The Legends: Mukesh - Part 2

22.07.1923 - 27.08.1926

It is very clear from my earlier post, and from many comments on the same, that Mukesh, rightly or wrongly, came to be identified with tragic songs, some of which whined and moaned their way into eternity. (Or at least, it felt like it!) As that post (and this one) shows, that certainly wasn't true. In his personal life, he definitely wasn't a tragic figure. From all accounts, he was quite a hasmukh, a jovial man who enjoyed nothing more than the company of his friends, a couple of drinks for quick measure and an evening filled with songs. One of the oft-repeated stories about Mukesh is that he is alleged to have said: Sharab... din mein kabhi chhuo mat, raat ko kabhi chhodo mat! (Never touch a drink during the day; never miss a drink after dusk.)  A harmonium would be pulled out, and a musical soiree would follow the drinks, Mukesh regaling his friends with songs without any recording paraphernalia around. 

But while he enjoyed his drink, he was definitely not addicted to it. In fact, the secret of his success can be traced to the fact that however late he went to bed, he was up at 5 a.m. doing his riyaaz for the next couple of hours. That discipline, and his open, easy-going nature attracted composers who have, at one time or the other, found songs that needed Mukesh and only Mukesh to do justice to the emotions contained in them.

Unlike today's cut-throat world, Mukesh inhabited one where his goodness of heart was not an anomaly. On the contrary, he shared a great camaraderie with his contemporaries, and it did his stature no harm to tell Mohammed Rafi that he couldn't sing like him. Or to call up Manna Dey or Manhar Udhas to congratulate them on songs well sung. After his death, Kishore Kumar, who often took son Nitin Mukesh with him, would introduce him as his 'bade bhai's (elder brother's) son. 

 

Since I have already established that, despite my oft-stated opinion of Mukesh, there are many, many songs of his that I not only just 'like', but are among my perennial favourites, it is easy enough to get into the second part of my post on the legend - his duets. Once again, the choices were many, and it was a difficult, even if delightful, chore to sift through them to list the songs that I like just at present. (My taste in songs is pretty fluid - there are some that I can always listen to, that have always been my favourites, and will probably always be; there are some that I like at one moment, and not necessarily the next; there are some that I like depending on present circumstances, so on and so forth.) So, here, again in no particular order, are some of my favourite Mukesh duets.

1.  Phir na keeje meri gustakh nigaahi ka gila (with Asha Bhosle) Phir Subah Hogi (1958), Khayyam/Sahir Ludhianvi

Love, love, love this song. It is among my afore-mentioned all-time favourites. I love everything about it, from the story-telling that precedes the song, to the way Raj Kapoor's voice segues effortlessly into that of Mukesh's, to the picturisation - the lovers stealing glances even while he is telling the children a story, the quietness of the song itself, almost pleading not to be punished for the crime of looking, for she has been glancing at him too, and how could he not return her loving glance? It's one of the finest romantic songs I have ever heard or seen, picturisation (Ramesh Saigal) and music (Khayyam) complementing Sahir's lyrics.
Phir na keeje meri gustaakh nigaahi ka gila
Dekhiye aap ne phir pyaar se dekha mujhko
Main kahaan tak na nigaahon ko palatne deti
Aap ke dil ne kayi baar pukaara mujhko

2. Dekho mausam kya bahaar hai  (with Lata Mangeshkar) Opera House (1961), Chitragupta/Majrooh Sultanpuri

Mukesh sang the most number of duets with Lata Mangeshkar. Obviously, one is spoilt for choice. What to choose is not as difficult as what to leave out. I could have gone with one of my favourite romantic songs of all time - Dum bhar jo udhar munh phere from Awara,  or the lesser-known but beautiful Mehtab tera chehra from Aashiq. But on my short list were songs that were so un-Mukesh like that I felt they were better choices. Again, there were three songs hat I shortlisted (with great difficulty) in that mood. Dekho mausam won over  Dil se dil ki dor baandhe (Chhaya) and Duniyawalon se door (Ujala) for the sheer effervescence of its melody. It really is one of those 'get-up-and-dance' songs. Besides, who could resist Ajit dancing with Saroja Devi? Majrooh's peppy lyrics brought out the fun element, as he questions how one can remain unaffected under the circumstances:

Gaati si har saans mein bajti hai shehnaaiyaan

Saaya dil pe daalti taaron ki parchhaiiyaan

Jhaanke chanda aasmaan se, chhede humko jaan-jaan ke

Aise mein kyun hum yahin par kho jaaye na

Dekho mausam kya bahaar hai, saara aalam beqaraar hai

Aise mein kyun hum deewane ho jaaye na
Truly. How?

