The event hosted by Kushal was much more than a music session. It was a walk down the memory lane and stoked the embers of nostalgia. This was perhaps inevitable considering the almost impossible task for attendees to select "3 popular songs" and justify their choice. Musical analysis interlaced with anecdotes ensured that we didn't get lost in the technicalities and added a personal touch to the proceedings.
We sampled the entire canvas of HFM and our choices spanned over 5 decades; ranging from "suhani raat dhal chuki" to "lambi judaaai". To put them into perspective, we drew comparisions with an outlook magazine poll conducted in 2006.
We took turns to play 1 song and throw it open for discussion. Once everyone got the opportunity, we moved on to the next song. Round 1 began with Kushal's "ye havaa ye raat ye chandni" and he explained his fascination for the song ever since he was a kid. Talat's remedition and Sajjad's composition have made this song immortal. Kushal mentioned that his appreciation of the song increased after he saw the picturization. Javed saab added a few anecdotes about the eccentric nature of Sajjad Hussain.
"tehariye hosh men aa luun" was the choice of Arvinder Sharma. He added that it was only the second instance when Khayyam used the Rafi & Suman combination. The humming "uuhuun" after "chale aayega" by Suman was highlighted by Kushal. Bimal Chaddha added that the song epitomized "Lucknawi Tehzeeb".
Naveen Anand sang his choices. His first was "kya karuun sajni" from Swami. Roshan's influence on Rajesh Roshan was discussed. Kushal pointed to the documentary that I sent him in which Rajesh Roshan mentions that in the initial days he did not like Roshan's music but started appreciating it later. Yesudas's singing abilities were praised but we debated on why he could not make a bugger impact in HFM.
Bakshish ji narrated a fascinating story from the 60's. HE used to hear a song from radio ceylon but the movie name remained elusive for over a decade till Gopal Sharma of radio ceylon gave him the answer. The song was "tum jo saath raat bhi haseen hai" from Mohar. Bakshish ji went on to add that the song is saved as a ringtone in his phone and reserved for his wife.Kushal added that the prominent instrument used in the prelude is Univox played by Lucila Pachecho. She played this instrument as well as Harmonium extensively for Hemant Kumar and rest of the industry.
Bimal ji chose "seene men sulagte hain armaan" and we marvelled at the Anil da composition. Naveen ji was delighted that Talat had a strong representation.
Sundeep ji told an incident from his childhood when his neighbor was Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and he used to often listen to the riyaaz. He also recalled that even before he spoke any words he used to say "mera dil ye pukaare aajaa" which was his choice for round 1. Kushal pointed out that so called "been music" in this song as well as movie was a combination tone of Kalyanji's Claviolin and Ravi's Harmonium.
We then broke for lunch and were joined by Mishra ji, Suanshu Khurana & Sudhir Kapur. Kalakand was the delicacy of the day and we gleefully lapped it up.
We still had to finish round 1 and I introduced my favorite with "charming wave like motion" and "damped oscillations" in intrerlude music while referring to the House No. 44 stunner "phaili hui hai sapnon ki baahen".
Suanshu's choice was the Madan Mohan version of "mai ri". She followed it up by singing it and added that her mother used to sing it for her when she was a kid. She added that years later she got an opportunity to sing it before Laxmikant while he was playing the harmonium.
Sudhir Kapur added that it is quite interesting to note the choices of the generation that grew up in the 30's and 40's. We all agreed that Saigal would have dominated. He recalled a conversation with Radio Ceylon and VOA announcer Vijayalakshmi ji. When he mentioned about a song from Neki Aur Badi she immediately began to sing it taking him by surprise. It was "kyuun ji scent lagaya" by Amir Bai, Feroz Dastoor and a third voice with some similarity to Mukesh.This song used to air frequently on radio ceylon.
Since Naveen ji had to leave, we started second round with him. He sang "suhani raat dhal chuki" and narrated an unforgettable experience of reharsing it in Naushad sahab's house for Ibadat Program on Shakeel.
