The World of Salil Chowdhury

When asked  to choose his ten  best compositions, Salil didn't seem to have to think  long before drawing up a list. Yet his fans may have their own lists! Anyway, here it is - and mind you, they are in random
order:

1.  Aaja ri aa nindiya ("Do Bigha Zameen")
2.  Mausam beeta jae ("Do Bigha Zameen")
3.  Aha rhim jhim ke ye pyare pyare ("Usne Kaha Tha")
4.  Itna na mujhse tu pyar badha ("Chhaya")
5.  Raat ne kya kya khwab dikhae ("Ek Gaon Ki Kahani")
6.  Saathire...tujh bin jiya udaas re ("Poonam Ki Raat")
7.  Aaja re pardesi ("Madhumati")
8.  Bichhua ("Madhumati")
9.  Koi hota jisko apna ("Mere Apne")
10.  Kahin door jab din dhal jae ("Anand")

THE SALIL FILMOGRAPHY

RMIMers,  please note  that this is  a list of Salil's Hindi  films only. 'BGM' refers to films  (usually songless) for which Salil scored only the background  music. I hope that the  list is complete but am
open to correction/addition.

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1953 Do Bigha Zameen (also written)
1954 Naukri
Biraj Bahu
1955 Amaanat
Tangewali
1956 Aawaaz
Jaagte Raho
Parivaar
1957 Apradhi Kaun
Ek Gaon Ki Kahani
Zamana
Musafir
Lal Batti
1958 Madhumati
1960 Usne Kaha Tha
Kanoon (BGM)
Jawaahar
Parakh
Honeymoon
1961 Char Diwari
Chhaya
Kabuliwala
Maya
Mem Didi
Sapan Suhane
1962 Half Ticket
Jhoola
Prem Patra
1963 Chand Aur Suraj
Poonam Ki Raat
1966 Netaji Subhashchandra Bose
Pinjre Ke Panchi (also directed)
1969 Ittefaq (BGM)
Sara Aakash
1970 Anand
1971 Gehra Raaz (Salil scored two songs, and Raj Ravinder the other two)
Mere Apne
1972 Annadata
Anokha Daan
Anokha Milan
Mere Bhaiyya
Subse Bada Sukh
1974 Rajnigandha
1975 Chhotisi Baat
Sangat
1976 Jeevan Jyoti
Mrigyaa
Udanchoo
1977 Minoo
1979 Jeena Yahan
1980 Chemmeen Lehren
Chiruthaa (BGM)
Naani Maa
Room No. 203
Anand Mahal (unreleased)
1981 Agni Pareeksha
Plot No. 5
1982 Dil Ka Saathi Dil
1984 Kanoon Kya Karega
1988 Trishagni
1989 Aakhri Badla
Kamala Ki Maut (BGM)
1990 Triyatri

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At the time of speaking to him (October 1992)  he had plans to compose the  music for a   tele-serial on Buddha being produced by   Phani Mazumdar, and  for Basu Chatterji's new film,  which was to have been
another light romantic comedy on the lines  of "Rajnigandha" and"Chhotisi Baat".

Some other snippets from the interview which  were considered being of too 'specialized trivia' interest to newspaper readers:

Salil acknowledged that  Zindagi hai kya, sun meri jaan, from  "Maya" was based  on Chaplin's "Limelight"  theme. I asked him whether "Hame yaad kabhi tum kar lena" from "Anokha Daan"  was a revamp of "Chhaya"'s "Itna na mujhse" (it certainly sounds that way) but he didn't agree.

"Marzi hai tumhari", from "Mere Bhaiyya" has some  extraordinarily intricate harmonium pieces, and I asked him who  the player was. Apparently  the hired harmonium player could not produce the
required result, so Salil himself played it!

Salil's wife Sabita was the one who remembered that it was an obscure singer from IPTA  named Shaila Belle who  provided the female voice at the end of "Chhota sa ghar hoga" from "Naukri",  and not Usha
Mangeshkar as HMV would have  us believe. Sabita ruefully said  that her 'anatara' of "Champavati tu aaja" ("Annadata")  appeared only in the film, but was axed in most issued record versions. Her favourite among
her own songs was Chaand kabhi tha bahon mein, from "Sapan Suhane".

Salil filled in the information that it  was Nirmalendu Choudhury who sang "Biraj  Bahu"'s "Maajhi re". He spoke  at some length about singer Dwijen  Mukherjee. The subject  cropped up when I
asked him a question about Dwijen's duet with Lata in "Maya" - "Phir ek baar kaho" - which is so tortuous in its melody  that it almost appears discordant.

I asked  him about "Mem  Didi", and the beautiful alternating melodies of Lata with a chorus in "Bachpan o bachpan". Sadly, he  couldn't recollect anything about "Mem Didi", except that one  song had a dog's
bark in it!

Salil  had kept himself busy by  running a fully equipped professional recording  studio in Calcutta, in addition to doing some hand-picked assignments for  films. He was keen to perform  in Dubai. I told him
Lata Mangeshkar had a concert scheduled  later that year, and he exclaimed. "Not  now, then! The effect of her show will last a long time.  Perhaps after six months or so". Sadly, it  didn't work out, because his plan was to form a  very small band essentially consisting only of  his wife Sabitha, his daughter  Anatara and himself, with all three singing to pre-recorded music, karaoke style. Promoters were not interested, and  later, on his request, I  got the Bengali Association president to get  in touch with him. As  far as I know, the Bengali programme  didn't work out  either. Last year, sitarist Jairam Acharya who was in  Dubai on a private visit, played glowing  tribute to the maestro. Acharya was the man who played the classic introductory sitar piece in "Parakh"'s "O sajna, barkha bahar aayi".