The question arises has there ever been a better composer ? Naushad saabís credentials and his claim to being the greatest ever composer was established during the golden years of the early 50s when a series of musicals flowed from the Masterís baton each vying with the other for the Best.

The late 1940s had witnessed a rather disappointing trend of music being totally inclined towards the west and tunes were being bodily lifted from there. This despite the efforts of pioneers like Anil Biswas, Khemschand Prakash, Husnalal Bhagatram et al. Even Naushad had contrived to produce an uncharacteristically western tune like ëTarari tararií. The Indian independence served to make a strong wake-up call to the composers to move further into the Indian roots. But it was not until the 1950s began that the call began to produce fruitful results and if there can be one composer who can be identified to having provided that Indian turn, it can only be Naushad Ali.

The young man from Lucknow after a tough beginning had already been acknowledged as the Numero Uno amongst the Indian composers and his influence prompted a special trailer on his working by Mehboob Khan with the punchline, íNaushad,Naushad..sau carodon me ek hi Naushadí. This was the direct result of a series of silver jubilees that Naushadís music had prompted ñ Rattan, Anmol Ghadi, Anokhi Ada, Dillagi, Dard, Dulari etc. And for Naushad- the aura continued uninterrupted into the new decade. ëMelaí, ëAndazí, ëBabulí,íDeewanaí, ëDeedarí were all musically super duper hits. What compositions flowed from his baton. The vocals of Shamshad Begum, Mukesh and Suraiya dominated the late 40s musicals- with ëAndazí and ëDeedarí there was a visible shift towards Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi. The twoís vocals were to prove the forces behind the most rewarding phase of Naushadís career. The best of Naushad was still ahead of him.

(Rating : *- ok, ** - good, ***- great, ****- fantastic, *****- lost for words)

1. Tori jai jai kartar (Ustad Amir Khan) Sorry, I have no knowledge of classical music. So whatever I write is from the heart . Ragas etc. you may please tell me. Is this in Darbari? Naushadís major achievement in this film was to rope in classically renowned artistes who had hitherto looked on film music with abhorrence. A beautiful number thatís to be heard in those early hours of the day where the light clashes with the dark and begins to emerge victorious. (****)
2. Door koi gaye (Shamshad Begum, Lata Mangeshkar and chorus) ñ A delightful piece where Shamshad and Lata seem to have a little battle for supremacy. Lataís words were more in the karun ras which gives her a decided edge. But Shamshad ji certainly matches her word for word. A lovely folk piece. One shouldnít forget Rafiís call also ëOji oooo..í which gives a lovely effect altogether. (***)
3. Tu ganga ki mauj main (Mohd. Rafi) - Possibly the most popular song from the film. This is certainly in Bhairavi. Rafi is irreprisible here. He certainly was the discovery of the film. He had certainly gained ground in the late 40s but with the emergence of Talat Mahmood, he had been pushed to the back seat. With this, he came roaring back. His voice scales the notes- up and down- with such ease that shows him out as one of the greatest singers ever. My favorite are the sthaiyees :

   Agar tu hai sagar to majhdhar main hoon, Tere dil ki kashti ka bhatwar main hoon,

   Chalegi akele na tumse yeh naiyya, milegi na manzil tumhe binke vaiyya,

   Chale aaoji, chale aaoji, chale aao maujon ka lekar sahara.

   Outstanding!!! (*****)

