Famous Songs & Their Inspiration, Original song & later better-known version Options

[abhayp]

Yet another famous thumri that produced not one but two film songs: an adaptation into a film song, and - in a later film - a much shortened version of the thumri by a classical singer.

"kaun galii gayo shyaam" is a famous and well-loved thumri in Mishra Khamaj, sung by ever so many great singers. This thumri was first adapted as a film song in the 1959 film 'Madhu', where Roshan tuned it for Lata. In 1972, Naushad incorporated a short version of the thumri itself in Parveen Sultana's voice as part of the background score for the film 'Pakeezah'. (The background songs in this film - Naushad's contribution to the Ghulam Mohammed-tuned soundtrack - merit a special thread to themselves: the Parveen Sultana thumri, Rajkumari's "najariyaa kii maarii", Shobha Gurtu's "bandhan baa.Ndho", Lata Mangeshkar's 'tarana', Vani Jairam's "moraa saajan sautan ghar jaaye", and - sadly unavailable anywhere - Naseem Bano Chopra's "dekh to dil ki jaa.N se uThataa hai". What a collection!)

To return to our theme: the thumri has been recorded many times over. Alongside the two film versions, I have chosen to upload here a small extract of a rare live recording of the great thumri singer Rasoolan Bai. Even though it is evident that this a late recording, the magic of Rasoolan Bai's rendition is still very potent. The full thumri in her voice (9:42 minutes) can be found on the Raag Rang forum at post # 4 on this link:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...id=554685&#


To start with, then, an extract from Rasoolan Bai's live recording (1:24 minutes, mp3 encoding @ 160 kbps). While this is traditionally sung as a Khamaj thumri, Rasoolan Bai's rendition - to my untutored ears - sounds closer to Jogiya. Experts may please weigh in!




Next is the Lata version from 'Madhu' (3:13 minutes, mp3 encoded @ 96 kbps). I had downloaded this song from HF itself long ago; the sound quality is not quite CDQ. If anyone has a better recording (not just a higher bit-rate), please do upload it.




And, finally, the Parveen Sultana version from 'Pakeezah' (2:41 minutes; mp3 encoded @ 128 kbps):



Warm regards,
Abhay

This post has been edited by abhayp: Dec 7 2008, 09:23 PM

[frangipani]

Thanks Abhay, this has been a great exploration.

[Faraaj73]

Really good stuff Abhayp!!!

[abhayp]

A perfect example of a classical composition being adapted for 'light' music is Sachin Dev Burman's skillful re-working of the canonical bandish in raaga Nat Bihag, "jhan jhan jhan jhan paayal [morii] baaje" - not once but twice over!

The original bandish, sung most commonly in drut laya and sometimes in madhya-laya, has been recorded by many classical singers. For the purpose of our theme, I have chosen two of my favourite renditions: a short recording by 'aaftaab-e-mausiiqii' Faiyaz Khan of the Agra gharana and a longer one by the redoubtable Mallikarjun Mansur of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. (Given that Mansur started out with the Gwalior gharana, one can say that we are seeing three gharana-s represented here!) Both renditions are being uploaded in their entirety on the Raag Rang forum (link given at the end of this post); in this post, I am uploading a short extract (1:34 minutes, mp3 encoding @ 128 kbps) from Mansur's virtuoso rendition taken from the published recording of a live concert.



The senior Burman took the same bandish and converted it into two delightful songs: one in Bengali that he sang himself (jhan jhan jhan jhan manjiraa baaje), the other (and better-known) one sung by Lata for the 1951 film 'Buzdil'. Shailendra wrote the lyrics for the Hindi version. I don't know who the wrote the Bengali adaptation; any information about this is welcome.

It is not easy to turn a classical bandish into a light song. One cannot just cut out the improvisation and keep the kernel, nor can one try to retain the classical-length improvisation. The composer has to know exactly how much of the elaboration of the original bandish to include in the song. Burman has done this brilliantly. His own rendition in Bengali closely follows the traditional interpretation. The recording is 3:08 minutes long and is encoded in mp3 @ 160 kbps.



The 'Buzdil' song follows the traditional bandish in the tuning of the mukhaDaa, but the antaraa-s are Burman's own creation: the changes in tempo and the differing patterns of percussion add to the beauty of the song, taking it beyond just a down-sized reproduction of the original bandish and making it a great song in its own right. Lata's rendition makes the song truly memorable. The duration of this song is 3:18 minutes and the version uploaded here is encoded in mp3 @ 160 kbps.



