Today is the birth centenary of one of my favourite music directors, C Ramachandra: he was born a hundred years ago, on January 12, 1918, in Puntamba (Maharashtra). I won’t go into his biography, since that is something I’ve covered before on this blog, when I compiled a list of my ten favourite songs composed by C Ramachandra.
That said, I couldn’t possibly have let C Ramachandra’s centenary pass by without celebrating it in some way. So, a list of great songs C Ramachandra sang. Like SD Burman, C Ramachandra (billed often as Chitalkar, especially when he sang playback) had a slew of songs to his name as singer. Unlike SD Burman’s instantly recognizable voice, Chitalkar’s was a little more elusive—to the average listener, he can be recognized at times, but more often than not, he sounds like someone else altogether…
But, without further ado, the list. These, as always, are songs from pre-70s films that I’ve seen. Furthermore, no two songs from the same film appear on this list (which, I will admit, made my task a good deal more difficult when it came to films like Albela).
1. Kitna haseen hai mausam (Azaad, 1955): Even though the rest of the songs in this list appear in no specific order, I could not help but put Kitna haseen hai mausam at the top, not just because this is my favourite C Ramachandra song, but because it is a tribute to two of his greatest talents. One, as a composer whose speed at composing was astonishing (he composed the ten songs of Azaad in an unbelievable two weeks, after Naushad had refused to even consider doing it). Two, as a singer who could mold his voice beautifully to suit the actor—and to even mimic another singer (Talat was initially supposed to sing Kitna haseen hai mausam but could not find time for the recording, so C Ramachandra decided to do it himself, and ended up emulating Talat so well that it actually does seem, at least superficially, that this is Talat singing).
2. Naacho ghoom-ghoom-ghoomke (Sarhad, 1960): Sarhad was one of those relatively little-known Dev Anand films that could have been far better (it had Dev Anand as a surprisingly aggressive, harsh man—harsh enough to actually beat up his own father; but the trope of the reformed rake was badly executed). Sarhad, however, had C Ramachandra composing some interesting music (including Aaja re, the opening verses of which are obviously ‘inspired’ by Volare). And it had him singing this song, where a tipsy (and therefore less belligerent) Dev Anand hangs out with a bunch of local villagers/tribals and lets his hair down. A catchy, Western-influenced song that’s quite a bit of fun, and Chitalkar infuses his voice with some of that masti too.
3. Kadam-kadam badhaaye jaa (Samadhi, 1950): Samadhi featured one of C Ramachandra’s best-known compositions, the peppy Gore-gore o baanke chhore. It also featured a song sung by the composer himself, a song that was singularly apt for a film that was about Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army: Kadam-kadam badhaaye jaa, written by Pt. Vanshidhar Shukla and once the regimental quick march of the INA (it is now the regimental quick march of the Indian Army). C Ramachandra’s stirring music and the raw vigor of his voice make this one of those patriotic songs that give me gooseflesh. Brilliant.
4. Ek din Lahore ki thandi sadak par (Sagaai, 1951): From the poignant and patriotic to the farcical and utterly entertaining. Yaqub, Gope and Rehana perform on stage a song about two roadside Romeos who make passes at girls while walking down a cool street in Lahore—and find themselves being pelted with shoes that leave them having (hopefully) learnt a lesson once and for all. Singing playback are Rafi, Shamshad Begum—and Chitalkar, in a delightful number that’s a fine example of the vintage songs of the early 50s. I really like the way Rafi and Chitalkar match their voices: they are distinctive, but there is also a somewhat common tone to their voices which also matches brilliantly the voices of the actors they’re singing for.
5. Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke (Albela, 1951): Probably one of the most iconic Chitalkar songs there is, Shola jo bhadke is from a film which had only Chitalkar as the male playback singer. From Bholi soorat dil ke khote to Shaam chale khidki tale, from Kismat ki hawa kabhi naram to Mere dil ki ghadi kare tik ti tik: Chitalkar and Lata sang one hit song after another for Albela. My favourite, though, is Shola jo bhadke, not just a fine display of C Ramachandra’s skill as a composer, but also as a singer. His voice has a velvety softness to it which is a far cry from the earthiness of Kadam-kadam badhaaye jaa (just a year earlier) or the comic Ek din Lahore ki thandi sadak par (the same year, 1951). Lovely, and well complemented by the infectious music, plus the voice of Lata.
6. Zor lagaa le zaalim (Nastik, 1954): The more Chitalkar songs I heard while researching this post, the more grew my admiration for this man’s skill. Just as Rafi could mold his voice to suit such a range of actors, so, it seems, could Chitalkar. Not, perhaps, to Rafi’s extent, but close (one must of course consider the fact that Rafi sang for a far, far wider range of actors than Chitalkar did, and Chitalkar’s songs come nowhere close to perhaps even a tenth of Rafi’s in number). Here, in a bhajan which derides the atheist and proclaims the dominance of ‘God’, Chitalkar sounds uncannily like Kavi Pradeep. The somewhat raw, slightly nasal tone of his voice here fits in perfectly with the devotional tone of the song.
7. Mere piya gaye Rangoon (Patanga, 1949): And, to add a further example to that particular talent of Chitalkar’s that I mentioned in the previous paragraph: his ability to match his voice to that of whichever actor he was singing playback for. In Mere piya gaye Rangoon, Chitalkar sings playback for Gope, in a classic duet with Shamshad Begum about a husband and wife missing each other. A delightful song, and I think Chitalkar manages to do a good job of replicating the voice of Gope, besides infusing the song with the requisite comic touch (that ‘lungi baandhke karein guzaara, bhool gaye patloon’ never fails to crack me up!)
8. Woh humse chup hain hum unse chup hain (Sargam, 1950): The only reason I watched Sargam was C Ramachandra’s music (it’s a different matter that the film, for the most part, turned out better than I had expected it to be). While Sargam had a bunch of good songs, my absolute favourite is this delightfully romantic one. Chitalkar sings playback for Raj Kapoor and Lata sings playback for Rehana in a song that begins with a somewhat teasingly huffy ‘roothna’ on both parts, then quickly graduates to a mutual confession of love before going full-throttle romantic. A lovely song, and who’d have thought Chitalkar would prove to be such a convincing voice for a young RK?
9. Aana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday (Shehnai, 1947): I don’t remember if the National Egg Coordination Committee’s memorable ‘Khaana meri jaan meri jaan murghi ke ande’ ad campaign was my somewhat tangential introduction to this iconic song, or whether I was an anomaly. But yes, I do know that lots of people who were children in the 80s and 90s, growing up watching Doordarshan, got to know of one of C Ramachandra’s first big hits through an ad campaign extolling the virtues of eggs.
And what a delightful song the original is! Chitalkar (singing with Lalita Deulkar and Ameerbai Karnataki in the version used in the film, though his co-singers for the 78RPM recording were Meena Kapoor and Shamshad Begum) also composed the music for Shehnai. It had plenty of other songs (this was a film, after all, about a nautanki company), but Aana meri jaan meri jaan achieved a status all its own: peppy, funny, and just generally one of those earworms that refuse to dislodge themselves from your memory. Chitalkar’s deliberately oddly-accented Hindi, of a character (played onscreen by Mumtaz Ali, father of Mehmood and Minoo Mumtaz) acting as a brown sahib, is a hoot.
10. Kehte hain pyaar kisko (Baarish, 1957): Dev Anand has had several very disparate male voices singing playback for him—all the way from the more usual Mohammad Rafi and Kishore to Hemant, Talat, even Dwijen Mukherjee. And, as in the song from Sarhad, Chitalkar Ramachandra. In Baarish, Chitalkar sang playback for a couple of songs picturized on Dev Anand; this one, a romantic duet with Nutan, is my favourite. I don’t think Chitalkar’s voice really fits Dev Anand too well here, but it’s a good song nevertheless.
