Best film songs based on classical ragas. Guest article by Subodh Agrawal(My friend Subodh Agrawal is a great music lover and a keen follower of my blog. He once suggested I write on films songs based on classical ragas. This was already in my mind, but then I realised Subodh is much better equipped to do it.

I am grateful that he accepted my request to do a guest series of articles on this theme. This curtain raiser showcasing his favourite 1.

Aarti Mangal Kaari Ki Pawan Sut Ati Bal Dhaari Ki. Gale Mein Tulasi Ki Maala Bajave Bheetar Tan Taana Hardaye Mein Dasrath Ke Laala. Bhav Pe Gir Anokhi Jhalak. Listen to your favourite Hindi, Punjabi, Pakistani, Ghazals, Pop, Filmi, and Bhangra songs in Real Audio and MP3 format. Over 1000 of songs. Lag Ja Gale Ki Phir Ye Hasin Raat Ho Na Ho Shaayad Phir Is Janam Men Mulaaqaat Ho Na Ho Lag Jaa Gale Ham Ko Mili Hain Aaj, Ye Ghadiyaan Nasib Se.

I am sure there are many more to come from his pen. He bounced it back to me, thanks to some pretensions I have of knowing something about classical music. I have accepted the commission with some reluctance, being well aware of how little I actually know about it. I had first thought of doing a list like . I may yet get around to doing that for the major ragas music directors of Hindi film industry love – likes of Bhairavi, Yaman, Malkauns, Darbari, Pilu etc. What I have chosen to do now is to list ten iconic songs based on classical ragas that don’t have such large repertoires of film songs. Years back when I was flirting with classical music and trying to get a feel for different ragas, these songs were used by my friend and teacher Pankaj Sharan to help me get that feel.

Raga Jaijaiwanti: Manmohana bade jhoothe by Lata Mangeshkar from Seema (1. Shailendra, music Shankar Jaikishan. The first of these iconic songs is Manmohna bade jhoote from Seema. Raga Jaijaiwanti is easy to recognize – thanks to its pakad or catch- phrase – rising from ni, just touching ga and then coming to rest on re: the final .

This movement gives this raga a nice teasing quality – which has been put to good use by Shankar Jaikishan in this song that combines bhakti and shringar rasas: The original composition of Ram Dhun is in raga Jaijaiwanti. The popular version misses out most of the nuances of the raga, but this rendering by Pandit DV Paluskar is an excellent presentation: 2. Raga Bageshree: Radha na bole na bole re by Lata Mangeshkar from Azad (1. Rajendra Krishna, music C Ramchandra. I had a tough time choosing between Jaag dard- e ishq jaag and Radha na bole na bole re as my iconic song for Bageshree.

Ultimately I have opted for the latter, as it stays closer to the standard format of the raga. In any case, this was the song my friend used to help me into the nuances of this raga. A treat for those fans of Songs of Yore who missed it in AK’s post on C Ramachandra: Like most great ragas Bageshree can be used to express a variety of moods. The song above presents its playful mood.

The classical piece below shows what this raga can do to express yearning and pathos. Driver 76 Psp Gun Cheats San Andreas. Malini Rajurkar sings a composition that was made famous by the late Kumar Gandharva: 3. Raga Bhimpalasi: Beena madhur mdhur kachhu bol by Saraswati Rane from Ram Rajya (1. Ramesh Gupta, music Shankarrao Vyas. I have often wondered why raga Bhimpalasi has such a martial and masculine name, because it is one of the sweetest sounding ragas. My friend had used E ri main to prem diwani to introduce me to this raga, but then I discovered Beena madhur madhur kachhu bol by Saraswati Rane for Ramrajya in his collection of old 7. According to Wikipedia Saraswati Rane was born as Sakina, daughter of legendary Ustad Abdul Karim Khan– doyen of the Kirana Gharana.

Her mother Tarabai later separated from Ustad ji and reverted to Hindu names for her children. Her brother Sureshbabu Mane and sister Hirabai Barodekar also distinguished themselves in classical music.

So here it is – one of the most haunting melodies from the golden era: Now you may want to hear Ustad Abdul Karim Khan himself render the same raga: 4. Raga Bhopali: Jyoti kalash chhalke by Lata Mangeshkar from Bhabhi Ki Chudyan (1. Narendra Sharma, music Sudhir Phadke. Bhopali is a subset of my favourite raga Yaman. It is essentially Yaman without the fourth and seventh note. Doing so takes away some of the gravity of Yaman and retains a feeling of pure joy.

