critique.
the writerRaja ki aayegi baraat, the signature tune of the 1953 film AAH begins in a sombre setting, without any orchestral prelude. Lata’s dulcet voice undulatingly sways from a high note to low, pauses for a while possibly to watch her aural effect on listeners, and then in full throttle the lady demonstrates her vocals to the accompaniment of the dholak-rhythm and weeping violins till the catchy interlude takes over. A magical spell is created for 170 seconds and the song ends exactly at the same point from where it started —-with Lata crooning the mukhda without a single instrument. That finale shows the desperation and the hopelessness of the character who lip-syncs to this wonderful ditty.
What goes in making a great song ? In a film it has to be the audio-vision, then the words which should carry the story forward, also the basic tune of mukhda which needs to be catchy, then the crooner should be able to convey the mood and the feelings of the cinematic character in his/her voice, and finally the overall finish of all the above ingredients in an organic whole.
The audio vision created by Raj Kapoor deals with a situation of unrequited love where the beloved celebrates her defeat, much like “Jhoom jhoom ke naache aaj, Gao aaj, Gao khushi ke geet” in Mehboob’s Andaz . In Andaz, a pensive Dilip Kumar played with the piano keys taking defeat in his stride; in Aah, Nargis dances away her blues in front of those very characters who aborted her aspirations in an absurd twist and turn of fate.
Both these characters take it on their chin and move ahead. To convey these feelings and to capture the exact shade of the mood ,, one has to be careful in selecting the tonal identity of the singer and also in picking up the right musical instruments. You cannot possibly play a drum to convey the sunset feelings of a sinking heart.
This was the forte of Shankar Jaikishan and no less of their arranger Sebastian who formed the melodic structure of this song by balancing different instruments in a cohesive whole. Not one false note, anywhere, and right from the first strains the song cuts like a knife in the butter in an effortless journey of aural explosion of senses.
Another high point of the song is the change in the scale of the second Antara. The scale goes down because the words are despondent. The lines are : Rani ke sang raja doli saja ke chale jayenge pardes. This is too much for the heart to bear. This is unbearable. And therefore the scale has to be subdued. And then the cry of anguish : Jab jab unki yaad aayegi dil pe lagegi thes. As Lata pauses, swift strumming of notes on mandolin in “avaroh” mode add to the listening pleasure.
Why such songs are not crafted today ? Raju Bharatan, the reputed music critic, says that “If you ask me to underpin one solid reason for decadent decline of Hindi film music I would say it is Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh betrayed a sad lack of social conscience in the thoughtless idolizing of violence that he spawned on the screen.” When blood, guns, fisticuffs, swear words, daggers and breaking of bones become the leitmotif of cinema, you can just say good bye to good sense, good manners and good music.
Film scribes today use the epithet Big B for Amitabh. For what ? For corrupting the taste of an entire generation, for lip-syncing to some of the most tasteless and lecherous songs, for spawning violence and bloodshed, for working in cindrella type stories of Manmohan Desai & Co, ! Can Amitabh himself honestly name even five films which he can be proud of ?
The golden era of Hindi film music lasted till 1965. Thereafter it was mayhem. The best lyricists, playback singers,and music directors were thrown into oblivion with the sound of gunfire. Instead of art, artifice surfaced. The music makers started depending on sound, not on soul, the lyricists’s words became mean instead of embodying any meaningfulness and second-rate playback singers emitted guttural sounds from their throats as if suffering from acute constipation. No great songs are composed today. And, It is a very sad AAH !
Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat – Raj Kapoor – Nargis – Aah – Lata Mangeshkar – Evergreen Hindi SongsMovie: Aah Music Director: Shankar Jaikishan Lyrics: Shailendra Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Enjoy this super hit song from the 1953 movie Aah starring Raj Kapoor…
SHANKAR-JAIKISHAN 