The man for all seasons

Why is Mukesh so unique? For one,he sang less than 1000 film songs,which is a fraction of greats like Mohammed Rafi,Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. And yet he is considered in their league and had the greatest ratio of popular songsan amazing nine out of every 10 songs he sang was either popular or a hit.

For another,on his 35th death anniversary,it would be pertinent to mention the fact that no less than as many films are alive solely or mainly because of the Mukesh song or songs in them,irrespective of the calibre of the songs by others in the same film.

And it is why even many small-time composers remain etched in history 8211; like the late Daan Singh My Love,Brij Bhushan Milap and Shamji Ghanashamji Thokar. Each of these films,very interestingly indeed,had an equally good Rafi song that also proved popular,but the Mukesh song outclassed it in popularity!

In any case,it was almost an invariable thumb-rule that if Mukesh had just one song in a soundtrack to a co-male singers two or more,it was his track that outclassed the rest in popularity a fact seen in countless films and best exemplified by Kalyanji-Anandjis Maryada 1971,in which his Zubaan pe dard bhari dastaan outranks by leagues the three songs each by Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar!

And yet Mukesh had a chequered career,with dizzy ups and strange downs. Despite a breakthrough of the scale of Dil jalta hai to jalne do Pehli Nazar/1945,he had to wait for Andaz and Barsaat both 49 for real fame despite popular follow-ups like Aag,Anokha Pyar,Anokhi Ada and Mela in-between. And after a mega-hit like Sangam 1964,in the words of his son,singer Nitin Mukesh,his father barely recorded a handful of songs till Milan 1967 came along!

As deplorable as the branding of Mahendra Kapoor as a patriotic singer and Manna Dey being called the voice of Mehmoods fun songs and that of character artistes,Mukesh was branded as the voice of Raj Kapoor and the champion of the sad song. Maybe it was inevitable because of his superb record in both these associations,but Mukesh,despite his much-hyped limitations of range and even sur,was as versatile as any of our legends. If the sad song began to decline only after we lost Mukesh,we cannot afford to forget the huge quantum of fun songs he did for Raj Kapoor himself,besides innumerable diverse songs in other films.

Yes,there were strange myths about him. The first was that he could not sing raag-rich or complex songs. How then could he flawlessly deliver Laxmikant-Pyarelals Tum bin jeevan Anita? And what about his skilled negotiation of the curves of Salil Chowdhurys Nain hamare saanjh sakaare Annadata and the deceptively-simple intricacies of Usha Khannas Aaj subah nahin hone wali Hum Hindustani? And of course,there were the high octaves of Jhoomti chali hawa in S.N.Tripathis Sangeet Samrat Tansen.

Move on also to the qawwalis Roshans Tum agar mujhko na chaaho / Dil Hi To Hai; the patriotic songs from Shankar-Jaikishans Mera joota hai Japani in Shree 420 to Prem Dhawans Mera rang de basanti chola in Shaheed; the fun songs that included everything from Laxmikant-Pyarelals Yeh kaisa aaya zamana Humjoli to Kalyanji-Anandjis Dum dum diga diga Chhalia; folk Bina badra ke bijuriya in K-As Bandhan and S.D. Burmans O jaanewale from Bandini as well as devotional numbers L-Ps Jyot se jyot in Sant Gyaneshar. Limited? No way. Mukesh was as versatile as he was unique!

Everyones voice

Beyond Raj Kapoor,Mukesh buffs are all aware of the other songs by the singer. To list only the cream,we have Dilip Kumar Andaz and Madhumati,Pradeep Kumar Meri Surat Teri Ankhen,Rakhi,Bharat Bhushan Sangeet Samrat Tansen,Rani Rupmati,Rajendra Kumar Saathi,Gora Aur Kala,Dharmendra Devar,home production Satyakam,Joy Mukerji Ishara,Ji Chahta Hai,Shashi Kapoor My Love,Dil Ne Pukara,Jeetendra Farz,Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti,Rajesh Khanna Prem Kahani,Kati Patang,Vinod Khanna Hungama,Mere Apne,Raaj Kumar Phool Bane Angaray,Godaan and Sunil Dutt Milan,Ek Phool Char Kaante.

They also know that Manoj Kumar Hariyali Aur Rasta,Himalay Ki God Mein,Upkar,Patthar Ke Sanam,Purab Aur Pacchim,Anita,Pehchan,Shor,Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and many more was the next actor after Raj Kapoor to be associated with Mukesh.

And yet there are Mukesh lovers who are unaware of the rare names for whom Mukesh has sung. For every Amitabh Bachchan Raaste Kaa Patthar,Adalat,Kabhi Kabhie and Feroz Khan Safar,Upaasna et al,we also have Dev Anand the 1948 Vidya that had the Mukesh-Suraiya duet Laayi khushi ki duniya and Bahe na kabhi nain se neer,Ashok Kumar Dil dhoondta hai sahare sahare from the 1960 Kala Aadmi and Biswajeet Kahin karti hogi from Phir Kab Milogi. The only major exceptions were Guru Dutt and Randhir Kapoor,with even Shammi Kapoor Blufffmaster and some early Kapoor songs making it.

Mukeshs other actors include Motilal a distant relative and the mentor who brought him to Mumbai and put him under Pt. Jagannath Prasad for training,Mahipal,Ajit as a hero,Deb Mukerji,Navin Nischol and Vinod Mehra besides comedians I.S.Johar and Jagdeep and Mehmood and Premnath both as heroes as well as character artistes. Prem Chopra,Yunus Parvez and A.K.Hangal were other artistes for whom Mukesh sang.

