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Cinema
Naushad - End of an Era
by Ramendra Kumar
On 5th evening, I was watching
the nine o’ clock news on my favorite news channel : violence in
Vadodara, arson in J&K, shooting in Haryana – so what else is new, I
thought reaching for the remote. I wanted to watch something less
mundane than the staple fare of aggression - leashed or unleashed. Just
then the ticker line caught my attention : Music legend Naushad passes
away.
I sat up, Naushad the sartaj of music was dead. I desperately
waited for the lead news and after ten minutes of impatient waiting was
rewarded. Naushad had left all music lovers orphaned at the ‘ripe old
age’ of 86 leaving a legacy of immortal melodies behind. The eulogies
and encomiums were poring in. This was of course nothing unusual. What
was refreshingly different was the sincerity with which people from
different walks of life were paying tribute to the genius.
I sat back and closed my eyes and was lost in a collage of images – each
more endearing than the other – Madhubala singing the mesmeric Pyar
kiya to darna kya, Dilip Kumar dancing to the earthy beat of Nain
lad jayin hai to manwama kasak huibe kari, Bharat Bhushan invoking
the lord in the classic O duniya ke rakhwale – the list is
endless………
Once again I was struck by something uncanny. I do not belong to the
Naushad generation, I wasn’t even existing in the fifties when Naushad’s
brilliance had lit up the Bollywood firmament. I belong to the RD Burman
and Lakshmikant-Pyarelal generation, yet why did I feel such a sense of
loss at the departure of a man who wove his magic much before my musical
sensibilities had been honed. There could be only one reason for this -
Naushad didn’t merely make music, he made magic. He was not into
churning out tunes he was into creating an ambience – an ambience of
melody, of tradition and of culture. His music was based on the Indian
ethos and was like him - honest and pure. He brought to Bollywood the
richness of classical music and using his artistry made it appealing to
the hoi polloi. He was probably the only music composer whose tunes were
adored by the classes as well as the masses.
Born in Lucknow in 1919, Naushad’s journey from rebellion to rags to
riches reads almost like a fairy tale. His father gave the eighteen year
old Naushad a choice – either home or music! The callow and immature
youth chose the latter and came to Mumbai the city of magnificent dreams
and harsh realities. With stars in his eyes, a footpath for a home and a
will to win the young genius went about his task of crafting melodies.
How could Mumbai ignore this pied piper of Lucknow. Slowly but surely
the tinsel town woke up to the tunes of the ‘tunester’. And thus began
the era of music and melody at its pristine best. Mahal, Baiju Baawra,
Mother India, Mughal-e-Azam, Dard, Mela, Sangharsh, Ram aur Shyam, Mere
Mehboob – it reads like a virtual treasure trove of Indian cinema.
But for Naushad we probably wouldn’t have seen the flowering of the two
greatest musical geniuses – Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi. From the
angst filled Mohabbat ki jhooti kahani pe roye (Mughle Aazam) to
the playful Dhoondo, dhoondo re saajana (Gunga Jamuna) if there
was one music director who best understood the lyrical nuances of the
nightingale’s voice it was Naushad.
Rafi’s repertoire includes a mind-boggling array of songs but if you
were to pick up his two best renditions they would probably be E
duniya ke rakhwale’ and Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj (Baiju
Baawra).
To Naushad, quality was supreme. That is why in his six decade long
career he composed music for only 66 films. He was also a perfectionist
to the core. When he was composing the score of one movie his full
attention would be on it. He would pick up another assignment only after
finishing the one at hand. The lyricists too had to adjust to his
penchant for perfection. If he didn’t like a line from a song the
lyricist had to work on it until the maestro was satisfied.
Doesn’t all this sound strange in this era of Anu Maliks and Himesh
Reshammiyas whose idea of music is stringing together a few tunes lifted
from old Indian or western hits and passing them off as original. Who
‘decompose’ songs with the alacrity of a vending machine and also resort
to the ultimate molestation of music – remix.
Naushad, a purist to the core was saddened by the state of music or what
passes off as music today! Plagiarized tunes, inane lyrics, non-existent
melody and worst of all vulgarity at its ‘crudesome’ best - this medley
of cacophony, deception and cheapness made him yearn for the unspoiled
past.
Our greatest tribute to this consummate artist and great humanist would
be to bring back the values he stood for – to return to our cultural
roots – a culture which epitomizes quality, melody and poetry.
With the passing away of Naushad an era has come to an end – an era of
mellifluous melodies, pristine tones and memorable lyrics.
Music will be there – but it will be without a soul. The soul has gone
forever with the messiah – the messiah of melody – Naushad.
May 7, 2006
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Cinema
The Week of May 7, 2006
India-Pakistan Must Jointly Combat Terrorism
by Rajinder Puri
Releasing Masood Azhar was a Political Decision
by MH Ahsan
Extinction of Democracies and The Irish Elk by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Bhutan: India's Trusted Strategic Friend and
Ally in South Asia by Dr. Subhash Kapila
What is the Solution to the Kashmir Imbroglio
by TA Ramesh
Natural Disaster: A Concern for Security by
VK Joshi
High on Grass by Chitra Balasubramaniam
Look Around You by Naira Yaqoob
An Indian Summer by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
The Question of Truth and Yogic Practice by
Ashish Nangia
Myths in Jyotish by Rohiniranjan
The Fairy Tale Code by Kelley Bell
Make Travel Fun for your Little One by
Garima Gupta
A Passionate Cry for Human Dignity by V.
Sundaram
Never Victorious, Never Defeated A Book
Review by Amreeta Sen
Bankim's Krishna-Charita : Some Observations
by Major Gen. Shekhar Sen, VSM
VPN : An Introduction by Ruchi
Gupta
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
O Cancer: I am a Fighter Too by Ravi Pipal
My Mother : A Cup of Wonder by Dhiraj Bhimji
Raniga
Suseela a short story by NS Murty
Divorce a short story by Vikram Karve
Naushad : End of an Era by Ramendra Kumar
Interview with Emraan Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja by
MH Ahsan
To be Single and a Mother by Karina Araos
Plenty but not
Enough by Kavita Devgan
Ayurveda as a Career by Pallavi Bhattacharya
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