Chitragupta: Hamara Adhikar (1971) / Sonik Omi: Dharma (1973)

'Hamara Adhikar' is another soundtrack where asking prices have so far prevented me from obtaining an LP copy; fortunately the score's highlight is featured in its full length on this EP. 'Bum Pam Bum Pam Ra Ra Ra' is a bouncy pop'n'roll tune with cool guitar licks (even a Dick Dale inspired bit) and a catchy chorus. The track has pedigree of sorts – it's essentially a straight lift of a similarly titled 1967 Greek tune by Aris San, and was later given an Arabic makeover by Bob Azzam. I like Chitragupta's take best. On the flip side, country-tinged 'Rona Tera Ghadi Ghadi' is sweet too.



'Dharma' first came to my attention via the film's superb cabaret sequence. A medley (and for a while I thought the clip might be the construct of a present-day YouTuber, but the whole thing does actually appear in the movie) that revisits 'Mera Naam Hai Jameela' from 'Night In London', combined with an exhilarating new track, itself multifaceted: 'Are Saqi Jo' starts off as an appealing, lounge-jazzy ballroom/nightclub affair, whereupon, after an interlude of traditional dance, we are transported underground, to a seedy, drug-infested den of vice, with heady grooves to match. All very RD Burman influenced (as Sonik Omi were prone to be), but wow; I was kind of mind-blown. The EP-version, edited as always, leaves out the dance break but contains decent portions of the rest. Was a full version of the song released anywhere?

The qawwali 'Raaz Ki Baht Ka Doo To' is apparently quite famous.

Track listing, 'Hamara Adhikar':
1. Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle: Bum Pam Bum Pam Ra Ra Ra
2. Mohd. Rafi: Rona Tera Ghadi Ghadi
3. Asha Bhosle: Bhaiya Mera Laya

Track listing, 'Dharma'
1. Asha Bhosle & Mohd. Rafi: Raaz Ki Baht Ka Doo To (Qawwali)
2. Mohd. Rafi: Na Solah Oopar Na Sattrah Se Kam
3. Asha Bhosle & Omi: Are Saqi Jo


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Chitragupta: Vaasana (1968)

Music director Chitragupta Shrivastava's career spanned five decades (1940s-80s); his lovely 1968 effort 'Vaasana' [review] was made somewhere in the middle and is one of those scores that successfully bridges tradition and modernity. Captivating, almost soothing sounding melodies characterize 'Aaj Is Darja Pila Do', 'Itni Nazuk Na Bano' and 'Yeh Parbaton Ke Daire', the latter in particular being a favourite, it could be the waltz time that does it for me. 'Mulk Men Bachon Ki Gar Sarkar Ho' features sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle voicing kids, and is also rather compelling. The exotic instrumental 'Fisher Woman's Dance' convincingly combines Latin piano, rousing strings and Indian percussion. And then there's the cabaret number 'Jeenewale Jhoom Ke', again starring Helen, but sweeter, poppier, less raunchy than on recent posts. Top stuff, regardless.

My copy of this is a Barbadian pressing. I've sure it was released in India too, but so far I've only seen late 80s reissues, so who knows?

Track listing:
1. Mohd. Rafi: Aaj Is Darja Pila Do
2. Mohd. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar: Yeh Parbaton Ke Daire
3. Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle & Chorus: Mulk Men Bachon Ki Gar Sarkar Ho
4. Lata Mangeshkar: Jeenewale Jhoom Ke
5. Mohd. Rafi: Itni Nazuk Na Bano
6. Lata Mangeshkar: Main Sadke Jaoon
7. Fisher Woman's Dance


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Chitragupta: Pyar Ka Sapna (1969) / Kalyanji Anandji: Apradh (1972) / Sonik Omi: Play Boy (1975)

I consider the one album I have by Chitragupta to be fairly good, but he has never been a music director I've put much effort into pursuing. At least not until I saw a clip of Helen in 'Pyar Ka Sapna' and it became a matter of necessity to locate that film's soundtrack. The song in question, 'Night Is Lovely Lovely, is one of the tastiest, catchiest, best Bollywood pop songs ever made, end of story. I've yet to come across a sensible copy of the LP, but this EP does me nicely.



An EP is in fact all there ever was from 'Apradh' [review] [2]; for whatever reason the film wasn't afforded a full length album. The soundtrack is primarily noteworthy for 'Ae Naujawan Hai Sub Kuchh Yahan' which became kind of famous in the west when The Black Eyed Peas sampled it for 'Don't Phunk With My Heart'. I wasn't a big fan of the latter, but I do love Kalyanji Anandji's funky original. Who doesn't?



The Mohd. Rafi track on 'Play Boy', and indeed the score as a whole, is credited to Sonik Omi. But it's this 2-track single's A-side that's really interesting; 'O My Son Shine Baby' is one of the most unusual Bollywood songs I've heard, in the sense that it doesn't sound at all as if it was made in India. A mix of Burt Bacharach, 60s West End musicals, bubblegum pop-soul and fuzzed out freak beat, sung in English (and also written) by one Edgardo Binalling Bing; it's a wonderful treat. And I'd love to find out more about it.

I've never come across a full length version of this score either (and hardly any mentions of the actual film), but look around the interwebs for some additional songs; worth grabbing.

Track listing, 'Pyar Ka Sapna':
1. Lata Mangeshkar: Ye Zindagi Hamari Kya
2. Asha Bhosle: Night Is Lovely Lovely
3. Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd. Rafi: Aai Meri Zindagi Tu Nahin Ajnabi
4. Mohd. Rafi: Tere Chehre Se Hate

Track listing, 'Apradh':
1. Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar: Hamare Siwae Tumhare
2. Asha Bhosle: Ae Naujawan Hai Sub Kuchh Yahan
3. Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle: Tum Mile Pyar Se
4. Kishore Kumar: Tum Ho Haseen

Track listing, 'Play Boy':
1. Edgardo Binalling Bing: O My Son Shine Baby
2. Mohd. Rafi: Aaj Tumhare

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Chitragupta: Bhabhi (1957/1978)

A change of era, and a change of pace... I've seldom consciously searched for Bollywood soundtracks from before the introduction of (modern) Western elements - mainly because it's the resulting mix of that which appeals to me most - but sometimes sellers were willing to throw some in for a buck or two a piece, and I was usually game. Of which I'm glad, because there really is some good stuff to be found from the 50s. 'Bhabhi' for instance, while hardly the most interesting score from the period, has a certain nostalgic feel to it... songs such as 'Kare Kare Badra' and 'Chhupa Kar Meri Ankhon Ko' exude an old world charm that I kind of like. Well worth a listen I think.

Track listing:
1. Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd. Rafi: Chali Chali Re Patang
2. Lata Mangeshkar: Kare Kare Badra
3. Mohd. Rafi: Jawan Ho Ya Budhiya
4. Lata Mangeshkar: Tie Laga Ke
5. Mohd. Rafi: Chal Ud Jare Panchhi
6. Mohd. Rafi: Chal Ud Jare Panchhi
7. Mohd. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar: Chhupa Kar Meri Ankhon Ko
8. Lata Mangeshkar: Jare Jadoogar
9. Manna Dey & Balbir: Nautanki 'Laila Majnu'

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