Kalyanji and Mukesh Options

[Nimii]

KALYANJI & MUKESH

An inseparable bond

Rajiv Vijayakar

Remembering the evergreen songs of the Kalyanji-Mukesh team on their death anniversaries...

Kalyanji and Mukesh were two of a kind ? philosophical and helpful human beings, titans in their respective fields, supreme believers in destiny, alien to politics, with generosity being an inborn virtue in both. No wonder then that they formed a strong bond - a bond that was cemented by their joint creations that will play on as long as film music remains the staple diet of India.

Kalyanji Virji Shah and Mukeshchand Mathur even died in the same week of the same month. Composer Kalyanji, who along with his brother Anandji, composed music for over 250 Hindi and Gujarati films in a career span of over 40 years, died on August 24, three years ago. And August 27 is the 27th death anniversary of the late Mukesh. The coming together of these two music personalities resulted in Hindi cinema getting some good melodies. From ?Naina hai jadoo bhare...? (Bedard Zamana Kya Jane/ 1958) composed by Kalyanji alone as Kalyanji Virji Shah, and ?Main hoon mast madari...? (Madari/ 1959) as the first Kalyanji-Anandji-Mukesh combo, to ?Chahe aaj mujhe napasand karo...? (Darinda/ 1977) and the earlier-recorded Chor Mandali, which could only manage a limited release, it was a long-playing association indeed.


Despite a more prolific output with Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Kumar, the K-A-Mukesh team was identified as special by many a common fans, who often felt that their best was reserved for each other. And K-A did not restrict Mukesh to Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar, but even used his sonorous voice for artistes as varied as Shammi Kapoor, Raaj Kumar, Joy Mukerji, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, stunt hero Ranjan, Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Mehmood and Sunil Dutt, besides establishing him, for a while, as the choice voice of Feroz Khan. It is also significant to learn, as Anandjibhai reveals, that Mukesh sang more songs under the Kalyanji-Anandji baton than under any other composer.

The typical early Mukesh-K-A numbers tended to be ? like K-A?s music as a whole - Shanker-Jaikishan-like in tenor. Thus we had apart from Madari, the Mukesh-dominated Chhalia, with its evergreen Raj Kapoor numbers like ?Chhalia mera naam...?, ?Mere toote hue dil se...? and, of course, the raging hit ?Dum dum diga diga...? (Mukesh-Lata) which is a hip-hop favourite even today. K-A also ?launched? Dharmendra with Mukesh in Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere and the evergreen 1960 solo, ?Mujhko iss raat ki tanhai mein...? endures to this day. Close your eyes and ignore the film, and you will feel that you are listening to S-J-Mukesh-Raj Kapoor!

The S-J flavor continued in the nascent phase, but K-A?s innate mastery over melody ensured hits like ?Socha tha pyar hum na karenge...? (Bluff Master with Mukesh sitting incongruously on Shammi Kapoor), ?Thumak thumak mat chalo...? (Kahin Pyar Ho Na Jaye), ?Hum chhod chale hain mehfil ko...? (Ji Chahta Hai), ?Humne tumko pyar kiya hai jitna...? (Dulha Dulhan), ?Chal mere dil lehraake chal...? (Ishara) and ?Dheere se chalo...? (Johar Mehmood In Goa).

From 1965, however, Kalyanji-Anandji forged their own identity, and ?Tumhein zindagi ke ujaale mubarak...? (Purnima) and ?Jis dil mein basaa tha...? (Saheli) were the first of the ?crossover? melodies that signified the end of the S-J influence. Even as S-J went more Western, K-A let a more ethnic melody take centrestage with Himalay Ki God Mein. Wresting the Cine Music Directors? Association Award in the face of competition like their own Rafi-based Jab Jab Phool Khile as well as Arzoo, Guide, Mere Sanam, Shaheed and Teen Deviyan from senior composers, they forged a special K-A-Mukesh leitmotif with the classic ?Main to ek khwab hoon...? and ?Chand si mehbooba ho...? for Manoj Kumar. From then on, the Mukesh-K-A bond took on a new meaning and a loftier dimension.

The K-A-Mukesh collaboration now took on its own distinct identity as the composers? careers too zoomed into the A-grade film bracket and began enjoying commercial clout. ?Waqt kartaa jo wafaa...? (Dil Ne Pukara), ?Dil sambhaale sambhaltaa nahin aaj to...? (with Lata/ Raaz) and ?Deewanon se yeh mat poocho...? (Upkar). ?Khush raho har khushi hai...? (Suhaag Raat) and ?Humsafar ab yeh safar kat jaayega...? (with Lata/ Juari) were among the delights that came next from this team, climaxing in that decade with the Mukesh-dominated Saraswatichandra, the 1968 film for which K-A became the first Hindi film composers ever to win the National Award for Best Music Director. Saraswatichandra became the high point of the K-A-Mukesh bond. And added an immortal tale to film music lore with the anecdote of the famous classical vocalist, who entered Kalyanji?s music room just as Mukesh was leaving after a sitting. After Mukesh left, the Ustad told Kalyanji, ?There goes a man who travels by an Impala despite his limitations of sur. Whereas learned people like us travel in a bus.? The composer gently asked the Ustad to sit down. Drawing his harmonium closer, Kalyanji sang out ?Chandan sa badan...? from that film and asked the classical singer to sing the first line. When, after repeated attempts, the singer could not sing the lines straight and infuse it with Mukesh?s simplicity, he chided the Ustad, ?That?s the reason why he travels by an Impala?!?