3. Mast chandni jhoom rahi hain (with Geeta Dutt) Pyar ki Baatein (1951), Bulo C Rani/ML Khanna

My initial choice for their combination was Khayalon mein kisi ke from Bawre Nain. But it is, almost always, the obvious choice for a Geeta Dutt-Mukesh duet. And quite one of my favourites, so it pops up in my lists now and then. Secondly, I already had the delightful Mujhe sach sach bata de from the same film, and I did not want two songs from one film if I could help it. Thirdly, I came across this song and it caught my fancy in a way that some songs have a habit of doing. I'm not arguing artistic merit here. There is something about this song that tugs at your emotions. 

No, it is not a heart wrenching song, as one would expect from a Geeta Dutt-Mukesh combination (both of them stereotyped for their pathos-laden songs). This is a song full of longing for love, when a moonlit night arouses hitherto-unknown desires. The plot (such that there is) is convoluted enough, and it was compounded by the fact that the film had two music directors (Khayyam, composing as Sharmaji, was the other), 4 or 5 lyricists, and quite a few scriptwriters (that is evident in the plot). Picturised on Trilok Kapoor (first cousin to Prithviraj Kapoor) and Nargis, Mukesh and Geeta Dutt infused the song with all the joy of loving someone, and the sadness of being separated from them; it is filled with hopes and dreams and is completely satisfying. 

Dil ki basti veeraan hai
Tu man ke meet kahan hai
Meri duniya aaj jawaan hai
Bechain papeehe ke honth par
Mere dil ki baat hai
Bheegi bheegi raat hai
Mast chandni jhoom rahi hai, naach rahi hai...  

4. Chuo na chuo na albele mere saiyya (with Sabita Bannerjee) Honeymoon (1960), Salil Choudhary/Shailendra

A relatively obscure film starring Manoj Kumar and Saeeda Khan, Honeymoon had some lovely melodies. Once again, highlighting the fact that Mukesh could sound playful and romantic with the best of them, he is ably complemented by Sabita Choudhary née Bannerjee. Salilda's composition is as light and frothy (but definitely not simple) as only he could make it.
Har nazar madbhari
Har ada teri jaadubhari
Rehne do apni ye jaadugari
Aji jaao na, lalchaao na
Meethi baaton se bharmaao na
Tu kareeb aa, na humein sataa
Tere ho chuke hain, tujhe dil diya

 

Can't really see Manoj Kumar being playful, but then, I couldn't see Mukesh be anything other than sombre and plaintive either. I suppose there is a lesson here against stereotyping. 

5. Main bhanwra tu hai phool (with Shamshad Begum) Mela (1948), Naushad/Shakeel Badayuni 

It seems strange to have two happy songs in a film that is soaked in tears from beginning to end. Mela  was a three-handkerchief tear-jerker. But as with Gaaye ja geet milan ke, this song provides an oasis, both for the characters and the audience. Mela, followed by Barsaat and Andaz would catapult Mukesh to becoming one of the top singers of the golden era, and secure for him a place among the ruling quartet. This also fits my trope of the hero and heroine separating immediately after they sing of their deep and everlasting love. 

Tu suraj main ujiyaara

Hain ab jeevan bhar ka mel

Well, audiences knew that once they had sung that line, they had to be separated. 

 6. Ye kisne geet chheda (with Suman Kalyanpur) Meri Soorat Teri Aankhein (1963), SD Burman/Shailendra

Suman Kalyanpur's greatest advantage was that she sounded like Lata Mangeshkar. Her greatest disadvantage? That she sounded like Lata Mangeshkar. She was a talented singer in her own right, and it is interesting that, after Lata-Mukesh, it was her duets with Mukesh that I had the greatest difficulty choosing just one. I had initially chosen Ye mausam rangeen sama  from Modern Girl, and Chura lena na tumko ye mausam suhana (Dil Hi Toh Hai) was also on my shortlist, but then, as I listened to Ye kisne geet chheda again, I found there is a sweetness to this duet that charmed me. What also turned the scales in favour of this song is that this was a SD Burman-Mukesh combination.  

