Roshan – The concluding post

Today I’m posting the second and final part about Roshan. In this part, I’ll overview his career in 1960s, which is very much well known and popular than his earlier career. The success of Barsaat Ki Raat opened the floodgates for Roshan. He consistently proved himself by composing hit songs year after year. His untimely demise was a shock to his family and fans alike!

The year 1961 started with film, Warrant, whose mention won’t ring a bell for majority of us. The songs were never popular. I’m aware of a couple of songs from the movie, though off hand, their mention won’t help much.
The film Warrant has a cute duet by Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh (Nainon Mein Kyun Aan Base), which has a tonga rhythm and hence sounds very similar to O P Nayyar’s composition. The second song is a typical Mujra (Hothon Pe Hasi, Palkon Pe Haya) by Lata Mangeshkar. The film had Ashok Kumar And Shakila in the main lead with Helen and Dhumal.
There is a confusion regarding a movie called Baghdad. I could not find any movie named Baghdad by Roshan as a composer. What I got was a 1962 film, by composer Jamal Sen, though I found occasional credit references to Roshan as well.

After the success of Barsaat Ki Raat, Sahir became Roshan’s lucky charm and favourite lyricists. But in the 60s, he didn’t work with him exclusively. Have a look at the year 1962, for example! Four of his films were released, but only one song from Soorat Aur Seerat was penned by Sahir. Rest of all is by other lyricists.

The major hit, Aarti had Majrooh, where as ‘Wallah Kya Baat Hai’ had Prem Dhawan. The songs from former were hugely popular and people till date remember Roshan for its songs. Kabhi To Milegi & Baar Baar Tohe are most popular among all the songs. Surprisingly enough, all the songs of the Wallah Kya Baat Hai, had O P Nayyar flavour. The effect gets pronounced when you have Asha Bhosle for female lead. I’m very fond of the songs, and for a change we have a song by Manna Dey for Shammi Kapoor, after a long gap. Soorat Aur Seerat was an average hit, the song by Mukesh being most popular! I think, the songs from Zindagi Aur Hum are not well known.The songs are average, still the one included on the list is my favourite of all the songs. The film shows a 50s influence as far as the orchestration goes. In 60s, Roshan had a major change in orchestration. The number of instruments were on rise. It became more prominent, and rhythm took a front seat, but melody was not neglected. So his songs were never noisy and irritating. Many composers lost the balance between the melody and the rhythm and got carried away with noisy orchestration.

The year 1963, was memorable for Roshan, as after working for 13 years in Hindi Film industry, he finally got Filmfare Award as a Best Composer for the movie, Taj Mahal. This year onwards, Sahir and Roshan delivered hits after hits.
Dil Hi To Hai & Taj Mahal both proved musical superhits. The former had only one duet by Lata Mangeshkar, the rest of the songs were performed by Asha Bhosle & Suman Kalyanpur. So even if Lata Mangeshkar appears his absolute favourite, he also created wonders without her.
And as I said in the first post, he never approached her for a qawwali. Taj Mahal had beautiful duets by Lata & Rafi, and ‘Jo Wada Kiya Woh‘ was on the top in Binaca Geetmala. But I don’t think, it was the best from the movie. Equally melodious and my great favourite, ‘Paaon Chhoo Lene Do‘ was also a hit. (No points for guessing, it’s the best for me)
There was an obscure film, Commercial Pilot Officer, which was released in 1963. But nothing much is known about it and for me the songs are not impressive either!

The year 1964, brought him together with his mentor, Kidar Sharma again. The latter had thought of remaking his own classic, Chitralekha. He was excited about its colour version with Meena Kumari. He called Sahir for the songs and didn’t write himself. Roshan was very polite and modest, he started working on the film, only after paying a tribute to the composer, Ustad Jhande Khan, by offering a garland to his photo. Ustad Jhande Khan had composed for the old Chitralekha.
The songs proved a major highlight for this otherwise flop movie. Sharma could not recreate the old magic and it is said that, he even himself didn’t like the newer version. Sahir’s path breaking song ‘Sansar Se Bhage Phirte Ho’ along with other melodious songs still linger in our memory. The other release that year, Dooj Ka Chand, is not much well known in my opinion. Though it’s known for a couple of hits, all the songs from the movie are excellent.
A distinctive feature of Dooj Ka Chand is, it has two pairs of sisters singing duets. Lata Mangeshkar singing with her younger sister, Asha Bhosle for ‘Sajan Salona Maang Lo’ and The Hemady sisters, Suman Hemadi (Kalyanpur) singing with her younger sister, Shyama Hemadi (Chittar), for the song, ‘Jhankti Hai Meri Aankhon Se’.
I don’t think, any other film has such a special coincidence.