Kushal's choice "kuchh dil ne kahaa" was the next number. Sundeep ji asked who if at all wold get an extra point in such a perfect song and Kushal had no doubt in giving it to Hemant Kumar for conceiving the thoughts of the director.
Sundeep ji's second choice was also associated with an old memory. He recalled about his dad's love for Mukesh that rubbed on to him and added that whever they went for excursions, he used to sing "hari hari vasundhara..ye kaun chitrakaar".
With everyone recalling their salad days, I went back in time too to the first hindi film I had vivid memories of seeing in theater. The flute pieces in this song still haunt me and they were played by Hariprasad and the voice was Reshma's. I am of course referring to "lambi judaai". Kushal added how L-P wanted a flute piece and picked the very flute piece that Hariprasad was rehearsing when they went to meet him. This in fact became the theme music of the movie.
Baksish ji's second choice was from Nadaan "accha hota jo dil men tuu aaya" and we wondered if it was a popular song. We also enjoyed Arvinder ji's choice of "hai kali kali ke lab par" and Bimal ji's minimal instrumentation pick "tum kya jaano".
There was so much discussion (interspersed with Vadapav and ice cream) that we ran out of time to accommodate Arnab's picks . Neither could we take the remote entry from Asad.
Attention now turned to ourlook magazine poll form 2006. Sundeep ji has preserved a copy of this and we took turns to read articles from this special edition of the magazine.The poll concludes that the best decade in HFM is 60's but our preference was 50's. This was attributed to the age bracket in which majority of the members fall in.
It has to be pointed out here that instant popularity is quite different from everlasting popularity. I recalled that I used to listen to "ek do teen" day in and day out during school days but it has faded out. "pyaar hua iqraar hua" retains its appeal even after 6 decades.
Another important aspect to be considered is the "attention span" of generations. Naveen Anand pointed to a fascinating survey in which the attention span of "15-20" years olds reduced form 60 mins to 8 mins over a span of 4 decades. Just like we normalize for inflation when comparing box office returns of movies across decades, should we take attention span into account ?
There is enough material left to stoke the embers a few more times. Time to "cool off" for now.
We sampled the entire canvas of HFM and our choices spanned over 5 decades; ranging from "suhani raat dhal chuki" to "lambi judaaai". To put them into perspective, we drew comparisions with an outlook magazine poll conducted in 2006.
We took turns to play 1 song and throw it open for discussion. Once everyone got the opportunity, we moved on to the next song. Round 1 began with Kushal's "ye havaa ye raat ye chandni" and he explained his fascination for the song ever since he was a kid. Talat's remedition and Sajjad's composition have made this song immortal. Kushal mentioned that his appreciation of the song increased after he saw the picturization. Javed saab added a few anecdotes about the eccentric nature of Sajjad Hussain.
"tehariye hosh men aa luun" was the choice of Arvinder Sharma. He added that it was only the second instance when Khayyam used the Rafi & Suman combination. The humming "uuhuun" after "chale aayega" by Suman was highlighted by Kushal. Bimal Chaddha added that the song epitomized "Lucknawi Tehzeeb".
Naveen Anand sang his choices. His first was "kya karuun sajni" from Swami. Roshan's influence on Rajesh Roshan was discussed. Kushal pointed to the documentary that I sent him in which Rajesh Roshan mentions that in the initial days he did not like Roshan's music but started appreciating it later. Yesudas's singing abilities were praised but we debated on why he could not make a bugger impact in HFM.
Bakshish ji narrated a fascinating story from the 60's. HE used to hear a song from radio ceylon but the movie name remained elusive for over a decade till Gopal Sharma of radio ceylon gave him the answer. The song was "tum jo saath raat bhi haseen hai" from Mohar. Bakshish ji went on to add that the song is saved as a ringtone in his phone and reserved for his wife.Kushal added that the prominent instrument used in the prelude is Univox played by Lucila Pachecho. She played this instrument as well as Harmonium extensively for Hemant Kumar and rest of the industry.
