Magic of Salilda's evergreen songs
PRAKASH PARAYATH
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Salil Chowdhury's immortal music continues to enchant music buffs.
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Salilda, as he was popularly called, made his debut in Malayalam cinema with `Chemmeen' (1965).
Salil Chowdhury's music had an identity of its own. It was an eclectic mix of tribal, Bengali folk, and Western classical. It spanned all the genres - ghazal, geet, folk, tribal and classical.
Yet each song had a unique Salil stamp, which helped you identify it, whichever be the language, Hindi, Bengali or Malayalam. Which is why each of his songs remain fresh even 10 years after his demise on September 5, 1995. This Bengali, who grew up in Assam, completed his graduation and joined the Indian Peoples Theatre, the then cultural wing of the CPI.
He then moved to Hindi films where he made his mark in an era that was dominated by giants such as Naushad, C. Ramachandra, Madan Mohan, S.D. Burman and the like.
`Do Bigha Zamin,' was his first major hit. `Madhumati,' `Chchaya,' `Parakh,' `Jagte Raho,' `Anand,' `Rajnigandha,' and `Swami Vivekananda' were some of the Hindi films that were enriched by his music. Songs such as `Ajare Pardesi,' `Toote Hue,' `Suhana Safar,' and `Dil Tadap' (all in `Madhumati'), `O Sajna' (`Parakh'), `Itna Na Mujhko' (`Chchaya'), `Kahi Door' (`Anand'), `Rajnigandha' (`Rajnigandha'), `Koi Hota' (`Mere Apne') and `Jaane man' (`Choti Si Baat') are a few of his evergreen creations for the Hindi film industry.
Salilda, as he was popularly called, made his debut in Malayalam cinema with `Chemmeen' (1965) with the songs `Manasa Maine,' `Pennaley,' `Kadalinakkare' and `Chakara.' He scored the music for more than 40 Malayalam films and gave us scores of evergreen melodies.
He got Lata Mangeshkar to sing `Kadali' in `Nellu.' And he introduced K. J. Jesudas in Hindi films in 1971 with `Anand Mahal,' but neither was the movie completed nor was it released, depriving Jesudas' enchanting, swara-laden `Nisagama' of the deserved popularity and recognition. Salilda re-launched Jesudas in Bollywood in 1976 with `Jaaneman' in `Choti Si Baat.'
Being a lyricist in Bengali himself, Salilda always took special care to imbibe the spirit of the lyrics and that explained his close association with the likes of Vayalar, O.N.V. Kurup and Sreekumaran Thampi.
His radical musical ideas and chord progressions made the instrumental portions as memorable as the vocals. No wonder the instrumental pieces he used in one language often became the tune for a song he composed in another language.
His musical base was tribal or folk, but the arrangement of harmony and chord progression was Western. The essence of his music was Indian though the underlying harmony was Western. That was how the tunes enthralled the lay listener and yet always had something for the connoisseur.
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