On a starless summer night at Kozhikode beach in Kerala, Bhupinder Singh’s voice wafted across, as refreshing and soothing as the gentle breeze from the sea.
Ya Garmiyon Ki Raat Jo Purvaayiaan Chale/ Thandi Safed Chaadaron Pe Jaage Der Tak/Taaron Ko Dekhte Te Rahe Chchat Par Pade Huye/ Dil Dhoondta Hai Phir Wohi Fursat Ke Raat Din (Or on those summer nights with the gentle breeze/ Staying up late on the cool white linens/ Gazing at the stars, lying on the terrace/ The heart searches yet again for those days and nights of leisure).
After playing that gem of a song from the 1975 film Mausam on my music system and phone frequently for years, it was quite an experience listening to Singh sing it live. Later that night, I wrote about the show for the city page of this newspaper.
There was a large crowd for the show, on the opening day of the Malabar Mahotsavam, a festival of music and dance that used to be the highlight of the cultural calendar of north Kerala. Singh had also rendered his other popular songs like Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein ( Gharaonda), Kisi Nazar Ko Tera Intazaar ( Aitbaar), Naam Gum Jaayega ( Kinara), Huzoor Is Kadar Bhi ( Masoom) and Beeti Na Bitai Raina ( Parichay).
Earlier that day, I had met him for an interview at his room at the Taj hotel, not far from the beach. With him was his wife and singer Mitali, who also sang at the show. Singh was very friendly. He was clearly happy to speak about all the timeless songs he had sung. He spoke at length about Dil Dhoondta Hai ( Mausam). It is not just his biggest hit but one of Indian cinema’s greatest songs of all time. Singh said it was the lyricist Gulzar who insisted that he sing Dil Dhoondta Hai. And it was composer Madan Mohan who had asked him to go to Mumbai from his home in Delhi. Singh was in South Africa when Mausam released; he knew the song had become a hit when a group of youngsters came up to him chanting Dil Dhoondta Hai.
Madan Mohan, he said, composed as many as eight tunes for the song. One of those were used later for the song Tere Liye ( Veer-Zaara) long after the composer’s death. Listening to Singh singing Dil Dhoondta Hai in the tune of Tere Liye was a strange experience. He said he wished he had sung a song for Veer-Zaara. That was his only regret as a playback singer.
He also shared several anecdotes with me, which are still fresh in my memory some 10 years after that interview. He said once, while travelling with Madan Mohan to Ladakh, the composer was excited to hear the song Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha ( Anpadh) being played on the radio somewhere in Kashmir. “Look they are playing my song!” he told Singh. That incident reminded me of the fact that Madan Mohan, the genius who gave Bollywood some of its sweetest melodies, most of them rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, did not receive the recognition he deserved during his lifetime.
Singh also talked about his other gift, as a guitarist. The music director Naushad had once called him the greatest guitarist of Indian cinema. Singh said he had focussed on playing the guitar because he wanted to stay on in Mumbai; there wasn’t enough work for him as a singer despite his debut song, Hoke Majboor, for the 1964 film Haqeeqat, becoming a hit. He spoke of playing the guitar for big hits like Dum Maro Dum ( Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Chura Liya ( Yaadon Ki Baraat) and Mehbooba ( Sholay), all composed by his friend R.D. Burman. For one of the songs he sang for Burman, Ek Hi Khwab ( Kinara), he had played the guitar too.
When I asked him about today’s composers and singers, he spoke highly of A.R. Rahman and Hariharan. The memories of talking to him and then listening to him sing on that summer night on the beach come back to me while writing this piece, a few days after his death at the age of 82.
ajithkumar.pk@thehindu.co.in