Year 1965 saw the release of three films, Bheegi Raat, Bedag & Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal. The last film, introduced poet Gopaldas Saxena (Neeraj) to Hindi film industry. The film was launched in 1961, but took a long time to complete and released late. By that time, songs of Cha Cha Cha became popular. Neeraj’s poem, Swapna Jhare Phool Se is still considered one of the best written songs of Hindi Cinema. The other songs from the movie were also good, but the film and other songs could not attain popularity. While Roshan handed over all the songs to Rafi, a romantic song was also offered to Mukesh, ‘Dekhti Hi Raho Aaj Darpan’.
Songs from Bheegi Raat and Bedag were popular, more so for the former. For Bedag, Roshan worked with Shakeel Badayuni for the first time and later also for Noor Jahan.

In 1966, again three films were released, Mamta was the most memorable. The other films, Devar & Daadi Maa were average hits with just a couple of memorable songs. But Mamta had excellent ghazals, romantic songs, classical based Mujra songs. The song ‘Sakal Ban Gagan Pawan’ is one of my most favourite Lata-Roshan combo songs. But the master piece from the movie, for me, is the one I’ve included in the list.
For Devar and Daadi Maa, Roshan gave a chance to Anand Bakshi, who wrote a few good songs and their association would have continued, if Roshan had survived.

Then released the one of the most talked about films by Roshan, Bahu Begum & Noor Jahan in 1967. Both had Muslim cultural background and all the songs from these films were hugely popular. Bahu Begum is always remembered for ‘Hum Intezar Karenge’, a wonderful duet by Asha Bhosle & Rafi. In the film, Roshan composed two wonderful qawwalis and proved himself once again. He stamped that the qawwalis from Barsaat Ki Raat were just not famous by chance, but he had ability to compose popular and meaningful qawwalis. He indeed composed excellent qawwalis for Taj Mahal & Dil Hi To Hai as well.
The film, Noor Jahan, again had Muslim Royal background and this time, he offered songs to Suman Kalyanpur. She sang two wonderful solos, but for the duets Roshan called Asha Bhosle.
My most favourite, Raat Ki Mehfil Sooni Sooni (which was BTW a part of my Shakeel Badayuni post) by Lata Mangeshkar wasn’t included in the movie.

The year 1968, had only one release, Anokhi Raat. But Roshan already had left the world on 16th November 1967. He suffered severe heart attack, while he was enjoying a party. The songs of Anokhi Raat were recorded by Ira Nagrath, Roshan’s wife.Everyone loved the songs, mainly Mukesh’s soulful, ‘Oh Re Taal Mile’ brought back old memories of his songs in 50s with Roshan.
The other songs, ‘Mehlon Ka Raja Mila and ‘Meri Beri ke Ber’ and Rafi’s ‘Mile Na Phool’ were chartbusters. A few films are credited to Roshan in 70s, Kora Aanchal (1973), whose music director is mentioned as Roshanlal Khatri on some of the websites. But after hearing the songs, I think it least likely to be Roshan.

Roshan’s career – an overview

Roshan had a strong background of classical music and this was reflected in all the songs. Western styled compositions were rarely found in his movies. And even if he went for that style, those were not popular, may further have discouraged him from doing so!
If we take a look at his career, we can divide it in two parts, as I did for my posts. In the first part, up to Barsaat Ki Raat, his songs are more soothing, soft, without any noisy orchestration.
The songs have a strong thread of melody, with more emphasis on the singer’s expressions. So for his songs in early 50s, he chose voices that were more expressive and calm. And of course Talat & Mukesh were too perfect for him. I have no clue, why he stopped offering songs to Talat and went for Rafi in mid 50s. He even moved Mukesh sideways, he was now an occasional singer from a regular singer. Of course, I’m not blaming Roshan. He would certainly have had his own reasons for doing so! This brought Rafi more towards a position, he attained in late 50s. Roshan’s main lead male singer! And after Barsaat Ki Raat, which had Rafi everywhere, the choice was now more obvious. Still, for a few films, like Dil Hi To Hai (of course for RK, he had no choice, but Mukesh) and Devar, he again had Mukesh. But for me, Dharmendra singing in Mukesh’s voice is very unsuitable. So even if the songs from Devar were (and are) popular, they put me off. Maybe I can bear the audio, but no videos. [And I do remember very well Dharmendra’s debut with Mukesh’s soulful ‘Mujhko Is Raat Ki’]
Manna Dey was clearly a voice for Qawwalis and classical based songs (I think, it’s not a surprise!) He offered Manna Dey, songs of comedy characters (why am I not surprised?), as evident from his songs from ‘Dooj Ka Chand’, ‘Chitralekha’ & ‘Bedag’. There are a few exceptions, like ‘Daadi Maa’, but then, the film had no popular face (at least for Hindi cinema, because Kashinath Ghanekar was a superhit name in Marathi plays & Cinema)
Roshan seldom went for any other male playback singer. But he was spot on to choose Hemant Kumar, for ‘Chhupa Lo Yun Dil Mein’, for Mamta. Such a magnificent alliance, probably a single song, but perfectly suitable to his voice.

