Anil Biswas: Creating the Blueprint for Hindi Film Music

Anil Biswas

When not yet 20, Anil Krishna Biswas was proficient in singing such Hindustani classical genres as khayals, thumris and dadra, and was also an accomplished singer in Shyama Sangeet* and Kirtans. Who could have thought that this young man would go on to become a doyen among the pioneers of Hindi film music?

Early years

Anil Biswas was born on the 7th of July 1914, in Barisal, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh),  a fertile land that has produced many eminent musicians. His mother Yamini was a trained classical singer, who wrote, composed and sang bhajans and his father Jogesh Chandra Biswas was fond of music as well. The young Anil thus got initiated into music early in life, learning to play the tabla and the harmonium and sing.

An energetic and committed boy, Anil Biswas participated in India’s freedom struggle at age 14 and was even incarcerated by the British administration for it. Upon his release, he escaped to Calcutta. He stayed for a while with his close friend Pannalal Ghosh (who went on to become one of the best-known flautists of India and married Biswas’s sister, the singer Parul Ghosh) doing odd jobs such as picking up and washing dishes at a restaurant. His spontaneous singing-while-working habit caught the attention of a magician, Manoranjan Das, and fetched him jobs as a music teacher. But his revolutionary past caught up with him and he was put back in jail.

Kazi Nazrul Islam

Like many budding and talented musicians, Biswas too was helped by the legendary poet-composer-writer Kazi Nazrul Islam, who not only gave him songs to compose tunes for but also introduced him to leading music directors. Kazi Nazrul Islam helped him to record some of his ghazals and this training helped Biswas learn the techniques of ghazal composition and rendition.

Along with Pannalal Ghosh, Biswas created music by alternating between playing the flute, the sitar and singing.  He wrote songs for Pannalal Ghosh’s first record of flute.

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The 1930s Calcutta

It was the Calcutta of the 1930s, when studios such as New Theatres were the leading movie-producing centres, and the cultural scene was alive with pathbreaking work in the fields of music, theatre, and the arts. Anil Biswas spent three years at the Rang Mahal theatre, where he composed, acted, and sang in musical plays. This opportunity helped him experiment with various music forms, from classical to folk – an experience that equipped him to try out a wide range of genres in film music compositions.

Anil Biswas and SD Burman

Recalled Anil Biswas in the programme ‘Rasikeshu’, in conversation with music composer Tushar Bhatia, for Vividh Bharati, “Hum, Sachinda aur Saigal, hum teenon ek company ke artists thhe – Hindustan Musical Products and Varieties Syndicate Ltd., Calcutta mein. Main 1932 ki baat kar raha hoon. Hum log teenon bahut dost thhe. Aur hum teenon aakhir mein nikalte thhe aur ek saath mein chalke apne apne ghar jaate thhe. Unhone (SD Burman) teen khaas kism ke chheezon ko Hindi film mein laaye. Haalanke, Barisal ke taraf ke folk jo hum leke aaye thhe. Aur uske baad yeh Tripura ke jo khaas folk ka rang hai, woh leke aaye. Unke apne jo khud ke hain, woh ek rang thha. Hum ne aur unhone dono ne – dono ka baap hai Rabindranath Tagore, unse kaafi liya hai. Aur kirtan ke ang, jo unhone bhi liya hai aur humne bhi liya hai. Dono pagal thhe usmein.” ¹

Rahi matwale, tu ched ek baar mann ka sitar (Waris, 1954) Qamar Jalalabadi / Talat Mahmood and Suraiya (this tune is inspired from the Rabindra Sangeet Ore grihabashi)

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The pathbreaking hits of the 40s

Biswas followed the then prevailing trend in the music field in Calcutta and migrated to Bombay in 1934. He got a few breaks and began composing as early as 1935 (the era of talkies had begun just four years earlier with Alam Ara). Thus, Anil Biswas may rightly be regarded as one of the fountainheads of Hindi film music and was called ‘Composer’s Composer’ and ‘ Film Sangeet ke Bhishma Pitamah’ and fondly ‘Anil Da’ by music lovers.

Anil Biswas was innovative and, like Pankaj Mullick, he brought in western instruments and orchestras into Hindi film music. He was introduced to Devika Rani and joined Bombay Talkies. This association brought forth super hit songs. One of the biggest hits was Ashok Kumar’s Kismet, with Kavi Pradeep’s Dur hato ae duniyawalon, Hindustan hamara hai and Dheere dheere jaa re, O badal dheere dheere ja. Kismet set new box-office records that remained unbroken for decades.

