{"id":8363,"date":"2024-03-14T01:28:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T19:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=8363"},"modified":"2024-03-14T21:27:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T15:57:04","slug":"sn-tripathi-his-music-still-lives-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/sn-tripathi-his-music-still-lives-on\/","title":{"rendered":"SN Tripathi \u2013 His Music Still Lives On"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SN Tripathi<\/p><\/div>\n

Few people remember SN Tripathi even while many of his songs continue to be popular. Was it because much of his work was for the genre of mythologicals or costume dramas that he was never considered \u2018great\u2019? One never knows. But his compositions definitely elevated the films he composed for, and several have withstood the vagaries of differing tastes.<\/p>\n

Born in a traditional Brahmin family in Benares on 14 March 1913, SN Tripathi belonged to an educated family. His grandfather, Pandit Ganesh Dutt Tripathi was the principal of Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Kashi, and his father, Pandit Damodar Dutt Thakur the principal of Government High School, Kashi. This background gave SN Tripathi a good grounding in Sanskrit and Hindi. Having completed his early education in Benares, he moved to Allahabad for his undergraduate studies. The young boy had always been interested in music. After completing his BSc., he enrolled in Marris College, Lucknow (now the VN Bhatkande Music Institute) for his formal training in classical music. At the same time, he underwent private training in light classical and folk music. One of his teachers at Marris College was Khurshid Minocher Homji, whom Hindi film music buffs will remember as Saraswati Devi. She was so impressed with SN Tripathi\u2019s talent that when movie mogul Himanshu Rai visited Marris College and offered her a contract with Bombay Talkies to compose music, she invited her star student to accompany her.<\/p>\n

SN Tripathi joined Bombay Talkies in 1935 as a violinist. Very soon, however, he became Saraswati Devi\u2019s assistant. In 1936, while assisting Saraswati Devi, he also acted in his first film \u2013 Jeevan Naiyya. <\/em>It was a small role, but he got the chance to sing a song (Ai ri daiyya lachak lachak<\/em><\/a>). For the next ten years, however, acting would remain on the back burner, while he continued to work towards a music career. In 1938, after assisting Saraswati Devi on Bhabhi, <\/em>SN Tripathi ended his contract with Bombay Talkies. But his tutelage under his mentor had taught him much \u2013 he now knew how to make notations as well as how to arrange music.<\/p>\n

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SN Tripathi
(Pic courtesy: Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

By all accounts, his first film as an independent composer was Chandan<\/em> (1941). The film, started in 1939, would be delayed by two years. It had a successful run but it was Panghat<\/em> (1943) which brought him acclaim; he not only composed the songs for the film, he also sang the film\u2019s duets (with Rajkumari). The first song he recorded was the duet, Nanha sa dil deti huun pardesi preet nibhana<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1946, he was offered Uttara Abhimanyu \u2013<\/em> he not only composed its music but also acted in it. Basing his compositions on Rabindra Sangeet, he delivered a bouquet of melodies that became immensely popular. This film proved a fillip to his acting career. In 1948, he was signed on as music director for the film Shri Ram Bhakt Hanuman, <\/em>directed by Homi Wadia. <\/em>He was also offered the role of Hanuman to Trilok Kapoor\u2019s Ram. The film was a smashing success. Tripathi would go on to reprise this role in several other mythologicals, including his first directorial venture, Ram Hanuman YudhI <\/em>(1959).<\/p>\n

By now, mythological films were giving way to historical and fantasy films, and SN Tripathi made a smooth transition. He was versatile enough to compose in a wide variety of genres for a wide variety of films: Rabindra Sangeet-inspired compositions in Panghat, <\/em>ghazals in Lal Qila <\/em>(1960), classical music-based compositions for Rani Roopmati <\/em>and Sangeet Samrat Tansen,<\/em> Arabic music-inspired melodies for Hatim Tai <\/em>and Alibaba aur Chalis Chor <\/em>(1954), etc. Given this versatility, it is surprising that he was never counted among the great composers of the golden period.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was because he wore many hats. The least-known facet of this versatile composer was his foray into directing movies, several of which were better-than-average successes at the box office: Rani Roopmati, Kavi Kalidas, Sangeet Samrat Tansen,<\/em> etc. His last directorial was Nag Champa<\/em> (1976). He also wrote the dialogues and screenplays for several movies including Luv Kush<\/em> (1967) and Mahasati Tulsi<\/em> (1974). But with time, as musical tastes and preferences changed, there were few takers for his music.<\/p>\n

SN Tripathi passed away on 28 March 1988. Today, on his 111th<\/sup> birth anniversary here are some of my favourite melodies composed by this maverick music director in no particular order.<\/p>\n

Na kisi ka aankh ka noor hoon <\/em><\/strong>
\nLal Qila <\/em><\/strong>(1960)<\/strong>
\nSinger: Mohammed Rafi<\/strong>
\nLyrics: Muztar Khairabadi<\/strong><\/p>\n

A mellifluous voice that dripped melancholy, lyrics that evoked the despondency of an old man about to be exiled from his home and country, the music barely there yet emphasizing the melancholy \u2013 Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon<\/em> will always be considered one of Mohammed Rafia\u2019s and SN Tripathi\u2019s best collaborations. Yet, the authorship of the lyrics that evokes the image of the old emperor as he\u2019s exiled to Burma after the 1857 war of independence, had always been in dispute. Research had never thrown up this ghazal<\/em> in any of Zafar\u2019s writings. And until recently, that\u2019s where the matter stood. But when Javed Akhtar found a handwritten copy of this ghazal<\/em> amongst his grandfather Muztar Khairabadi\u2019s papers, it seemed like a revelation. Today, most Urdu poets and scholars of note seem inclined to attribute this ghazal<\/em> to Muztar Khairabadi.<\/p>\n

Lal Qila <\/em>is not the first film in which this ghazal <\/em>was used; composer Nashad presented it differently in Toote Taare<\/em> (1948), where the lyrics reflected the heroine\u2019s point of view. It was sung by Rajkumari<\/a>.<\/p>\n