LATAnjali - 268

dil se bhulaa do tum hame.n
(Patanga, 1949)

Posted by:  Dhananjay Naniwadekar
Contributed by: Dhananjay Naniwadekar

29 Jan 2003

I had not posted lyrics of any Lata song for C Ramchandra before today. I decided to avoid that combination for a number of small reasons. The decision had spared me the immense difficulty which is now staring me in the face.
What praise do you bestow on this celestial pair? Their output has exhausted superlatives. When I claim that Lata and Anilda is the greatest combo, I am uneasily aware that I am putting that combo even above Lata and CR. Even
Roshan's work with Lata does not induce the sort of awe in me which CR's does. One thing is certain. Lata has sung his compositions with unparalleled passion. And CR's output with Lata is light-years ahead of his other output. How did this come about? Dr Sharad Jog of Pune, whose angry letter to Shirish Kanekar after he had interviewed Lata and spared her tough questions has found a mention in the latter's book, knew CR quite well. He told me he and his friends tried to get CR talking about it many times. Of course, no composer can quite put into words how tunes occur to him. But CR himself admitted he had no clue and remembered that he felt possessed by very strong creative currents within him. 'She kept singing and tunes just crowded into my head one after other' was
all he would say. I am reminded of Dickens' comment on 'The Pickwick Papers'.'I thought of Mr Pickwick and wrote the first chapter.' Indeed!! Bernard Darwin quipped in his sublime introduction to the book : Never since 'veni, vidi, vici' has so great an achievement been put in so few words.

Patanga is among CR's earliest efforts for Lata. Lata's songs in 1948-49 are often marked by a very affected pronunciation. She might have been (well, she WAS) trying to copy Noor Jehan. The delivery sounds, well... it sounds affected. But in all Lata songs of that period,there is enough Lata touch for her stamp to be unmistakable. In this song, she does sound very artificial. Yet, the essence of Lata cannot be mistaken. CR's stamp is also very strong. Orchestration, the heady dadra theka, a refusal to rely on mere use of a winning
formula, a refusal which enhances the beauty of Lata's early songs ... all the ingredients are there. The pronunciation has become irrelevant in the ethereal total effect. The sudden check on momentum on 'tum hame.n' is the first thing to strike the listener. It is almost as if a flashing whip was suddenly made to go limp. The more the winning formula came to be used the less we saw such
lovely artistry. This song stands comparison with CR-Lata magic in Sangeeta or Jhanjhar or Yasmin. Play the song yet again if you don't believe me and experience the unceasing wonder of the sublime, phenomenally fluent melodic passages rolling out one after another in their awesome majesty.

%
\startsong
\stitle{dil se bhulaa do tum hame.n}%
\film{Patanga}%
\year{1949}%
\starring{Nigar, Shyam, Gop, Yakub, Kukku}%
\singer{Lata Mangeshkar}%
\music{C Ramchandra}%
\lyrics{Rajendra Krishna}%
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% Contributor: dhananjay naniwadekar
% Date : 29 Jan 2003
% Credits :
% Comments: Latanjali Series. Film - pata.ngaa
%
\printtitle
#indian
%
dil se bhulaa do tum hame.n, ham naa tumhe.n bhulaa_e.nge
ruuTh ke jaanewaale, ham duniyaa se ruuTh jaa_e.nge
ham naa tumhe.n bhulaa_e.nge

nazaro.n se kyuu.N giraa diyaa, tum ne kisii Gariib ko
kaise manaa_e_gaa koii, ruuThe hu_e nasiib ko
tum ne di_e jo dil ko daaG, kaise unhe.n chhupaa_e.nge
ruuTh ke jaanewaale \threedots

tum ne hame.n miTaa diyaa, tum se kahe.n to kyaa kahe.n
maanaa ke bewafaa ho tum, phir bhii na bewafaa kahe.n
tum ne jo kahanaa thaa kah chuke, ham ye hii kahate jaa_e.nge
ruuTh ke jaanewaale \threedots

%
#endindian
\endsong
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