It just so happened that the last film I reviewed on this blog was Sone ki Chidiya, which starred Talat Mahmood—better known as a singer, a man with one of those heartrendingly beautiful voices that can turn even a so-so tune into something sublime.
Today is the birth anniversary of Talat Mahmood: he was born on February 24th, 1924. Had he been alive, today would have been his 86th birthday. And so, to celebrate: a listing of ten of my favourite tunes sung by the Sultan of the Soulful Song (my appellation for Mr Mahmood). All from the 1950’s and 60’s, and all from films I’ve seen. These are in no particular order, though my absolute favourites are towards the top of the list.
1. Main dil hoon ek armaan bharaa (Anhonee, 1952): For anybody who’s been visiting this blog long enough and often enough, this should come as no surprise: I am not a Raj Kapoor fan. Ergo, I am also not a fan of songs picturised on RK. This is one of the exceptions—and Talat’s mellifluous voice, light and romantic and not at all nasal (that’s something I do not like!) is fabulous. And notice how his voice is so controlled? He never lets it build up into an uninhibited, ear-shattering crescendo.
2. Itna na mujhse tu pyaar badhaa (Chhaaya, 1961): Itna na mujhse tu pyaar badhaa had two versions: a more light-hearted one that was a duet (with Lata Mangeshkar), and this, a sad version sung by Talat. It’s a very lovely song (obviously inspired by Mozart’s 40th Symphony), of a doomed love that should never have happened. Beautiful lyrics, a great tune—and what a glorious voice, all raw emotion through and through.
3. Aha rimjhim ke eh pyaare-pyaare (Usne Kaha Tha, 1960; with Lata Mangeshkar): Usne Kaha Tha was an excellent film, but tragic—not something you’d immediately guess by the light-hearted sweetness of this song, sung in a rain-drenched evening amidst the fields and copses bordering a village. It’s lilting and infectious, a cheery tune in praise of nature and love and all things bright and beautiful (in which I’d definitely include both Sunil Dutt and Nanda!)
4. Phir wohi sham wohi gham (Jahanara, 1964): If Aha rimjhim ke yeh pyaare-pyaare is lighthearted, this one’s anything but. Phir wohi sham wohi gham is haunting, and Talat’s voice brims over with the pain of a man yearning for his beloved—a woman he can’t hope to ever make his own (she’s a princess, he’s a commoner). Bharat Bhushan isn’t one of my favourites, and Jahanara itself didn’t make me clap my hands with joy—but this song is amazingly poignant in the loneliness it evokes. So is another fabulous Talat ghazal from Jahanara, the beautiful Main teri nazar ka suroor hoon.
5. Hain sabse madhur woh geet (Patita, 1953): Dev Anand is one of those actors for whom just about every male singer sang playback. In Patita itself, both Hemant and Talat sang playback for him—and though I like Yaad kiya dil ne a lot, Hain sabse madhur woh geet wins, hands down. I like this song for many reasons: the rippling music, the sensitive and uplifting lyrics, the picturisation (Dev Anand at his best, the beautiful Usha Kiron)—and, best of all, Talat’s voice which manages to convey the spirit of the song: comforting, soothing, gentle—very effectively.
6. Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai (Mirza Ghalib, 1954; with Suraiya): Bharat Bhushan again! Yes, I don’t care for him, but he had some great songs picturised on him—and this is one of them. Mirza Ghalib had a stunning musical score (and the lyrics, mostly Ghalib’s own ghazals, were fabulous). This song, a duet with Suraiya, is one of the best, and the way Talat ends the song is simply awesome.
7. Jalte hain jiske liye (Sujata, 1959): My favourite telephone song (which is another list I should perhaps be compiling one of these days). Talat, singing for Sunil Dutt, moulds his voice perfectly to that of the affectionate lover, singing to the girl he should not (if he were to follow the strictures of society) be even thinking about. The tune dips and twirls in the most beautiful way, and Talat sings it effortlessly. There’s this line in Jalte hain jiske liye which goes: “Geet naazuk hain mera sheeshe se bhi” (“My song is more fragile than glass”): a good description of so many of Talat’s songs; they have a delicate beauty that seems so very fragile…
8. Humse aaya na gaya tumse bulaaya na gaya (Dekh Kabira Roya, 1957): I adore this delightfully farcical film, and I like the fact that the only songs picturised on a male singer are those for Anoop Kumar, who plays a singer. Here, he romances his beloved—in Talat’s voice, which of course gives him a huge advantage!
9. Humein haal-e-dil tumse kehna hai (Chaubees Ghante, 1958; with Asha Bhonsle): This is the sort of song I’d have associated with Rafi in a lighter vein. But Talat Mahmood, along with Asha, pulls it off, making this duet a very catchy one. I saw the film years ago and don’t remember much of it except that Prem Nath acted a cop masquerading as a servant in order to nab some criminals. What I do remember is this song, romantic, sweet and so easy on the ears.
