Woh Bhooli Dastaan
He was simply matchless. In an ethos swathed in melody and poetry, Madan Mohan was the lone ranger. Composing songs that have not lost even an iota of their sheen after all these years! Madan Mohan did for the film ghazal what God did for the man by giving light to earth. The radiance and the luminosity of his poetic creations have given Madan Mohan's compositions a longevity and that unique ability to surprise every listener, that no composer could hope to rival or equal.

Listen to the choicest evergreens from the roomy and revered repertoire of the other composing stalwarts of the era when melody was Diva. You will find that the orchestral alignments have become creaky, the instrumentation has grown antiquated and the vocal inflections convey the flavour and feeling of a specific period. The melodic omnipresence of Madan Mohan is attributable to the timeless quality of his compositions. Madan Mohan's songs pitched their tents in the heart. With considerable assistance from poets Raja Mehndi Ali Khan, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Kaifi Azmi and of course the voice of Lata Mangeshkar (without which Madan Mohan considered his songs adhura) the composer left behind what can only be described as a vast treasury of unblemished tunes.

Madan Mohan's art represents the highest plateau of the compositional process. No further refinement could be worked into a Madan Mohan composition, and I suspect even the composer himself would have agreed with that. Consider the limitless vocabulary of excellence spelt by the following Lata - MM melodies, songs that thrill our aesthetic and emotional sensibilities even today, decades after they were first fashioned out : Aaja Kahin Se Aaja (Samunder), Hai Issi Mein Pyaar Ki Abroo Woh Jafaa Karen Main Wafaa Karoon (Anpadh). Ankhon Ankhon Mein (Ada), Badi Barbadiayan Lekar (Dhoon), Sapne Mein Saajan Se Do Baaten (Gateway of India), Sajan Lagan Teri (Duniya Na Maane), Lag Ja Gale Ke Phir Yeh Haseen Raat Ho Na Ho (Woh Kaun Thi), Woh Bhooli Daastan Lo Phir Yaad Aa Gayee (Sanjog), Woh Chup Rahein To Mere Dil Ke Daag Jalte Hain (Jahan Ara), Main to Tum Sang Nain Mila Ke Haar Gayee Sajna (Man Mauji), Rasm-E-Ulfat Ko Nibhayen To Nibhayen Kaise (Dil Ki Raahen), Do Dil Toote Do Dil Haare (Heer Ranjha), Aaj Socha To Aansoon Bhar Aaye Muddaten Ho Gayeen Muskuraaye (Hanste Zakham), Maai Ri Main Kasey Kahun Peer Apne Jiya Ki (Dastak), Unko Yeh Shikayat Hai (Aap Ki Parchhayian), Sapnon Mein Agar Mere Tum Aao To So Jaoon (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki), Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha Pyaar Ke Kabil Mujhe (Anpadh), about which Naushad had once said, he is willing to give all his compositions in exchange for the privilege of possessing that tune.

One would comfortably add another 25-30 MM-Lata songs to the above list without meaning to simply enhance the hit list celebrating the most fruitful creative collaboration in the long and eventful history of the Hindi film song. One veteran composer had commented while relaxing over Madan Mohan's Tu Jahaan Jahaan Chalega, from Mera Saaya, "Don't you think this one tune is worth more than anything that Nadeem - Shravan, Anand Milind, Anu Malik and Co have ever composed or can ever dream of composing?"

That Lata was always special to Madan Mohan goes without singing. He could not visualize a physical embodiment to his creative images without Lata's voice. The composer's son Sanjeev Kohli recalls that even though Madan Mohan forbade his children from attending song recordings and insisted that they concentrate on their studies, he would permit them to attend recordings of Lata.

He would ask me to observe how Lata and Rafi sang, recalls Sanjeev Kohli fondly. "Particularly as regards Lataji he would tell us to watch that she could never make a mistake. If at all a song would take longer to record than expected, it was because the musicians were making mistakes. This has remained a vivid memory with me. The infallibility of Lata Mangeshkar which I have observed when I have personally worked with her and now I feel I have been working with her since I was a child." Perfection of quality attainable only through Lata's voice was Madan Mohan's aim for every score, every composition, every note. And money be damned. Rehana Sultan recently remembered that when she approached Madan Mohan to score music for her production Dil Ki Rahen, he refused to discuss money. "Mar Khana Hai Kya?" Rehana remembers the composer saying. His quest for a completeness in the creative act would sometime lead to ugly, if in retrospect amusing, confrontations with lax lyricists and truant musicians. Lata Mangeshkar remembers how during the recording of a song for Raj Khosla's Mera Saaya some discordant musicians felt the fire of Madan Mohan's ire: "Madan Bhaiyya had learnt classical music and imbibed the best of the classical singers. It's in this way that the strong foundation of musicianship is laid. He himself sang with a vigorous throat. That's why his geet, ghazal and bhajan were so cogent. Madan bhaiyya was an artiste in the truest sense. And he was extremely melodious. He had composed a very melodious song (Naino Mein Badra Chaye) based on Raag Bhim Palasi. I was rehearsing before the mike when what did I see! On Madan bhaiyya's face there was an anger instead of joy and it was increasing by the minute. Some musicians were playing off-key. Off-key music and Madan Mohan??!! No question of that. He sprang lividly towards the musician's enclave. There was a glass door in between. Instead of opening it he hit the glass door forcefully. His hand was bleeding profusely. But he kept shouting "Besura Bajate Ho? Sur Ke Saath Beimaani Kar Rahe Ho? Sharam Nahi Aati?"

