Sur Sangam Puraskar
1951


Welcome to the Sur Sangam Puraskar ceremony of 1951.

Note : These are fantasy musical awards in a past which, of course, is never going to return. That doesnt stop us from imagining such a past - a past which exists in our mind and heart.

The chronology of films is based on the momentous "Film Geet Kosh" of Hamraaz. No praise can be too high for this man.

Introduction
 1951 is a glorious year in the annals of Indian film music. A wonderful mixture of senior and junior music directors existed - and there was the field of playback singing which had caught ground in the late 1940s and was now an accepted part of film music. Film music was close to a zenith - as would be apparent from the great musicals of the year.

The Also-Rans

Madan Mohan's "Ada" Lata's "Preetam meri duniya me" and Talat's "Jise dil me basana chaha tha" are the best melodies from this early Madan film.
Shankar Jaikishan's "Baadal" Lata's "Do din ke liye mehmaan yahan" is perhaps the best-remembered song; the Mukesh-Lata duet "Ae dil na mujhse chupa" is also a pleasing number.
S.D.Burman's "Baazi" Guru Dutt's maiden directorial venture. Music was ok-ish, with the Geeta melodies "Yeh kaun aaya" and "Taqdeer se bigdi hui" being the most prominent.
K.Datta's "Daaman" No ripples caused by this film. But it must be mentioned here for the wonderful Lata-Rafi duet "O yaad aane lagi". One of their best duets ever !!
Anil Biswas' "Do Sitaare" A fairly successful film - not Anilda's best but even that is sufficient for pleasing melodies like Lata's "Kuch idhar kho gaya" and Suraiya's "Mere dil ki dhadkan me".
Sajjad Husain's "Hulchul" This genius of a composer was at the most prolific years of his career. And with Lata, provided such songs as "Luta dil mera" and "Aaj mere naseeb ne".
Roshan's "Humlog" One of the most promising composers from the younger brigade. Melodies like Mukesh's "Apni nazar se" and Lata's "Bahe akhiyon se" are very pleasing indeed..
Madan Mohan's "Madhosh" Madan's first taste of success - the Talat classic "Meri yaad me tum na" established him as one of the better composers of the day. The film also had some good Lata songs like "Chod mujhe na jana".
S.D.Burman's "Naujawan" A must-mention solely due to the delightful Lata piece "Thandi hawayen". The song can lay claim to being one of the most "inspiring" song in our film music !!


Now, lets move on to those classics which were in the fray -right till the end. And it was "scratch this out and that" etc. that made them just miss the final list. Classics all ..

The Almosts
Shankar Jaikishan's "Awara" Hugely popular songs. Not my personal favorites, but certainly they hold their own importance in film history. While, Mukesh's "Awara hoon" is the most popular number from the film, it is the sad songs which stand out. Mukesh's "Hum tujhse mohobbat karke sanam" and Lata's "Aa jao tadapte hain arman" are both sheer classics.
Husnlal Bhagatram's "Afsana" This composer-duo were in the final stages of their career - not that the quality of their music waned. Not at all. Listen to the brilliant songs from this film and that should be proof enough. Lata's "Kahan hai tu mere sapno ke raja", "Abhio to main jawan hoon" and Suraiya's "Woh paas bhi rehkar" are all sheer magics !! Too small a sample - hence a very honorable mention is all thats possible.
Anil Biswas' "Badi Bahoo" The late-40s to the early 50s formed Anilda's finest years. And this film boasted of some exceptional melodies. Lata's "Badli teri nazar" is amongst her very best numbers, and her "Sitaron chand se kehdo" is also a lovely piece. But Anilda reserved the most distinctive melodies in this film for Rajkumari. In her husky, inimitable voice, Rajkumari rendered "Nindiya aayi re" and "Ramaiyya bin neend na aaye". Fantastic songs. Again, not all the songs from this film have been heard. Hence, the miss-out.
Naushad's "Jadoo" Another composer who was at the peak of his career. Nothing that Naushad composed during the time could be termed a failure - and this film was a success too. But the songs are not upto the same standards Naushad was to establish for himself subsequently. Lata's sounds extremely sweet in songs like "Ulajh gaya jiya mora", "Gin gin tare main" and "Lo pyar ki ho gayi jeet".
C.Ramchandra's "Khazana" Have heard a lot of the film's top-class music. But, I have managed to lay hands on only two melodies from the film - and thats sufficient to convince that this would be a masterly musical. Lata is breath-taking in her renditions of "Ae chand pyar mera tujhse yeh keh raha hai" and "Soi soi chandni hai".
Roshan's "Malhar" Mukesh's own production - and what music !! Astonishing to note that it was to be almost a decade later that Roshan would finally be recognized as the talen he was. Mukesh's renditions in the film have that softness which he could bring out not often. His "Dil tujhe diya tha" is a classic as is his duets with Lata - "Bade armanon se rakha", "Ek baar agar tu kehde" and "Kahan ho tum".
Shankar Jaikishan's "Nagina" Insufficient sample again - only three in fact. All C.H.Atma melodies and all classics. Atma was a Saigal-devotee and had that "dard" in his voice. Songs like "Ek sitara hai akash pe", "Dil beqarar hai" and "Roun main saagar ke kinare" are fabulous numbers. Even SJ could be good now and then..
C.Ramchandra's "Sagaai" It was with a very heavy heart that I had to leave this most brilliant soundtrack from the final list of nominations. What a breath-taking set of melodies from this genius of a composer. The breezy "O babu kaise dil" starts it off, and to round off that masterpiece of a Lata melody "Dil ki kahani kehna to chahen". And interpersed is one of the finest Lata-Rafu duets ever - "Udhar se tum chale". A fantastic song that !!
Jamalsen's "Shokiyaan" Again a sampling problem. But whatever there is available - all are masterpieces. In fact, I am yet to hear a not-too-good song from this less-known composer. Lata's "Sapna ban saajan aaye" ranks as one of the milestones in her career, Rajkumari's "Bedaar hui kaliyan" is a terrific number as is Suraiya's "Raaton ki neend cheen li". All classics of the highest order.




