(Part 7) Lata with Forgotten / Lesser Known Composers

Last December, when I started collecting names of composers for the sixth part of the series, I had only five names on the list. But slowly I gathered more names and published the post last month. Though I did not mention it as a last part of the series In my mind it was.
Last month, blog reader Dr Ravindra Shrikhande visited me and he mentioned about a book by Vishwas Nerurkar on Lata’s career. He not only mentioned the book, but was kind enough to send it to me too! The book is now out of print and he thought the book, ‘Gandhar – Swar Yatra’ will help me build the future parts of the series, if any. And he was spot on! As soon as I received the book, I found a few names that could fit the bill. After I completed the Amirbai Karnataki posts, I went through the book keenly. I was utterly surprised to find not less than twenty names that I wasn’t aware of.
I tried to list the names year wise. Today’s part will focus on the composers of the 50s and 60s mainly. Or the ones that started their Hindi film career in the period. I have covered fifteen composers again in the post.

Without a further ado, let’s start the journey, Lata’s association with forgotten / lesser known composers. As usual the names are in No particular order.

1. Ram Kadam –

A very familiar name for the Maharashtrains, as he was one of the most popular Marathi film music composers, known for Lawani songs. Born in 1916 in Miraj, he was a disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. He also learnt folk songs of Maharashtra from Patthe Bapurao, who was a noted singer in Tamasha. He joined Prabhat films as an office boy, but soon assisted Sudhir Phadke.
His first break was for the Marathi film, Meeth Bhakar (मीठ भाकर) in 1949. His Lawanis are much popular till date. The peak of his career was V Shantaram’s Pinjra (1972) which proved to be a blockbuster hit in Marathi. The same was remade in Hindi and Ram Kadam composed for it again. The venture however wasn’t a success. The songs rendered by Usha Mangeshkar for Marathi film, were sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the Hindi version of Pinjara. And I wasn’t much impressed with the hindi songs, which I heard last year in January for my Bharat Vyas posts.
Of course, Pinajra wasn’t his first venture in Hindi, he had already composed for the bilingual film, Pativrata in 1959. Raste Aur Manzil (1968) was his next Hindi film where Rafi sang for him. His next was Sant Tulsidas (1972) where he had none other than Bhimsen Joshi rendering his magical voice on his tunes. His Hindi film career however wasn’t much successful or popular.

And for today’s occasion,
As I said earlier I always compared the Hindi versions with the original Marathi songs and found the latter more enjoyable. But as Ram Kadam composed the songs separately and didn’t reuse all the tunes, the songs should be considered separately. It would be unfair to compare the songs. Also the lyrics by Bharat Vyas are superb. So when I considered the songs as original, I could appreciate the songs. And Here I’m with a couple of songs,

Najriyon Ne Le Li Hazaron Ki Jaan – Pinjra (1973) / Ram Kadam – Bharat Vyas
It sounds like a combination of Lawani and Mujra. Very enjoyable and Lata Mangeshkar sings with apt expressions. The Maharashtrian background of the original film was perhaps changed to a North Indian nautanki. Or so it seems from the other songs of the movie.

Sajan Mat Ja Re – Pinjra (1973) / Ram Kadam – Bharat Vyas
Ram Kadam uses a completely different tune for the song, than the one he uses in the original Marathi song. The original song sung by Usha Mangeshkar is one of her biggest popular songs in Marathi. Lata Mangeshkar also sings the song with great expressions and feelings. A classical based song, that sounds very similar to ‘सख्या रे घायाळ मी हरिणी’. Perhaps it’s based on the same raag.

2. Kamal Mitra –
There is hardly any information available about Kamal Mitra. He was a popular Bengali composer, who composed for just a couple of Hindi films. Yahudi Ki Beti (1956) and Bansari Bala (1957). The former had a couple of solos by Lata Mangeshkar which is her only contribution to his films.

Chori Chori Dil Mein – Yahudi Ki Beti (1956) / Kamal Mitra – Shaymlal ‘Shams’
A very catchy tune that captures your attention. Though not a great song, it sounds like a C Ramchandra melody. It reminded me of ‘Kitni Jawan Hai Raat’ from Azad.