The lucky mascot

For someone who was not always allotted aces by fate,Mukesh was the lucky mascot who kick-started the careers of so many major stars as well as composers. Among actors,the list includes Manoj Kumar Saath ho tum aur raat jawaan / Kanch Ki Gudiya,his first lead role,Dharmendra Mujhko iss raat ki tanhai mein /Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere,Shashi Kapoor Humko samajh baithi hai / Char Diwari,Sanjeev Kumar Bolo ji bolo /Nishan 8211; his first lead film,Rajesh Khanna Dil sambhale sambhalta nahin /Raaz,Sanjay Khan Hum jee lenge bin tumhare /Dillagi,Rishi Kapoor Teetar ke do aage teetar /Mera Naam Joker and even Anil Dhawan Main to har mod par / Chetna. For good measure there was also the first hit solo enacted by Shatrughan Sinha Kayi sadiyon se /Milap.

He was part of the first films of so many composers from Shankar-Jaikishan Barsaat and Madan Mohan Ankhen to Laxmikant-Pyarelal Parasmani,Sonik-Omi Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya and Bappi Lahiri Nanha Shikari besides the breakthrough film of Roshan Bawre Nain and the comeback of Khayyam Kabhi Kabhie.

And when a score depended on Mukesh as the only or main male voice,it usually soared to the top of the charts. Added to the dozens of Raj Kapoor scores here were names like Andaz,Milan,Saraswatichandra,Vishwas,Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke,Anand,Devar,Hariyali Aur Rasta,Himalay Ki God Mein,Anita,Shor,Patthar Ke Sanam,Saathi,Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli,Indian cinemas first Stereophonic recording in which he was the only male voice,Roti Kapada Aur Makaan,Dharmatma,Kabhi Kabhie and others,even when some of these films flopped!

For Raj Kapoor,under RK Films and outside,his films and songs were legion,and we can only use space for the crème-de-la-crème Barsaat,Awara,Aah,Sangam,Mera Naam Joker,Anari,Phir Subah Hogi,Aashiq,Chhalia,Dil Hi To Hai,Teesri Kasam and Diwana!

The four phases of a legend

Mukesh was the seniormost of our playback legends,having started out a year before even Manna Dey as actor-singer in Nirdosh 1941,his directors being Virendra C.Desai on-screen and composer Ashok Ghosh. His co-star was topper Nalini Jaywant and Mukesh recorded one solo and two duets in the film,his first recording being Dil hi bujha hua ho to fasl-e-bahaar kya,written by Neelkanth Tiwari a song that can still be heard and watched on YouTube. Of the two duets with his singing co-star,Main hoon pari was also penned by Tiwari,but the actress has gone on record to state that the other,Tumhi ne mujhko prem sikhaaya,written by Zia Sarhadi,was never released on HMV,as Saregama was then called,but was only present in the film.

It is a personal observation that chronologically,Mukesh had four distinct vocal phases. The first was his self-confessed K.L.Saigal-emulating phase. Dil jalta hai,goes the legend,sounded so much like Mukeshs icon that Saigal is said to have got perplexed and stated,I dont recall recording the song!

Though he developed his own style after that,traces of Saigals style were heard in Mukesh songs as late as Roshans Khayalon mein kisike and Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin Bawre Nain/1951.

It was perhaps with Shankar-Jaikishans 1951 Awara that Mukesh began to sound exclusively and entirely like himself and became the original for later mimics like Kamlesh Awasthi,Babla Mehta and Nalin Dave who tried to clone him after his death and those who emulated his style like Manhar and Pankaj Udhas and his son Nitin Mukesh. The cult and international success of Awara hoon as well as other hits of the film like Dum bhar jo udhar munh phere with Lata and Hanste bhi rahe,rote hi rahe helped Mukesh carve his own niche.

To me,Mukeshs richest vocal tenor began in the early 60s when he was at his dulcet best in songs as varied as Ravis Wafa jinse ki Pyar Ka Sagar,Madan Mohans Bhuli hui yaadon Sanjog,Roshans Baharon ne mera chaman Devar and more. This most fruitful phase of the singer continued into the late 60s and earliest part of the 70s where we came to hear beauties like Kalyanji-Anandjis Chandi ki deewaar Vishwas,Laxmikant-Pyarelals Duniya se jaanewale Pushpanjali,Shankar-Jaikishans Duniya issika naam hai Duniya,Satish Bhatias Yeh kaun chitrakar hai Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti or Sonik-Omis Jinhein hum bhoolna chahe Aabroo all the way to Kahin door jab din dhal gaye Anand and Ek pyar ka naghma hai Shor.

The 70s saw his voice thicken a bit as he grew older,and thus we had songs like Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein Kabhi Kabhie,Ek din bik jaayega Dharam Karam,Hum dono milke Tumhari Kasam,Chahe aaj mujhe napasand karo Darinda and his swan song,Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal Satyam Shivam Sundaram.

Final crescendo

But what was truly remarkable was the way Mukesh soared and scored at the charts in every phase of his 35-year career with songs released all the way till the 1997 television serial Chand Grahan,which was originally to be a 70s film with music by Jaidev.

And Mukesh died with his boots on. He left for a concert tour of USA with Lata Mangeshkar and son Nitin Mukesh from his home,recording Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal for Raj Kapoor-Laxmikant-Pyarelals Satyam Shivam Sundaram on the way to the airport and collapsed backstage at one of the shows in Detroit.

Just as he had lived for music,Mukesh exited,almost literally,with a song on his lips.

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