10. Pyaar par bas toh nahin hai (Sone ki Chidiya, 1958): What’s even better than a song sung by Talat Mahmood? A song sung by, and picturised on, the man himself. The very good-looking Talat starred in several films, of which Sone ki Chidiya was one. This isn’t a sympathetic role (he jilts his lady when he discovers she’s not as rich as he thought), but this song is very romantic, Talat’s voice marvellously controlled and deeply emotional. [Aside: I always think a song sung slow is vastly difficult to handle, but how does Talat do this so seemingly effortlessly? Brilliant.]
This, by the way, is the official Talat Mahmood website. It has loads of information about him, downloads, photographs (including some gorgeous stills from his films!) and more.
Dustedoff 
Jalte hain jiske liye is my favorite song, period! Its the only one I can listen to over and over and over again without ever getting bored. But I love almost anyything Talat sang – if he had a recording of reading the phone directory, I bet even that would have sounded soulful and melodious! There may be better ghazal singers in this world, but I very much doubt it! ;-)
I remember somebody talking about how Talat had doubts about his voice, at some point. Some critic had talked about how his voice quavered, and he was very upset about that. So on his next recording, he surprised the music director with a very flat and toneless voice – he was trying to control the ‘quavering’!
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I wonder who that music director was! (And who that critic was – the brutal Baburao Patel? Though I guess it was more likely to have been someone who criticised music, not films).
I remember, when I was a kid, I heard someone (a radio announcer, I think), talking about the tadap in Talat’s voice – that fabled quaver. Somehow it turned me off, and I never did see what the fuss was about. I’m glad to say I’ve grown up now and can appreciate Talat’s voice. So utterly beautiful. And yes, I at least don’t think anyone could sing ghazals better than him!
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i have read that, that surprised M D was Anil Biswas.
he asked talat to sing in his original voice and that did the needed!
but i have no idea about that critic!
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Velvet voice, voice of ghazals, yu can sing with him in your sleep, superb choice DO.
But again a hard nut to crack bcos I wud say Top 1005 .) wud be more appropriate, one is better than the other. Oh I know I am being biased again .)
But a very rare number if yu get hold of, which I shared on the other sites is-
qte
Here friends,
Something I always wanted to share ‘rare’ and not so often tracks esp oldie goldies,
now here is one which is def not heard so often. It is a beautiful rhythmic track with g8 lyrics
It is Talat Sahebs number called Tup Tap Boonde Barse from the Hindi/Bengali movie
called ARTAP(as far as I can gather). If any1 has more info on this pls share with us.This would be a real treat for all Talat Sahebs fans.
unqte
I have it on my disc somewhere, just in case yu folks can not get hold of it, let me know, I will try to hunt for it and post on a sharing site so that yu can download it. It is poss we have it on Talat Sahebs Website?
Cheers .)
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Talat mahmood *sigh*
What a voice!
A voice to fall in love with.
Just like bollyviewer Jalte hain jiske liye is also my favorite song! And just like bollyviewerr said I can listen to it over and over and over again without getting bored.
BTW are there really so many telephone songs as to compile a 10 my best list?
Thanks for the list!
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What a coincidence while I just sent the previous reply, guess who came Online,,, ofcors Talat Saaheb with his…….
Tasveer banata hoon, tasveer nahin banti…….
MD- Shaukat Dehlvi Naushad Saheb, Lyrics by Khumar Barabankvi and movie Baradari 1955 with Ajit, Chandrashekhar, Geeta Bali, Gope, Murad, Pran, Tiwari
Wah wah mazaa aa gaya….
Cheers
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ash: I searched for Tup tap boonde barse but couldn’t find it anywhere. Would be very grateful if you could find it and upload it. If a song comes so highly recommended, I would certainly like to hear it! (in any case, anything in Talat’s voice is always welcome). I checked out the Talat Mahmood site, but it’s only mentioned in a message, as far as I can see…
I really like Tasveer banaata hoon a lot too. If I’d seen Baradari I’d almost definitely have listed that too. Two other songs which would have been part of my list (I’m inclined to think it would have been a ‘100 favourites’!) would have been Shaam-e-gham ki kasam from Footpath and Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chaandni from Sangdil – both films I haven’t seen yet, unfortunately!
harvey: Some telephone songs I can list offhand, other than Jalte hain jiske liye: Aajkal shauq-e-deedaar hai from Leader, Neend ud jaaye teri from Juari… if I remember correctly, there was also a song in Waqt picturised on Sadhana and Sunil Dutt. But on second thoughts, you’re right: there aren’t too many songs (in fact, I don’t much like either the song from Leader or from Juari). Jalte hain jiske liye wins!!
