The melodious music maker: Khemchand
Prakash
-Satish Chopra
The film ‘Mahal’ released in the year- 1949 will be remembered for all times to
come. It is not because that it was directed by legendary Kamal Amrohi; neither
owing to the fact that Ashok Kumar and Madhubala acted in the film, nor because
of the reason that Bimal Roy was its editor. But, the fact remains that the film
is still recalled in view of its grand background music and immortal melodious
songs.
How can one forget – ‘Aayega
aney wala’, ‘Mushkil hei bahut mushkil’, ’Dil ney phir yaad kiyaa’
sung by upcoming Lata Mangeshkar; ‘Ghabra key jo humsar ko’, ‘Ek teer
chalaa’, ‘Mein wo haseen hoon’ sung by acclaimed
Rajkumari; and ‘Chhun chhun ghungharwa’ sung by famed Johrabai and
Rajkumari.
Ergo, the film ‘Mahal’ became a landmark in the history of Indian cinema
primarily because of its music; and the then lesser known Lata Mangeshkar came
to limelight and established herself as the most popular singer of the century
after one and only – Kundan Lal Saigal.
A collection
of choicest Indian cine music will be certainly incomplete without one of the
songs of film ‘Mahal’ and any music performance of Lata Mangeshkar is just not
possible without ‘Aayega
aney wala’ and or ‘Mushkil
hei bahut mushkil’.
The
melodious music maker of these fascinating melodies was
Khemchand Prakash, who was born at Sujangarh, a small town in Rajasthan
on 12 December, 1907. His father Pt
Govardhan Prakash was a court musician of the then Jaipur State. Before joining
films, Khemchand Prakash was associated with Nepal Durbar as a singer.
Thereafter, he moved to Calcutta as a radio artiste.
Impressed
with his singing talent, Timir Baran, the famous music director of New Theatres
took Khemchand Prakash in his fold.
In view of
his deep understanding of classical music (including the most intricate
dhrupad style); Khemchand Prakash directed music for most of the singers of
his time. As such, when celebrated Prithviraj Kapoor moved from Calcutta to
Bombay, he took young Khemchand Prakash along with him. In Bombay, he introduced
music maestro to Ranjit Movietone, where he gave music for the all time great,
the classic film –‘Tansen’ (1943) starring Kundan Lal Saigal and Khurshid.
In the
annals of singing (classical and non-classical) the music of film ‘Tansen’; has
no substitute. What better captivating singing in classical ‘dhrupad’
style, one can expect, when Saigal effortlessly sang- ‘Sapt suran teen gram’
and ‘Diya jalao’. It was in a way the beginning of pure classical
singing in Indian cine music.
The depth of
feelings in singing expressed by Saigal in his another number- ’Binaa pankh
ke panchhi hoon mein’ cannot be phrased in words. Then listen to the duet
sung by Saigal & Khurshid– ‘Morey balapan key saathi’. The beauty
of delivery of sentiments expressed is simply superb. The other numbers
viz ‘Ghataa ghunghor ghor’, ‘O dukhia jiyara’, ‘Ab raja bhaye morey balam wo
din bhool gaye’ and ‘Barso rey’ sung by Khurshid, though have been
forgotten with the passage of time and also conveniently non-availability of the
recordings. But, the fact remains
that the musical super-hit film-‘Tansen’ will be remembered all time to come for
its fabulous melodies.
In film
‘Bhanwara’ (1944), as well the maestro composed some unforgettable songs sung by
Saigal viz ‘Muskaratey huye youn
aankh chuaraya na karo’ and ’Thukra rahee hei ye dunian’.
Some other immortal melodies he yet again created for other films viz - ‘Gazi
Salaudin’ & ‘Meri Aankhein’ (1939), ‘Aaj Ka Hindustan’ & ‘Pagal’ (1940),
‘Holiday In Bombay’, ‘Pardesi’, ‘Pyaas’ & ‘Shadi’ (1941), ‘Khilona’, ‘Dukh-
Sukh’, ‘Fariyaad’, ‘Mehmaan’ & ‘Chandni’ (1942), ‘Chirag’, ‘Vishkanya’, ‘Gauri’
& ‘Qurbani’ (1943), ‘Mumtaz Mahal’, ‘Shahanshah Babar’, ‘Bhanwara’ & ‘Bharthari’
(1944), ‘Dhanna Bhagat’ (1945), ‘Mera Suhag’, ‘Chalte Chalte’, ‘Mulakaat’,
‘Samaj Ko Badal Dalo’ & ‘Sikandar’ (1947), ‘Asha’ & ‘Ziddi’ (1948), ‘Sawan Aya
Re’, ‘Rimjhim’ & ‘Mahal’ (1949), ‘Muqaddar’ & ‘Bijli’ (1950) and ‘Shree Ganesh
Janam’ (1951).
In 1948 for
film ‘Ziddi’ (based on the story of celebrated urdu writer- Sahadat Hasan Manto)
produced by Bombay Talkies; Kishore
Kumar sang his first and foremost film solo song- ‘Marney ki duayein kya
mangoo’ followed by- ‘Ye kaun aaya re’ (duet with Lata Mangeshkar).
The music for these two bewitching numbers was
composed by Khemchand Prakash. These notable melodies have certainly
enriched two vocalists and subsequently
shaped their destiny.
As well,
Talat Mehmood and Geeta Roy sang ‘Armaan bharey dil ki lagan kis key liyey
hei’ for the film- ‘Jaan Pehchaan’ (1950 which is yet
another master-piece composition of Khemchand Prakash.
A
peculiar feature of the music of the
maestro was that he deployed minimum
musical instruments and thereby created finest ambiance through the vocal cord
of the singer. This was one of the most captivating features of his brilliantly
created immortal melodies.
In this
context, listen to Shamshad’s
fascinating & melodious song-‘Naa tum aayey naa neend aayee’
for the film ‘Rimjhim (1949);
‘Dil ney phir yaad kiya’ and ‘Mushkil
hei bahut mushkil- Lata’s
numbers for film ‘Mahal’, which are some
of the classic examples of his minimal usage of instruments while composing some
of these bewitching songs.
The musical
tradition of the maestro was carried by his noble assistant- Bulo C. Rani in his
films. One such all time classic film was ‘Jogan’. produced and directed by
luminary Kidar Sharma and starring Dilip
Kumar and Nargis. What an exceptional quality music was produced through the
songs of emotionally chocked voice of Geeta Roy for Nargis, starring in this
unforgettable film.
What a
misfortune!
Ten days
before the release of all time classic ‘Mahal’, on 10 August, 1950 Khemchand
Prakash expired at the age
of just 45 years, leaving behind a wonderful legacy of music for all times to
come.
It is a
sheer coincidence that other two greats of his time in the field of music-
Kundan Lal Saigal and Gulam Haider as well died in their forties in the years-
1947 and 1953 respectively..
.
.
-Satish Chopra, BA/26B Ashok Vihar-I, Delhi-110052
#011-27134229/0-8802805055
Email: satishchopra@rediffmail.com