Lockdown Legends ( Day 13): The Creative Combination

Bollywood has had a great tradition of pairs of composers giving music in films ( starting from Husnlal-Bhagatram) , each one being a giant in his own right. A team of music directors brings a lot of experience and a combination of their individual skills , making the scores more melodious and successful. Today we examine the works of a less successful but very creative duo: Sapan Jagmohan !


Sapan Sengupta and Jagmohan Bakshi were two singers in Salil Chaudhary's choir and also were backup singers in Hindi films.Theirs was an interesting mix - the lilting rhythms of Punjab (Jagmohan Bakshi) with soft melodies of Bengal (Sapan Sengupta). Their overall style evolved, occasionally imbibing from various sources, but inherently built around their individual music backgrounds and inherent abilities.

Sapan Sengupta spent his childhood as a neighbour of renowned composer and singer Pankaj Mullick, whose son was his best friend. The influence was evident:  Sapan regarded him his guru, getting to learn and draw inspiration from the man’s work and prevailing musical atmosphere
On the other hand, the love of singing and music brought Jagmohan Bakshi   to Bombay. Graduating from Lucknow University, Jagmohan was known to be fond of dancing and singing as a child.
With love for music and partition memories being common, they soon became good friends. While Sapan also composed for All-India Radio when in Bombay, Jagmohan Bakshi’s individual singing attempts in a few films did not give him the fame he was looking for.

In 1961,  they decided to team up and form a composer duo. Their first film was released in 1963 ( in the same year that  Laxmikant Pyarelal, another aspiring duo got their Parasmani released, having  chartbusters songs) as their film Begana was released.Though the film did not do well, one song was very popular and played frequently on Vividh  Bharti



                                     

They had to wait till 1966 for their next project. The music scene in early 60s was extremely competitive . While all the stalwarts of previous years ( Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, S.D.Burman, ravi , O.P.Nayyar, Madan Mohan and Kalyanji Anandji) were still active, new composers such as Laxmikant Pyarelala, R.D.Burman and Usha Khanna had started to make an impact. The duo needed all their skills to survive in the rat-race !

Apart from an occasional hit ( like the beautiful title song in Teri Talash Mein -- a great haunting melody and another title song in Gustaakhi Maaf) , the 60s were , in general, a barren phase for the second SJ team !

The 1970 film Chetna changed all that and its music was a big hit, bringing limelight to the Sapan Jagmohan team. Mukesh's beautiful rendition of Naqsh Lyallpuri's amazing words (  “Pyar ki raah mein, phool bhi they magar, maine kaante chune”) made the song 'Main to har mod par tujhko doonga sadaa' a big hit. The song was played at No.23 in the 1971 Binaca Geetmala, as the film was released in late 1970.

                                          


Sapan Jagmohan started to get films and in each film they were able to give one or two  good songs.Songs which were mildly popular were  from films such as Doraha ( tumhi rehnuma ho),Nayi duniya naye log ( do honth hile , ek geet suna) and Alingan ( Pyaas thi, phir bhi taqaza na kiya and Maat ang chola saaje re) before they hit the bulls eye with Call Girl(1974). The tandem song Ulfat Mein zamaane ki was a big hit and the  refreshing duet Hum hain jahan wo pyar ki, alongwith the title song, I am a call girl made the album a good one to listen to.


The success of Sholay and Deewar meant that the era of romantic musicals was fading away and action films were the films of future. With compositions suiting soft romantic situations, Sapan Jagmohan  were handicapped and had infrequent work and that, too in B-grade films. They had a few successes like Kagaz ki Naav  har janam mein hamara milan ) , Sajjo rani ( Nathaniya ne haaye raam) Mera Jeevan ( mera jeevan kuchh kaam na aaya) and Abhi to jee lein ( tu laali hai savere wali) were undoubtedly some of their compositions at par with the best of songs, though  none of them made it to Hit Parades.

