Oh! Take Me With You….
This article is written by sajdah@HF in tribute to the loving memory of Naushad Ali.
Naushad Ali ! The name conjures up a never ending stream of haunting unforgettable compositions that we’ve made a part of us. In the galaxy of Hindi movie music, he spun in a different orbit altogether. Take any one of his compositions ! Even his harshest critic wouldn’t dare to call it crass or tacky — such was his supreme command over his brand of music. Some people might criticise his style as often repetitive, but where’s a genius without his queue of detractors ? Absence of detractors means NO merit! So, may the tribe of detractors increase — that’s my invocation.
Naushad Sa’ab was not just a master wizard at his musical craft, but he was also a shrewd observer of human nature. He had a sparkling wit and his often hard-hitting comments on the failing standards of current day movie music, the Indian obsession with Western music / culture, the musical merit or lack of it of today’s singers, everything was measured up and then delivered in his quiet, calm and persuasive voice. When you mention his name, the first thing that cannot fail to make a deep and lasting impression on you was his impeccable, chaste graceful Urdu which happened to be his native tongue.
The way he carefully chose his words – each word always perfect and fitting in the context — listening to him you might be forgiven for losing track of time. Is it any wonder he might be called a great conversationalist? One, any host / hostess might be justifiably proud to have as an honoured guest at his/ her dinner table! Add to that his penchant for ‘shair-o-shayari’ { Urdu couplets } which he liberally sprinkled his conversation with and which was nearly always the punchy acerbic type — you are left with no choice but to surrender your last citadel of defence to his charms.
Naushad Sa’ab was a very visible musical personality in the sense that he allowed himself to be easily accessible to the media, which to music lovers was generally a good thing. I wish more music legends had the vision and the foresight to do that, then we might not be so starved of even the basic background information of some of the greatest figures to have graced the Hindi movie music scene.
Hearsay cannot and should not be allowed to pass off as the real thing.
I’ll remember Naushad Sa’ab not just for all his scintillating compositions, but also for the grace and charm he brought to the music world with his personality. He was a true human being – He had humility in plenty, but he wasn’t short of arrogance either! So what ? A true titan like him IS { Yes, i deliberately used the present tense, because as long as his music lives, he lives on.. } ALLOWED to do that! A song of his from Mother India comes to mind ‘Na main bhagwan hoon / Na main shaitan hoon / Duniya joh chahe samjhe / Main toh insaan hoon!
And so are we all — if only we had the grace and humility to accept our shortcomings along with our talents and gifts.
Regretfully, we live in a hypocritical world, where tinsel can and is often passed off as the genuine yellow metal.
The world is a sadder place in my opinion for the loss of this peerless music legend. He was the last of the musical titans.
Naushad Sa’ab shone like a meteor in the musical horizon of Hindi movie music. He truly was a colossus — the intricate music compositions that he left behind are a testimony to his not fully exploited genius!
That is another sad comment on modern times – We’ve never been smart enough to know the difference between art and kitsch, have we? If we did, we would have mourned his passing on in the truest way he deserved to be.
In this age of sensationalist journalism, is it any wonder that his accomplishments were reduced to a mere ‘song and dance commentary’, that too without variety or discernment?
The lamentably poor attendance of only a few number of people from the Hindi music / movie world at his funeral is not at all ironical, in my view. The last journey is not for nothing called the loneliest journey. For some, it is more lonelier than the rest.
We are much ahead of the rest of the world at selective discrimination, when it comes to celebrities, especially artistes.
‘Artiste’ is a loose term anyway — open to heated unproductive debate.
The sad Truth is, we ought to know better how to honour our artistes the proper way, but something tells me that we never will.
Because we live in the age of crass commercialism – smug as we are basking in the glory of the decadent ‘disposable’ culture !
The question remains — Did we deserve a power house of talent like Naushad Sa’ab in our midst? Was his God-gifted genius fully tapped into by the Hindi movie world? Is art of art’s sake a feasible proposition ? I believe that all art needs patronage for survival or else it is blighted even before the first blooms are allowed to bud.
Take some of the compositions from Naushad Sa’ab’s last movie ‘Taj Mahal’ — especially ‘Apni zulfein mere shaanon pe bikhar jaane do’. My heart never ached for Rafi Sa’ab more, than when I first chanced to hear this brilliantly composed song. It is in every respect a true blue Naushadian composition — it only needed Rafi Sa’ab to complete it and bring it to perfection.
