RMIM Archive Article "275".


From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian

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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Ek Hi Film Ke Geet - 1 -  "Benazir"
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# Posted by: malhotra@bedford.progress.com (Neeraj Malhotra)
# Author: Neeraj Malhotra
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For a while ( well over a year ), I have been toying with this idea of the songs of those films that are not easily available on audio. Queries on RMIM + articles from some other netters brought memories of many such movies. I started writing about 'Usne Kaha Tha' but then found out that a CD had been released. So the idea went on a back burner. Then someone asked about the songs of 'Benazir' - a movie I had on video. Sat on the keyboard - but never really did finish. I enjoy music a lot but I am not much of a writer about music - we have on RMIM a lot of talent in that area. So my intention is just to bring the songs of these movies to RMIM. Hopefully, if you like the idea, will post more movies every few weeks. ================================================================== EK HI FILM KE GEET - I BENAZIR ================================================================== Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, Haveli, Nawaabs, Mujra, Ghazals... and a movie name like BENAZIR somehow bring the name of ROSHAN being the MD behind. No, the music director is S.D. Burman. Somehow his name did not fit with the theme of the movie. It also turned out to be a very atypical movie for the maestro. The picturizations in some instances just don't go well with the music ( of course IMHO ) and this is from someone who loves SDB music. Will get into as to why as we go through the songs. Asst. MD btw is RDB. No singer info was in the credits - I know of one song by Lata & another by Rafi. A couple songs may be by Asha B. Bimal Roys's creation starts with an earthquake, a lost toddler watching one of those old fasshioned dancer 'guDiya' that shakes her head when touched. Someone who has lost his daughter rescues this child & next we know she is Meena Kumari dancing on Stage and we have our first song... The slow lines: F. 'main barkha huun, zamaane pe baraste hain mere aansoo khud apne muhn se apna gham kaha nahiin jaata' The mukhaDa F. 'ae mere dilruba, aa mere paas aa ye jii chaahata hai tere gale lad jaaoon' M. 'o meri aarzoo....' You can enjoy the song listening to it, but is not one of those that will stay with you once the movie is over. What is more, they are dressed very much in a typical 'Hindu' style prince & princess with Mukut, baajuband etc... BUT the lyrics are in Urdu. Seemed very odd. Of course if you hear the song on audio - it is a perfectly ok song. This is also one of those rare movies that you will see Meena Kumari dancing - and you can tell why she did not try this more often. Next we have Meena Kumari in a typical Mujra style singing at Ashok Kumar's residence to celebrate his son's 'chathi'. ( He of course is in love with her & doesn't have a care for his wife Nirupa Roy. ) This time the music & the atmosphere & the lyrics have a perfect fit and we have a wonderful song by Lata ... bahaaro.n ki mehfil suhaani rahegi zubaa.n par khushi ki kahaani kahegi chamakte rahenge muhobbat ke taare khuda ki agar meharbaani rahegi Meena Kumari also recites - in tarranum ( learnt this term on RMIM :) some shers after this which I am almost sure are in her own voice. I don't know if she has recited shers like this in any movie that I have seen so far. ENTER... Shashi Kapoor ( Ashok K's younger brother ) and we have a twist ! Meena Kumari's eyes light up and we find that SHE never was in love with Ashok K. She completes her sher... dekhe jo khwaab dil ne tasveer ye hai unki humko bhii zindagi ka ab aetbaar aaya We have one more heroine to add to this story. Tanuja ! Love at first sight ... Shashi K & Tanuja ( who is Nirupa Roy's sis ) Very sweet & soft Rafi starts this song : aaj sheeshe mein baar baar unhen dil ki surat dikhai deti hai apni surat nazar nahiin aati meri surat dikhai deti hai and then as you were expecting this to turn into a lovely song we get.. 'dil mein ik jaane tamanna ne jagah paai hai aaj gulshan mein nahiin, ghar mein bahaar aayi hai' Somehow, I never associated this song with SDB. It does not sound like his music at all. Average, as far as SDB + Rafi go. We have Meena Kumari singing again - perhaps the only well known song from this movie. husn ki bahaaren liye, aaye the sanam kaisi badnasiibi hui, mil sake na hum She is singing literally for Shashi K. who does come to her place but she does not get to meet him. In the meantime Shashi Kappor is engaged to Tanuja - which in the filmworld calls for a qwaali ( I am more and more thinking - this should have been a Roshan movie ). SDB & QWAALI - Hmmm. Does someone have a good example ? This one is forgettable.. hum unko dekhte hain nazaara kiye bagair, parde mein chup gaye hain, parda kiye bagair Through twists & turns of a typical story - the engagement is off :(. Tanuja & Shashi K still love each other. See we have not had a 'birah' song yet ! So here is Tanuja & once again - it is a nice song but somehow the picturization seems totally off. She is on her 'cHat' singing a very classical based song which neither suits her nor her walking around singing it.. 'Jaane jaana, mil ja a aaaaa mil jaaa aaa mil jaaa re' I think this one is in Asha's voice. Meena Kumari is back in the story - she saves Shashi's life - so Shashi decides to marry her - in the meantime whatever happened to break up Tanuja & Shashi has been fixed and the marriage is ON again. Ashok Kumar is trying to convince Shashi to marry Tanuja BUT Shashi has promised Meena K. Now she has to do something - we have another song by her on stage - The scene starts out in a court - a Mughal scene - She has been asked to drink poison ( which she really drinks ) and sings the last song of the movie - Once again - a very nice song but it sounds too contemporary a tune to fit the scene. Perhaps these are the reasons that the songs though nice did not become that popular. If you have heard this song before then you know why it does not fit the scene : gham nahiin gar zindagii veeran hai ishq par ye jaan bhii kurbaan hai~~ gham nahiin gar zindagii veeran hai The lyrics are by Shakeel. Assistant Director is Gulzar. The one thing I never figured out - what was the relavence of the first scene ? The earthquake. They don't even show how that kid grew up to be a dancer. I have a better movie of SDB in mind for next time - INSAAN JAAG UTHA has some wonderful songs. Till then. - Neeraj M. ===================================================================
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian