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| 28.09.1929 |
Since my choice of her solos were (mostly) sad numbers, I decided that her duets had to be either the sparkling, foot-tapping numbers or the quietly romantic ones. I didn't want any of the tragic duets, and that self-imposed restraint meant that some of my favourite duets had no place in this list.
As with her solo numbers, it is difficult for me to choose a handful of her duets. To make it easier, or so I thought, I decided to restrict myself to one duet per co-singer. That, in itself, turned out to be a Herculean ordeal. How do I choose one song from Lata's duets with Mohammed Rafi, for instance? I consoled myself with the thought that future lists could take care of that problem.
Here, in no particular order, are my picks from her duets.
1. Lata Mangeshkar-Hemant Kumar
Post Box No.999 (1958)
Music: Kalyanji Veerji Shah
Lyrics: PL Santoshi
Salilda once said of Hemant Kumar that if God could sing, it would be in Hemant Kumar's voice. His voice was redolent of lazy afternoons on river banks, deep passion, and the melody of Bengal. This, one of Kalyanji's solo compositions (before he became part of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo), is a beautiful, yet lesser known duet sung by the two stalwarts, and closely edged out my usual favourite Yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum from Patita, and the melodious Saanwli saloni aaye din bahaar ke from Ek Hi Raasta. Neend na mujhko aaye combines Hemantda's deep voice with Lata's sweetness to bring romance alive. Lata had a humorous story to narrate about her recordings with Hemant
Kumar. He was so much taller, and she often had to stand on a box to
record duets with him.
Chhupa lun dil mein from Mamta and Tumhe yaad hoga from Satta Bazaar are other Hemant-Lata duets that will always be among my favourites, but did not make the cut due to my restriction on sad songs.
2. Lata Mangeshkar - Chitalkar
Phir wohi chaand
Baarish (1957)
Music: C Ramchandra
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
Baarish (1957)
Music: C Ramchandra
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
This is an unusual composition in that it is one of the few songs (perhaps the only one?) where the male voice joins in so casually mid-way through a verse. Picturised on Nutan, of whom Lata once said that she was the only heroine who looked like she was actually singing on screen, and Dev Anand, it is one of the best of Lata-Chitalkar duets. Once C Ramchandra heard Lata's voice, it was as if no other singer existed - all his songs were composed with Lata in mind. So besotted was he that when they had a falling out years later, his career too suffered. He could not think of a female singer beyond Lata. This, despite the fact that he had used Shamshad Begum quite effectively before he became a Lata loyalist.
Kitna haseen hai mausam from Azaad was on my shortlist as well; a frothy melodious composition reminiscent of OP Nayyar's taanga beat, it was originally composed for Talat Mahmood. When he couldn't make the recording, Chitalkar took over, simulating Talat's honey-smooth vocals well enough to defy notice at first listening.
3. Lata Mangeshkar - Mohammed Rafi
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| Courtesy: tehelka.com |
Love Marriage (1959)
Music: Shankar-Jaikishen
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri
If Lata Mangeshkar was the undisputed
queen of melody, then there was a period where, even with peers like
Talat Mahmood and Mukesh carving out their own niche in playback singing, Mohammed Rafi left
his imprint on Hindi film music as a versatile singer, and a good human
being. I like different songs by different singers at different times, but if I
were pushed to pick my 'favourite' male singer, it would have to be
Mohammed Rafi.
To pick one song from the innumerable duets that Rafisaab sang with Lata is, as I said before, almost impossible, but there is something sweet about this song from Love Marriage. While Dev Anand had Talat Mahmood, and later Kishore Kumar lend him their voices, it is my personal opinion that Mohammed Rafi suited him better than the others.
Two other songs that I listed, but which lost out to Dheere dheere chal in the final reckoning are Do sitaron zameen par from Kohinoor, and the softly romantic Meri duniya mein from Heer Ranjha.
'Singers like Mohammed Rafi aren't born every day', is what Lata had to say about the colleague with whom she sang the maximum number of duets. It is unfortunate then, that the two had a falling out over the issue of royalties that saw three years pass before peace was brokered.
'Singers like Mohammed Rafi aren't born every day', is what Lata had to say about the colleague with whom she sang the maximum number of duets. It is unfortunate then, that the two had a falling out over the issue of royalties that saw three years pass before peace was brokered.