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Sureo DO
pls give me some time, will hunt for it and give the link here, am sure others wud love to listen to this. Unfort my Master PC is ailing otherwise I cud have done this right away.
Cheers
p.s. Footpath, lovely story by
Zia Sarhadi Saheb and Music by none other than Khayyam Saheb.
Just saw this a AGAIN a few months ago and other 2 Sangdil and Baradari on repeat viewing soon, def recommended DO.
Cheers
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What a beautiful voice singing fabolous songs!
My own favourite, apart from all of the above, Mohabbat hi na jo samjhe, woh zalim pyar kya jane
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Awesomeness! I completely adore his songs… my favorites are so many but from your list I love “jalte hai jiske liye” like fellow commentators and “phir wohi shaam” along with “hum se aaya na gaya”. My favorite of Talat sahab would have to be “main teri nazar ka suroor hoon”, at least right now (It keeps changing). The other one I really like a lot is “meri yaad mein tum na”.
Harvey, I’ve been thinking about that one for a long while now… I couldn’t find more. Other than “jalte hai jiske liye”, “mere piya gaye rangoon” I know there’s one is Waqt with Sadhana on round velvet bed with white/red colored phone and Sunil Dutt on the other line. Now that I recall.. I’m not even sure whether that’s actually a song or just my imagination. OMG! I just went back and read the comments and see that you do mention the Sadhana-Sunil Dutt song. I bet there’s more…. I’ll keep searching.
Nice post, this one!
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As for the telephone songs, I just remembered… does the Namak Halaal song “jawaani jaane-man” qualify? It starts with a phone conversation: “I want to kill you. I will kill you!” :D
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What a lovely list!!!! As Harvey said, Talat had a voice to fall in love with.
My list would have had Tasveer banata hoon, Shaam-e-gham ki kasam, Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chaandni . Though I had seen these movies long long ago to remember the story, I simply love the songs. Can listen to them over and over again. I picked up Baradari just a few days back. Let me see if I can review it over this weekend. Since Tasveer banata hoon was one of the first Talat’s songs that I ever heard, I think I should do this somehow.
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Great compilation. Thrilled to see you mention in your comments exactly the two other songs I like (captured so wonderfully by this guy Atul)
Shaam-e-gham-ki-kasam
yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chaandni
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ash: Thank you! Will be looking forward to them – take your time! :-)
bawa: Lovely song – and I don’t think I’ve really heard it much. The tune seems familiar, so I probably have heard it sometime or the other, but not beyond that… beautiful. BTW, that’s V Shantaram and Jaishree, right? Any idea which film?
Kanan: Thank you for the vote of confidence! I’m glad you liked the post. :-) And thanks for reminding me of Mere piya gaye Rangoon – such a delightful song. But oh, I don’t think Jawaani jaan-e-man should qualify! Just one line, and that too not sung, just whispered menacingly? Na, that would be cheating! I think we should give up the idea of a telephone songs post – in any case, I can’t think of any (other than Mere piya gaye Rangoon and Jalte hain jiske liye) which I really like.
sunheriyaadein: I’ll be looking forward to your review of Baradari! I rented the VCD a couple of weeks back, but it fizzled out (the VCD, not the film) and I ended up returning it after watching only about five minutes of it. :-(
bagheera: Thank you – both for your kind words, and for the links to Atul’s articles on those songs! Love them – especially Shaam-e-gham ki kasam: it never fails to give me gooseflesh.
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film is Parchhaiyan (1952) and yes, thats V Shantaram himself in an acting role along with Jayashree. Love the vase-percussion touch…
if you notice, Jayashree actually looks like she is playing the sitar, her hands follow the up & down of the notes, rather than the usual aimless strumming seen in most films.
If Talat was singing in front of me, I would also be making those moon-faces like those two in the film :))
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Dustedoff, very nice list. Happy birthday, Talat Mahmood!
Bawa, I think Parchhaiyan has a few of my favorite Talat Mahmood songs. :) I’m fond of this duet:
Teen Batti Char Rasta also has some nice Talat Mahmood songs. And it has one of my favorite phone songs, at the end. (Unfortunately, most songs from that film have disappeared from YouTube.)
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Dustedoff, i really liked the songs you listed. 3 of them picturized on Sunil Dutt will be added to my Sunil Dutt playlist. I happen to think that Dutt sahab was the third most attractive man of hindi cinema. Ok maybe fourth.
As for telephone songs, I recall Moushmi and Amitabh in Manzil.
