Page 48 - SeniorsToday May20

Once Upon A Time | Music
Master of the
Exquisite
Composer par excellence, Naushad
was also a captivating poet.
Narendra Kusnur looks back over
the maestro’s immense contribution
to Hindi film music
Following the lockdown, many singers have
been doing online performances from their
homes. One of the versions heard frequently
is Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Mohe Panghat Pe’
from the 1960 epic Mughal-e-Azam.
Composed by Naushad and written by
Shakeel Badayuni, it is one of the prime
examples of the use of raag Gara. It is
also one of the numerous examples of the
command the famed music director had over
Hindustani classical music.
In the 1952 film Baiju Bawra, for instance,
Naushad had famously used raag Malkauns
in Mohammed Rafi’s ‘Man Tadapat Hari
Darshan Ko Aaj’. Eight years later, he and
Rafi teamed up on the raag Hameer tune
‘Madhuban Mein Radhika’, from the Dilip
Kumar film Kohinoor. Both these songs were
written by Badayuni.
Naushad’s contribution to Hindi film music
has been immense. Chronologically, after
Kundan Lal Saigal, he was the second Indian
musical superstar. From the mid-1940s to
the early 1960s, he produced a string of
hits for the top banners. His films included
Rattan, Anmol Ghadi, Deedaar, Baiju Bawra,
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Amar, Uran Khatola, Mother India, Mughal-
e-Azam, Kohinoor, Ram Aur Shyam, Leader,
Mere Mehboob and Ganga Jamna. Songs like
‘Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya’ (Shahjehan), ‘Suhani
Raat’ (Dulari) and ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’
(Mughal-e-Azam’) have become iconic.
Despite his phenomenal success, Naushad’s
birth centenary on December 25 last year
went largely unnoticed. In Mumbai, the only
major show held was ‘Mauseeqaar-e-Azam
Naushad’ curated by Ajay Madan at the
Nehru Centre the following day.
May 5 marked 14 years since Naushad
passed away. Even today, his songs are
played by old-time listeners and sung in
television talent hunt shows. Besides his use
of classical raags and folk melodies, his style
of orchestration inspired many later music
directors. Apart from Indian music, he was
adept at the western style of creating and
arranging music too.
Meeting the maestro
Though I met Naushad casually at various
concerts and TV channel parties, I had
done an in-depth interview only once. This