Song Exposition: 'Ae Dil-e-Nadaan..'

Ae Dil-e-Nadaan...

Lata Mangeshkar (Razia Sultan - 1983)
Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Khayyam

We start with the Santoor beats which create a resonating effect with the exceptional pauses in between them...these chasms are so instrumental in creating the effect in this song...just like the long, unending distances in the desert, these pauses define the emptiness of the heart...it aches and longs for love just like a peddler longs for water and food while traveling in the desert...The emotion on 'Dil-e-Naadaan' shows how empty the heart is of any positive feels or filled to the brim with sadness...this contrast yet equivalence of the two emotions is depicted so ably that you shudder!!!

The tabla and Violins join in the terrific Santoor...and so does the reverberating voice of Latadi...this sounds just like a Lata-Santoor duet when she hums alongwith it...The class interludes with the Santoor, Violins and the Dhol is a lead-way to the wonderful antras where Lata ably brings the pathos in her voice..mark her expression at 'Kaisi Uljhan Hai..'! The way she pronounces 'Ek Saaya Sa Rubaru Kya Hai..' literally makes us feel that there is a shadow down there deep in the sands of the desert..

The second interlude starts and enters the Sarangi magic...and the melancholy, desperation, helplessness, loneliness of the character comes to the furor..
'Kya Qayamat Hai, Kya Musibat Hai,
Keh Nahi Sakte Kiska Armaan Hai,
Zindagi Jaise Khoyi Khoyi Hai, Hairaan Hairaan Hai...'
The journey towards the end starts...everything is lost, nothing is visibly in sight just as the empty, barren desert...yet the end is not in sight just as the unendingness of the desert, the desperation surmounts all...and this is so beautifully depicted through the music pieces..Latadi hits the highest chord with utter pain in the heart with 'Kya Qayamat Hai..Kya Musibat Hai..', the background score keeps the tempo at a single pace ably showing that the monotony in life is terrible. And the journey proceeds (zindagi ki jagdojehat badhti rehti hain, aant nazar nahi aata...sab kuch gumsum hain...')
...and this is exactly what happens next...a loooooong killing pause,
'Ye Zami Chup Hai, Aasmaan Chup Hai..'
the helplessness increases manifold...not even the ever-so-alive nature is able to find an answer to her restlessness, incompleteness...but even then the heart beats (which is emphatically depicted by the Tabla beats)..and the unending struggle continues unwillingly...
This is the pinnacle point of the song, the pauses shake you up..they bring a lump to your throat...the lengthiness of this pauses surrounds you and make you take notice!!!

What a melody...its very rare that the human emotions are elaborated and expatiated so accurately through a string of instruments and this song gets placed inadvertently in the highest possible rung! Khayyamsaab comes up with a career-defining score, his brilliance is so evident when he uses just the Santoor, Tabla, Sarangi and Dhol to weave an entire long-lasting emotion..his minimalistic instruments give the required poignant feel to the song which is so so well put to life my this lady called Lata Mangeshkar...she simple stays there forever..her 'thehraav', her detailing, her full-throated desperation and the deep-down emptiness in the voice creates a complete picture of the song.
A certain mention of Jan Nisar Akhtar for his superlative lyrics which stand up and demand the command they get...finally, Hema Malini and Kamal Amrohi together make the song a thoughtful picturesque treat...this is a song of true emotions..of teamwork that makes songs last till eternity!!!

Song Exposition: 'Aaj Koi Nahi Aapna, Kise Gham Ye Sunayein..'

Aaj Koi Nahi Aapna, Kise Gham Ye Sunayein..

Lata Mangeshkar (Agnipariksha - 1981) 
Yogesh, Salil Chaudhary

This prelude is probably one of the best to have been created in HFM...with that exceptional use of the Flute and the Santoor Salilda manages to created that ripply effect to perfection (even in the picturization there is a small shot with the water body)...the way the Piano base enters soothing the Flute ripples..and then the Santoor...and the Trumpet...back to the Flute...all ably describe the flickery state of mind of the lead character! She tries to soothe them but all that comes back to haunt her (I havent seen the film but this is what I could guess)...and then enter's that lady who has been at her outstanding best under this master!!

The mukhda has those complex jumping notes, which Lata easily sings to perfection. Again in these high jumps, just probably goes to show the instability of the character's mind.
If the prelude was something out-of-the-world, the interludes will blow you off literally from your feet. The Flute (which was Salilda's best and most used instrument, you can see the variety with which he used the Base Flute, the Piccolo Flute in all his songs and yet sounded different every other time), the racing Cello's is the best part IMO, it reaching a pinnacle and they give way to the Trumpets...soothing down our already raced heartbeats (also in the picture you can see by then Parikshit Sahani walks on a road which is quietened and wet 'after' the rains...even the nature comes to normal and soothes itself with this ensemble of instruments)..in all this not to forget the background support of the Guitars...they unknowingly kept the interlude pieces glued to each other!

The antra is BLISS...the emptiness, helplessness in Rameshwari's character is brought to life by Lata!! This has the Salil stamp all over it...top class! The Tabla play is a treat...the small lehra at the cross line is lovely! When Lata stomps on the 'sam' with 'AAJ koi Nahi..', that feeling is inexplicable!!

The second interlude(M2) is again an ensemble of instruments ably weaved! The Sitar (again a Salil favourite), the Cello (again Salil manages to get the restlessness in the character out with the amazing use of these instruments)...the way he fuses the Sitar with the Cello with that small Flute piece is brilliant!

What a song! How do you even find accurate words to elaborate this humdinger of a song...many may say the Lata strained her voice at one point in the song, for me, no one else could have sung this song with this conviction and this perfect amount of emotion she lent to it! Commendable how she creates that atmosphere in mere 5 minutes! Master Salil was at his rocking best...this is changing with times...who said he was a composer of the 50s...this is what he offered to you in the 80s and with a quality that not many can match! True genius! Way way ahead of his time!!

This song also has as a Bengali counterpart which actually came first, 'Aaj Tabey Eituku Thaak..' which has a quintessential Bengali touch to it..its more subtle and softer with a lot of Sitar in it and a different instrumentation entirely! Another treat for sure!
But this tune was originally made for a Malayalam film titles Pratiksha in 1975 where Yesudas sang it as 'Aathira Poovaniyum..' which had a fair amount of Tabla...but IMO the third counterpart stands tall amongst them in terms of orchestration and singing!!

Here is the Bengali version of this masterpiece ! Lata-Salil magic regales !
'Aaj tobe ei tuku thak '



The journey from MalayaLam to Bengali to Hindi really is an ascending excellence.. with Salilda bettering himself with each version.

Aathira poovaniyaan - Pratheeksha (1979)

Asha ji and sarangi

If there is one voice who sounds very close to the Sarangi.. its Asha! The tenacity in the way the 'bow / gaj' moves over the body of the Sarangi.. the same longing tenacious vibrations are seen aptly in Ashatai's voice.. 

And not one or two, she has a host of songs wherein the Sarangi and Asha have teamed up for a duet.. be it the lavish Sarangi pieces in the Umrao Jaan songs, or the subtle refrains in 'Balma Khuli Hawa..', be it in Navrang or Namkeen.. this association never fails to deliver!

One such song comes from the Sachin Dev Burman kitty and is drastically divided into two singing styles (easily mastered by the 'yo-woman' that she is!).. but whats characteristically striking is the sombre part in the song where Asha and Sarangi create heavenly magic.. the 'gamaks', 'meends' all result in an expression worth lauding!