Here is my promised and much-delayed tribute to Lata Mangeshkar, in the form of seven outstanding songs. These are not all necessarily songs that I prefer to all others – most of these could be interchangeable on the list with other songs that are out there, considering that it is just impossible to pick out a small number of “best” songs from someone who has contributed so many songs to Indian films – especially Hindi films – with so many of those other songs also being well-recognized greats. Some of the songs on my list (especially nos. 1 and 6) might appear on a lot of people’s best-of lists, too, but I don’t know about the rest. I just know that I really like them, myself.
I did apply some criteria while putting together this list that went beyond just (possibly) liking these particular songs the most… I wanted to include songs (even if just one song) from every decade from the ‘40s to the ‘80s, since I think that a lot of people would consider that entire stretch of time to be her heyday (if not later decades) and I felt that if I did not stick exclusively to, say, the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, it would also make the list more interesting. But I would not include the later songs in this list if I did not enjoy them a whole lot, too.
In fact all of these songs – and her performance in them – are so good, I don’t know if I have been able to do them justice. But I have tried my best, in my small descriptions, to communicate the qualities that I think make them unique.
1.“Ayega Aanewala” from Mahal (1949)
I will start with Lata’s big breakthrough song, one that probably goes on anybody’s best-of list, “Ayega Aanewala.” This is a remarkable song in a remarkable soundtrack. The ethereal quality of Lata’s voice is truly otherworldly, best befitting what I like to call the most Goth film ever made. By the way, I have shared the soundtrack for Mahal with people who have next to no knowledge of Indian films, and every one was blown away by it. Naturally, composer Kehmachand Prakash deserves a lot of credit also; he was a fantastic music director.
2. “Apni Ada Par Main Hoon Fida” from Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953)
If there is any song in which Lata’s voice ideally matches an actress’s visual presentation and vice-versa, it’s “Apni Ada Par Main Hoon Fida” from Teen Batti Char Raasta. That’s partly because the film’s director, V. Shantaram, arranged for Sandhya to mimic Lata’s visual presentation, with her distinct braid and dresses. Sandhya was also asked to wear dark makeup because lighter skin was so commonly associated with beauty and Sandhya’s character was meant to be the opposite of beautiful – at least by conventional standards of the time (though while watching this film, we can see all along that such a perception was wrong – well, I know I could see it was wrong, certainly). But when this character sings, she sounds more beautiful than anyone. And that is why, when the other people in the film hear her singing, they run to the radio, crowd around the studio, and/or close their eyes while smiling as though in the middle of a wonderful dream. Sandhya does a great job on camera, but Lata’s sweet-sounding voice is what makes those listeners’ joyous reactions in the scene totally credible.
Incidentally, I don’t think that the music director for Teen Batti Char Raasta is nearly as famous as any of the others on this list. In fact, the name Shivram Krishna just doesn’t ring any bells for me. Maybe other people know a little more about him, but if he isn’t well known, I think that he definitely should be.
[Note: It is unfortunate that I can’t embed the video into this blog, but it is the only watchable version available, and it’s well worth the extra trip to YouTube!]
3. “Hamaare Dil Se Na Jaana” from Uran Khatola (1955)
Lata’s vocals in this song mesh very nicely with the variety of styles that Naushad brought together. As often is the case with Naushad, it contains both Eastern and Western classical influences, but it is eminently danceable, too. (It’s kind of waltz-like, I think, though I don’t have the technical knowledge to determine instantly how much of a waltz this is. Does this song go by “waltz time”? Maybe someone would like to tell me – or maybe I’ll answer my own question by doing a little more research into that matter – but not right now.)
In addition to the charming and unique musical qualities, another thing that sets this song apart is the mood. The song is quite foreboding (which I could tell pretty quickly, thanks to the English subtitles), like a couple of other songs in this film, too. That’s not a very common quality among most of the songs that Lata was given (as far as I know), and it’s a unique quality in this list. And that’s a good reason to include it here – in addition to the fact that I simply love listening to it. (Not to mention that I love looking at Nimmi, who served as another excellent – and very frequent – on-screen face for Lata’s voice.)
4. “Na Dir Dim” from Pardesi/Journey Beyond Three Seas (1957)
Padmini’s dance in Pardesi/Journey Beyond Three Seas (1957) was certainly dramatic, complementing the character’s desperate pleas with this man from a strange land not to walk away from her. And, not surprisingly, Lata’s voice supplied all of the drama that was required. With Anil Biswas composing the music, the result was what I consider to be one of the most stunning classical-influenced dance numbers in Hindi cinema. Needless to say, I’ve watched this song and listened to it many times.
5. “Tumhen Yaad Karte Karte” from Amrapali (1966)
There is a different kind of dramatic quality to this slow and sophisticated song that, for me, captures a feeling specific to music of the 1960s – not only in India, but in Western films, too. It’s difficult for me to describe what that quality is, but I don’t think that this kind of film music could have been created at any other time. That’s why, if I am including only one song from the 1960s (which was not my original intention, but just how it’s turning out), “Tumhen Yaad Karte Karte” seems like the perfect choice.