3. Kishore Kumar –

Kishore Kumar was an all rounder and participated as a singer, music director, producer, director, lyricist in Hindi films. Though around 15 films are to his credit as a composer, he is not remembered as a composer. After completing six parts of the series, when I reflected about the missing names, his name resurfaced. His well known films include, Jhoomaru and Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein.
His screen image of a comedian actually proved to be an obstacle to his journey as an actor. He was constantly offered roles of similar kind, and I think somehow he wasn’t much happy about it. So he decided to go for serious roles and produced the films himself. But unfortunately no one took him seriously and the films were not commercially successful. I haven’t yet watched any of his produced or directed films, so It won’t be appropriate to comment about it.
His other films, where he produced and composed were, Hum Do Daaku, Door Ka Rahi (again it was a serious film), Badhati Ka Naam Dadhi, Shabbas Daddy, Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi, Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein etc. His production, ‘Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin’ was a film without songs.
Though he was an ace singer, his films and the songs he composed were not much popular. Nobody cared for the films. In a way it was injustice to his creativity. But that’s life.
And, coming to an interesting aspect of today’s post.
If you look at his composed songs, he composed just one song for Lata Mangeshkar. Fortunately it is a solo and here it is.

Na Ro Ae Mere Dil Yahan – Zameen Aasman (1972) / Kishore Kumar – Indeevar
The main thing about the songs composed by Kishore Kumar I feel is that he didn’t copy anyone. He tried to create his own style. While he sang many duets with Lata Mangeshkar, and he respected her a lot as a singer,I don’t understand why he didn’t choose her for his own songs? Could the reason be only financial?

4. B D Burman –
No No. Don’t think I have spelt it wrong! There really was a composer named B D Burman. In a way it is mysterious. His name was Barendra Dev Burman and he was from Agartala, Tripura.
The same state which Burman da belonged to. But there appears no connection between the Burmans.He composed for a film Char Paise (1955) and mysteriously enough though the film is available on Youtube, it was never released as per info available on the net. It was a movie starring Kishore Kumar, Shyama, Agha, Johny Walker and Jayant.
Chandrakant, Adhao, and Miss Yashodhara are mentioned as B D Burman’s assistants.
I found no other film to his credit, though Arunkumar ji mentions a film called ‘Mohabbat Zindabad (1962)’ to his credit. The songs from the latter are not available.
Coming to the present post, fortunately Lata Mangeshkar sang four solos for the film, Char Paise and I have selected a couple of songs.

Maajhi Meri Naiyya Ko – Char Paise (1955) / B D Burman – Sartaj
A very melodious song! The Matka rhythm made me think of ‘Tum Chand Ke Saath’ from Ashiyana, composed by Madan Mohan. The tune is also somewhat similar to it. But the song is very good.

Badnaam Na Ho Jaaun – Char Paise (1955) / B D Burman – Sartaj
Another gem from the same film. I don’t know if I’m prejudiced, but the song too sounds like a Madan Mohan composition. B D Burman composed good songs for the movie. Even though the film wasn’t released, the songs must have been popular then. Still he didn’t get an opportunity for another film, a mystery!

5. Ramkrishna Shinde (Hemant Kedar) –
I gathered the info from an article by Arunkumar Deshmukh on Atul’s blog. Ramkrsihna Shinde was born in Malvan, a town in Kokan area of Maharashtra. His interest in music took him to receive training in music from Pandit Sitaram and he learnt Sitar from Pandit Madhav Rao.He soon started composing for Marathi plays and was quite popular. His first Hindi film as a composer was Manager (1947), which was followed by Kis Ki Jeet (1948) and Bihari (1948).

The failure of the films made him join Dance ballets where he did well, but he returned to Hindi films in the 1950s. He changed his name to Hemant Kedar. It is said that his adapted name represented his favourite Indian classical Ragas, Hemant and Kedar. The book Dhunon Ki Yatra mentions it as a duo, formed by two different composers, Hemant and Kedar. His return however wasn’t fruitful either. He could not make a place for himself in Hindi cinema. His contribution was restricted to B grade films like, Khaufnak Jungle (1955), Police station (1959), Captain India (1960) etc. And unfortunately his unreleased films would also be equal in number. These films include Hamari Kahani, Avinash, Sati Mahanda, Jannat Ki Hoor, Peeli Kothi, Paatal Devta. The last film was supposed to be Mumtaz’s debut, which however wasn’t released. He finally left the films again and joined TV to compose for musical ballets. He also composed for a couple of Marathi films, but I’m not aware of the films. He expired in 1985. Some composers though had talent, couldn’t get a chance to showcase it and slowly faded away. Big banners never thought of their name for any of the movies. It might have compelled them to accept mythological and stunt action films. And once you enter that genre there is no comeback. Unfortunately it happened with so many composers of Hindi films.