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bawa: Yes, Jaishree actually looks as if she’s playing the sitar instead of aimlessly moving her fingers about the strings (how many actors/actresses have we seen doing that on pianos??!). Reminds me of Dilip Kumar in the absolutely fabulous Madhuban mein Radhika naache re – though I seem to recall hearing somewhere that he was trained in music to some extent.
Richard: Thank you for the link to that duet – I enjoyed it a lot. *off to find songs from Teen Batti Char Raasta*
sophy: Third or fourth, whom would you place before Sunil Dutt? ;-) – I’m curious!
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DO just for info Baradari is avail on a DVD with Subs for example at nehaflix.
Cheers
Oh while hunting came across another beautiful number by Talat Saheb-
naazon mein pale kaanton pe challe, MD Sachinda, Lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi Saheb and from Shahenshah 1953. Listening to this number one will not feel it is from 1953, rather 1963 !
Will add this in case some1 wishes to hear this not so rarely played beautiful number.
Cheers
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Thanks to your post I have dug up my cd collection of Talat…
And here is another fantastic song, esp as it is filmed on Madhubala & Dilip K
Seene mein sulagte hai armaan
You know, this is an antidote post- finding gem after gem of Talat songs after all the depression caused by all the “lifted songs” posts :))
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Fantastic blog/post!! Thank you dear DustedOff! I know how difficult it is to choose, but for me my top Talat faves are (based only on the song itself, not considering the film)
1) Shaam-e-Gham ki kasam
2) Tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakegi (have you heard this?!!its non-filmy but wonderful all the same)
3) Seene mein sulagte hain armaan.
. http://youtu.be/GMlTeyN3zo4
4) Aasoon samajh ke kyon mujhe
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Thank you for making part of my afternoon a very melodious one! I’ve just been listening to these songs you posted. I’m familiar with all of them (and Shaam-e-gham ki kasam would definitely have been on my list if I’d seen Footpath). Lovely selection.
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First time here….what a fantastic post. One can spend the entire day on this post
:)
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Found the gems.
Ok guys n dollz time to lift kara lo depression from those lifted songs as bawa calls them, check these 2 out of Talat Saheb, and pls let us know what yu think about them.
The first is……
Tup tap boonde barse from Artap in 128kbps under
http://www.zshare.net/download/72998065a387e989/
and second is in 192 kbps
naazon mein pale kaanton pe chale from Shehanshah 1953 under
http://www.zshare.net/download/72998093bc410bef/
Any probs d/l, let me know pls.
Cheers
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bawa: Good!! I’m glad this post is helping restore our faith in the beauty that was old Hindi film music. Talat Mahmood zindabad – and of course also all the music directors, lyricists, etc who helped make those lovely songs.
Oh, and thank you so much for Seene mein sulagte hain armaan… I love that song. Just so beautiful.
samasti: Thank you! Do come by again – if you’re as keen on old Hindi films (or old films for that matter, Hindi or not), you’ll probably find something to interest you here.
ash: Thanks a ton for those! I managed to find Naazon mein pale kaanton pe chale on youtube too, but the downloaded version – played whenever I want, even when I’m not online – is even more of a joy! Talat’s voice sounds somewhat different in it, though… was this particular version a later, ‘recorded in a concert’ version?
And you’re right about Tup tap boondein barse: I love it! I wish I’d heard this long back, when I did my favourite monsoon songs post. No idea if it’s got anything to do with rain (someone weeping while it’s raining?) but it sounds so much like rain…
And for everybody who’s a Talat fan, another lovely Talat song. I completely forgot about this one (and am kicking myself about it!) but anyway, here goes:
Ae mere dil kahin aur chal, from Daag.
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“Ae mere dil kahin aur chal, from Daag.” I haven’t heard this since my kidhood in the 70s. Lovely tune.
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My Dad is a huge Talat Mehmood fan and although as a child I used to groan whenever he’d put another “dukhi” Talat song on, I absolutely love him now. Sometimes, Fathers *do* know best!:-D
Talat saab has a very high signal to noise ratio and while there are plenty of songs that I don’t personally care for, I can’t think of any *bad* songs by him.
Some of my favorites include:
Sawan ki raaton mein aisa bhi hota hai – Prem Patra – Salil C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jExIcojREEs
Mere khayalon mein aa kar gale laga jaa mujhe- Gunha – Roshan
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Heiloo Do,
So glad to hear to hear yer liked DO pet name !, sounds good yeah. .), short n sweet DO DO .)
If my memory does not fail me we had this song over a telephone-
aaj ki raat yeh kaisi raat ki hamko neend nahin aati- Mohammed Rafi Saheb from AMAN, Rajendra Kumar singing for Saira Banoo
and did we cover another beauty of Talat Saheb-
jaaye to jaaye kahaan samjhega kaun yahaan dard bhare dil ki zuban from Taxi Driver, evergreen Dev Saheb doing the rest !
