Of cinematic brilliance and its complex grammar

Raju Korti
For the past two days, I am watching runs and re-runs of this audio-video clip of the rapturous Lata Mangeshkar-Shamshad Begum duet from the 1949 blockbuster 'Andaaz' like a man possessed. With an extravagant and bloated presentation puffed up by a heavy-duty star cast that had become synonymous with (then) film-makers like Mehboob Khan and K Asif, certain parts of the movie still stand out for their cinematic brilliance. Which happens to be the focal point of this essay!

The song in question "Dar na muhabbat kar le" is perhaps just another lilting song from the stable of the brilliant Naushad, sometimes frowned upon for being classical for the sake of classical. It is actually the on-screen chemistry of the three pivotal performers -- Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Cuckoo. Peppered by superb conceptualization and some veracious camera angles that pan onto each one of them just at the precise time; make for the cinematic discernment that hems in so resoundingly.

Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Cuckoo in Andaaz

It is not my case here to speak about the timbre and metier Lata and Shamshad bring to the tandem with their diverse voice cultures. It is also not about the customary and patently Hindustani lilt that Naushad infuses into this ditty which in my considered opinion is more of a solo than a duet. Two things here. The word Hindustani is in deference to Naushad Ali who kept swearing by the virtues and longevity of Hindustani Sangeet when film music had started degenerating into cacophony. The belief that two contrasting singers singing in the same vein with identical expression(s) gels more with the ethos of a solo than that of a duet. Lata and Shamshad give a stunning account of themselves by merging into each other in the song's free-wheeling spirit. In their teasing and tantalizing tones, both are daring Dilip Kumar to fall in love. Of course, it is to the credit of Naushad that he makes this happen with such consummate ease.

You have to watch the song clip and deploy your musical senses and visual aesthetics together to get the import of the cinematic brilliance that I speak of. Everything about it is one. The performers -- Dilip Kumar playing the Piano and the two lead ladies Nargis and Cuckoo leaning against it -- the song, the music, the melody, the situation, the expression, the feel seem like one entity in the 3.21 minute clip. There are no cues singled out here which speaks volumes of the levels of amalgamation each have inoculated into those spell-binding moments.

For all those wondering why I am making a song and dance about just this one song, there is a simple reason. It is just a reference point in my understanding of cinematic brilliance as an outcome of oneness extracted out of diversity. Mehboob Khan has proved equal to that challenge and how! Of course, there are many situations handled adeptly by different film-makers almost as well in the past. One that immediately comes to mind is the situation of that iconic song "Din dhal jaaye, haaye raat na jaaye" from Guide (1965). Vijay Anand was a master who could seamlessly fuse every character and parameter required for the shot. How smoothly he drives you into the skin of the song sequence where a Dev Anand in drunken stupor starts humming to Rafi's velvety vocals. That is/was a talent not everybody's cup of tea, Come to think of it, you shudder to think what Dev Anand would have himself done if he were to direct this film the way he went about in the post Hare Rama Hare Krishna period.

In my perspective, cinematic brilliance is all about viewers feeling long and lasting emotions about a person or situation or the scene itself. A lyrically meaningful song interspersed coherently adds up to artistic finnesse. The better the aesthetics of this complex grammar, the better the cinematic brilliance quotient. A scene is helped immeasurably by performers, the feelings they emote, the lyrics, the tune and all those who make that happen in a synchronized chorus. That includes those behind the scenes like technicians who put it on the larger canvass. It make the audience sit straight and take notice and be silent and introspective. The Lata-Shamshad duet sequence in Andaaz is a story all by itself. More evocative than the cliched claim of the film being India's ostensibly first 'love triangle" story.  

It is quite another story that the Anglo-Indian Cuckoo who lived a lavish and carefree life and was the undisputed queen of cabaret/club songs much before Helen staked claim to her legacy, died unsung. Not one from the film industry turned up for the funeral of the nimble-foot dancer who cast a mesmerizing spell in her prime. The words in her own lip-synched Andaaz song tell the story:
Duniya Fani, Tu Bhi Fani, Leta Ja Ulfat Ki Nishani
Do Lafzo Ki Ek Kahani, Ek Mohabbat Ek Jawani
Yad Isse Tu Karle, Yad Isse Tu Karle

If only some of the cinematic brilliance and sensibility had spilled off-celluloid too.   