For female playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar is the prominent name! He again offered some films to Geeta Dutt & Asha Bhosle, but unfortunately the films performed badly at the box office and the songs too remained in the dark. For Asha Bhosle, however, he offered a few brilliant songs in 60s, the famous qawwali from Dil Hi To Hai, is an obvious example! But in general, Asha was chosen for ‘other’ songs including Qawwalis, Mujra songs and dance numbers. And of course, for duets with Rafi, during 1964 to 67. Shamshad was given dance songs. Among other female singers, he offered Sudha Malhotra a few solos as well in addition to qawwalis. Minoo Purushottam was also occasionally offered a few duets. But in general, contribution from other singers was less. But nevertheless, he offered them songs that became popular, in turn highlighting their name.
Coming to Roshan’s changed style in 60s. He changed from very soft orchestration to a prominently rhythmic songs in 60s. But as I said earlier, he didn’t miss the melody. He also composed classical raagdari based songs, whenever apt, Mamta had a good number of such songs.
Amin Sayani was one of his closest friends and he said, Roshan was too sensitive toward his songs. He could have died of happiness if his songs topped the Binaca geetmala.
Before I conclude, a word about Lata’s proposed film, Bhairavi. She was going to produce it and had chosen Roshan. But the plan could not succeed and the songs were also not recorded. But I’m not sure about the period, when the plan was proposed. In a way, it may be taken as Roshan was Lata’s favourite composer.

Let now move on to the song list. This time again, I’ve fifteen melodious songs for the celebration. It was really difficult to choose only one song from each movie, but I followed my heart!
So here we go, my favourites by Roshan from 1960s, in No particular Order……

1. Ab Kya Misal Doon Main – Aarti (1962) Rafi / Lyrics – Majrooh
It was difficult to choose a song for this position. Finally I chose this one! The man praising her love and imagines her as a beautiful ray of moon. If we listen carefully, it had a rhythm, which later reappeared (in a louder version) as jhankar beats and irritated a lot in 90s. But here, with minimal application, it’s pleasant. And nothing needs to be said about Rafi.

2. Jo Baat Tujh Mein Hai – Tajmahal (1963) Rafi / Lyrics – Sahir
Pradeep Kumar was fortunate enough to get Roshan as a composer for a lot of movies in the 60s. That made his films musically immortal hits. This song is not an exception. Beautiful use of Sarangi makes it a Royal Mughal song. Full marks to Rafi, Sahir and Roshan for this enchanting composition.

3. Nigahen Milane Ko Jee Chahta Hai – Dil Hi To Hai (1963) Asha Bhosle & Chorus / Lyrics – Sahir
Based on raag Yaman, this wonderful qawwali captures our imagination. Roshan rightly chose Asha Bhosle, who excelled in fast sargam and the aalaps. Certainly one of her best! Nutan delicately dancing with her shoulder movements, turns it into a visual treat too.

4. Phool Gendwa Na Maro – Dooj Ka Chand (1964) Manna Dey / Lyrics – Majrooh
Manna Dey singing for Agha, with Jeevankala as audience. Actually the song is being played on a record and he is lip syncing to it. But the pin of the player gets stuck frequently and a funny situation gets created. Manna Dey is perfect for the song.

5. Duniya Kare Sawal To Hum – Bahu Begum (1967) Lata Mangeshkar / Lyrics – Sahir
Meena Kumari is in trouble and in dilemma. What she should answer, if the world questions! The film has some melodramatic situation, now I’ve forgotten the details. But Lata’s soulful voice with profound emotions literally makes you go through it. Full marks to Roshan’s apt musical arrangement.