The Eighties were worse than the Seventies and SJ found themselves literally out of work and whatever they had was inconsequential. The fact that they were mostly relegated to B-grade movies and that seldom affected their enthusiasm proves what they were made of. As a result, their music, at least until the late 70s, rarely sounded indifferent. One wonders where they constantly drew their energies and motivation from. They made a great team with lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri ( the association was involved in 70% of the songs) and Asha Bhonsle who sang many of their songs.
When one looks at Sapan Jagmohan’s career as a whole, they emerge as strong and well-rounded composers. The time of their period in the industry was not conducive : in their earlier years they had a stiff competition and later, the era of musicals was over, leaving them high and dry. 

Leaving you with a breezy Kishore Kumar songs, recorded a couple of years before he died. The voice sounds young and the composition is an absolute pleasure to listen to.

Lockdown Legends ( Day 12): The Forsaken Performer

The story of this artiste is another testimony to the fact that success is such a volatile thing. Blink and its vanishes. Armed with a diploma in acting,  a talented actress makes her place in the film world and when it appears that she is here for the log haul, things don't go her way and the loss is for her as well as the film industry.

I am referring to Rehana Sultan, one of the finest actresses to have come out of FTII Pune. She was the first actress from FTII to have got a leading lady role just after passing out. In fact, she had two roles in her bag. Two roles, which were to take her to dizzying heights and change her life completely, though in a manner of a left-handed compliment !

The first film to hit the screens was :  Chetna !
Chetna was  based on the daring topic of a man trying to reform a prostitute by marrying her. The bold scenes and sensuous portrayal of Rehana was touted as the major attractions, as the poster of her naked legs dominated every wall and hoarding. The interactions between the prostitute and her customers was explicitly shown, bordering on soft porn.

                                             

The film was produced and directed by B.R. Ishara, who had directed three films earlier, but with little success. The film had newcomers Anil Dhawan and Shatrughan Sinha. The music was composed by Sapan Jagmohan ( Sapan Sengupta and Jagmohan Bakshi coming together) which was popular. This song on Rehana was relatively  less heard, though.

Close of the heels of Chetna, another film Dastak was released. Dastak was produced and directed by noted poet and writer Rajinder Singh Bedi. A writer of immense talent, Bedi was considered one of the most gifted of the Progressive writers who changed the course of Hindi cinema.

 The film was about the travails of a struggling newly-wed couple who unwittingly rented an apartment, previously occupied by a dancing girl, in a red light district in Mumbai.Sultan played a lonely and tormented woman, trapped in her apartment, while her husband, played by the versatile star Sanjeev Kumar is away at work. They both suffer knocks on their door from unruly clients of the previous tenant.
Rehana Sultan was just out of the film institute when Rajinder Singh Bedi offered her the film. Her delicate features and sense of vulnerability add to her appeal. She was sensual without trying to be. Sensitive handling of a delicate topic by Bedi , assisted by his cameraman Kamal Bose and editor Hrishikesh Mukherjee , made this one of the early signatures of art films in India.

 Rehana won the National Award for this film, as did  her onscreen husband, Sanjeev Kumar. The music of the film was composed by Madan Mohan and the songs were simply out of the world. 'Mai ri main kaase kahoon', 'baiyaan na dharo' and 'tumse kahoon ek baat paron se halki' were exquisite compositions. But the piece de reistance was the ghazal Hum hain mataa-e-koocha-o-bazaar ki tarah.

 Madan Mohan the  National Award for Best Music Direction and  Hrishikesh Mukherji earned a rare Filmfare Award  for his work as Editor.


                                   

Both the films were successful and Rehana found herself as the most talked about newcomer. In addition, she won the National Award for her acting in Dastak. The films were, however, soon forgotten under the deluge of Rajesh Khanna superhits that would follow.  

Though Rehana, in views of critics , " shattered every canon of the industry by accepting the role of a call-girl and mouthing bold dialogue", this became her undoing too. Despite some critics calling  her the "original superstar of new wave cinema for her two unconventional films" and work being appreciated by the iconic Indian director Satyajit Ray, she found herself inundated with what Bollywood loved to call "daring and bold roles".

Producers offered her scripts full of "rain and bathing scenes", a ruse to show skin. She literally ran away from a film because the producer gave her a "shocking" script. She rejected most such offers and waited for substantial roles. The wait, however, was long.

