Mukesh sang thousands of songs and made his presence felt during a long innings of 25+ years from 1950 to 1975 from “Bawre Nain” to Kabhi Kabhi”.No vocal pyrotechniques, no virtuoso performances, no tonal richness like Rafi, not a sonorous voice like Jagjit’s, no baritone like Bhupinder’s, no versatility like Kishore, rather a Mukesh with a very limited range of scales, no classical background, nasal twang, and rather a staccato voice…despite all these limitations Mukesh was a great success because his was the voice of a common man.He put feelings into a song.Simplicity was the feature. Mukesh was to film music, what Rajesh Khanna was to acting, the boy next door with a charming smile.
A generation of Hindi film music lovers who were adults or grown ups in the period 1955 to 1975, all those who are 40+ today, lapped up Mukesh’s songs, and still do. Pathos ridden, sad songs were Mukesh’s forte, he also sang some perky, catchy numbers, but his sad songs were superb. Everyone identified with Mukesh’s voice, and he was and continues to be the favorite of “phate aashiqs”(dejected lovers), and all categories of bath-room singers.Mukesh started as a copy of KL saigal with “dil jalta hai to jalne do”, but soon evolved and established his own style. Rajkapoor, Shanker-Jaikishen and Mukesh was the most famous combination, and Mukesh was known as Raj Kapoor’s voice, but he sang for all heroes and all music directors of his era. Kalyanji Anandji used Mukesh to the hilt rather than SJ. The album has 18 songs, all his famous sad songs…”aansoo bhari hain”, “ dost dost na raha”, “hum chhod chale hain mehfil ko”, “woh tere pyar ka gham”..are all there.
My favorites;
Yaad ayi aadhi raat ko: a perky number from Kanhaiya, I would have prefered “ruk jao janewali” more.
Haan diwana hoon main: a haunting melody from Saranga by Sardar Malik. Voilin counters and accordion pieces are superb. Anu Malik is yet to come anywhere near his father’s music, and this song is his favoprite too.
Teri yaad dil se: beautifully orchestrasted number by Shanker Jaikishen from Haryali aur raasta.
Bhooli hui yadon: Madan Mohan’s classic from Sanjog.
Mujh ko is raat ki: The first major hit for the newly emerged duo Kalyanji Anandji, that made the pair worth reckoning.
Main to ik khwaab hoon: another great number by Kalyanji Anandji. Mukesh sang so many memorable songs that one album can never do justice. This album could have been made better by dropping some songs in favor of some better songs which are missing. Nevertheless, an excellent album worth listening to any number of times, all alone.
With Mukesh gone, the entire era and genre of songs that were pensive, reflective, introspective, philosophical, ironical of life’s woes, sad, pathos, and some of the exquisite poetry, was also gone. An era of music and poetry that touched your hearts and made your eyes moist is gone forever. Today’s songs only jostle your mind, move your limbs, but don’t touch you the way Mukesh’s songs did.
Quiz: Mukesh sang for almost all the heroes of his days, can anyone tell me whether he sang for Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor too?