Jaane kahan gaye voh din!

Re:khuram

[...Can it be said with surety that old music is qualitatively superior to new music? ...]

The legendary music director Anil Biswas once said about new songs vs. old songs - ``Naye gaanon se pao thiraktey hain, dil nahi dharaktey`` i.e. the new songs have the rhythm to make you dance but they do not have the melody to touch your hearts. That is the key difference. Even today if you listen to the golden oldies, your heart will skip a beat.

When I hear a Talat Mehmood`s - ``Jaye to jaye kahaan`` or Rafi`s - ``Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare chale gayen`` or Lata`s - ``Allah tero naam``. or Noor Jehan`s -``Mujhse Pehli si Mohabbat Mere Mehboob na Maang`` even now I get a weird sensation of pure joy although I must have heard these songs hundreds of times.

khurram#22:

``Can it be said with surety that old music is qualitatively superior to new music? What is the real edge of old music which is totally missing in new music?``

This is a value judgement but my bias is clear from the article. I think that the real edge that is missing in the new music (in the context of film music only) is both meaningful lyrics and soulful melodies. Here, I would like to put in a word or two in defence of the new directors - they are simply responding to the changing tastes of their consumers. I have sometimes seen a really soulful song or two in recent films but they rarely become popular. Khayam is still alive but nobody seems to be interested in using his talents.

``Are new singers incompitent?``

No, they are amazing. The proliferation of music competition programs on TV show that there is no dearth of talent. More importantly, if you look at the classical music scene, you find new singers coming up all the time and not just from Pune. Once again, there is dearth of appreciation - Khayam introduced a wonderful new singer, Kabban Mirza in his film Razia Sultan (Aayee zanjeer ki jhankaar Khuda khai kare!) but hardly anyone took notice of him and he was never heard from again.

`` On other side, what are the positive qualities of new style of music, which were missing in old? ``

Maybe background music.

bjkumar#12,16:

Nice comments.

``One of my most pleasant memories as a college student is to have taken those long train trips in Second Class unreserved compartments and being woken up in the morning by the sound of somebody or other singing a bhajan – mostly a filmy bhajan!``

I too have similar memories - of a crowded train with a beggar and his family singing songs like ``Mehlon mein rehne wale hamein tere dar se kya?``

Regarding Sahir Ludhyanvi, let me try to restore your faith in your hero by the following:
1. He is my hero, too, and I have known about his personal life for a long time.
2. What I said is hearsay and there is no documentary proof for that. However, it is quite credible because Sahir was a Punjabi and, unlike UP which had a Hindi-Urdu composite culture, Punjab was dominated by Urdu-Persian influence. This was true equally of Sikhs and Hindus and not just Muslims; indeed they could be easily seen carrying their ``gutkas`` of Gurbani and Geeta in Urdu rather than Gurmukhi and Devnagri.
3. Sahir was a people`s poet not because he could write Hindi like a Shastri but because he could write songs in people`s language that went straight to the heart.
4. If your disappoint was with his being gay, this is true of several other remarkable artists. You are perhaps unaware that fascination with a boy is very much part of the Persian/Urdu poetry; indeed the term Saqi refers to a boy and not a girl.

#22

[Are new singers incompitent?]

No, but the same can rarely be said of the writing lot.

A very nice article Sir. Old Indian music is AMAZING. New Music, with loud bass provides more oppertunities to `expose`. I want to ask a common question. There is huge difference between styles of old and new music. Can it be said with surety that old music is qualitatively superior to new music? What is the real edge of old music which is totally missing in new music? Are new singers incompitent? Given the old instruments and old music directors, can they not sing better than old singers? On other side, what are the positive qualities of new style of music, which were missing in old? Still many big names are part of contemporary music industry. Have they not brought any real advancement in music technologies?

Regards!

delhiwala#10:

No, I am back in Canada. I am interested in all types of good music, including film music. In fact, I developed my love for classical music via film music after listening to thumris, dadras and todas of khyals used by talented music directors like Vasant Desai, Naushad and Anil Biswas.

ranjit#8:

We have a weekly program in Ottawa which also plays lot of old songs and has been quite popular for over 25 years.

Shah2#9:

Kishore Kumar owes a lot to the father-son music directors S.D. Burman and Rahul Burman. Kishore was perhaps less gifted than the other stalwarts of his time, like Rafi, Manna Dey, Hemant and Talat. But he made up for that by his versatility and sincerity. Besides, he was one heck of a showman if you had the chance to see him in a personal performance, which I did.

plats8#7:

I am less familiar with Gulzaar`s work. His songs have a ``nasr`` (free verse) quality which is unique to him, such as his maiden song ``mora gora ang lai lai, mohe shyam rang dai dai``. Personally, I believe he shines today partly because there is hardly any competition.

deja_who?#6:

``I bet old foggies in 1960s were also bemoaning the death of music in Indian films at that time.. ``

Yes, but the difference is that even the younger folks are now complaining. When I see some of the popular Indian TV programs like Sa Re Ga Ma, they mostly sing songs from the old films and shun contemporary music.

hassan #5:

My lament is only about film music. I agree that non-film music caters to a wider constituency. Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Ghulam Ali, Saabri Brothers and Abida Parveen are providing good old-fashioned ghazals and qawwalis. And there are a few gems in a lot of ``kachra`` being produced in Punjabi music on both sides of the border.