Coming to the theme of today’s post, we have six of Lata’s songs for Hemant Kedar, Hamari Kahani (unreleased) five solos and Bihari (1948) one solo.

Sabze Ki Durfishani – Bihari (1948) / Ramkrishna Shinde – Munshi Farog
The song is full of heavy Urdu words, which are beyond understanding of a common man like me. I find it difficult to enjoy a song without the exact meaning. Knowledgeable readers please share the meaning of it. The book Dhunon Ki Yatra credits the song to Naresh Bhattacharya, who is mentioned as co-composer for the film, Bihari. But all the YouTube videos have mentioned Ramkrishna Shinde as the composer.

And, Here’s a link for all the songs from The movie, Hamari Kahani. There were five solos in the film. I haven’t herad all the songs. I’m familiar with the first song, Preetam Se Jake Keh De O Chanda. I think it’s comparitively well known song from the movie.

6. Shridhar Parsekar –
He was a renowned Indian classical musician, who played Violin. He used to participate in Jugalbandis in classical music concerts with stalwarts like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi, Ustad Vilayat Khan. He was also a singer. Born in 1922 in Goa and was very keen. He could play many musical instruments, like violin, clarinet, harmonium to name a few. He was a disciple of Gajanan Buwa Joshi. He joined Marathi film industry in 1939. He also recorded Bhavgeets and Natyageets from reputed singers. He also composed for films, Marathi and Hindi. He had everything, fame, prosperity, wealth. And he added the fourth dimension of alcohol on his own and ultimately ruined his life. He died at the age of 44 in 1965.
His Hindi films include, Nagad Narayan (1943), Meri Amanat (1947), Andhon Ka Sahara (1948) and Gokul Ka Raja (1954).
His playback singers included Rajkumari, Khan Mastana, Mohantara Ajinkya, and Lata Mangeshkar. The latter sang just for one film, Andhon Ka Sahara.

Main to Nachun Chhama Chham – Aandhon Ka Sahara (1948) / Shridhar Parsekar – Keshrinath Vaidya
The song is not available on YouTube. The composer himself has sung three solos for the film, unfortunately these songs are not available either.

7. Madhusudan Aacharya –
He was born in Ahmedabad in 1911 and took tutelage from Ustad Abdul Karin Khan and his disciple Balkrishna. He was also trained under Roshan Ara Begum.
He is remembered for just one film which he produced, sang, acted and composed music for. The film was Kinara (1949). He himself sang a couple of solos for the film and one song was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The film was an average success at the box office. He wanted to build a theatre for plays. He afterwards dedicated himself to writing and creating stage plays. He didn’t compose or produce any film thereafter.

So I have only one song that qualifies for today’s post,

Janewali Ye Jawani Char Din Ki – Kinara (1949) / Madhusudan Aacharya – Sahir Bhopali
The song celebrates youth. We should enjoy life before it’s too late. After all, you are only young once. It’s the only song Lata Mangeshkar sang for him. The composer himself has sung a couple of songs for the movie, and he was a good singer too.

8. D M Tagore –
Dakshina Mohan Tagore was born in 1915/16 in Bengal. He was interested in music and his mother and other family members encouraged his interest. It is mentioned that his mother was his first music teacher. He also played Sitar, Tar Shehnai and Dilruba. At the age of 16, he became a member of Indian radio orchestra. He was also invited to ShantiNiketan by Rabindranath Tagore as an examiner in instrumental music, which he continued to be for many years. He was thus a prominent name in Bengal as a music personality. He composed for Bengali films and also played for some of the films.
For Hindi films, he composed for P C Barua’s Ameeri (1945). The songs had an influence of Bengali music. He also composed for a film in the 1960s, called, ‘Ramdoot Hanuman’ where Lata Mangeshkar sang, ‘Main Ram Virah Ki Mari’. But the film was never completed and the songs were not released.

9. Mukund Masurekar –
He was from Goa and was a proficient harmonium and violin player, though he could play many other instruments too. He was Shridhar Parsekar’s friend and ultimately had the same fate due to alcohol. He directed and composed for a Hindi film, ‘Didi’ in 1948. The songs were melodious and good, though he never composed for a film later. The songs were sung by Shankar Dasgupta, Amirbai Karnataki, Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar.
He later worked as a business manager at Navketan from 1956 and was there till his death. But never composed for their films.

