My father being a theatre activist and an active member of IPTA(Indian Peoples Theatre Association) in Calcutta and Guwahati, I grew up to the tunes of the revolutionary music compositions from Salil Choudhury. In fact I had heard his revolutionary numbers like
Hey samhalo dhan ho, kaastye ta dao shaan ho - or -
Manbo na ei bandhane, manbo na ei shrinkhale,
earlier than I heard the Vande Mataram. Salil Choudhury has been virtually a part of my family, not a single day has past when he and his compositions or poems was not a topic of discussion in our house.
Salil Choudhury the man who created ripples in the field of music, poems and literature.He also sang along with Sabita Choudhury and other members of his chorus group for his IPTA compositions. Salil Choudhury had effectively used a lead voice along with chorus and orchestra that created a special stylization of his compositions.
He is one of those composers who has composed songs for films in various languages like Hindi, Bengali and a number of South Indian languages, TV serials, Background scores for films and documentaries, compositions for various choir groups and others. It’s impossible to list down from his enormous music collections.
I would list down my favorites in two languages Hindi and a few Bengali numbers -
The Hindi Numbers -
He started composing music for Hindi films with a Bimal Roy Classic, Do Bigha Zameen in 1953, in fact the original story of Do Bigha Zameen(Rikshawala - Bengali) was written by Salil Choudhury. This film saw him create some of the most memorable numbers for the years to come, like -
Dharti kahe pukar ke. and
- Hariyaalaa saawan Dhol bajaata aaya.
My choices -
Koi hota jisko apna, apna kaha dete. - Film: Mere Apne, Singer: Kishore Kumar
He had created a revolution with his compositions for the film Madhumati, I don’t think there is a single music lover in our country who doesn’t like at least one of his Madhumati numbers. I like all of them, such a variety, rarely to be seen in any other film. But since I have limited choices I’ll put down just two -
Ghadi ghadi mora dil dharke. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, I love the using of this tune as a background music in a number of occasions in the film.
Dil tadap tadap ke kaha raha hai aa bhi ja. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh
Zindagi khwab hai, khwab mein. - Film: Jaagte Raho, Singer: Mukesh, there’s a beautiful prayer song in this film sung by Lataji, Jaago mohan pyaare.
Aye mere pyaare watan, aye mere. - Film: Kaabuliwala, Singer: Manna Dey, I like the very slow pace and the pathos that builds up by this song.
Nayan humare saajh sarkare, dekhe jo yeh sapne. - Film: Annadata, Singer: Mukesh
Kayi baar yuhin bhi dekha hai. - Film: Rajnigandha, Singer: Mukesh, there is another number from the same film which I like, Rajnigandha phool tumhare, sung by Lataji
Na jaane kyun hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath. - Film: Chhoti si baat, Film: Lata Mangeshkar, the other number - Jaane mann jaane mann sung by Yesudas and Asha Bhonsle is equally good.
Ni sa ga ma, pa ni sa re ga, ga, ga re mitwa. - Film: Aanand Mahal, Singer: Yesudas and Sapna dekhe morey khoye khoye naina sung by Yesudas from the same film
Another film which gave us some wonderful immortal compositions was Aanand, my all time favorites.
Naa, jiya lage na, ter bina jiya kahin. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar (this song also has a Bengali counterpart but at present I am unable to recall it)
Maine tere liye hi saat rang.- Singer: Mukesh
Zindagi Kaisi hai paheli. - Singer: Manna Dey
He was a master composer who used the same notes of a composition in different languages, and the songs became all time hits.
Some such songs, which are there in Hindi as well as Bengali and both the versions, are my favorites -
Hindi: Kahin door jab din dhal jaye.- Film: Aanand, Singer: Mukesh
Bengali: Aamay prashnno karey neel dhrubotara. - Singer: Hemanta Mukherjee(Hemant Kumar)
Hindi: Oo sajna, barkha bahar aayi, ras ki. - Film: Parakh, Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Bengali: Naa jeyo na, rajoni ayekhono baki. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Hindi: Jaa re jaa re udh ja re panchhi. - Film: Maaya, Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Bengali: Jaa re ja re ure ja re paakhi. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Salil Choudhury has composed a huge number of Bengali songs of different varieties -
My choices of his Bengali Modern songs are many but would list just 2 over here.
Saath bhai champa jaago re jaago re. - Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, this is one of his very famous and hit Bengali numbers. I love the rhythm and the flow of this song; the song seems to build up within the listener.
Shono kono ek din, aakash baathash. - Singer: Hemant Kumar, this is a beautiful romantic song.
Music and lyrics by Salil Choudhury. He tuned many songs to his own lyrics, all of which are worth a mention but due to space limitation I’ll just mention 4 very famous numbers.
Dhitang dhitang boley. - Singer: Hemant Kumar, a very, very famous Bengali song. It’s a song of happiness, prosperity and warm feeling.
Aaye brishti jhepe, dhaan debo mepe. - Singer: Sandhya Mukherjee, a song to welcome the rains.
Aami jharer kaachhey rekhe elaam. - Singer: Hemant Mukherjee, a song of life.
Kono ek gaayer badhur, katha shonayee. - Singer: Hemant Kumar, this is a classic song by him, which beautifully depicts the life of a common woman in rural Bengal, the ups and downs in the life of million such women.
He composed music to poems written by very famous Bengali poets. Some such songs have become classics. These songs created a special identity for Salil Choudhury and Hemant Kumar, who have sung most of such songs.
My favorites -
Runner - Poet: Sukanto Bhattacharya(uncle of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, CM W. Bengal), Singer: Hemant Kumar, this is a song of the postman in the earlier days who used carry letters from one village to another on foot during night. This song has also been recorded in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice.
Abaak prithibi, abaak korle tumi. - Poet: Sukanto Bhattacharya, Singer: Hemant Kumar, a song depicting the harsh realities of society and sarcastically puts down our acceptance to such atrocities, how immune we have become to such situations.
Bidroho aaj bidroho charidikey. - Poet: Sukanto Bhattacharya, Singer: Hemant Kumar, this song is generally sung as a continuation to the above song, this song calls for a revolution, to break the chains of the society and to come forward and build a new and better world.
Palki’r gaan - Poet: Sattyendranath Dutta(He is known for his rhymes), Singer: Hemant Kumar, this song is of a palanquin, that travels from one village to another and all that it comes across in this journey. This is one of the most interesting compositions of Salil Choudhury, the rhythm of this composition actually creates the feeling of being in a palanquin and traveling in it. A masterpiece.