Chhaayaageet #221 - "Galti se doosra tape laga diya hoga."
The scene is set to be shot in the mountains. There is fresh snow on the ground, and the beauty around with tall pine trees is beyond words. Shimla never fails to disappoint. Especially in the winter.
Regardless of where you shoot in India, there is bound to be a crowd. Even in the mountains. Some are genuine supporters, and others are there to watch and eventually show off to their friends. The shooting is for a song sequence for a horror film. Both male and female stars are getting their makeup done. The female star will be lip-synching to the pre-recorded song while the male star hunts for her as he hears her voice.
The crowd breaks into whistles and cheers as the two actors come out in the open. The clap boy claps the clapperboard, and the director shouts, “Action!”. The camera starts moving on the track laid out, and the music begins in the background. The heroine starts walking through the snow. She begins to lip-sync as the playback starts.
But wait. People in the crowd are giving each other confused looks. It is a male voice in the playback, while the heroine is lip-synching. What's going on?
“Galti se doosra tape laga diya hoga.” Maybe they put the wrong tape by mistake. Someone shouts from the crowd.
They wait a few minutes. The song continues, and so does the lip-synching. This does not make any sense.
“Yeh kya chal raha hai. Shooting waalon ko pata hai ki gaana ek mard gaa raha hai. Kuch to gadbad hai.” What’s going on? Do the shooting staff know that a male voice is singing? Something is wrong.
Confusion becomes viral within the crowd. Suddenly, someone smart shouts, “Arre yeh to ek horror film hai. Yeh heroine mard ki awaaz mein gaa rahi hai sabko darane ke liye.” This is a horror film. This heroine is singing in a male voice to scare everyone. The entire crowd breaks into a burst of laughter.
A few weeks ago…
The composer is planning to meet with the filmmaker at this residence. The agenda is to finalize the tune for one of the iconic songs of his film. Apparently, this song brings the entire essence of the film together. The composer is excited to learn more about it.
He reaches the filmmaker’s house. The filmmaker walks the composer through the situation of the song. The filmmaker expects a haunting melody that will be played in a mysterious atmosphere. The female character is deemed a ghost, and this song personifies that perception. The audience has to feel a chill down their spine when they watch and hear this song in the cinema hall.
“Kya khayaal hai? Koi tune hai iss situation ke liye?” What do you think? Is there a tune for this situation? The composer is still in his thinking mode. His mind is still visualizing the scene.
He recalls an old tune. Something he composed more than a decade ago. “Ek tune hai jo kaafi saal pehle banayi thi. Maine kaafi koshish ki par koi bhi director maana nahin. Aap sunoge?” There is a tune I composed more than a decade back. I tried to convince other filmmakers, but they didn’t go for it. Do you want to hear?
The filmmaker is all ears. The composer pulls out the harmonium and starts playing. The tune itself is quite benign, but once superimposed with the situation, it does have an eerie feel to it. The filmmaker listens with his eyes closed.
As the composer finishes playing the tune, a smile breaks out on the filmmaker’s face. This is the one he was looking for.
“Bahut jaldi recording karo iss gaane ki. Do hafte mein shooting hai aur woh bhi Shimla mein. Schedule bahut tight hai,” the filmmaker tells the composer. Let’s quickly record this song. The shooting will be in Shimla in two weeks. The schedule is very tight.
The composer gets with his team right away and schedules the recording. He knows the female singer very well. She won’t need any rehearsals, so he is feeling good about the timeline.
The recording day arrives. The entire music team is assembled and ready to go. They are waiting for the female singer to arrive. She is usually very punctual, but it has been over an hour and still no signs.
The composer’s assistant comes running to the composer. “Saheb, Didi nahi aa payengi aaj. Unki tabiyat bahut kharaab hai. Recording postpone karni padegi.” Saheb, Didi won’t be able to make it today. She is quite ill. We will have to postpone the recording.
The news hits the composer like a kick in his gut. He knows that if postponed, the next recording availability will be long after 2 weeks. If that happens then how will the shooting take place in Shimla? The filmmaker was very particular about the dates. No room for error. What to do now? All these thoughts are racing through his mind.
“Ek kaam karte hain. Recording aur orchestra staff saara aa chuka hai. Hum log recording karte hain,” the composer suggests a way out of the dilemma. Let’s do this. The entire staff is already here. Let’s go ahead and start recording.
The assistant gives him a confused look. “Didi ke bina hi gaana, Saheb?” The song without Didi, Saheb.
The composer smiles. “Didi ke bina nahin, ab mein yeh gaana gaaonga.” Now I will be singing this song instead of Didi.
Madan Mohan sang Naina Barse Rimjhim Rimjhim and that recording was used during the shooting of the song in Shimla for the film Woh Kaun Thi. The song was composed by Madan Mohan, written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, and the actual playback was done by Lata Mangeshkar. The film was directed by Raj Khosla, and the song was picturized on Sadhana and Manoj Kumar.
Naina Barse was a tune Madan Mohan had composed in 1952. For want of an appropriate situation as well as being rejected by filmmakers, it remained unused. When Raj Khosla, a close friend of Madan Mohan, needed a haunting melody for his film, Woh Kaun Thi, the composer remembered his forgotten melody, and Raj Khosla jumped at it.
There are two songs that have been heard in Madan Mohan’s voice, but these were never intended for commercial release. These two songs were sung by him as dummy tracks for Lataji to sing later, as she was not well at the time of recording. These songs were later given to HMV by his family for release on albums after Madanji's demise. These songs were Mai Ri Main Kaase Kahoon in Dastak and Naina Barse in Woh Kaun Thi.
Woh Kaun Thi had a couple of nominations with Madan Mohan for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and Sadhana for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, Madan Mohan (for shooting purposes)
Music: Madan Mohan
*ing: Sadhana, Manoj Kumar
Director: Raj Khosla
Film: Woh Kaun Thi (1964)