The phenomenon of Lata Mangeshkar!

Raju Korti

For the past one week I have been dreading the prospect of what finally happened today. Death is unsparing and the only ultimate truth in a transient world. It did not exempt even The Lata Mangeshkar whose seven decade career as a singer is stuff made of folklores. However, sitting all through the day, listening to the inanities and shallow regulation platitudes spouted by poorly informed anchors and nitwit leaders was worst than with making peace with the loss of the country's premier, nonpareil songstress.

There was zero home work or research done to describe the life and times of Lata Mangeshkar although there was ample time for the TV channels to do so. There was too much of ennui, too much repetition and to add insult to injury, many who paid 'tributes' got into self-promotion peppered by a pompous description of how they were among Lata's favoured close. For a singer whose voice was god-gifted, it was jarring that they couldn't reel out even a couple of off-beat songs that Lata would herself have felt proud of.

An entire generation has changed since Lata stopped singing publicly in 2001. The epoch that she created in her epic saga -- first for her and her musically inclined family's survival and then to reach the pinnacle of professional glory -- requires a fair bit of study. Almost all her peers and illustrious contemporaries are lost to history which is a crying shame and pity because the quintessential Lata phenomenon will remain shrouded by her larger-than-life shadow.  

In my 65 years, 42 of them as a journalist with a marked proclivity towards music, I bumped into Lata five times during the mid-eighties. The first three times were during press meets and a couple of functions. In the maze of people surrounding her, I had managed to get her audience with what I knew could be my ace serves. I mentioned to her the names of Ghulam Haider, Husnlal Bhagatram, Hansraj Behl, Ghulam Mohammed and Sajjad Hussein. Never known to overstate her emotions, Lata just smiled and acknowledged that she understood my musical credentials. That smile was escorted by her universally admired voice that assured me: "Let's meet. We can set up a meeting."

18 years down the line, the opportunity arrived and how. In 2004, Lata had stepped into her 75th year and the Free Press Journal, where I was the Editor then, had planned to devote a full page to her. There were two choice for this onerous task. One was my senior colleague Shireesh Kanekar and the other; me. As it happened, Kanekar was travelling and the mantle fell on me. I gleefully grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The idea of landing up at Mumbai's one of most iconic addresses 'Prabhu Kunj' had sent my adrenaline soaring.

The next evening I called her landline residence with a slight sense of trepidation. Lata picked up the phone herself. I jogged her memory with my past interaction and she seemed to catch on but my first name killed her initial enthusiasm and excitement. "One Raju (Bharatan) has messed up my biography with a pack of lies. I am not sure I should go with your interview." The bitterness in her voice came as resonatingly as the famed strains of her voice. I tried to reason out with her that one such experience didn't mean the same would happen with me as well. It was futile convincing her as she seemed to have taken to heart what she felt was "character assassination" by a journalist who was far more tuned in and much senior. That was the end of the Lata chapter and I genuinely believed the loss was more her's than mine.

No one, least of all an artiste who has carved out a niche for himself/herself  is devoid of ego. The best of people have feet of clay. Having followed her career closely since my childhood, I knew Lata had an ego. Even her equally talented male counterpart the late Mohammed Rafi had one. That might have something to do with their hard-earned stature. Remember the royalty dispute in the early sixties followed up by the discordant notes on the mention in The Guinness Book. 

My blog here, to be honest, is not an exercise in merely deifying Lata Mangeshkar but a sincere and factual appraisal of her persona - a concoction of justified eulogy and criticism. It is a measure of her strength of resilience that she she so seamlessly blended with her god-gifted talent that got her thus far. History is replete with instances where talent alone hasn't mattered. It needed reinforcement with hard work. I believe that this side of an artiste's character hardly get's the appreciation it pre-eminently deserves. As she told me in my previous interaction, "I do not want to be born Lata Mangeshkar again in my next birth. One lifetime's struggle is enough." 