4. Lata Mangeshkar - Kishore Kumar
Karvatein badalte rahein
Aap ki Kasam (1974)
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
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| Courtesy: rediff.com |
Aap ki Kasam (1974)
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
This song is from a later period than I usually list - the 70s. However, with the exception of a few duets with Lata during the golden period of the 50s (Their first recorded duet was Ye kaun aaya re karke solah singaar from Ziddi in 1949), it was in the 60s that Kishore and Lata began their collaboration anew. If father SD Burman gave the duo some of their best known duets (take a look at the sensuousness of Uff kitni thandi hai ye rut from Teen Deviyaan) then the son wasn't too far behind, weaving magic with this romantic number. Kishore's deep voice matches the sweetness in Lata's; the playfulness at the beginning giving way to a quieter, and deeper emotion.
Apart from the music and the vocals, I like this as much for the picturisation (Kaka weaving his magic onscreen with Mumtaz, one of his favourite leading ladies), as for its lyrics that bespeak a bold passion - Yaad tum aati rahe ik bhookh si uthti rahi; Neend mujhse neend se main bhaagti chhupti rahi; Raat bhar bairan nigodi chaandni chhubti rahi; Aag si jalti rahi girti rahi shabnam - aap ki kasam...
Another RD composition that has always been among my favourites is Tere bina zindagi se koi from Aandhi (1975), but the sheer intensity of pain that underlies the song made me regretfully abandon it in favour of romance. A close competitor was Woh ik nigaah kya mili from Half-Ticket (1962), if
only to showcase Lata's vocals. This Salil Choudhary composition had
her trill like a bird in the high octaves, to a point where one is hard put to
distinguish the flute from her voice.
5. Lata Mangeshkar - Manna Dey
Chacha Zindabad (1959)
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
Manna Dey sang
more duets with Lata Mangeshkar than he
has with anyone else (about 113 of them). He once confessed that when he
recorded with her, he often forgot his lines, so stunned was he by her
virtuosity and expertise.
Lata
Mangeshkar first met Manna Dey at composer Anil Biswas' house. Soon
after, Anil Biswas summoned him record a classical duet with Lata for Humdard (1953). A complex song based on multiple ragas (Gaud Sarang, Gaud Malhar, Jogiya and Bahaar), Manna Dey rehearsed for a
week, and was finally ready to record when Lata was called to rehearse.
He was taken aback when Lata learnt the song in a single day. In the film, the
hero was teaching the heroine to sing. When they
finally recorded the song, Manna Dey felt that it sounded as if the heroine was
teaching the hero how to sing. According to Lata, however, Manna Dey always helped her while singing classical songs.
While Masti bhara hai sama from Parvarish and Dharti kahe pukaar ke from Do Bigha Zameen are two of my favourite Lata-Manna Dey duets (apart from the ones in Chori Chori), I chose Preetam daras dikhao because it is one of their lesser known collaborations. A beautiful Madan Mohan composition, it is based on Raag Lalit.
Bonus: Here is a clip where you can hear Manna Dey on Lata Mangeshkar.
Bonus: Here is a clip where you can hear Manna Dey on Lata Mangeshkar.
6. Lata Mangeshkar -Talat Mahmood
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| Courtesy: tehelka.com |
Pocketmaar (1956)
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
If Madan Mohan had a well-deserved reputation as the king of ghazals, then Talat Mahmood was definitely not far behind. In fact, before he began his career in films, Talat Mahmood was already famous - his ghazals were played regularly on AIR. The duo were however not constrained by that reputation to stick to only ghazals. This is a lighter romantic song, and showcases the rapport that the unassuming Talat shared with Lata Mangeshkar. I had two other songs shortlisted, each as different from the other, as they are from this, my final choice. They are Seene mein sulagte hai armaan from Tarana, composed by Anil Biswas, Talat's mentor, and Dil mein sama gaye sajan from Sangdil, composed by Sajjad Hussein.
Talat Mahmood first met Lata Mangeshkar during the recording of a duet for Anmol Ratan (1950). (The song was Shikwa tera main gaoon.)
His soft voice, excellent intonation and diction had already earned him
fame in Calcutta. Lata and he shared a warm friendship and they collaborated on more than sixty duets during the course of their careers. The last duet they sang together was Jahan Ara (1964) - Ae sanam aaj ye kasam khaaye.
7. Lata Mangeshkar-Mukesh
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| Courtesy: Hamara Forums |
Madhumati
Music: Salil Choudhary
Lyrics: Shailendra
Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh first met during the recording of Ab darne ki koi baat nahin (Majboor/1948). Majboor was Lata's big break, and one that she was quick to take advantage of. She and Mukesh had a long association, a relationship of love and respect on both sides. They also had something else other than their music in common - their admiration for KL Saigal. In fact, their bonds deepened so much that when Mukesh produced Malhar (1951) and Anuraag (1956), Lata was the obvious choice to playback for the heroine. He even composed the music for the latter film.
