More saiyyaan to hain pardes – Of Lost Songs-I
This is an attempt to revive some of the lost songs and albums that have got me hooked, at some point or the other, for some reason or the other…
1. More saiyyaan – BANDIT QUEEN
Kuch maheene pehle ki baat hai….I was in a taxi. The taxi was shockingly slow. It was around sunrise time. I was tired. I could use a faster taxi. The songs were not any help either. Jazz. OST’s. Film Classic Themes et al. Annoyed, and having had enough, I turned to the taxi driver who was all eager to break the news.
So I learnt that there had been a terrible accident half an hour ago in the surrounding area, and some on the spot casualties.
“Oh ok”, I said, searching for an expression to put on my face, and went back to the song.
Like some divine prank, Ustad’s haunting aalaap caught me, and it just didn’t give me a moment to blink, and before I could realize what the just happened…
Saawan aaya rhim jhim saanwre
Aaye baadal kaare kaare matwaare pyaare pyaare tore angna jhoom ke
Ghir ghir aayi oondi oondi dekho mast ghataayein
Phur phur aaj udaayein aanchal mera sard hawaayein
Daari daari pe bhanwra ghoom ke
Aaye kaliyon ke mukhde choom ke
Jiya mora jalaaye
Haaye re
Pyaari pyaari rut saanwli
More saiyyaan to hain pardes
Main kya karoon saawan ko…
And I lost the sense of time. This film had some of the most hat-ke Ustad songs. And they have their own time and space. And mood. Not your everyday playlist.
More saiyyaan is haunting at best. So much going on in its traditional setting and purely self-convinced aalaaps and flutes and santoor’s.
If Rahman got to do more songs with Ustad, I am sure this would be close to what it would sound like.
Dekhoon raahein chadh ke atariyaa
Jaane kab aa jaayein saanwariya
Jab se gaye mori lee na khabariya
Chhoota panghat phooti gagariya
Soona laage sajan bin des, main dhoondoon saajan ko
More saiyyaan….
Ustad had this characteristic streak to muffle words, and he would do it in a random frequency, so much so, that you would often pass a smile when it would catch you unawares. And when the Aalaap would come, it would be a perfect world, and for a moment you forgot this was all happening in a film ironically called Bandit Queen.
2. Sajna Tore Bina Jiya/Chhoti Si Umariya – BANDIT QUEEN
Bandit Queen had another beautiful song called Chhoti si, it was enveloped in the level of arrangements any international project featuring Ustad comes with. I am not sure who exactly worked with him on this score, but the credits suggest M. Arshad, though I do suspect the presence of a Roger White or also an Indian collaborator, may be Amar Haldipur, but the score was Class A. Listen to Chhoti si and you will be transported to the ravines quite literally, his voice almost plays like a background symphony, only bassier. Mystical to the core, and painful at the right places.
In the context of the film, the song translates to how an underage girl is being married against her wish, but the treatment is almost romantic, the uprooting of a nurtured plant, the separation from the near and dear, the fear of going to an alien land only never to return.
Munh se kaaiyaan bola
Mhara aansooda boley
I would love to detach myself from the mood and atmosphere this track creates and jam randomly with it someday. I wish I didn’t understand the language.
It is funny how the same album featuring gems like the ones mentioned before features a half-baked number like Saanwre tore bin jiya. All the factors that work in the favour of the other songs work against this one. Ustad sounds off-mood, the music tries to ape Roja, and the result is pathetic. We could use some redemption.
Sajna tere bin jiya spells Redemption. Vanraj Bhatia beginning again, but a very soothing Indian string put it where it belongs. This is the stuff of great hollow-in-love moments of cinema. I can’t recall how its used in the film, and I don’t intend to find out either, but the whole ‘tere bin jiya mora naahi laage’ is infectious stuff.
May be Rahman too heard the number and the phrase enough to dedicate a whole song(tere bina- Guru), not the same mood or genre though. This is more associative to the Astitva sort of arrangement.
Boondon ki paayal baji
Suni kisi ne bhi nahi
Khud se kahi jo kahi
Kahi kisi se bhi nahi
Bheegne ko man tarsega kab tak
Chandni mein aansoon chamkega kab tak
Saawan aaya nahi barse aur naahi jaaye
(the BEST part of the song)
Nindiya kaahe aisi ankhiyon mein aaye
This becomes like a lullaby but not a lullaby yet, the kinds that scares the sleep away.
