Paean penned and painted in pure pain

I have always thought Lata Mangeshkar and Madan Mohan reserved the best for each other. The layers of pain that Lata Mangeshkar was able to unravel in his compositions is unmatched. Look at this song from the movie Adalat.

I was very impressed by the movie, but the overall impact was considerably reduced by the fact that I had seen Mamata, the Asit Sen directed fabulous movie with amazing acting by two of my favourite Bangla performers: Ashok Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Mamata had a very impressive musical score by Roshan, too. However I liked the music in Adalat more, all sublime melodies by Lata Mangeshkar with the most divine, heart rending compositions by the maestro, Madan Mohan. Mamata and Adalat have uncannily similar themes, although temporally separated by 6 years. Ashok Kumar is a galaxy apart from the emotive skills of Pradeep Kumar (who to me was a flag bearer of the populous and proud school of Indian Male Nonactors) which are conspicuous by their absence, I am sure his movies were commercial successes due to all kinds of reasons except his (non existent) acting. Adalat, directed by Kalidas is an acting tour de force by Nargis, to me a much more polished performance than her much celebrated- and awarded role in Mother India. Pran is very convincing in his despicable villainy. https://youtu.be/pvwC9c81esY

Rajendra Krishan, a frequent komplizen of Madan Mohan‘s, excels in his wordcraft. The level of poignancy and pain he is able to bring into the verse is just unimaginable. Hats off to the poet who must rank amongst the very best of all time in the history of Hindi Film Music. The song is composed in Malgunji, a very melodious raag that is so pleasing to the ear, a raag of the Khamaj thaat (Kafi according to some) that has a heady mix of notes from Khamaj, Rageshwari, Bageshree and Jaijaiwanti. Most cleverly used by Pancham in his debut song in Chhote nawab, Ghar aa ja ghir aaye….

जाना था हमसे दूर, बहाने बना लिये
अब तुमने कितनी दूर, ठिकाने बना लिये
जाना था ...

रुख़सत के वक़्त तुमने जो आँसू हमें दिये
उन आँसुओं से हमने, फ़साने बना लिये
अब तुमने कितनी दूर, ठिकाने बना लिये
जाना था ...

दिल को मिले जो दाग़ जिगर को मिले जो दर्द
उन दौलतों से हमने खज़ाने बना लिये
अब तुमने कितनी दूर, ठिकाने बना लिये
जाना था ...

Nargis emotes beautifully with her face in the song, her eyes a window to the hurt soul. Just an excoriating emotional purgatory. https://youtu.be/C5E0lWNeNjk

I will leave you with the amazing ode to silent suffering. One of my all time favourite songs. This version by Vibhavari Apte is worth a listen, she in my humble opinion is the only current singer who can render Latadidi’s songs with the same depth of impassioned feeling, she comes so close to the original, it gives me goosebumps every time I hear her sing these old classics. https://youtu.be/PbzDe997Kmw

Stay safe, folks, stay healthy as I retreat from the euphemistically named urban development to rediscover peace which lies in pieces in the increasingly populous Pune.

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