Chhaayaageet #125 - “Is chhand ke upar gaana banao.”

1950s Hollywood. An American filmmaker is on location in erstwhile Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. There are a ton of extras on set playing POWs. They need to march in unison into the camera frame. But they are not able to do that properly in time and in step. The filmmaker is upset, frustrated at the group. He yells at them, “For God’s sake, whistle a march to keep time to.” One of the extras is an expert whistler and he starts whistling. The extras march to the beat of the whistle. Lo and behold, a hit is born! The tune becomes famous as Colonel Bogey’s March.

1957 Bombay. The veteran music composer and his favorite singer have just completed a day’s worth of work in the recording studio. The composer has discovered the singer only a couple of years back and has taken a big liking to him. The composer’s son, who has started helping his father with music arrangement, has also taken a liking to the singer and a bond of friendship has built between the two.

After a day at the studio, the conversation turns to plans for the evening. Someone suggests, let’s go watch this English film playing at Metro Cinema. It’s a David Lean film starring Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai.

As the scene with the British POWs marching to a whistle comes on the screen, the composer’s ears perk up. During the interval, he says to the singer, “Ye chhand bahot achha hai.” This musical phrase is very nice.

Once the movie finishes, they get back into the car. The composer’s son has also noted the whistling tune. He plays it while banging his fingers on the dash.

Almost 10 years later a film goes on the floor in Bombay. The filmmaker has explained a situation to the composer. The heroine and her friends are driving in a car. They see the hero walking in the middle of the road blocking the car. That’s the situation for a song.

The composer thinks about the situation. A hero marching to his own tune in the middle of the road. He thinks back to the marching whistling tune from The Bridge on the River Kwai that they have heard many years ago. He calls his son and tells him, “Is chhand ke upar gaana banao,” Compose the song based on this musical phrase.

The son is confused. “Kaise?”, he asks. How?

“Ye aise”, the composer responds and hums it for his son, improvising on the whistling tune by just changing a note. Like this. One thing leads to another, and the tune is ready. The lyricist is asked to write words to the tune. It is presented to the filmmaker for his approval. He, too, likes it.

SD Burman composed Yeh dil na hota bechara and the soundtrack of Jewel Thief (1967), produced by Dev Anand, directed by Vijay Anand, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song is picturised on Dev Anand and Tanuja, with playback by Kishore Kumar.

The whistling tune from The Bridge on the River Kwai became famous as Colonel Bogey’s March. The film won seven Academy awards including the Oscar for Best Picture. It also won a Grammy. It is widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made.

All songs of Jewel Thief are written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, except for Rula ke gaya sapna mera which is written by Shailendra. Shailendra was not keeping good health in those days. Majrooh Sultanpuri was foremost in writing lyrics to a tune.

The song Dil pukare aare aare is notable for being the first duet that Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi recorded together after their fallout over royalties in the 1960s.

Jewel Thief was a very tightly made noir suspense thriller, enlivened with Burman da’s music and colorful visuals. It became a hit at the box office, and the soundtrack also became extremely popular.

Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singer: Kishore Kumar
*ing: Dev Anand, Tanuja
Director: Vijay Anand
Producer: Dev Anand
Film: Jewel Thief (1967)