How Kalyanji-Anandji created musical magic!

The late 1960s saw a lot of upheaval in the Hindi film music universe. The lyricist Shailendra’s demise in 1966 certainly had an impact on Raj Kapoor’s films, and in the music of Shankar-Jaikishan, with whom the lyricist had forged a permanent collaboration. Then there was Jaikishan’s death in 1971, which brought an end to the most successful music director-pairing in the film industry. SD Burman’s weakening health around this time allowed his son RD Burman to emerge from his father’s shadow and take his place as an A-list composer in the industry. The composer Roshan, while he did not enjoy the same commercial appeal as Shankar-Jaikishan or SD Burman, also passed away in 1967.

But just as these old masters were fading away, others were having their moment in the sun. Composers Kalyanji-Anandji had been working in the industry since the late 1950s, but with their compositions for films like Himalay Ki God Mein (1965) and Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), the duo had established themselves in no uncertain terms. Kalyanji-Anandji also gave the music for Manoj Kumar’s superhit Upkar (1967) and followed it up with outstanding compositions such as ‘Bharat karehne waala’, ‘Dulhan chali’ and ‘Koi jab tumhaara hriday tod de’ for Kumar’s Purab Aur Pachhim (1970). In the upcoming episode of 'The Golden Years: 1950-1975', where Javed Akhtar speaks of the many fine Hindi film songs of 1970, Akhtar says that many people tried to imitate the nationalistic sentiment prevalent in Kumar’s films but were unable to do so because, “to make such a film you needed Manoj Kumar’s temperament, his understanding and his thought process. Not everyone had this. The way he [Kumar] blended national issues with romance in mainstream commercial cinema, with all its drama and conflicts, it appeared seamless.” 

Looking back, 1970 was actually a terrific year for Kalyanji-Anandji. Besides Purab Aur Pachhim, the composers also came up with some very popular songs for Manmohan Desai’s Sachaa Jhutha. The film’s title track, ‘Dil ko dekho, chehra na dekho’ and ‘Yun hi tum mujhse baat karti ho’, both went on to become chartbusters. But the song from the film, which has gone on to become an anthem of sorts at Indian weddings is, ‘Meri pyaari beheniya banegi dulhaniya’. Kalyanji-Anandji also wove their magic for Dulal Guha’s Mere Humsafar, starring Jeetendra and Sharmila Tagore, a film which also had ‘the road’ element in it. ‘Kisi raah mein, kisi mod par’ from the film, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, has an absolutely lilting feeling to it. Then there was the duo’s song for Dilip Kumar, sung by Mahendra Kapoor, ‘Ramchandra kehgaye siya seaisa kalyug aayega’ from Gopi, which is actually a social comment of the corrupted times we live in. This song was also part of the antakshari song in Sooraj Barjatya’s Maine Pyar Kiya (1989).

However, it was for the Asit Sen-directed Safar, which starred Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore as the lead pair, that Kalyanji-Anandji, arguably, produced their best work in that year. Songs like ‘Hum thay jinkey sahaarey’ and ‘Jeevan se bhari’ struck a chord with every listener. Then there was the more upbeat ‘Jo tumko ho pasand’, which was picturized on Feroze Khan and Tagore. But the song that really brought out the protagonist’s suffering and had a strong philosophical edge to it was ‘Zindagi ka safar, hai yeh kaisa safar’. Picturized on Rajesh Khanna, the song moves people to tears even today. Authors Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal have given pride of place to this song in their book, 'Gaata Rahe Mera Dil: 50 Classic Hindi Film Songs', terming it ‘A Philosophy of Life’.

Javed Akhtar, though, reserves his compliments for Safar’s lyricist, Indeevar. “There are some people, who are appreciated more than what they deserve and then later the world asks what was so great about them. And some people are appreciated much less than what they deserve and later the world realises that they should have been complimented a lot more. I think this happened to Indeevar. Indeevar has written so many great songs, but, for some inexplicable reason, he never got the credit that he rightly deserved. At least now we should realise that Indeevar was a very accomplished songwriter.”

To know more about the many wonderful Hindi film songs from 1970, watch the next episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975 with Javed Akhtar this Sunday at 8 pm on Zee Classic.