Dignified tribute
SAVITHA GAUTAM
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Rooplyn remembered its founder by revisiting the golden melodies of Madan Mohan.
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Photo: B.Velankanni Raj
EVERGREEN Songs: The Rooplyn show.
Youngsters clad in well-worn jeans and T-shirts printed with rock icons thronged the Music Academy. They were there to participate and drink in the funky music in Shock 2008 in the main hall. But it was a different story inside the mini hall. Music o
f a different kind, from a different era was being revisited.
When Rooplyn presented Musical Nuances with some evergreen Hindi film songs composed by Madan Mohan Kohli on Sunday, it was not just another music show. It was a tribute to Pronoti Banerjea - the woman whose passion for Hindi music saw the birth of Rooplyn. She passed away in June, but her spirit lives on in the organisation.
Taking over from where she left off, are the troupe’s front men Anand Madhavan and Surojit Guha. They put together a superb show, with value addition in the form of rare clips they had taken the trouble of sourcing from Sanjeev Kumar Kohli, Madan Mohan’s son.
For the Baghdad-born and Dehradun-bred Madan Mohan, success proved elusive during his lifetime. Nothing to do with his talent. Just that he was pitted against the likes of S.D. Burman, Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan and O.P. Nayyar. Though he had composed for nearly 100 films, only a handful were box-office successes.
But that did not stop Madan Mohan from composing some of the most melodic Hindi film songs in every genre possible.
Ghazals, his forte
That he was known for his ghazals and even known as the ‘king of ghazals’ is another matter. The classic example is the haunting ‘Aapki Nazaron Ne’ from ‘Anpad.’ The lyric brought to life in the sweet voice of Madan Mohan’s Muse, Lata Mangeshkar, can send you into raptures even now. In one of the clips shown that evening, Mala Sinha, on whom the song was picturised, remembered how she and her father tracked down Madanji at the race course to listen to the tune. “I could not contain my excitement,” she said.
According to Sanjeev Kohli, “My father composed the song in three minutes flat… we entered the lift on the ground floor of our apartment and by the time we reached the fifth floor, he had the tune in his mind.”
That Madan Mohan was gifted is beyond doubt. But maybe his songs were a little ahead of their time. Which is why when he experimented with raags and tunes, it was not too well received in those days. But many of them have stood the test of time. ‘Dil Se Dil Milake’ (Memsahib), his adaptation of the number ‘Isle of Capri’ made famous by Frank Sinatra, is a case in point. (Surojit Guha sang a line of Sinatra’s version beautifully). Or Asha Bhonsle’s cheerful ‘Jhumka Gira Re’ (Woh Kaun Thi), that people hum even today.
Best for Lata
But when it comes to his songs for ‘Woh Kaun Thi,’ ‘Mera Saaya,’ ‘Mausam’ and ‘Laila Majnu’, they remain as fresh as ever. In another clip, Zakir Hussain remembered his father’s friendship with Madan Mohan and even crooned ‘Woh bhooli daastan’ much to the audience’s delight. Lata Mangeshkar believes “Madan bhaiyya reserved his best songs for me.” True. ‘Lagja Gale’, ‘Aapki Nazaron Ne’, ‘Nainonmein Badara Chaaye,’… are some of Lata’s best songs ever.
Madan Mohan’s collaboration with such poets as Rajinder Krishan, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi translated into great songs, songs which are hummed even today. However, even winning the National Award for ‘Dastak’ in 1971 did not do much to lift his sagging spirits. He turned to the bottle and died a depressed man in 1975. He was just 51. Sad that he did not live to see the stupendous success of his films, ‘Mausam’ and ‘Laila Majnu.’
As for the Rooplyn evening, some of the above mentioned songs were sung quite well by Anand, Anitha, Dinesh, Shruti Jauhari, the twins Shruti and Smriti and Surojit. It was dignified tribute all the way.
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