Chhaayaageet #61 - “Aap kyun taqleef karte hain. Mein hi aapke saath nahin gaaoongi.”
It is just another song recording today. Nothing different, nothing new. They both have sung hundreds of songs together. The first duet was way back in 1947 and its been 14 years since then. Hit after hit after hit.
She is the only game in town when it comes to female playback and he is one of the few top male playbacks. But their ways of working are poles apart. She doesn't hesitate to push the lyricists and composers to change words and tunes to her needs. He, on the other hand, is mild, soft spoken and disciplined. He follows instructions of everyone around him. Lyricists and composers are his gurus.
She has already sung this particular composition a year back in Bengali. But there was a problem back then and there is a problem today. She calls the composer. She has a way with most composers and this one is not spared from her charm.
“We need to change the sur of the song. Let’s use the pancham sur in the mukhda", she suggests.
The composer is not happy with the suggestion. He tries to argue knowing very well how it will end.
“Let’s not change it and let's keep it just like the original Bengali song”, the composer tries to stand his ground.
They go back and forth and try different variations.
The male singer is just standing there observing this conversation. He is confused, not knowing whose lead to follow. He tries to stay patient. They end up doing eleven retakes just for the mukhda.
Finally they get through the mukhda and move to the antara. She is struggling with the pitch. He, on the other hand, seems quite comfortable with it. This irks her even further. She suggests changes, and the composer continues to take her side. This makes him really sad. But it's not his style to complain.
It is such a sweet romantic song, but as you cut through the layers, only jealousy and sadness inside the singers. The cold war has begun.
Within a few days, another issue that adds fuel to the fire.
She firmly believes that singers should get paid for the song as well royalties on future sales. He has a different view on this matter. As long as a singer gets paid what is agreed with the producer, there shouldn’t be any royalties. In fact, he returns his fees if a film doesn't do well. She thinks he must have too much money to refuse royalties. Of course, all those shows and private performances.
A meeting is arranged with all top singers to discuss this issue. Being senior and most experienced, they present their opposing arguments. At one point, he gets really irritated and wants to be done with it.
“Ye maharani jo kehti hai wohi sahi hai”, he mutters under his breath. Whatever this queen says that’s right.
She doesn't hold back. “Maharani kyun, mein maharani hoon hi. Aap kyun keh rahe hain maharani?” I know, I am the queen. But why do you have to call me a queen?
He cannot take it anymore. “Mein aapke saath nahin gaaoonga.” I won’t sing with you.
She is ready for a rebuttal. “Aap kyun taqleef karte hain. Mein hi aapke saath nahin gaaoongi.” Why are you taking the trouble. I won’t sing with you in the first place. And she storms out of the meeting. She immediately calls filmmakers and composers to cancel all her songs with him and find different male playback singers to sing with her.
At first the entire industry is not sure how adversely this split would impact everyone. In reality, it is quite an opposite effect. He sings with other female playback singers who charge half of her fees. The producers love it. She also sings with other male singers but not quite as many like him. Her numbers start dropping, singing just half the number of songs of what she used to sing. This can't continue.
She decides to keep her ego on the side and patch up. She approaches a veteran composer for a patch-up song. She knows this composer is his guru. The composer is ready to patch the broken relationship. She arrives on the day of recording with a bouquet of flowers. It's like the flowers are saying, “Let’s get together and make music like never before.” And that’s exactly what happens.
Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi united back after a hiatus of six years for the movie Jewel Thief. Even though all other duet songs were sung by Lata-ji with Kishore-da and Bhupinder, SD Burman decided to have Lata-ji and Rafi-saab sing Dil Pukare Aa Re. Jewel Thief was a box office success and a big reason for it was the music of the film.
The song that created the rift and eventually led to the split in their relationship was Tasveer Teri Dil Mein from the movie Maya, music composed by Salil Chowdhury.
Lata Mangeshkar and Salil Chowdhury were quite close as professionals and Lata was able to impose her will easily to make changes to the tunes if she wanted. Rafi did not like this behavior and this created an ideological rift between the two. Rafi's view was that the lyricist and composer knew it best and it was not his place to suggest changes to the song. The difference of opinion on royalties exacerbated this further.
Today’s singers get royalties as a common practice. They should be thankful to Lata-ji for fighting the cause for getting royalty on future sales.
Song: Dil Pukaare Aa Re
Music: SD Burman
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
*ing: Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala
Director: Chetan Anand
Film: Jewel Thief (1967)
Song: Tasveer Teri Dil Mein
Music: Salil Chowdhury
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
*ing: Dev Anand, Mala Sinha
Director: DD Kashyap
Film: Maya (1961)