Trivia Tunes: From Dharmendra’s specific musical demand for Yamla Pagla Deewana to Shabbir Kumar’s connection with Sunny Deol’s Betaab and Gadar 2

By Rajiv Vijayakar -

October 5, 2023 - 4:00 PM IST

Hindi film composers need attention!

Trivia Tunes: From Dharmendra’s specific musical demand for Yamla Pagla Deewana to Shabbir Kumar’s connection with Sunny Deol’s Betaab and Gadar 2

The music of Dunki is scored by Pritam, which boosts the viability of the film’s album and the price of the movie significantly. But in these days when music is not given due importance, why is this fact kept a kind of state secret (!) rather than blitzed in the film’s news and promo material? All this merely proves that a composer and his creations, if from our home industry, are no longer as important as they used to be. Unless, of course, the composer is an au courant big name in the South, like Ravi Basrur, S. Thaman or Anirudh Ravichander! Even A.R. Rahman in a few recent films (Mili, Mimi, Gandhi Godse—Ek Yudh) was really not hyped, and his being a part of these films not known until almost release time. Time was when the composer’s value was next to the star-cast, banner and director, in selling a film. As Anand Bakshi’s song goes, ‘Waqt waqt ki baat hai’!

From Betaab to Gadar 2, it’s been Shabbir Kumar & family!

The ‘80s and early ‘90s top singer Shabbir Kumar recently posted on his social media that Sunny Deol’s first film was Betaab, which completed 40 years on August 5, 2023. In Sunny’s latest film, Gadar 2, Shabbir’s granddaughter Shifa Ruby has lent supporting vocals in the song, ‘Chal Tere Ishq Mein’, which Shabbir’s son, Dilshaad Shaikh, supervised under the music direction of Mithoon.

Mukesh and the senior Deol!

In Dharmendra’s debut film, Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960), Mukesh was the sole voice for the new hero, including for the hit, ‘Mujhko Iss Raat Ki Tanhaai Mein’. Eighteen years later, Dharmendra’s home production, Dillagi, saw Mukesh’s son, Nitin Mukesh, sing playback for him in the popular ‘Prem Hai Piya Man Ki Madhur Ek Bhavana’. And in almost some kind of a reciprocation, in 2007, Dharmendra played a key role in Neil Nitin Mukesh’s debut film, Johnny Gaddaar.

How Mohammed Rafi never ‘sang’ in Yamla Pagla Deewana!

Speaking of the Deols, Mohammed Rafi’s ‘Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana’ (Pratiggya in 1975) was to be filmed again on Dharmendra as well as his two sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol in Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011). The Laxmikant-Pyarelal-composed, Anand Bakshi-written song was, however, on the HMV (as Saregama was known then) music label, and the music rights of Yamla… had been given to T-Series. Dharmendra wanted the original song as it is in the new movie, but at that time, T-Series had not joined the IPRS (Indian Performing Rights Society, which they joined in 2021), and so a lot of complex issues would have arisen. Sonu Nigam then got to record the song (with Nindy Kaur) under the baton of RDB (Rhythm, Dhol, Bass), a British Indian band.

The solo composer’s challenge

It was always that battle and supreme challenge to score an album on your own for any composer in the older era. For this, he often took help and inspiration (not copying a song!) if the music needed was not up his street in terms of training and origins. A case in point was when the filmmakers insisted on Naushad giving a Western flavour to the music of Saathi (1968). Initially reluctant to compose for the film as he felt he could not match the excellence of the original Tamil film, Naushad sought the help of veteran composer, musician and arranger Kersi Lord, when he could not avoid raags in his composition, to tweak the arrangements for the songs. These were the ways in which our composers doggedly completed the diverse demands of a movie. A.R. Rahman, decades later, sought Sukhwinder Singh’s help in fashioning some Punjab-based melodies in Taal and 1947. Today, filmmakers take the easy way out and invite someone else (especially if he has given a successful song in the genre needed) for a quick-fix solution!

Loyal to the pen!

We all know of filmmakers’ enduring associations with composers, because of which they even abandoned certain projects where there were reasons for their composers not being able to come in. But there were a few such examples where the music director was also changed because he or they did not fit in with the lyrics writer to whom they were loyal. B.R. Chopra, for example, wanted S.D. Burman originally for Gumraah and Shankar-Jaikishan for Waqt. While S.D. Burman had decided never to work with Sahir, Shankar-Jaikishan wanted Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra for the latter film, as they were loyal to them, And in came Ravi for both films and created iconic songs for both!

Loyal friendships

Our male singers, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey were very fond of each other and treated each other with huge respect. Decades down, Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz, both of who competed for the Mohammed Rafi-like songs as their voices were very similar, also were close to each other. The deep bonhomie and closeness between Kavita Krishnamurthi Balasubramaniam and Alka Yagnik, both the top two singers of the 1990s, is well-known. The melodious legacy is carried on now by Shaan with the late KK. So close was Shaan to the late KK and still is to his friend’s family that he recently turned down even a video recording in honour of his friend as it was to be used for a commercial purpose.