6. Khanke To Khanke Kyun Khanke – Vallah Kya Baat Hai (1962) Asha Bhosle & Rafi / Lyrics – Prem Dhawan
A song completely in Nayyar’s style, with Punjabi tadka. Such energetic dance numbers are very rare in Roshan’s movies. Not a lyrically excellent song, but it’s catchy and foot tapping tune captures the mind.

7. Chhupa Lo Yun Dil Mein Pyar Mera – Mamta (1966) Lata Mangeshkar & Hemant Kumar / Lyrics – Majrooh
Hemant Kumar has hardly sung a couple of songs for Roshan. But this song certainly fits as his memorable duet. His divine voice had a certain quality that soothes the mind and calms the nerves. Roshan completely focused on melody, with minimum instruments, interludes have his favourite flute. Use of manjira (टाळ in Marathi, a pair of small cymbals) simulates a Bhajan and indeed it has qualities of a bhajan.

8. Chha Gaye Badal Neel Gagan Par – Chitralekha (1964) Asha Bhosle & Rafi / Lyrics – Sahir
I think, this duet remains a bit neglected, in the shadows of Lata’s solos. But for me, it’s one of the best romantic duets by Roshan. Asha Bhosle gets an opportunity here, as Lata wasn’t singing with Rafi. Here again, Roshan’s favourite flute creates magic. Sahir’s wonderfully written Hindi words, are equally well woven in a beautiful melody.

9. Aayi Baad E Baharen Leke – Noor Jahan (1967) Suman Kalyanpur & Chorus / Lyrics – Shakeel Badayuni
Roshan was among the few leading composers, who offered Suman Kalyanpur songs even before the Lata-Rafi conflict. And he never thought of her as a replacement for Lata but offered her independent solos as well.
This song is an energetic, delightful song, sung full throated. But her usual shakiness at higher notes is pleasantly missing. The song was already a part of her solo song post, but I couldn’t resist.

10. Oh Re Taal Mile – Anokhi Raat (1968) Mukesh & Chorus / Lyrics – Indeevar
Indeevar must have worked after a long gap with Roshan. It recreated the era of 50s, when Mukesh was Roshan’s favourite. I think the song also has a touch of folk music and the use of chorus is wonderful. Roshan seldom went for chorus on a major scale, except of course for qawwalis.

11. Dil Jo Na Keh Saka – Bheegi Raat (1966) Lata Mangeshkar / Lyrics – Majrooh
I must shamelessly confess that, though I was aware of the female version, I never listened to it before. Oh My God! It’s so different to the Rafi version, which is full of frustration and dismay. It’s always said that, all the male singers have excelled in दो पहलू वाले गीत. But for me, at least for this song, Lata excels. Such a delicately seductive song. It wasn’t expected either from Lata Mangeshkar or Meena Kumari, It was such a refreshingly beautiful experience for me. Hats off to Roshan for the composition. BTW he has composed very few sensuous songs.

12. Aaj Ki Raat Badi Shokh – Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal (1966) Rafi / Lyrics – Neeraj
A romantic song that reminded me, ‘Maine Shayad Tumhe Pehle Bhi’ from Barsaat Ki Raat.
The rhythm and the tune are very similar to that song. Neeraj has excelled in all the songs, though off hand anyone could remember ‘Karvan Guzar Gaya’. Enjoy the song!

13. Tu Hum Ko Dekh – Zindagi Aur Hum (1962) Lata Mangeshkar / Lyrics – Veer Mohd Puri
The 50s Roshan is evidently heard in this composition. A soothing soft melody from a less popular movie. Roshan offered all the songs to Lata Mangeshkar and the other songs as well are good. The main focus is on the tune and orchestration just supports it.

14. Usko Nahin Dekha Hum Ne – Daadi Maa (1966) Manna Dey & Mahendra Kapoor / Lyrics – Anand Bakshi
O P Nayyar’s Tonga rhythm, in a non romantic song. Kashinath Ghanekar and Dileep Raj devotionally praising mother and her presence as a Goddess on the earth. A beautiful song! But except a couple of songs, Roshan couldn’t create his typically magical compositions for the movie.

15. Bahut Diya Denewale Ne – Soorat Aur Seerat (1962) Mukesh / Lyrics – Shailendra
Mukesh has excelled in the only song, offered to him in this movie. He comparatively sung very less number of songs in 60s for Roshan. But the magic of the combo remained the same. Perhaps it’s the last film, Shailendra worked with Roshan for.

Which of your favourites would you add?

Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are from YouTube and have been used here only for the music lovers. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, music companies and producers.