Happy 100 years, Chitalkar! May your voice and your music live on.
Dustedoff 
Tough one this :)
So using an Albela song only, with a lot of childhood memories..
Dheere se aaj ri akhiyan mein..
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Yes, it is a sweet song, isn’t it? I had a tough time choosing just one song from the many in Albela that are so good.
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Nice post!
Some wonderful songs on the list.
Songs from Sagai, nastik and sarhad were new to me. Thanks for the songs.
A song from my side
Teriya Teriya from chalis baba ek chor
Music by S D Burman
Co singer Lata Mangeshkar .he sings only the some words.
Hum pyar karna sakta from shabistan
O gori Kahan chali from Nadiya ke paar
One of the early songs of Lata with c ramchandra.
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Nice! These were – except for the Nadiya ke Paar song – new to me.
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One person’s pinup is another’s pornography , and it is inconceivable that our choices WILL match . But for whatever it is worth , here’s a peppy duet from SAFAR (1946) :
And who can forget the Train Song of all time from SHEHNAI ? :
(this was the first time that he met Lata and was bowled over by her voice)
But a commendable collage of songs put together by you , dear Madhuji .
Warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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Kabhi yaad karke gali paar karke song is a good one, as is Jawaani ki rail chali jaaye re – the latter had been on my shortlist, but I dropped it in favour of Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday. Thanks for the songs – very enjoyable!
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*Raising hand – my introduction to Aana meri jaan meri jaan was also through the Khaana meri jaan murgi ke anday campaign. :) I remember being thrilled with both tune and words, and it was my father who introduced me to the original then.
C Ramchandra had quite a good singing voice – certainly, in the lower registers, he could mimic Talat. You have listed quite a few of my favourites already.
Here’s one that I like from Girls’ School – Sache ka bol bala. It’s a lively duet with Shamshad Begum.
And this one – it’s such a catchy tune, despite the ‘huava huava’ faux-tribal cries.
It’s Raat hai kitni suhani from a film called Sherdil. I have no idea who acts in this film; I hadn’t even heard of it until I came across this song.
And the lovely Chali bhi aa ke tera intezaar from Shatranj – it stars my favourite actress and that’s enough for me. :)
Here’s an unusual (for those days) duet from Sangram – Ulfat ke jadoo
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Thanks for those songs, Anu! I remember having heard Sache ka bol-bala before, and I am wondering how I could have forgotten the Sangram one – that is certainly an unusual bit of picturisation for back then! If for nothing else, I should’ve remembered the song for that.
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Dear Anuji ,
SHER DIL starred Dara Singh , Praveen Chaudhuri and Bhagwan Dada amongst others .
And as far as SHATRANJ is concerned , she was my favourite actress too , and I dare say of most of us of that vintage .
Warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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Thank you for that information, Mr Chanda.
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It is hard to believe that he would be 100. One of my favorites, specially when he teamed up with Kavi Pradeep. Your list has songs that I have listened to often, and yes “mere Piya Gaye “ song always brings a smile. My other half loves the song too for that “ Bhool Gaye patloon”. My husband’s family is from Dehradoon and I doubt there is another song that mentions the city, so it’s a favorite in the family.
Really enjoyed the post.
I would list all the Albela songs as my favorites, you have already restricted one song from the movie, it really does have wonderful songs. I used to have a cassette that had a couple of Bhawan’s by him. Very soothing, if I find them on YouTube I will come back.
For right now, a song that became part of our lives once “Daane daane pe likha hai “
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Thank you, Neeru! Yes, I do think C Ramachandra had so many delightful songs to his credit: I’m glad you enjoyed this post, and thank you for Daane-daane pe likha hai: it was on my shortlist, so I’m happy to see it here!
