Subhash K Jha shines the spotlight on the career of composer extraordinaire Madan Mohan in this special feature.
Woh bhuli dastaan lo phir yaad aa gayee nazar ke saamne ghataa si chhaa gayee. When was Madan Mohan ever a Bhuli hui dastaan? Born for greatness, destined for immortality and constantly driven to attain perfection in his creative endeavours, Madan Mohan Kohli was truly one of the most inspired and inspiring music composers of the twentieth century. His meteoric melody content was unparalleled. Listening today to the the composer’s best songs as they spread themselves out in a winged web of wonderment, we can only marvel at the compositions—each an architectural monument—and wonder, “How did he do it?”.
It’s hard to believe that Madan Mohan had no formal training in music. Every note that fell mellifluously into his melodic orbit was born from sheer instinct! Born on 25 June, 1924 in Baghdad, Madan Mohan was the son of the illustrious Rai Bahadur Chunilal, partner at the well-to-do Bombay Talkies and Filmistan studios in Mumbai. In his youth, Madan Mohan joined the army during the World War 2. In 1946, he was employed at All India Radio in Lucknow where he came into contact with such vocal geniuses as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Begum Akhtar. The latter after hearing a particular tune rang up Madan Mohan and made him sing the whole composition over the telephone line.
Begum Akhtar isn’t alone in her high regard for this juggernaut composer. Once O.P.Nayyar had spontaneously exclaimed, “It’s hard to decide whether God created the voice of Lata Mangeshkar for the compositions of Madan Mohan, or vice versa.” That throwaway statement comes back to haunt us as we listen to the tumble of ballistic Lata-Madan Mohan melodies.Each a Taj Mahal with inbuilt compartments of emotions in perpetual motion.
It was the year 1947 and the great composer Master Ghulam Haider had summoned the fledgling nightingale to Filmistan Studio to sing a duet with a new singer named Madan Mohan for the film Shaheed. Lataji had never seen or heard this wannabe crooner. All she knew was he was the son of the studio owner. The song they sang together was recorded. After the recording the handsome young man told Lataji that he was soon going to become a music director. “You must sing in my first film as composer,” Madan Mohan made the Nightingale promise.
She was unable to sing in Madan Mohan’s first film Aankhen. But Lataji made this sensitive and gentle giant of a composer her brother for life. Together the siblings created more than history. They created scoops of immortality that mankind will hum as long as there’s a place for beauty harmony creative integrity and existential truth in our galaxy.
Can we ever tire of hearing Lataji sing Madan Mohan Saab’s Aapki nazron ne samjha pyar ke qabil mujhe? Colleague Naushad was one of the millions of melody enthusiasts who was spellbound after hearing this glorious Ghazal. “Give me this Ghazal and take all my compositions in exchange,” Naushad Miyan exclaimed generously after hearing ‘Aapki nazron ne samjha’.
It’s hard to believe that the inspiration for this peerless melody came to Madan Mohan in the lift which took him from the groundfloor to his residence in an apartment block.
His sons recall how he would be humming tunes constantly. Creating Taj Mahalian melodies was almost second nature to Madan Mohan. So was cooking and physical fitness. Madan Mohan took as much care of his physique as he did with his songs. He could brook no imperfection let alone mediocrity in any aspect of his life.
There’s this widely reported incident during the recording of the song ‘Nainon mein badra chhaye’ where the perfectionist smashed the glass partition in a studio when a musician played the wrong note. That level of creative commitment alone could afford a composition as complete and flawless as ‘Nainon mein badra chhaye’. The composition in Raga Bhimpalasi spreads itself out like a veneer of talcum. Soft, sensitive, gentle, fragrant, and healthful. Despite his unfamiliarity with ragas Madan Mohan was always raga-perfect. Getting the sur right and the raga right were not a fetish for this Ghazal Ka Badshah. The tune came first. The nuances and details simply followed.
Music was a passion a junoon for Madan Mohan. There were no side attractions or fringe tunes in a Madan Mohan score. Every tune had to be just right. Every note had to fall just-so and every word had to fit flawlessly into the design of the compositions. Madan Mohan’s quest for lyrical perfection was almost as legendary as his search for compositional excellence. Legendary wordsmiths like Rajinder Krishan, Raja Mehndi Ali Khan, Kaifi Azmi and Majrooh Sultanpuri toiled tirelessly to titivate the tunesmith’s titanic efforts. After pleasing this super-perfectionist the partners in the composing venture were always amply rewarded.
After Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote ‘Teri aankhon ke siva dunia mein rakha kya hai’, Madan Mohan first showered affectionate blows on the poet’s stomach and then dragged him home for a meal cooked by him. Majrooh Sultanpuri once said, “No one could compose Ghazals like Madan Mohan”. Millions of music lovers would agree with that view.
When Lataji sang ‘Lag ja gale se’, the large-hearted the creative colossus Madan Mohan immediately gifted his Nightingale with Rs 1000. ‘Lag ja gale se’ ranks today as one of the singer’s own favourites. It’s hard to select one out of the parade of memorabilia that Madan Mohan Saab orchestrated in WohKaun Tthi. How do you choose ‘Lag jaa gale se’ over ‘Jo humnein dastaan apni sunayee’?
When Mohd Rafi stepped in to sing ‘Tum jo mil gaye ho’ in Hanste Zakhm, Madan Mohan Saab opined that people think of this modern love ballad as being disparate from his customary style. But to this uncompromising genius music composition was about feelings — not style.
And to think that Madan Mohan might have been absorbed in the army! Or into business of looking after his father’s substantial interests in the movie making industry!! Believe it or not the man who was born to make melody, even played bit roles in films like Shaheed in 1948 and Munimji in 1955! But music and music alone was Madan Mohan Saab’s true vocation. After assisting Sachin Dev Burman in Do Bhai and Munimji, the composer was launched as an independent music director.
Though Lataji didn’t sing in his composing debut, she was there from his second soundtrack Madhosh. The initial crop of films like Adaa, Ashiana, Dhun and Railway Platform yielded hits like ‘Sanwari surat man bhaye’,’Tum chand ke saath’, Badi barbadiyan lekar’ and ‘Chand madhyam hai’.
Railway Platform with its parabolic structure and ensemble cast had tremendous scope for music. Madan Mohan grabbed the chance to give us what can be democratically termed as a national treasure. In Dekh Kabira Roye in 1957, Madan Mohan submerged his song-writing in the film’s theme of art and humanity.
Manna Dey’s ‘Kaun aaya mere man ke dware’ in Dekh Kabira Roye dismantles the myth that Madan Mohan was the master of the Ghazal only. Wrong! Put this all rounder into any composing situation he emerges trumps in every sense of the word and the tune.If Lataji sang many of Madan Mohan’s most memorable Ghazals to eternal fame she also sang his straightforward love ballads like ‘Tere bin saawan kaise beeta’ and ‘Main to tum sang nain milake’ to everlasting fame.
