Live Concerts

I have been to a few- Shankar Mahadevan, Sudesh Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar-RD Burman-Asha Bhosle, Pandit Ravishankar, Pankaj Udhas (aka Punk Rock of India- just a joke), Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ghulam Ali+Mehdi Hasan, and a couple of them dedicated to people no more- SD Burman, and Mohammed Rafi, for instance.

I enjoyed all of them, because hearing music live, specially from the artist himself, is a different feeling, and he/she brings some story about the music or songs to the event.

Nonsensical Words in Song Lyrics

Yahoo, chahe koi mujhe Junglee kahe.. has one.

Aiyyayya karoon main kya, suku suku..seems like another one. Both Shammi Kpoor/Rafi songs.

Edlari odlari ohoo, in Zindagi ek safar hai suhana (the yodeling part) is a third. Kishore Kumar song.

Biri biri biri..meri jaan maine kaha, meri jaan tune suna, dil ne dil se kya kaha? Good question.

Oooooh, Mehbooba, mehbooba..an RD Burman song again.

Ek chatur naar has a couple in the middle of the duet/fight. om bram, aa ee oo a ai...etc.. adding to the fun quotient in a fun movie.

Eena meena deeka is full of them.

Farewell, Manna Dey

It sounds incredible, but he sang the classical songs and the comic ones with equal gusto. When growing up, I saw Padosan for the first time. The verbal duel between Kishore and Manna Dey has since become memorable and remembered often for its fun lyrics (ek pe rehna, chatur bolo ya goda), and acting by Mehmood and Kishore Kumar, Sunil Dutt etc.

Among his classical songs, one that I liked a lot was Tere naina talash kare jise woh hai tujhime kahin deewane, which sounds philosophical. His qawwali filmed on Balraj Sahni Aie meri zohra jabeen is of course immortal in time (Waqt, I mean).

He also sang a few good romantic ones like Yeh raat bheegi bheegi, yeh mast hawaayein, ...with feeling. The Anand song, Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haye, was also one of my early favourites which I used to attempt singing. So was Mera Naam Joker's Manna Dey number, Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo.

Poocho na kaise maine rain bitayee picturised on Ashok Kumar in Meri Surat Teri Aankhen and Laga chunri mein daag chupaoon kaise are among his classical songs. But he also sang rumbunctious ones like Yeh Dosti hum nahi chhodenge in Sholay with elan.

Saw him in Bangalore's Chowdiah Memorial Hall a few years before he died-he was superb at 90!!

Farewell to a wonderful artist.

Classical Music in Movies

I don't understand classical music too much, but sometimes, it is moving when you listen to it. I do listen to it occasionally. Of late, I have heard two great exponents- Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar Gandharva. But this is about its use in Hindi film music.

Many songs sung by Manna Dey fall into the 'classical category', or the semi-classical. But Mohammad Rafi sang a few too, and Lata Mangeshkar must have sung many.

Laga chunri mein daag chhupaoon kaise, is one of my favourites. Saw it on a TV show recently. Tere naina talaash kare jise woh hai tujhi mein kahin deewane from the old Talaash was also good.

Rasik Balma, I am guessing, is based on some raga-very melodious. Mere naina saawan bhadon, phir bhi mera man pyaasa also sounds like one.

Madhuban mein radhika naache re, was a very good song in this genre. So was Kahin deep jale kahin dil from Bees Saal Baad. And Nigaahen milane ko jee chahta hai..., Jab deep jale aana (Chitchor), and many other songs from it- Tu jo mere sur mein, for instance.

Ka karoon sajni, aaye na baalam from Swami has a haunting quality to it. Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Charasia in their brief film career also composed a few good ones, in Silsila for example.