An aficionado's selection of Lata gems

Chiranjiv Singh, retired ambassador who personally knew some music legends, compiles a list of his favourites

What a treasure of songs Lata Mangeshkar has given us! Here is my pick of some favourites:

1. One obviously starts with where it began. The first song here is Paa lagun kar jori re from Aap ki Sewa Mein, her first playback song, composed by Datta Davajekar.

2. Next is Master Ghulam Haider’s Bedard tere dard ko seene se laga ke from Padmini. After this Ghulam Haider went back to Lahore. He died shortly after that.

3. Anil Biswas’s Tumhare bulane ko jee chahta hai from Laadli is one of Lata’s initial successes. Anil Biswas taught her how to breathe while recording. He also taught her the importance of words (Sahithya), where to stress and where to pause. In these early songs the influence of Noor Jehan is clear. It was Anil Biswas who helped Lata find her own voice. In Kahan tak ham uthaen gham from Arzoo one can see all Anil Biswas’s training. Each word, each expression is chiselled. Man men kisi ki preet basa le from Araam, Woh din kahan gaye bata from Tarana, O mere Ranjhana from Heer, Rooth ke tum to chal diye from Jalti Nishani, Na dir deem from Pardesi and Allah bhi hai mallah bhi hai from Maan show how she matured under Anil Biswas’s mentoring.

4. Mahal was a milestone film in Lata’s career. The three Lata numbers Ayega ayega, Dil ne phir yaad kiya and Mushkil hai bahut mushkil firmly established her reputation. Mahal was the swansong of Khemchand Prakash. He did not live to see the success of his great score.

5. Naushad took Lata for Andaaz for the first time. Andaaz was a super hit film and consolidated Lata’s success. Tod diya dil mera is taken from Andaaz. The other Naushad numbers for Lata included here are, Lo pyar ki ho gayee Jeet and Nadaan mohabbat walon ko from Jadoo, Ai dil tujhe Kasam hai from Dulari, Marna teri gali mein, and Jogan ban jaoon gi from Shabab, Bachpan ki muhabbat ko from Baiju Bawara. They all have naushad's characteristic sweetness.

6. Raju Bharatan, in his biography of Lata, has quoted Surayya as saying how painstakingly Husn Lal worked on her and taught her. Nirmala Devi, wife of Pandit Husn Lal, graciously overcoming all past bitterness, told me, “Panditji was a worshipper of Saraswati. In Lata’s voice he saw Saraswati. That was the attraction.” Dil hi to hai tadap gaya from Aadhi Raat, Kahan hai tu mere sapnon ke raja, Abhi to main jawan hoon, Woh paas bhi rah kar paas nahi and Aaj kuchh aisi chot lagi hai from Afsana, Chale jana nahin, and Jo dil mein khushi bankar aaye from Badi Bahen, Dil bhi diya to kisko diya from Meena Bazaar, Pi pi ki boli from Aan Baa, Thehar o jaane wale from Birha KI Raat, are some memorable Husn Lal Bhagatram compositions for Lata Mangeshkar.

7. Arguably the finest combination of composer and singer in Hindi film music was that of C Ramchandra and Lata Mangeshkar. What a cornucopia of melody they gave us. Here are a few of those unforgettable melodies: Chanda ki chhaon mein, Dard-e jigar, Katate hain dukh mein yeh din, Naina laga ke from Parchhain, Mehfil mein jal uthi shama, Aisi muhabbat se ham baaz aye, Majboor meri aankhen from Nirala. Aankhon mein sama jao, Ab woh baaten kahan, Muhabbat mein pehla kadam rakhne walo, Mujh pe ilzam-e-bewafai hai from Yasmin, Muhabbat aisi dhadkan hai, Mujh se mat poochh, O asmaan wale, Dua kar gham-e-dil from Anarkali. Tere dar se khushi maangi from Hungama, Woh paas aa rahe hain from Samadhi, Ishq men jo kuchh na hona tha from Saqi, Ai chand pyar mera from khazana, Ji chahata hai ab to from Jhaanjar, and above all, Tum kya jano from Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo.

