THE LAST WORD IN MUSIC MAKING !

What do I write about a man who has done absolute justice to precisely every genre of music.. about a phenomenon whose music was way ahead of its times.. about a genius who probably holds the distinction of being the only composer composing music in as many as 10 Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Assamese, Gujarati, Oriya and Marathi).. about a magician whose music transcends us into a complete alien world by reaching some amazingly stratospheric heights of creative genius.. SALIL CHAUDHARY means all this and much much more !

I am absolutely dumb-struck by the way Salilda fuses his tunes and moulds them effortlessly in the requirements of the various languages.. for me he was THE MAN who proved that music knows no boundaries ! And that is precisely what I would love to highlight in this post...
Here is a set of tunes he used in as many as 4 Indian languages... 4 languages which are phonetically and characteristically different than each other.. and what is outstandingly brilliant is that fact that though the tune structure remains the same, each song stands its ground firmly.. solidly !

This tune was first made and used for the KANNADA film Samasayaphala (1971) where Ku.ra.Seetharama Shastry wrote 'Harusha Doorada Mearu..', sung by P.Susheela.
Here, the use of the Sitar, Tabla, Flute, Violins makes it sound extremely fresh..the tempo of this song is something that is class.. Tabla outstanding (mark the symphony at M2)

In response to this came the next song in HINDI where Latadi sang 'Madbhari Ye Hawayein..', penned by Gulzar for Anokha Daan (1972)
That prelude kills, the highlight here are the Flute pieces. Mark the racing Violins in the interludes. Again the Tabla spells magic.

The third time this tune was used was in MALAYALAM for the film Devdasi (1978) where Sabita Chowdhary sang 'Ini Varu Ten Nilaave..' penned by ONV Kurup.
This version is something starkly different than the first two. Its softer, more classical-ish, more slower in tempo. The Flute and Tabla ofcourse mark there presence with aplomb.. what takes the cake are the Sitar pieces. Fabulous !

The fourth time this tune was used was in Salilda's home-pitch BENGALI in 1980 as a private recording by Sabita Chowdhary as 'Aar Kichu Naai Mone..'
Again Salilda gives it a different feel. The interludes are the highlights here..he adds a completely different sound to it with keeping all the basic ingredients the same.. the Tabla remains the attraction point once again but the way he has weaved this song which the subtle changes from the classical-ang to the slightly western sound is terrific !

.. and yes, this is what makes him SIR Salil !
He very truly never got his due IMO.. he is never discussed when people talk about reformations and changes and renaissance in HFM.. Salilda gave HFM a new face.. the freshness, the life, the truthfulness in his tunes is something that has boldly written his name in the annals of Hindi Film Music. There is so much to him apart from Madhumati and Parakh.. there are so many angles and facets to this mind-boggling personality.. SalilDa deserves and rightfully so, a place in the highest rungs of music history. Hats off to this true-blue legend.. a master !!