O(pi)nion Utthappa

हे संत ज्ञानदेवांचं भजन - तुझिये निढळीं... एका प्रकट कार्यक्रमात बालगंधर्वांनी गायलेलं ध्वनिमुद्रण आहे हे.  जुनं आणि प्रकट कार्यक्रमातलं असल्यामुळे फार चांगलं नाहीये. पण त्याच्या सगळ्या बाह्य दोषांतून आणि मर्यादांतूनही त्याचं सौंदर्य आणि त्याची शक्ती दोन्ही पूर्ण प्रकट होतात हा माझा अनुभव आहे.  हे म्हणजे वेरूळच्या आजच्या भग्न मूर्तीकडे पाहावं आणि ती तिच्या मूळ स्वरूपात दिसावी तसं आहे थोडंसं... भगवंतांनी गीतेत म्हंटलं आहे - यः पश्यसि स पश्यसि - ज्याला दिसतं त्याला दिसतं.... तसं काहीसं.  ही चाल मास्तरांची... मा. कृष्णरावांची... आहे. त्यांची स्वतःची या गाण्याची उत्तम ध्वनिमुद्रण असलेली ध्वनिमुद्रिका आहे. माझ्याकडे आहे.  छान आहे.   पण हे ऐकल्यानंतर पुन्हा 'त्यांचं' ऐकावं अशी इच्छा मला झालेली नाही.  संगीतकाराने स्वतः गायलेलं गाणं हे कोणत्याही गायकाने गायलेल्या आवृत्तीपेक्षा सरस असतं म्हणतात. शंभरातल्या नव्व्याण्णव वेळा ते खरंही आहे. पण काही गायकांच्या गळ्याला अद्भुताचा, परतत्त्वाचा स्पर्श असतो. त्यातून व्यक्त होणारा आवाज त्या स्पर्शामुळे एक वेगळी अनुभूती दे...

On this happy occasion of India's 78th Independence day, sharing a loose translation of a great Marathi poem by Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. This poem and its musical avatar have both been quite famous in the Marathi world. However, the difficulty in accessing its rich and poetic Marathi often puts the song out of reach, even for the Marathi speakers, much less the non-Marathi ones. Therefore, I am venturing to put out a a loose English translation of the verses of this poem included in the recorded musical version.  The original Marathi poem by Swa Savarkar जयोस्तुते श्रीमहन्मंगले, शिवास्पदे शुभदे । स्वतंत्रते भगवती त्वामहं यशोयुतां वंदे ।। राष्ट्राचे चैतन्य मूर्त तू नीती-संपदांची । स्वतंत्रते भगवती, श्रीमती, राज्ञी तू त्यांची ।। परवशतेच्या, नभात तूची आकाशी होसी । स्वतंत्रते भगवती, चांदणी चमचम लखलखसी ।। वंदे, त्वामहं यशोयुतां वंदे । गालावरच्या कुसुमी किंवा कुसुमांच्या गाली । स्वतंत्रते भगवती, तूच जी विलसतसे लाली ।। तू सूर्याचे तेज, उदधीचे गांभीर्यहि तूची । स्वतंत्रते भ...

When writing about Khemchand Prakash, one question is hard to escape. Most people will name him as one of the pioneers, one of the giants of the golden era of the Hindi Film Music. Yet most lay listeners will have heard very little of what he actually composed, save आयेगा आनेवाला from Mahal and perhaps दिया जलाओ from Tansen.  The question therefore is, ‘Why do people hold Khemchand Prakash in such a high regard as a composer?’  Mortal Men Immortal Women In 1982 Noorjehan visited India, first time in 35 years after the Partition. Who’s who of the Hindi Film Industry had gathered to celebrate this great re-union and to roll out a red carpet to this beloved singer. The program was wonderfully conceived. It was a retrospect of the journey of the Hindi Film Music. The program had many high points, but for me, two of them stood out the most prominently. The first was of course, Noorjehan’s appearance on the stage and her rendition of 'आवाज दे कहा है'. It made a mockery of the artifi...

Prologue On 5th May 2006 the grand old man of Hindi Film Music, Naushad, passed away. It was the end of an era for the Indian Film Music. He wasn’t the oldest composer or the first one. Anil Biswas is often called the ‘father of Hindi film music’ (although the ever so modest Anil Biswas always declined that title saying, “Rai Chand Boral was the father. I am only an uncle!”). Naushad arrived on the scene later than both of them. In fact, there was a string of illustrious composers already on the scene. Pankaj Malik, Keshavrao Bhole, Govindrao Tembe, Saraswati Devi, Timir-Baran, Gyaandutt, Khurshid Anwar, Kamal Dasgupta, Ghulam Haider to name a few. This list only grew longer and more illustrious in his generation with the addition of C. Ramchandra, Sajjad Hussain,  Sachin Dev Burman,  Vasant Desai,  and later with the arrival of the likes of  Salil Chowdhury, Madan Mohan, Roshan and others.  He was never considered the most gifted, in fact he was often accused...