#14 DM-jee

Sir, you ARE on a roll!

[I think that Sahir Ludhyanvi was bisexual rather than gay, …. ``Aaj sajan mohay ang laga lo, janam safal ho jaaye``.]

I must admit I shall never think of that song the same way ever again!

How cruel of you, sir! The one thing a fan hates is his idol brought down to ground, crushed into fine powder, and dragged through cow-dung!

#4 Jang:

Vishal Bhardwaj is a serious film maker and Music Director who does show a keen awareness of lending music appropriate to the theme, as in the case of the Omkaara song mentioned by you.

GT#3:

Yes, Burman not only used Bhatiali songs, he often sang them himself, like the famous Bandini song ``meray saajan hain us paar, main is paar``.

I think that Sahir Ludhyanvi was bisexual rather than gay, like many other taraqi-pasand writers, like Firaq Gorakhpuri. Sahir`s affair with Sudha Malhotra [``tum mujhe bhool bhee jao tau yeh haq hai tum ko``] was well-known and he was also known to have relationship with Prakash Pandit, who was reputed to sometimes write pure Hindi songs for him, such as ``Shivji bihaane chale Palaki sajaai kay, bhabooti lagaye kay`` and ``Aaj sajan mohay ang laga lo, janam safal ho jaaye``.

I do not think that IPWA metamorphed into IPTA. Both organisations existed simultaneously though they had shared common inspiration.

#10 Delhiwala

[My $.02;]

Sir, please do not overprice yourself!

DM-jee,

Sad that all these folks keep falling by the wayside!

To tell you the truth sir, I have missed your write-ups – which appear to have dwindled to a trickle – very much, and I was a bit worried that you may have yourself joined those folks UP THERE! :)

Thank God, you are still alive and kicking – though the kicks appear to have lost some of their might and punch and eagerness – and they feel a bit weak! :( Khair.

People do sing a lot in India – at least in my part of India. One of my most pleasant memories as a college student is to have taken those long train trips in Second Class unreserved compartments and being woken up in the morning by the sound of somebody or other singing a bhajan – mostly a filmy bhajan!

I have concluded that all music is equally good (or bad)! What touches us is more a function of what is INSIDE us – and what is inside us is rather dynamic. Over time, we change and sometimes wistfully look back – and those tunes from the past stir those dormant connections – to what we used to be! Accordingly, every person has favorites from the past – and what is today shall be recalled fondly by the present lot some day.

However, nobody in their right mind ought to elevate the death-mourning conducted by some groups in a rather ritualistic manner to “singing”! :)

Regarding filimy songs, I quote the following from an interact I posted on my “Caravan” board (of which, incidentally, I am extremely proud – just like I am of all my write-ups and EVERY word I have written here on this website! (And those who take exception to my words can head straight for their usual jahannum!))

In many ways, people in the show biz are like janitors. They have to really work hard and they have to muster all their abilities, creative and mundane, to prove themselves on a regular basis to their employers – the vast masses who can boo them just as easily as they can raise them sky high. For every superstar out there – there are multitudes of little stars who never made it in spite of very hard work – because it gets crowded very quickly in that competitive environment.

That aside, Hindi film songs are an underappreciated commodity – as far as their impact in molding a common Indian identity is concerned. By and large the “high brow” community of writers, poets, and artists looks down on it while conveniently forgetting that the reasons such songs are commercially successful is because they can connect with the common man – where all the “high brow” stuff fails!

Hindi movie songs have helped develop a national bonding which would have been impossible to achieve otherwise. Thanks to the beautiful lyrics of many Hindi/Urdu writers, a vast number of Indians have been able to express their innermost thoughts in simple language. Even more, they have been able to identify with characters who sing (or lip-synch) those songs – and feel what such characters are supposed to have felt – a vicarious thrill which makes happy people of those who have otherwise little to feel happy about.

Hindi movie songs have brought an understanding of the Hindi language all over India in a way no regulation could ever match in success! It has helped bridge the North-South divide like nothing else could!

And sometimes, they do suggest to people new ideas which could make things better for everybody.

I think that if Pakistani men were to start treating their women with even one percent of the respect that the movie song subjects shower on their lady objects – Pakistan would become an instantaneously enlightened nation!

Urstruly#1:

Yes, music in films has truly become disposable. But I do not think that it is entirely due to technology. Yes, fewer people had ``bhompoos`` but radio was still there and very popular. People flocked to Radio Ceylone, Goa Radio and even Radio Pakistan because of the elitist attitude of All India Radio which mostly shied away from film music - that is until it was forced to start its own Vividh Bharti program to win back fans who had migrated to off-shore stations. Technology, in my opinion, can always be used to enhance the beauty of a good composition, just as sparingly used jewellery can enhance the natural beauty. Both S. D. Burman and O.P. Nayar made very effective use of western instruments, including electric guitar and drums. But no amount of technology can turn a bad song into a memorable one.