I had an old tape, that had Bandit Queen & Sajaa-e-Kaalapani on either sides. And what a beautiful mistake it was, indeed. Both scores presenting different avatars of two world-renowned names in music. Kaalapaani(zindagi mein tum mile, sandhya ki laali) and may be Aur Ek Prem Kahaani(Meri zindagi, naina), Grahan and Is raat ki subah nahi, some other day…
3. CHAMKU – aaja milke/bin daseya/kitthe jaawaan
Kitthe Jaawaan brings the violin in the groove. Richa Sharma’s piercing vocals convey a pain reminiscent of Lambi Judaai. Monty Sharma smartly references the LP classic in this lesser known groovy judaai song. The effect is no less. I have gone back to this one more often that I had imagined. Something in the violin. The beats get a little heavy but towards the middle, you realize the balance against the vocals is just perfect.
The softer strings heard clearly in the background are a testimony to the fine programming. Lovely song for all times of the day.
The electric guitar (moulded like a sitar) towards the end just adorns the mood and embraces the pain of love. I HAD to write about this song some day.
It becomes quite a challenge to do justice to a typecast voice. You can either experiment crazy or go the tested way. Monty does the expected but leaves no stone unturned in understanding the mechanics of it all. This has the pain of Rasiya(Mangal Pandey) and the ethnic harkat/groove of Taal in Richa’s voice here.
This is the kind of lesser heard scores that makes for fantastic afternoons and proud re-discovery trips.
The song has a reprise in ‘Bin Daseya’ which is more or less the same track with a couple of tracks added sideways to add to the groove. The vocals are played around a little bit on a trippy electronic track but the joy is no less. Funk and groove, Richa/Monty style.
Aaja Milke
After the heady Bin Daseya, Aaja Milke is more of a light track, but has its distinct features nonetheless. The beat, a strong bassy backdrop for starters. Then a voice to go with. Shreya I suspect, the song has a lilt, in the vocals and the accompanying sparse strings. Again a very well mounted and processed song. We also have the quintessential Bobby Deol apologetic male entry, but it doesn’t affect the visual quality much I suppose. Though I would prefer a solo outing but can’t help if it is cut out for a duet. The second half doesn’t have much to offer except a retro-sax.
This score reminded me of Shakti, Ismail Durbar’s rather forgotten score, where there is depth and pathos in a commercial masala score. Shakti had a couple of gems, like Jhoomti ghata mein & hum tum mile. Same to some extent for Deewaangi, the Primal Fear(only the ‘fear’ here was overacting ki dukaan Urmila Ji).
4. Tera Hi Karam – KARAM
I have often tried to procure Pankaj Awasthi’s songs(Nine being an album), but have never gone beyond streaming. This song from Karam showcases Awasthi’s unique mood-based singing. The hook(tera hi karam) is odd enough to keep anyone hooked for half a life. Vishal Shekhar know their rock for obvious reasons, and this song is a welcome cry-out-loud fest. The ‘chalta hum sab pe tera jaadu’ only makes it film-worthy. And then there is Pankaj. He screams and distorts his way to an inherent madness in the groove of helpless love, love bowed down at the hands of destiny. You can never have enough of this song. One of those all-consuming, loop-friendly trips.
And ya, beards go damn well with it.
5. ASTITVA – sabse pehle sangeet banaa/chal chal
It is tough to keep the word serenity out. The natural rhythm in Sukhi’s voice makes up for the lighter and not-so-polished arrangements, which is the case most of the times with scores composed by him. His command over the whole medium is fluid, I have enjoyed countless of his compositions, films, albums that would not be found anywhere now. But Astitva is Sukhwinder at his classical best, or one of the best. The songs are almost apocalyptic, so perfect in their foundation that you are made to smell suspicion in the scheme of things.
Chal Chal
The song picks up from a vacuum and the voice triumphs soon. A very archaic chorus structure, basic rhythm, and an interesting array or words(jaan-e-ghazal) provide a lovely contrast in this quick to hum song. His songs are strangely easy to sing, they make you feel like a rockstar. Another example is the song Jogi Aaya or Main Chala from Ghai’s Black & White, another nice score, nice in its small imperfections and gustaakhiyaan’s.