 Her two-film curse is the stuff of an actor's worst fear: typecasting. The brilliant actress was typecast into roles that required her to doll up and be glamorous. Films like 'Haar Jeet', 'Tanhai', 'Dil ki raahein' and 'Savera' had competent performances, but didn't manage to make a dent in her image.Her films were projected in advertisements as having "bold" scene, even when there were none.

 One of her films Prem Parbat ( whose prints are not available anymore), however, had a beautiful song picturised on her, which we shall never be able to watch. 

                                                

Another Rehana film Kissa Kursi Ka produced by Amritlal Nahata was banned during Emergency and its reels were destroyed. By the late 70s, she was reduced to taking up films like 'Agent Vinod' and 'Agent 009'. These were  regrettable choices for an actress who delivered such a memorable performance against one of the most talented actors of that generation, Sanjeev Kumar. 

Rehana married producer director B.R Ishara, who had directed her in Chetna and then she faded out of films. Her last few inconsequential films released in 80s and early 90s.The film  industry lost a great actress and it again outlines the curious ways it runs.

This song from Sajjo Rani turns out prophetic for Rehana , as her dream remained unfulfilled.

 

Lockdown Legends ( Day 11): The Wannabe Superstar

The star we are focussing today could have been a superstar, the manner in which he had started. However, life is all about the 'law of averages' and this was true for him too. From a perfect take-off , he settled for side roles and then character roles within a few years of his debut.....and he is --- Navin Nishchol !


The year was 1970 and Rajesh Khanna had taken over the crown of reigning superstas and his fan following was increasing by the day. Safar, The Train, Aan Milo Sajna, Kati Patang and Sachcha Jhootha , all Kaka films left options for other films only if you didn't get tickets to these films.

Dev Anand with Johny Mera Naam and Manoj Kumar with Purab aur pashchim were drawing big crowds.Dharmendra had his loyal following on display with Jeevan Mrityu, Sharafat, Tum Haseen main Jawan and Kab kyn aur kahan....

In the midst of all this, no one gave a chance to a small budget film Sawan Bhadon with two newcomers Navin Nishchol and Rekha. The music was composed by Sonik Omi, an uncle-nephew team who had debuted 4 years back and were already doing B-grade films.

Sawan Bhadon became a surprise hit and the hero of the film Navin Nishchol ( the first Gold Medallist from FTII, Pune to have made it big)  gained maximum out of the success. The songs were also played frequently on radio and a star was born !


                                      

Nishchol followed Sawan Bhadon with another film with a superhit musical score: Buddha Mil Gaya! The film had one of the most enduring songs by Kishore Kumar (Raat kali ek khwab mein aayi  ) and from then on, Navin started to get great songs in films such as  Nadaan ( jeevan bhar dhoondha jisko), Sansar( ki bas tasana chhodo) , Paise ki gudiya ( Meri baat ke maane do)   and Ganga Tera paani Amrit ( title song).

Around hat time another newcomer was finding his niche in the film industry. When the two newcomers were cast in a film , Navin had the hero's role and the newcomer called Amitabh Bachchan had the anti-hero role, having negative shades. The song picturised on both of them showed clearly who the had the higher billing: the one who got the heroine !
Simple!!



                                      



Navin Nishchol's luck ran out in a matter of 4 years , during which he had a couple of hits like Dharma and Dhundh and an acclaimed film Hanste Zakhm. A few good songs and then he found himself struggling for roles as the action roller-coaster started to dominate the proceedings.Rakesh Roshan and Rishi Kapoor were vying for the romantic leads and on the top of it, with Zanjeer, the " Angry Young Man" had arrived !

When Nischol had made his debut as a hero, he was labelled the poor man's Rajesh Khanna, who was at the peak of his career and had given the superhit Kati Patang.
And Rajesh Khanna himself was struggling in the post Sholay and Deewar period.