Throughout the song, Lata’s voice also seems a little different from what I hear in most of the ‘50s songs – for instance, it seems to be gliding along at a slightly lower pitch – but her singing here is at least as outstanding in quality as anywhere else. I should add that this song is also quite different from a lot of Shankar-Jaikishan numbers that I can think of, but their repertoire was very diverse, and Lata could be counted on to do equally superbly with most of the wide range songs that they gave her over the years. (By the way, since I am so crazy about dance, it might be surprising that out of all the songs in Vyjayanthimala’s great dance show-off film of the ‘60s, I have picked one that doesn’t actually contain any dance. But I simply feel that “Tumhen Yaad Karte Karte” contains the best, most moving vocal performance by Lata – which is not to say that the other, dancier numbers don’t sound great, too.)
6. “Inhi Logon Ne” from Pakeezah (1972)
Any one of the songs behind the great Meena Kumari (and/or Padma Khanna) dance scenes in Pakeezah could be on this list; I consider them all about equally great (with much credit to music director Ghulam Mohammed). But for this list, I’ve decided to pick the one that is probably the biggest hit, too. The song is catchy as hell, and I love the exuberance of the music – which is fully matched by both Meena’s dance and Lata’s vocals. It’s a song that really gets stuck in my head!
7. “Jalta Hai Badan” from Razia Sultan (1983)
The song “Jalta Hai Badan” is interesting for a number of reasons. It makes sense that this is a Khayyam-composed song from the early ‘80s, because it bears some musical resemblance to the songs in Umrao Jaan. Interestingly, though, the courtesan played by Rekha in Umrao Jaan with playback by Asha Bhosle is a bit more highbrow, with a much more classical quality to her performances, than the dancer is in this scene. The dancer here is good (that’s Aarti Chopra), but – as some commenters also pointed out on YouTube – this scene is a racy kind of sequence that we would normally sooner expect to receive playback singing from Asha Bhosle. (Did the two sisters make an agreement to switch roles a little in the ‘80s? I wonder.) Of course, it’s no surprise that Lata gives it a more ethereal quality with her vocals than Asha might have, and that beautiful, ethereal voice also creates a great contrast with the ugliness of the violent slapping scene at the end. (That whole scene at the end isn’t included in all the videos of this song on YouTube, but I think it should be.)
I am sure there are numerous other songs that different people might want to put on a best-of-Lata list – hundreds, maybe even thousands! I wanted to put my own list together merely as a personal tribute, to show that I, too, have appreciated much of her singing, and I certainly realize that she made an enormous contribution to Indian film music history.
I never make a ‘Best of’ list because I think that is such a subjective choice and impossible to do justice to, unless the singer has only sung, say, 25 songs in their entire career. So your list is so satisfying – every song is a gem, and yet, like you said, it could easily be replaced by another seven that sound just as great. I really liked your descriptions of each song as well.
Richard,
That’s such a beautiful post. An excellent tribute to Lata Mangeshkar. And I’m so glad you included, Nadir Dim Tana Der Na and Inhi logon ne on your list. I really like these ones a lot.
Of course the other songs are great too.
And it’s absolutely impossible for me to select a song from a decade, that’s to choose one song from at least hundred songs. So hats off to you.
BTW, my Zohrabai Ambalewali song post would be published next week on 21st February.
Anup
:-)
Anu, I appreciate that you agree about the difficulties in trying to put together a “best of” list, and I am very happy to see that you are so fond of the ones that I picked. And thank you very much for the good words about my descriptions!
Actually, I slightly copy edited a description after you posted your comment – specifically, the one for song no. 5. I thought it would help to cut a few words out and rearrange things a little – but the content is the same. (Is it cheating in our blogging world to tweak a post after it’s gone up? I often do… I usually get most of my tweaking done before anyone sends a comment, but you sent your nice comment so soon! :) )
Anup, I also really appreciate your nice words about my list. I am glad to see that you particularly liked “Inhi Logon Ne” and “Na Dir Dim…” – yes, these are great songs and great dances, too.
And thanks, too, for the hats off about my selecting one song from a decade! Though I am not sure which task was more challenging – just picking one for each of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, or leaving it at just three from the 1950s. :)
I’m looking forward to your Zohrabai list. By the way, I just looked at your Suraiya list (a couple of weeks late) and I sent short comment. I love Suraiya! (There was such a great variety of female singers in the ’40s. Too bad Lata pushed most of them out of the scene. :) )
This was worth waiting for, Richard! Thank you – a great list of songs (and I am especially happy to see Na dir dim – that was on my shortlist) and I like what you’ve said about each of them too. I must admit the only song from Razia Sultan that came to my mind was Ae dil-e-naadaan:
… and it took me a quick listen to Jalta hai badan to recall that one. Yes, of course; also a very good song.
Thank you, Madhu. It’s good to know that this post was worth waiting for (and that it didn’t disappoint after I built up everyone’s expectations with a preview post :) ).
