Melodies at the Drop of a Hat
By Asif Javed, MD
Williamsport , PA
In the early fifties, a duet of Lata and Talat — or so it seemed to most people at the time – became very popular.” Kitna haseen hay mausam, kitna hasseen safar hay” filmed on Daleep Kumar and Meena Kumari in the black and white movie “Azad” was a big hit as were many other songs of this movie. What intrigued music lovers, however, was the male singer with an obscure name who sounded very much like Talat. Little did they realize that the singer was nobody else but the composer himself who chose a pseudonym for his singing assignment. It was only recently — decades after the movie’s release - that I have come across the real story behind this mystery.
It is said that producer S.M. Naidu was in a great hurry to complete “Azad”. He somehow, managed to get early dates from Daleep — a near impossibility considering Daleep’s record and schedule — and then approached Naushad to ask if the maestro would compose 10 songs in 14 days so that the shoot could begin. Naushad was known to be very meticulous and slow. As was to be expected, he laughed at the request, saying, “I am not a song factory to churn out 10 songs in such a short period. I cannot promise even one song in such hurry”.
The desperate producer then asked C. Ramchandar -- who had the reputation of being good but, unlike Naushad and Sajjad Hussain (whose 17 takes of a song in Sangdil drove Talat insane), was fast paced -- who accepted the challenge. The 10 songs were composed in 14 days except one that got stuck. It needed Talat -- who was abroad -- to sing with Lata. “No problem”, reportedly said C. Ramchandar. “I will sing myself”. The result was there for all to see. Not only did he sing quite well but, also, made himself sound almost like Talat. The music was scored in record time and became a big hit. The movie was mediocre but still clicked due to popular music. This was vintage C. Ramchandar.
It is generally agreed that the 50’s and the early 60’s were the golden era of Bollywood music. This was the time when Naushad and Shanker-Jaykishan were kings. Not far behind, were other talented musicians like Salil Chaudhry -- Khwaja Khurshid Anwar, once described him as a musician’s musician -- , Madan Mohan, S.D. Burman, Anil Biswas and many others. The competition must have been intense. During that time, C. Ramchandar found success and held his own. Despite his reputation for fast pace, the quality of his music was generally good. He was also a trend-setter and was one of the very first to experiment with Western tunes and instruments. This was even before O.P. Nayyer, who continued this trend. However, C. Ramchandar’s popularity was based on more than just his use of Western tunes. He was also good in classic, ghazal and pop.
He saw the peak of success in the fifties and for some reason, his best tunes were mostly sung by Lata. There is some suggestion that Lata was romantically involved with him too. While that may or may not be the case, there is little doubt that their combination brought the best out of both. There are some who say that Anarkali’s music had the freshness and innocence that was lacking in the music of Mughal-a-Azam.
C. Ramchandar composed music from 1942 through 1978, his glory days being the 50’s. During this period, he gave music in 104 movies. His famous works include Anarkali, Albela, Yasmeen, Bahurani, Azad, Paigham and Purchain. In the mid-sixties, his career took a nose-dive. Although, he continued to work well in to the late 70’s, the magic was gone. It appears that Lata had stopped singing for him and he found it difficult to find her replacement. His music from that era is not very inspiring but then, as they say, all good things do come to an end. Perhaps, he had exhausted his creativity by then. In this, he had plenty of company too. The last works of Shankar (after Jaykishan’s demise) and Naushad are equally mediocre. The reason for his split from Lata has never been clear.
In his book “Bollywood melodies”, Ganesh Amantharaman narrates a conversation that a music critic once had with C. Ramchandar towards the end of his career. “I know, how much I have slipped over the years,” he confessed while looking at a faded poster of his best remembered work — Anarkali. Late Qatil Shifai has also written about a chance encounter with the maestro in London in the early 80’s when they discussed collaboration on an LP. That never materialized since C.Ramchandar died soon after in India.
I wouldl like to end this piece by recounting another example of C.Ramchandar’s fast paced work. It is said that the lyrics for a lorie for the movie “Albela” made it to him just two hours before the scheduled recording. The tune was composed by him while driving to the recording room. The result was “Dheeray say aa jaa ree akhyan main”, one of the best lullabies in the history of Bollywood. This was C. Ramchandar at his very best. They do not come like him any more.
