A tribute to Mukesh…

The days when I would go to sleep hearing old hindi numbers humming in low volume on Radio(on "Aap ki Farmaish") with the dim night lamp on, is still vivid in my mind. Thanks to my dad, I got to hear so much of it.



This time when I went home, my dad and me happened to see this particular programme on Doordarshan, about Mukesh, on his death anniversary.. Though I am a die-hard fan of Mohammed Rafi, nothing can stop me from penning down the songs of this legend, which has left deep impressions in the hearts of millions of people worldwide… including me...


In the old hindi music industry, which was dominated by Rafi, Kishore and Mukesh in the male voice segment, Mukesh has probably sung the lowest number of songs…(around 1200 songs…comparitively) in a span of 30 years… but the singer has carved a niche for himself very nicely..

Dad was telling me that mukesh is famous for what is called 'straight singing' where there is not many variations(brugas u call them..).. The songs are all plain and simple.. But what makes it so tough is that even a slight deviation from the tune/pitch will be clearly heard and 97 out of 100 people CANT maitain that even for a stanza, leave alone one complete song…

Even a person who has hardly listened to Mukesh, would have surely appreciated some of the following evergreen melodies at some point in their lives…

Chandan sa badan...
Amazingly melodious number… sung with a voice with very very less expressions… but will make you drool over the song, and make you listen to it a million times..By the time he sings 'Ho jaoon agar meinn deewana' I would have already become one…

Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein…
Starts of with an elegant flute piece, and followed by the simple singing of Mukesh… Singing a romantic song WITHOUT added expressions and getting away with it and the song creating a fan following for him is somehting which is not done often…Seriously!
The song leaves an unimaginable impression… :) One of my all time favourites...

Awara hoon.. & Dil ki nazar se...
I am already running short of adjectives… These two songs beautifully bring out the base voice of the maestro.. Rendered in a highly simple style, He is simply unparallelled in such numbers…

Dil tadap tadap .. & Woh chand khila...
These two duets with Lata Mangeshkar are too cute and out of the world..contains equal parts sung by both… It’s a must listen folks…
Very very sweet to listen to…. :)

Kisi ke muskurahaton pe... & Mera Joota hai japani...
The song with no nonsense lyrics… And a nice foot tapping ,peppy number with nice pace… Gives a real nice feeling at the end of it…

Jis desh mein ganga behti hai..
Nice patriotic number… Have to listen to it to experience the proud feeling which surfaces from within...

The popular Ramaiyya Vastavaiyya... & Dum dum diga diga…
Nice ones which you can never ever get bored of….

Ek pyar ka nagma hai…
Must listen… a romantic duet with lata of the 70s… Very tough for anyone to even compose such a melodious tune...

And lots more…

I am actually listening to these songs as I am typing this…
At the end of it I wonder…. Man! this guy sings very very plain and simple! He projects emotions in such a raw and unpolished manner... How the hell did I fall… Hmmm…

I realize...
Its a magical voice.. which has got a mysterious mellifluous sweetness associated with it..
Cant think of ANY other possible explanations… Probably these are what you call 'mystic melodies' ;)

A tribute in my small way... :)


Ps: Even if you cant listen to all of them, I request you to listen to atleast the first two in the list from one of the online music sites… Really worth the time spent, and you will end up appreciating simplicity which is in its best form...