So for today’s post we have only one solo to go,

Tere Nayanon Mein Nindiya – Didi (1948) / Mukund Masurekar – Indeevar
The song is really very good. The composer would have survived, only if he hadn’t fallen prey to alcohol. Why do artists need alcohol to stimulate their creativity? Or is it a necessary part of the filmy circle? Even a few legendary composers could not avoid the temptation.

10. Ramakant Paigankar –
Ramakant Paigankar is better known as an assistant to C Ramchandra. He composed for films like Urvashi (1946) with Shyamsunder and Ramchandra Pal, Mitti (1947) with Lal Mohhamad. He composed for Shadi Se Pehle (1947) with Karnad. It is said that C Ramchandra actually composed for Shadi Se Pehle, but could not openly do so. So his assistants were credited for the movie. There is also a twist in the story, C Ramchandra, who was in contact with Filmistan composed for a few films under the pseudonym, P Ramakant. The films were, Bhedi Bangla (1949), Bhole Bhale (1949), Babuji (1950), Rupaiya (1950), Bakshih (1950). Majority of the films were produced by Master Bhagwan.
(Information obtained from the book ‘Dhunon Ki Yatra’ and from a post by Arunkumar Deshmukh on Atul’s Blog). None of the films had any song by Lata Mangeshkar.

I don’t know if it would be correct to post any song, as apparently the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar in ‘Shadi Se Pehle’ and ‘Bhedi Bangla’ were not composed by Paigankar. But still I will post the solos from Bhedi Bangla.

Man Mein Teri Yaad – Bhedi Bangla (1949) / P Ramakant – Ehsaan Rizvi
The song reminded me of ‘Meri Nazar Mein Tu Rahen’ by Suraiya and Surendra. A lady dreaming about her beloved. The song sounds different from other compositions by C Ramchandra during the period.

Housale Dil Ke Mite – Bhedi Bangla (1949) / P Ramakant – Ehsaan Rizvi
In contrast to the earlier song, this one sounds like a Chitalkar’s composition. It has all the typical elements of a Chitalkar’s tune, that he used to compose sad songs. But a good song of course.

11. Sushant Bannerji –
Nothing is known about the personal life of the composer.
He started with films, Jungle Ki Pukar (1946) with G Goswami, and Kuldeep (1946). The film Kuldeep had good songs by Amirabai, G M Durrani and Mohantara Ajinkya. His film The Last Message (1949) was one of his popular films that had songs by Shamshad Begum. It also had songs by Sudha Malhotra, which were her songs in the initial years of her career. His songs from Deewanji Piya (unreleased) and Monica (unreleased) were good but couldn’t be popular. After a gap of years he composed again for Harishchandra (1958), Ghar Grihasthi (1958) and Swarg Se Sundar Desh Hamara (1959) could not create magic as well. Sushant Bannerji composed for Matlabi Duniya (1961) with Jayanti Joshi as co-composer. The song composed by him ‘Jay Jay Bharat Desh Hamara’ was sung by Talat and Amirbai Karnataki. The song is sung by some of the schools on the occasions of Indepence Day and Republic Day. I wonder if anyone cares for the composer of the song. His choice of singers includes, Manna Dey, Geeta Dutt, Mukesh, Shamshad Begum etc.
And,
As for today’s theme he composed only one song for Lata Mangeshkar in the film, Monica which was unreleased. It is a duet with Geeta Dutt.

Aao Kanha Hamari Gali – Monica (Unrelased) with Geeta Dutt / Sushant Bannerji
It was perhaps a stage dance performance. Very good use of Ghungroos in the song. Again nothing particularly impressive in the song.

11. P Nageshwar Rao –

He was a Composer from South India, who worked for Telugu, Kannada and Tamil films. He was a composer and a singer, but could play a number of musical instruments. He was proficient in playing Harmonium, Tabla, Dholak, Flute, Piano, Violin, Mrudangam, electric Guitar etc. He was an actor as well. After working as an assistant music director, he composed independently for the Telugu film Drohi in 1948.
He was the one to introduce singer P Susheela in one of his Telugu films, named Kanna Talli.
He composed just for a couple of Hindi films, both in the 1960s. The first film was ‘Bhagwan Balaji’ by Padmashree Pictures, starring N T Ramarao. He had composed nearly 15 songs for the films which were based on Carnatic music and its style of singing. The songs were based on classical music. His second film, again N T Ramarao starrer, Chakravarti Vikramaditya (1964) also had songs based on Indian classical music.

