Of Men, Music and Movies

Dilip Kumar crooning “Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandni” to Madhubala, in “Sangdil”; the tune later inspired Madan Mohan to make “Tujhe kiya sunao mein dilruba”.

Does a bell ring for you when someone croons, “Hai sabse madhur woh geet, hum dard ke sur mein gaate hain”? Yes, it is one of Talat's finest renditions for composers, Shanker Jaikishan in the Hindi film, “Patita” where matinee idol, Dev Anand lip-synched so beautifully on the screen. Inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley's, “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts”, Shailendra, the lyricist went on to compose the rest with refined artistry.

Adopting or adapting lines or tunes has been a practice amongst poets and composers from time immemorial. In the world of modern Bangla songs, Tagore is perhaps the initiator. His early western adoptions include, “Giyachhe shedin jedin hridoy”, which actually is a direct translation of the first and last stanzas of Thomas Moore's, “Love's Young Dream” as found in his book, “Irish Melodies”. And his first 'hit' was, when he tapped the tune of Robert Burns', “Ye banks and braes, O Bonnie Doon” for his “Phule phule dhole dhole”, followed by “Kotobar bhebhe chhinu” from 'Drink to me, Only with thine eyes”. For a while Scottish and Irish songs, especially those by Burns had quite an influence on Tagore in terms of poetic substance, form and tunes. The tunes were of course not Burns' but traditional.

Tagore's fascination for the West, however, did not last long. One possible reason could be the fact that the Scottish and Irish folk songs were sung in choir which did not quite go well with Bangla music. But then sub-continental music had always appealed to Tagore and so we find in his compositions, borrowings from the Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka apart from his native Bengal. Again, he did not take many from these regions; very likely, the different languages became a barrier. So, he narrowed his music quest within the gamut of the Bangla folk specially Baul, Kirtan and Hindustani (North Indian) classical music.

With the 1905 division of Bengal, we find Tagore then 44, in a totally new mould. His, “Jodi tor dak shune keu na aashey tobey ekla cholo re” was derived from the Baul number, “Harinam diye jogot matale aamar ekla nitai”. Also, another derivative, “Ebar tora maura gange baan eschechhey” was from the Sari song, “Mon majhi samal samal dublo tori”. But now it was no more of 'adoption' but an adaptation of songs from the vast storehouse of the Bangla folk with the lyrics modified and more meaningful but keeping the tunes as they were. With the Bengal partition annulled in 1911, there was yet another change in his music. It was now a sublime experiment with his own school of thought, the Baul life and Hindustani classical music resulting in the creation of some of the finest songs in the annals of Bangla modern music. “Dinguli more shonar khaNchai”; “Ami tomai joto, shuniachilem gaan”; “Aamar bela je jai sajh belatey”; “Ektuku chhoa lagey”; “Amar kontho hote gaan ke nilo”; “Kon puraton praner taney”; “Aaji jhoro jhoro mukhor bador diney”; “Rimiki jhimiki jhore” are a few examples. To many music pundits, it was around the last quadrant of his life that Tagore was at his creative best.

Does one remember Shahnaz Begum's (now Rahmatullah) heart rendering solo, “Ami to amar golpo bolechhi, tumi keno kaNdley” that Gazi Mazharul Anwar wrote for composer, Abdul Ahad? This opening line is actually, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan's, “Jo humne dastan apni sunaayee” in the Hindi film, “Woh Kaun Thi” for which composer, Madan Mohan would be remembered for ever. Gazi Mazharul Anwar was of course deeply inspired with the line; and he knew his job very well. So, after the opening line he moved in his own direction to help Abdul Ahad create this Bangla all time soul stirrer.

Lyrics aside, sometimes a tune can be so penetrating that it hits you right there in the heart and carries you away. It can provoke one to adopt it as his own. Madan Mohan comes to the scene again. His, “Tujhe kiya sunao mein dilruba” from the film, “Aakhri Dao” is one such example. It bears semblance in totality with, “Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandni” that Sajjad Hussain created with pride for Talat Mahmood to sing in the Dilip Kumar hit, “Sangdil”. Madan Mohan was soon under pressure from the critics and finally had to confront them saying, “Yes, so what if I had copied? It was from Sajjad Hussain's work, who we all know is a genius.” Another fine example ...... recall, Hemanta's, classic, “Tumi to janona, tomar e hashitey” in the hit Bangla film, “Surjotoron” which explained Uttam Kumar's mental state when he was with Suchitra Sen in a car. The asthai is ditto of, “Tum kya jano, tumhare yaad mein” in the Hindi film, “Shin Shinaki Bubla Boo”. Hemanta, the composer just could not resist using it for the sequence but he did take permission from the master composer, Chitalkar Ramchandra.

Talking of adaptation, tune wise, perhaps one of the finest examples in Hindi music is that of, “Thandi hawayee, lehrake aaye” that SD Burman composed for “Naujawan”. Roshanlal, the celebrated Hindi composer, grandfather of Hrithik Roshan, was so swept off his feet with the tune that 15 years later, he composed the all time classic, “Rahen na rahen hum” in “Mamta”. And when RD Burman was sinking as a composer he came back briefly in 1988, with the lilt, “Sagar kinare” based again on “Thandi hawayee”. All the songs by Lata have different tones of the same colour to be delightfully, exclusive.

In Bangladesh, one fine example of such a work is, “Tumi ki dekhechho kovu, jiboner porajoi” that Abdul Jabbar sings in the film, “Eto Tuku Asha”. Try, Hemanta's, “Shono bondhu shono, pranhin ei shohorer itikotha” in “Shapmochon” which has lyrics by Bimal Ghosh. Note the 'structure' of the two songs and also the lyrics. Again, a beautiful adaptation, this time a Satya Saha -- Dr. Md. Muniruzzaman combination.

Such adaptation or trans-creation of tunes requires skill of the highest level as there are only seven notes in music; and the same for the lyrics as the expression has to be different keeping the thought same. It was Tagore's wizardry that paved the way for both.