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Madhuji;
A timely post on a favourite icon. C Ramchandra was a versatile genius and sang a variety of (fun/off-beat) songs under his own baton (often for supporting cast) that other MDs would usually have asked Manna Dey or Kishore Kumar to sing. But he did sing couple of songs for Anil Biswas and Roshan. Here is Chitalkar singing “Dhak dhak kare dil” for Agha in Barati (MD: Roshan):
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Thank you! Dhak-dhak kare dil was a song I had come across (when I watched Baaraati) but had then forgotten. Fun song!
Talking of Anil Biswas, I remember reading somewhere about how annoyed Anil Biswas was when he heard Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday – so annoyed, in fact, that he phoned C Ramachandra to ask what he was trying to sound like when he composed a song like that – and his protege said something like “I was trying not to sound like you!”
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The large hearted person that he was , C Ramchandra did not really mind when some of his tunes were copied into South Indian Films .
And matters came to such a pass that even the great Hemant Kumar used one of Ramchandra’s iconic compositions in a Bengali Film . But the two Composers were great friends in personal life , the common factor being Lata Mangeshkar .
Those familiar with Bengali Films would know that the Film in question , namely SURYOTORON was based on Ayn Rand’s Classic Novel “Atlas Shrugged” , which in turn was loosely based on the life of renowned Architect FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT .
With Warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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I must admit I’d forgotten about Tum kya jaano tumhaari yaad mein – I had to listen to it again to recall that I had, in fact, heard this one before. And Tumi to jaano na was new to me. Lovely song(s), both of them. Thank you for these, amazing. I hadn’t known, either, that C Ramachandra’s tunes were copied into South Indian films as well. Speaks volumes for his talent.
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Sample this one from the 1951 Tamil Film “OOR IRAVU” , the story of which was written by CN ANNADURAI :
As most of us know , C RAMCHANDRA’s first break as an Independent Music Director was in a Tamil Film , made in Bombay and Directed by his good friend BHAGWAN DADA
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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Thank you so much for O Samy! While I knew C Ramachandra had been ‘inspired’ when he composed Gore-gore o baanke chhore, I hadn’t realized he used the same tune in another language and another film too other than Samadhi. This was great listening.
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Happy 100th birth anniversary, C. Ramchandra!
Yup, I also enjoy his voice as I do his compositions of the 40s and 50s.
Since I could identify Talat’s voice, I’d always thought that kitna haseen hai mausam was sung by him, till I read it on RMIM, that this song is indeed sung by Chitalkar. I never used to listen attentively to the info before the song on Vividh Bharati. Lovely song.
Nacho jhoom jhoom ke is so distinctively c. Ramchandra and his voice does suit Dev here and what a treat to watch Dev dance.
Kadam kadam badhaye jaa was one song, which I strongly admired in my childhood.
Talk of Chitalkar, the singer, and one straight away thinks about his songs from Albela and aana meri jaan and mere piya gaye Rangoon. Zor laga le zaalim, ek din Lahore ki sadak are totally new for me.
I had totally lost sight of woh humse chupp hain. Thanks for reminding me of it.
Kehte hai pyar jisko does remind one of o raat ke musafir doesn’t it?
Thanks for the lovely post, Madhu and reminding us of C. Ramchandra’s birth anniversary.
Here is a song sung by him for Dev. Hum to jaani pyar karega from Barsaat
Another of his songs with nonsensical words in it, la bulbula from Ustad Pedro (1951)
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Thank you, Harvey! I’m glad you enjoyed the songs – and yes, Kehte hain pyaar jisko does remind one of O raat ke musaafir. I wonder why that didn’t occur to me!
I had never heard La la bulbula bulbula before. What a delightful tune! I don’t even remember hearing Hum toh jaani pyaar karega before – Chitalkar’s voice really suits Dev Anand here, I think. :-)
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Lovely compilations of songs by Chitalkar. I love so many of them but this is my top pick, again with Mumtaz Ali, though he does not get to dance here.
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Yes, Jawaani ki rail gaadi is lots of fun! Thanks for this, Ava.
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Nice collection of songs. Here is one of my favorite below which is not in this list.
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Oh, yes Haseena sambhal-sambhalke chal is cute!
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