Song 91:
You know I always thought Asha and Lata did not sing many songs together. There were always these stories of an intense rivalry between the two sisters. It was surmised that Lata was the manipulator and did not tolerate any music director playing favourites with any other singer. Many brilliant singers such as Suman Kalyanpur and other singers from the South were sidelined as there was an unwritten code of always offering the best songs to Lata. Now I don't know how much truth there is to these conjectures. It happens in every field, I suppose.
But as I go on this journey to explore more songs, I find Lata and Asha did sing many diverse songs together. You have to just scroll back a few past entries to see what a range of duets they have sung. This is a beautiful one from the ghazal genre, composed by Madan Mohan and written by Rajendra Krishan. Both Lata and Asha display depth and hold over this classical tune, with some nice kathak by Minu Mumtaz and a very young looking Aruna Irani. Well, I can't help imagining what level this song could have reached had it been performed by a more accomplished actor. It certainly deserved perhaps a Meena Kumari or a Madhubala or Vyjayanthimala even in terms of cinematic presence.
But art needs to be appreciated for what it is. Each character has a certain place in the film. All I am saying is this song could have been elevated to another level. It's great to listen to still, recreating a golden era, when both kathak and the ghazal flourished in Mughal courts, giving a popular expression to the often over-exaggerated palace intrigues and royal stresses and strains that made for engaging period dramas.
You know I always thought Asha and Lata did not sing many songs together. There were always these stories of an intense rivalry between the two sisters. It was surmised that Lata was the manipulator and did not tolerate any music director playing favourites with any other singer. Many brilliant singers such as Suman Kalyanpur and other singers from the South were sidelined as there was an unwritten code of always offering the best songs to Lata. Now I don't know how much truth there is to these conjectures. It happens in every field, I suppose.
But as I go on this journey to explore more songs, I find Lata and Asha did sing many diverse songs together. You have to just scroll back a few past entries to see what a range of duets they have sung. This is a beautiful one from the ghazal genre, composed by Madan Mohan and written by Rajendra Krishan. Both Lata and Asha display depth and hold over this classical tune, with some nice kathak by Minu Mumtaz and a very young looking Aruna Irani. Well, I can't help imagining what level this song could have reached had it been performed by a more accomplished actor. It certainly deserved perhaps a Meena Kumari or a Madhubala or Vyjayanthimala even in terms of cinematic presence.
But art needs to be appreciated for what it is. Each character has a certain place in the film. All I am saying is this song could have been elevated to another level. It's great to listen to still, recreating a golden era, when both kathak and the ghazal flourished in Mughal courts, giving a popular expression to the often over-exaggerated palace intrigues and royal stresses and strains that made for engaging period dramas.
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