Chal Chal is full of hidden schemes, buoyant, drifty, old-school(reminded me at times of the later LP, of Bhairavi etc), depressing, free. And yet, has a weird sense of order. Each time you hear it seems like a new song.
Ek tamanna dil mein hai dekhoon main tujhe jee bhar ke
Sapnon mein tere kho jaaoon ankhiyon mein band karke…
Sabse pehle sangeet bana
A very Vanraj Bhatia kinda opening, Sabse Pehle tries to create a mystery but does not fully succeed. But when the mukhda starts off, sabse pehle sangeet bana, phir sooraj chaand sitaare, khushiyon ke sang phir dard bana, dil bana ke phir dilwaale, phir ishq mohabbat pyaar hua, kahin sohni aur mahiwal hua, kahin khwaab sajaaye aankhon ne, phir sapno ka sansaar bana…, you can’t help but buy into it.
A much quieter and subtle number than Chal Chal this, it has its own share of distinct qualities. And one of them is Sukhi.
Special Thanks to
Amanda Sodhi
(for directing me to all the illegal music download sites in the world)
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Here’s some more according to me:
1) Suno Zara – Bada Din
2) Kya tum ne hai – Saaz
3) Tum jo mile toh – Drohi
4) All songs of Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahi
Tushar- good choices.As far as Karam is concerned I do like Tera Hi Karam, but of course my favourite is Tinka Tinka.It just grows on you as you keep hearing it.And yes Sazaa-E-Kalapani,Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin,Grahan etc all need a re-listening for sure.
As a matter of fact, all songs of Bandit Queen were terrific, a very Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan album it was. I am surprised it didn’t get its due when it was released, considering Ustad NFAK was at the peak of his popularity in India at that time.
Superb! Bandit Queen is one of the most underrated soundtracks of all time. Each song is a gem. One of my regrets is lending the album in hostel and never getting it back. Since then I have heard the songs only on internet
Some from my side
1) Dil Mein Jaaga-Sur- When Sunidhi is not crooning for item numbers, she comes up with real killer songs like this.
2) All songs in JISM, Aawarapan Banjarapan-Haunting, Chalo, Tumko Le Chal-Shreya Ghoshal, gosh she has such an irresistible voice, Jaado Hai Nasha Hai.
3) O Saathiya, Ae Meri Zindagi-Saaya
4) Mujhe Raat Din- Sangarsh, one of Sonu Nigam’s best songs.
5) All songs in Pinjar.
okay i didnt noe about Bandit Queen’s soundtrack….now i am gonna chk thm out….i jus hope i find sum sites to dload them frm…. ;) otherwise as u said…i need to ask Amanda or possibly u to suggest me some…
n yea Karam’s “tera hi karam” is one addictive number….there ws sumtin abt d song which attracted me….none of my frnds in school liked d song…n i used to sing it all the time….n they wud get bugged…. :D
n will defintely chk out d other albums dat u mentioned… thanks…
Looks like i’ll have to check ‘Bandit Queen’s soundtrack out one day.
Yup, ‘Aaja Milke’ is a good track and Monty has alot of potential but I wish he’d stop using that cheap sounding tacky keyboard!
Sethu, I agree, I played ‘Grahan’ so much and love ‘tinka tinka’!
And yes, Amanda Sodhi is a terrible influence
beautiful write-up ji, as always.
reminds mei of “Es Toh Daadaa” the alaaps, seriousness, the mood…just love the “kisi se kahaan jaaye naa” repetition and lines like “dhoonde meri preet re, tu he kahaan meet re? ansooon bane geet re, aahein sangeet re”…”do naino ke deep jalaaye”…”doob chale meri aas ke taare, kaise pohanchoon pee ke dwaare?” it’s the sort of song one can listen to when all alone, surrounded by darkness, while staring into the emptiness…the nothingness…yaa phir tab when someone is wandering around aankhon ke taraazu mei umeed aur intezaar liye phire…
Ansoon Hi The from Anwar was also mesmerizing…Awasthi ki awaaz mei kitnaa dard hai yaar…Ditto for Sukhi.
brought back so many memories yaar…of growing up listening to NFAK’s songs on my parents cassettes…loved singing along to es toh daadaa…dum mast kalandar…sanu ek pal chain naa aaye…akhiyaan udeek diyaa as a kid. my favorite NFAK song would have to be “Likh Diyaa Apne Dar Par Kisi Ne Is Jagaah Pyaar Karnaa Manaa Hai, Pyaar Agar Ho Bhi Jaaye Kisi Ko, Iskaa Izhaar Karnaa Manaa Hai…” have you heard this composition, Tushar?
