Book on the ‘golden era of Bollywood music’

Rafi did 21 takes for ‘Jaane kya dhoondti’. ‘Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi’ is cited in court orders. A new book throws up interesting stories about Hindi film music from the ’50s and ’60s

Ajay Mankotia breaks into Hindi songs from the ’50s and ’60s many times during the interview with Showtime, about his latest book ‘Bollywood Odyssey’. It’s second nature to him.

“All songs were melody-based. They will never get out of our collective memories. Music directors and singers (in those days) were absolutely talented. The ’50s-’60s will go down in the annals of history as the golden era of Bollywood music,” the former taxman and music aficionado from Delhi explains why his book focuses on the Hindi film music from that era and the early ’70s.

Some songs have transcended pop culture, the 65-year-old says and picks out a masterpiece by Sahir Ludhianvi. “‘Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaye hum dono’ from film ‘Gumrah’ (1963) has been quoted in court orders, from divorce cases to a Bofors scam case. The judges have cited it in matters that have no foreseeable solution and with a hope to conclude them without bitterness,” he explains.

In 51 chapters, the book covers a lot of bases. Trivia such as Mohammed Rafi gave 21 takes for 'Jaane kya dhoondti rehti hain’ from ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ (1961), composed by Khayyam, are plenty. Songs that did not make the cut have also been illustrated.

A former taxman, Ajay Mankotia
comes from a family of musicians.

‘Ke Chand Sa Koi Chehra', a qawwali, was dropped from ‘Sholay’ because the 1975 revenge drama was already too long. “It was supposed to be lyricist Anand Bakshi’s debut as a singer,” he shares. ‘Chain se humko’ was deleted from ‘Pran Jaye Per Vachan Na Jaye’ (1974), after a fall-out between composer O P Nayyar and singer Asha Bhosle. “But it continued to be available in the audio cassette and won an award for the best song,” he informs.

Then there was censorship. “The censor board thought ‘fifi’ used in ‘Jata kahan hai deewane’ in ‘CID’ (1956) was a bad word and ordered it to be removed,” he says. Six decades later, the song by legendary poet Majrooh Sultanpuri was finally remixed and used in the period film ‘Bombay Velvet’ in its entirety.

Ajay also brings up glaring mistakes that fell through the cracks. “Two stanzas in ‘Main pyar ka rahi hoon’ from ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’ (1962) got swapped. Who made the mistake? It remains a mystery because when I pointed it out to O P Nayyar, he remained non-committal.”

‘Pehle mile the sapnon mein’ from ‘Zindagi’ (1964) is another example. “The hero goes from describing his love interest as ‘Saanwali haseena’ (dusky beauty) in the first antara to ‘Gora badan’ (fair-skinned) in the third!” he reveals.

He also weighs in on tandem songs — a song sung by two artistes at different times in a film. “Why has one version become more popular?” he wonders, citing the example of ‘Saranga teri yaad mein’ by Mukesh that caught on unlike Rafi’s rendition.

Vicarious songs were another recurring feature. In ‘Zanjeer’ (1973), two street buskers sing ‘Deewane hain deewanon ko na ghar chahiye’ to give voice to the romance brewing between Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri’s characters. “Amitabh was playing an angry young man and it would have been out of character for him to sing,” says Ajay, explaining the rationale.

Ajay was also intrigued by the use of back-to-back songs in ‘Bobby’ (1973). When Raja, a rich boy, woos Bobby Braganza, a poor Catholic girl, with an upbeat song with a Western flourish ‘Na mangoo sona chandi’, she teases his advances with a desi song ‘Jhoot bole kauva kaate’ soon after, says Ajay.

Though ‘Bollywood Odyssey’ is a scholarly work, the book is written in a fun and engaging style, he signs off.