Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai

Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai (1972)

I was in a nostalgic mood and thanks to YouTube, I found Sujata (1960). Imagine the most pleasant surprise I got when the titles started rolling. The title song had Asha Bhosle humming and singing an Aalap set to the tune of Aap Ke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai! Listen at 10 seconds into the song.

https://youtu.be/vxFh1q-Jj28?t=10



Now, Sujata has SD Burman as the music director and Jaidev as his assistant. RD Burman is nowhere mentioned in the credits. But since he used this tune in Yaadon ki Baarat, means that he was there somewhere when the title music was being created. Bandha Dwarer Andhakare - a super melodious duet from Rajkumari (1970). The infectious tune took control of me and Sujata took a back seat as I searched for Rajkumari. This song shares the same tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j84sbnfm4ko



Searching for Rajkumari I also discovered that the tune was also used in the title credits of Rajkumari from 1:01 https://youtu.be/5bAsAIuXtBM?t=61

But this tune owes its originality to Ravindra Sangeet - Kothao Amar Hariye Jaoar Nei Mana. RD and SD’s tune seems to have been created around the second line (Mele dilem gaaner ...) of the Mukhda

Kothao amar hariye jaowar nei mana mone mone
Mele dilem gaaner surer ei daana mone mone

Here is one version of this song sung by Srabani Sen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfI7cPrYYcw



Enough trivia. Lets now get back to the R D Burman song!

This is a situational song and RD was an expert at creating these. Some similar examples can be Pyar Hamein Kis Mod Pe (Satte Pe Satta), Ek Chatur Naar (Padosan), Sapna Mera Toot Gaya (Khel Khel Mein), Jaadu Daar Gayo Re (Hamare Tumhare) ….. there are many. These songs do not comply with the standard "form" of a song. The start and end of these songs are not the same. These songs move from one song to another completely different song on a different scale or a different tune …. Something similar to the competition song in Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi. I don’t think there are any other music directors in India who have conducted this experiment so many times and so successfully. These days the music companies release mash-ups of various songs. But a mash up is just a medley of songs that have an altered pitch so that they can fit into a common beat. A computer can do it easily, but what RD did was stitch together multiple songs and tunes that are completely different … just like putting together beads of different colors and designs and making a necklace.

Back to the song! This song is set in a hotel that has a live band. The crowd is all young and the instruments all western. And in this ensemble, we have the Ravindra Sangeet inspired song! Wow! Only RD could do this. He could easily break rules of contemporary Indian film music because he knew what the rules were. Masters of Indian music from Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Manna De, Naushad have appreciated this trait of RD's music. Totally crazy stuff of the 70’s, but melodious.

The main actor Tariq is dressed in a garish velvety suit and oversized glares, Zeenat in a sexy red mini and Vijay Arora in a polka dot white shirt and sleeveless jacket. Typical 70's!

(Copy paste the YouTube link in your browsers address bar. The Video is probably not working) 

https://youtu.be/fmnmiuSboJs
https://youtu.be/fmnmiuSboJs


The song starts (3:25) with strums of electric guitar, bongo, Congo and drums beats and Kishore effortlessly glides into humming the song. 

Notice how he extends the Taa in Koi RehTaa Hai making the song melodious. If this Taa had been a short one, the song would have sounded like a school poem! Try humming it in your mind.

BTW, in the video you’ll see that Tariq does not even bother to pretend that he is playing a guitar, with fingers of his left hand firmly clasping the neck all the time. Similar to Rajesh Khanna playing guitar in Mere Naina Saawan Bhado.

The first interlude music is just a couple of notes on the electric guitar... Most of RD's first interlude music (M1) is short. It is when the vocals start that we hear the violins in the background … old recording perhaps. The lyrics by Majrooh are surprisingly shayrana (and suggestive?) for a song set in such a situation–

हम आज इधर से गुज़रे तो बड़े इत्मीनान से
गिरा रहा था कोई परदा हाय सर-ए-शाम से
उधर आपकी फोटो से सजी दीवार पे
पड़ा हुआ था एक साया बड़े आराम से
आपके कमरे में …

For the second interlude music there is no music, there is dialogue. We can also hear piano filling the short empty spaces at the end of the lines. My view is that the piano should have been made more prominent in the recording. Asha perfectly emotes that part of the teenager who is tentative at singing in public but quickly gets into her groove once it is appreciated and replies-

मगर एक दिन मैं गुज़री गली में सरकार की
तभी से चलती दिल पे हाय तलवार सी
दबी-दबी हल्की-हल्की हँसी की अदाओ में
मचल रही किसी चूड़ी की हाय झंकार सी
यह न समझो कोई ग़ाफ़िल रहता है

There is no music in the third interlude. Vijay Arora joins the singing and starts impressing Zeenat, by flirting with her. 

Then Kishore asks the audience to join in the song. The whole song is a like an event that is happening live. Its truly difficult to compose such a song. And this was in the 70’s when there were no copy paste facilities like today. Those days, the entire song had to be recorded in one go. RD you and your team are great!

So, the moment the chorus settles in a rhythm, RD brings out yet another surprise. He changes everything – scale, tune and pitch -as he joins Kishore in the vocals. And it becomes an altogether different song with a different tune! On screen the audience starts dancing at (8:11).

दिल मिल गए तो हम खिल गए के दिल दिल मिले जहाँ में कभू कभू
अरे हाँ हाँ
यारों के लिए है मेरी दुआ आ जाये वह दिन गले मिलके बीते जवानी
तुमको भी मिले दिन बहार का रात बहार की यूँही झूमे यह ज़िंदगानी
दिल मिल गए तो हम खिल गए के दिल दिल मिले जहाँ में कभू कभू अरे हाँ हाँ

And then all hell is let loose as Asha goes ballistic (10:01)in  
दम मारो दम मिट जाए ग़म
बोलो सुबह शाम
हरे कृष्णा हरे राम
हरे कृष्णा हरे राम
हरे कृष्णा हरे राम

And then among the claps by everyone the song ends.