8. Sajjad Hussain was called the composers’ composer. C Ramchandra said about him, “We compose for you people, Sajjad composes for us.” Some of Lata's most intricate songs have been composed by him. Here are a few: Jaate ho to jaao from Khel, Aaj mere naseeb ne from Hulchul, Woh to chale gaye ai dil from Sangdil, Tera dard dil men basa liya from Rukhsana, Ai dilruba from Rustom Sohrab, Tumhen dil diya ye kya kia Maine, Woh raat din and Kaali kaali raat from Saiyyan. When the Sarod maestro Pandit Rajeev Taranath heard this song he was intrigued how the song begins with Meend, which is unusual. Sajjad Hussain told me, “God created only two singers, Noor Jehan and Lata. After that He stopped creating singers.”

9. Roshan composed for Lata some of the sweetest songs. In the ‘50s, Lata decided to produce a film and her choice of music director was Roshan, The film was never made. Some of Roshan compositions are: Woh paas nahi majboor hai dil, Kahan hai tu kahan hai, Dekho ji mera jiya churaye liye jaaye, from Naubahar, Bahe akhiyon se dhaar from Hamlog, Is dil ki halat kya kahiye from Anhonee, Mohabbat ki kismat banane se pahle from Malhar, Vikal mora manwa from Mamta, and Dil bhi tera hum bhi tere from Taksaal.

10. Madan Mohan was Lata’s Rakhi-bandh bhai and that relationship led to many melodious songs. Here are a few: Tum ho saath from Mohar, Tum chand ke saath chale aao from Aashiyana, Preetam meri duniya mein from Ada, Guzre hain is tarah se from Bahana, Woh chup rahe to mere dil ke dagh from Jahanara, Lag ja gale from Woh Kaun Thi, and finally, Hamare baad mehfil mein afsaane byan honge/ Baharen ham Ko dhoondengi na jaane hum kahan honge from Baaghi.

11. Hemant Kumar was as fine a composer as he was a singer. Some of his songs for Lata are: Ai mere chaman, and Meri taqdeer ke maalik from Shart, Jahan mein aayi diwali from Taj. Mujhe nazar se utar kar bhi from Lagan, Mera dil ye pukare aaja and Teri yaad mein jal kar dekh liya from Nagin, Kahan le chale ho, Chand niklega jidhar from Durgesh Nandini, Jhoom jhoom dhalti raat from Kohra, Kuch dil ne kaha from Anupama.

12. After Ghulam Haider it was another Lahori, Shyam Sundar who gave Lata's career a boost. Lata ranked his Saajan ki galiyan chhod chale from Bazaar as one of her top favourite songs. Some other unforgettable Shyam Sundar compositions for Lata are: Bahar aayi khili kaliyan and Tujh ko bhulana mere bas mein nahin from Alif Laila. Tute hue armaanon ki ek duniya and nazar se dur jaanewale from Lahore, Ai dil unko yaad na karna from Bazaar.

13. Shankar Jaikishan’s career is intertwined with that of Lata from their first film Barsaat onwards. Here are some of their songs: Bichhde huye pardesi from Barsaat, Tu ne haye mere zakham-e-jigar ko and Yaad ayi hai from Nagina, Ab raat guzarne wali hai and Ik bewafa se pyar kiya from Awaara, Chandrama mad bhara from Patrani and Maan bhi le ai dil from Baghi Sipahi.

14. Gulam Mohammed composed some memorable songs for Lata. A few are: Hum pyar tumhi se karte hain, Dil de ke sanam and Tootegi na pyar ki dor from Amber,

Shikayat kya karoon from Kundan, Chalte chalte, Thare rahiyo and Aaj ham apni duaon ka asar from Pakeezah.

There are other composers, other songs; the list can go on and on. This random list comprises only Lata’s solo songs. There are equally memorable duets and choruses. These songs are a unique coming together of great talents. It was a rare occurrence in the history of music. A new form of music had been created and the excitement of creation, of excellence, was in the air. One can only listen to S Mohinder's Guzra hua zamana aata nahin dobara/ Haafiz Khuda tumhara from Shirin Farhad in Lata’s poignant voice and reflect on what a musical treasure has been bequeathed to us.

Let me end with an incident which Master Hansraj Behal told my friend Vijay Naphade. Lata was to come for rehearsal before recording a song, she was late and Hansraj Behal was waiting. After three four hours she entered hurriedly. As soon as she entered the strings of the instruments spontaneously started playing. Who knows whether it was a miracle or Hansraj Behal’s imagination. But here is an early Lata song composed by him: Dil-e-nashad ko jeene ki hasrat ho gayee from Chunariya (1948) to remember Lata’s miracle.