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Bollywood Retrospect: 5 memorable songs by music director Ajit Varman

His music will remain etched in the memories of film music aficionados.

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Very little is known about Ajit Varman, a music director who was associated with the parallel film movement during the 1980s. He is said to have started his career as a musician for greats such as Satyajit Ray, Salil Chowdhury and Pankaj Mullick before transitioning to Hindi films as music director. Ajit Varman made music for only about a dozen Hindi films but some of his songs, listed in this post, remain etched in the memories of film music aficionados.

Kanha Re Peer Sahi Na Jaye (Aakrosh, 1980)

Govind Nihalani’s debut film, Aakrosh, was Ajit Varman’s first Hindi film score. In a film in which music was incidental, Ajit Verman’s score consisted of a situational lavani and two songs that aligned with the film’s dark and brooding theme. My pick, 'Kanha Re Peer Sahi Na Jaye', appeared in the film’s title (the video shared below is an edited take) and set the film’s mood. The mellowness of this Raag Bhairavi composition with lovely santoor interludes balances the angst in Vandana Khandekar’s excellent rendition and Vasant Dev’s lyrics. In a way, the song is the musical parallel of Om Puri’s character in the film – till right before the gut-wrenching climax.

Man Anand Anand Chhayo (Vijeta, 1982)

The next song in the list is of another Govind Nihalani film and with the same lyricist, Vasant Dev. 'Man Anand Anand Chhayo' is a lovely, Raag Ahir Bhairav composition sung flawlessly by Asha Bhosle. This is one of those rare classical/semi-classical Hindi film songs that are performed as well by actor as they are rendered by the singer. Rekha’s gestures and expressions are subtle and convincing and her screen presence is elegance personified.

Andhiyara Gahraya (Saaransh, 1984)

With Saaransh started Ajit Verman’s association with Mahesh Bhatt. Following Saaransh, he worked in three telefilms directed by Mahesh Bhatt and produced by Mudra – Jeevan Sandhya, Janam and Swayam. Unfortunately, Ajit Varman couldn’t break through to the mainstream even as the Bombay film industry as a whole, Mahesh Bhatt included, went commercial. The most memorable song of Saaransh, 'Andhiyara Gahraya', is a haunting reminder of a talent that did not find a place in the business of commercial films. Bhupendra’s soulful voice complemented by a choral harmony and Vasant Dev’s National Film Award winning lyrics make this song an absolute beauty. Singer Rekha Bhardwaj once said this about Aiit Varman’s music on Twitter – “Dard ko awaaz milti hai unke naghmo se” – “Pain finds a voice in his songs”.


Badi Hai Bekarari (Jeevan Sandhya, 1984)

As far as I know, 'Badi Hai Bekarari' was the only song Ajit Varman composed for the telefilm Jeevan Sandhya. The song was as mainstream as it gets – sung by Kishore Kumar and with a fairly “filmi” arrangement – but had the same underlying, trademark Ajit Varman “dard”.


Zindagi Zindagi Zindagi Kabhi Tumko Dekha Hai (Janam, 1985)

'Zindagi Zindagi..' was among those Amit Kumar songs where the son matched the illustrious father (well, almost). Ajit Varman composed a superb tune and Mahesh Bhatt used it very effectively in the film as a leitmotif. It may sound quaint in the age of Netflix, but for those who watched it when it aired for the first time on TV, Janam remains an unforgettable experience. Mahesh Bhatt’s semi-autobiographical storytelling, Kumar Gaurav’s bravura performance and this hopeful, inspirational anthem of a song by Ajit Varman made the film a compelling watch. Mudra’s founder, AG Krishnamurthy contributed the following story to the legend of Janam in his autobiography:

AG Krishnamurthy in his book 'If you can dream...'

India's first telefilm, Janam, produced by us and directed by Mahesh Bhatt was truly brilliant. Legend goes that the then Prime Minister of the country Smt Indira Gandhi, watched the telefilm and when the 9pm news was about to interrupt the film which had reached the climax, the PM's residence called up Doordarshan to check about the duration left for the film to get over. When they were told that only 8-10 minutes remained, the film continued uninterrupted and the news telecast began late for the first time in Doordarshan's history! May or may not be true, but this story was doing the rounds around Janam's telecast time. We were honoured to have worked with Mahesh Bhatt on the much acclaimed Janam. The film received a couple of awards too, including an international award.


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