Bimal ji chose "seene men sulagte hain armaan" and we marvelled at the Anil da composition. Naveen ji was delighted that Talat had a strong representation.
Sundeep ji told an incident from his childhood when his neighbor was Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and he used to often listen to the riyaaz. He also recalled that even before he spoke any words he used to say "mera dil ye pukaare aajaa" which was his choice for round 1. Kushal pointed out that so called "been music" in this song as well as movie was a combination tone of Kalyanji's Claviolin and Ravi's Harmonium.
We then broke for lunch and were joined by Mishra ji, Suanshu Khurana & Sudhir Kapur. Kalakand was the delicacy of the day and we gleefully lapped it up.
We still had to finish round 1 and I introduced my favorite with "charming wave like motion" and "damped oscillations" in intrerlude music while referring to the House No. 44 stunner "phaili hui hai sapnon ki baahen".
Suanshu's choice was the Madan Mohan version of "mai ri". She followed it up by singing it and added that her mother used to sing it for her when she was a kid. She added that years later she got an opportunity to sing it before Laxmikant while he was playing the harmonium.
Sudhir Kapur added that it is quite interesting to note the choices of the generation that grew up in the 30's and 40's. We all agreed that Saigal would have dominated. He recalled a conversation with Radio Ceylon and VOA announcer Vijayalakshmi ji. When he mentioned about a song from Neki Aur Badi she immediately began to sing it taking him by surprise. It was "kyuun ji scent lagaya" by Amir Bai, Feroz Dastoor and a third voice with some similarity to Mukesh.This song used to air frequently on radio ceylon.
Since Naveen ji had to leave, we started second round with him. He sang "suhani raat dhal chuki" and narrated an unforgettable experience of reharsing it in Naushad sahab's house for Ibadat Program on Shakeel.
Kushal's choice "kuchh dil ne kahaa" was the next number. Sundeep ji asked who if at all wold get an extra point in such a perfect song and Kushal had no doubt in giving it to Hemant Kumar for conceiving the thoughts of the director.
Sundeep ji's second choice was also associated with an old memory. He recalled about his dad's love for Mukesh that rubbed on to him and added that whever they went for excursions, he used to sing "hari hari vasundhara..ye kaun chitrakaar".
With everyone recalling their salad days, I went back in time too to the first hindi film I had vivid memories of seeing in theater. The flute pieces in this song still haunt me and they were played by Hariprasad and the voice was Reshma's. I am of course referring to "lambi judaai". Kushal added how L-P wanted a flute piece and picked the very flute piece that Hariprasad was rehearsing when they went to meet him. This in fact became the theme music of the movie.
Baksish ji's second choice was from Nadaan "accha hota jo dil men tuu aaya" and we wondered if it was a popular song. We also enjoyed Arvinder ji's choice of "hai kali kali ke lab par" and Bimal ji's minimal instrumentation pick "tum kya jaano".
There was so much discussion (interspersed with Vadapav and ice cream) that we ran out of time to accommodate Arnab's picks . Neither could we take the remote entry from Asad.
Attention now turned to ourlook magazine poll form 2006. Sundeep ji has preserved a copy of this and we took turns to read articles from this special edition of the magazine.The poll concludes that the best decade in HFM is 60's but our preference was 50's. This was attributed to the age bracket in which majority of the members fall in.
It has to be pointed out here that instant popularity is quite different from everlasting popularity. I recalled that I used to listen to "ek do teen" day in and day out during school days but it has faded out. "pyaar hua iqraar hua" retains its appeal even after 6 decades.
Another important aspect to be considered is the "attention span" of generations. Naveen Anand pointed to a fascinating survey in which the attention span of "15-20" years olds reduced form 60 mins to 8 mins over a span of 4 decades. Just like we normalize for inflation when comparing box office returns of movies across decades, should we take attention span into account ?
There is enough material left to stoke the embers a few more times. Time to "cool off" for now.
