{"id":2409,"date":"2015-11-19T06:57:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T01:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:35:34","slug":"salil-chowdhury-and-lata-mangeshkar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/salil-chowdhury-and-lata-mangeshkar\/","title":{"rendered":"‘She is Capable of Delivering Anything a Music Maker Can Think Of’ – Salil Chowdhury Speaks About Lata Mangeshkar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Salil

Salil Chowdhury
(Pic courtesy: Salilda.com<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

The first time I met Salil Chowdhury was in February of 1992 in his recording studio in Behala, Calcutta.<\/p>\n

One of my distant cousins, Rishi Sharma had bought over an unfinished movie starring actress Rameshwari through Babbu Mehra, Jankidas\u2019 son in Bombay. Rishi dropped in my apartment one fine morning with two requests, one to listen to the story and suggest a title and next to accompany him to meet the music director of the film to have the music released. My suggested title Aatmadaan<\/em> was readily accepted and we set off to meet Salil Chowdhury.<\/p>\n

Once the payment was settled, Rishi picked up his music negatives to go to HMV at Dum Dum. In the meantime I had introduced myself to Salilda and knowing my background from Vintage Hindi Music Lovers Association in Bangalore and my deep interest in music, he invited me to his apartment at Lower Rowden Street. We quickly decided on a tentative date and parted.<\/p>\n

It was mid-March 1992 that I met Salil Chowdhury at his residence. I am reproducing excerpts from my talk with Salilda, originally in Bengali and translated to English for our larger audience. I have put together his references to Lata Mangeshkar and the music they created together, as a tribute to the maverick music director.<\/p>\n

\"Lata

Lata Mangeshkar and Salil Chowdhury
(Pic courtesy: Lataonline)<\/p><\/div>\n

On how in 1953, with Do Bigha Zameen Salilda was introduced to Hindi Film Music by Bimal Roy. <\/em><\/p>\n

Salilda said, \u201cIn 1953, Bimal da was busy with two projects at the same time. Sometimes in late 1951 he had selected my short story of Do Bigha Zameen <\/em>and invited me to come to Bombay. I had written this story during the days I was involved with the Peasant\u2019s Movement and was actually underground. That was just before Independence.<\/p>\n

\"Do

I had written this story (Do Bigha Zameen) during the days I was involved with the Peasant\u2019s Movement and was actually underground<\/p><\/div>\n

Once in Bombay, when I narrated my story with songs interspersed in it, he decided to let me handle the music. Thus first I was the story writer and then I became the Music Director too. I had earlier done the Bangla film, Poribartan<\/em>* (1949) as a Music Director and my songs for IPTA were well known.\u00a0 Lata Mangeshkar had been called in to rehearse a duet with Manna and was told by Bimal da that I was the famous music director from Bengal and also a writer.<\/p>\n

I was surprised when she sang out a line of my Bengali song Runner<\/em> to me. She said Hemant Kumar had sung it many times and she knows me already through such songs. And she was too keen to sing for me. We established a cozy and respectful relationship almost on our first meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parineeta\u00a0was Bimal Roy’s\u00a0second project in 1953. Panineeta and \u00a0Do Bigha Zameen released about 5 weeks apart from each other. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShailendra helped me a great deal with words that I wanted to fit into my songs (in Do Bigha Zameen<\/em>). The concepts were given out jointly by Bimal da and me to Shailendra to pen the songs. But the odd words in between, takdhini tak, dhighin dhighin din<\/em>, you know, such words, he helped a lot. He could speak Bengali quite well.<\/p>\n

We recorded two Lata Mangeshkar \u2013 Manna Dey songs one after the other. And right from there I knew what I could get from Lata and she knew what to expect from my compositions. As a conscious music listener, you should know that my compositions are not regular stuff, not chalu Bombay maal, thus she always knew that it would be challenging to sing under my direction. She was always prepared for that and all along she has been an example of perfection. In my career of 30 years in music I have not known a singer of her capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two songs of Do Bigha Zameen<\/em> are Hariyala sawan dhol bajata aya<\/em> and Dharti kahe pukar ke beej bichha le pyar ke, mausam beeta jaye<\/em>. Both super melodious compositions from first timer, Salil Chowdhury.<\/p>\n

Dharti kahe pukar ke <\/strong><\/em> (Do Bigha Zamin<\/em>, 1953)<\/span>
\nShailendra \/ Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Chorus<\/span><\/p>\n