That the film?s score even today ranks amongst K-A?s very finest and most accomplished work, is highlighted more than anything else by the Mukesh beauties that also included ?Humne apna sab kuchh khoya...? and the Lata-Mukesh lovely, ?Phool tumhein bhejaa hai khat mein...?

Besides this film, the K-A-Mukesh team was to create another of their most successful and enduring scores in the 1969-release Vishwas. Apart from ?Chandi ki deewaar...? (still a benchmark in the bewafaai genre), there were two other scintillating duets, ?Muskurake humko loota aap ne...? (with Asha), and the infectious ?Le chal le chal mere jeevan saathi...? (with Hemlata). And 1969 was also special for that atypical Mukesh solo ?Taash ke baawan patte...? (Tamanna) where the prince of plaintive paeans went completely comic.

Kalyanji-Anandji?s Mukesh numbers, like most of their other songs, were composed after the lyrics were written, which accounted for the poetic excellence of most of their songs. K-A?s pet lyricist Indeewar wrote many a masterpieces, adorned with revolutionary thoughts that were immortalised by Mukesh in the 70s, and songs like ?Koi jab tumhara hriday tod de...? (Purab Aur Paschim), ?Darpan ko dekha...? (Upaasna), ?Jo tumko ho pasand...? (Safar) and ?Mujhe nahin poochni tumse beeti baatein...? (Anjaan Raahein) set the Mukesh-K-A solo tone of excellence for the 70s.

But that was by no means all. Mukesh and Asha did the very rustic hit ?Bina badraa ke bijuriya kaise chamke...? (Bandhan), as the song that virtually brought its lyricist Anjaan into the big league. Mukesh?s duets also included ?Humsafar mere humsafar...? (Purnima/Lata), ?Kisi raah mein kisi mod par...? (Mere Humsafar/Lata), ?Tere honthon ke jo phool...? (Paras/ Lata), ?Jalti hai duniya jalti rahe...? (Johar Mehmood In Hong Kong/ Usha Khanna as co-singer) and ?Do qadam tum bhi chalo...? (Ek Hasina Do Deewane/Lata), the last with its different and very soulful solo version ?Do qadam tum na chale...?, unusually written by a different writer from that of the happy version.

The effect of the Kishore-wave did make a quantitative impact on the K-A-Mukesh bond in the 70s, though their joint oeuvre still sparkled with gems like ?Zubaan pe dard bhari dastaan...? (Maryada) and ?Tere mere pyar ki...? (Paap Ki Duniya/ Kanchan). Mukesh entered the recording rooms of K-A quite infrequently now, as the Kishore-wave also meant high-pitched sharp singing, not really a Mukesh forte. But even here the exceptions that K-A made for Mukesh were far from insignificant. ?Kya khoob lagti ho...? and ?Tumne kabhi kisise pyar kiya hai...? (both duets with Kanchan in Dharmatma), ?Behna o behna teri doli...? and ?Humka aisa waisa na samjho...? for the rustic Amitabh Bachchan of Adalat, ?Pyar ka bandhan khoon ka rishta...? (Khel Khilari Ka/ Lata) and ?Dukh aur sukh iss duniya mein...? (Naami Chor) were significant K-A throwbacks in a different age to the golden era of K-A-Mukesh melody.

Anandjibhai also talks about their unsung songs in the unreleased films Farishta Ya Qatil and Sweetheart. But one cannot ignore that wondrous K-A composition that marked Mukesh?s last excursion to their music room, in 1976, ?Chahe aaj mujhe napasand karo...? (Darinda). Says son Nitin Mukesh, ?At that time, all composers were giving my father high-pitched songs, leading to the erroneous impression that my father was past his vocal prime. It is with this beautiful song that Kalyanji-Anandji proved that till the last, Mukesh was as good as ever.?

The magic of the bond endures even today, and it is only fitting that we remember them together in the week that they went on to achieve, what most of their songs together achieved instantly, immortality.

[vivekpm]

Good Article on this legendary combo. KA has given many a gems for this great singer with sweet and mellow voice. Tough for me to pick one fav songs. Many are benchmark songs.

Lovely romantic nos like "Chandan Sa Badan" and "Chand Si Mehbooba"... and a long list of sad songs.

Hats off,
Vivek.

[iqbal]

The following two are my Fav Mukesh songs,


Ek din bik jaaeyga maati ke mor jag mein reh jaaegaa pyaare tere bol

and

Main pal do pal ka shaair hoon



Very philosophical

[Nimii]