There yu are DO, yu said it, Naazon Pe does sound very clear, I would guess it is a studio recording, done again, if it was a stage/live one we may have had some hollowness, but I cud be wrong !
I tried finding from my Bengali Pals re Tup tap baarse song, but so far no feedback, I can make a guess he is referring to the tears flowing down the cheeks, tears in a tragedy is just like monsoon flow of rain drops .), a waterfall .)
As we go along we keep on digging out more gems of Talat Saheb, truly g8 artist.
Cheers
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Shalini, thank you! I especially love Sawan ki raaton mein (It probably has something to do with the fact that I like Prem Patra a lot: it’s one of my favourite films).
ash: Yes, Jaayein toh jaayein kahaan was in my long list for this post, but I eventually dumped it. It’s too sad and despairing a song for me! As Shalini says, there are no bad Talat songs, but this is one that I don’t care for very much.
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I enjoyed going through your list (i like the first 3 songs and the one from Sone ki chudiya the best )What a handsome young man he was, no wonder he was the first playback singers women had a thing for according to a commentary on the website link you posted, i haven’t seen any of the films you posted and i don’t think i’ve seen any film where he’s acting or doing the playback singing, though i was quite close to purchasing Jahan Ara as it had Mala in it and it won her her last filmfare best actress Nomination, I might just watch it just because of that, not like i care much about the awards, its more for an historical filmi fan viewpoint
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Folks
As we go along we come across Talat Sahebs beauties, and one of em which came to my memory was from Kinare Kinare 1963 where the under rated Jaidev Saheb scored a beautiful track-
dekh lee teri khudaayi bas mera dil bhar gaya, Lyrics was by Nyaya Sharma
We def need a Blog on Jaidev Saheb, Btw in Kinare Kinare we had a rare feat, namely solos by Mukeshbhai, Rafi Saheb, Mannada and Talat Saheb, he managed to get all of them under his baron for this wonderful movie.
And oh as info… Jaidev Saheb and undersigned share one thing….. born in NAIROBI. .) .)
Cheers
And if I recall also a song – o mast nazar tu chahe agar sung by Vinod Desai !
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bollywooddeewana: Jahanara was one of the many films I saw years ago on Indian television, when they still showed old films. Mala Sinha’s very beautiful in it, and the songs are to die for. I don’t remember much about the historical angle of the film, but I think I’d like to see it, just to figure out how true it is to the story of Jahanara (because of all the research I had to do for my book, I know a few things about Jahanara now).
ash: I’ve just been looking at the list of films where Jaidev assisted, and it’s pretty formidable (in fact, some of my favourite scores: Kala Pani, Nau do Gyarah, House no. 44, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, Sujata… I must admit that of the films where he was the music director, the only one which I’ve seen in Hum Dono – and I love the music.
Am off to try and get hold of the songs of Kinaare Kinaare!
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Oh ho ho
seems I am making yu spend dallars again, yu had to get Pati Patni and now this. As they say it is for a very good cause kya ! .)
Jaidev Saheb… remember Gaman where he introduced Suresh Wadkar Bhau and his superb Ghazal –
seene mein jalan aankhon mein toofaan sa kyon hai
what a master piece even today
and also he introduced A. Hariharan with this super rendition-
ajeeb saaneha mujhpar guzar gaya yaaron.
And yet another master piece-
aapki yaad aati rahi raat bhar chashm-e-nam muskuraati rahi sung by Chhaya Ganguly
Ah and yes Reshma Aur Shera was another one of his contributions.
Sunil Dutt Saheb and Navketan were one of the few who supported him.
With a Guru like Dada Burman, yu gotta be very good.
Cheers .)
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Talat Mahmood had an equally lovely full singing voice which was used that way in the late 40s and early 50s.
Listen to these songs from Babul:
Milte hi aankhen – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP4BHbO38hM
Husnwalon ko – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpS4kmtzUto
Mera Jeevan saathi – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKJNUxsYMZU
And the Madhosh song composed by Madan Mohan – Meri yaad mein tum na – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwLfElwuK68
(The 78 RPM version of this song was re-sung by Talat in his trademark soft tone.)
And his very first Hindi film song – Ai dil mujhe aisi
I love this voice. Insiders from that era told me that Talat was somehow forced into his now softer voice singing trademark style as that suited the 50s romantic genre geet and ghazal type songs which Talat was getting more than any other.
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ash: Yes, those later Jaidev compositions are awesome – especially Seene mein jalan. Oh, and in Reshma aur Shera I really love Tu chanda main chaandni… such a wonderfully haunting song!
himsingz: Good to see you here again! :-) And thank you for introducing me to those early Talat numbers – somehow, even though I’ve heard Milte hi aankhen and Meri yaad mein tum na so many times, I tend not to associate them with Talat; as you say, he’s less ‘soft’ in these, more full-throated. But equally fabulous.