In his book Yesterday’s Melodies Today’s Memories, Manek Premchand recounted an interesting anecdote. “Kavi Pradeep had written the song Door hato aye duniya waalo, Hindustan hamaara hai! The words were penned to hit hard. The filming was to be done dramatically against the backdrop of a map of India. On the day of the recording, the lead singer, Amirbai, was in top form. Anil Biswas’ tune and choice of instruments were designed to create a super-charged nationalistic mood. The weak link was the chorus singers, as it seemed they couldn’t put enough force into the refrain. Finally, the composer decided to put himself, along with Pradeep and Arun Mukherjee, into the chorus to put force into Door hato. The difference was palpable. Door hato really means ‘Go Away’ in English, but now it became sort of ‘Get Off Our Backs’. The song must have been one reason the film was a sensational hit, running at a Calcutta theatre for an uninterrupted three years and more.”

Door hato ai duniyawaalon (Kismet, 1943) Kavi Pradeep / Amirbai Karnataki and Khan Mastana

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Mentoring talented singers and composers

In a 30-year-long stint in the Hindi film industry, from Dharam ki Devi (1935) to Chhoti Chhoti Baten (1965), Biswas not only created innovative music, he also mentored a host of talented singers and composers. From C Ramchandra and Roshan to Naushad and OP Nayyar – composers acknowledged their admiration for his tunes and guidance. Naushad, who later was to bring the concept of large orchestras and counter-melody into his compositions, credited Anil Biswas for his inspiration and named him his guru.

Anil Biswas himself sang in several films and was an established composer by the 1940s. He gave debut-making breaks to Mukesh with Dil jalta hai toh jalne de in Pehli Nazar (1945) and allowed Mukesh, obsessed with singing like K.L. Saigal, to sing it à la Saigal. But he also seriously advised Mukesh to never again sing in the Saigal mode and to develop his own style. Fortunately, Mukesh heeded that advice. Incidentally, a story goes that Saigal once heard Mukesh’s Dil Jalta hai and wondered “When did I sing this?” When he was enlightened, he personally met Mukesh and complimented him for singing it so beautifully and poignantly.

(L to R) Anil Biswas with Lata Mangeshkar, Madan Mohan and Talat Mahmood

Biswas also gave Talat Mahmood (popular as singer Tapan Kumar in Calcutta) his first Hindi film music break with Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahaan koi na ho for the film Arzoo (1949). Realizing Talat’s special talent, he worked consistently with Talat, convincing him that the tremor or vibrato in his voice was an asset rather than the handicap that Talat believed it to be, disturbed as he was by the unfavorable criticism of ignorant film pundits. To help Talat exploit this unique quality of his voice, Biswas went to the extent of composing a song (against producer Ramesh Saigal’s wish) exclusively for Talat to act in and sing for himself in the film Aaram (Shukriya ae pyar tera). Soon, that tremor in the voice became a much-acclaimed and sought-after feature of Talat’s singing.

Biswas also introduced Sudha Malhotra to Hindi films, giving her a break in the same film Arzoo (1949) with the lovely song Mila gaye nain. In the early years, Anil Biswas gave breaks to SD Batish, who would later become famous for having played a significant part in what arguably is the best composed and picturized qawwali in Hindi films: Roshan’s Na toh karwaan ki talaash hai in Barsat ki Raat (1960), and also singing in it.

Anil Biswas and Lata Mangeshkar

Biswas took a personal interest in advancing the careers of many others he worked with apart from those mentioned above. But probably the best tribute to Biswas came from Lata: “Anilda always stressed where to pause, where to take a breath, so that it neither disrupts the flow of the song nor rankles the listener’s ear. He would say, ‘If you must break up the line, do it in a manner that does not change its meaning.'” She further said, “Anilda taught me how one should move away, even so slightly, from the microphone, while drawing a breath between two words and then return, almost instantaneously, to continue with the song.” This ability stood Lata in great stead in the many decades of her singing. One can never detect this when she performed.

Anil Biswas with his team of musicians

SD Burman’s soft corner for Kishore Kumar is well known, as almost all his numbers going to Dev Anand beginning around 1954, besides many other SD films, invariably went to Kishore. But it was also Anil Biswas who gauged Kishore’s potential very early. Once Anil Biswas, Dilip Kumar and Ashok Kumar were having a chat. Biswas played the sombre tune of a duet he was creating for the film Fareb (1953), Aa mohabbat ki basti basayenge hum on his harmonium and also hummed the tune for them (neither of them was acting in the film). There was instant agreement that the female voice would be Lata but, for the male voice, Ashok Kumar proposed Talat, whereas Dilip Kumar suggested Mukesh, keeping in view the serious lyrical notes. But Biswas asked them how it would be if Kishore sang it with Lata. Both were aghast at this. But Biswas went ahead and recorded the song in Kishore’s voice for the male part. Although Kishore was also acting in the film, he had at first refused to sing it. But Biswas prevailed upon him and then Kishore sang beautifully. This was 1953, when not many were convinced that Kishore was good enough for playback singing (SD Burman was the only exception). Kishore himself wasn’t very keen on singing then, being more intent on an acting career.²

