Excerpts from a 1970 Film Sangeet Magazine
This article is by Mr. Rajinder Bhatia
Friends, While going through a box of some old books, I found a treasure – a couple of “Film Sangeet” magazines from 1970. This magazine used to be published by “Sangeet Karyalaya” from Hathras in UP and was actually run by Shri Prabhu Lal Garg, very famous for his humorous poetry under the name “Kaka Hathrasi.” Film Sangeet magazine used to concentrate only on Hindi film music and would publish detailed notations of popular film songs. It also used to have articles about film music and musicians. The magazine was published in Hindi. For the benefit of all our forum members, I will try to translate into English and present various articles and news items of yesteryears.
Here is the first one of the series. Enjoy.
Rajinder Bhatia
FROM Film Sangeet Magazine – January 1970
Recently, the renowned music directors, Laxmikant Pyarelal (LP) and the singer Mohammad Rafi set an example of devotion to their musical duties, by recording five songs in one day. They were all huddled in the “Famous Terdeo†recording studio for fifteen hours without a break. The recording started at nine in the morning and continued till about twelve mid night. During this session, songs for upcoming films ‘Anjaanaa’, ‘Pyaasee Shaam’, ‘Man Kee AankheN’ and, a yet-to-be-named film were recorded.
Mohammad Rafi was just about to go abroad. Even though he was very busy preparing for his trip abroad, he did not want to disappoint the (film) producers whose films could not be shot without his playback singing. Surprisingly enough, LP were back in the recording studio, the next morning although no one expected them to be back that soon; they were preparing to record some other songs.
When asked about working so hard, LP replied, “We are currently giving music for eighty (80) films. We want to accommodate each producer to the best of our ability and we do not want anyone to complain about our availability. We are not afraid of hard work.â€
Laxmikant clarified, “In fact, we have a lot of respect for the film-industry. If this industry prospers, so will we all. Today, if a producer suffers because of us, that affects the whole industry. Therefore, we try our best and work very hard.â€
“Eighty films with about six songs per film means 480 songs. Don’t you want separate and unique tune for each song?â€
“Of course,†continued Laxmikant, “But there is no dearth of tunes. The vast ocean of music has countless, infinite waves of tunes. We are very sure that we will compose each tune uniquely. Look at our past work. That music was hit because we did not use “chaaloo†tunes. We devise new and unique compositions.â€
Great article. I am just sad I dont know how to reply properly, though, since I want to show my appreciation like many other.
Fascinating reading, Rajinder.. thanks greatly for the transcription. Some thoughts/comments –
The studio is Tardeo Studios, in west-central Mumbai, and home to many memorable recordings. (As unrelated trivia and iirc, Rakesh Roshan has/had an office just outside it, where the mob made a hit on him a few years ago)
The article speaks so well of the work ethic of those days! In this case it is Rafi/LP, it could be KK/RDB, Mukesh/KA or SDB/Lata.. these people worked for a living…. and how easy it is for us armchair critics to sometimes dismiss such 15 hours of work in 15 minutes or less!
The timing is interesting and a bit of a puzzle. Playing Sherlock a bit, the article is written in January 1970 and refers to a recent recording. However, Anjaana and Pyasi Shyam were 1969 releases at least as per indofilms, which is not above error, btw. Man Ki Aankhen was 1970. The ‘unnamed movie’ is a tantalizing question! Could it have been Suhana Safar or Maa Aur Mamta or Khilona or Humjoli? Oh, what would we give for a back seat at one of these recordings!
Speaking of 1969, of course the sensation and biggest event of the year was Aradhana but here’s what LP did in the market – besides the above movies, Jeene Ki Raah, Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Jigri Dost, Satyakam, Inteqam and this project for Raj Khosla which stayed in the theatres through most of the next year too.
Of course, some of LP’s statements are self-serving (imo) but I’m so glad to finally read an article which talks about their productivity. Huge. Someone had written one on Anu Malik last year, comparing his series of hit movies (Virasat and the period following). Statement was that he simply did not have the stamina of an LP or SJ!
Which leads to another future discussion – are duos more successful than solo MD’s? Good arguments to be made on both sides. But as the record stands, L+P and S+J were the number crunchers and for most part, keeping the quality too. Size matters, always, in my book.
As is often said, LP and SJ’s average numbers alone surpass the entire output of a couple of other MDs combined. Sounds jingoistic but it remain a fact.
Thanks again…
Regards..Robin