Chhaayaageet #43 - "Sir, we cannot record. The musicians have walked out."
The music composers walk into the recording room at Famous Studio in Mahalaxmi. The room is empty. No musicians. No recording technicians. Where is everybody?
They are all outside. They have called a strike. The composers try to reason, but to no avail. The musicians and technicians are adamant in taking a stand. There is no breakthrough.
The composers are exasperated, frustrated. They have a short schedule. The entire film is going to be shot in a matter of three weeks. They don't have a lot of time. What to do?
They don't have a choice. Better call the singer and tell him not to come to the studio. It's 1963. There are no mobile phones. They dial the singer's home number.
"Is he there? We wanted to let him know that the musicians are on strike today, please don't come to the studio."
"He left already", came the reply. The time-bound disciplinarian is already on his way.
The composers look at each other. What a waste this day is turning out to be. It would have been better had they been able to stop the singer at his home, now they have to give him the bad news in person.
At the appointed time, the singer's car pulls up into the studio.
"Sir, we cannot record. The musicians have walked out. Is it ok if we postpone the recording?" They inform the singer.
The singer cannot believe it. He has been nursing a fever for the last two days, and still found the strength to get himself out of bed and to the studio. And for what? To be told they cannot record?
The singer is a gentle soul. He knows what's at stake.
"If we don't record, your rental for the studio will also be wasted", he empathizes with the composers.
They sit and commiserate, exploring options, none forthcoming.
By now, word reaches the musicians and technicians. The singer has showed up even though he is not well and running a fever. The dedication of this man! How can they let him down like this? They have too much respect for him.
One by one, in silence, they file into the recording room. Without a word being said, they start tuning their instruments.
The composers heave a huge sigh of relief. The recording is completed in silence.
Mohammad Rafi sang Yaad Na Jaaye in the film Dil Ek Mandir (1963), music by Shankar Jaikishan. The film is a romantic drama made by C.V. Sridhar. It is a remake of a Tamil film, also made by Sridhar.
Sridhar completed Dil Ek Mandir in 21 days and Shankar Jaikishan responded to the challenge by composing eight songs in less than one week. All songs of the film became popular hits and are considered classics. The film became a major hit.
Listen carefully to the church organ that plays in the beginning and the ending of the song, which lends a melancholy air and further heightens the depressing mood.
The organ is played by Shankar Jaikishan's music arranger, Bahadur Nanaji. Nanaji was a master of playing the instrument. The church organ, also called pipe organ, is a keyboard instrument with a complex architecture of pipes which make sound when compressed air passes through them. Each pipe resonates with its own sound, such that the human ear hears a chorus of sounds originating from as many points as there are pipes being played. This is also enriched by reflected sounds, each reflection having to do with the unique location of specific pipes.
In many songs where the composer wanted to create a spiritual feeling or heighten the emotions, the pipe organ was used. And Bahadur Nanaji was called upon to play it. He also played the harmonium amazingly well.
Bahadur Nanaji worked with many composers including Roshan and Naushad. He was Naushad's copyist, which means he would take the tune and make copies of notations by hand for as many as fifty musicians for their part in the song. He would make western notations for those that understood them, and the Hindustani sargam for those that followed the Indian system. He did this because he understood both systems, because photocopying did not exist, and he was passionate about music. What an extraordinary musician!
Singer: Mohammad Rafi
Music: Shankar Jaikishan
Organ: Bahadur Nanaji
*ing: Rajendra Kumar
Director: CV Sridhar
Film: Dil Ek Mandir (1963)