Ravi strikes a discordant note

PUNE, OCT 18: quot;Today's music is hotch-potch music,'' says the music composer of yesteryears, Ravi, who has given Hindi film music su...

PUNE, OCT 18: quot;Today8217;s music is hotch-potch music,8221; says the music composer of yesteryears, Ravi, who has given Hindi film music super-duper hit scores for films like Chaudvin ka Chand, Gumraah, Do Badan, Waqt, Ek Phool Do Maali, Neelkamal, Khandan and Nikaah, to name a few.

The Padmashri winner was invited by the Rafi Fans Club in Pune for the programme Hits of Ravi, at the Balgandharva on October 18 evening.

8220;In my times we took time over the lyrics, compositions and the melodies. Nowadays, it8217;s so different. You hear lyrics like Muquabla, Muquabla8230;Laila!. Will somebody tell me what it means? 8221; he laments. 8220;We also composed music for the youth but I don8217;t remember anybody taking objection to it 8211; and the music of the 50s and 60s became hits inspite of being heard only on the radio, today every channel features music round-the-clock but you feel you are hearing the same song everytime, after a while it bores you,8221; he elaborates.

Which is one of the reasons why his career in the film industry slowly faded out, with his last memorable film being B R Chopra8217;s Nikaah. Ravi8217;s career began in the early 50s when he was an assistant to music director Hemant Kumar. 8220;I actually came to Bombay to become a singer but eventually got into composing music. The first song I composed was Chandamama door ke8230; for the film Vacchan,8221; he recalls, and he never looked back since.

And there was a time when 8220;12 theatres in Bombay city simultaneously ran films which had music composed by me.8221; Ravi has a huge repertoire of songs and till today he can remember the mukhadas in detail he created for different film directors. 8220;I am proud of my contribution. You will notice that at every wedding, two of my songs will always be playing 8211; Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai and Babul ki duaen leti jaa, at Janmashthmi, for birthday parties and other festivals one or the other song is always featured,8221; he says.

And despite the lapse in his career today, Ravi finds producers and directors who care his kind of music. 8220;I was very surprised a while ago when directors from Kerala named me as music director. It was very challenging to compose music for lyrics in a language which I could not understand.8221; Ravi went on to win the Kerala State Award for his work and has picked up two Filmfare trophies.

The lyrics play an important part in his melodies, and he has vivid memories of the discussions music composers, directors, producers and the lyricist. 8220;It was team effort and I remember sitting with Guru Dutt late one night after we had composed Mili khakh mein mohabbat for Chaudhvin ka Chand, which Dutt fell in love with 8211; he made me sit till 5 am singing the composition to him. Personally, I also prefer sad songs, so I didn8217;t mind,8221; he says laughing.

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Each song was composed with love and care, 8220;and if a singer made a mistake or the music composer made a mistake, the singer had to sing the entire piece again, 8221; he says,8220;it8217;s not like today, the tracks are prepared first and the songs sung by the artiste later, that is why they sound disjointed,8221; he says deprecatingly.

8220;Today, it8217;s the music company which calls the shots, when they are going to decide everything then talent will not flourish 8211; today8217;s artistes are so mediocre. I like Suresh Wadkar though, he has a classical base. But where are the singers like Rafi, Lata and Asha?8221; he queries.

Ravi is a die-hard Rafi fan and hence he is proud to be associated with the Rafi Fans Club. 8220;I am grateful to Ganesh Baghdare, Shridhar Kulkarni for inviting me and to Iqbal Darbar, who sung the songs,8221; he says.

Ravi is still optimistic that melodious music can make a comeback because 8220;people still prefer good, serious music over thefrivolous.8221;