This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
THE JOY OF NFS(SONG NO. 6)
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City- Bombay
Date- 20th July 1972
Place- Harkissondas Hospital,Bombay
Few people were standing in the corridor . Anxiety, sorrow, helplessness and a little hope was clearly writ large on their faces. They were all quiet. No one was talking to anyone. Their body language gave away their agony and restlessness.
Suddenly, a Doctor came out of a patient’s room. All ran to him and then stopped. The Doctor’s face and the tears in his eyes told them what they were afraid of.
No one said anything. No one asked anything. The Doctor said, ” I am sorry. She is no more.” He left, dragging his heavy feet.
The end of an Angel had come !
Geeta Dutt had left us for ever !!
Only her memories and the inimitable voice was left behind !!!
Born on 23-11-1930 at Idlapur in Fareedkot District of East Bengal,to a big Zamindar,Devendranath Roy Chaudhury and Amiya Roy Chaudhury, Geeta inherited her mother’s love for music. She learnt Classical Music from Pt.Hirendranath Chaudhury, while studying in an Anglo-Bangla school.
When she was just 12 year old, the family had to run away from East Bengal to save their lives-leaving all property behind- to Bombay. In Bombay, we all know how Pt. Hanuman Prasad, Music Director(ex husband of Lalita Pawar) discovered her for playback in Hindi films. Later when S D Burman used her voice, he knew instinctively that this was the voice which would make him successful and establish in Bombay. Till then Burman had not succeeded much to his satisfaction. To give her songs in ‘ Do Bhai ‘, he had to convince Chunilal of Filmistan,with great difficulty.
Geeta did not disappoint. “Mera sunder sapna beet gaya” and ” Yaad karoge” made history and put both Geeta and Burman shot up to the Top league overnight.
Do Bhai made other famous composers to sit up and take notice of this new voice. They lined up to give Geeta ‘ Gaaon’-47(Khemchand Prakash), Leela, Shehnai and Saajan-47 ( C.Ramchandra), Geet Govind-47(Gyan Dutt), Actress-48(Shyamsunder), Chunariya-48(Hansraj Behl), Padmini-48(Ghulam Hyder) and Ek thi Larki-49(Vinod).
1950 was Geeta’s year. Many hits came. Baawre nain, Har har mahadev and Jogan solidified her position on Top. Composers felt she was essential for their success.
Before recording, Geeta used to sit with the Lyricist, understand the words and the implied meanings, then she would hear the tune from the composer and then sing in her own style. Basically, Geeta was very Gifted and hence with just one rehearsal, she could record the song to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. This made her the darling of the Composers.
Now, the newer Music Directors like Hemant Kumar, Vasat Desai, Madan Mohan and O P Nayyar also vied with each others to use Geeta’s voice. While doing Baazi, she met Guru Dutt and they got married on 26-5-1953. She was earning thousands of rupees in singing, while Guru Dutt was not that successful at that time. Some magazines and Papers said that he married Geeta for her money. Guru Dutt was furious and asked Geeta NOT to sing for others, restricting her to only his films. This supposedly suffocated her and she rebelled aginst it, which affected their relationship further.
Geeta had a liking and flair for acting. In Calcutta, she had acted as a Heroine in a Bangla film-”Badhu baran”. She did get some more offers but once she decided to settle in Bombay she refused all offers. Few people know that in Bombay a Hindi film- ‘ Tera saath hai Pyaara”,with Geeta as a Heroine had started,but unfortunately,after few reels,the film got shelved. To give a chance to her and to mend their relationship, Guru Dutt started filming “Gauri” with Geeta as a heroine, a bi-lingual in Bengali and Hindi. However due to reasons not known to us, Guru Dutt shelved this Bangla film after shooting a few reels. This made the couple more distanced from each other. We all know the story’s end…..
Somewhere in 1971, there was a programme ” Yaaden Shakeel ki” in Bhaidas Hall, Parle. I had gone to that programme and I saw Geeta Dutt there. Many singers had come there-Rafi, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor,Chandru Atma and Lata. When Lata was to come for singing there was a flurry of activity on the stage with everybody trying to please Lata. Lata came, sang and left like a Queen. When Geeta came on the stage, hardly anyone did anything for her. This is how this world is ! Geeta came, drew a Harmonium near her and sang a Gazal of Shakeel Badayuni “Ujaale apni yaadon ke”. When she finished, there was a clapping louder that what Lata had received, from the Audience-people knew her value !!
