Hindi film music, particularly upto the mid-seventies, would not be what it is, were it not for the overwhelming role played by raag Bhairavi in enhancing its popularity. A significantly high percentage of hindi film songs based on Hindusthani classical music have their origins in Raag Bhairavi. Even one who may not have been initiated into the nuances of Hindusthani classical music, would have surely heard about Raag Bhairavi and be in the know that it is sung or played at the end of a classical music concert. To the one who is familiar, the Raag instantly evokes a feeling of awe and respect that is difficult to put into words. It is not without good reason that Raag Bhairavi is considered as the queen of ragas.
Raag
Bhairavi, due to its inherent nature and structure, has come to be
used more extensively in the semi-classical genres, such as thumris,
dadras, ghazals, dhuns, bhajans, natyasangeet and last but not the
least, Hindi film music. It has hardly being used for Khayal style of
singing. Perhaps the best ode to Raag Bhairavi has very befittingly
come from none other than one who has arguably sung the best ever
Bhairavi in Hindi film music – the great Kundan Lal Saigal (Babul
Mora in the film Street Singer). In an interview given by him in
August 1938 to Kriti Ghosh of Jayanthi film magazine, Kolkata, he had
this to say about raag Bhairavi, “My
favourite raga is Bhairavi. To know Bhairavi is to know ragas. You
know how it is. There is Todi in it. There is Kafi in it and
Bhimpalasi and Asavari and the flavour and scent of so many ragas. In
fact, with any three notes of Bhairavi you can have a dhun and the
possibility of another song. If I had Bhairavi, I will not pine for
any other raga much.”
K.L.
Saigal’s observations on Raag Bhairavi, particularly with regard to
a mere three notes being enough to have a dhun and the possibility of
another song, itself explains why such a large number of hindi film
songs have been based on Raag Bhairavi; more so in view of the fact
that Bhairavi is a sampoorna
raag which has all the 7
swaras of which 4 are komal.
Bhairavi is like an ocean that affords every melody the space to
have its own individuality and identity, without being accused of
being a copy or a clone of another melody. I am still in the process
of compiling a comprehensive list of hindi film songs based on
Hindusthani classical music. I have so far collated a list of around
650 songs (with perhaps many more to go) out of which nearly 190
songs are based on Raag Bhairavi, which translates into 29%. This is
an overwhelming proportion, considering the fact that there are so
many ragas on which our film songs are based. In the list of 188
there are 5-6 songs which are based on Raag Sindhu Bhairavi. The
second most common raag used in Hindi film songs is Pahadi for which
I have, at the moment, a list of 40 songs.
Of
the 190 songs, 48 (25%) have been composed by the great duo of
Shankar Jaikishan, who have virtually made Raag Bhairavi their own.
Of these 22 compositions were made for the great Raj Kapoor (either
for RK Films or in films where RK was the hero) who was a musician
par excellence in his own right and whose favourite raag was
Bhairavi, others being Shivranjani, Malkauns, Darbari and Pahadi.
Over a period of time, the songs in RK films based on Raag Bhairavi
came to be known as RK Bhairavi for its distinct style of
composition. It is said (and with good reason) that there is not a
single song in an RK film where Raj Kapoor would not have had a final
say on the lyrics and the music. He was so clear in his mind as to
what he wanted that he would brook no resistance. At the cost of
digressing, there is a documented incident wherein the great Lata
Mangeshkar, much against her wishes and objections, was made to sing
the song “Main kya karoon Ram mujhe buddha mil gaya” in the film
Sangam. Lata’s reservations stemmed from the perceived double
meaning of the song.
Shankar
Jaikishan were way ahead of their peers, with the great Naushad
coming a distant second with 22 compositions.
I
am attaching a list of all songs that are based on this raag. This
list is by no means complete. If any readers are able to suggest any
more songs based on Raag Bhairavi, I would be grateful and only too
glad to update my list.
In
my next post I will also cover Bhairavi compositions by other music
directors and also give my top 10 list of Bhairavi based film songs.
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