The two classical renditions referred to above can be accessed in post #7 at this link:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...&st=0&#

Warm regards,
Abhay

This post has been edited by abhayp: Dec 8 2008, 04:17 PM

[Faraaj73]

A perfect example of a classical composition being adapted for 'light' music is Sachin Dev Burman's skillful re-working of the canonical bandish in raaga Nat Bihag, "jhan jhan jhan jhan paayal [morii] baaje" - not once but twice over!

The two classical renditions referred to above can be accessed in post # at this link:

Warm regards,
Abhay

I didn't realise when starting this thread just how fascinating it would become!!!

[RajanCS]

Abhayji,

Thanks for the SDB Bangla version of Jhan Jhan Jhan. Need to increase my quota by suitable upload before I can download the classical renditions which are usually of long duration.

Regards.

Rajan

[abhayp]

I didn't realise when starting this thread just how fascinating it would become!!!

Anything that traverses two different fields of music that one likes equally well is bound to be fascinating, isn't it? I am glad you like the theme and the uploads. A few more to come yet!

I realised on reading your post that I had left the links between SKS and Raag Rang blank - have now updated the links in the respective posts.

Warm regards,
Abhay

[Yadavagiri5]

Here are two Hindi film songs inspired by non-filmi Bengali songs:





Song: Aan Milo

Movie: Devdaas

Singer: Gita,Manna

Music: S.D.Burman

Year: 1955

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 3:24

My rating of Music: 8/10



Its inspiration seems to be



Song: Rongila Rongila (Bengali)

Movie: None

Singer: S.D.Burman

Music: Jasimuddin

Year: ?

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 4:02

My rating of Music: 8/10





Song: Ham Bekhudee Mein (Raag Chhaayaanat - Kalyaan Taat)

Movie: Kaalaa Paanee

Singer: Rafi

Music: S.D.Burman

Year: 1958

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 3:26

My rating of Music: 7/10



It is inspired by this superb Bengali song:



Song: Ghum Bulechi (Bengali)

Movie: None

Singer: S.D.Burman

Music: S.D.Burman

Year: 1957

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 3:13

My rating of Music: 9/10

[Yadavagiri5]

Song: Sunio Jee (Raag Shuddh Kalyaan - Kalyaan Taat)

Movie: Lekin

Singer: Lata

Music: Hridaynath Mangeshkar

Year: 1990

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 5:05

My rating of Music: 6/10



Its inspiration seems to be



Song: Rone Se

Movie: None

Singer: Lata

Music: Hridaynath Mangeshkar

Year: 1969

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 4:04

My rating of Music: 6/10

[Faraaj73]

Yadavagiri Ji

Thanks for the original Bengali versions of these famous hindi songs....some Telugu version songs of Aah were also recorded when the film was initially released and flopped - uploaded recently on SKS.

Kind Regards
Faraaj

[Yadavagiri5]

These two songs are very similar. It is possible that There Sang Preeth was inspired by Jo Thum Thodo. I am uploading these songs even though they may not fully satisfy the theme of this subforum because the inspiration is definitely more famous.



Song: There Sang Preeth (Raag Bhairavee - Bhairavee Taat)

Movie: Raajraanee Meeraa

Singer: Lata

Music: S.N.Tripathi

Year: 1956

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 3:32

My rating of Music: 8/10







Song: Jo Thum Thodo (Raag Bhairavee - Bhairavee Taat)

Movie: Jhanak Jhanak Paayal Baaje

Singer: Lata

Music: Vasant Desai

Year: 1955

Format: mp3

Bit Rate: 128

Duration: 4:41

My rating of Music: 9/10

[vdsachin]

Yet another famous thumri that produced not one but two film songs: an adaptation into a film song, and - in a later film - a much shortened version of the thumri by a classical singer.

"kaun galii gayo shyaam" is a famous and well-loved thumri in Mishra Khamaj, sung by ever so many great singers. This thumri was first adapted as a film song in the 1959 film 'Madhu', where Roshan tuned it for Lata. In 1972, Naushad incorporated a short version of the thumri itself in Parveen Sultana's voice as part of the background score for the film 'Pakeezah'. (The background songs in this film - Naushad's contribution to the Ghulam Mohammed-tuned soundtrack - merit a special thread to themselves: the Parveen Sultana thumri, Rajkumari's "najariyaa kii maarii", Shobha Gurtu's "bandhan baa.Ndho", Lata Mangeshkar's 'tarana', Vani Jairam's "moraa saajan sautan ghar jaaye", and - sadly unavailable anywhere - Naseem Bano Chopra's "dekh to dil ki jaa.N se uThataa hai". What a collection!)

