The Silken Music & Songs Of Yash Chopra

Yash Chopra couldn’t sing. But he had a terrific sense of music, and these 5 Yash Chopra soundtracks are testimony to his tuneful tie-up with sonority.

1. Daag (1976): This was Yash Chopra’s first film as an independent director. And he wanted the best possible  music soundtrack. For this he invited composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal and poet Sahir Ludhianvi. They did create magic specially in the Kishore Kumar solo Mere dil main aaj kya hai. But there was constant friction between L-P and Sahir, with the latter claiming that the composing duo could not comprehend his poetry completely. Nonetheless the score was rounded off by hits like Abb chahe maa roothe ya baba and Ni main yaar manana ni. Lata Mangeshkar whom Yash Chopra considered his Mata Saraswati sang the passionately plaintive Jab bhi chahe nayee duaniya bassa lete hain log. Significantly Yash Chopra had to choose between L-P and Sahir for his subsequent proects. He chose Sahir.
2. Kabhi Kabhie (1975): According to me, one of the 10 landmark music soundtracks of Hindi cinema Kabhi Kabhie finally saw composer Khayyam attaining the success he deserved, after 15 years of struggle. The songs  are distinctly schizophrenic here: the poetic songs like Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon and Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayaal aata hai for Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee Gulzar. And the youthful breezy numbers like  Tera phoolon jaisa rang and Tere chehre se nazar nahin hatti for Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. The piece de resistance was the title song sung to sublime heights by Lata Mangeshkar. The tune was first offered  to director Chetan Anand 15 years earlier for a film that never got made.
3. Silsila (1981): Enter Javed Akhtar, Exit Sahir Ludhianvi. After working with Sahir in 3 of his directorials (Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul and Kala Patthar) Yash Chopra switched to Javed Akhtar for the incredibly poetic lyrics of Neela aasman so gaya, Dekha ek khwab toh yeh silsile huey and Yeh kahan aa gaye hum. Yashji also introduced  legendary flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia and santoor icon Shiv Kumar as a composing duo. Shiv-Hari composed blockbuster music for Yash Chopra in Silsila, Parampara, Chandni, Darr and Faasle. In fact Faasle features the best Shiv-Hari score in a Yash Chopra film. But it’s Silsila everyone remembers to this  day.
4. Chandni (1989): Lataji whom Yash Chopra considered his muse tells me that she had all but decided to quit film singing when Chandni came her way. The song Mere hathon mein nau nau chudiyan hain made her change her mind. Chandni was a complete musical with one stand-out all-time classic Tere mere honthon pe meethe meethe geet mitwa. The meethe-meethe geet of Chandni also included Sridevi’s first self-rendered  song. The less said about her singing the better.
5. Aa Meri Jaan (2012): Yash Chopra’s swan song brought together Yash Chopra, A R Rahman and Gulzar for  the first time. The result was underwhelming but nonetheless sufficiently sonorous as a send-off to the filmmaker who had once declared to me, “Jab tak main hoon Lataji will sing in my films.” Prophetic words. There was no song by the Nightingale in Aa Meri Jaan.

10  Favourite Songs From Yash Chopra’s Films

1. Ni main yaar manana ni: Lata Mangeshkar, Minoo Puroshottam (Daag)
2. Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein: Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh (Kabhi Kabhie)
3. Kisska rasta dekhe: Kishore Kumar (Joshila)
4. Tu mere saath rahega munne: Lata Mangeshkar (Trishul)
5. Baahon mein tere masti ke dere: Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd Rafi (Kala Patthar)
6. Neela aasman so gaya: Lata Mangeshkar (Silsila)
7. Om namah shivay: Lata Mangeshkar (Mashaal)
8. Hum chup hain: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar (Faasle)
9. Tere mere hothon pe: Lata Mangeshkar, Babla Mehta (Chandni)
10. Tu saawan main pyaas piya: Lata Mangeshkar (Parampara)