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By the way, Madhu, how’s your novel doing?
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And here’s a lovely Talat-Asha duet from Bahana (Madan Mohan). Should make your day :).
Thanks to the Internet folks like me can obsessively indulge our passion for old film songs. So many collectors have generously put now rarely heard songs on Youtube. Simply incredible, really. I still can’t take this phenomenon for granted. I remember we used to bhatko here, there, everywhere seeking out records and tapes. That of course had its own thrills!
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Sorry forgot to add the Bahana duet link.
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You are so right about the Internet – it’s helped me work (doing such intense research is made a lot easier because there’s so much information on the Net) and of course, it’s made it so much simpler to find old songs, old films, old photographs – I just wish sometimes I had more time to spend on the Net!
The novel’s doing well, thank you! The contract for overseas distribution has just been signed, so the book should become available in the UK etc soon. Plus the French edition is going to be released in April. Am keeping my fingers crossed that it does well!
Thank you also for the Bahaana duet. Sublime. :-)
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Oh….. interesting, DO is Madhu, Madhu Ipod, or was it Tripod ??.)
Internet has sure made the world very small and I agree with himsingz, our knowledge base has increased a lot esp when it concerns our hobbies and interests.
I always say after the Wheels, Internet is the best thing ever happened to mankind, sure it has its downs also but then what does not !
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Madhu Ipod, I think! I love old songs soooo much.
I personally think the Internet has more pros than cons. As long as you can avoid the temptation to think of wikipedia as the gospel truth, the Net’s just fine!
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Hope your novel does well and you write many more. When you become famous you’ll be our claim to fame. I looked for it in Crosswords many times, couldn’t find it.
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Thank you for the encouragement, himsingz! :-)
Crossword somehow don’t seem to be very good at stocking Indian commercial literature – I’ve visited them a couple of times and they never have The Englishman’s Cameo in stock. Om Bookstore usually has it, though, or if they don’t, will be able to get it for you if you place a request. I generally advise my friends to order it online (for instance, from http://www.flipkart.com), since that’s hasslefree and it also gets you a discount.
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Hello DO……
I had to come back .)
bcoz one beautiful ghazal which always escapes our mind bcos we do not hear it as often, and which I just did is the wondeeeerrrrful…..
jab chhaaye kabhi saavan ki ghata, MD Babu, Lyrics byRaja Mehdi Ali Khan and from Reshmi Roomal 1961. It starred-
Shakeela, Manoj Kumar, Helen
Pardon me if this is mentioned earlier, unfort I cud not see it, but all the same MP3 version can be found at
Grab it, yu will love it.
Cheers .)
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Ash, thank you for that! I’ve seen Reshmi Roomal and I like the music a lot, but somehow I’d forgotten all about that. Lovely song! Though now, having remembered that, I realise that I should have probably listed Zulfon ki ghata lekar in my list of favourite Manna Dey songs… you know, with every passing day, I realise that my favourite songs from yesteryears are almost without number.
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Oops pardon me DO with yet another later entry and more so if this has been mentioned b4, but for sake of good order just re freshed another Talat Sahebs super track –
Jeevan Hai Madhuban-Talat- Jasoos
which is on line in YouTUBE, long live this wonderful Media .)
It has always been on my HD but with so much collection, it tends to be ‘forgotten’ .)
Cheers.)
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No, this isn’t a repeat – nobody’s mentioned this before (in fact I don’t remember having heard it before either), but lovely song. Thank you! Have just been listening to it, and such nice lyrics too.
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I hope this isn’t a repeat, it’s such a gem…
zindagi dene wale sun
teri duniya se dil bhar gaya
mein yahan jeete jee mar gaya
Zindagi deni wale sun….
Again, sung by Talat, accted by Talat
I could listen to this all day. And look at him all day, he is a dreamboat, in an old fashioned way. :-)
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No, not a repeat – but certainly a coincidence, since I was listening to this song just yesterday. Lovely! I do wish it were easier (and cheaper) to get hold of some of Talat’s early films, in which he acted as well as sang. This one, and Sone ki Chidiya, are among the very few I’ve seen. Am looking out for Waaris and Lala Rukh too.
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Waris had very lovely songs. Here’s a duet from Waris – Talat, Suraiya.
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What a beautiful song, Himmat. Suraiya is another singer I like a lot, and this song teams her up wonderfully with Talat. Now I want even more than before to see Waaris. Incidentally, one of the first film stills I ever bought was one of Talat’s from Waaris.
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Suraiya and Geeta Dutt are my favourite female singers. Like Mukesh, Suraiya too sang with so much sincerity.
