Best songs of 1940: Wrap Up 3

The Award for the Best Duet of 1940 goes to?

If you look at the broad statistics in my Overview Post on the best songs of 1940, you would see out of total 351 songs in the year, whose singers are identified, the ratio of male solos, female solos and duets are 1:1.47:1.19. This may not follow the long-term average of male solos to female solos to duets, but it does follow the general trend that female solos far outnumber male solos, and duets too are generally much more than male solos. Whether 19% differential of the duets over male solos is statistically significant or not is best left to the professional statistician. But I have mentioned several times that in music the impact of a particular singer is not necessarily commensurate with statistics. This phenomenon was particularly pronounced in the era of KL Saigal and Pankaj Mullick when their songs pulled their weight much above their numbers.

Plus, in this year I also included a large number of non-film songs (NFS) which made the ratio between male solos to duets more lopsided in 1940. I have captured this in the Wrap Up 1 regarding male solos. Somehow the Female Solos were able to hold fort (see Wrap Up 2). In the list of 48 Memorable Songs in the overview post I have included 12 duets. One duet Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Patitpavan Sitaram, sung by Gohar Mamajiwala, Vasanti and others, figures as a special song in the overview post, because of its connection with Gandhiji, and the controversy about some alteration in the lyrics by him for his public meetings. That leaves just enough to set upon the selection of the Best Duets in the year.

Best Duets

1. Hum aur tum aur ye khushi by Surendra and Waheedan Bai from Alibaba (1940), lyrics Safdar ‘Aah’, music Anil Biswas

In the studio era with Sagar Movietone team, Anil Biswas was the Emperor of Film Music. Surendra was his regular singer, but there was no Lata Mangeshkar then, therefore the music directors had a wide choice of female voices and tonal quality. You soon have a sample of Surendra’s singing. Waheedan Bai joins in a contrasting style at a higher octave, typical of the Vintage Era female singing. Surendra brings the song back to lower octave. It is possibly the first duet in waltz style in Hindi film songs. This Waheedan Bai was the mother of Nimmi, a fact corroborated in this upload. The high point of this song was, the song was preceded by the lady seeking permission, Kya main andar aa sakti hun? Then the song started, Hum aur tum aur ye khushi. People went crazy by this novelty in the song. I have heard the full version, but unfortunately I could not find it on the YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0e7HLBdX94&list=RDk0e7HLBdX94&start_radio=1

2. Teri in aankhon ne kiya beemar haye by Surendra and Waheedan Bai from Alibaba (1940), lyrics Safdar ‘Aah’, music Anil Biswas

The same team create another gem in the same film. Now this has Waheedan Bai starting at a high pitch, but Surendra maintains his normal scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2w5H6PKGuY&list=RDU2w5H6PKGuY&start_radio=1

3. Uth sajni khol kiwaade tere saajan aaye duaare by Surendra and Jyoti from Aurat (1940), lyrics Dr Safdar ‘Aah’, music Anil Biswas

Anil Biswas again in the landmark film Aurat, the predecessor of Mother India (1957), both directed by Mehboob Khan – the latter film under his own production Mehboob Productions. By that time, he had firmly switched to the new Emperor Naushad. The former film was directed by him, under the Sagar offshoot National Studios. Mehboob Khan’s automatic choice for music was his friend, and the then Monarch of Film Music Anil Biswas. In Aurat, Surendra played the role of the nice elder brother, the role played by Rajendra Kumar in its remake. Jyoti played the role of his heartthrob and wife. This is a love-song by the newlyweds, Surendra starting at a low octave, Jyoti responding at a high pitch. I understand this Jyoti was the sister of Waheedan Bai, which makes her mausi of Nimmi – though there is no confirmation by the uploader now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foNGELhNrQg&list=RDfoNGELhNrQg&start_radio=1

4. Bol bol re tu bol re ban ke panchhi bol re by Surendra and Jyoti from Aurat (1940), lyrics Safdar ‘Aah’, music Anil Biswas

How can one ignore the other duet by the love pair Surendra-Jyoti from the landmark film Aurat, written and composed by the same hot team of Safdar ‘Aah’ and Anil Biswas. Since the picture on the sleeve cover is of a woman with three children, this must be the Mother, played by Sardar Akhtar in that movie. She was married to the director Mehbob Khan in real life. As mentioned earlier, Surendra played the nice elder brother in the film, there is some mismatch between the song and the picture.