Standing from left to right Jaikishen, Pundit Gobindram, Hansraj Behl, Roshan, Mohd.Shafi, Hemant Kumar and Ghulam Mohd.
(Sitting from left to right ) V Balsara, Saraswati Devi, C Ramachandra, Anil Biswas, Naushad, Lata Mangeshkar and Madan Mohan

Thus, Anil Biswas had the invaluable ability of a music director to assess a singer’s talent. He also had a command over Urdu and a deep understanding of ghazals. Before composing a song, he would deeply imagine and appreciate emotions, thoughts, feelings, and communication and weave them into the fabric of the song.

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Weaving classical music into film songs

Biswas promoted classical music-based songs in Hindi films, as did Naushad. One of the best such songs ever in Hindi films is his creation: Ritu aye ritu jaye sakhiri mann ke meet na aaye, followed in the same song by Pee bin soonaa ri, sung by Lata and Manna Dey. The duet is set in four classical ragas—Gaud Sarang, Gaud Malhaar, Jogia and Bahaar—and is a hallmark of Anil Biswas. Pannalal Ghosh played the flute for this composition. The song lasts over 8 minutes.

An enthralling musical evening – Anil Biswas, Lata, Madan Mohan and others listening to Ustad Vilayat Khan’s sitar recital

Writes Chiranjiv Singh, former Indian Ambassador to UNESCO, in his article ‘Anil Biswas: The Bhishma Pitamah of Film Music’, “Manna Dey, has said that the finest classical Hindi filrn song of all time is Anil Da’s Ritu aaye ritu jaaye, sung by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar for Hamdard 1953 (which was Biswas’ home production). Hamdard was an ordinary film with extraordinary music. About its music, Dada said, “I wanted to show in one film all the major types of our music: khayal, thumri, ghazal, Rabindra Sangeet, film song, qawwali, cabaret style song, etc”. Ritu Aaye Ritu Jaaye is appropriately the title of Dada’s biography written by Sharad Dutt.”³

Ritu aaye ritu jaaye sakhi ri (Hamdard, 1953) Prem Dhawan / Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar

Another example of a beautiful raagmala of Raga Bihag-Yaman Kalyan-Bihag-Kalingda is the delightful Intezaar aur abhi, aur abhi, aur abhi by Lata in Char Dil Char Rahein with lyrics by Sahir.⁴

Intezar aur abhi aur abhi ( Chaar Dil Chaar Raahen, 1959) Sahir Ludhianvi / Lata Mangeshar

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Anil Biswas brought a lot of influences of Bengal’s music into Hindi film songs. Folk from the North East, boatman’s songs, farmers’ songs, Palli Geeti, Kirtan, Raag Pradhan compositions all came to Bombay with him.

In the study ‘Bengal’s Music and Its Influence in Hindi Film Music’ in Silhouette, the authors Peeyush Sharma and Antara Nanda Mondal write, “The new way of making duets, interactive and responsive, also started with Biswas, and it set a structure for duet compositions for times to come. In Manmohan 1936 (credited to Ashok Ghosh as MD), Anil da created a duet, Tumhin ne mujhko prem sikhaya, by Surendra and Bibbo. It can be claimed as first such duet – a great and innovative play of melody and dialogue. The songs of Jaagirdaar next year and Alibaba (1940) and then Uth sajani khol kiwade from Aurat (1940) (by Surendra and Jyoti) became national favourites. They created a framework on how duets will be composed for all times to come.”⁵

Lata Mangeshkar, Anil Biswas and Geeta Dutt

Biswas also popularized the chorus form of singing in songs. Remember Meghraj aaye in Roti (1942)? The female voice here (also on-screen) is that of Sitara Devi, the famous Kathak dancer!

Or the chorus in Heer’s (1956) delectable Geeta Dutt-Hemant Kumar duet O saajana, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The chorus sings a refrain line:

Preet lagake gum se aanhein bharna kya
Raah chale to kaanton se phir darna kya

Anil Biswas used a variety of folk in his music from not only his native Bengal but other states as well. Explains Sharvari Khatavkar, in the Sun Mere Bandhu Re Podcast, episode #5 ‘Folk in Film Songs’, “There’s one movie which was shot extensively in rural Maharashtra directed by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas and was a Indo-Soviet collaboration. Anil Biswas has included the ‘powada’ genre in one song. Balraj Sahni is even shown being dressed up like a maavla. Powada is a poem written by a special category of poets who are called Shaaheer. They are known to sing in praise of the great King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Maavla means a warrior who hailed from the Maaval region of Pune. Shaaheeron ke haath mein duff aur zubaan par veer ras hota hai. Anil da has made this song catching the smallest of details. There’s the duff, the dholki, the tuntuna, and the repetition by chorus is ‘jee jee jee jee ji’.”⁶

