“Haule haule
hawaa dole” begins with Geeta almost whispering the
words “Haule haule..haayein dole” in her dreamy
voice. The rhythm picks up and we have this fast paced song
rendered so effortlessly by Geeta. It is kind of surprising
that a song where the girl is calling for her “King
of hearts” and is saying “saawan suhawan aaya,
piya mere tum naa aaye” is not a slow and deeply expressing
song. Quite unlike the opening words, the song is far from
a "Haule haule" song. It is very fast-paced. This
was one of the few non-film songs that one could hear very
frequently on the radio in the late forties/early fifties.
The Bengali nuance/accent in her voice is quite manifest and,
if anything, it makes the song even more enjoyable. This also
negates the (wrongly) oft- expressed view about Geeta's early
singing style that "Gaati to achha hai magar roti bahut
hai". The delight of anticipation suffuses this song
with a unique charm all its own. The beats of Tabla before
the words “Ghan ghan badaraa gaaje, jhan jhan paayal
baaje” are simple indication of the genius of Pandit
Nikhil Ghosh. It is kind of surprising that these are the
only two non-film songs composed by this maestro for Geeta
Dutt.
Most of the traditional non-film songs in late forties and
fifties would be either bhajans or ghazals. Geeta has not
sung much of pure ghazals but she has definitely sung some
melodious bhajans. Listen to “Jamunaa ke teer kanhaa
aao” or “Kaanha teri baansuri, baansuri teri jaadu
bhari”. The huge success of the bhajans of Geeta in
the film Jogan (1950) might have had some influence in her
singing these non-film bhajans. Both the above mentioned bhajans
have deep expressions and have been soulfully rendered by
Geeta.
In “Jamunaa ke teer” the way she says “Aaao”,
conveys the right mood and the feelings of Radha. (On similar
lines to the singing of the word “Beeet” in the
evergreen song “Mera sundar sapna beet gaya” from
Do Bhai (1947), composed by Burmanda). Her expressions convey
the eagerness of Radha for her “Kaanha” and her
“tadap”.
Another bhajan which is sung in a very traditional way is
“Kaanha teri baansuri, baansuri teri jaadu bhari”.
The lyrics are penned by Anjan and composer is Shyam Sharma.
There are more bhajan style/traditional songs like “Daras
dev naa prabhu”, “Yeh reet kahan seekhi mohan”
and “Rang daalo”.
Talking of “non-bhajan” private songs of Geeta,
probably the most unique and melodious light songs are two
gems composed by Vistas Ardeshir Balsara (V. Balsara). V.
Balsara was known among friends as 'The gentleman musician'.
He was a Veteran musician, who gained legendary status for
his ability to play numerous instruments with equal elan.
The Geeta Dutt non-film songs composed by V. Balsara we are
referring to are none other than “Yeh hawa yeh fiza
yeh baharein” and “Gayein gayein gayein”.
The honey-filled voice of Geeta creates a magic in both of
these songs. Like his many other songs, these two gems composed
by Balsara were influenced by western music and has great
notes of piano, the instrument in which Balsara is considered
an icon.
“Yeh hawa yeh fiza yeh baharein” begins with
a sweet humming and then Geeta starts singing. The tune is
non-conventional and the words simply float. When she sings
“Thandi thandi pawan aa rahi hain” one can truly
feel the cool breeze touching the senses. This is a must listen
song for any Geeta fan. Arguably her sweetest and most magical
non-film song!
The other song “Gaayein gaayein gaayein naye zamane
mein hum aao naye taraane gaayein” also begins with
a chorus and then the tempo picks up. Balsara’s composition
creates great fusion of western music and Indian melody. This
one is in complete contrast to the song “Yeh hawa yeh
fiza yeh baharein” in the mood. These 2 songs composed
by V. Balsara are enough to prove that Geeta Dutt’s
voice could render a wide range of emotions and had an inner
fire that vindicated the song’s existence.
The opening music of “Kuke ambuva pe koyaliyaa”
can remind the listener about the music of melodious compositions
of Sudhir Phadke or Vasant Prabhu for Marathi film songs in
the fifties. The “Koyal” Geeta sings this song
about various aspects of the season of “Phagun”.
One of the most important national song “Vande Mataram”
was sung by Geeta Dutt (with G M Durrani) as early as 1950.
This was even before it was sung by Lata ji for the film Anand
Math (1952), composed by Hemant Kumar. Geeta also sang a non-film
song “Chanda hanse hans rahi chandni” with Talat
Mahmood. Very little information is available about the rest
of the songs and the audios of most of them are not available.
Here is a list of non-film songs of Geeta Dutt: |