By the time 80s arrived, due to stiff competition and limited USP ( can't visualise him as a daku, kisan or  mazdoor ) Nishchol got two-bit roles as one of the many less important characters in multistarrer. Take the case of Desh Premi 1982, where he was playing a police officer and Amitabh was in a author-backed double role.

The tables had turned and though he got a song with Amitabh, it was clear who was the hero: the one who got more footage...and claps !
                              



Navin Nishchol was out of his breath , but the 90s saw him in a new role, as the Idiot Box became an inseparable part of Indian homes. In the sitcom Dekh Bhai Dekh , produced by Jaya Bachchan , he was cast as the elder brother and with a talented line-up of Farida Jalal, Sushma Seth, Shekhar Suman, Bhavna Balsavar, Deven Bhojwani and Lilliput and  the serial was a laugh-riot.

Save for a sombre role in Ek Baar Kaho, a semi-autobiographical role in Bollywood Calling and a measured performance in Khosla Ka Ghosla , not much is left to remember in his later years. What we remember him mostly for are the melodies which were picturised on him.


Leaving you with the title song of Dekh Bhai Dekh, which is now on air on DD, during the Lockdown.

Lockdown Legends ( Day 10) : Struggling Singer

The singer featured today was destined to achieve great heights and he did succeed to an extent.However, his foray into Non-film songs brought him better dividends and it kept him away from Hindi film music. The period of his active career was during the 70s and 80s, which also were not the best years for new singers , since the old guard ( Mohd. Rafi, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor) was still in control.

This is  about  Manhar Udhas , the first male singer of the new generation( having been born in the 40s) who persevered in a highly competitive atmosphere and was able to make a name for himself. . Manhar belongs to a musical family ( his brothers are Pankaj and Nirmal, both singers in their own right) and is the owner of a mellifluous voice.

An interesting thing happened in the early years of Manhar. He had already sung for two films ( Fareb 1968 and Nanha Farishta 1969) and was hunting for more work. His brother-in-law, who was making Gujarati films in Mumbai, introduced him to music directorsKalyanji Anandji.  Manhar  used to hang around the recording studios of Kalyanji Anandji to help them in song recording. Once singer Mukesh was not immediately available. So it was decided to dub a song of the film Vishwas ( 1969) in the voice of Manhar and later on Mukesh would sing over it.  When Mukesh heard the song he said that Manhar  has sung the song perfectly and there was no need to record the song in his voice!
 The song became a hit. It proved to be turning point in his career.
That song " Aapse humko bichhade huye, ek zamana beet gaya" was played very frequently on Vividh Bharti and Manhar's voice though resembling Mukesh, got noticed.  

 
While Manhar kept on getting a few songs here and there, his big opportunity came when he sang for Amitabh Bachchan in the film Abhimaan ( 1973). When S.D.Burman chose Manhar for this song, everyone was surprised. Mohd. Rafi ( Teri bindiya re ) and Kishore Kumar (tere mere milan ki ye raina) were the two other voices of Amitabh in this film.

Sachin da was fond of  breaking the  trend of one playback singer for a particular hero/heroine. For one hero/heroine in the same film, he often chose up to three singers, and did it successfully many times ( examples: Shabnam, Manzil, Jewel Thief ) very successfully.

However, the song could not help Manhar much as it was shadowed by other songs of the film, which became more popular and this jinx continued with him in many films. 

Though his duet with Asha Bhonsle in Kagaz ki naav ( har janam mein hamara milan) was praised, work was infrequent. his songs in Des Pardes ( nazar lage na saathiyon) and Aap to aise na the ( tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein shaamil hai) brought fleeting success.

Then he got a good song in Feroz Khan's Qurbani ( Ham tumhe chahte hain aise), pleasant romantic song.  However, again this beautiful song trailed behind 4 other Qurbani songs ( all of which got into annuals of Binaca Geet Mala) and Manhar could not capitalise on his effort.

It was in  the mid 80s and Subhash Ghai's film Hero which catapulted Manhar to super-success as the voice of new hero Jackie Shroff. His duet with Anuradha Paudwal topped the Hit parade in 1983 edition of the popular radio programme.
Manhar had finally arrived, as a couple of other songs of the same film were also popular.

