Let us continue our journey through the tanga of some more rhythemic songs. Today I will begin with some non-Nayyar songs. Shankar-Jaikishan, the great duo of musicians were always tough competitors to Nayyar. Apart from being very good friends of Raj Kapoor and therefore composing some finest melodies for R. K. Films, S-J did a great job with Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar as well. I mention two tanga songs of Shankar-Jaikishan here.
The first one is from the film Aah. The peculiarity of this tanga song is that it is sung in an extremely sorrowful mood. Normally tanga songs are very romantic and jubiliant, with some inherent teasing and seducing included. But this song from Aah comes at a situation in the movie when the hero, Raj, is about to die due to his T. B. He wants to reach to the place of his lover before he dies....(inspired from Devdas, isn't it?) and so rides the tanga. Raj sits at the backside of the tanga, wrapped in his kambal, and as the tangawalla drives the horse, begins the rhythem and Mukesh's mellow voice follows, "Chhoti si Yeh Zindagani Re.... Chaar Din Ki Jawani Teri....". Incidently the song was picturised on Mukesh himself! In the original movie, Raj dies by the time the song ends and could not meet his lover. But the film collapsed on the box-office heavily. So Raj (Kapoor) changed the end to show that Raj does not die, rather gets cured due to love and affection by Nargis.......but in vain.....Aah remained a big failure of RK irrespective of some of the most remarkable compositions by S-J. (Remember Jaane Na Nazar and Sunte The Naam Hum.....!)
The second tanga song given by S-J is from the film Chhoti Bahen......"Main Rangeela Pyaar Ka Raahi....Door Meri Manzil...." A duet sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Suvir Sen. I know this as the only song sung by Suvir Sen, and in early days I mistakenly believed that it was the voice of Manna Dey. In this song, Suvir has mimicked some yoddling like Rafi from Maang Ke Saath, for driving the horse.
Ravi, who has composed some very fine melodies in the film Waqt, has a beautiful tanga song to his credit. Its from the film Vachan. Rafi and Asha compete each other to excel while singing "Jab Liya Haath Mein Haath, Nibhana Saath, Mere Sajana....".
If Ravi could compose such an excellent song, how Madan Mohan can remain behind? He has to his credit this evergreen song from film Sanjog...."Ik Manzil, Raahi Do, Phir Pyaar Na Kaise Ho..." Very tender voices of Lata and Mukesh and some finest pieces of accordian in his usual style.....Madan Mohan always gave us the best and nothing less than the best. A very delicate song indeed!
Salil Choudhari, the maestro of harmony has his own strong candidate. The movie itself was named as "Tangawali". Hemant Kumar, the favourite singer of Salilda and Lata have made this song immortal....."Halke Halke Chalo Sanvare....Pyaar Ki Mast Havaon Mein..." Out of all the tanga songs that I know, I would rate this one and the earlier one by Madan Mohan as the most romantic ones. I really can not select one amongst the two. They are so fresh, so lively even after listening for 1000 times.
But a post on tanga songs can not go without mentioning Nayyar, and therefore I have this tanga song of Nayyar today......"Zara Houle Houle Chalo More Saajana.....Hum Bhi Peechhe Hain Tumhare...." from Saavan Ki Ghata. Asha's voice, by this time has gained the seductive appeal after singing for Nayyar for quite some time....(Later Pancham developed that appeal to the fullest extent!) And therefore her voice perfectly expresses the adhering mood of a woman to her lover...."Pad Gayi Janab Main to Aap ke Gale...."
So that was the garland of six tanga songs for today. Lets remind some more tanga songs in the next and the last part to come.
