NEW DELHI: Perhaps the finest novel written by Hindi-Urdu literary genius Munshi Premchand, Godan, was miserably adapted to the big screen by film director Trilok Jetley in 1963. Despite having proven performers like Raj Kumar and Kamini Kaushal in lead roles, the movie sank without a trace.
But the film had at least one endearing footnote: a bunch of folksy compositions flavoured with the salt of village India. Bollywood cineastes would surely recall a boisterous Mehmood singing, Pipra ke pathwa sareekhe dole manwa ke hiyera mein uthath hillor, purwa ke jhokwa se aayo re sandeswa ke chalein aaj deswa ki ore (lyricist: Anjaan, singer: Rafi), and dancing past the fecund cornfields. Hori khelat nand lal Biraj mein, also sung by Mehmood onscreen, is another number that amiably captures the movie's hinterland feel. Both these songs also underline the versatility of composer Ravi Shankar: he could harness folk tunes with the same felicity with which he played ragas on his complex sitar. It is clear that the Benaras-born musician never forgot his childhood days.
Ravi Shankar's most memorable Hindi film compositions came in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anuradha (1961), where the born-to-break-hearts Leela Naidu made her debut. The film revolved around a singer conflicted between her love for music and her idealist doctor husband ( Balraj Sahni). The masterclass musician's melody-driven, semi-classical tunes harmonized perfectly with Shailendra's meaningful poetry to bring out the protagonist's predicament.
With Lata at her rapturous, nuanced best, every Anuradha song is 10/10 -- Jaane kaise sapnon mein (Raag Tilak Shyam), Saanwre saanwre kahe mose (Raag Bhairavi), Kaise din beete, kaise beeti ratiyan and Hai re woh din kyon na aaye. The songs of Anuradha were a commercial as well as a critical success. And it is surprising that Ravi Shankar composed only fleetingly for Hindi cinema thereafter. May be, he was too busy teaching music to the Beatles.
The next notable film in his Bollywood ouvre came much later in 1979; Gulzar's Meera, a much-talked and little-seen movie. The lyricist-director's dream project was based on the life and music of the 16th century poet-princess, Meerabai. It was a difficult subject and the surprise choice of Ravi Shankar as music director shows how he was valued by serious filmmakers. The movie was a letdown but its music, especially some of the bhajans such as Jo tum todo piya and Mere to giridhar gopal, became chartbusters. Incidentally, Ravi Shankar controversially used Vani Jairam, and not Lata Mangeshkar for the songs.
Few remember that Ravi Shankar started his Hindi film career providing music for two progressive movies: KA Abbas' Dharti Ke Lal (1946) and Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar, which won the Grand Prize in Cannes. Reminiscent of the Saigal era, the compositions in these films failed to create a major impact.
It was with his background score for Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955) that Ravi Shankar really came into his own illustrating how music can play such a major role in a movie's mood building. In the famous train scene, the swish of the wind and water, the approaching sound of the steam locomotive and the two kids rushing through the field of Kaash flowers - is a fitting example of subtle, minimalist music. Even in the other two movies of the Apu Trilogy, Aparajito and Apur Sansar, Ravi Shankar provided the background score. He also gave the music for Paras Pathar, one of Ray's underfeted works.
The Indian composer earned an Oscar nomination for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. The overwritten background music, actually, is one of the film's weakness. But Ravi Shankar, the musician, was too big a brand for even the Oscar awards committee to ignore.
Ravi Shankar harnessed folk tunes with equal felicity
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Ravi Shankar harnessed folk tunes with equal felicity
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Ravi Shankar harnessed folk tunes with equal felicity