                                            


Feroz Khan reposed his faith in Manhar ( Jaanbaaz- 1986) and Subhash Ghai also repeated him in Ram Lakhan 1989 ( tera naam liya) and Saudagar -1991( ilu ilu) , making the decade of 80s and 90s bring fruits of labours of 25 years, for Manhar Udhas.

Manhar , during this period, diverted to Gujrati ghazals and Sai bhajans and this became his main focus, as the film offers dwindled. He has managed to entrall the audiences in one way or the other, even though he was  not able to reach the top bracket.

Leaving  with a Sai bahajan by Manhar , in these grave times to give us strength.

Lockdown Legends (Day 9) : Deserted Diva

 

Hindi film industry is an amazing place. True to the plots of many of its films, there are as many rags- to- riches stories as those of the reverse kind. Today's story is about a singing sensation who created history and was , in times to come, relegated to history ! 

Rajkumari joined hindi films at the tender age of 8, as a child actor in Radhe Shyam aur Zulmi Hans (1932), thus becoming one of the pioneering figures in the Indian talkies. She worked in theatre for few years, before returning to films, joining Prakash Pictures as actor and singer. In the meantime, she had recorded her first song for HMV, at the age of 10 !

She had much softer and sweeter voice with a narrow range than the leading singers of the time. In the next two decades she sang for 100 films, till the early 1950s.

In the 30s, she acted and sang  ( as was the norm at that point of time) and had many films to her credit which kept the box office busy. She began getting fed up with having to watch on her figure and decided to stick to just singing as a career. By the time she quit Prakash Pictures, playback singing was introduced with and she began playback singing for leading actresses , becoming the first female playback singer of Indian cinema.

The 40s was a busy time for the singer. She was competing with Zohrabhai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum, Uma Devi ( aka Tuntun)  and Suraiyya and giving them a tough time. She was working with the leading composers and was a respected name in filmdom.
                                      



From late 40s and upto mid-50s, changes took place in the hindi film music world. New singers such as Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Roy and  Asha Bhonsle had their own distinct vocal qualities and were racing ahead at a fast pace. Rajkumari had her hits too such as Sun bairi balam sach bol re..ib kya hoga, kajrari matwari madbhari do ankhiyan, tumhe apna banaya tha and a couple of songs from Mahal (1949).

Incidentally, this was the beginning of the end of road for Rajkumari because it was from  this film that Lata Mangeshkar had arrived with Aaayega aanewala. The Rajkumari songs were equally fascinating and hence,  it was a big loss for the Hindi film music that she lost out to new singers.



                                       


Rajkumari all but ended her career in 1955 and in the whole of 60s she was practically out of the hindi film music scene. While composing the background score for the film Pakeezah 
(Work on this film started in 1956 but it was released only in 1971), music director Naushad spotted her singing in the chorus.
 The original music director Ghulam Mohammad passed away during this period and Naushad was brought in to complete the remaining songs. He was taken aback by this, having greatly respected her in her heydays, and heartbroken to hear that she was reduced to singing in the chorus to make ends meet. As a result, he helped to give her an entire song to herself, Though the song was recorded, it could not find a place in the released version of the film and remained in the LPs. This was the song composed by Naushad for Rajkumari after 30 years

•  
•                         .

However, Pakeezah was not the last film of Rajkumari. In the 70s, R.D.Burman was composing for a Gulzar film, Kitaab ( 1977) and he recalled Rajkumari to sing a bhajan in the film. The song has been picturised on Dina Pathak . Based on the Bengali kirtan "Hari Din Toh Gelo Sandhya Holo" written by Kangal Harinath in the 1800s, the song is known for Chunibala Devi's rendition in Satyajit Ray's classic "Pather Panchali" (1955).

The bhajan brought down the curtains of a fantastic career of 45 years, punctuated with successes, failures and a third element......... isloation !

PS: While on Rajkumari, it is not out of the way to state that there were 4 artistes named Rajkumari !
This article was about Rajkumari Dubey ( she had married one V.K.Dubey who was also from Benares, her birthplace).