To return to our theme: the thumri has been recorded many times over. Alongside the two film versions, I have chosen to upload here a small extract of a rare live recording of the great thumri singer Rasoolan Bai. Even though it is evident that this a late recording, the magic of Rasoolan Bai's rendition is still very potent. The full thumri in her voice (9:42 minutes) can be found on the Raag Rang forum at post # 4 on this link:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...id=554685&#


To start with, then, an extract from Rasoolan Bai's live recording (1:24 minutes, mp3 encoding @ 160 kbps). While this is traditionally sung as a Khamaj thumri, Rasoolan Bai's rendition - to my untutored ears - sounds closer to Jogiya. Experts may please weigh in!




Next is the Lata version from 'Madhu' (3:13 minutes, mp3 encoded @ 96 kbps). I had downloaded this song from HF itself long ago; the sound quality is not quite CDQ. If anyone has a better recording (not just a higher bit-rate), please do upload it.



And, finally, the Parveen Sultana version from 'Pakeezah' (2:41 minutes; mp3 encoded @ 128 kbps):



Warm regards,
Abhay

Abhay - can you please upload Vani Jairam's "moraa saajan sautan ghar jaaye" from 'Pakeezah'...
I know this thread is not the proper one for this request - but just for reference.

[abhayp]

Abhay - can you please upload Vani Jairam's "moraa saajan sautan ghar jaaye" from 'Pakeezah'...
I know this thread is not the proper one for this request - but just for reference.

Sorry, Sachin - I somehow missed seeing this request earlier. In any case, the song has since been uploaded in the Rafi forum - go figure! - I hope you found it there. I downloaded it from there myself as my copy of it was from vinyl and not very clean.

Warm regards,
Abhay

This post has been edited by abhayp: Dec 29 2008, 01:58 PM

[abhayp]

Returning to this thread after a long break with another song inspired by a Hindustani classical composition. In this case, the original composition is a bandish is Raag Malkauns - "mandir dekh Dare", describing Sudama's bewilderment at returning to his humble abode to find a palace in its stead. The most famous rendition of this composition is by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (3:27 min, mp3 @ 192 kbps):



A longer rendition of this bandish was recorded by Kankana Bannerjee on a Rhythm House release sometime in the mid-1990s. That rendition has been uploaded on the Raag Rang forum and can be found in post # 11 here:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...id=560373&#

I discovered the film version of this bandish thanks to HF itself! It appears in the 1957 film "Krishna Sudama". Qamar Jalalabadi wrote lyrics based on the original bandish and Husnlal-Bhagatram did a great job of adapting the tune. It has been sung beautifully by Mohammed Rafi (2:47 min, mp3 @ 128 kbps):



Warm regards,
Abhay

[abhayp]

Continuing "inspired songs", it is now time to look at a very familiar bandish in Raag Bihag that has inspired not one but (at least) two film songs, one on each side of the Radcliffe line. The original bandish is sung both in maddhya-laya and in drut-laya. It has been recorded by many singers. My two favourite renditions are uploaded on the companion thread to this one in the Raag Rang forum, both in mp3 @ 160 kbps. For those who would like to have just an idea of how the original sounds, a short snippet (1:24 minutes, mp3 @ 128 kbps) by Kankana Bannerjee is uploaded below:



The longer version, along with another rendition by Jasraj, can be found in post # 12 at this link:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...id=560698&#

In 1966, the Pakistani musical wizard Rashid Attre adapted the bandish, to Fayyaz Hashmi's lyrics, for Noor Jehan to sing in the Pakistani film 'Sawal'. The tune and the words of the mukhaDaa are loosely based on the bandish, but Attre has created a great 'light' song out of it. The song is 5:09 minutes long and is uploaded here in mp3 encoding @ 160 kbps:



I recently discovered that the bandish has been adapted for an Indian film song, albeit in a film that was apparently not released - "Insaan Aur Insaan". The music is credited to Ratandeep-Hemraj (I assume they were a duo) and the singer was Geeta Dutt. Given that the film was made in the 1970s, that would make it among Geeta Dutt's last few recordings. I am very grateful to Parag for sending me this song. It is 3:29 minutes and is uploaded below in mp3 @ 192 kbps:



Warm regards,
Abhay