The pursuit of the littoral of excellence took Madan Mohan to the shores of emotional response, positive or negative. He was once so overwhelmed by the poetry of Majrooh Sultanpuri that he rushed to him and showered light blows on his stomach. Later the dazed poet was invited for the rare privilege of a meal. Friends would look forward to a dinner invitation from 'Sahib Composer' (he dressed neatly, rode the best imported cars which were not brought out on the roads during rains) for a meal of Bhindi Gosht which was as delectable as Madan Mohan's tunes. For all his creative convictions, Madan Mohan never got the recognition that was more than his due. When the National Award came his way for Dastak in 1970, it was in the words of George Bernand Shaw, like throwing a raft at a man who had already reached the shore. In Madan Mohan's case the shore was reached without a single raft in sight. Any person with an ear for music would agree that Madan's score in Adalat (1958), Dekh Kabira Roya (1957), Jailor (1958), Anpadh (1962), Jahan Ara (1964), Ghazal (1965), Mera Saaya (1966), Heer Ranjha (1970), Hanste Zakhm (1973) and Mausam (1975) constituted the crème de la crème of Hindi film music. They didn't get the recognition that they ought to have. When Madan Mohan missed an award even for Woh Kaun Thi, Lata Mangeshkar had expressed regret at this neglect. "It's enough for me that you feel this way, Madan had replied quietly".

Never one to grab every assignment that came his way, nor one to blow his own trumpet Madan Mohan was the son of the partner of the Bombay Talkies and Filmistan Studios. He did bit parts in films like Shaheed and Munimji before being packed off by his father to join the army from where the boy fled within one year to pursue his true vocation. Madan Mohan joined the All India Radio in Lucknow where he came in contact with Begum Akhtar and later spent time listening to "culturists" like Jadan Bai (Nargis' mother). After assisting S.D.Burman in Do Bhai and Munimji (much to the annoyance of his father) Madan Mohan was launched as a full fledged music director in 1950 with Aankhen alongside the film's hero Shekhar and director Devendra Goel.

Lata remembers her first meeting with Madan Mohan at the Filmistan Studios: "By the year 1947, I was beginning to get some recognition. But I knew there were many peaks to conquer. Master Ghulam Haider had called me to record a song. I was happy that such a great music director had thought of me. I happily reached Filmistan. I got to know that a very big film Shaheed was being shot. I had been called to record a duet for it. The person with whom I was supposed to sing this duet was called Madan Mohan. I had never seen him before nor heard him sing. I also came to know that he was the son of the studio's owner Rai Bahadur Chunnilal. It amused me no end. It was a song about sibling affection Pinjre Mein Bulbul Bole Mera Chota Sa Dil Doley.

After recording I told Madan Mohan "You sang very well" He replied "Haan Theek Tha, I'm going into music direction. You must sing in my first film".

"For some reason, I couldn't sing in his first film Aankhen. Madan Mohan was very unhappy about it. He took me home and said. "The first time we met, we sang a song about a brother and a sister. Today is Raksha Bandhan, come tie a raakhi on me. "From today you're my sister and I'm your Madan bhaiyya."From that day to his last, he was like my own brother".

Having found the perfect voice for his peerless compositions, Madan Mohan grappled for years with the peculiar problem of having to score for B and C grade family socials and costume dramas. Most of Madan Mohan's most memorable mood-creations in the 50s were contained in enormously forgettable melody dramas such as Chacha Chowdhuri, Fifty Fifty, Sheroo, Pocketmaar, Chote Babu, Ek Shola and Khota Paisa. Unlike the other stalwards of the time, Madan Mohan's Lata melodies did not obtain the sublime physical manifestation that they so richly deserved. Think of Khemchand Prakash's Aaega Aanewala from Mahal or Ghulam Mohammed's Chalte Chalte from Pakeeza, Madhubala and Meera Kumari immediately supplement the visual beauty of the composition. Think of Madan Mohan's Woh Bhooli Dastaan (Sanjog), Zara Si Aahat Hoti Hai (Haqeeqat) and Hum Hain Matae Kuchaa Bazaar Ki Tarah (Dastak) and what do we see? Anita Guha, Priya Rajvansh and Rehana Sultan!. The only ethereal beauty who enhanced the "majesty of Madan Mohan-Lata's collaborative spirit was Sadhana in Woh Kaun Thi, Man Mauji and Mera Saaya. By 1970 the manifestative fortunes of Madan Mohan's melodies had fallen to the lips of Anjana Mumtaz.

The Ghazal King Madan Mohan was that for sure. But he was also a creator who could go beyond the domain of his favourite style. Tragically, musicologists began to recognize his true worth in the Burman - Ramchandra - Naushad - Nayyar hierarchy only after his death. Madan Mohan's tunes are recognized by its completely self contained compartment. No two Madan Mohan tunes are alike. Repetitiveness was as alien to this incomparable creator as compromise. That he settled for nothing but the best was a well known fact in the industry. That he deserved the best banners and assignment was a fact that the industry chose to sweep under the carpet. Fortunately Madan Mohan's tunes are now getting the recognition that they always deserved.

As Khayyam recently commented, "He is no Bhooli Hui Dastaaan".