Anyway, here’s another Talat gem, sung in a fuller voice. Hope you like it.
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I like Suraiya too, but I must admit that Geeta Dutt is by far my favourite female singer. There’s nobody quite as mesmerising when it comes to singing as her. She’s matchless.
Wonderful song from Naghma. :-)
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And here’s a Bengali geet by Talat. From his voice it seems this was recorded in the 50s. He sang quite a few Bengali aadhuniks, some exquisitely.
And many more on that page in Youtube.
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Lovely. The gentleness of his voice is so suited to the sweetness of Bengali! I remember having read somewhere that Talat acted in some Bengali films too, but no idea if that’s true or not…
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I have made a playlist of some Talat songs I like, here:-
http://embedr.com/playlist/kuch-talat-ke-naghme
Nice application, embedr – let’s you make very usable, self-contained playlist packages that can be embedded in any web page.
If you’re interested, then there’s a Suraiya playlist too, here:-
http://embedr.com/playlist/kuch-suraiya-ke-naghme
Check these out!!
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http://embedr.com/swf/slider/kuch-talat-ke-naghme/425/520/default/false/stdBuild your own custom video playlist at embedr.com
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I have been listening to the Talat playlist while I’ve been replying to comments on my blog and checking out other blogs. Thank you – this regular activity of mine has never been so pleasurable before! I have already come across two songs that I hadn’t heard before, but which are absolutely lovely.
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I’ll be adding other songs to the Talat playlist frequently and shuffling the sequence.
Btw, the Suraiya playlist is getting a lot of traction on embedr. Try that too.
Adding Rafi playlist tonight.
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Instead of Rafi, have just added a Geeta Dutt playlist. She is one of my top favourites.
http://embedr.com/playlist/geeta-dutt-some-of-my-favourite-songs
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I was just going to click the Suraiya playlist when I read your comment on the Geeta Dutt playlist. Suraiya will come later; much as I like her, I CANNOT resist Geeta Dutt! Thank you so much. :-)
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I know I’ll put you off :), but after listening to Suraiya, for me Geeta Dutt pales in comparison. Suraiya’s expression is out of this world – so plain in style, so deep in feeling. Simply amazing! I woke up to Suraiya rather late in my life, so this may just be a case of getting swayed by novelty.
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I actually listened to a few songs from the Suraiya playlist after the Geeta Dutt one, and I have to admit I can’t make up my mind between the two of them! I suppose there are certain songs that I cannot imagine in any voice other than the respective lady’s – for instance, Geeta is superlative in something like Koi door se aawaaz de chale aao or O babu o lala; on the other hand, Suraiya is impossible to beat in something like Nuktacheen hai gham-e-dil or the awesome Aah ko chaahiye ek umr asar…
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You are right there. There are some songs which are such a tight fit one just can’t imagine them being sung by any other singer. I still think though that Suraiya was unbeatable in the way she effortlessly (seemingly) expressed the meaning of the lyrics.
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And there was a certain very innocent, deeply emotional sort of charm to her singing.
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No one has mentioned ” Men tujh ko agar ek phool kahoon tere rutbay kee tauheen he yeh”. Is this not Talat mahmood’s song?
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Had never heard that one before, but have just finished listening to it. It’s beautiful:
Thank you!
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Hmm, if that’s digitised from a record then it was playing a tad slow. Here’s the same song at the right speed, with Talat’s young voice sounding right:-
And here’s Suraiya sounding so much Geeta Dutt in a light, fast paced number from Moti Mahal….Jab Teri Meri
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And here is Talat himself (on screen) in Lalarukh singing the kind of ‘rousing’ tune which Rafi and Manna were so good at. So, surprisingly, is Talat. In fact his voice and style lend some gentleness to this kind of song:-
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Lovely post. Grew up listening to these beautiful songs,soulful mesmeric voice of the great singers ,my father used to sing too,brought back a lot of memories,lost my father in my early teens 25 yrs back n associate Talat Mehmood n Manna Dey songs with him.thank you so much .dene wale tune koi kami na ki,ab kis ko kya mila ye muqaddar ki baat hai
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Thank you for sharing that. Songs and singers we associate with people who are so dear to us always live longer, I think. And both Talat and Manna Dey are among my favourite singers, too…
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This Talat-Suraiya duet from Waris just blows me away.
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What wonderful songs, Himmat – each and every one of them. I must admit to a particular fondness for the songs from Lala Rukh and Waaris – truly songs to enthral. Thank you!
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I am a great talat fan.I like almost all the songs sung by him.One of my all time favourites is “Mera pyar mujhe lauta do”.This is a non film song sung beautifully as usual.
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Thank you for telling me about that song. I had never heard it before (probably because I’m not familiar with many non-film songs of any singers). Beautiful lyrics, and I like the fact that the music is subdued enough to let Talat’s voice dominate the song. Wonderful.
