Musical Genius, sngeet ka safar Options

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sngeet ka safar


Musical Genius


Rajiv Vijayakar remembers legendary singer Mukesh and writes on what made him one of the most sought-after and respected singers in the Hindi film industry.



Mukesh, a name that instantly conjures up musical magic. About a thousand songs, mostly from Hindi cinema, were rendered with masterly evocativeness by Mukesh Chand Mathur for over 35 years. Contrary to popular perception, Mukesh was much more than the voice of pathos, of Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar, of simple, soulful songs about romance that needed little raag-daari and modulations, and were thus set in the two lower octaves. But paradoxically, Mukesh unsurpassed all these.

The fact that his songs were usually not high-pitched and uncomplicated made them closer to the lay listener, for a song that he can easily reproduce is closest to his heart. The simple, heartfelt melodies connected with every human being in all moods as well as stages of life, especially the pathos-laden ones, and Raj Kapoor’s and Manoj Kumar’s high bar of musical excellence as well as connect with the masses did the rest, leading to Mukesh’s success.

Master of all genres

But then, Mukesh, with his supreme skills at expression, was a master in every genre. He effortlessly entered the comic and light arenas with songs as varied as Jai bolo beimaan ki (Beimaan), Taash ke bawan patte (Tamanna), Yeh kaisa aaya zamana (with Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in Humjoli), Bol gori bol and the prelude of Sawan ka mahina (Milan).

Beyond Raj and Manoj, Mukesh gave an array of hits for Dilip Kumar, Rajendra
Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna,
Shatrughan Sinha, Feroz Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, with less frequent names like early Dev Anand, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Motilal (a distant relative who first brought him to Mumbai), Shammi Kapoor, Sanjay Khan, Biswajeet, Raaj Kumar, Joy Mukerji, Vinod Khanna, Mehmood and more including Rishi Kapoor, Navin Nischol,
Vinod Mehra and Anil Dhawan.

The legendary singer sang the ghazal (My Love), qawwali (Dil Hi To Hai, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan), devotional songs (Manchali) and patriotic numbers (Hum Hindustani) and imparted a distinct and novel feel to this genres with his individualistic style. He excelled in Western beats in Ruby O Ruby (Chahat/with Lata) and Naach hasina naach (Ek Bechara/with Ranu Mukherjee).

And if you thought that Mukesh could not navigate convoluted or higher notes, listen to Jhoomti chali hawa (Sangeet Samrat Tansen) or the complex Aaj subah nahin honewali (Hum Hindustani), Nain hamare saanjh sakaare (Annadata) and Baat hai ek boond ki (with Lata/Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli).

Mukesh straddled classical from Indian raag-daari to Western symphony in songs from Tum bin jeevan (Anita) to Taaron mein sajke (Jal Bin… again) and went from genteel lullabies (Ram kare/Milan) to rustic rousers (Bina badra ke bijuriya/Bandhan) with equal ease.

But it was not just the range that brought up at par with Mohammed Rafi
and Kishore Kumar, despite a fraction of their output. Mukesh carried scores on his shoulders (Awara, Sangam, Aashiq, Chhalia, Mera Naam Joker, Sangam, Bawre Nain, Dil Hi To Hai, Anita, Milan, Saraswatichandra, Teesri Kasam, Saathi, Andaz and many more).
He has two rare distinctions — being the only male voice in V Shantaram-Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli — the first Indian film soundtrack recorded in stereophonic sound — and has sung the first-ever Indian song to be an international cult number, Shankar-Jaikishan’s title-number from Awara, which became a rage in Russia during the pre-globalisation and Iron Curtain era.

There are also more than 30 movies that are remembered today only or primarily for songs sung by him such as Jyot se jyot (Sant Gyaneshwar), Chal akela (Sambandh) and Aa laut ke aaja (Rani Rupmati) or the scores of Saheli, Madari and Diwana.

Mukesh excelled as much with small music directors as with his three most frequent composers — Kalyanji-Anandji (his highest tally of songs), Shankar-Jaikishan and Laxmikant-Pyarelal, like Brij Bhushan (Milap/Kayi sadiyon se), Sapan-Jagmohan (Chetna/Main to har mod par), Daan Singh (My Love/Woh tere pyar ka gham and Zikra hota hai), Satish Bhatia (Yeh kaun chitrakaar hai and Haan maine pyar kiya/Boond Jo Ban Gaye Moti) and Dattaram (Parvarish/Aansoo bhari hai).

Open to challenges

Roshan, Salil Chowdhury and Usha Khanna too offered him sustained challenges, but even big-name composers who had little space for him, like Madan Mohan (Bhooli hui yaadon/Sanjog), SD Burman (Chal ri sajni/Bambai Ka Babu and O jaanewale/Bandini), OP Nayyar (Chal akela/Sambandh and the songs of Ek Baar Mooskura Do) and RD Burman (Jis gali mein/Kati Patang, Ek din bik jaayega/Dharam Karam) churned out chartbusters with him.

And the gentle(man) singer, who faced capricious blows of lows all through his career till 1967’s Milan, was ironically the lucky mascot for so many. It was he who sang the first male song of Shankar-Jaikishan, gave Kalyanji-Anandji their first two breakthroughs (Chhalia, Himalay Ki God Mein), recorded the first song of Laxmikant-Pyarelal (for a film that never took off), helped Khayyam make a breakthrough (Phir Subah Hogi) and later a comeback (Kabhi Kabhie), set Roshan’s career on track (Bawre Nain, Malhar) and sang in the debut films of Sonik-Omi (Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya) and Bappi Lahiri (Nanha Shikari).
He was also the first-ever playback voice of Raj Kapoor (Neel Kamal), Dharmendra (Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere), Manoj Kumar as a leading man (Reshmi Roomal), Shashi Kapoor (Char Diwari), Sanjeev Kumar (Nishan), Rajesh Khanna (Raaz)
and Rishi Kapoor (Mera Naam Joker, in which he sang for father Raj and son in the same film).

Mukesh as a singer, as a human being won over the industry. His songs will always resonate and be cherished be music lovers as it’s not that we are blessed with musical maestros like him everyday. Mukesh is evergreen.
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[shami469]

Most super hit song of mukesh

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thanks
dhall