Latadidi with (her) Madhan Bhayya

Lataji in music of Madan Mohan sahab

"kabhee Muz Ko Yaad Kar Ke Jo Bahenge Tere Aansoo

tho Wahee Pe Rok Lenge Unhe Aa Ke Mere Aansoo

too Jidhar Kaa Rukh Karegaa, Meraa Saayaa Saath Hogaa"

I purchased a Cassette called "Ghazal Kind madan Mohan Golden Collection" when I was 14 . I still remember my initial reaction to song "Woh bhooli daastha" which remains my favourite till date, It is most painful song I ever heard till date .Interesingly the albulm was compiled by Sanjeev Kohli , Son of Madanji.

I didn't know much about magical combination at that time , I was overjoyed to see around 15 songs out of 18 in the albulm by Lataji .That collection is one of the reason of my unending love on her .It had gems like "Aapki Najron ne samjah" ,"Naina Barse","Yun Hasraton ka daag","hum Pyaar main jalne walon ko" ,"Hain there aath mere wafa" ,"Thu jahan jahan chalega" and the likes.Later on I got around 5 collections and a recent HMV MP3 of "Lata - madan Mohan" combination.

This combination is nothing but melody . The way madan mohan sahab brought the best out of Lataji , can never be expressed in words.

What not was there in their combination...They made

1)Ghazals (Jo Hum ne daasthan apni sunaye remains my fav most)

2)Songs with fun (Nainon wali ne haye mera dil loota ( I still remeber how crazy I was to collect this song .I searched 3 years for this song)

3)Songs with pain (Woh Chup rahe tho mere dil ke daag jalthe hain ( I read in Lataji's interview that Madan Mohan sahab came to her with tears rolling down after the recording of this song)

4)Classical (Bhaiyan na dharon , This remains my fav most classical song of Lataji followed by jhan jhan payal bhaaje from Buzdil (Music by Burmanda)

5)Devil songs( How Can I end up without mentioning Naina barse rimzhim rimzhim).

I am trying to mention few gems of this combination .

Fav Romantic numbers:

When I ever I think of this combination , first song that comes to my mind is from haqeekat , what a romatic number it is and the way Lataji sings the lines "Chupke seene se " is outstanding , Jarasi aahata hohi hain tho dil sochtha hain ...Love this one

Then Immediately another romantic number , "Mere aankhon se koyi neend liye jaatha hain" Can any one ever write/compose/sing romantic lines better than "raat bhar jagenge hum thumse chup chupke sanam ".Every word of this song is close to my heart.

Aapki Najrom ne samjha : I always imagine Meera when ever I listen this song , the feel of "Samarpan" in this song is out of world.

Sapne main sajan se do baatein : Till date I did not see the pictrisation of this song , I am very curious as I imagine the best for it .The Tender and innocent voice of Lataji sounds perfect than perfection in this song.

Maine rang lee aaj chunariya sajnaa thore rang main....This song is very very very close to me .The way Madanji composed staza is awesome and out of world .The same movie has another gem "Sapnon main agar meri thum aao" , I personally feel Lataji sounds the best in this song.Words "Tho sojaaon " haunt me where ever I go .

Lag jaa gale , According to many this is best song of Lataji . I always wonder how she imagines the situation of that heroine and sings such with a golden expression ,She wins whole crowd with the beginning of song itself and makes sure no one escapes from her spell for next 3 minutes by beautifully singing every particular word in it.

I can never end this list as it has so many gems like Nainon main pyar dole, Nainon main badra chaye (this is inspired from a telugu song, Neeli meghalalo and one more song Miyyam Miyyam meri Sakhi from pooja phool is inspired from "Oho Oho Pavurama" song in telugu) , Theri aankhon ke seiva duniya main rakha khya hain,Milo na thum tho hum ghabraaye and many more .

Fav most song/situtaion/lyrics.

My fav most song is "Betaab dil ki thamanna yahi hain" from Hasthe Zhakm .I don't know how many times I listenned to this song.

I have to thank the director Chethan Anand for that wonderful situtaion. A prostitute who is frustrated with life finds a person who loves her and proposes her and she has to express her feelings at that moment .

"sune sune khwaabo mein, jab tak tum naa aaye the

khushiyaan thee sab aauron kee, gam bhee saare paraaye the

apane se bhee chhupaayee thee, dhadakan apane seene kee

hum ko jeenaa padataa thaa, khwaayeesh kab thee jeene kee

ab jo aa ke tum ne, humei jeenaa seekhaa diyaa hain

chalo duniyaan nayee basaayenge" . The Way Latajee articulates every particular word of this composition is outstanding and the tune donot remain the same from beginning to end , it has too many variations .Madan mohan/Lata at the peak .Kudos to the team.

