Page 40 - Seniors Today - February Issue

Once Upon a Time | Music

Musical duos

who delivered

With audiences looking at whom songs were picturised on, the trend of hit
pairs caught on and continued down the decades, writes Narendra Kusnur

The year 1949 was a landmark year for
Hindi film music, as Lata Mangeshkar got
major hits in Mehboob Khan’s Andaz and
Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat. The first starred Dilip
Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and the latter
had Raj, Nargis and Nimmi.
Both films had memorable music, and
people began noticing how good Raj and
Nargis looked together on screen and in Raj Kapoor and Nargis set the trend of star pairs with a
healthy roster of hit songs
songs. While they appeared, along with
Dilip, in the Andaz song ‘Uthaye Ja Unke Chandni Mein Hum’ and ‘Yeh Raat Bheegi
Sitam’ composed by Naushad, they made Bheegi’ from Chori Chori were only some
a wonderful pair in Shankar-Jaikishen’s examples, and the music for all was given by
Barsaat songs ‘Mujhe Kisise Pyar Ho Gaya’ Shankar-Jaikishen. The pair featured in rarer
and ‘Meri Ankhon Mein Bas Gaya Koi Re’. gems too, an example being the A.R. Qureshi
Over the next few years, Raj and Nargis (Ustad Allarakha) composition ‘Dil Matwala
were the most popular screen pair, with some Lakh Sambhala’ in the 1952 film Bewafa.
hugely successful songs. ‘Dum Bhar Jo Udhar Raj and Nargis set the trend of star pairs
Mooh Phere’ in Awara, ‘Pyar Hua Ikraar with a healthy roster of hit songs. Before 1949,
Hua’ in Shree 420, ad ‘Aaja Sanam Madhur K.L. Saigal, Surendra, Noorjehan and Suraiya

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