Another raga from the same family – Shudh Kalyan – omits these two notes in ascending movements, and includes them in descending ones and the mood falls somewhere between Bhopali and Yaman. Pandit Omkar Nath Thakur, in fact, didn’t like the name Shudh Kalyan and insisted on calling it Bhoop Kalyan. For me the iconic composition in Bhopali is the famous Jyoti kalash chhalke composed by Sudhir Phadke from Bhabhi ki Chudiyan: I was with a lot of Maharashtrian friends when I was learning the rudiments of classical music. They introduced me to Ghanashyam Sundara from the 1.

Marathi film Amar Bhupali. Some of them claimed that this song was the inspiration for Jyoti Kalash Chaalke. Listen to the song and make your own judgment: Ghanshaym sundara sindura by Panditrao Nagarkar and Lata Mangeshkar from Amar Bhupali (1. Vasant Desai. 5. Raga Hameer: Madhuban mein Radhika nachee re by Mohammad Rafi from Kohinoor (1. Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad.

Raga Hameer was introduced to the masses by Madhuban mein Radhika nachi re. It remains to this day the most complete and authentic presentation of this raga in film music. Let the song speak for itself: Years back, long before I developed an ear for classical music, I had read an article in a magazine on Khansaheb Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. A line remained in my mind – . I couldn’t find a recording of Khansaheb’s Hameer in the days of vinyl records and tapes. Internet has proved more resourceful: 6. Raga Hamsadhwani: Ja tose nahin bolun Kanhaiya by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar from Parivaar (1.

Shailenra, music Salil Chaudhary. Now a raga from the South. Hamsadhwani is very popular in Carnatic music and I understand no concert in the South is complete without a rendition of the famous composition Vaathapi Ganapathim, which was adapted in the film Parivar as Ja tose nahin bolun kanhaiya. Hamsadhwani was a favourite raga of Ustad Ameer Khan and he did a lot to popularize it in the North. Here is a tarana by him in this raga: 7. Raga Kalawati: Kahe tarsaye jiyara by Usha Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle from Chitralekha (1.

Sahir Ludhiyanvi, music Roshan. Another raga from the south – Kalawati. Kahe tarsaye jiyara is the iconic composition in this raga; though another famous one is Koi sagar dil ko behlata nahin.

I am presenting the former, as to me it captures the mood of the raga much better (Koi Sagar has some elements of Janasammohini in it). Roshan has done a great job – as always: A little change in the structure of Kalawati – addition of . I wish to share with you here is a Shabad from Gurbani in Kalawati – Re man aiso kar sanyasa. This recording is in the voice of Asha Bhosle, as taken for the Punjabi Film Nanak naam jahaaz hai. One of the most appealing aspects of Sikhism for a non- Sikh is the quality of Sikh devotional music.

I have to thank my colleague KBS Sidhu for posting the link on Facebook: 8. Raga Gaud Malhar: Garjat barsat saawan ayo re by Suman Kalyanpur and Kamal Barot from Barsaat Ki Raat (1. Sahir Ludhiyanavi, music Roshan.

Malhar has spawned many variants. The most well known is Miyan ki Malhar. I learnt only recently that Miyan ki Malhar is not the original Malhar, but a variant evolved by Tansen.

Today when one simply says Malhar one means Miyan ki Malhar. H E R O 2003 Limited Series Comics. The original Malhar is now known as Shudh Malhar. There are very few recordings in it. There are many others – Des Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar etc.

Gaud Malhar has two famous songs that sound practically the same – Garjat barsat saawan aayo re from Barsaat ki Raat, and Garjat barsat bheejat aayi lo from Malhar – both composed by Roshan. The ghazal Jurm- e ulfat pe hamein log sazaa dete hain from Tajmahal is also supposed to be based on Gaud Malhar, though I confess I couldn’t identify the raga on hearing it. It sounded more like Chhayanat to me, with some extra notes thrown in. Here, anyway, is the song from Barsaat ki Raat: Now listen to Pandit Jasraj present the same raga: 9. Raga Kedar: Darshan do Ghnashyam by Hemant Kumar, Mana Dey and Sudha Malhotra from Narsi Bhagat (1.