Thats it folks. We are now into the final set of nominations. As mentioned, there are five movies for the Sur Samrat award, three each from the male and female singers category for the K.L.Saigal award.
Lets march on to the final set of nominations.
Lay the red carpet for these legends...

The Final Nominees
Sur Samrat Puraskar (Best Music Director)


Anil Biswas (Aaram)

"Aaram" ranks as one of the great musicals of all-time. And Anilda's genius was, as I said, at the peak. What a whole set of breathtaking melodies adorned the film. Anilda's magnificent usage of the piano is well known - and again, it was most brilliant in this film. Mukesh's "Ae jaan-e-jigar" is one of them. One just wishes that Mukesh could introduce that softness, which eluded him mostly, into all his songs. But a classic all the same. Talat's "Shukriya ae pyar tera" pales - but only in comparison with the fantastic Lata solos from this film. Lata is supremely magnificent in her renditions of the charming "Baalamwa nadan", the classic saxophone-backed number "Mil mil ke bichad gaye nain" AND .. that .. GORRRRRGEEOUS piano number "Man me kisi ki preet basale". WHAT a soundtrack !!

          



Naushad (Deedar)

This film marks the start of the most glorious phase of Naushad's career. The pre-Deedar years were equally successful perhaps, but it is his achievements in the immediate post-Deedar years that marks Naushad out as one of the greatest composers of all times. The consistency with which he provided great compositions is quite awesome !! "Deedar" is again one of those soundtracks where ALL the songs are QUALITY songs..Start off with the Lata-Shamshad classic "Bachpan ke din bhula na dena" which is as fresh today, Rafi had a whole host of beauties - "Hue hum jinke liye barbaad", "Naseeb dar pe tere azmane aaya hoon" and the best of them all, "Meri kahani bhoolne wale". His duet with Lata - "Dekh liya maine" - is also a wonderful song. Lata had two solos - "Leja meri duayen leja" and "Tu kaun hai mera". Delightful pieces. And to round off, two Shamshad Begum numbers which are very pleasing indeed - "Chaman me rehke veerana" and "Nazar phero na hamse" - the latter a duet with G.M.Durrani. All in all, a treasure of a soundtrack.

          



C.Ramchandra (Albela)

"Albela" is something of a all-in-all of film music. C.Ramchandra displayed his flair for all types of music in this film. From the semi-classical "Balma bada naadan re" to the rollicking "Shola jo badhke", he created a whole host of unforgattable melodies which mark him out as one of the greatest composers of all times. Lata's "Dheere se aaja ri" has been well-discussed and continues to be a perennial favourite, as is her duet with the composer "Sham dhale khidki tale tum seethi bajana chod do". "Dil dhadke nazar sharmaye" is filled with the dort of sweetness that Lata brought into all her songs for C.Ramchandra. There certainly was a very special chemistry between them. The other numbers from the film are the faster chorus-backed numbers like "Bholi soorat dil ke khote" and "Deewana ek parwana". A masterpiece.