Other song choices were the sweetly romantic Bade armanon se rakha hai balma teri kasam from Malhar (Roshan), and the mischievous Jaane na nazar pehchaane jigar from Aah (Shankar-Jaikishen). They are all fine songs, but my final choice was for two reasons: Mukesh was known as Raj Kapoor's voice, not Dilip's. (He preferred Talat Mahmood or Mohammed Rafi to playback for him.) Secondly, I wanted to use a music director other than Shankar-Jaikishen, simply because they were the music directors who composed the bulk of the songs that these two legendary singers sang together.
In Conversations..., Lata shares anecdotes of how it was to work with Mukesh; if, while they were recording, a musician played a solo piece off-key, Mukesh would turn around and ask, "Who is copying me?" He was also very amused during the recording of Sawan ka mahina from Milan because he was supposed to be teaching Lata to sing.
8. Lata Mangeshkar-Mahendra Kapoor
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| Courtesy: last.fm |
Bharosa (1963)
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
As far as I can gather, the first duet that Lata Mangeshkar sang with Mahendra Kapoor was Tere pyar ka aasra chaahta hoon from Dhool ka Phool (1959) under N Dutta's baton. From then, until 1964, there was the odd song here and there, Lata's duets coming with the other four top male singers. That year saw them record five duets (Ishara, Majboor, Mera Qasoor Kya Hai?, and Woh Kaun Thi?) and one 'trio' (Har dil jo pyar karega) in Sangam (Mahendra Kapoor lent his voice to Rajendra Kumar). It was a collaboration that was to see over 70 duets recorded over the next couple of decades.
It is interesting that I should have chosen a song that was
composed by Ravi - according to Mahendra Kapoor, nobody understood or
made use of his calibre the way Ravi did. I like it not only for its tripping melody, but also for its picturisation. There is an innocence, a sweetness about the picturisation that was complemented the voices behind the screen. My other choice was Chitragupt's Zara sambhaliye from Bada Admi.
Mahendra Kapoor's first recording was for Navrang (1958) - Aadha hai chandrama raat aadhi with Asha Bhosle. This was one of C Ramchandra's best scores in his post-Lata days. The self-confessed Rafi-bhakt came
into films at a time when Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh and
Manna Dey had already etched their names into the history of film music.
Yet he managed to hold his own, carving out a career that spanned 4
decades.
9. Lata Mangeshkar-Geeta Dutt
9. Lata Mangeshkar-Geeta Dutt
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| Courtesy: Geetadutt.com |
Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959)
Music: Vasant Desai
Lyrics: Bharat Vyas
Lata Mangeshkar first met Geeta Dutt for the recording of Jawani ki rail chali jaaye re for Shehnai
(1947) under C Ramchandra's baton. That song was a trio with Chitalkar, and the beginning of their collaboration that was to last for over twenty years. Strangely enough, over the period of three decades, they have barely sung a handful of true duets, though they have collaborated on a few other songs with other singers. Akhiyaan bhool gayi hai sona was their last true duet (they did sing other songs together, but with other singers). Geeta's mischievous adas in this song were unmatched; Lata had the sweet straight lines to sing.
Bechain dil khoi si nazar from Yahudi (1958) under Shankar-Jaikishen's baton and Chedoji aaj koi pyar ka tarana from a relatively obscure Son of Sinbad (1958) were other songs that were on my shortlist.
Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar shared a warm relationship even as they became professional rivals. But Geeta Roy (as she was then) was probably the only female singer of the time who managed to hold her own against the tidal wave that was Lata. After all, she had reinvented herself with Tadbeer se bigdi hui from Baazi (1951) even though Lata had blitzed her way into the top league with four releases in 1949 - Mahal, Barsaat, Dulari and Andaz.
Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar shared a warm relationship even as they became professional rivals. But Geeta Roy (as she was then) was probably the only female singer of the time who managed to hold her own against the tidal wave that was Lata. After all, she had reinvented herself with Tadbeer se bigdi hui from Baazi (1951) even though Lata had blitzed her way into the top league with four releases in 1949 - Mahal, Barsaat, Dulari and Andaz.
