It remained to friend Pradeep Asrani (and I invite you all to read his lengthy response to me) to nudge and help unravel the coils of memory, by saying how "perplexed" he was at this cursory mention I had made of Salil-da. There was no stopping his pen.....And as I read his response through, I remembered long-forgotten names of films and tucked away in these films was a gem of a solo here and a melodious, well-written duet there. This gifted composer, I recalled, was even able to carve out songs in films like Annadata (1972) and Rajnigandha (1974) for Mukesh, at a time when all else had given up on him.
While the solos in both films (one each) 'nain hamare sanjh sakare' in Annadata and 'kaee baar yun bhi dekha hai' in Rajnigandha, heralded a comeback of sorts for Mukesh at this late stage the ties had been fostered long years ago, as far back as RK's Jagte Raho (1956), in fact, in which he sang the sybaritic 'zindagi khwaab hai' (filmed tellingly on Motilal with the yokel in Raj standing by, aghast at the former's drunken antics on the dark, lonely Bombay street) and Bimal Roy's Madhumati (1958), in which was featured the deeply articulated 'suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen'. I still marvel at the reverence in his voice as he sings '....woh aasman jhuk raha hai zameen par....', enunciating the final antara, helping the spellbound Dilip Kumar on that mountainside.....Both lyrics were penned by Shailendra.
Two more years would pass before Salil Chaudhary beckoned to Mukesh once again, in 'Honeymoon' (1960), this time with a duet of sorts. This was probably the first time that Mukesh sang for the young and upcoming Manoj Kumar (he was teamed with the very pretty Sayeeda Khan, in this film), an association that would yield sweet music through the sixties and well into the seventies. During his career Mukesh would sing more songs for this non-actor, than he would for any other performer. As so many of his compositions did, this one shows Salil's adeptness at merging western music movements with Indian classical themes. And in the background is the very gentle Lata in melodious support....another lyric written by Shailendra.
And that most prolific of our filmi-poets, Rajendra Krishan, wrote lyrics that Mukesh sang under Salil-da in two fine films of the early 60s viz AVM's Chhaya (1961) and Bimal Roy's Prem Patra (1962).
The first starred Asha Parekh (that lass from Kapadvanj) in only the third film of her long career, paired with Sunil Dutt. The roles were symbolic : she is the muse, who is running after the poet (for a change) and the songs are replete with images of nature with fine camera work adding to the poetry. Among them, notwithstanding 'itna na mujhse tu pyaar badha....' the Lata-Talat beauty in which Salil blended Mozart's 40th with Indian folk, is this duet between Mukesh and Lata, with the lead pair cavorting in the open fields, under the clouds, by the seas......etc. etc. etc. I have not the fine black and white video, just the 78 sound with the third antara missing.
And then we have in 1962, Bimal Roy's Prem Patra~a film which featured Shashi Kapoor (at this point firmly established as an actor after he had 'graduated' with Krishan Chopra's 1961 domestic drama 'Char Diwari') and Sadhana, delineating the pangs and misunderstandings of first love. "A fine, fresh film", said the Times of India in its review, I remember, to which I will add , "though a departure from the serious subjects that we have come to expect from Bimal Roy." Both, Shashi Kapoor and Sadhana gave a good account of themselves as they went about the film singing their way through its meanderings, and neither looked back after that.
And the 60s stretched into the 70s. There were other songs that Mukesh sang for Salil among them the gentle, wistful ditties in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anand (1971) and their careers were intertwined all the way....but that fateful August of '76 was looming.....
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It would be difficult to define Mukeshji's voice. Lata defined Hemant Kumar's voice as that of a pujari praying to his god in a temple atop a hill, at day's end, thus recognizing the ascetic in Hemant-da's singing personality. Rafi and Manna Dey were recognised by their range and virtuosity, Kishore Kumar for his ebulience and Talat Mehmood for his gentle crooning.
But Mukesh was recognized by the way the common man identified himself with him. He was one with the masses. It was deceptively easy to sing his songs, until we started singing them, and then we felt his moods envelop us. He was good at what he sang for the films (mainly in Hindi and in Gujarati) and he was good, if not better, when he sang the 'private' songs which at one time were so well known and which are still being played in private circles.
He sang a lot of them and let me end this tribute with one that is a universal favourite ...a quintessential Mukesh number, quietly disturbing. It was penned by Qaif Irfani (a name long since forgotten) and composed by this gentle singer himself.
