Throwback: Maestro Naushad Ali gave Lata Mangeshkar her big break
Throwback: Maestro Naushad Ali gave Lata Mangeshkar her big break
Legendary Music Composer Naushad needs no introduction. He was a Musician par excellence. Music was in his blood. He worked extremely hard to reach to his status as a Music Composer to reckon with. I had the privilege of meeting him for the very first time at one of his recording with Rafi Saab. At that time around I was contributing to a South based film magazine Picturepost. Infact he was the one who introduced me to Rafi Saab.
Naushad in his early days worked with several singers but found Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd Rafi more talented and agave almost all solos and duets to them.
At the “Baiju Bawra” Golden Jubilee celebrations and to mark the 50-week consecutive run of the superhit musical at Dadar’s Broadway Cinema film director Vijay Bhat suddenly noticed that music director Naushad Ali was nowhere to be seen. He moved to the balcony and spotted Naushad sitting alone with tears in his eyes.
Pointing to the other side of the road, Naushad said to him: “It took him 16 years from that footpath, where he spent many sleepless nights on an empty stomach looking for work, to reach to his status in the entertainment industry.
A few months later, at the inaugural function of the Filmfare Awards, Baiju Bawra won the award in the best music director category.
Naushad Ali’s entry into Indian cinema is as exhilarative
as his music. Born in Lucknow on 25 December 1919 to a conservative family where music and films were frowned upon. When his father found out that a harmonium had been smuggled into his house, he broke the instrument and warned Naushad that he either choose family or music. Naushad preferred to go for music since it was cherished dream. And bidding his father adieu Naushad left for the ‘Mecca’ of Hindi Cinema, Bollywood in Bombay(Mumbai).
Reaching Bombay,.the 18-year-old Naushad had no friends or relatives to fall back on and had to strike out on his own. One Ustad Jhande Khan took him in to play the piano on a monthly salary of Rs 40. This was followed by stints as an assistant with music directors Mushtaq Hussain and Khemchand Prakash.
In 1940, lyricist and screenplay writer DN Madhok recommended Naushad as an independent music director for Bhavnani Productions’ Prem Nagar.
Naushad composed music for another 11 films, and slowly embedded his reputation in the film industry. But it was the 1944 film Rattan, which catapulted him to instant superstardom. The film’s soundtrack was a rage and made it the highest-grossing movie of the year. Thus Naushad emerged as a household name across divided India.
Songs like Akhiya Milake Jiya Bharmake in Zohrabai Ambalawali’s voice are remembered even today. This was followed by a string of hit scores for movies like Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1981), Mela (1948) and Anmol Ghadi (1946) among others. The poignance.Awaz de Kahan hai from Mahboob Khan’s Anmol Ghadi in Noor Jahan’s evocative voice is remembered even as of today. Through decades, the diva’s concerts would invariably feature the gem.
Naushad Ali and Mehboob Khan collaborated again in Andaz (1949). The mesmerising music of the film played a significant role in its success. When Naushad gave Lata Mangeshkar the song Uthaye Ja Unke Sitam, Khan was reluctant and reportedly expressed doubt over whether a Maharashtrian girl would be able to render an Urdu ghazal.
Naushad trained Lata rigorously for 15 days, fine-tuning her diction and pronunciation besides familiarising her with the notes of the composition. Once Lata was ready, the rendition was delivered in a single impeccable take.
Notwithstanding going beyond some elementary schooling, Naushad was gifted with a great command over Urdu which enabled him to work with lyricists to maximum effect in creating popular songs that had literary merit as well. He would always give lyricists the leeway to write verses, which he would set to tune rather than creating a tune first and restricting their creative abilities. Naushad was equally skilled in scoring background music.
Between Andaz and Baiju Bawra, Naushad had seven more musical hits. It included two golden jubilees starring Dilip Kumar: Deedar (1951) and Aan (1952). Apart from Dilip Kumar’s superlative performance, songs like Hue Hum Jinke Liye Barbaad and Meri Kahani Bhoolne Wale made Deedar a mega-hit showcasing Mohammad Rafi’s unparalleled ability to hit high notes.
In Aan, Naushad experimented with a hundred-piece orchestraa first in Indian film music. It was also for the first time that Indian film music was written in Western notations, which were published in the form of a book in London.
By the early 1950s, Naushad stamped his authority as the numero uno in the industry. He was the highest-paid composer and was selective on the acceptance of films..The very mention of Naushad in the titles guaranteed a film’s success.
When he turned down the 1955 movie Baradari the producers hired Shaukat Ali and gave him a similar-sounding pseudonym Nashad to make the film a success. The ploy worked. To Shaukat Ali’s credit, he created great melodies that included the superhit romantic number Tasveer Banata Hoon, Tasveer Nahi Banti which came alive with Talat Mahmood’s velvety voice.
So popular were Naushad’s compositions that when he married, the band that accompanied him to his bride’s house played all his tunes, notwithstanding he was their creator.
In his early days, Naushad worked with several singers but once he felt that Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi were ready to deliver, he gave almost all solos and duets to them. Other composers who always looked up to him, some of them enviously followed suit. This established the duo as the king and queen of playback singing.
The 1960s began with the superhit comedy Kohinoor starring Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari as lead actors. The classical composition of ‘Madhuban Mein Radhika Nache Re’ and other numbers continue to mesmerise music lovers even as of today.
Kohinoor was followed by the epic Mughal-e-Azam (1961) and a series of golden and silver jubilee hits. Mere Mehboob, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Leader, Ganga Jamuna, Ram Aur Shyam, Saathi and several other movies are a testimony to Naushad’s genius.
His mastery over his craft earned him the epithet Mauseeqar-e-Azam — The Grand Musician.
Naushad composed for a few films during the seventies, eighties and nineties but he was, by and large, disheartened by what he saw as a decline in the glorious traditions of Hindi film music. When the music director of Pakeezah (1972), Ghulam Muhammad, passed away, it was Naushad who completed the track besides scoring the entire background music.
The Pakeeza title music, known as Tarana-e-Pakeezah, is a seminal piece of work with Lata’s amazing vocals creating an ethereal effect with the alaap that interludes the music.
Proud of his Ganga-Jamuni syncretic ethos, Naushad, who passed away on 5 May 2006, would often allude to Man Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko, a bhajan from Baiju Bawra, as “written by a Muslim, composed by a Muslim and sung by a Muslim”.
All said for Naushad Saab Rafi Saab was his favourite. Still remember the song ‘Suhani Raat dal chuki na jane tum kab awogi”
News input KV Raman
