On Shakti Samanta’s Birth Anniversary January 13, Revisiting The Incomparable Music Of The Great Filmmaker

Was there a Hindi filmmaker with a better music sense than Shakti Samanta? When it came to imperishable songs, Shakti Samanta, one of the most underrated filmmakers of Hindi cinema, was next to none: Aaaiye meherbaan(Howrah Bridge), Ishaaron ishaaron mein(Kashmir Ki Kali), Akele akele kahan jaa rahi ho(An Evening In Paris) from his pre- Burman days, and then Roop tera mastana(Aradhana), Raina baati jaye(Amar Prem), Yeh sham mastani(Kati Patang), Mere naina sawan bhadow(Mehbooba)… these are among the greatest songs of Hindi cinema.

Shakti Samanta was a great filmmaker. But his music sense was even greater. The sounds that he got from R D Burman are imperishable, incomparable and beyond almost anything that any filmmaker has mined from any other melody makers.
But I am jumping the gana. Before RD and Shakti, there was O P Nayyar to create some sizzling cabaret sounds in Shakti Samanta’s Chinatown in Asha Bhosle’s voice(Aaaiye meherbaan) and Geeta Dutt(Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo). Then came O P Nayyar’s Kashmir Ki Kali where Sharmila Tagore danced to stardom crooning Ishaaron ishaaron mein, Deewana hua baadal and Balma khuli hawa mein.

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In An Evening In Paris Shaktida collaborated with Shankar-Jaikishan for the first time. Songs like Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho, Deewane ka naam toh pucho, Aasman se aaya farishta and Raat ke humsafar made the movie a mega-hit.
In 1969 Shakti Samanta teamed up with Sachin Dev Burman for Aradhana. But the big chartbusters in the soundtrack Roop tera mastana and Mere sapno ki rani were composed by Sachin’s son Rahul Dev Burman.

From 1971 onwards Rahul Dev Burman and Shakti Samanta collaborated on eleven soundtracks. Among them Amar Prem stood out. It was not only the best score of Shakti Samanta’s cinema but also one of the best motion picture soundtracks of all times in Hindi. Songs like Lataji’s Raina beeti jaye and Kishore Kumar’s Chingari koi bhadke, Kuch toh log kahenge and Yeh kya hua are classics forever. Also, Sachn Dev Burman sang for the first and last time for his son RD in Amar Prem. The heartbreaking Doli mein bithayeke kahaar is proof of the Pancham pudding.

In Shakti Samanta’s Kati Patang, RD composed breezy gems like Pyar deewana hota hai, Yeh jo mohabbat hai and Yeh sham mastani, three of the best songs in Kishore Kumar’s repertoire. In Shakti Samanta’s Ajnabee RD composed two of the best Lata-Kishore duets of all times: Hum dono do premee and Bheegi bheegi raaton mein.
Shakti Samanta and R D Burman’s last great collaboration was in Mehbooba(1977) with the priceless Mera naina saawan bhadow, although my favourite in Mehbooba is Lataji’s plaintive Mujra Main tawaif hoon mujra karungi.

In the period that RD was at his fruitful best for Shakti Samanta, the director did three outstanding musicals with other composers: Sachin Dev Burman in Anurag(remember the songs Sun ri pavan and Ram kare babua?), Shyamal Mitra in Amanush(Dil aisa kisine mera toda, Na pucho koi humein), Laxmikant-Pyarelal in Anurodh containing some of Kishore Kumar’s finest solos in the second-half of the 1970s: Aapke anurodh pe, Aate-jaate khubsoorat awara galiyon mein, Mere dil ne tadap ke and especially Jab dard nahin ttha seene mein tab khaak maza ttha jeene mein abke shaayad hum bhi royen saawan ke mahine mein.

Which brings us to the third outstanding component in Shakti Samanta’s musical carriage, lyricist Anand Bakshi. Very few filmmakers inspired Bakshi the way Samanta did in Chingari koi bhadke(Amar Prem), Do labzon ki hai dil ki kahaani(The Great Gambler), Iss jeevan ki yehi hai kahaani(Alag Alag) and Jab dard nahin tha seene mein(Anurodh).
These are songs that will never die. Speaking on his imperishable bond with R D Burman Shakti Samanta once said, “He loved a lot of instruments in his compositions. But they never drowned the voice. Whether it was Latabai singing Raina beeti jaye, Bada natkhat hai re Krishna kanhaiya, Chotasa ghar apna or Kishore Kumar singing Ek ajnabee haseena se, Mere naina sawan bhadow, Zindagi sau baras ki, the melody and the voice were supreme.”
Then there were Shaktida’s two Uttam Kumar-Sharmila Tagore Hindi-Bengali bi-linguals Amanush and Anand Ashram which had interesting music by Shayamal Mitra: Na pucho koi humein, Dil Aisa kisine mera toda in Amanush and Sara pyar tumhara maine bandh liya aanchal mein.

Oof Shaktida, Bass karo!
Speaking of the music in Shakti Samanta’s cinema, Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is deeply inspired by the magic of Samanta’s cinema, says, “The songs that Shakti did with R D Burman and filmed mostly on Rajesh Khanna, are a part of Indian cinema’s most exquisite heritage. I can listen to Chingari koi bhadke, Raina beeti Jaye(Amar Prem), Kora kagaz ttha yeh mann mera, Gungane rahe hain bhanwar(Aradhana), Yeh jo mohabbat hai(Kati Patang), Na koi umang hai(Kati Patang), Mere nain sawan bhadow(Mehbooba), Main tawaif hoon mujra karungi(Mehbooba) and Bheegi bheegi raaton mein(Ajnabee) forever. Yeah he is very underrated. I mean, listen to Amar Prem, my God!”