Introduction
I love reading books and Hindi film music. There have been many books about Hindi film music, but this book is special as it is a musical journey from the 1940s till today. And the other special feature was that it was written by one of the best authors on this subject Raju Bharatan.
About the Author
Raju Bharatan is one of the foremost experts on Hindi film music. He writes extensively about Hindi music and cricket. I was introduced to Bharatan’s writings courtesy the ‘Illustrated Weekly’, where he used to write a column on film music. My interest in Hindi film music grew thanks to this column. Raju Bharatan is the author of a biography of Lata Mangeshkar.
The Book
This book is a journey down memory lane starting from the 1940s till today. This book is a gem for lovers of Hindi film music, for you will find here facts which you never knew about.
The book is divided into 22 chapters and each chapter revolves around a particular individual. From Surayya to Naushad to Raj Kapoor to Lata, Asha, Rafi, Kishore, Vasant Desai and finally to A R Rehman – they are all there in this book. While each chapter focuses on an individual, the author doesn’t restrict the chapter to that individual, but explores various milestones in the music industry which are in some way related to that individual.
This book is truly a delight for music lovers as you can find out how your favourite songs evolved and how they came alive on the screen. The most amazing aspect of this book is the treasure trove of trivia that it contains.
Trivia
Since the highlight of this book is the trivia, I am sharing some of it here. Some of these facts will not be known to many and are revelations for music fans.
1) Initially, every studio had a resident music director, who was a paid employee and had to churn out music for all movies made by that studio. Only later on, was prominence given to music directors and the man responsible for that was Naushad.
2) Producers wanted singing stars like Saigal, Ashok Kumar and Surayya. It was only in the late 40s that specialized playback singers were used.
3) Shamshad Begum was the queen of Bollywood in the 40s. Lata’s arrival was a turnaround from Begum’s open voice and music directors now got the opportunity to create compositions since they had found a musical voice.
4) Initially Naushad was the highest paid composer earning Rs.1 lakh per movie. O P Nayyar raised the bar to 1.5 lakh. But the Shanker-Jaikishan era saw them charging minimum 2.5 lakh per movie. But other composers like S D Burman and Madan Mohan were paid a paltry Rs.20, 000 only
5) Mukesh was the voice of Raj Kapoor, but once Mukesh was bitten by the acting bug and he singed a contract for a movie, as a result of which he could not take up singing assingments. Manna Dey was the beneficiary, as he became the second singing voice of Raj Kapoor.
6) Lata fought with Raj Kapoor over the royalty issue for singers and didn’t sing for him for a couple of years. After Mera Naam Joker flopped, RK realized that if his next venture Bobby had to work, he needed Lata and so he went to Lata’s doorstep. Lata used this opportunity to demand that Shankar be thrown out of RK studio and replaced with her ‘boys’ Laxmikant-Pyarelal
7) Interestingly, most of the tunes of Bobby and the other RK movies had been composed earlier by Shankar-Jaikishan. RK used Laxmi-Pyare and Ravindra Jain to only arrange the music.
8) The book contains the details of Surraya’s affair with Dev Anand and how she was ready to give up her career for him. Dev had given her a diamond ring, but her grandmother threw it into the Arabian sea and cruelly ended their affair.
9) The book contains revelations about the love life of the Mangeshkar sisters. Lata wanted to marry Jaikishan, but that didn’t happen. She then had a brief affair with C Ramchandra. But her true love was Raj Singh Dungarpur (former BCCI President). The book has details about they lived together in the same flat in London.
10) The author describes a situation, when he went to O P Nayyar’s house along with a few lady colleagues. OP was showing them around his house and when he came to the bedroom, he remarked that this was where he and Asha slept together for 9 years!! Asha’s affair with OP broke, when OP slapped Asha’s daughter, after which she walked out of his life, leaving him a broken man.
11) Naushad never liked Kishore Kumar and called him a ‘grammarless performer’, he never created a song for Kishore in his long career.
12) S D Burman wanted Rafi to sing all the songs for Aradhana. But son R D recorded "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani" and "Roop Tera Mastana" during S D’s absence and the rest is history.
13) The song "Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo" was supposed to be a Lata-Asha duet, but Lata called lyricist Pradeep and forcibly converted it into a solo.
14) B R Chopra had a ‘no-Lata’ policy and preferred Asha’s voice. But when brother Yash Chopra started his own studio, his wife Pamela ensured that he overturned the policy and made Lata as the pivot point of the music of his movies. And the result is well-known, all Yash-Raj hits had Lata’s songs as the highlight.
15) The author highlights how music composers plagiarized songs. R D Burman stole “If its Tuesday” and created “Chura Liya Hai Tumne”. ABBA’s “Mama Mia” became “Mila Gaya Humko Saathi”. Shankar-Jaikishan were no less behind. Jim Reeves “My lips are sealed” was the inspiration for “Ajeeb Dastan hai yeh” and “Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi” was lifted from an Egyptian song.
There are many such facts in this book, which are a delight for those who like trivia.
Some of the positive aspects of the book
a) The author’s first hand knowledge of the subject involved
b) The narration style which transports you into that era.
c) The treasure trove of trivia he has shared, indicating that he knows much more.
d) He brings alive the wonderful songs which we all love by sharing the history behind the songs and the movies.
e) His writing style which is crisp, clear and factual.
Some negative points of this book
a) Author’s bias is reflected in many parts of the book. For example, he starts his Kishore Kumar chapter by referring to Kishore’s plagiarism of a song from Jhumroo and makes a big issue out of it.
b) He refers to the Mangeshkar sisters as the Corsican sisters, as though they are mafia. He dwells on their love life in sordid detail, which seems to be a ploy to increase sales, (which actually is not at all required).
c) He blames Amitabh Bachchan for the decline of standards in the music industry in the 80s, but doesn’t talk about the various musical hits of Bachchan like Silsila, Kabhi Kabhi, Abhiman etc.
d) The author dismisses Bappi Lahiri and other music directors of the 80s and doesn’t even mention them, when it is clear that whatever may be their shortcomings, they too have a contribution to the music industry.
e) He goes overboard in his praise for A R Rahman, while ignoring other contemporaries.
Recommendation
This book is strongly recommended for those who love Hindi film music. This is in fact a collector’s edition. I will rate this book 8.5/10
This review is dedicated to my MS friends Tannadi (@astrofreak1234) Subhashji(@subhash_jsr) Mathurji (@jmathur) all of who I know love Hindi film music.