 There was one Rajkumari from Calcutta and was thus called Kalkattewali. She acted with Saigal in Devdas and also sang songs in the film and was active till 1938 only.
The third Rajkumari was known as Rajkumari Shukla. Basically she was an actress. Making matters complicated, she sang a song in  a movie Panghat ( 1943)  dominated by Rajkumari Dubey !). Both of them acted together in a few films.

The fourth Rajkumari, was T R Rajkumari (her actual name being Thanjavur Ranganayaki Rajayee). She was a famous Tamil film actress who had acted in the Hindi as well as Tamil version of Chandralekha(1948), essaying the title role of Chandralekha, a village belle and a circus artiste (Uma Devi had sung most of the songs of that movie). This was her only Hindi movie.
 

 

Lockdown Legends ( Day 8) : Castaway Composer

This is the story of a maestro who saw good and bad times, despite being one of the celebrated musicians in the 60s. I am referring to Ramlal and if the name still did not strike a chord, it will...in a few moments.

Ramlal Chaudhary, skilled in playing flute and shehnai,   came to Mumbai in 1944 and got a job in Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithivi Theatre Group as an assistant to music director Ram Ganguly. With Ganguly, he played the flute in popular songs such as 'Dekh Chaand Ki Oar' Sung by Shamshaad Begam and Shailesh ,  'Zindaa Hoon is Tarah Ki Ghame Zindagi Nahin ' sung by Mukesh and 'Kaahe Koyaliyaa Shor Machaae Re', sung by Shamshaad Begum.

As a full-fledged music director, he first landed a film  with producer P L Santoshi's  Raj Kapoor-Vaijayantimala starrer 'Tangaawalla' in 1950. He recorded six songs for this film. Unfortunately, the movie was never released. In between, he played continued to play the flute and shehani in various films.He got a few films, beginning with Husn Banoo( 1956) in which he used  the Tangawala compositions. In 1960, he gave a  score in  Maya Machhindra , which had melodious, if not popular songs. This song was completed in just 15 minutes as Lata Mangeshkar had to go for another recording and Ramlal promised her to record the song in that period only !

Ramlal was destined for fame , which was came to him after 3 more years of struggle,  with the release of his film Sehra ( 1963). Produced and directed by V.Shantaram , who had an  ear for music, had confidence in the ability of Ramlala. He was right because Sehra is one of the iconic scores in the annals of Hindi film music with the songs Taqdeer ka fasana jaa kar kise sunaayein , Tum to pyar ho sajna and Ja ja re tujhe hum jaan gaye. But the piece de resistance was this Lata solo, which will certainly go down as one of the 10 most melodious songs in Hindi film music, ever ! 

Close on the heels of Sehra, Ramlal got repeated in V.Shantaram's Geet Gaya Pattharon ne ( 1964) , which again had path-breaking melodies. Kishori Amonkar the vocal exponent in classical music performed the title song of the film , which had  other popular ( and equally melodious ) songs. This was the first Hindi film song sung by Kishori Amonkar. She would work in only one other Hindi film after this, when she composed the music and sang songs for "Drishti" (1991).The title song sung by her was one of the top ten hit songs ( and easily  the most melodious out of them )  in the Annual Hit Parade Binaca Geetmala, the only such programme in those times.

It is indeed, surprising that this was the last film of Ramlal. Whether he was under a contract with V.Shantaram which prevented him from composing films for other producers or he just didn't get any offers , the moot point is that this was his swansong, as far as composing music is concerned.

Some say, he found himself out of the industry due to the machinations of some powerful music directors and renowned producers. 

He decided to produce his own film. With a partner, Charles, he started the film, 'Tyagi' under the banner, 'Panna pictures.' but after some time, the partner left him stranded. Ramlal lost about Rs 60,000 in the project and a whisper campaign started in the industry that as producer, he could not do justice to his films.

He got no more films.

In 2007, he died at the age of 85, a broken and penniless virtuoso.

Leaving you with his song which became prophetic, as far as he was concerned.