4. Jhoole me pavan ki aai bahar (Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd.Rafi) - Not my favorite duet, but one which leaves you with a feeling of freshness and cheer. Well sung and composed. (**)
5. Mohe bhool gaye sanwariya (Lata Mangeshkar) -If you think the film was an all-Rafi affair, listen to this. A sensational piece. What a bewitching melody !!! Certainly amongst the half-dozen of Lata's finests ever. Again the raga eludes me. This is one of the best songs of the film and Lata has filled the words with such pathos that was a high even by her own standrads. (*****)
6. Man tarpat hari darshan (Mohd. Rafi)- Another undescribably beautiful number- a bhajan. Possibly the most beautiful and the purest bhajan ever done in Hindi films. But do you see the irony of it. This bhajan of bhajans was composed by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni and sung by Mohd. Rafi - all Muslims. Can anything better illustrate the 'unity-in-diversity' concept of our India ? (*****)
7. Bachpan ki mohobbat ko (Lata Mangeshkar) - Another Lata masterpiece. While not quite in the same class as the other Lata solo in the movie, this is certainly a beautiful piece. Some Lata aficionados do consider this a superior composition - but musically I feel 'Mohe bhool gaye sanwaria' was better. But itís a real close finish. Lets just forget it all and just enjoy the music. (*****)
8. Insaan bano karlo bhalai ka koi kaam (Mohd. Rafi) - A superb composition that is overlooked in almost all mentions of Baiju Bawra. I donít know why. It certainly does not lag behind too much when compares with the other masterpieces of the film. And Rafi sounds near perfect. Again the raga ? (*****)
9. O duniya ke rakhwale (Mohd.Rafi) -The most celebrated song ever. And it certainly deserves every accolade that it has received. This is a triumph of Rafi the singer over Naushad the composer. This is considered by most to be the greatest Rafi song ever and I extend it further- it might well be the greatest composition ever. What a sweep of notes that Naushad has brought out. A masterpiece forever and ever. (*****)

The musicals flowed from the Master's baton. What years those were - for Hindi Film Music and for Naushad saab himself. Never before or since has a composer maintained such high levels of compositions over extended periods of time and films.

'Shabab' followed in 1953. Some of Naushad's conneissuers argue 'Shabab' to be a step ahead of even 'Baiju Bawra' and though I am not in complete agreement with this view, it cannot be denied that 'Shabab' was not too far behind 'Baiju Bawra' and thatís saying a lot indeed. The compositions were more balanced this time with Lata getting her share of memorables in 'Jogan ban jaoongi', 'Jeena teri gali me, marna teri gali me', 'Mar gaye hum jeete ji malik tere sansar me' and the duet with Rafi 'Man ki been matwari baje' in Raag Bahar. Mohammed Rafi could not be overtaken completely though with some bewitching compositions, especially the evergreen 'Aaye na balam vada karke' which stands out as one of Rafi's finest renditions. 'Yehi arman lekar aaj apne ghar se hum nikle' is a fine piece as well. Manna da also got to do some singing for Naushad saab with 'Bhagat ke bas me hai bhagan'- nothing outstanding but pleasing nevertheless. The song of the film was however 'Chandan ka palna, resham ki dori' , a mesmerizing duet of Lata and Hemant Kumar and Lata for once, has to take a back seat. Hemant da was much too good and this song fitted his voice like a glove. One of the greatest numbers ever.

Lata Mangeshkar, if at all she had any complaints against Naushad saab for not being given the Numero Uno status, might well have forgiven him and more with 'Amar' in 1954. This film I vote as the greatest combination of Naushad-Lata. There were 7 Lata songs in the film each of the highest quality - 'Umangon ko sakhi', 'Udi udi chayi ghata jiya lehraye', 'Janewale se mulaqat na hone payi', 'Na shikwa hai koi', 'Khamosh hai khewantar mera', 'Na milta gham to barbadi' and my favoutrite 'Tere sadqe balam na kar koi gham, yeh sama yeh jahan phir kahan"- a lovely piece with Lata's voice displaying all its beauty and melody in full colours.

The next year saw yet another block buster for Naushad - 'Uran Khatola'. The songs were more equally distributed this time between Rafi and Lata with the more popular numbers coming to Rafi's share. Look at the phenomenol numbers of the film - the foot tapping, sweet Lata piece 'Mera salam leja, ulfat ka jaam leja uran khatole wale rahi', the soft 'More saiyanji utrenge paar o nadiya dheere chalo' with human chorus used as background score, 'Ghar aaya mehman koi jan na pehchan', 'Dooba tara umidon ka', 'Na ro ae dil kahin rone se taqdeeren badalti hain', 'Sitaron ki mehfil saji hai' and two of the finest Lata numbers of all time - 'Haal e dil main kya karoon' and 'Hamare dil se na jana, dhokha na khana'. Add to this list of super-Lata- numebers the Rafi magnificents- 'Mohobbat ki rahon me' , 'O door ke musafir humko bhi saath lele re' and my favourite 'Na tufan se khelo na sahil se khelo, mere paas aao mere dil se khelo'. All in all, yet another feather in Naushad saab's cap and one of the glittering jewels of or musical legacy.

