QUOTE(simplefable @ Dec 6 2007, 05:48 PM)
QUOTE(venkat @ Dec 6 2007, 05:29 PM)
Subir Ji,
Many thanks indeed for this expose! Seriously, the great Telugu MD, S.Rajeswara Rao, stands exposed in my eyes! His Telugu song, "Manasu Na Manasai" from Dr. Chakravarty is less of a masterpiece to me now. I am a keen and avid watcher of things of this nature, but even I did not know that there is a Bengali original for that Telugu song. It appears that even the great SPB is not aware of this as he never mentioned it while commenting on this Telugu song. He usually does not mince his words and gives out details of such copyings/ imitations openly.
There is another very nice Telugu song, "Penu Cheekataaye Lokam, Chelarege Naa Lo Sokam", from Film:Mangalya Balam (ANR, Savitri, once again, but MD is Master Venu, an old assistant of Naushad!), which is copied from Bengali. I even heard that Bengali song a couple of times, but do not know its details.
Maybe, Simplefable could do the needful by uploading this Telugu song from Mangalya Balam sung by P.Suseela. I am sure I would then promptly get your upload of the Bengali original!
However, it may not be correct to say "Whenever I hear a nice Telugu song, I find a Bengali original". There are indeed innumerable, great Telugu songs, not copied from anywhere. But, I certainly appreciate this valuable truth about this 'great' Manasu Na Manasai song.
Venkat
Venkat Garu...
We will never know what conspired between those times..between Hemant kumar and S.Rajeswara Rao. I am sure they know each other. Unfortuntely we may never find any truth about this composition. But given the circumstances, i still respect the Telugu song for two reasons..
First is the use of pandit ravi shankar...It is absolutely marvelous to get him all the way from Calcutta to play for this song. and being a bengali , am convinced that Ravi shankar might have even heard this song ..in Bengali..
And come to think of it, Even Subir ji agrees that the telugu rendition is marvelous ..
Second...the sublime lyrics make this song all the more endearing. and Ghantasala ....is Ghantasala. Would any man who can understand telugu would fail to have his eyes go misty over this song? i wonder....
I once saw Salil Da on TV, in live interview saying that he took the tune of Chaaya song...Itna na mujhe se pyar badha..from Mozart's symphony.. and i heard Ravi say in another interview that he took the lok sangeet for the chorus..in Tum agar sath dene ka wada karo....They had this urge to make good music reach a common man. That is always an endearing quality. Just see around us today...do we find any original composer at all?
It is so nice to have you here..i was going to call you anyway...YOUR visit is a must for a deep analysis.
SF, I am not against great MDs taking 'inspiration' (polite expression for 'copying') from other great MDs, as long as they allow that fact to be known and do not quietly gobble up all the credits, praises, awards and rewards. Your other examples of Salil, etc. have become common knowledge fairly quickly. But, this particular case remained unknown (at least for me) till now.
One more thing. Ghantasala himself, as MD, had copied innumerable Hindi songs for his Telugu tunes. So did a few other Telugu MDs such as Master Venu, T.V.Raju, etc. But, one does not associate S.Rajeswara Rao with such things! His standing as a MD is supposed to be impeccable! That is precisely why I reacted that way. See, in this Manasu Na Manasai, the Mukhda (pallavi) is an exact replica of that of the Bengali song. NO doubt, there is some (negligible!) variation in the Antara(charanam). But, on the whole, it is clear that he very consciously copied that Hemant Kumar song.
In any case, interesting topic and discussion!
Venkat
Today I heard this on one of the FM stations..
