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| Edited By: Param Arunachalam |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Feb 20, 2016, 09:10 PM IST
Talat Mahmood was one of Hindi films’ most unique voices. He found success early as an All India Radio singer when he was only 16. A few popular ghazals later, he moved to Calcutta to try his luck in films. Talat Mahmood began his career as an actor-singer and continued to feature in films till 1958 but eventually focused completely on singing. His understanding of Urdu and his excellent diction in the language made him a natural choice for ghazals in films. However, his limited range and the decline of ghazals in films in the 1960s and 1970s meant that he could never become as popular as peers like Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. His limited mass appeal aside, Talat’s small body of work is of such high quality that he is considered amongst Hindi films’ most important voices.
To mark the occasion of his 92nd birth anniversary on February 24, I list 10 of his most memorable songs with 10 different music directors.
The gentle tremor in Talat Mahmood’s singing voice did not find wide acceptance among Hindi film music directors of the time. It was Anil Biswas who saw the allure in this tremor and asked Talat to embrace it. The result was Talat’s first hit, ‘Ae Dil Mujhe Aisi Jaga Le Chal’. Talat recorded only a few songs for Anil Biswas after that but they included some truly gorgeous ones like ‘Shukriya Shukriya Ae Pyar Tera Shukriya’ (Aaram, 1951) and ‘Seene Mein Sulagte Hain Armaan’ (Tarana, 1951). My pick is ‘Shukriya Shukriya’ because it features on screen a dashing Talat, who had an acting role in the film.
Talat Mahmood’s best for C Ramchandra was probably for the film Parchhain (1952). Talat sang four lovely songs in the film including the brilliant solo ‘Mohabbat Hi Na Jo Samjhe’ which I listed in C Ramchandra’s top 10 songs. The other Talat beauty in C Ramchandra’s repertoire was ‘Mohabbat Mein Aise Zamane Bhi Aaye’ (Sagai, 1951). ‘Mohabbat Mein…’ is a sad song with an unusually upbeat and lively arrangement consisting of a piano, saxophone and a sitar. It may not be their most popular song together but it’s among those that feature Lata and Talat at the peak of their singing abilities.
Anil Biswas continued to bat for Talat Mahmood even in films he was not connected with. When Shankar–Jaikishan decided to use Mukesh as Dilip Kumar’s voice in Daag, it was Anil da who steered them towards Talat Mahmood. The film’s winner was easily ‘Ae Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal’ in three versions— two Talat solos and a Lata solo. In the fast version, Talat’s quiver sounds a little strained but in the slow version he is completely at ease and at his intoxicating best.
Talat’s best for Roshan is easily among his best ever— ‘Main Dil Hoon Ek Armaan Bhara’. Roshan arranged this mellow, free-flowing ghazal beautifully as a piano song and Talat’s singing is the embodiment of a heart filled with desire.
OP Nayyar employed Talat Mahmood for only three songs in his entire career. Two out those probably went to Talat only because he played a lead role in it — ‘Sone Ki Chidiya’ (1958). Considering how good these three songs were, we can only wonder what might have been if OP Nayyar had been more open about his choice of singers. My pick of these three songs is the one Talat sang for an actor other than himself— ‘Mujhe Dekho Hasrat Hi Tasveer Hoon Main’ for Guru Dutt.
Other than being amongst the first few films of Shammi Kapoor before he became a star, the only noteworthy thing about Thokar was the stunning Talat solo, ‘Ae Ghame Dil Kya Karoon’, composed by Sardar Malik and written by Majaz. The film also had a thoroughly competent version of the song by Asha Bhosle, but Talat’s version completely overshadowed it.
Footpath was a fine film with some superb acting by Dilip Kumar but remains sadly underrated. Khayyam had yet to make his mark but he gave the audiences a glimpse of his immense talent in ‘Shaam-E-Gham Ki Kasam’. Watching Dilip’s understated performance in this song, it becomes clear why Talat’s gentle but sincere voice was a perfect match for the legendary actor.
SD Burman experimented with Talat as Dev Anand’s voice first in Arman (1953) and then in Taxi Driver (1954) before switching completely to his two favourites, Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. SD Burman’s move away from Talat happened despite the success of Taxi Driver. The film’s score won SD Burman the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and in the first year the radio show Binaca Geetmala had the annual countdown of best songs, Talat’s version of ‘Jaayen To Jaayen Kahan’ hit the number 1 spot.
While most music directors made use of Talat’s voice for serious ghazals, the genius called Salil Chowdhury thumbed his nose at conventional wisdom and gave Talat some delightfully light-hearted and upbeat melodies. The best known Talat song by Salil da is obviously ‘Itna Na Mujhse Tu Pyar Jata’ but since the song has already been featured earlier in this series, I picked another song that shows us another side of Talat. In this joyful, rain-soaked duet with Lata Mangeshkar, Talat sings with an exuberance that brings a smile to the listeners’ face.
For a Hindi film singer who excelled at ghazals, no list would be complete without a song by the King of Ghazals, Madan Mohan. Madan Mohan used Talat’s voice consistently over the years and produced some memorable songs with him. At a time when Talat’s Hindi film career graph was declining, it was Madan Mohan who gave him a film score, Jahan Ara, that featured Talat’s voice prominently. In a film that had more than one Talat beauty, my pick is ‘Phir Wohi Sham Wohi Gham’.
A bigger list of Talat Mahmood’s best songs can be found here.
