would be the first person he would want to see. Jain has worked on songs after his liaison with Yesudas, but he has failed to attain the pinnacle of glory he achieved with the master singer during the 1970s. Jain has described Yesudas as the ‘Voice of India’.
The Singers – Yesudas and Hemlata
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas was born on 10th January 1940 in Fort Kochi (Kerala) in a Latin-rite Roman Catholic Christian family to late Augustine Joseph and late Elizabeth Joseph. His father, a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru (teacher). Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: MB Sreenivasan) on 14th November 1961. He got a break in Hindi movies with the 1971 movie Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Therefore, in 2011 Yesudas completed 50 years as a playback singer. However, it was the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie, with songs composed by Salil Chowdhury that really made him popular. The song he sang in the movie was: Jaaneman jaaneman tere do nayan. Yesudas has recorded over 70,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Vibhushan (2017) and a record seven National Awards for Best Playback Singer. On 2 Oct 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, where he stated that “Women should not wear jeans and trouble others. You should dress modestly and do not behave like men”. This resulted in a number of protests from Women’s Rights and Political organizations, who asked him to withdraw the comment, which he never did.
Some of the popular songs of Ravindra Jain that have been sung by Yesudas are: Aaj se pehle, Gori tera gaanv badha pyara and Jab deep jale aana (Chitchor, 1976); Shikari raja aaye re and Utho he laal (Safed Haathi; 1977); Khushiyan hi khushiyan ho daaman mein jiske (Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye, 1977); Laal gulabi phool se bhari (Hamra Sansaar, 1978); Sabko chhuti mili mujhako mili kyun nahin and Tere honthon ke pyaale se jo chhalke (Mera Rakshak, 1978); Sunayana aaj in nazaron ko tum dekho and Aansu bhi hain khushiyan bhi hain (Sunayana, 1979); O goriyaa re, Oonchi neechi lehron ke kandhon par and Teara kuchh khoya ho to dhoond de (Naiyya, 1979); Neer bharan ka karke bahana (Gopal Krishna, 1979); Kaun hai aisa jise phoolon se (Raadha Aur Seeta, 1979); Ai mere udaas man and Ik but se mohabbat karke (Maan Abimaan, 1980); Sun sun gaon ki gori (Sasural, 1984); and Saambh sada shiv (Abodh, 1984).
The female singer of this song is Hemlata. Whilst Yesudas won the National Award for this song, she won the Filmfare Award for it (she has won five such awards so far). Having been born on 16 Aug 1954 in Hyderabad, when she was only 12 years old her family moved to Bombay. She had early influence by Ustad Allarakha and Ustad Rais Khan; the latter taught her ghazals. But, the one person who really took her up as a singer in the movies was Naushad Ali (is there no end to how many artistes Naushad helped become good and great including the playback singer Mukesh?) Later, she worked with Roshan and Khaiyyam.
Her association with Ravindra Jain was the most lasting. He used her voice for his debut movie in 1972: Kaanch Aur Heera. She thereafter sang in many of his movies such as Raakh Aur Chingari (1974), Geeta Gaata Chal (1975), Salakhen (1975), Tapasaya (1975), and Fakira (1976). Her singing for him in Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se made her very popular.
The Beautiful Duet
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the beautiful duet: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le…
ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
हे: तू जो मेरे मन का -२
घर बना ले, मन लगा ले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में
ये: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
हे: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
दोनों: डूबे रहें एक दूसरे की, रस भरी बातों में
ये: तू जो मेरे संग में -२
मुस्कुरा ले, गुनगुना ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
हे: तू जो मेरे मन का…
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में…
हे: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
ये: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
दोनों: क्यों न मिलके हम खुद ही अपना जीवन सुधार लें
हे: तू जो मेरे पथ में -२
दीप गा ले ओ उजाले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
I hope you liked my choice of Beautiful Duet #33.
Please await Beautiful Duet #34- Usko nahin dekha hamne kabhi.