For those who’d like to listen to it, here’s a link:
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Talking of Geeta Dutt,one of her all time greats is the song”aaj ki kaali ghata mast matwali ghata,mujhse kehti hai ki pyasa hai koi,kaun pyasa hai mujhe kya maloom”.It is available on utube for those of you who would like to listen.
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That one was new to me too! But it’s lovely – and so appropriate for now, when the rain clouds are looming grey and heavy with rain outside…
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Talatji’s voice has charmed millions over the years. Even today the music lovers relish his songs. The soft voice of Talatji has such a soothing effect on us. Specially his rendition of the so many ghazals have such a lasting impact that it is indescribable. We have been conducting songs’ listening session of old Hindi songs (1946-1965) under a banner SUNEHRE PAL in Chembur, Mumbai. Every first Saturday of the month we meet at a location and about 140 avid music enthusiasts attend our sessions. The session on 3rd March 2012 would feature TALAT MAHMOODJI. All are welcome to attend. The venue is BHAVNA TRUST COLLEGE, NEAR SHIVAJI STATUE, DEONAR. Time: 6pm to 9 pm. For any further details you may contact 9819323860. Entry is free for all music lovers.
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i am a fan too ikeep having talat ji programs in delhi join if you wish col jk bhalla
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Hopefully not a repeat… The combination of Talat and Sahir is spellbinding.
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Beautiful! Thank you for sharing that – I’d forgotten about it.
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Thank you I really great fan of Talat Sb.
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Here are few other Talat saheb’s great songs, which I have listened to
countless number of time
ARZOO – Ae Dil Mujhe Aesi Jagah Le Chal Jahan Koyi Na Ho (the film version
is NOT GOOD (singing wise, plus audio quality)
THOKAR – Ae Gham-e-Dil Kya Karoon Main (ghazal by: Mizaz Lucknavi)
Film print does not exists
DORAHA Mohabbat Tarq Ki Maine (ghazal by: Sahir)
Film print does not exists
Many Non-film ghazals and geets
Suggestion: Avoid Re-recorded versions, specially those from films
On the other hand, good quality records could not be found for some
early non-film songs and Talat re-recorded them. Tasveer Teri Dil Mera
is one such song, for which only re-recorded version exists.
Khalid (Talat’s son) site, has listed some of these songs. However, he has ruined
almost all mp3 files by recording them at audio level higher than 100%
(i.e.: the normalization level, as listed by Total Recorder software)
Sudhir
Aug 13, 2015
p.s.: I can not figure out, as why I like the
BAHANA song: Bereham Aasman, Meri Manzil Bata Hai Kahan –
slow and then slightly fast version
from 78 rpm record, as it was re-issued by HMV (around 6 min duration)
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Thank you. Like several of those songs a lot.
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i love talat saheb songs. i heard suriya ji once said to may be naushad saheb that the kampan, hara rat in his voice is allah ki den. so it should be taken positively and used effectively. i read about talat mehmood once that more than singing his natural forte was music direction . once he made tune in few minutes but he never realised his talent and focusing only on singing with so many new singers coming and giving tough competition.
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hi,
i want tp ost one song
by talat & sudha malhotra
main padh rahi hoon tum ko from captain India
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I hadn’t heard this one before. Talat’s voice is gorgeous as ever, but I don’t especially care for Sudha Malhotra here.
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That’s Why Every one called that OLD IS GOLD
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In the present generation where loudness is the hall mark of competence. Talat’s soulful singing is like an elixir. A genius who sang all songs in his imitable style, soothing yet entertaining. Talat’s repertoire can’t be restricted to just ten songs. Jayein toh jayein kahaan, Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal … are some of his songs which bear Talat’s imprint. Thanks for the wonderful article.
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Very true. There was a mellow sweetness and soulfulness to Talat’s singing that is completely gone now from today’s music.
Glad you enjoyed the article. Thank you!
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How could I miss this post!! Last night, I was listening to ‘Pyar par bas to nahin hai lekin’ and effect has not worn off yet.
Very difficult to select which song I liked from your post barring ‘Hume haal-e-dil tumse’. I had not come across this one.
I would like to add a wonderful duet by Rafi – Talat that did not see the light of the day. Instead, Rafi – Mahendra Kapoort version of ‘Kaisi Haseen Aaj Baharo ki Raat’ from ‘Aadmi’ made it to the movie.
I prefer the Rafi – Talat version which showcases Talat’s wonderful voice.
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Oh, yes, this is a beautiful song. I had listened to both versions sometime last year, I think, when I was doing a list of Mohammad Rafi’s duets with other male singers. The Talat version is definitely superior to the one with Mahender Kapoor.
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