10. Lata Mangeshkar - Asha Bhosle
Music: Hemant Kumar
Lyrics:Rajinder Krishen
Lyrics:Rajinder Krishen
Between
them, they ruled the world of playback singing in Hindi films, much to
the detriment of other singers - or so it is said. Most of the duets had
Lata singing for the heroine while Asha had to be content singing for
the second lead. The sisters' first duet was Ye ruki ruki hawaayein for Daaman
(1951). Funnily enough, they only sang around 75 duets together in
their long careers. The reason for this is equally intriguing. I
recollect reading somewhere that while Lata held her notebook in her
right hand, Asha held it in her left, thus leaving the two no way of
anticipating each other when singing. Which, on the face of it, seems to be a silly reason to not sing together.
Sakhi ri sun is a semi-classical number, and one where I personally think Asha has matched her elder sister verse for verse. It is certainly a flawless performance. As usual, Lata sang for the heroine (Meena Kumari) while Asha provided the playback for Meenakshi, who plays her student.
Sakhi ri sun is a semi-classical number, and one where I personally think Asha has matched her elder sister verse for verse. It is certainly a flawless performance. As usual, Lata sang for the heroine (Meena Kumari) while Asha provided the playback for Meenakshi, who plays her student.
My personal choice was Meha aayo re from Sangeet Samrat Tansen
(1962), a wonderful classical composition by SN Tripathi;
unfortunately, it also had a few lines by Manna Dey, and is therefore,
not strictly a duet. The YouTube clip is also not complete. The full
song is almost 6½ minutes long. Two other duets on my short list were Manbhavan ke ghar jaaye gori from Chori Chori (Shankar-Jaikishen) and the soft, sensuous Man kyun behka from Utsav (Laxmikant-Pyarelal).
11. Lata Mangeshkar-Shamshad Begum
Teri mehfil mein kismet aazmakar
Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
11. Lata Mangeshkar-Shamshad Begum
Teri mehfil mein kismet aazmakar
Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
I know, I know, I gave in and chose the most obvious choice. I couldn't help it; this is one of my favourite songs, if only for the different perspectives. It is a song that foreshadows what Nadira/Anarkali's future will be when she loses her heart to the prince. Naushad colours Shakeel's lyrics with music that rises and falls in tandem to compose a quawaali that will stand comparison to the best of the genre. Lata had this to say of (and to) Shamshad Begum: No one has seen the kind of stardom and respect that you did.
Lata sang barely 28 duets with Shamshad Begum; coincidentally, Lata had once won a competition in Pune in 1941 by singing Shamshad Begum's songs from Khazanchi. The two of them first sang together for C Ramchandra for Khidki, but it was Naushad who gave them some of their most popular songs, in films like Andaz, Babul, etc. I did dither over choosing Bachpan ke din from Deedar or Kisi ke dil mein rehna tha from Babul, but the latter one was depressing, and as I said, I didn't want weepy songs in this list.
12. Lata Mangeshkar-Suraiya
Balam (1949)
Music: Husnlala-Bhagatram
Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi
Lata and Suraiya sang only five duets together. Two for Balam, and one each for Shokhiyan, Sanam and Deewana. I had a tough time deciding between this, and their other duet Duniyawalon mujhe batao from the same film. The latter is a 'lighter' song, where the heroine (Suraiya) and her friend (Nigar Sultana) debate the definition of true love. Suraiya, obviously, sang for herself. Then I went back to this, though there is no video available for the song itself because there was something endearing about this song.
Suraiya was honest enough, and graceful enough to confess that she had not an iota of Lata's talent. She said "Noor Jehan was born great, Lata achieved greatness
and I had (singing) greatness thrust upon me." This song was their first duet together, and she was so spellbound when Lata sang her first line that she forgot her cue. She said she knew then that she was miles behind Lata in terms of talent. She also credits music director duo Husnlal-Bhagatram for 'training' Lata. Lata, on her part, remembers a simple and strikingly beautiful actress who had absolutely no airs, her stardom and perhaps more importantly, her warmth and laughter.
These are some of Lata's duets with the top singers, both male and female, of the decades from the 40s through the 60s. Besides these, she has obviously sung with many other singers like Subir Sen, Dwijen Mukherjee, Bhupinder, Rajkumari, Suman Kalyanpur, Kamal Barot, Amirbai Karnataki, Usha and Meena Mangeshkar to singers who were not even born when Lata began her career. She has sung for music directors, spanning generations, fathers and sons (SD Burman/RD Burman, Chitragupt/Anand-Milind, Sardar Malik/Anu Malik, Roshan/Rajesh Roshan) - whatever our opinion of the quality of her voice now, no one can deny that when posterity looks back upon the history of Hindi film music, Lata Mangeshkar's name will be one of its brightest.
What are your favourite duets?
*Acknowledgements:
Lata Mangeshkar... In her own voice. Conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir
Lata Mangeshkar... In her own voice. Conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir
Cineplot.com
