Some memorable songs tuned by N.Datta Written by V.S DATTA (Editor , N.I.P Allahabad ) Monday, 12 January 2015 10:49 N. Datta passed away on 30 December 1987. Somehow I have missed him because Husanlal Bhagat Ram have been getting precedence over him. But today I wish to remember his great contributions too. But his songs still linger. One of his biggest hit movies was `Sadhna’; and in this film, N. Datta immortalized Sahir Ludhianvi’s crushingly and piercingly sweet melody, `Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne use bazaar diya’. This was a lyricist’s song all right. But N.Datta draped it in a beautiful tune; and when Lata rendered it in her soul-stirring voice, the magical impact that it created was a foregone conclusion. You would be curious to know something about N. Datta’s background. He was a Datta but neither a Bengali nor a Punjabi (like me). He was a Maharashtrian and his full name was Datta Baburao Naik. He took `N’ from Naik and prefixed it with Datta and became N. Datta. Late Ghafil Faizabadi, once told me that he was at one time an assistant of Ghulam Mohammad and S. D. Burman. Hence you sometimes notice the Burman touch, specially in the songs he 1 / 4 Some memorable songs tuned by N.Datta Written by V.S DATTA (Editor , N.I.P Allahabad ) Monday, 12 January 2015 10:49 tuned for Hemant and sometimes the Ghulam Mohammad (Pakeeza fame) touch. Just listen to, `Kahoji tum kya kya khareedo ge’ or Aj kyon humse pardah hai’ and then contrast these songs of `Sadhna’ with `Yeh baharon ka samay yeh chand taron ka samay’ rendered by Hemant (and Lata separately)in `Milap’ and see the contrast.. N. Datta was given a break by G.P. Sippy in his films. `Marine Drive’ was the film with which N.Datta tasted his first success. It was in this film that Rafi sang the super-hit song, `Ab voh karam Karen ya sitam main nashe mein hoon, mujh ko na koi hosh na gham main nashe mein hoon’. It was after this song that Salim Raza of Pakistan also sang a song, `Yaro mujhe muaf karo –Main nashe mein hoon’. And finally Shankar-Jaikishen produced the bumper hit by Mukesh, `Mujh ko yaro maaf karma main nashe mein hoon’. As far as I remember it was in ‘Marine Drive’that Asha Bhosle sang a hit number, `Main hoon phuljhari tu hai shola aag lagaae ja’. Johny Walker sang a quawali in this movie (Marine Drive) too: `Bata ai aasman wale tere bande kidhar jaaen’. But for Johny Walker N. Datta composed a song in the voice of Hemant Kumar as well. The song was, `Hum to pee ke chale’. But censors did not permit the opening line as it seemed to glorify liquor. Hence the line, in the movie, was changed to, `Hum to larrne chale’. A song composed by N.Datta which I cannot forget was featured in the film, `Chandrakanta’. Rafi sang that memorable song composed by Sahir Ludhiyanvi. The song was, `Main ne chand aur sitaron ki tamanna kit hi, mujh ko raaton ki sihayi ke siva kuchch na mila’ I remember rendering this song at a function in Naini Tal in 1956 in which the chief guest was Pandit Gobind Ballabh Pant, then the Union Home Minister. Immediately thereafter Pantji got up to speak and particularly referred to this song and remarked: `Young men should never be pessimistic. The moons and stars are within your reach. And you have ample time ahead to wipe out all traces of darkness’. There was a duet in this film too full of romance, rendered by Rafi and Asha: `Jee chahta hai aaj kahin dur jaaiye, duniya pukarti rahe wapas naa aiye’. N.Datta flowered into a great director while working for B. R. Chopra. And he got a bumper hit in `Dhool Ka Phool’ when the Lata-Mahendra Kapoor duet sky-rocketed him to dizzy heights of popularity: `Tere pyaar ka aasra chahta hoon, wafa kar raha hoon, wafa chahta hoon’ There were other memorable songs in this film too. It was N. Datta who composed Sahir’s famous number with all time appeal, `Tu Hindu banega na musalmaan bane ga, insaan ki aulad hai insaan bane ga’.One of my favourite compositions of N.Datta in film `Dharmaputra’ was, `Bhool sakta hai bhala kaun voh pyaari ankhen, Rang mein neend se doobi hui bhari ankhen’. N.Datta gave music full of jazz and Rock’n Roll in film `Mr X’; the song was, `Lal lal gaal’. And another hit song in this movie was, `Sadke teri chaal ke’. N. Datta repeated rock’n roll in `Bhai 2 / 4 Some memorable songs tuned by N.Datta Written by V.S DATTA (Editor , N.I.P Allahabad ) Monday, 12 January 2015 10:49 Behen’ ( or was it `Blackmailer, renamed `Bhai Behen,), and the song was `Beta darmat dar mat darmat, chinta karmat karmat karmat..’ In those days often discs were released far ahead of the film. If the producer decided to change the name in between, then the subsequent discs carried the changed name. That is how I am confusing between `Bhai Behen’ and `Black Mailer’. As you may recall film `Hamari Yaad Ayegi’ was originally titled, `Jawan Mohabbat’. So the `Hamari yaad aye gi’ song of Mubarak Begum that I have gives the film’s name as `Jawan Mohabbat’ on the label. `Light House’ was one of his later films remembered for the Asha Bhosle number, `Tang aa chuke hain kashmkashe zindagi se hum’ and `Kis jegah jaaen, kis ko dikhlayen zakhme dil apna’. But in this movie N.Datta lifted a tune straight from Rajnit’s old film `Musafir’. In that film Khurshid, Vasanti and others had rendered a hit chorus, `Rut basant ki ayi jiya na laage piya ghar aja balamwa’. In Light House N.Datta lifted this tune to wrap it up in Sahir’s lyrics, `Tu kala main goiri balam teri meri bhala ab kaise nibhe gi’. `Didi’ was another musically successful film with Lata and Rafi singing some rare numbers. But the most popular song was tuned by Sudha Malhotra who with Mukesh rendered these Sahir lyrics, `Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao to yeh haq hai tum ko, merei baat aur hai main ne to muhabbat ki hai. `Hum panchchi ek daal ke’ was a hit film in which the title song is played on the radio till this day, `Hum panchchi ek daal ke, sang, sang dolen’. Ghafil informed me that he won an award for a Maharathi film `Apradh’.Among his last films `Chandi ki deewar’ made some impact. I think after Sahir’s demise, N.Datta could not get another lyricist of the same caliber. Ghafil Faizabadi had given me a list of several other films too in which he composed music like Hercules, Dilwale, Dilli ka dada, `Gyarah hazaar ladkiyan’, `Holiday in Bombay; Miss 1958, Jaalsaaz and so on. But he could not leave behind any special mark. At any rate, N.Datta in his heyday gave us some memorable, unforgettable songs. I salute his memory and wish to say that some of the songs he created will remain a standing memorial to him. ___________________________________________________ 3 / 4 Some memorable songs tuned by N.Datta Written by V.S DATTA (Editor , N.I.P Allahabad ) Monday, 12 January 2015 10:49 Qamar Jalalabadi’s rare hits sorrow—sungcamenazronwas‘Mashooqa’zamana’.BombayfirstsingerkisongsRadiowhichcomposed2015.filmnishan’. style And galiyan ‘Adl-e-Jehangir’:timefollowedfilmed bythen thatTheyfellCeylonfromwas. me Surinder from. attracted Theon chorrThisthe classic by onsamaye thebeganTheywhich January by Delhihim.radioplayedotherMotilal,by waspenchale, two Kaur:Rafiafterwards number wasNoorwithToday stationand followedrehteof Mukesh Mukesh ‘Aisome andthe9,dilQamar picturised ‘ItneLata’s Jehanmeri enter2015. roya hain,I actorfrom Lata: playedammemorable dur numberby metzindagisolos Sahib. ansoo the hauntingacrossmentioning itnafilmwho I‘Sunhaina wouldonon liltinganfilm writtento‘Bari had,the Mukesh wastujheButbehhuzoor, mereunforgettable batatheworld. certainly numbernumber(alsolyricsWagah Behen’ more yearsfromna border bydhoondhun onlydesajna sake’. himself:And kaiseQamarof koifilm on theearlier, border. byfromQamar like and dekhohamenthehim ‘Lekh’:’songsTheremulaqatnumber—anSuraiya: to Saheb.sungfilmaroused‘Holast onkahan, pay persuadedThisJalalabadiji kyasomedil‘Pyarmujhsongwerewhich Lut separately my ho...’ ‘Vonasong The pyar nagaya her tributeskomany,waskiotherlagana, pasRadioall-time tofirstIt jeet’ bhoolwascuriosityisi on cousin wasmil thedinrahen ko occasion. one byhismany rendered Ceylonfrom keto jeeneonefilmedraatkehte greenna Talat death himwasgae Mukesh yan to jaana’. filmwhichmoreka know na for hain’. played naMahmood)fromfromonsong dur aaramanniversaryin‘Bazaar’: dega the hinManorama. unforgettable ahadto rahen, Thereafterwho filmsoaked naughty rareThis comechorraon kyon’.yefor the 9‘Sajanlyrics songthe Jan,to in It 4 / 4.