Bollywood Retrospect: 10 impactful songs by Vasant Desai

Vasant Desai is counted as one of the most accomplished music directors in the Hindi film industry. In pushing the boundaries of film music while embracing classicism, he composed songs that found a permanent place in the Indian psyche. That he managed to do this in less than 50 films is a testament to his music making skills. In this post, I pick 10 Vasant Desai songs — some classics and some lesser-known ones — to commemorate his 104^th birth anniversary on June 9.

‘Pareshan Hoon Ki Kyon Meri’ (Parbat Pe Apna Dera, 1944)

One of the most unfortunate things about Vasant Desai’s career was the two lost decades in the beginning. Desai started his career in 1930 with the Prabhat Film Company, first as a singer-actor and later as an assistant to music director Govindrao Tembe. He debuted as an independent music director only in 1942. The only silver lining in the squandered 1930s was that it brought him close to his Prabhat Film Company colleague, director V Shantaram. When Shantaram left Prabhat to start his own banner, Rajkamal Kalamandir, he took Vasant Desai along with him. Their collaboration yielded some of Vasant Desai’s best songs, but not for another decade or so. None of the 18 films he scored in the 1940s made an impact but if we look close enough, we get a glimpse of the talent that revealed itself fully in the years to come. In Amirbai Karnataki’s wonderfully rendered ghazal, ‘Pareshan Hoon Ki Kyon Meri’, Desai’s fusion of a ghazal melody with Western instruments like piano and saxophone is really well done.

‘Jo Tum Todo Piya’ (Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, 1955)

After several films that failed to make an impact, Vasant Desai finally struck gold with V Shantaram’s Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. The film was a hit and with it, its music. Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje broke new ground with Indian classical dance as a key element of its plot and with its use of Technicolor. Vasant Desai added to the film’s grandeur with the use of classical music. An interesting facet of the film’s music was the extensive use of santoor. The man who played the santoor in the film was a 17 year old who assisted Vasant Desai in the film. This young boy would go on to become one of the greatest santoor players in India— Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. When he debuted as a music director as one-half of Shiv–Hari in Silsila (1981), he paid homage to a song from the film that helped kickstart his career by recording another version of ‘Jo Tum Todo Piya’ by Lata Mangeshkar.

‘Aye Maalik Tere Bande Hum’ (Do Ankhen Barah Haath, 1957)

Vasant Desai followed up the success of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje with another popular score for Do Ankhen Barah Haath. His quest for realism can be heard in the song ‘Saiyan Jhoothon Ka Bada Sartaj Nikla’, in which he used a toy ravan hattha and drum to stay true to what was shown on screen. The song of the film, however, was the prayer ‘Aye Maalik Tere Bande Hum’ with powerful lyrics by Bharat Vyas. Both versions of the song showcased Desai’s effective use of chorus and harmony. My pick is the Lata Mangeshkar version. Vasant Desai and V Shantaram apparently had a falling out of sorts around this time because, despite the success of Do Ankhen Barah Haath, they did not work together again for another nine years.

‘Tim Tim Taaron Ke Deep Jale’ (Mausi, 1958)

Although Desai’s music was best known for realism and his use of classical music, he also had some wonderful “filmi” ballads. One such song is the lovely Lata-Talat duet, ‘Tim Tim Tim Taaron Ke Deep Jale’. The music and the lyrics were quite simple but the catchy tune and Lata and Talat’s chemistry make the song a joy to listen to.

‘Mukhda Dekh Le Prani Zara Darpan Mein’ (Do Bahnen, 1959)

‘Mukhda Dekh Le Prani’ is a quintessential Kavi Pradeep song. Vasant Desai’s music is on point and his arrangement, consisting of a shehnai, santoor and sitar, is impeccable but Kavi Pradeep makes the song his own with his powerful lyrics and singing.

‘Taar Taar Baj Raha’ (School Master, 1959)

As was the case with other talented music directors who couldn’t find big studios or stars or directors to back them, Vasant Desai’s music was only as big as the film he composed it for. School Master was the remake of a National Film Award winning film in Kannada but didn’t make the language transition very well. A lovely duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey, ‘Taar Taar Baj Raha’ would probably have been heard a lot more if it had been part of a bigger film.