Geeta was optimistic even in the year 1971. She used to say, ‘ If two hit songs in Aradhana can take Kishore Kumar to the Top, even 2 Hit songs for me will do the same.” But it was not to be. Even the regular composers like O P Nayyar had already turned their backs on her. The Destiny decided to call her back !!!
One of my regrets was that if only Naushad had supported Geeta, she would have gained eminence for his songs for ever, like Saigal, Surendra, Parul Ghosh, Zohrabai, Amirbai, Naseem Akhtar, Shamshad, Noorjehan, Suraiya, UmaDevi, Talat, Mukesh, Rafi and Lata….but Geeta’s name was not in this list. I am not a statistician, so I can not say how many songs she sang for Naushad, but I am sure it was almost nothing except a half song in Dillagi (1949) and a club song in Son of India (1962).
Geeta’s voice was typical Bengali. She sang all kinds of songs wonderfully but was truly a master at melancholies. Burman da who gave her emotional songs in Do Bhai, also gave her peppy club songs in Baazi, to make use of the sexy tinge in her voice. Further O P Nayyar fully exploited this special feature in Geeta’s voice. Her voice was sometimes sweet sometimes namkeen. It had a depth. In this case Geeta was one step ahead of Lata. Geeta’s voice was different for every situation. When she sang,’ Baat chalat nayee chunari’, you felt she would have been a better singer classical singer that Laxmishankar. When she sang,’ Main to Giridhar ke ghar jaoon ‘, you felt Oneness with God, hearing her Bhaktiras dripping voice.
Juthika Roy was famous for meera Bhajans, but I always felt that her voice was same in any Bhajan, while Geeta’s Bhajans exuded different emotions in every bhajan.
While singing Club songs, Geeta was a different person. Just recall that “Hey hey hey hey before Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le” song or listen to “O Babu O Lala” or “mera naam chin chin chu”, then you will realise what I am saying !
One very important point in Geeta’s singing is not highlighted by many. In Hindi films there are many Male and female versions of songs called as Tandem songs and many singers have sung them. While singing such female version songs, Geeta never lost to the male singers ! All Geeta versions were more popular than the Male versions.
Neither Lata not Asha can boast of having e great record on this count.
You will remember Kishore’s ” Jeevan ke safar me raahi” but not Lata’s version. You will remember Talat’s ” Aye gham-e-dil kya karoon’ but not Asha’s version. Kishore was better than Asha in ” Zindagi ek safar hai Suhana” versions and also Kishore was better than Lata’s version of ” Khilte hai gul yahan’.
When it comes to Geeta, she never lost to male versions. C H Atma’s ” Preetam aan milo” is remembered by less people that Geeta’s ” Preetam aan milo” from Mr. and Mrs.55 (same song.written by Saroj Mohini Nayyar,O.P.’s wife). Geeta’s “Kaise koi jiye (Baadbaan)” is much better than Hemant Kumar’s version. Similarly,” Hai ye duniya kaun si’(Sailaab) and ‘ Na ye chand hoga”(Shart). In both songs,Geeta is superior and more popular than Hemant kumar. (There is a story behind the song-Na ye chaand Hoga. Once a jilted young lover committed suicide under train at Patna. In his pocket these lines were written on a paper-Tumhare liye hain, tumhare rahenge, Na ye chand hoga,na tare rahenge,magar hum hamesha tumhare rahenge. Lyricist S.H.Bihari used these lines in his song).
On 22nd July 1972, just 2 days after Geeta’s death, there was a preplanned programme of Juthika Roy in Birla Matoshri Sabhagriha, Bombay. I had booked my tickets well in advance, so I went there. In the beginning everyone paid respects to Geeta Dutt, by standing for 2 Minutes. Talat, Jagmohan and Surendra were also there. Then Juthika Roy came on stage, drew a Harmonium near her and started singing “Pag ghungaroo bandh…” .
