19 November 1916 – 20 May 1984
Whenever we take a closer look at the music composers who enriched the golden era of Hindi films, we find many such forgotten composers who, despite coming out with superb melodies, mostly remained in the shadows of the other famous legends. One main reason was that such music composers were mostly ignored by the big banners and stars of those times and hence , although their music was of high quality, the films for which they worked were not equally great and so their work, unfortunately, did not get the recognition they deserved.
Even those not very familiar with his name , will know the songs Jahan daal daal par sone ki chidiya, Mohabbat zinda rehti hai , Nain dwar se man mein who aake , Bheega bheega pyaar ka sama etc. This blog is a small tribute to the music composer Hanraj Behl, who had composed these and many more hidden gems like these.
As always I randomly pick up an artist for my blog and it so happens that when I check his birth date or anniversary , it is close to the time of my blog! By the time I finish this blog it would be close to the 109th birth anniversary of Hansraj Behl!
Born on 19 November 1916 in Sheikhupura, near Rawalpindi then in British Punjab , now in Punjab, Pakistan, Hansraj received his early education in music from Pandit Chunnilal and later from Pandit Acharay Chiranjivilal ‘Jigyasu’. His father, Nihal Chand Behl, was a zamindar in his area.
After composing some non-film songs and starting his own music school in Lahore , like many other artists , he landed in Bombay as Mumbai was known at that time in the year 1944. His brother Gulshan Behl and friend Varma Malik also joined him . He got a break with the film Pujari (1946) directed by Ardesher Irani .
For any music director in the late 40’s and 50’s there was always a tough competition from stalwarts like Naushad, C Ramachandra, Shankar Jiakishan, O P Nayyar , S D Burman in the late 40’s and 50’s , continued by others like Madan Mohan, Roshan , Chitragupta, Ravi, Sajjad Hussain, Vasant Desai, S.N TRipathi etc who were all greatly talented. So , for Hansraj Behl, it was mostly lesser-known banners and within that constraint, he came out with some exceptional songs in films like Raat Ki Raani ( 1949-Jin Raaton Mein Neend Ud Jaati Hai by Rafi), Chengez Khan ( 1957-Mohabbat Zinda Rehti Hai by Rafi) , Milan ( 1958-Haye Jiya Roye by Lata) , Sikandar-E-Azam( 1965- Jahan Daal Daal Par Sone Ki by Rafi) just to name a few. He is credited with introducing Asha Bhonsle in Hindi films , with the song Sawan Aaaya Re that she sang alongwith Geeta Dutt & Zohrabai Ambalewali for the 1948 film Chunariya. He was also instrumental in giving the lyricists Varma Malik & Naqsh Lyallpuri their first film songs in the film Jaggu ( 1953).
Totally , Hansraj Behl might have composed around 500+ songs in around 65-70 films. He had experimented with some unique concepts like having no interludes in the song “ Us Chand Se Pyaare Chand ho tum” in the film Raat Ki Raani or take the song ” Nain Dwar Se Man mein woh aake” in which Mukesh sings at lower notes in a slow pace whereas Lata starts off at very high octaves and at a faster pace. He used the similar technique in the Talat & Lata duet Bhool Ja Sapne Suhane Bhool Ja in the 1956 film Rajdhani .
It is purely my own personal view that music directors like Hansraj Behl could not maintain a consistency in their music and if you take a single film , one or two songs would have been outstanding but rest of them may not have been that good and that aspect differentiated the stalwarts who were more consistent in their quality and an entire film would be embellished with gems. However this , in no way , takes away their talent , and maybe if big banners had supported them and extracted their best talent, they also might have become quite successful.
Hansraj Behl ‘s best was for the film Sikandar-E-Azam in 1965 with the song Jahan Daal Daal Par Sone ki becoming a sort of an anthem and played in all the Republic day and Independence day celebrations . Though he remained active till the end 60’s in Hindi films and even till 80’s in Punjabi films , his best was mostly in the 50’s and 60’s.
He passed away due to liver cancer on 20 May 1984.
Since I am not very familiar with the music of 40’s , I am listing out few memorable songs of HB ( Hansraj Behl) mainly from the 50’s and 60’s. These are , as per my usual practice , sequenced in chronological order with the song, film , year , lyricist, and singer(s) mentioned in that order.
- Jin raaton mein neend ud jaati hai-Raat Ki Rani-1949-Arzoo Lucknowi-Mohammad Rafi
One of the early songs of HB and also for Rafi , that was quite popular those days and even now among Rafi fans searching for his rare songs. This is well-remembered even now, almost 75 years later! With minimum orchestration , this ghazal is so simple but the tune by HB is captivating.
2. Us Chand Se Pyaare Chand ho tum-Raat Ki Raani-1949-Darbari Lal-Rafi & Lata
HB does an innovative technique in this song , with no properly defined interludes, and depends only on very brief instrumental bits separating the lines sung so sweetly by young Rafi and Lata.
3. Haye Chanda Gaye Pardes Chakori Yahan-Chakori-1949-Mulkraj Bhakri-Lata
It seems Lata placed this song among her favourites , with HB coming out with an intricate tune . As was the norms in the 40’s the interludes and orchestration were minimal and the strength of the song was in its intricate tune.
4. Raste pe hum khade hain dil-e-beqaraar lekar -Rajput-1951-Kaif Irfani-Suraiya
Suraiya may not have sung many songs for HB ,but as usual she renders a melodious song with her sweet voice . This song is in no way lesser in its melody quotient and orchestration as compared to to those composed by stalwarts of those years like Naushad or Khemchand Prakash or Husanlal Bhagatram .