Assuredly, Naushad Sa’ab, Rafi Sa’ab, and Shakeel Sa’ab are already creating magic Up There.
I can hardly wait to die and go to heaven, for that’s where it seems all the Music is!
SAJDAH
Can somone povide me(Mp3 or some link) the song of Muhammad Rafi
“mein betha hoon rahon mein” from movie Love and God(1986)
my email iz guypakii@hotmail.com
Thanks
can somebody provide me free downloadable link of “Dharti ko akash Pukare” by mukesh. movie is Mela (1948)
On Rafi:
Naushad, the music director, recalls: “A skimpy little boy in a white shirt came to see me in Bombay with a reference from someone I knew. He had a perpetual smile on his face. A little nervous, he confided that his greatest ambition was to sing with Kundan Lal Sehgal, the melody king of the 40s.”
Naushad’s five favourite songs
Picking the top tunes from the repertoire of such a legendary composer is difficult. I made an attempt though.
One: Bekas Par Rahem Kijiye Sarkare Madina from Mughal-E-Azam.
The reason is the lyrics and minimal music. People may rave about the song Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya from the same film, but the fact is this song is more beautifully composed: Bekas Par Rahem Kijiye Sarkare Madina, Mushkil Mein Hai Takdeer, Bhawar Mein Hai Safina (Help the helpless, Oh! Prophet of Medina, My future is in trouble and my ship is caught in whirlpool).
Unfortunately, the track was not included in the colour version of Mughal-E-Azam released in 2004.
Two: Aiye Husn Zara Jaag Tujhe Ishq Jagaye from Mere Mehboob.
The song is played when Rajendra Kumar drops by Ashok Kumar’s residence. His sister Sadhna — who looks gorgeous in the film — is asleep in the other room when he sits on the piano and begins crooning. Kumar pleads: Aiye Husn Zara Jaag Tujhe Ishq Jagaye, Badle Meri Taqdeer Jo Tu Hosh Mein Aaye. (Oh beautiful woman, please wake up. My fate will change once you do).
A must hear.
Three: Mere Mehboob: Title track.
An all-time favourite for the romantic in search of their love. The song is about 5 minutes long, with almost no accompanying music. Rafi’s voice is enchanting and, with no major instruments playing, the camera catches Sadhna and Rajendra Kumar, who is singing on stage at a college function.
Naushad obviously knew when to use instruments and when not to.
Four: Dil-E-Nadaan: Mirza Ghalib
Sung by actress Suraiya, this is one of her most remembered tracks. Mirza Ghalib wrote the lyrics in the nineteenth century. Loosely translated, it means: ‘What has happened to you, oh my heart? What is the cure for this disease, love? I am dying to see my beloved, but is she bored of me? Oh God! What is this thing that has come up between us?’
Naushad heard Suraiya’s voice for the first time on the radio and chose her to sing for Kardar’s Sharda (1942). Mirza Ghalib won the President’s gold medal. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru complimented Suraiya saying “Tumne Mirza Ghalib ki rooh ko zinda kar diya…â€
Five: Madhuban Mein Radhika Nache: Kohinoor.
Simply beyond compare. There are rare examples of a musician blending a classical song so well in commercial cinema. This track also tells us why Mohammad Rafi is one of the greatest singers of Indian cinema. Few others could touch the depth he did, and it is all because of Naushad.
The lyrics then deviate to: Mridang baje titakitadhum titakitadhum ta ta. Naushad made Rafi sing these lines in one breath. Go, listen.
Snippets from the net-mohanflora
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From Hindustan Times, May 05,2006
Naushad regarded Mukesh as a imperfect singer but exploited his voice extremely well in Andaz for Jhoom jhoom ke nacho aaj, Tu kahe agar, and Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe and Toote na dil toote na. In this film, he paired with Majrooh Sultanpuri and despite such great hits, the two did not work together till Saathi in the sixties. Another little known fact about Naushad is that he even composed songs in his dreams. One such song was Dharti ko aakash pukare, aaja aaja prem dware, aana hi hoga for Mela. The song was an instant hit. Rafi’s first big time solo hit was also from the same film, Yeh zindagi ke mele, duniya mein kum na honge.
