Ravi has always remained, to me, an enigma as a composer. Raju Bharatan, that most respected film music journalist (and one of the persons I have always wanted to meet but have never managed to) referred to him as "Ektara" Ravi, by the way his music seemed to get stuck on one string, at times. Even so, on more than one occasion, Raju Bharatan, too, has recognized that, if there was one thing Ravi's compositions specialized in, it was unalloyed sweetness ... a sweetness which we savour, even through Lata Mangeshkar alone, from "Bada bedard jahan hai" in the 1958 'Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan', to, 3 years later, "Ae mere dil-e-nadaan tu gham se na ghabraana" in the 1961 'Tower House', to, 2 years later, "Tumhi mere mandir tumhi meri pooja" in the 1963 'Khandan' to, a full 11 years later, "Hazaar baaten kahe zamana meri wafa pe yakeen rakhna", memorably penned by Ravi himself for the 1974 'Ghatna'. One finds, on a dispassionate listening, that, in the '60s, Ravi, like the best of his peers, became somehat 'stylized', as is most apparent from his three Rafi numbers in 'Do Badan', "Bhari duniya mein aakhir dil", "Raha gardishon mein hardam" and "Naseeb mein jiske jo likha tha", all of which, despite remaining classics in their own right, somewhat justify the 'ektara' appendage Raju Bharatan added to Ravi's name. In his early years, however, Ravi was just as creative as any of his fellow composers, and just as "impactive" in his own way. I have already posted, by way of example, Ravi's 'Albeli' creations, which included Hemant's incomparable "Hum to peeke chale". A year later, in the 1956 'Ayodhyapati', Ravi was just as innovative, in these numbers:

Click to view attachment (96/3.14) (Geeta)

Click to view attachment (160/3.28) (Hemant)

Click to view attachment (128/3.19) (Manna Dey)

Click to view attachment (160/3.38) (Asha)

Click to view attachment (128/3.32) (Asha)

Click to view attachment (128/3.19) (Sudha Malhotra & Manna Dey)

Any contributors for these other 'Ayodhyapati' songs?

(1) Maya mahal raajsinhasan ... Dayalu kab doge santaan - Asha
(2) Aao sajaao sakhi phoolon se palna - Asha
(3) Chhumak chhum chhum ... Ho raja teri chamke sada talwaar - Asha
(4) Chitrakoot par Ram ne ... Chale aaj Shri Ram jagat ke - Hemant
(5) Sakhi aaj magan man mera - Sudha Malhotra


Hari