PHIR MERE NASEEB MEIN WOH RAAT HO YA NA HO KUCH LAMHE AUD KUCH PANHE MADAN MOHAN KE JEEVAN SE JEEVIT HO GAYE USS RAAT .... BY ALI PETER JOHN

I don't have many memories of some of the greatest people who have made my world the world of the genuine nawab and I sometimes regret not having the pleasure of spending time with them like I would have loved to. One such shaahi personality was the music composer Madan Mohan -Ali Peter John

I would have not seen or met Madan Mohan if I didn't have a neighbor like Zaheer D Lari who worked as an assistant to leading filmmakers like Amar Kumar, Ramanand Sagar, and Rajinder Singh Bedi. Lari one day asked me if I would like to witness the recording of a song for Bedi's 'Dastak' and I jumped at the idea even though I had my tenth standard exams. My paper that day was Algebra and I was sure that even if God came down to my school and wrote my paper, I would never pass. I told my mother the truth and she allowed me to go with Lari .

The recording was at one of the leading sound studios in Tardeo and the royal-looking Madan Mohan had already reached the recording studio and so had the songwriters Majrooh Sultanpuri and Bedi Sahab. Sanjeev Kumar who was the star of the film arrived late, but he was still early because the musicians were still not getting their show right, and then came the emperor of song, Mohammad Rafi and the studio came alive. Rafi dressed in white and emojis stole the hearts of everyone around and as he walked towards the recording room, I asked for the first autograph of my life after giving the autograph with a bright smile, he put his arm around me and asked me,. ' Bete , ye kaajaz lekar tum kya karoge ?

' I wanted to tell him many things, but his angelic smile made me dumb and he walked ahead and the next thing I heard was his rehearsing for his solo song which went,. ' Tuj ko sunaaon ek baat pari si, chupke chupke ' and there was applause even before he could start singing. It was while he was singing for the first time that realized the power of a composer in the making of a song. That song Rafi sang for 'Dastak' that morning is still alive even after fifty years and all the credit I think goes to the nawab of music, Madan Mohan ...... I had the grand occasion of meeting Madan Mohan also because of my senior, Mr R M Kuntakar whose relationship with men and women from the world of music was magical. He died and at least my contact with Madan Mohan grew lesser and then he died suddenly ....

But I was still lucky. I had made friends with his son Sanjeev Kohli who worked with HMV and had grown into an authority on Hindi film music. Sanjeev later joined Yash Chopra and was like a younger brother to him but who had the authority to make decisions on any subject, especially music. Sanjeev had a collection of some of the songs which Madanji had recorded but which were not used. He gave Yash Chopra a hearing of all the songs and Yash decided to make a film which would have the songs from Madanji's unreleased collection.

He asked Javed Akhtar to write songs that would contain Madanji's music and the rich music for Yash Chopra's 'Veer Zaara ' was ready and was the highlight of the film besides the performance of Shah Rukh Khan. I still have a collection of songs composed by Madan Mohan and sung by Lata Mangeshkar which was presented to me by Sanjeev Kohli and I listen to them when I am alone or when I have people around me who know how to differentiate between good music and bad noise, which I am sorry to say is something that is a rarity in these days when sound and fury are the king and queen of music . .....

It was therefore a very refreshing surprise for me on Sunday, April 24 when I saw a video in which Anju Mahendroo, the much talked about neice of Madan Mohan, and a well-known journalist Pammi Sonal and some admirers of Madan Mohan got together to celebrate the music of Madan Mohan. It was like something I was waiting for on a Sunday afternoon which came as an answer to my prayer. I heard only two songs, one from 'Hanste Zakham' and one from ' Woh Kaun thi'. The singers were trying their best to bring that era alive, they even succeeded to a certain extent, but how could they even dream of even reaching anywhere near the voices of Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar? Among the singers, I could see Anup Jalota and I admired his spirit in paying tribute to the composer who came to this earth just once in a way .

But if you ask me who the one man was who brought back melody in all its mesmerizing power, it was undoubtedly Uttam Singh who was very closely associated with Madan Mohan and who had also conducted the orchestras of musical giants like Naushad and other geniuses in his class and maybe even above. Uttam Singh, my friend for years, looked frail, but once his hands took charge of his violin and conducted the orchestra, he was nothing less than a colossus who could clash and overcome any of the tides of the new era of music today. WOH JAADU MAHAAN SANGEET KA AUR MAHAAN SANGEETKAARO KA AAJ KAL SIRF KHOKLE SHOWS AUR KABHI KABHI VIDEOS MEIN SUNAAYEE DETE HAI. KYA WOH SUNERA ZAMAANA PHIR KABHI LAUTKAR NAHI AAYEGA ? DUKH HOTA HAI AISE SAWAAL POOCHHNE PAR , LEKIN KYA KARE , JAB DARD HAD SE BADH JAATA HAI , CHILAANA TOH PADTA HAI NA ?