Madan Mohan: Parwana (1971)

I was curious to find out if 'Parwana' would have a similar vibe to that of Madan Mohan's raunchy, mind-blowing previous effort 'Mahraja' or if it would fall into the more serene and traditional (but not necessarily less worthy) category of soundtracks I'd initially come to know him for. Closer to the former it turned out. And it's a pretty good one, although my copy is partly scratched and ruined: 'Yun Na Sharma Phailade' is marred by a couple of skips I was unable to work around whilst ripping. It's included in the download, but you might want to look for a better version elsewhere. I'll be looking for an upgrade. Luckily the rest sounds ok.

'Chale Ladkhada Ke' is a top cabaret number, sounding delicious and decadent. Another drunk-song? Helen looks both intoxicating and intoxicated in the clip. Predictably my favourite track here. 'Jis Din Se Main Ne Tumko Dekha Hai' is also excellent; a lovely tune wrapped in a gorgeous, almost folky arrangement. 'Simti Si Sharmai Si' is charming pop; a long intro keeps you guessing with several tempo and time-signature changes.

If only they'd included the groovy mod-soul title music...

Track listing:
1. Asha Bhosle: Chale Ladkhada Ke
2. Mohd. Rafi & Asha Bhosle: Jis Din Se Main Ne Tumko Dekha Hai
3. Kishore Kumar & Mohd. Rafi: Yun Na Sharma Phailade
4. Kishore Kumar: Simti Si Sharmai Si
5. Asha Bhosle: Piya Ki Gali
6. Mohd. Rafi & Asha Bhosle: O Jamila


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Madan Mohan: Heer Raanjha (1970)

When he wasn't rocking out surf-punk style, Madan Mohan would compose some of the most mesmerizing songs ever heard in Bollywood movies. If the ones on 'Heer Raanjha' aren't quite as mind-bogglingly remarkable as his greatest moments (which would come a year or two down the line), this is nevertheless an excellent soundtrack containing plenty to savour.

Both 'Meri Duniya Men' and 'Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil' belong to his school of atmospheric trippiness; beautiful shifting melodies, subtle backing and lush strings. 'Doli Chadhte Heer Ne Bain Kiye' too, but this one includes dramatic breaks that lend an extra bit of tension to the proceedings. There's more drama on the almost poppy sounding 'Milo Na Tum To' and 'Do Dil Toote Do Dil Hare', and 'Tere Kooche Men Tera Diwana' has so much happening it's practically an entire suite by itself.

The album is a useful reminder that Bollywood soundtracks don't always have to include Western elements for me to love them. Begging the question, have I already posted Madan Mohan's best work, or are there more gems to discover?

Track listing:
1. Mohd. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar: Meri Duniya Men
2. Mohd. Rafi: Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil
3. Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus: Doli Chadhte Heer Ne Bain Kiye
4. Hemlata, Krishna Kalle, Usha Timothy, Balbir & Chorus: Jo Mama Mera Aa Jaega
5. Lata Mangeshkar: Milo Na Tum To
6. Mohd. Rafi: Tere Kooche Men Tera Diwana
7. Lata Mangeshkar: Do Dil Toote Do Dil Hare
8. Shamshad Begum, Jagjit Kaur, Noor Jehan & Chorus: Naache Ang Ve

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Madan Mohan: Bhai Bhai (1956/1980)

The Madan Mohan soundtracks I've featured so far have all been from the 1970s, yet his career did in fact extend back several decades. 'Bhai Bhai' is from 1956 and I was primarily attracted to it because of the lovely, lively 'Ye Dil Muje' which appeared (in shortened form) as 'Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De' on the Geeta Dutt compilation posted a few months back. She's credited under her maiden name on this issue of the soundtrack (one with a different cover had been released earlier); incorrectly I believe, as she had already been married to Guru Dutt a few years when it was recorded.

All the other songs on the album feature Lata Mangeshkar, Mohan's female singer of choice. It's a very lively score for the most part. 'Mera Nam Abdulrehman', 'Duniya Mein' and 'Sharabi Ja' are infectious and danceable and tear along at nearly frenzied tempos; as such the slower paced 'Ghar Mera' is an almost welcome respite. But as with many Bollywood soundtracks of the era, everything has that compelling, almost mysterious, old-wordly aura about it I find really appealing.

Incidentally, there's also an Ollywood film with the same title and from the same year as this one. I have to admit that led to some confusion while I was researching this post.