Fav songs filled with pain.

To be true all sad songs by this team are my favs.I feel that this is the combination which delivered maximum shades of pain/agony/sorrow in Hinid film Music.

To start with , Main tho thum sang nain mileake haar gayi sajna picturised on beautiful Sadhana , This is again a great lyrics .As a matter of fact the lyrics in madan mohanji's songs are always of a standard.This is because he always insisted for it.

Rajendra Krishan ji ,Majrooh sahab has delivered some of their bests .

Oh I remeber the wonderful ghazal by majrooh sahab now "hum hain mathaye koonch a oh baajar ki tharah" , What a ghazal and again the dard in lataji's voice makes it immortal mainly when she sings "hum bhi khade hue hain gunehgaar ki tharah".Same movie has more painful "mayiri main kaase" song .

Can an one forget "Na thum bewafa ho or Bairan neend na aaye or Do dil toote do dil haaare or most painful Ruke ruke se qadam (from Gulzarji's pen)" "There bin saaan kaise beetha thu kyaa jaane saajna" , meri veena thum bin roye and many more.

Kadar janena ,wonderful composition and Most beautiful "aaaj socha tho aanson bhar aaye"

Mushkil hain jeena in bedardon ki duniya main ( Her range is ultimate in this song)

Ghazal favs:

Hai isi main pyaar ki aabroon woh jafa karen hum wafa karen ...Can any one end up this song without telling a Wah Wah .

I read that this is one of favs of Naushadji .

Hal e dil yun unhe sunaya gaya ( from Jahan ara) This is a big request , if any one has this song please send me .This remains my most fav ghazal of Lataji , but I miss it in my collection.

Then comes meena Kumariji's Nagma oh sheir ki sughaat kise pesh karon.

I love the song "Woh jo milthe the kabh humse diwanon ki tharah aaj yun miltha hain jaise kabhi pehchaan na khi" . It is not an exaggeration that I cannot control tears when she sings "Woh parashe the meri julf pareshan na thi "

Chain nahin aaye kahan dil jaaye

Magical melodies

I want to start with rare "Aapki bathen kare " or "Masth paan dole re" .Both songs are very magical in terms of melody .only melody speaks in both songs .

Humare baad mehfil main ....God , I really fall short of words for the joy I feel when I listen this classical beauty.

Mere naina bahaaye neer ( Although it is a very sad song , I feel very happy when I listen to it for wonderful articulation of voice )

Mere piya se koyi yeh jaake kehde jeevan ka sahara theri yaad hain .every word in this song is magic particularly "Rathon ko ginun thaare din thadap thadap haare" This is best way of expressing loneliness ( in my opinion)

And masthi in Lataji's voice comes out in "Main tho pee ki nagariya jaane lagi "

Oh God , How Can i ever forget my most most most fav song "Chanda Ja Chnada Jaa re jaa , kahe aaya hain aakela "

"How can one imagine / compose/ write/ sing like this ?"

"Dekh thujhe pehchaan bathado woh lagtha hain kaise , nadiya main mukh dekhle apna oo bhi hoga aisa" Woooooow what a song .

I personally feel "Sawari Surat man bhayi(from Ada)" is beginning and "Koyi pathar se na maro(From Laila Majnu)"( I am not sure if Jaidevji composed this song) is end of this magicla duo a Special mention to beautiful songs in Veerzara and the "Main ek balak besahara" in tere bagair albulm ,released recently.

Of course , there are wondrful duets of Lataji in music of madan sahab , but I always go with her solos particulaly in Madan mohan's music.

But I mention two of my fav duets "Chod Kar there pyaar ka daman" (with Mahendra kapoor) ,"Ek panchi rahe do" (with Mukesh ji) and melodious "Do Ghadi wo jo paas aa baithe( with Rafi sahab)".

I know this list is very very small/incomplete . But I tried to provide some of my favs here.

"main Agar Bichhad Bhee Jaaoo, Kabhee Meraa Gam Naa Karanaa

meraa Pyaar Yaad Kar Ke, Kabhee Aankh Nam Naa Karanaa

too Jo Mood Ke Dekh Legaa, Meraa Saayaa Saath Hogaa "