5. Aye zamane bata do dilon ki khata-Dost-1954-Asad Bhopali-Talat & Madhubala Jhaveri
I knew about the singer Madhubala Jhaveri only while working on my blogs-strangely the good old Vividh Bharati had never played her songs much and so she remained an unknown entity for me. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that it was HB who gave her maximum number of songs. This is a pleasing duet of Talat and Madhubala Jhaveri. Once again HB relies purely on the strength of his tune and uses minimal orchestration.
6. Bhool Jaa Sapne Suhane Bhool Jaa-Rajdhani-1956-Qamar Jalalabadi-Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshkar
One of the excellent compositions of HB , just observe how he comes out with an outstanding beginning in low notes by Talat , followed by higher notes by Lata. The interludes and orchestration are also exceptional, in league with any stalwart music director of the golden era. That is why I used the tag line “ A composer who strode along with the giants”!
7. Mohabbat zinda rehti hai-Changez Khan-1957- Qamar Jalalabadi-Mohammad Rafi
Now we come to that one song that almost every music lover would have definitely heard , but many might not have known this was composed by HB! A masterpiece that can be rendered only by Rafi!
Rafi had that magical power to give a great boost to the careers of many actors and even to many music composers by pouring his heart into the songs. The way he ends the song with the lines “ Chalee Aaa…Chalee Aaa…” would send goosepimples! The link below provides the complete song that must have appeared in many situations in the film and is a bonus which we usually do not hear in the radio version.
8. Jab raat Nahin kat-ti-Chengez Khan–1957- Qamar Jalalabadi-Lata
This song must have been overshadowed by the more popular Rafi’s Mohabbat Zinda Rehti Hai, and I must have heard this Lata’s solo very rarely in the past. HB somehow seems to brought out the best from Lata and it is a surprise to note that his name is never taken when we think of best songs of Lata!
9. Zindagi bhar gam judai ka mujhe-Miss Bombay-1957-Asad Bhopali & Prem Dhawan-Rafi
Normally I avoid repeating the same song in multiple blogs -I had included this in my blog about “ Zindagi”. But I am making an exception as this is too good a song to miss out in a blog on HB. Rafi once again at his best! I am not very familiar with classical raagas , but I think this could be based on Raag Malkauns and is this song in anyway lesser than the more famous Malkauns based-Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi?
10. Le chala jidhar ye dil nikal pade-Miss Bombay-1957-Prem Dhawan-Rafi
From the same film Miss Bombay, HB comes out with a lilting light-hearted song
11. Din ho ya raat, hum rahein tere saath- Miss Bombay-1957- Prem Dhawan-Rafi & Suman Kalyanpur
This is one of the most popular songs of HB , that is played in radio even today. This film and many such films were produced by HB along with his brother under the N C Films banner. Miss Bombay was a musical film with many songs becoming famous. Observe how HB has constructed this song at such high notes and a superb pace.
12. Haaye Jiya Roye-Milan -1957-Prem Dhawan-Lata
Now we come to one of HB’s masterpieces that can definitely be placed among the best songs of Lata! What a great song, full of pathos and rendered exceptionally well by the one and only Lata! I understand this is based on Raag Darbari, though may not be in strict classical norms( which is understood for film songs) and can be considered as good as the top Darbari raag based songs composed by other maestros of the golden era . The string arrangements , sarangi , flute used by HB are top-notch!
( The uploader in YouTube has wrongly put a banner of the 1967 Milan instead of the 1957 Milan!)
13. Nain dwar se man mein woh aake-Sawan-1959-Prem Dhawan-Mukesh and Lata
Personally I consider this as one of the best songs of HB and also a very unique song. Mukesh starts off at the lowest notes and a slow pace ( in which he is a true master) and Lata bursts off at highest octaves with a frenetic pace! What an imaginative composition by Masterji HB( in Hindi film world only two composers were called Masterji-HB and Ghulam Haider!).
14. Bheega bheega pyar ka -Saawan-1959- Prem Dhawan- Rafi and Shamshad Begum
It is my view that most songs that have a horse-hoof beat become great hits-maybe something to do with the rhythm of nature! And when we have Rafi & Shamshad to come out with full-throated singing , we get an evergreen duet. HB proves he is no less than the ‘ master of horse-hoof beat rhythm’ O P Nayyar!
15. Meri pasand hai ke mujhko-Ek Din Ek Badshah-1964-Prem Warbartani-Rafi
The films for which HB composed may have been mostly obscure ones , but he scored superb songs for them. This is a rare Rafi gem, with a tune & lyrics intricate , and an equally obscure lyricist!
16. Jahan daal daal par sone-Sikandar-E-Azam-1965-Rajendra Krishan-Mohammad Rafi
I conclude this blog with a song that almost all Indians would have heard in their lifetime, with a majority not knowing who composed this! Just as the patriotic songs like Kar Chale Hum Fida, Apni Azaadi Ko Hum, Mere Desh Ki Dharti , Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon , this one is played on all Independence and Republic day celebrations .Personally I consider the top among the best patiotic songs ever composed in Hindi films, with Rafi starting with a chaste Sanskrit shlok and then puring out his heart into the song that he always does.
A superb composition by the Master Ji and in all probability this was his last major hit song. Though he continued to compose for few years , the power of this song alone would etch his name in the annals of Hindi film music. Not to forget Rajendra Krishan for his immensely powerful lyrics.
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
I sincerely thank the publishers of following Internet sources for the information that I could gather for this article:
- You Tube
- Wikipedia
The songs mentioned are from the popular, public domain and have been embedded here only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights The photograph is taken from the internet, duly recognizing the full copyrights for the same to the original creator or the site where they were originally displayed .This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.
Music Unrestricted 