To begin with there is no basis in the argument that Lata would have not made the kind of headway if Noor Jehan, the earlier rage, were to stay back in India. Please do remember even Suraiyya was in her element then. But the conservative Suraiyya did not have the drive to learn classical singing that called for training at all unearthly hours. Composers like Ghulam Haider, Husnlal Bhagatram and Ghulam Mohammed polished her singing as she left no stone unturned to grasp the nuances of various raagas. Hansraj Behl, Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash who detected the raw sensuality in her voice. Those were the times, Lata was slowly crafting her way to the top. Shankar-Jaikishen put a seal of approval through Barsaat in 1948. 

I will choose to bisect Lata's career into two phases. One from her initial years from 1943 to 1958 and the other post those years. In the germinal phase, she was an eager performer willing to compete, learn and acknowledge. By 1960, she had already established her supremacy although sisters, especially Asha Bhosale whom Ghulam Ali diplomatically referred to as 'unnees bees' wasn't really far behind. It is in this phase that Lata had come to be convinced that she had a standing that couldn't be denied.

This was also the period of her career when she took on the high and mighty. Although she would be guarded and effusive in her praise of the then legendary composers and singers, there were several occasions when she flatly refused to work with them. Jaikishen, (of Shankar-Jaikishen), S D Burman, O P Nayyar, C Ramchandra, Mohammed Rafi, Raj Kapoor and many more. She worked on her terms and was ruthless about money. There were times when she charged composers the taxi fare and even for signing books. 

One one count, this was all understandable as she had grown up insecure after the loss of her father and family patriarch Dinanath Mangeshkar. As a professional she knew she was one of a kind and got away with her idiosyncrasies. That perhaps also explained her alleged obstinate resistance towards any competition with singers like Suman Kalyanpur and even Vaani Jayaram. Apparently, even sister Asha wasn't spared. Recall "Ae mere watan ke logo" that was originally to fall in Asha's lap as she was Cr Ramchandra's considered choice. There are stories how Lata swung it in her favour. It was ironic that on a day when Lata passed away, Suman Kalyanpur broke down in her memory.

Having said that Lata gave full justice to all the composers she sang for even when she had running feuds with them. The differences lay buried beneath the ultimate singing quality. There were composers with whom she struck a phenomenal equation. Madan Mohan, Naushad, Chitragupt, Salil Choudhury, Roshan, Khayyam, S N Tripathi, Vasant Desai and Anil Biswas, Ravishankar, Hemant Kumar, Jaidev, N Dutta, Ravi, R D Burman. If I have missed any name, it is not deliberate.  

The tough test was in the initial phase when a finicky and exacting composer like Sajjad Hussein --  believed to be the only original in the industry -- made her sit through multiple rehearsals to get it perfect. Lata herself has gone on record saying how difficult it was to negotiate the Arabic notes of "Ae dilruba nazare mila" (Rustom Sohrab), Salil Choudhury's Indianized symphonies, Hansraj Behl's "Haaye jiya roye" (Milan) or even Shankar Jaikishen's "O jaanewaale mud ke zara dekhte jaana" (Shri 420). These were all exacting and got the tonal gold in her voice. O P Nayyar, always singled out for never using Lata's voice even once, once bowed down and uttered "tauba tauba" when I mentioned her to him  

Such is the repertoire Lata has created that it is futile and stupid to single out gems. Even lesser  known composers like Dhaniram, Pt Govindram, Vinod Eric Roberts, Lachchiram, Bulo C Rani, Shailesh harnessed her voice as effectively. Who would know that an ethereally beautiful song "Jal ke dil khaak hua" came from Shailesh (Mukherjee) lost in oblivion as fast as he came? Many such gems are lost in the footprints of time and need to be excavated from the debris they lie buried under.

Lata was her pristine best in each of their compositions like they were part of her musical consciousness. I do recall, she had grown skeptical of the kind of songs in the post 90s phase and after a few songs that she probably sang only out of goodwill, she realized she wasn't cut out for the cacophony dished out in the name of music. She preferred to bow out, and that was just as well.

I have deliberately avoided mentioning her co-singers and a host of songs including the Marathi 'Bhavgeets" as it merits a completely different dedication. Every aspect of her life merits a separate book. I don't think anyone else can create the body of work that Lata, Rafi and Asha have created in their marathon professional calling. You can wait for eternity.