One might have expected the caravan to go on and on, but Naushad saab's career graph began to take a downward turn now. There were other scintillating musicals to follow but the Midas touch he had displayed in those early years of the 1950s was missing. 'Sohni Mahiwal' did not fare well, though it had a few really fine numbers- Lata's 'Mera bichda yaar milka de', Rafi's 'Id ka din tere bin hai feeka', 'Aaj galiyon me tere aaya hai hai deewaan tera' and Rafi-Lata's 'Aane wale ko aana hoga'. Mahendra Kapoor also made a memorable entry with 'Chand chupa aur tare doobe'. For all its fanfare, 'Mother India' was far from Naushad saab's best. Only Lata's 'Nagri nagri dware dware' was anywhere close to the Naushad we knew. Naushad redeemed himself with 'Mughal-e-Azam'- a veritable Lata festival, with some of her greatest songs ever. My personal bests from the film- 'Mohobbat ki jhooti kahani pe roye', 'Ae ishq yeh sab duniyawale' and the very best- an extremely diffcult choice between 'Khuda nigehbaan ho tumhare, dhadakte dil ka payaam lelo' and 'Bekas pe karam kijiye'. Take your pick.

The 60s saw the Shammi Kapoor's Yahoo wave sweep across the film world and changed the musical requirements and amidst all the noise, the melodies of 'Mere Mehbooob' and 'Son of India' served as balms to the ears. Where at one end, Rafi was bellowing away with 'Aaja aaja's, he was made to remember the old too with a host of beautiful melodies 'Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohobbat ki kasam', 'Ae husn zara jaag tujhe ishq bulaye', 'Tumse izhaare ha kar baithe' and 'Yaad meteri jaag jaag ke hum' in 'Mere Mehboob' and 'Zindagi aaj mere naam se sharmati hai' and 'Dil todne wale tujhe dil doondh raha hai' from 'Son of India'. The latter saw some lovely Lata numbers also. 'Aaj chedo mohobbat ki shehnaiyan', 'Chal diye deke gham' were two memorables. The rest of the 60s saw more ordinary compositions from Naushad saab with a spark now and then reminding us of the magic of the Master. 'Palki', 'Dil diya dard liya', 'Aadmi', 'Leader', 'Saz aur awaz' while being good musicals were never quite in the same class as those of the 50s. And as a close to the 60s, we got one of Naushad saab's worst efforts in a long, long time- 'Saathi'- a remake of the Tamil movie 'Palum pazhamum' which had some of the most magical numbers ever in Indian cine history with Vishwanathan Ramoorthy demonstrating their prowess capably. Naushad's reply hardly offered any competition to the original. Its was a big let-down and since then, it has been near farewell to Naushad saab. His entries now and then have been mediocre efforts- only because they were in no way the Naushad of yore.

The trend had changed- then in the 50s, Naushad could say 'We create music for the people', whereas in the 90s the composers when approached about the mediocre quality of music reply 'We provide what they want'. The approach had changed. Music was business now, not an art. Naushad saab's magic belongs to the Golden Age of Film Music when the composers vied in providing quality music to the masses- and people's tastes could accept the more modern taps pf Shankar Jaikishan and S.D.Burman as it could the more traditional and classical based numbers of Naushad and Anil Biswas. The times- they had changed. Thankfully, those songs, those beautiful songs remain on tape for us to sit back and listen and allow Naushad saab to work his magic on us again and again andÖ

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My 10 All-Time Favorite Naushad Songs

1. Tu ganga ki mauj mein(Mohd Rafi)	2. Bekas pe karam kijiye(Lata)
3. Tere sadke balam na kar koi(Lata)	4. Na toofan se khelo(Rafi)
5. Bachpan ke din bhula(Lata & Shamshad Begum)	6. Man tarpat hari darshan(Rafi)
7. Aaj machi hai dhoom(Uma Devi)	8. O door ke musafir(Rafi)
9. Aaye na balam wada karke(Rafi)	10. Mera salam leja(Lata)

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