5. Prem bansuriya bajaao saajan by Pankaj Mullick and Radharani from Aandhi (1940), lyrics Rashid Gorakhpuri, music KC Dey

New Theatres had some towering music talents. But it is very uplifting to see them working for or under another music talent without any ego. Here Pankaj Mulick sings a duet with Radharani under the music direction of KC Dey, who himself was a great singer and has, in fact, sung some everlasting songs, discussed in Wrap Up 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGrII6MJ6RM&list=RDvGrII6MJ6RM&start_radio=1

6. Main phoolon ki sugandh banker upvan sara mehkaaun by Amirbai Karnataki and NM Adhikari from Ek Hi Bhool from Ek Hi Bhool (1940), lyrics Pt Sampatlal Shrivastav ‘Anuj’, music Shankar Rao Vyas

I had not heard this song before. But it is incredibly beautiful. Its instrumental prelude and interludes are equally good. Discovery of such songs makes delving into the Vintage Era immensely pleasurable. We recently had some discussion about lyrics of Gulzar. I think no one would have any doubt about the quality of ear-pleasing lyrics of this song. A special feature of this song is Amirbai singing at a high pitch throughout, yet proving that melody can be maintained in full-throated singing too, and NM Adhikari following her at a low pitch in the style of Surendra. The male and female voices alternate in the first four lines, and the in the last two lines both the singers join, making it a perfectly balanced duet, though Amirbai Karnataki leaves a lasting impact.

F: Main phoolon ki sugandh bakar upvan sara mahkaaun
M: Main bhanwra banker chupke se phoolon ka ras pi jaaun
F: Main madmati payal banker birha ke geet sunaaun
M: Main premi ki saansein banker birha ke raag sunaaun
F-M: Aao hilmil armaanon ki duniya nayi basaayein
F-M: Is neeras jeevan mein phir se phir nayi umangein laayein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4lH7jK1xgY&list=RD-4lH7jK1xgY&start_radio=1

7. Chal chal re naujawan by Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis from Bandhan (1940), lyrics Pradeep, music Ramchandra Pal

Was Ashok Kumar a good singer? I can’t answer that question, but today I find his songs very pleasant to the year. This song appears in many versions in the film. Therefore, one can presume the song was extremely popular. I think the credit has to be given to the music director RC Pal, and a Bombay Talkies regular Saraswati Devi for composing some very melodious songs for him. She was also credited in this film, who composed other songs of great beauty in the film. They cracked the mystery of making simple and melodious tunes for non-singers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8v_HmEft5I&list=RDp8v_HmEft5I&start_radio=1

8. Mast pawann shaakhein laharaayein by Kanan Devi and Pahadi Sanyal from Haar Jeet (1940), lyrics (?), music RC Boral

Now we come across an excellent composition by RC Boral. Kanan Devi and Pahadi Sanyal were prominent among New Theatres stalwarts. The long instrumental prelude is signature style of RC Boral for New Theatres. The question mark for lyricists is because between the two lyricists Arzoo Lakhanavi and Kidar Sharma, the lyricists are not identified song-wise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97gqq1v_YKE&list=RD97gqq1v_YKE&start_radio=1

9. Aao banayein gharwa pyara by Snehprabha Pradhan and Arun Kumar from Punarmilan (1940), lyrics Anand, music RC Pal

Punarmilan was a famous film of the year with Sneprabha Pradhan’s solo and its version by Arun Kumar, Naacho naacho pyare man ke mor. It turns out it had equally beautiful duets. One such duet by Snehprabha Pradhan and Arun Kumar is Aao banayein gharwa pyara. HFGK mentions the hero Kishore Sahu as the male voice. But that seems to be wrong. The male voice is clearly Arun Kumar, a prominent voice of the era and the singer of some songs in the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4d8oX2Hj2c&list=RDC4d8oX2Hj2c&start_radio=1

10. Phagun ki rut ayi re zara baaje bansuri by Sitara and Amritlal from Holi (1940), lyrics DN Madhok, music Khemchand Prakash

Among movies made by Ranjit Studios in 1940, one had music by Khemchand Prakash; he joined Ranjit Studios after Gyan Dutt. The song title seemed attractive, and I remembered he had composed similarly worded songs in the voice of Khursheed. I could imagine her voice, but it was a duet in the voice of Sitara Devi and Amrit Lal. Therefore, Sitara Devi has to be the singer. But the mystery is compounded because Khursheed is also mentioned in the cast. If it is the same Khursheed we all now, what was she doing there, if she did not sing any song in the film. To me the female voice also sounds like Khursheed, but I go by the credits in the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v508Vq0vGvw&list=RDv508Vq0vGvw&start_radio=1

Thus, the SOY Award for the Best Duet of 1940 goes to Hum aur tum aur ye khushi by Surendra and Waheedan Bai from Alibaba (1940), music Anil Biswas.