          



Sajjad Husain (Saiyan)

Sajjad saab was one of his kind. Going by quantity, one would put him down as one of the failures of film music. Perhaps thats not completely wrong. But Sajjad saab's music was such that there is success even in failure. The Sajjadian music died with him. He is a sort of enigma - stories about his violent temper abound, but his music.. that bears no stamp of that temper. Only of his genius. "Saiyan" holds a special place in the hearts of Sajjad fans. Shamshad begum's "Meri jaan mohobbat karo chupke chupke" and Rafi's "Us paar is deewar" are only non-Lata songs in this soundtrack. Lets through those. The chorus backed "Hawa me dil dole" is so cuuute. And breathtaking in its overall set-up. Then the two Lata masterpieces in the style which is typically Sajjadian : "Woh raat din woh" and that haunting, evergreen favourtie "Kali kali raat re dil bada sataye". What more can one say wbout the man !! Let his music speak for himself..

          



Anil Biswas (Tarana)

Anilda's second nomination for the year. And from a most enjoyable movie too, if only for the ravishing beauty of Madhubala - dont think she has ever looked lovelier. And when you have an extra-sweet Lata going on you, what more do you need ? And Anilda used Lata magnificently in this film - "Yun chup chup ke", "Beiman tore nainwa", "Wapas lele yeh jawani", "Woh din kahan gaya bata" and that irrepressibly sweet duet with Sandhya Mukherji - "Bol papiha bol re". All musical gems of the highest class !! Dilip Kumar had the regal Talat going on him - and what magic the two created !! Those unforgattable duets with Lata "Nain mile nain hue banwre" and "Seene me sulagte hain arman" are now as popular as then. To round off, a very, very special Talat melody - "Ek main hoon ek meri bekasi ki sham hai". One of those songs that haunt you again and again.

          


Those are the nominees then for the Sur Samrat Puraskar. Its next to impossible to make a selection from these. All the soundtracks are equally gorgeous and brilliant. Wellll..one must be selected I guess. So..

Ladies and gentlemen, the Sur Samrat for the year 1951 is....

ANIL BISWAS

(for the film "Aaram")


Applause..applause..to this King of Composers in our films...
Now, onto the K.L.Saigal Awards for the singers - first male and then female.

Kunan Lal Saigal puraskar (MALE)


Mohd Rafi ("Meri Kahani bhoolne wale")
Mohd Rafi was very much a Naushad prodigy - and in "Deedar", he had a whole host of wonderful songs and this song is the best of them all. Its also one of the finest numbers of Rafi's career. Its a fairly demanding song - and only Rafi could have sung that number as well..
          



Talat Mahmood ("Meri yaad me tum na")

1951 was the beginning of the Golden Phase of the Golden Age of film music and not completely due to coincidence, it was also the start of Talat Mahmood's finest years in films. Talat's voice .. one can just go on gushing about it. But during this phase, it acquired that extra softness and mellow-ness which fitted ike a glove the more sensitive films of the time. This song is a classic for all ages to come. Try to sing it - and you would find that its not as easy as Talat makes it out to be. A fantastic singer - my all-time favourite..
          



Mukesh("Dil tujhe diya tha")

As I said, it is not always that Mukesh could bring a certain softness into his thick voice. Whenever he did, it was magic. This song is one of those instances. A beautiful but simple melody which Mukesh does more than full justice to. Soulful and bhav-poorn. Wonderful..
          


Those are the three gentleman in line for the first Kundan Lal Saigal for male singers. Hold your breaths...

Ladies and gentlemen, the Kundan Lal Saigal Puraskar winner in the Male category for the year 1951 is....

MOHD RAFI

(for "Meri kahani bhoolne wale")




Onto the final section now - the K.L.Saigal Awards for female singers.

Kunan Lal Saigal puraskar (FEMALE)


Geeta Roy ("Taqdeer se bigdi hui")
Geeta's charming voice can make the most ordinary tune come to life. She sparkles them. This is not an ordinary composition, but it is Geeta who dazzles here. An evergreen favorite..
          



Lata Mangeshkar("Sapna ban saajan aaye")

Well, this lady hardly requires any more adjectives. This song perhaps requires them ? A fantastic Jamalsen composition which gives you the experience of a breeze blowing across your face. A classic forever..
          



Rajkumar("Nindiya aayi re")

This Anil Biswas composition is one of the finest songs of Rajkumari's career. A stunning melody, which she has rendered to perfection. Rajkumari is one of the final remnants from the style of singing of the late 30s and 40s. But such is the beauty of her voice that she continues to dazzle...

Those are the three gentleman in line for the first Kundan Lal Saigal for female singers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Kundan Lal Saigal Puraskar winner in the Female category for the year 1951 is....

LATA MANGESHKAR

(for "Sapna ban saajan aaye")



Thats the end of a long day in 1951. Join us in 1952.
Bye...