Chhaayaageet #183 - "Itna bold experiment aap nahin karenge to kaun karega?"
"If you won't do this bold experiment, then who will?"
It's the mid 1970s. The music scene in UK is probably at its most vibrant, with more clubs, more singers, more groups, more bands, and more importantly, more fans. The music also is undergoing a kind of reinvention; several sub genres are being created, from blues rock that came of age towards the late 60s to psychedelic rock, and progressive rock, an attempt to lend more artistic credibility to rock music.
The filmmaker is on a visit to UK. He decides to checkout the night club scene, and the place to live it up is Tiffanys on Shaftesbury Avenue in London. If you want to know what clubbing is, there's nothing better than a Thursday night at Tiffany's. Young people, teenage boys and girls, dancing the night away, live DJs, revolving dance floor, the works. People finding their future life partners in the revelry. Good times. No, great times.
The filmmaker is dressed as expected, smart clothes and a tie being the unsaid dress code for men at Tiffanys. He listens to the music intently. He observes how the people dance. One song finishes, and another starts. The crowd on the dance floor lets out a collective roar of appreciation for the DJ and continue dancing. It continues well past 2am in the morning. One song after another, the music never stops. People step out of the dance floor for a bite and a drink, and then back on grooving to the beats.
Back in India, he gathers the music composer and lyricist and shares his observations from Tiffanys.
"Meri film mein dance competition ki situation hai. Iss me mein ek tune istemaal nahin karunga. Mein chahta hoon teen ya chaar tunein istemaal ho," the filmmaker shares. There is a situation for a dance competition in the film. In this I don't want only one tune. I want to use three or four tunes.
The composer is ever ready for a new challenge, a new exploration and experience. Four songs are created, four different sets of lyrics, each set to a different tune composition.
Before the recording, a few friends and musicians of the composer express their hesitation, "Ek gaane ka maza lene lagte hain to usko chhod kar aap doosre gaane mein chale jaate hain. Aur isi tarah teesre mein chale jaate hain. To aisa na ho ki logon ko pasand nahi aaye." When we are enjoying one song, you then leave it and go into the second song. And similarly you go into the third song. It shouldn't be that people don't like this.
The composer agrees, "Baat to sahi hai." What you are saying is right.
Then he turns to the filmmaker, "Magar itna bold experiment aap nahin karenge to kaun karega? Karke dekhiye. Nahin pasand aayega to puri tune change karenge. Thoda aap ka nuksaan hoga shooting ka, magar karke dekhiye." If you don't do this bold experiment, then who will? Give it a try. If people don't like it, then we will change the whole tune. There may be some loss for shooting, but give it a try.
Nassir Hussain envisioned the medley of four songs in the dance competition sequence of his film Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977), music by RD Burman, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The songs are filmed on Rishi Kapoor, Sunita Kulkarni (a.k.a Kaajal Kiran), Tariq Khan, the latter two in their debut roles. The medley is sung by Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, RD Burman and Asha Bhosle.
The Four Songs: Chaand mera dil, Aa dil kya, Tum kya jaano, Mil gaya
The medley opens with a trumpet, played by George Fernandes. A cup was held over the bell of the trumpet (the open end) to generate a muffled and metallic sound. There is a continuous bass guitar playing in the background, played by Charanjit Singh. The trombone is played by Ivan Muns, not a regular part of Pancham's team. The prelude music, especially the bass guitar and the trumpet, seems to be inspired by Crystal Grass (look for the trumpet equivalence at 1:30 in the video below). RD kept the prelude short to set up the medley beautifully:
The intro music ends in the sounds of "Wakao" and transitions beautifully into the slow strains of the guitar for Chaand mera dil sung by Mohammad Rafi.
Chaand mera dil is followed by Aa dil kya mehfil hai tere sung by Kishore Kumar. Kishore da sings this number very open and extra wide, almost stamping his status on the song. The contrast between the soft Chaand mera dil and the boisterous Aa dil kya is wonderfully achieved by RD.
The next track Tum kya jano, mohabbat kya hai is sung by RD himself. It is said that packed movie halls would erupt in a frenzy at this number, throwing coins on the screen. Pancham da starts with "Ooooo" reminiscent of his number in Sholay, Mehbooba. Pancham repurposed his own earlier tune of the starting title credits of Kaala Sona (1975) for this track. Listen to it below:
The final track in the medley is a duet, Mil gaya, sung by Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar. RD was accused of plagiarism for having lifted the song from the ABBA classic, Mamma Mia. A former associate of RD recalls, it was Nassir Hussain who prevailed his opinion of how this track turned out, due to his fascination with ABBA, much to RD's reluctance. ABBA were at the peak of their popularity all over the world, including in India, and Nassir Hussain paid a tribute in his own way with this track.
The medley became the highlight of the film, so much so that repeat film goers would just go in to theaters for the medley and the qawwali (Hai agar dushman) and walk out. This film turned out to be a resurgence of Mohammad Rafi, who won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer and the National Award for Kya hua tera waada. Munir Khan won for Best Cinematography, and Shanti Dass for Best Art Direction. Other nominations were Tariq (Best Supporting Actor), RD Burman (Best Music Director), Majrooh Sultanpuri (Best Lyricist, Kya hua tera waada), Sushma Shreshta (Best Female Playback Singer, Kya hua tera waada).
Hum Kisise Kum Naheen was a hit at the box office, and the last successful hit film directed by Nassir Hussain.
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, RD Burman, Asha Bhosle
*ing: Rishi Kapoor, Kaajal Kiran, Tariq Khan
Musicians: George Fernandes (trumpet), Charanjit Singh (bass guitar), Ivan Muns (trombone)
Director: Nassir Hussain