For today’s topic, Lata Mangeshkar sang just one song for him for the film, Bhagwan Balaji. Let me present it,

Aao Aa Jao Hey Manmohan – Bhagwan Balaji (1961) / P Nageshwar Rao – Saraswati Kumar Deepak
I heard the song (and name of the composer) for the first time during the research for the post. It’s a good song, with lots of aalaps and a high pitched voice. But the song offers nothing new. It’s a mystery that renowned composers from the regional films couldn’t get much appreciation in Hindi films. Perhaps they were not available as full time composers from Hindi films or were happy the success they achieved in regional films. The filmy culture of Bollywood perhaps didn’t suit them, they couldn’t adjust to it.
Whatever the reasons may be!

12. Raj Ratan –
Nothing much is known about him. He tried his luck in few of the Hindi films. Though the songs were good, he could not attract big banners. He was associated with three Hindi films. His first film, Naaz and Subburaj starrer, Dekha Pyar Tumhara (1963) had good songs, including a solo by Lata Mangeshkar. An interesting trivia with the film is that Naaz and Subbiraj married secretly or he proposed to her during the making of the film. His other films, ‘Ramu Ustad (1971)’ and ‘Madine Ki Galiyan (1979)’ won’t ring a bell for the majority of us. But the latter had melodious songs by Rafi and Anuradha Paudwal. It was the beginning of the latter’s career.

Aai Bahar Mere Angana – Dekha Pyar Tumhara (1963) / Raj Ratan – Majrooh
A very cheerful song, pleasant on ears. Though the songs of the film were good too, he had to wait for eight years for the next film release. There’s again a gap of eight years for his last released film. The film Madine Ki Galiyan is said to have good Rafi’s songs. But I’m yet to listen to it.

13. B N Bali –

I could not get much info about the personal life of the composer, Baldev Nath Bali. His first film, Bedard was released in 1949 and his last film, Do Dilwale in 1973. And in the span of 24 years, he composed for
around 24 films. That means an average of one film a year. He was restricted to mythological, religious and B grade films. I have not heard many of his songs, so won’t be commenting about his style. His other films include, Baghdad Ka Chor (1953), Baghi Sardar (1956), Pehla Pehla Pyar (1958), Flying Rani (1959), Hawda Express (1961), Paatal Nagari (1963), Bhakta Pralhad (1965), Sukhi Lutera (1969) etc.
He at times copied some of the famous tunes of old songs to compose his songs. But in all, though he could deliver variety, the quality was not excellent. He should be thanked for giving opportunities to newcomers. He offered songs to Krishna Kalle, Usha Balsawar, Suresh Rajvanshi etc. Except Krishna Kalle, the other singers were not popular.
and,
Lata Mangeshkar has sung only one song for him for the film, Bhakta Pralhad. I couldn’t get the song on the net.

O Ri Nindiya Aa – Bhakta Pralhad (1965) / B N Bali – Bharat Vyas

14. S V Venkataraman and T R Ramnathan –
Nothing is available about the composer duo. Lata Mangeshkar sang only one song for them. Let me present it.

Main To Nainon Mein – Manohar (1954) / Venkataraman and Ramnathan – Vishwamitra Adil
I was a little bewildered on finding two different versions. One appears as a duet, while the other appears to be an edited version, with the male and chorus voices deleted.

Here’s the duet
I couldn’t identify the male voice. It sounds like a nautanki song, where the dancer is throwing tantrums and boasting about her beauty.

And,
Here’s the solo
Having removed the interesting or the funny part, the song appears meaningless.

15. Pamarthi Venkateswara Rao and Ashwathama –
I couldn’t get much information about the duo. But it seems they have worked for Telugu movies in the 1950s-60s. Only one Hindi movie, Ram Aur Rahim (1968) is credited to them. Lata Mangeshkar has only one duet with them. But only a couple of songs from the movie are available on YouTube.

Ruthe Prabhu Kaise Manaoon – Ram Aur Rahim (1968) with Manna Dey / Pamarthi Venkateswara Rao & Ashwathama – Gulabchand
Lata’s duet with Manna Dey is not available. So I could not post it.

Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs 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 shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.