Arre zara suno lagakar dhyan (Pardesi, 1957) Ali Sardar Jafri / Manna Dey

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Some memorable songs of Anil Biswas:

1. Dil jalta hai toh jalne de (Pehli Nazar, 1945) Aah Sitapuri / Mukesh
2. Mere liye woh ghame intezaar chod chale (Anokha Pyar, 1948) Behzad Lakhnawi / Lata Mangeshkar
3. Yaad rakhna chand taaron, iss suhani raat ko (Anokha Pyar, 1948) Zia Sarhadi / Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh and Meena Kapoor
4. Jeevan sapna toot gaya (Anokha Pyar, 1948) Zia Sarhadi / Lata
5. Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho (Arzoo, 1949) Majrooh Sultanpuri / Talat Mahmood
6. Nain mile nain hue baawre (Tarana, 1951) Prem Dhawan / Talat Mahmood
   and Lata Mangeshkar
7. Bol papihe bol re, tu bol papihe bol (Tarana, 1951) Prem Dhawan / Lata Mangeshkar and Sandhya Mukherjee
8. Shukriya ae pyar tera, shukriya (Aaram, 1951) Rajindar Krishan / Talat Mahmood
9. Balma ja ja ja, ab kaun tujhe samjhaye (Aaram, 1951) Prem Dhawan / Lata Mangeshkar
10. Ae jaane jigar, dil mein samaane aaja (Aaram, 1951) Rajindar Krishan / Mukesh
11. Mann mein kisi ki preet basa le, O matwale, O matwale (Aaram, 1951) Rajindar Krishan / Lata Mangeshkar
12. Papiha re (Kismet, 1943) Kavi Pradeep / Parul Ghosh
13. Rasiya re man basiya re (Pardesi, 1957) Ali Sardar Jafri, Prem Dhawan / Meena Kapoor
14. Zamaane ka dastur hai yeh purana (Lajawab, 1950) Prem Dhawan / Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh
15. Bulbul mere chaman ke (Heer, 1956) Majrooh Sultanpuri / Geeta Dutt

Ek main hoon ek meri bekasi ki shaam hai ( Tarana , 1951) Prem Dhawan / Talat

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Anil Biswas, Lata Mangeshkar and Smriti Biswas (Pic: Facebook)

Besides his broad spectrum of work in films, he created the title music for the long-running Doordarshan TV serial Hum Log. Towards the 1960s he was disillusioned with the film industry and worked for AIR, Delhi for over 10 years, as the Chief Producer of its Sugam Sangeet, and was also associated with producing many documentaries. He was Vice-Chancellor of JNU for two years in the 1970s.

Anil Biswas wrote a book, Ghazaler Rang, on the history of ghazals in Bengali. The cover of the book was designed by painter M.F. Hussain.

In Roti (1942), Biswas had Begum Akhtar sing 6 classic compositions, thus setting a standard for how ghazals would be used in Hindi film music. In his book, he elaborated on how his experiments were conducted and how his thought was perfected by Begum Akhtar later in her life, without Anil Biswas being by her side.

His passion for ghazals remained with him till his last film – can we ever forget the delicate, soulful ghazal Kuch aur zamana kehta hai sung by Meena Kapoor in Chhoti Chhoti Baten (1965).

Kuch aur zamana kehta hai ( Chhoti Chhoti Baten , 1965) Shailendra / Meena Kapoor

The famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz was a close friend and a great admirer of Biswas’s music. His work in music, not merely film music, was prodigious and path-breaking. He was held in great regard by all his contemporaries and revered by those who followed him.

Anil Biswas was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1986.

Upon his death in 2003, the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee called him “a doyen of film music who struck the rare balance between classical purity of music and popular pulse,” and credited him with leaving “an enduring legacy as he introduced many talented singers and innovations to the Indian film music.”

(With inputs from Antara Nanda Mondal)

* Shyama Sangeet is the genre of devotional Bengali Kirtans sung to Goddess Kali

References:

1. Anil Biswas remembers S.D. Burman and R.D. Burman
2. A master music-composer called Anil Biswas
3. Anil Biswas: The Bhishma Pitamah of Film Music (July 7, 1914 – May 31, 2003)
4. Intezaar Aur Abhi Aur Abhi – Char Dil Char Rahein – Raagmala
5. Bengal’s Music and Its Influence in Hindi Film Music
6. FOLK in Hindi Film Songs | Sun Mere Bandhu Re — SAAM Podcast Episode #5 

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