I think she deserves a smiling send off. She has lived a life that only few in history have occasioned to get. A long life, a career that is colossal and achievements that become meaningless after a certain period of time and when they are far too many. As I bore earlier in the day, nothing has changed really. Lata has moved from one Prabhu Kunj to another Prabhu Kunj. She continues to live in the same abode. Heaven is an ICU of another kind.

Russia-Ukraine conflict and drumming up of a World War

Raju Korti

War-ready Russian soldier

Even as President Vladimir Putin flexes his muscles to raise a spectre of what many believe has the potential of snowballing into a Third World War, my personal take on the situation along the Ukraine border, although grave, is it will not escalate into any significant military aggression. Among the many scenarios mentioned is a full-fledged military operation that might result in the capture of either part of or entire Ukraine. Those jumping the gun see this happening in a few weeks or even days.

I must admit my prophecy is based on part logic and part gut feeling. A large scale Russian offensive against Ukraine to me is unlikely for many reasons even judging on military might alone. Although Russia is the biggest fragment of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Ukraine is the second-largest country in East Europe after Russia which it borders to east and north-east.

The 100, 000 troops that Russia has massed along the Ukrainian border is just not enough. It would need in those in multiples of more to engage even in a semblance of a hostility. The Russian army would need a massive coordination and logistics management that would ensure with adequate weapons and military equipment. This would call for strategic reserves and reliable logistics, including in the occupied territories. I am not too sure if these have been sorted out to the tune required. Russia's ability to hold occupied territories is questionable while the combat experience of  Ukrainians surpasses that of the Russian troops who fought in Syria or in any other armed conflicts in recent decades. 

I am inclined to believe that a large-scale military offensive with an attempt to hold large occupied territories will be a huge gamble for the Russians knowing well that it has little chance of any positive outcome. Even if the Russians do go ahead with this long shot, it is well neigh impossible to calculate the course of such an operation. There is every likelihood that such a road map would quickly move to an uncontrollable point.       

Beyond the military option, Kremlin is well aware that the move could boomerang with international isolation and sanctions and that would be suicidal. For all his machismo, Putin will not want to risk this although history is replete with instances when leaders have forfeited their sanity and restraint for military bravado. Saddam Hussein is a case in point. 

Ukraine has considerable potential for self-defence in case Russian decides to escalate the situation to a flash point. It has an army that is adequately backed up by territorial defence units and other components of the Defense and Security Forces. They can inflict significant losses on the Russians, the economic implications of which could be serious and ill-affordable. The Ukrainians won't be silent spectators and could well resort to asymmetric actions like resistance movements and tactics in cyberspace. The question is whether they have the psychological resilience to face the impending fallout. 

The crisis in Ukraine can be traced to its President Viktor Yanukovvch's decision to turn down a deal for greater economic integration with the European Union. The President's decision of a violent crackdown by the security forces backfired and he had to flee after which Russians took control of Ukraine's Crimean region. In the aftermath, Crimeans chose to throw their lot with the Russian Federation in what was obviously a disputed referendum. Putin's justification of protecting the rights of Russian citizens in Crimea and south-east Ukraine only snowballed into deeper ethnic schisms. 

By all accounts, the situation has the trappings of the Cold War era with the two Communist blocks Russia and China coming close to bring in some diplomatic warmth. Putin has made the expected noises that Washington is using the conflict as a ruse to impose further sanctions on Russia. It is not far to seek that he is deeply concerned about the expansion of  Western military alliance of NATO which Ukraine is seeking to join.

On the flip side, President Biden seems to up the war ante by hyping up the issue and Kremlin downplaying it. That is not deterrence. Not by any stretch of imagination. It is almost as if he wants Russia to go ahead and attack Ukraine. That might be a reckless approach against nuclear powers like Russia and China.

With Russia and China cosying up to each other, pushing both Russia and China to a corner could seriously fracture diplomatic overtures. Such moves at dual containment have been tried and failed with even non-nuclear powers like Iraq and Iran. Its mutation into the "axis of evil" has clearly come a cropper. But consumed by hunger for power, world leaders couldn't care less.