Fun songs of Madan Mohan

Another 25th June, another Madan Mohan anniversary! He would have been 91 this year (born in 1924). There is so much that has been written & said about Madan Mohan, the great music director! He would have been amused by all of this... How one of his compositions-
Hamare baad ab mehfil mein afsane bayan honge
Bahare humko dhoondegi na jane hum kahan honge...
- from the film Baghi (1953) is proving to be prophetically or ironically true now, 40 years after his death!
He has had many film releases after his death (from Mausam, Laila Majnu, Sahib Bahadur to Veer Zara-2004). Some of those films have been successful at the box office- a thing that eluded him for the better part of his career. There are many stage shows to commemorate his birth & death anniversary each year at least in Pune & Mumbai.
There is a website www.madanmohan.in that gives all information  that you would like to know about Madan Mohan including his unheard songs. A few years back, there was even an advertisement featuring Imran Khan & Kalki Koechlin that used his original song from the film Hanste Zakhm, sung by Mohammad Rafi lyrics by Kaifi Azmi- 'Tum jo mil gaye ho'!

So the point is what more could one add to what is already being said about him! But still here am I with few more songs of Madan Mohan! I have tried to explore a different facet of Madan Mohan's music. And it was a sheer joy to do so. I wanted you all to be a part of this journey. That is why this blog! 

You would generally associate Madan Mohan with soulful compositions- ghazals & romantic songs, sad songs etc. He was undoubtedly the King of ghazals. But he also did quite a lot of fun songs- more so in the earlier part of his career, but even sporadically in the later part. Fun songs would not just mean pacy rhythm or a different orchestration, but also different type of lyrics. Coincidentally ( and not surprisingly either!), many of such Madan Mohan songs have Kishore Kumar as singer (or even actor) & Rajinder Krishan as lyricist. We all know how Kishore Kumar was favourite singer of S D & later R D Burman. But from the songs of Madan Mohan, one tends to feel that this musical partnership matched them in quality. One could argue about the few number of songs that they both had together. 

Kishore Kumar 

Rajinder Krishen

The first of the songs is from one of the earliest hits of Madan Mohan- 1956 film Bhai Bhai. The film actually had many beautiful songs- a peppy Geeta Dutt song- Ae dil mujhe bata de & the much revered song in raag Bhairavi- Qadar jane na. But there was another song with unusual lyrics. Sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar- Mera naam Abdul Rehman, the song featured Kishore Kumar in a Pathani attire & was shot at Hanging garden, Mumbai. Have a look-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMS5O-CBZQ

When they both worked together later in Manmauji, they used the same lyrics- Ek tha Abdul Rehman. Manmauji as we all know also had the wonderful song- Zaroorat hai.

https://youtu.be/1zmb_8F4HuE

Then in 1959, they worked in the film- Chacha Zindabad which was produced & directed by actor Om Prakash. Right from the film title, the film appears to be a comedy. (I haven't seen it, but would surely like to) Madan Mohan has had quite a few films in which he had composed ghazals. (Adalat, Jahan Ara for instance)All those were monumental works. But this film has 4 songs which could fit in to the theme that I have chosen. Each one has a different flavour. While the song Ae hasino has prelude music & Kishore Kumar's voice for almost a minute & half before the song actually starts, Kishore Kumar ends the song- Badi Cheez hai pyar Mohabbat in his unique & inimitable style. The song- Bach gaye hum dono has a tonga rhythm but no tonga in the actual song. This song also has all the fun elements & also underlined Kishore Kumar as an entertainer & performer to the core. The second & third stanzas are brilliantly sung by both Lata & Kishore. But the best of the four is the song- Des chhudaye bhes chhudaye. The song actually begins with a small alaap by Kishore Kumar singing on a Tanpura. The mukhda & the 3 antaras are so poles apart from each other that it is almost like 2 different personalities singing them. The song is too hilarious. Just a conjecture- the song features him & the heroine in their respective homes & he singing while she watches from her window. Was this the germ of the film Padosan ?(for which incidentally Rajinder Krishen was also the lyricist, screen play & dialogues writer)

Des chhudaye-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nK3St20t-s 

Badi Cheez- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPxBVkYWwiY 

Ae hasino-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNGc2778K30 

Keep aside Kishore Kumar & then see if you have any other singer with whom Madan Mohan gave fun songs. There are only a few, unfortunately. The rhythm differs so does the tone. The masti element is less. Here is Lata & Rafi from the 1956 film Pocketmar. The song features Dev Anand & comedy actor Gope. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8REXpW3a4g8

Mohammad Rafi 

Lata Mangeshkar 

Signing off with another Rafi song, this time with Asha Bhosale from the 1963 film Akeli mat jayiyo. The song features Agha and Minu Mumtaz on screen. Have a look - https://youtu.be/WzqBvz_mGlE

(Those interested could also read my first blog on Madan Mohan, written on 24 June 2013, with the theme- Tandem songs of Madan Mohan.)