Track listing:
1. Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar: Mera Nam Abdulrehman
2. Lata Mangeshkar: Duniya Mein
3. Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus: Raja Jane Jani
4. Lata Mangeshkar: Sharabi Ja
5. Lata Mangeshkar: Ghar Mera
6. Lata Mangeshkar: Mera Chotta
7. Geetha Roy: Ye Dil Muje
8. Lata Mangeshkar: Dil Teri
9. Lata Mangeshkar: Kudar Jane Na

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Madan Mohan: Mahraja (1971)

You know how when you once in a rare while hear a song that's so good you're convinced it's the best thing ever made, and never mind that it's probably not really; that feeling of exhilaration and amazement, of needing to play it again and again and making you want to tell everyone you know to check it out? That's what happened the first time I heard 'Kitni Haseen Hai Meri Pyar Ki Nazar'. Many will be familiar with Bollywood Funk; well this is Bollywood Punk and it is sensational. Raw, dirty, raunchy, sweaty; the surf rock intro, Asha sounding (and Helen looking) ooh so seductive, the Mariachi horns, the echo-drenched chorus, the gritty and distorted guitar sound; sparks flying! Absolutely amazing stuff.

And while there's nothing that can measure up to such an opening track, 'Mahraja' contains more songs that would easily highlight other soundtrack albums. 'Tum Se Bichhar Kar Chain Kahan Hum Payen Gay' is sumptuous orchestral pop sung by Lata, 'Main Ne Pee Kee Mera Dil Kiya' is an upbeat, country-tinged drunk-song (Helen again looking irresistible in the film clip), and the traditional sounding 'Pee Kee Najar Gori Tanse Lipat Gayee' exudes a sense of wild urgency that inevitably draws you in. And in between there's an instrumental that sounds like old-school burlesque striptease music.

You might need a shower after listening to this one.

Track listing:
1. Asha Bhosle: Kitni Haseen Hai Meri Pyar Ki Nazar
2. Lata Mangeshkar: Tum Se Bichhar Kar Chain Kahan Hum Payen Gay
3. Dance Music
4. Asha Bhosle: Pee Kee Najar Gori Tanse Lipat Gayee
5. Asha Bhosle: Main Ne Pee Kee Mera Dil Kiya
6. Manna Dey: Raaste Ka Maal Saste Men

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Madan Mohan: Hanste Zakhm (1972)

I mentioned a short while back that Madan Mohan made one of my favourite Bollywood albums. Here it is; not the most consistent soundtrack I own, but featuring two tracks that both fall into the 'stop whatever you're doing' category.

Mohd. Rafi's 'Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho' is a stunning, psychedelic marvel of a song. Weird, shifting melodies, swirling violins, tight drums, thunder crashes and frenzied interludes are all contained within its 8 minutes of magic, with a picturization that makes 'Hanste Zakhm' look like a luridly coloured nouvelle vague film (Hindi style). Which I'm pretty sure it's not, but I do for once want to see it. Fantastic stuff... yet arguably eclipsed by the second highlight of this score, 'Aaj Socha To Ansoo Bhar Aaye'. I can't even begin to describe it... slow burning, haunting, stirring, mind-bending, a thing of otherworldly beauty... Lata Mangeshkar's trippiest, and certainly among my 2-3 favourite Bollywood songs.

The rest are essentially also-rans... not bad, but nothing much in comparison. Doesn't matter. These two tracks more than make 'Hanste Zakhm' an indispensable album.

Classy artwork as well.

Track listing:
1. Mohd. Rafi: Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho
2. Mohd. Rafi, Balbir & Chorus: Han Yeh Mana Meri Jan Mohabbat Saza Hai
3. Lata Mangeshkar: Aaj Socha To Ansoo Bhar Aaye
4. Lata Mangeshkar: Betab Dil Ki Tamanna Yahi Hai
5. Asha Bhosle: Gali Gali Men Kiya Re Badnam

PS. 'Hanste Zakhm' is apparently arranged by organist and frequent RD Burman collaborator Kersi Lord. Is anyone able to supply me background info (or anything) on him? There's virtually nothing on the Internet...

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Madan Mohan: Sahib Bahadur (1976)

Same year as the previous two soundtracks, but a change of pace. Madan Mohan is actually responsible for one my favourite scores, containing Lata Mangeshkar's most amazing song... I'll be posting that at a later date.

Lata's contribution to 'Sahib Bahadur' is top notch as well though; beautiful and trippy, highlight of the album. 'Yeh Pyar Ka Nasha' is also good; mid-tempo pop with synthy breaks. Elsewhere it's patchy; there are some nice details here and there (the out-of-the-blue rock'n'roll moment at the end of 'Tauba Tauba Tabahi Tabahi', the quirky Dixieland bit in 'Raat Ko Aaiyega') and 'Rahi Tha Main Awara' is pleasant enough, but nothing too exciting.

Track listing:
1. Kishore Kumar & Chorus: Tauba Tauba Tabahi Tabahi
2. Lata Mangeshkar: Mushkil Hai Jeena
3. Mahendra Kapoor, Ambar Kumar, Chandru Atma, Chandrani Mukherjee & Dilraj Kaur: Ham Papi Too Bakhshanhar
4. Kishore Kumar & Chorus: Raat Ko Aaiyega
5. Kishore Kumar: Rahi Tha Main Awara
6. Asha Bhosle & Kishore Kumar: Yeh Pyar Ka Nasha

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