Guest Writer - murthy ss
Raj Kapoor reportedly after his breakup with Nargis is said to have been Finished. Posterity has proved that it was not so, but the second beginning.
Coming soon in the aftermath of enacting the aesthetically portrayed, thirst quenching melody sequence "Jago mohan pyare " in Jagte Raho, (ironically their swan song sequence together, created and interpolated into the script exclusively at the request of Nargis), RK was bitterly hurt, fortunately for him it served provocating the savage motivating force, the tremendous creative upsurge all over again and lifting his head high, out of the frustrated subjectivism of the past, his gaze turned southwards on buxom Padmini, a Bharat Natyam dancer, one of the three famous Travancore sisters whom he had met at the youth festival at Moscow 1957.
Oozing sensuously she was strikingly the contrast to the innocent looking yokel Raju who had the simpleton's truth in thought and word and the act of goodness as an accompanying divine embodiment from the word go. Singing "mera naam raju "down the Ganges he wins the hearts of all passers by, he comes across, along with his beats on the dafli,
Could there be a simpler and loftier expression of thought, with words penned by Shailendra as he foreruns the "Sajan re jhoot mat bolo " message with : Mehman tujhe, ek din tho hai jana, dafli utha awwaaz mila, gaa milke mere sang prem tarana.
Jai had composed this beautiful song and brought into it a certain mesmerism hard to excel and made the dafli rhythm conspicous by its arresting quality. you had an immediate corollary to this rhythm in "Tum aaj mere sang haslo..." from Aashiq.
Soon the yokel Raju enters blissfully, unknowingly into forbidden territory as he gradually finds his mentor in arms and chocholism through some explicitly shot locales of musical bliss, as kammo sensuously dances into the vagaries of growing love, bowled over by the pangs of the yokel's virtuous and sagacious innocence.
Her's was a sizzling presence, an antidote to the epitome of innocence of her counterpart in JDMGBH.
The dance composition song by Shankar "Kya hua mujhe kya hua ....picturized on her and Chanchal was simply marvellous, probably the fastest orchestrisation to match the twinkling toes of Padmini and chorus or was it vice versa ? blossoming with Jaikishan's "Oh maine pyar kiya....with the strikingly rich guitar and drum beats a feast to the sizling sensuos ear, crystallizing with the bethali beats of "hai aag hamare seene meIn.... again with Raakha, Raju and Kammo turning out to be the triumvirate focal points poetically and musically. There could not have been a better picturisation as the audiovisual effect is so complete that the total imprinted scenario unreels along with the music spontaneously.
Hats off to SJ for their insight and the score they came out with, which, Shankar was so diffident about a dacoit theme initially, as Raj summoned him to brief him on the film's music.
The floodgates of Shankar's musical ingenuity got opened only by Shailendra's keywords as he penned down "Hoton pe sachai rehti hai......which became an icon, symbolic of Indian culture.
As most of us can recall this arrestingly orchestrated tune, had been used in four different patterns.
Firstly, while the films casting title music is being unfolded, you hear this theme song instrumentally along with some of the most beautiful chorus ever heard, floating heavenly down the ghats of the holy Ganges.
The second which is the well known song version, with Shailendra at his oriental and cultural, poetic peak.
The third, the sadder pathos version as a background score depicting an anguished Raju, full of remorse, perturbed and puzzled, consequent upon the murder of the bride during one marriage loot, whose mangalsutra Raakha usurps and gives it to the Sardar who visualises it as a prospective bridal fitment for Kammo from Raaka.
The fourth as the film ends with the words "jis desh mein...... gangaaaaaaaa. ..... behti hai" what an ecstatic feeling and blissful joy it was and is, as one gets glued to his seat for a repeat seing of the film again and again. That is the hallmark effect of a genius on you.
The song 'Begani shadi mein' heightens the yokel's vivacity of Raju and can be gauged for its popularity for its compelling inclusion in every Indian marriage band , while the simple and catchy "pyar karle nai tho phaansi chad jayega..." vibe's so well with the theme
Also the theme called for a style of music to evoke the toughness inherent in the life of dacoits in the chambal. Also at the same time even among dacoits the pangs of a woman's heart had to be felt by the viewer, as we find Kammo warning Raju that he would be getting lost in those dangerous ravines of Chambal, to which Raju replies, that getting lost is better than living the kind of life among them. While these dialogues are going on, what a beautiful and marvellous background score SJ gave with the sitar and violins combination to such amazing and awesome effect. It's just par excellence and rarely could you come across such a score to match the theme again.
Heightening the effect Kammo reaches out to the unseen deity in sheer desperateness like an echo, climaxing in the form of "Oh basanti pavan pagal na jaa re na jaa......... " , with such an arresting and mesmerisingly audio visual impact that even decades after having seen that film this scene is still fresh like yesterday.
As the crescendo reaches into the grand finale of surrender, Kammo's movements with the dishevelled hair moving along with the wind is a highlight and calls for some wizard like imagination on the part of the director as SJ unwind the stillness to a spellbound audience to keep in tune with "Aa ab laut chale....... ...aajaa re aaaaa .....aaaja.. ..re...aaaa" is remarkably poignant.
The orchestrisation of this number called for more than 100 violinists and more than 140 instrumentalist in all, a record of sorts in those times and what difference it has made is all too evident to the connoisseurs delightful ear.
The theme has been enriched by some doha's predominantly Kabir's, interwoven ito the fabric of the theme and rendered by Mukesh with such sanctity that you feel hauntingly incomplete without them.
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