#500

       Song:    pyaar ki rut dorangi saajan
                man men holi aankh men saavan

       Film:    Apni Izzat (1952)
       Singer:  Talat Mahmood, Madhubala Jhaveri
       Music:   Hansraj Behl
       Lyrics:  Asad Bhopali
       *ing:    Motilal, Munavvar Sultana

A tranquil gemstone from yet another one of the Golden Age's unfairly
underappreciated composers. I have yet to hear a sub-standard
composition from Hansraj Behl. He was a master of minimalism, of beauty
in subtlety and restraint. No flashes of meretricious orchestration, no
dazzle of vocal calisthenics, just carefully chosen and arranged notes
and melodic patterns that paint so much in so less. And virtually every
tune was underscored by a deep and innate mellifluousness.

This gorgeous song is a prime manifestation of the essential Hansraj
Behl. Soft, symmetric, caressing, and deeply classical, rendered
exquisitely by Talat and Madhubala Jhaveri. Most of the song is in the
low notes, and Talat sounds simply magnificent in the depths. Madhubala
Jhaveri, with her distinctive enunciation and sharp, sweet voice, is a
perfect contrast to him, summing up to a complete vocal symbiosis.
Lovely lyrics too - I'll post them on Latanjali sometime soon. There is
yet another lovely duet with the same two singers in the movie: "dil
mera tera deevana, bas itna mera afsaana", penned by P Phani, yet
another signature Hansraj Behl melody.

I'd like to spend the next few posts on songs by Husnlal Bhagatram,
partly because I have recently discovered quite a lode of their music
from the late 40s/early 50s, and partly in remembrance of Bhagatram,
whose death anniversary passed not too long ago (November 27).
 

..Hrishi