Chacha Chowdhury(1953) for a change had all the numbers by Asha Bhonsle.
‘Jaa Dekhee Teree Preet Re Meraa Loot Liyaa Sansaar’ is the mellow number from the movie by Asha. Mohd.Rafi featured in a prominent way in Motilal-Nigar starrer ‘Mastana’ (1954). ‘Mat Bhool Are Insaan’as solo and ‘Jhoom Jhoom Ke Do Deewaane Gaate Jaayein Galee Galee’ as a duet with Lakshmi Shankar are the numbers.
‘Railway Platform’(1955) starring Nalini Jaywant, Sunil Dutt and Manmohan Krishna bore the classicism that separated Madan Mohan from other composers. One cannot, but appreciate Lata’s ‘Chaand Maddham Hai, Aashmaan Chup Hai’/ ‘Jiyaa Kho Gayaa O Teraa Ho Gayaa’all penned by Sahir from the movie. ‘Basti Basti Parbat Parbat Gaata Jaaye Banjaara’ sung by Mohd.Rafi was the highlight of the movie.
1956 saw Madan Mohan’s first commercial success through AVM’s family drama ‘Bhai Bhai’.Geeta Dutt sang one of her carrer best in ‘Ae Dil Mujhe Bataa De Too Kis Pe Aa Gayaa Hai’. Lata had the delightful ‘Qadar Jaane Naa Ho Qadar Jaane Naa, Moraa Baalam Bedardee Jee’. However the Lata-Kishore duet ‘Meraa Naam Abdul Rehmaan’ became hugely popular in those days. This happy number has Lata singing in different meters as interludes to the fast paced Kishore rendition.
This phase also saw Madan Mohan composing for movies as Memsahib/Naya Aadmi/Pocketmaar/Chhote Babu/Bank Manager/Sheroo/Samunder etc. which again were unsuccessful at the Box-Office. The pearls of Madan Mohan numbers however were laid hidden in these movies .The Lata-Talat duet ‘Ye Naee Naee Preet Hai, Too Hee To Meraa Meet Hai’in Pocketmaar(1956)/Talat solo ‘Do Din Kee Muhobbat Mein Hamne’and the duet with Geeta Dutt ‘Tere chamakte aankhon ke aage’from Chhote Babu(1957)/Lata’s ‘Nainon Mein Pyaar Dole, Dil Kaa Qaraar Dole’ from Sheroo(1957)/Lata-Mukesh duet from ‘Duniya na mane’(1959) ‘Tum Chal Rahe Ho, Ham Chal Rahe Hain, Magar Duniyaa Waalon Ke Dil Jal’are the rare gems. Asha’s ‘Sabaa Se Ye Kah Do Ki Kaliyaan Bichhaye’ is again a rare gem for the music lovers to relish from the movie ‘Bank Manager’ starring Sekhar and Kamini Kaushal.
The music lovers had a bounty in 1957 with the release of Amiya Chakraborty’s ‘Dekh Kabira Roya’and Madhubala-Bharat Bhusan starrer ‘Gateway of India’. ‘Dekh Kabira Roya’ was a comedy having little scope for a Music Director. It was Madan Mohan’s musical acumen that gave a treasure trove of songs with Asha/Lata/Manna Dey/Talat having their share of glory. While Manna Dey excelled in ‘Kaun Aayaa Mere Man Ke Dwaare Paayal Ki Jhankaar Liye’ and ‘Bairan Ho Gaee Rainaa’ composed in Raag Bageshri and Jaijaiwanti respectively, Talat stole the heart with ‘Hamse Aaya Na Gayaa Tumse Bulaayaa Na Gaya’. Lata’s ‘MereeVeenaa Tum Bin Roye, Sajanaa Sajanaa’ and ‘Tu Pyaar Kare Ya Thukraaye’have already secured their place among the Nightingale’s best renditions. ‘Ashkon Se Teree Hamne Tasveer Banaaee Hai, Ro Ro Ke Muhobbat Kee’ is the Asha number which again is a class apart.
‘Gateway of India’ presented the mesmerizing Lata number ‘Sapne Mein Sajan Se Do Baatein Ik Yaad Rahee Ik Bhool Gaye’ and the duet with Mohd.Rafi ‘Do Ghadee Woh Jo Paas Aa Baithe’ .
The brilliance of Madan Mohan was again evident in Nutan-Sekhar starrer ‘Aakhri Dao’ and Nargis-Pradeep Kumar starrer ‘Adalat’ released in 1958.Mohd.Rafi was at his best in ‘Tujhe Kyaa Sunaaoon Main Dilrubaa Tere Saamane Meraa Haal Hai’. Though there nave been controversy over this song resembling ‘Yeh hawa yeh chandni raat hai’ composed by Sajjad Hussein for ‘Sangdil’ in the voice of Talat, the listeners can very well discern the patterns that are unmistakably Madan Mohan.The Asha-Mohd.Rafi duet ‘Hamsafar Saath Apnaa Chhod Chale’ composed in Raag Gaara is simply breath taking. So is the Manna Dey-Lata duet ‘Woh Chand Muskaya Ye Taare Sharmaaye’which however was deleted from the movie.(Contd...)