7. Jis pyar mein ye haal hai (with Mohammed Rafi) Phir Subah Hogi (1958), Khayyam/Sahir Ludhianvi

I must confess that  Do jasoos kare mehsoos was my first choice for a Rafi-Mukesh duet. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I came across this song when I was making my list, and couldn't resist. Even if I was breaking my self-imposed rule of one song per film, this song deserves to be known better than it is. In a film that is filled with good songs, and much better-known ones at that,  this composition hasn't got the recognition it deserves.  A very light-hearted number in a reasonably serious film, the song, beautiful as it is both musically and lyrically, also deserves a look-see for its picturisation. If you can visualise the poet who gave us the cynicism of Cheeno arab hamara writing lyrics such as: 

Humne bhi socha tha kabhi pyar karenge

Chhup chhup ke kisi shokh haseena pe marenge

Dekha jo azeezon ko mohabbat me tadapte

Dil kehne lage hum toh mohabbat se darenge

In nargisi aankhon ke chhupe waar se tauba

Jis pyar mein ye haal hai us pyar se tauba

...to which the beleaguered lover retorts:

Jo bore karein yaar ko, us yaar se tauba!  

Raj Kapoor's frustration, Rehman's teasing and Mala Sinha's expressions as she watches her lover and his friend squabble (there is no other word for this) over one of them being in love, make this song priceless.

  

8. Badarwa ki chaaon tale (with Suraiya) Lekh (1949), Krishan Dayal/Qamar Jalalabadi

This is a song that I came across when I was researching songs for my Suraiya post. While at that time, I preferred to use the lighter Laayi khushi ki duniya from Vidya, the more I listen to it, the more I'm beginning to like Badarwa ki chaaon tale... I must confess to not having heard the music director's name before, though from what I can glean, he was pretty well-known at one time. 

9.  Mujhe sach sach bata do (with Rajkumari) Bawre Nain (1950), Roshan/Kidar Sharma

 

It was not just Raj Kapoor who considered Kidar Sharma his mentor. Music director Roshan was also given his break by the veteran. Unfortunately for Roshan, his first film Neki aur Badi failed at the box-office. Devastated by its fate, Roshan was ready to quit, when Kidar Sharma stepped in and gave him Bawre Nain.  Perhaps Roshan had a point to prove - to himself, to his mentor, and to the world at large. Whatever be the reason, he came up with a clutch of songs that established him as a composer to reckon with. 

There is such joy in the song as a lover asks his beloved to tell him truthfully when she became a part of him. And she, quite frankly, explains that it happened the first time he smiled at her. There is teasing, there is an awareness of what it means to them to be in love, and how it affects each one. 
Tumhe kisne saja di, kya, ki raaton ko gino taare Woh zaalim jiske meethe bol, lagte hain bade pyare Tumhe kisne kaha hai, kya, mere sapno me aane ko Tere sapno me aate hain teri kismet jagaane ko    

10. Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao (with Sudha Malhotra) Didi (1959) Sudha Malhotra/Sahir Ludhianvi

 

While N Dutta scored the other songs in this film, Sudha Malhotra composed this heart-breaking melody. Sahir's lyrics have an added poignancy when you realise that their real-life relationship had broken down just before this film. There is a resignation in the lyrics where, while she bemoans her unrequited love for him, she also understands that it is not hers to question why. Whereas his response is considerably more cruel for being less understanding. 

I mean,

Zindagi sirf muhabbat nahin kuch aur bhi hai

Zulf-o-rukhsar ki jannat nahin kuch aur bhi hai...

... is not exactly helpful when you are in love with the man! 

I quite like this part of her response (here is a cynicism to match his)...

Tumhe duniya ke gham-o-dard se fursat na sahi

Sabse ulfat sahi, mujhse hi muhabbat na sahi

...but it comes back to her unending love for him and an understanding that she cannot make him love her...

Main tumhari hoon yahi mere liye kya yeh kam hai

Tum mere ho ke raho ye mere kismet na sahi

Aur bhi dil ko jalaao ye haq hai tumko

Meri baat aur hai maine toh muhobbat kii hai 

For some reason, this song has been a perennial favourite ever since I discovered it some years ago. (As you can see from this long treatise on the song's lyrics!) 

11. Manwa mein pyar dole (with Zohrebai Ambalewali) Sartaj (1950), Husnlal-Bhagatram/Majrooh Sultanpuri

Not having seen the film, this is another song that I have never had the good fortune to actually see on screen. The video is not available on YouTube either, so I have no idea who it is picturised on. It is a lovely song, though very, very reminiscent of Madan Mohan's 1957 composition for Sheroo, down to the lyrics. Sartaj starred Motilal and Munawar Sultana, so one assumes it was picturised on them. If any of my readers can shed any light on this song and/or film, it would be much appreciated. 

12. Ab yaad na kar ae dil (with Meena Kapoor) Anokha Pyar (1948), Anil Biswas/Shams Azimabadi

This is a funny song. As in 'strange'. There is this Mukesh-Meena Kapoor version as well as a Mukesh-Lata audio version. Obviously, it is the Meena Kapoor duet that has been used in the film. I wonder why the duet with Lata was recorded, and why it wasn't used after all. 