“More Saiyaan”…love the way he pronounces and stretches out “saawan.” my favorite lines would be “daari daari pe bhanwaraa ghoom ke aaye kaliyon ke mukhde choom ke jiyaa moraa jalaaye” and “kyon pehnoon main pag mein paayal? mann toh hai mujh birhan kaa ghaayal.”
“Sanware Tore Bina Jiya” is “pathetic” ? kyaa?! yeh padhne se pehle main andhi kyon nahin ho gayi? Hehe. You know, out of the BQ songs you mentioned, this one is my favorite
…I dunno, but I really loved “Sanware Tore Bina”…Somehow reminded me of “Jaan-e-Jaan” from Saawariya, “Mujhe Mat Roko” from Gangster and “Mann Chandre” from Connections. lol.
NFAK ke alaaps bahut powerful hotey hai…really grabs your attention and really triggers a flood of emotions. Also enjoyed his alaaps in Dead Man Walking.
Wow, I am hearing Grahan mentioned after ages. Thought I was the only one who still listens to that OST. lol. “Kehte Hai Jisko,” “Naacho Jaise” are really nice tracks. Love “Tera Hi Karam” Pankaj Awasthi is awesome!
I also enjoyed some of the songs in Deewangi (Saat Suro Kaa, Pyaar Se Pyaare, Dholi) and Shakti (Hum Tum Miley, Dil Ne Pukaaraa).
I’ve already pakaaoed you a few weeks ago with my list of forgotten songs/OSTs but oh well here they are again: Asoka, Aks, Kareeb, Naach, Yahaan, Saawariya, Lucky, Lekin, Maqbool, Mission Kashmir, Zakhm, Yaadein, Umrao Jaan (Dutta waali), Sajjan, Shabd, Sur, Rahul, Refugee, Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai, Doli Sajaa Ke Rakhna, One Two Ka Four, Meenaxi. Even RuBaRu had some nice songs like Jogi, Manchali and Naa Dekho.
“all the illegal music download sites in the world” hehe. tu toh mujhe ruswaa kar ke hi rahegaa ;-) ek to humaare sir par pehle se Punjabi language ki travesty kaa ilzaam hai :-D Vaise I’ve got a really large collection of original cassettes and cds
Amanda Medam ji, doesn’t that tacky keyboard annoy u in ‘Jaan e jaan’??
I swear, Monty needs to throw that in the bin!
Ruins the songs man.
U also liked ‘Shakti’?!
Wow!
Which reminds me of the other Karisma-Ismail Darbar track, ‘Aye Subah’ from ‘Baaz’.
Loved it!
Lol! Travesty ne ‘maar daala’!
:-)
@Steve: kahin tum yeh toh nahin keh rahey ho ki the keyboard is a terrible influence on Monty’s music? hehe. nahin yaar, i enjoyed every bit of “jaan-e-jaan.” actually, i enjoyed all of the songs in saawariya
Ratnakar @5, I think almost all songs of Sur have been unfairly neglected. I especially loved ‘Dil Me Jaagi Dhadkan Aise’ and ‘Dil Ki Khushi Dil Ki Pyaas Tu’. MM Karim never did better, not even in Jism and Iss Raat Ki.
Very nostalgic to read about Bandit Queen’s More Saiya. It ruled my heart that time.
Also songs of Daayra. Anand Milind at their (forgotten) best.
Songs of Gulzar’s unreleased Libaas. (Khamosh Sa Afsana was heaven)
Mujh Se Naraaz Ho (Papa Kehte Hai)
Bhari Barsat me Pee Lene Do (Najaayaz)
Seene me Dil hai from Raju Ban Gya Gentleman.
Maya Memsaab songs arent exactly forgotten but few people speak about Mere Sirhane Jalao Sapne and Yeh Shahar Bada Purana hai.
Main Ek Sadi Se Baithi hoon – Lekin
Kuch Mere Dil Ne (ABCL’s Tere Mere Sapne)
Jadoo Hai Tera Hi Jadoo (Ghulam)
O Jaana Na Jaana (Salman’s Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai)
Sanjeev, ‘Main ek sadee…’ from Lekin..