PS: You can listen to his interview at the following link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lltKRbUp9-c

Then came producer-director V Shantaram's 'Sehara'.It was a superhit film. 'Pankh Hoti to Udd Jaati Re O Rasiya Jaalimaa' sung by none other than Lata Mangeshkar, 'Takdeer Ka Phasaana Jaakar Kise Sunaaen' sung by Mohammad Rafi, 'Tum To Pyaar Ho Sajana' rendered by Mohammad Rafi and Lata and other songs brought Choudhary international fame.

One more feather was added to his cap with V Shantaram's 'Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne' released in 1965. Mr Choudhary recorded 'Tere Khayalo Mein Hum' sung by Asha Bhosale, 'Saanson Ke Taar Par' and 'Dhadakan Ki Taal Par' sung by Asha Bhosale and Mahendra Kapoor were all popular numbers of those days.

Lockdown Legends ( Day 7) : Effortless Entertainer

Today's celebrity is a very well-known composer, whose repertoire includes huge hits and memorable scores, even when not popular. A pillar of the Golden period, C.Ramchandra ( who also sang as Chitalkar) was a prolific music director. His tunes were extremely hummable and are remembered, even  78 years after his debut !

C.Ramchandra pioneered the inclusion of Western music into Hindi film songs, something he had learnt from his mentor Hoogan, while working for Sohrab Modi's production company. He had mastered the art of using western instruments for songs based on Indian classical music . Amongst many anecdotes associated with CR, here are three of the most delightful , which go on to show what an  effortless composer he was.

The music of the film Anarkali was being planned. Once in a while a film comes which becomes an all time classic. And like all classics, several legends grow around it. Anarkali was one such film. Moreover it was, at that time, competing woth Mughal-e-Azam, also in the making , though it released many years later. 

Anarkali had its own problems. Before C.Ramchandra ( CR) came on the scene, many other music directors had worked on the music composition for the  film.  The producer of this film kept replacing music directors. It was like a revolving door. Finally, CR stepped in and fine tuned all the songs and gave one of the best music of his career, mindful of the fact that Naushad was composoing for Mughal-e-Azam.

During the composition of the intoxicating song `Mohobbat me aise kadam dagmagaaye' for this film, CR had a problem in fitting a proper word after `peeke aaye' as there was a small gap. He used hiccups very creatively after `peeke aaye'  Next day, he recorded

this song with Lata's voice (and Lata Mangeshkar performed perfectly.)

 The gap after the lyrics `peeke aaye' was filled up and the song was completed. and when Beena Rai as Anarkali sang this song on the screen with a hiccup, the effect was tremendous !

The story of Azaad is also very interesting.

It is said that Dilip Kumar was feeling depressed after Devdas and was advised to accept a light hearted film. He accepted Azad, which was completed in a short period and offered a refreshing change to Dilip Kumar. The songs and the movie both became successful.

It was a 1955 film and the producer SM Naidu wanted the famed composer Naushad to compose the music for the film.  Since shooting was already underway, Naidu wanted the entire soundtrack in a fortnight.   ‘Naushad retorted that he was not a factory, and he couldn’t promise even one song in such a short time. Naidu then approached C Ramchandra, who gamely took on the challenge and composed all 10 songs in two weeks! Here was a man who could deliver high quality music  with amazing speed, almost effortlessly !’

The third episode is about a song which is one of the earliest gibberish songs. CR was known to have an inclination for "anokhe bol" genre of songs ever since his early films.The words of this song were inspired by kids playing outside composer C. Ramchandra’s music room.

 The kids were chanting “Eeny, meeny,miny, moe”, which inspired Ramchandra and his assistant John Gomes to create first line of the song, “Eena Meena Deeka, De Dai Damanika”.Gomes, who was a Goan, added the words “Maka naka” (Konkani for “I don’t want”). They kept on adding more nonsense rhymes till they ended with “Rum pum po!”. Kishore Kumar was the right choice for this song, being a natural entertainer. The real hero of the song is, undoubtedly, C.Ramchandra who made the rock-and-roll part of Hindi cinema music.

Leaving you with this iconic song to hum and wear away the lockdown blues.