That said, I love the song for a different reason. I love how the song starts off with an exhortation to his heart not to remember the past, to forget all those avowals of eternal love. He is both heartbroken and cynical. 

Kyun yaad tujhe aati hai beeti hui baatein

Tu bhool ja woh pyar ke din pyar ki raatein

Ab toot chuka hai woh tera khwaab suhana

Woh pyar ki ghadiyaan, woh muhobbat ka zamana

Until... she comes in, hearing his plaint, and still not visible to him, begs the breezes and the beautiful view to tell of her plight - how she still loves him and yearns for him - and almost immediately, his mood changes to that of exultation.

Yaad aane laga mujhe woh bhoola fasana

Woh pyar ki ghadiyaan woh muhobbat ka zamana 

This must be the quickest recovery from amnesia, ever!  

13. Le chal mere jeevan saathi (with Hemlata) Vishwas (1969), Kalyanji-Anandji/Gulshan Bawra

This is the fag end of the 60s, my usual cut-off point when it comes to songs, unless I'm deliberately looking for them. Incidentally, this is probably one of Hemalata's earliest songs. She must have been but a teenager then; her voice sounds very young. According to Wikipedia, this was the second song she recorded; her first was Tu khamosh main purjosh under Usha Khanna's baton. My introduction to this song came through my husband who, out of deep love for me (or so he claims), was helping me research Mukesh's duets. I must confess that I heard this song for the first time a few days ago, but I liked it well enough to include it in this list. I can't pinpoint anything in particular - lyrics, melody, or singing - that caught my attention, but there is something engaging about the song for all that. 

14. Haal chaal theek thaak hai (with Kishore Kumar) Mere Apne (1971), Salil Choudhary/Gulzar

I wasn't going to include this number because I had used it in my earlier post on Kishore Kumar's duets, but on second thoughts, aren't the lyrics just as relevant today as they were more than four decades earlier? It is a lowering thought actually - unemployment, corruption, inflation, and bhaashan pe ration ab bhi nahin hai. Gulzar's lyrics are wonderfully sarcastic, the lightness of the words only serving to underscore the seriousness of the situations of which they speak, Salilda's score was youthful in keeping with the characters, the two singers riffed off each other in service of the song, and everything melded together to give us a beautiful song that serves to remind us just how much further we have to travel as a nation. 
Gol mol roti ka paiyya chale
Peechhe peechhe chaandi ka rupaiyya chale
Roti ko bechari ko chheel le gayi
Chaandi leke munh kaala kauvva chala
Aur kya kahoon, maut ka tamasha
 Chala hai be-tahaasha
Jeene ki fursat nahin hai yahaan
Aap ki dua se baaki theek thaak hai  

15. Apne watan mein aaj  (with Noor Jehan) Do Boond Pani (1971) Jaidev/Shakeel Badayuni

This is not a 'duet' in the real sense of the word, since it is a background song, and the female voice only comes in for three lines. However, this is a beautiful song by a much under-rated composer, and while Pital ki meri gagri  is definitely the more famous song, this one deserves to be better known.  While the previous song in this list talked of prevailing conditions in the country in a satirical and light-hearted fashion, this song has a deep vein of sadness running through it. 

Apne watan mein aaj 

Do boond paani nahin

Toh yahan zindagani nahin

Not being able to survive in their own land, the villagers are migrating, but perhaps they can return once the rains come and life (and livelihood) returns to their village. But oh, how do they leave? 

Pyaari dharti chhodein kaise

Kasme apni todein kaise

Marna hoga mar jaayenge

Jeete-ji munh modein kaise? 

Once again, it is disheartening that four-plus decades after the original was written, there are regions in our country where drought is still a spectre, and villages are denuded of people for want of water.  (p.s. The Noor Jehan singing this song is not the Mallika-e-tarannum who regaled us with songs before the partition.)

I realise it is a sad song to leave you with, so a bonus Mukesh-Lata duet from Madhumati (1958) that is a tripping romantic melody by one of my favourite music directors - Salil Choudhary. The lyricist was Shailendra.

 

Yes, I squeezed in one more song. :) What are your favourite Mukesh duets? 

p.s. This marathon Mukesh fiesta will be wrapped up in my next post - Mukesh-RK solos. I half intended to take a break from Mukesh so I could post something else, but I don't like leaving things half-done. :)

For anyone interested, here is the playlist of all the songs in this post.