Wah! Subhan Allah!
Anyone for “hum tumse na kuchh kah paaye” from ziddi? I also liked “dil ne dil se iqraar kiya” from Haqueeqat( specially for Hariharan) and “dil ka aana haye haye” from Kachche Dhage.”
@Amanda: Aap ne to comments mein hi ek aur post daal diya…kya baat hai..aapka jawaab nahi… ;)
well…i really liked Ru-ba-ru’s songs…especially Jogi,Beautiful day and Ye Jo pal….n songs of Yahaan were awesome…Naam adaa likhna…mele chhaliya(d video ws equally gud)…urzu durkut..
I love “kissa hum likhenge” from Doli Sajake Rakhna…n even “Sawan barse” from Dahek is good…
I wonder why no one knows about tracks of Home Delivery..it had some really good tracks…lik chand ki roshni, by kk and kaash, by shaan….Vishal has given awesome lyrics to both these tracks….
travesty…lols…thank god dat ‘Awara’ hasnt seen this post yet… ;)
@Steve:Aye subah,from baaz, is worth listenin…
@Sanjeev:Whn u mentioned abt MM Kreem…Dhokha came to my mind…it had some nice tracks…Roya Re and Anjaana….n i loved ghar se nikalte hi and pehle pyaar ka pehla khat from Papa Kehte Hain….
@Tushar: well you said Pankaj Awasthi of Nine album, but are u sure if its an album or a band….because der is something called Band Nine which has some songs in a movie called Strangers….”Yaad aaye woh din”…n “farishta nahi mein” among the good ones….
Laxmikant Pyarelal’s music of the 80s was commercially successful but wasnt critically acclaimed much. These songs are quintesensial ‘Film Songs’ as against just ’songs’. I mean, the janata-friendly tunes, the rich orchestration, the visual element…
These include
All songs of ‘Kranti’
All songs of ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’
Tera sath hai to… Pyasa Sawan
Pardes Jaake Pardesiya… Arpan
Maar gayee Mujhe…. Judaai
Do Takiya Ki Naukri… Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (Okay its not from 80s)
Sheesha Ho Ya Dil Ho…Asha
Karte Hai Hum Pyaar… Mr India
Songs of ‘Hero’
Ja re ja… Kalicharan
Tum Se Milkar… Pyar Jhukta Nahi
Yeh Galiya Yeh Chaubara…Prem Rog
Mere Naseeb Mein… Naseeb
Bela Mehka… Utsav
Aadmi Musafir Hai…Apnapan
Rote Rote Hasna Seekho…Andha Kanoon
Mere Dil Ne Tadapke…Anurodh
Songs of Naagin (Rajkumar Kohli)
Sunn Ja Thandi Hawa… Aye Din Bahar ke
Dillagi Ne Di Hawa…Dostana
Aaj Phir Tum Pe…Dayavan
The list will go on forever (I have intentionally left out most of the real big hits). I miss LP’s music…
Some more lost songs…
Sharmake badlo mein (Chor Aur Chand). Absolutely mind-blowing.
Mere to Radhe Shyam – Bhajan from Gudu, that amazingly bad film of SRK.
Bin Tere Sanam… (Yara Dildara)
Some more gems by LP
Aaj kal yaad kuch (Nagina) What a song ! Also Tu Ne Bechain Itna was fantastic.
Mere Pee ko pavan… Ghulami. Perhaps the only film where LP worked with Gulzar.
Aake Tujh Par (Yateem)
Jinhe Chahiye Daulat Rabba.. Main Tera Dushman
Nand Ka Lala… Insaaf.
Phool Gulaab Ka… Biwi Ho To Aisi. (Not gr8 but still good)
Ahista Ahista Milte Hai Dil… Yeh Zindgi Ka Safar
Sanjeev@16 Kalicharan/Anurodh/AayeDinBahaarke/HaathiMereSaathi were also not from the 80’s
Thanks for the insightful inputs everyone! Just wanted to add, ‘lost songs’ might mean different things to different people but one of my preconsideration was commercial anonymity. I have intentionally sidelined the main tracks of the mentioned films for obvious reasons.
Will get the second edition out soon.
i nevr heard ny bandit queen’s songs…mayb bcoz it ws bannd .. no idea.. i was quite young at tht time.. i luv nfak so ..downloading all d songs rite nw.. thnx 4 writin bout it