I was lost in Geeta’s memory and saw Geeta with a Harmonium singing ” Sakhi sapne ki baat bataun.. “
This NFS from Geeta was probably recorded sometime in 1948, when she was beginning to rise and G N Joshi was in the middle of his career. G.N.Joshi was truly a connoisseur who knew what was a Diamond and what was a coloured stone. He personally liked Geeta’s voice.
While G.N.Joshi was very popular in Maharashtra for his melodious Bhavgeets, he is highly respected in Hindi Classical music Circles for being the Pioneer in recording, preserving and making available a variety of Classical songs by the famous and well known singers of India in olden times. As a Recording Executive in H M V for 34 years, his contribution towards building a National Treasure of Vintage classical songs is Unique and Historical !
G N Joshi was a person of many talents. He was a trained classical singer, an Advocate in Bombay High court, a dedicated employee and a close friend of the luminaries of Indian classical music from 1938 to 1972. He was born in 1907 at Khamgaon in Maharashtra-his mother’s hometown. His education, however took place in Nagpur, where his father was practicing Law. With music loving father’s encouragement, he started learning classical music from ustads. For college education, he went to Poona’s Ferguson College. His music programmes and music mania hampered his studies and he was called to Nagpur again, joining Morris college. On 1-1-1931, he sang his first song on Bombay Radio.
After securing a Law degree, he practiced in Bombay for 4 years. In 1934, he starred in and as “Sant Tulsidas” singing 7 songs in it. He also acted and sang in “Sewa Sadan”-34 and Chiraag-e-Husn-1935. He left Cinema world after this and went on a concert tour of East Africa in 1936.
Finally he joined H M V as a Recording Executive on 1-6-1938 and served there for the next 34 years very loyally, till he retired in 1972. He did a pioneering work of convincing and bringing many classical singers to HMV, recording their songs and preserving this heritage for India. Music lovers will forever be obliged to him for this. The singers were Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Nasir Hussin Khan, Vinayakbuwa Patwardhan, Kumar Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi, Pannalal Ghosh, Gajananrao Joshi Buwa, Gangubai Hangal, Kesarbai Kerkar, D V Paluskar, Ravishankar, K L Saigal, Begum Akhtar, Dinkar Amembal and many others of their ilk.
While in H M V ,he strived hard to get them their Royalties. When he had sung songs for HMV initially, he did not get any Royalty, so he knew that unless it is demanded they would not give it to them. in his book,”Down Melody Lane “-1984, he has sketched the profiles of many Music masters with whom he had special connection and who recorded songs in HMV. Prof. G.N.Joshi died on 22-9-1994.
Today’s NFS combines the voice of Geeta and the composition of G N Joshi. Lyrics are by Chandrashekhar Pandey.
Let us enjoy this rare piece.
Song-Sakhi sapne ki baat bataaun (Geeta Dutt NFS)(1948) Singer-Geeta Dutt, Lyrics-Chandrashekhar Pandey, MD-G N Joshi
Lyrics
Nandlaal ke dhyaan mein
raat gayi main soy
bhor bhayi to mann kahe
phir kab rajni hoy
sakhi sapne ki baat bataaaoon
sapne ki baat bataaaoon
aisa thhaa kuchh swapn rangeela
jo kehte sharmaaaoon
sapne ki baat bataaaoon
darpan aage rakhke sajni
karti thi singaar
roop dekhke apne par hi
hoti thi balihaar
nain band ho gaye hriday mein
uthi preet jhankaar
nain band ho gaye hriday mein
uthi preet jhankaar
phir dekhaa to darpan mein muskaaye nandkumaar
waamukh thi chhabi dekhke aali
apna mukh main chhipaaoon oon
sapne ki baat bataaaoon
vikal dekh ke bole kaanha
kyun gori sharmaaye
jaate hain tu kar singaar
hum wyarth beech mein aaye
jaane ki sun baat sakhi ri praan mere ghabraaye
jaane ki sun baat sakhi ri praan mere ghabraaye
charan pakad boli mat jaao
par wey haath naa aaye
neend nigodi khuli achaanak main baithi pachhataoon
sapne ki baat bataaaoon
sapne ki baat bataaaoon