Thanks also for that other song from Razia Sultan. It’s a nice one too, though, curiously, I remembered “Jalta Hai Badan” much more. (I like the whole soundtrack from Razia Sultan and I liked the film too – though not as much as the director’s two better-known classics, Mahal and Pakeezah. Hmm, I guess that Kamal Amrohi ended up with a pretty big presence on this list, though I wasn’t really thinking about that.)
It is also great to see that you really like “Na Dir Dim,” too, and it was even on your short list. (I suppose I had a short list for this post, too, though I don’t refer to it that way. There were a couple of other songs that I had a tough time deciding to drop – like “Man Dole Mera Tan Dole.” :) )
This selection made for interesting viewing/listening. I think I’ve only seen three out of the seven films (although, as of last week, I have promised a friend I’ll get around to”Amrapali” in the near future!). “Na Dir Dim” was revelatory.
I can help with your question re: “Hamaare Dil Se Na Jaana.” The song can be analyzed in (Western) triple meter, the same as a waltz. With the exception of introductory/concluding passages that are not actually danced to, waltzes typically fall into even phrases of four bars each. That is, if you listen to four sets of three pulses together, they feel like a complete, cogent musical unit. The “rolling” motion (“waltzen”) for which the dance is named typically takes two bars for the dancers to complete. Therefore, it feels unnatural to dance a standard waltz to music with three- or five-bar phrases. Some of the antaras in “Hamaare Dil Se Na Jaana” have even four-bar phrases. Others have a mixture of four-bar phrases with five- and six-bar ones. As a whole, then, the song has an appropriate meter for a waltz but the phrase rhythms are only sporadically appropriate for waltzing.
I hope I’ve explained this in a sensible way! I don’t know how much Western music theory terminology you may know.
Shelomit, many thanks for your answer about whether “Hamaare Dil Se Na Jaana” is a waltz. I am peripherally kind of grasping this, although I may want to look into these terms, etc., a little further. Anyway, I am gleaning that it was not far-off for me to say that this song is like a waltz although it doesn’t fully qualify.
I admit, I don’t really have that much knowledge of the technical terms in Western music theory. I should have learned more about this kind of thing a long time ago. I did write a lot of reviews for a few moderately distributed music magazines a couple of decades ago, but I was a pop and rock music critic, and that kind of critic doesn’t have to know anything about music theory. :)
In the past year or two, I have done a lot of reading about the details of rhythms used in kathak, getting to know all of that terminology (bols, tora, taal, padhant, etc.) and have been looking at a bunch of sort-of mathematical charts of the beats and rhythms too. This has caused me to be more curious about theoretical explanations for all different kinds of music, especially when it comes to the subject of rhythm.
Meanwhile, I have always heard that there is a specific kind of time used in a waltz that is distinct from the kind used in most other music. Your explanation is a little more involved, but I am finding this very interesting. Now I am very eager to learn more about this sort of thing!
P.S. I should add that I was very pleased by your term “revelatory” to describe “Na Dir Dim.” This song is more of a hit that I realized! :) I first got drawn to this scene for the dance from being a big Padmini fan, but I’ve realized that the music is quite beautiful by itself and it’s apparent that a lot of people agree.
Dear Richard ji,
Pandit Shivram (aka Shivram Krishna) composed some memorable tunes in his early career, beginning with Teen Batti…. Later, somehow, he got typecast into Mythological and Regional (he hailed from Rajasthan) Films and went off the radar. His songs in SURANG (1953) and OONCHI HAVELI (1955) are worth a listen.
Here is one by Lata ji from “SURANG”
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
PS : And surely, you would have heard this iconic number by Rafi from “Oonchi Haveli”?
Hello, Partha ji. Thank you for the information about Shivram Krishna and those very good song clips. The Lata song is really nice and I like the picturization a lot – it makes me want to see this film. The Rafi song seems familiar, but I cannot say that I would have recognized the song – or would have known where it came from – if someone played it out of any context. So I am glad that you brought the song into comments here, with a clip that gives us yet more helpful information about Shivram Krishna at the end. (Those clips from the Mastkalndr channel can be very good in that way – please feel free to send more of them any time. :) )
Love this selection of songs and your descriptions (The only one not to my taste is Apni ada pe main hoon fida. But I haven’t heard it since seeing the film, which must have been 40 years ago).
Re “I have shared the soundtrack for Mahal with people who have next to no knowledge of Indian films, and every one was blown away by it. ”
I can well believe that! I also believe that people would be blown away by the film Mahal. Unfortunately, few people have seen it. It’s just known as the Ayega Aanewala film.
Roshini, very nice to see your comment that you love this selection and I am particularly pleased to see that you like my descriptions. :)
I must admit, though, that I am puzzled you would name “Apni Ada Par Main Hoon Fida” as the one song not to your tastes. Maybe you should give it another listen after 40 years? :)
I do agree with you that people would – or should – be blown away by the film Mahal (in addition to the music). It’s blown me away each time I’ve seen it, and I’ve seen it a few times. (And I’m not someone who usually even watches films multiple times.) I don’t understand why Mahal isn’t regarded more widely as one of the greatest classics.