“mathlab nikal gaya to pehchan-te nahin, yun jaa rahe jaise hame jaante nahin”.

many composers realised this in their last stage of their creative lives. c.ramchandra, husanlal, shankar-jaikishan, laxmikant-pyarelal, r.d.burman and op nayyar were the victims of the singers who went on to greener pastures once their “matlab” was over.

mohd rafi was above and over all small and little games, men and women usually play at various stages of their life. and that’s why rafi is the bharat ka ratna. the world will always remember the saintly man and his saintly voice and there will be no replacement at all of mohd rafi. only one mohd rafi can take birth.
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yes. i agree with your point no. 2 and not at all with point no. one. more, the lady singer used to charge “hefty fees” from her political masters for a 15 minute appearance. in private conversations, these politicians have admitted it.

binu nair….

SHRUTI I L

Performing in Bangalore “has always been a pleasure” for Pankaj Udhas.

“This time around it was even better, as there were so many young faces in the crowd. It is a great feeling to see them respond to music, some of which was made 25 years ago,” beams the Ghazal maestro.

Youngisthan much contrary to popular belief does look beyond rock, pop and Bollywood afterall. “Of course! And I see ghazals coming alive in a bigger way. People are tired of item numbers… and….Bollywood music is in its worst phase. It was not so 10 years ago, but now the quality of their music is bad.” We probe further. “Every song then had a relevance, and every actor, a voice. But now the style of movie making has changed.” And how so? “Influenced by Hollywood, most movies are of two-hour duration. Tell me how you can have eight songs, like before in a two-hour movie? So now there are four songs, out of which two are item numbers. And today’s macho actors don’t want to sing!”

His reservations don’t end here. “There is also this tendency of introducing a sufi or a rock song here and there. This kichidi won’t work. Cinema music was what was seen in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Today’s songs have no shelf life. They don’t speak to you. Today’s generation of film-makers don’t understand our folk or classical music.” Now that explains why the veteran, who last lent his voice for the flick Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam, has maintained a distance from the B-town off late.

Udhas further fears that the whole concept of playback singing may die a slow death and it’ll mainly be just about background scores.

Adding fuel to fire is the TV industry, the singer feels. “TV has further messed up everything. Sub-standard music is seen especially in reality shows. What’s worse is that in these shows, talent loses out to SMSs. Many talented singers come out disillusioned. It’s also sad to note the involvement of children in such programmes.”

His views on films and reality shows conveyed, we ask him to let us in on his forthcoming projects. “There is an album with Meer’s songs and those post his era. There is also a fusion album. I expect it to be out in the next six months.” There are also the concerts. That’s a busy life, how does he then de-stress himself? “Listening to Diana Ross, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Hariprasad Chaurasya, Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. And spending time with my daughters Nayaab and Reva relaxes me. We three get along like a house on fire. And there is tennis that I love watching. In fact I’ve promised myself that I’ll watch Wimbledon live in 2010.”

JAB TAK SURAJ CHAND RAHEGA RAFISAHAB TUMARA NAAM RAHEGA . JAI RAFISAHAB .

THANKS & REGARDS . .
SUNIEL .

The songs of 50s & 60s especially were often referred to as the songs belonging to the Golden Era of Hindi Film Music. The great congregation of Hindi/Urdu Poets that we had once, ranging from Shakell Badayuni Sahab, Majrooh Sultanpuri- the poet who wrote both in Hindi/Urdu with ease – the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, Hasrat Jaipuri- whose songs are still a rage, who can forget the incomparable Sahir Ludhianvi Sahab.
The Music directors- Khaiyaam, S.D Burman, Roshan Sahab, Naushad Sahab, Ravi, Madan Mohan- all simply great, who did full jsutice to the quality lyrics… and then…
Our singers- Rafi Sahab, Lataji, Manna Dey Sahab, Kishore Kumarji, Asha Bhonsleji, Suman Kalyanpurji, Geeta Duttji, Suraiyaji and a host of wonderful other singers whose names I may have missed out.

All these combined to achieve synergy in their work to churn out masaterpieces one after the other. That is why Old is Gold always.

Also GOD gifted him a lovly voice. May GOD bless him ever