Lyrics of both the versions are written by Anand Bakshi. His acting in the second version is also impressive. KK’s rendition is superb as usual and he has captured the mood in both the versions so perfectly, that you cannot help but empathise with him. This version is also orchestrated primarily with mandolin, violins and guitar, with accordion making an occasional appearance.īoth the versions are based on raag Bhairavi. In the second version, KK is visible and is seen ambling along a few landmark places in Mumbai, down in the dumps and expressing his frustration. The orchestration mainly comprising mandolin, violins and guitar also adds to the mood. Therefore, the picturisation of the song also has a bit of spooky effect. Kumkum is under the impression that KK is dead and mistakes him to be his un-solaced soul. In the first version, the invisible (or barely visible as an almost transparent figure) KK sings the song to the heroine (Kumkum) to express his dejection due to refusal of his love by her. Though both the versions are pensive, they have different contexts and lyrics. The song is extremely popular to date, even after almost 7 decades of its creation. It was the historic song “Mere mehboob qayamat hogi”, the first song of the LP-KK partnership. LP went to KK with the tune of a song composed for the film, with which KK was thoroughly impressed. Thus the commencement of the LP-KK association was marked, though the association was strengthened only in the 1970s. As KK was playing the lead role, none other than KK was going to be the singer. X in Bombay, a science-fiction thriller film, in which the hero could make himself invisible at his will.
Soon after LP started their career with flying colours, they got the film Mr. Here is looking into some of the lilting songs of the LP-KK combination.ġ. Immensely versatile that he was, KK sounded as dulcet and prolific under LP’s baton as he did in the music of the Burmans and Kalyanji Anandji. Some of the songs that they composed for KK are extremely melodious.
He sang a little over 400 songs for LP, the second highest number of songs that he sang for any composer, after 499 for R.D. Though Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi were the leading singers in LP’s repertoire, Kishore Kumar (KK) also became a prominent singer in their camp post the 1960s. However, even after the first decade, LP came up (albeit less consistently) with numerous memorable and melodious compositions demonstrating their great musical acumen. However, over the years, particularly after the first decade of their career, the innovative approach somewhat faded away, as they resorted to tried and trusted predictable tunes, which were gaining popularity with the changing taste of the public.
Various accounts quote varying numbers of films for which they composed music, the lowest number being as high as 500! Imaginative tunes, innovative orchestration, adventurous experimentation and the typical rhythm on tabla and dholak (accompanied many a time by bongo and conga) were the remarkable features of their music. However, their success spree that started with their debut in 1963 continued until 1998, until Laxmikant passed away. They had to struggle a lot to get films and secondly, a few initial films that they got never saw the light of the day. Of course, the journey till this first break-through was not easy at all. Starting their career as musicians and assistants to many veteran composers in the 1950s, they went on to become an independent composer duo with Parasmani (1963), which was a major musical hit. Of course, singers like Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar and composers like Kalayanji – Anandji and Laxmikant – Pyarelal are the exceptions.Īmong such long-lasting artistes, Laxmikant – Pyarelal (LP) gloriously reigned over the musical space of Hindi films for three and a half decades and were arguably the most successful composer duo of Hindi cinema.
Career of most of the artistes who graced the golden era of Hindi film music with their charismatic art was unfortunately limited only to the golden era.