‘Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet’ (Goonj Uthi Shehnai, 1959)

Director Vijay Bhatt pulled off a coup by getting shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan to agree to play for ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’. 43 years old at the time, the ustad was already a towering figure in the world of music and was worried if he would be seen as selling out for a commercial film. Vasant Desai’s patience, tact and skill helped the ustad overcome his trepidation and deliver a landmark film score. The film’s tasteful use of shehnai in its songs and its background score, increased the musical instrument’s mainstream popularity. One of the highlights of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnai in the film was the raagmala he performed with another outstanding artist, Ustad Amir Khan. My pick from the film, ‘Tere Sur Are Mere Geet’, has the ustad performing a more conventional film tune based on Raag Bihag. Lata Mangeshkar’s singing is nothing short of spectacular and I daresay, as good as the Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnai rendition.

‘Jhir Jhir Barse Sawani Ankhiyan’ (Aashirwad, 1968)

The sixties was a not a good decade for Vasant Desai. He wasn’t seen as a commercially viable music director and remained relegated to small budget films that didn’t succeed at the box office. He eventually got his due when he was offered Aashirwad by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Vasant Desai made the most of the opportunity and delivered some memorable song for the film. The film’s score is perhaps best known for Gulzar’s ode to fathers— ‘Ek Tha Bachpan’. Another memorable song from the film is ‘Rail Gaadi Chhuk Chhuk’, often billed (half-seriously) as Indian films’ first rap song. Vasant Desai may have been nearing 60 at the time but was not afraid to experiment or to be silly! The song of the album for me is the rain song ‘Jhir Jhir Barse Sawani Ankhiyan’. The song is a great example of Vasant Desai’s skill with both the classical and the modern. While the song is based on Raag Gaud Malhar, it also uses what was at the time cutting edge, twin-track recording. The technology was not for technology’s sake. Vasant Desai used twin-track recording because Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s song sequence had the heroine, Sumita Sanyal, singing along with a song playing on a record.

‘Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena’ (Guddi, 1971)

The next film Vasant Desai did for Hrishikesh Mukherjee had only three songs but was arguably his most loved album. Two songs — ‘Bole Re Papihara’ and ‘Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena’ — are classics that have been and will continue to be listened to and enjoyed by many generations of music lovers. My pick in this post is ‘Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena’ because the Raag Miyan Ki Malhar-based ‘Bole Re Papihara’ has already been listed in the post on Vani Jayaram.  One of the remarkable things about this prayer was that it didn’t associate with any religion. It was perhaps this secular spirit of the song that resonated deeply with everyone and led to its adoption as the school prayer across the country. It is said that the song almost did not get recorded because Hrishi da insisted on using a Rabindra Sangeet tune for it. Vasant Desai asked him to let him record the song and then decide. When Hrishida heard the recording, he knew Vasant Desai had been right and included it in the film.

‘Meha Barasne Laga Hai Aaj Ki Raat’ (Shaque, 1976)

Vasant Desai died in 1975 in a freak accident in the lift of his apartment building. His last film score, for Shaque, was released a year after his death and the film was dedicated to him. After Guddi, Vasant Desai never worked with Lata Mangeshkar again. This may have been a blessing in disguise because it let him explore other singers. In Shaque, he had as many as three female singers— Asha Bhosle, Kumari Faiyaz and Vani Jayaram. My pick from the film is the meandering and gorgeously complex ‘Meha Barasne Laga Hai Aaj Ki Raat’. Khayyam would become famous for having Asha Bhosle lower her pitch for Umrao Jaan (1981) but he was not the first music director to do so. ‘Meha Barasne Laga Hai’ had Asha Bhosle singing at a lower pitch than her usual to devastating effect. Vasant Desai starts the song as a fair conventional semi-classical song embellished with a sarangi and throws a googly our way halfway through the song when a saxophone kicks in!

A longer list of Vasant Desai’s best songs can be found here.