Naushad also gave a break to a large number of young singers in the fifties and sixties. After winning the Murphy contest, Mahendra Kapoor sang his first song under his baton Husn chala ai ishq se milne for Sohni Mahiwal and Shanti Mathur for Nanha munna rahi hoon; for Son of India. He also had a grasp of western symphonies and his background score for Dastaan demonstrated that in big measure. In fact, the background score was to later become the signature theme of Aap ke hi Geet aired by Radio Ceylon for many years. His other composition, Aakhiyan mila ke jiye bharma ke for Rattan was on everyone’s lips and in Dil mein chupa ke pyar ka armaan le chale for Aan, Naushad perfected the horse hoofs as a part of his music, something which OP Nayyar later used extensively. .
Naushad is gone but his music shall live forever. Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jane tum kab aaoge’.
Another clip from the same article as above:
Not many would know that it was Naushad who along with Shankar Jaikishen played a major role in getting Lata Mangeshkar out of the Noor Jahan mould of singing. It was his Uthaye ja unke sitam which helped Lata to carve out her own identity. He used her voice for scores of memorable hits like mohe bhool gaye sawariyan and pyar kiya to darna kya
Clip from The Hindustan Times. May 05,2006.
In fact, his famous bhajan, Man Tarpat Hari Darshan ko Aaj for Baiju Bawra is regarded as one of his greatest compositions. The film had won him the first Filmfare award for best musical score way back in 1953. The music of the movie also confirmed Mohammad Rafi’s position as the number one male playback singer. Naushad was a great Rafi fan, something which he confessed on a radio talk show many years after the great singer’s untimely demise. Rafi’s death also brought to a pre-mature end the career of many musicians including Naushad.
hi folks…
in reading sajdah’s post about nuashad saab……i am shocked to read some mention of him having ‘critics’…and…’harsh’ ones…???
i can not imagine who would have any criticism for his super fantastic compsoitions….
and if there are such persons who may have anything but praise for the genius of naushad saab, i really feel sorry for them…for they know not what they’re talking about!
hope god can forgive them!!!
Vo baitha tha rahon mein ankhen bichaye
Farishtey masarat ka paigham laye,
Mohabbat chali hai mohabbat se milne
Kaho maut se zindagi ban ke aaye.
i think now the golden era is totally comes to an end
very sad to hear that but the music which is created in the golden era is never ending one for this world i salute to them
Great were the thoughts….in this world of sheer commercialism,bollywood with time and again has proved that it hardly pays any importance to the goods which are already delivered….though rafi was behind the success of devanand,rajesh khanna,,r d burman,,etc…etc…they almost ignored him during his leen era,,,,,they opted for kishore,,,,,,when rafi made a tremendous comeback,they again glimmered around rafi…..so wat if naushaad is dead,,,,its expected that even this music maestro would receive a stepmotherly treatment……..
To Naushand Ali fans
As Naushad words 2 Mohd Rafi i think these words also we can use it for greatest Naushand Ali.
Naushad Tujhe Nagmo Ki jaa Ehle Nazar Yu hi Nahin Kehte
Tere geeto ko dil ka hamsafar yuhi nahin kehte
Dukhi the laakh phir bhi mutmaeen the dard ke maare
Teri music ke shabnam se dhul jaate hain gham saare
tere taano mein husn-e-zindagi leta tha humrahi
tujhe allah na bakhsha tha andaaz-e-masihayi
tu hi tha pyar ka ek saaz nafrat ki is duniya mein
are ganimat thi teri music nafrat ki is duniya mein
This current “Bollywood” does not deserve a gentleman of the class of “Naushad”. Because, this current Bollywood- seeped in lust and violence- simply does not have the aesthetic class to appreciate the genuine “gems”- its true, when you have the likes of Anu Malik as today’s numero uno music man. You need to have true connosieurs of art to value the artiste, which India had in plenty before and which now sadly indeed seems to be a vanishing lot. No wonder the death of a colossus like Naushad does not evoke a mass mourning. Naushad’s death is like the final seal to the great Indian musical era. Its sad, whilst our musical past glitters with its gems and diamonds, the present and the likely future is all but sand and gravel. They don’t make music any more!!..
Bigest lost of 2006,
Thanks Naushand for giveing us Mohd rafi and Lata and I think no one can give us other Mohd Rafi and Lata as Naushand show us.