(Part 2) Lata sings for S D Burman – Mehfil Mein Meri
I hope you all enjoyed the earlier post covering Lata’s solos for S D Burman. Continuing the series, I’m presenting today, Lata Mangeshkar’s duets for S D Burman.
SD Burman with Lata Mangeshkar
When I went through the stats, out of 180+ songs she sang for S D Burman, duets and trios formed only around 26% of songs.
The total number of duets are 48 and there are a couple of trios.
The details of duets are as follows –With Kishore Kumar – 21With Rafi – 13With Talat Mahmood – 3With Manna Dey – 3With Hemant Kumar – 2With Mukesh – 1With Usha Mangeshkar – 1With Pramodini Desai – 1With Bhupendra – 1With Manhar Udhas – 1With Danny Dangzompa – 1
The details of Trios are as follows –With Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar for Benazir (1964)With S D Burman and R D Burman for Yeh Gulistan Hamara (1972)
A more careful look at the duets revealed a few interesting facts.
Lata Mangeshkar – S D Burman 1.0Out of 78 songs till 1957, there are only 10 duets (13%)
Lata Mangeshkar – S D Burman 2.0Out of 102 songs from 1962 to the last released film, there are 39 duets (38%)
Out of 48 duets, there are only two duets with female playback singers
Out of 48 duets, 69% duets are with Rafi and Kishore Kumar
Without a further ado, let’s begin the melodious journey.
It was in the year 1951 itself that Lata Mangeshkar sang her first duets with Talat Mahmood, Rafi and Kishore Kumar, under the baton of S D Burman. I’ve already covered Lata’s first song with Rafi for Burman da in previous posts. So in this post I’ll cover her other duets.
1. Dar Lage Duniya Se Balma – Buzdil (1951) with Talat / Lyrics by Kaifi AzmiThe song is good, but may not be extremely popular. Though later S D Burman didn’t offer many songs to Talat Mahmood, in the early 50s, a few of his films do have songs by Talat Mahmood and the majority of them are duets. This beautiful duet is picturised on Nimmi and Premnath.
2. Aaja Aaja Tera Intezar Hai – Sazaa (1951) with Talat / Lyrics by Rajendra KrishanThe song portrays the pining of Nimmi for Dev Anand. The song has intense emotions and both the singers give full justice to it.
3. Dekho Dekho Jee – Naujawan (1951) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by SahirIt’s fun to watch and listen to this song! It’s picturised on Beautiful Nalini Jaywant and Premnath. I kept on remembering C Ramchandra’s light hearted songs while listening to this one. Kishore Kumar is delightful, Lata Mangeshkar almost interjects his lines at the end of second verse to continue for the third verse. Nalini Jaywant finally falls for Premnath’s charm.
4. Peechhe Peechhe Aakar – House no 44 (1955) with Hemant Kumar / Lyrics by SahirThough it’s technically a duet, Hemant Kumar has no lines as such. He sings aalaps, hums in between but his presence is there throughout. The song is incomplete without his mischievous or joyous interjections. The tune is very sweet and in all it’s a lovely melody.
Now, I’ll present Lata Mangeshkar’s duets from Lata Mangeshkar – S D Burman 2.0
5. Ek Ghar Banaunga – Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963) with Rafi / Lyrics by Hasrat JaipuriThis Dev Anand and Nutan starrer had a whole bunch of beautiful melodies including a couple of duets by Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi. The title track of the movie has an interesting picturisation too, where Dev Anand sees Nutan in his drink. And Nutan even shivers when someone puts ice in the glass. A fun to watch and a delight to listen to.
6. Gaata Rahe Mera Dil – Guide (1965) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by ShailendraRafi got to sing all the solos in the movie, but due to the differences on the royalty issue, Lata Mangeshkar wasn’t singing with Rafi. The song then obviously went to Kishore Kumar. One of the all time romantic duets of Hindi cinema, the picturisation of the song is also good.
7. Likha Hai Teri Aankhon Mein – Teen Deviyan (1965) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by MajroohThe song is still very popular. It’s an audio-visual treat. Beautiful Nanda, handsome Dev Anand and the eye pleasing farms, all are very appealing.Teen Deviyan had just a couple of duets by Lata Mangeshkar. While this song became very popular, the other one picturised on Simmi Grewal didn’t.
8. Dil Pukare Aa Re – Jewel thief (1967) with Rafi / Lyrics by MajroohAfter the reunion of Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi, this was the first duet they recorded. And it’s Rafi’s only song for the movie. I have always liked it more than Aasman Ke Neeche. A beautiful tune and beautiful melody. The song seems to have a touch of North Indian folk tune. The musical arrangement and orchestration is wonderful!
9. Baagon Mein Bahar Hai – Aradhana (1969) with Rafi / Lyrics by Anand BakshiAgain I like this song more than Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera. And I like Farida Jalal, she looks so bubbly and cute in this one! Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar are excellent as usual.
10. Sochke Yeh Gagan Jhoome – Jyoti (1969) with Manna Dey / Lyrics by Anand BakshiA beautiful melody for a not so popular movie. In fact, I hadn’t the faintest idea of the film or the composer, when I heard the song for the first time. I instantly took a liking to it. It’s picturised on Sanjeev Kumar and Nivedita and for me it’s one of Lata’s best duets with Manna Dey. Lata Mangeshkar had just 3 duets with him for S D Burman.
11. Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaye – Prem Pujari (1970) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by NeerajPrem Pujari had beautiful songs and even if I had a solo on the earlier list, I couldn’t help adding this romantic duet to the list. Its picturisation is also very good.
12. Yeh Dil Deewana Hai – Ishq Par Zor Nahin (1970) with Rafi / Lyrics by Anand BakshiEven though the lyrics of the song are not great, they don’t sound banal. The song has a peaceful ठहराव and the singers have done full justice to the slow paced melody. The song creates a perfect aura of a romantic evening.
13. Jeevan Ki Bagiya Mehkegi – Tere Mere Sapne (1971) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by NeerajA newly wed couple dreaming of their soon to arrive baby. Good lyrics, heart touching rendition by the singers and easy on the ear tune, all make it a memorable song.
14. Tere Mere Milan Ki Raina – Abhiman (1973) with Kishore Kumar / Lyrics by MajroohThe film ends with this timeless classic, where the singer couple recites their dreams on the stage. Jaya Bhaduri who loses her voice after the psychological trauma and she sings for the first time after that. One of Lata’s best duets with Kishore Kumar. She sang three duets for the movie, one each with Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Manhar Udhas.
15. Baagon Mein Kaise Yeh Phool – Chupke Chupke (1975) with Mukesh / Lyrics by Anand BakshiBurman da didn’t offer many songs to Mukesh. And this was his only song with Burman da in the 70s and also his only duet with Lata Mangeshkar sung under the baton of S D Burman.
This time, I could represent about one third of Lata Mangeshkar’s duets for S D Burman. Still I couldn’t include a lot of beautiful melodies keeping in mind the length of the post. Readers are free to add their favourites to the list. I’m waiting for your comments.
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