A tribute to the lyricist Rajendra Krishna (6 June 1919 – 23 September 1987) on his 34^th Remembrance Day by guest author Hans Jakhar

(The lovers of old film music regard Rajendra Krishna with a lot of respect for a large number of immortal songs he wrote. His most prominent association was with C Ramchandra, the unique craftsman. C Ramchandra was not only reckoned as the tallest composer for a number of years, rivalled by only Naushad, he was also known for breaking new grounds with his unconventional songs, and his very fast output. Rajendra Krishna was his regular lyricist for many of these superhits.

Many readers have mentioned that the lyricists deserve more coverage on SOY. Fortunately, there are some among our guest authors who are ever willing to fill up the gap. Hans Jakhar has been interacting with me about some prominent lyricists he would like to write on. He got busy in some personal matters which affected his participation on the blog. But he has been able to send me his article on Rajendra Krishna on his most famous association with a composer, as his tribute on his 34^th Remembrance Day. The readers may please note that many sources, including film credit titles write his name as Rajinder Krishan/Krishen. But being conditioned by Akashvani, I prefer to write it as Rajendra Krishna. (And the readers must have, of course, noticed that ‘Albela’ and ‘Karigar’ both are names of films which had Rajendra Krishna-CR songs.)

Hans needs no introduction to the regular readers of SOY. His writing is backed by data, it is functional and precise and he is very knowledgeable. He is a retired government official. As the readers can make out, this article is the start of a series; Hans would cover Rajendra Krishna’s association with a few other important composers in due course. Thanks a lot Hans for this excellent guest article.- AK)

Rajendra Krishna penned more than 1500 songs in 232 films with 34 composers, but his fame is not commensurate with the quality and quantity of work that he produced. As the focus has always been on composers, only those lyricists who were inalienably linked with some prominent composers were discussed more. There were exceptions like Sahir Ludhiyanavi who kept themselves in the news in some way or other. But Rajendra Krishna, like Ravi in the composers, was a low-key, simple person who did not believe in self-propaganda. His most commonly known story is his winning the jackpot in horse races and even in that people are not sure about the time of the occurrence.

Rajendra Krishna was a well-read literary person, who not only wrote lyrics on a wide range of subjects, but also wrote dialogues, screenplays and a few stories. Though it is difficult to know the dialogue and screenplay writer etc. without watching titles of the films, I have counted more than 80 films for which he wrote dialogues etc. in addition to lyrics. That is a huge number by any standards. This connection with story and screenplay is the reason why his songs look part of the scene and situation. He rarely departed from the situation and never tried to interpose his own theories while writing lyrics. Not only that, he adjusted admirably to the inclinations of the composer while writing songs. That is why you will find him doing with equal finesse light songs like ‘Mere piya gaye rangoon‘, ‘Gore gore O baanke chhore‘, ‘Shola jo bhadke‘ with CR, while with Madan Mohan he would come up with high class ghazals like in Adalat.

I always feel sorry that I am not able to satisfy the curiosity of some friends with biographical details or anecdotes. I mostly cover the work of the personality at hand. Biographical details can be had from Wikipedia. For Rajendra Krishna, Wikipedia says he was born in Gujarat district of the present-day Pakistan and worked in the municipal office of Shimla before moving to Bombay in the mid-40s. I can further mention what Manek Premchand wrote about him in his book ‘Yesterday’s Melodies Today’s Memories’ for those who have not read the book. Premchand wrote, “Generations of music lovers have enjoyed virtually hundreds of songs written by Rajendra Krishna, while sadly remaining blissfully unaware of who wrote those songs.” After doing his matriculation in 1935, Rajendra Krishna went to Shimla and worked with a local electrical company. He got married in 1941 and had four sons and two daughters. A wealthy person Kamal Rai took Rajendra Krishna to Bombay and he did the role of a Pandit in the 1943 film Shahanshah Akbar. The film was a sound flop with people breaking chairs in the cinema hall and he decided to restrict himself to writing. Premchand also described his work style as told to him by Rajendra Krishna’s son Bunty:

“Bunty took me to his parents’ bedroom and demonstrated how his dad used to sit cross-legged on his bed, facing the wall, cigarette held between the index and middle finger, closed-fist style, and taking deep drags. Ash spread over the bed. And either Income Tax papers or songbooks opened in front of him.”

Rajendra Krishna’s wife Savitri Duggal and his sons Ravi and Bunty shared with Premchand some personal memories when he visited their house. They told him he was not methodical and was mostly absent-minded. Sometimes he would go to the fridge and open the door and would forget for what purpose he had come, as suddenly some idea would come to him and he would go to his writing place. Once his daughter Pappu was playing with her Dutch friend who was singing a Dutch play song Ina Meena Deeka, from which he suddenly got the idea for that song. He loved to drink and was a non-stop smoker of Gold Flake cigarettes and he never remembered to flick the ash. I think I have this time satisfied the curiosity of friends to some extent.

Now I come back to start of his carrier. His first films for lyrics as well as dialogues came in 1947 itself. He debuted as lyricist in Janta for which he wrote lyrics for two songs. Details of Zanjeer are not known, but it is said he wrote dialogues for the film. In the meantime, he had been employed by Famous Pictures with which Qamar Jalalabadi also worked. He shared lyrics of two hit films Pyar Ki Jeet (1948) and Badi Behan (1949) with Qamar, while doing Aaj Ki Raat alone. ‘Tere nainon ne chori kiya‘ was an instant hit in Pyar Ki Jeet, while all songs written by him for Badi Behan were hits. In the meantime, he wrote the non-film song ‘Suno sun ae duniyawalo bapuji ki amar kahani‘ after the death of Mahatma Gandhi. This was an instant hit and now his name was known to everybody in the film world. The owner of Famous Pictures, Baburao Pai gifted him Austin car for this song. Soon his career was on a roll and he wrote lyrics for 23 films in the three years of 1948 to 1950. Lahore, Patanga and Samadhi were other prominent films of this period. Details of prominent films with other composers would come in the coming series. Now I focus on C Ramchandra.

Rajendra Krishna’s association with CR started in 1949. I don’t know whether film Sipahiya, in which he wrote one song, or Patanga came first, but it is sure that he did not come in Patanga on CR’s recommendation, which some people believe, because he wrote dialogues also for the whole film. Whatever was the reason, the success of Patanga started a decade long association between the two. In fact, in the eight years between 1951 to 1958 when their partnership broke, it was as if CR did not know any other lyricist, because out of 39 films he did in this period in 29 Rajendra Krishna was the lyricist. It may be that for the other films the film maker or Director might have specifically gone for other lyricists. Suddenly in 1958 after Amar Deep, when Lata walked out of CR’s record room Rajendra Krishna was also discarded. After Amar Deep they had only one film together, Payal Ki Jhankar (1968).

Their association was one of the most fruitful pairing with huge benefits to both. They worked in 33 films together and of all the composers, Rajendra Krishna wrote the maximum number of songs – 283 – for CR. Like Patanga and Samadhi, in the 50s too there were some great hits like Albela, Sagaai, Anarkali, Azaad, Asha and Amardeep. There were some other prominent films music-wise. Of the 283 songs, details are not known for 4 and out of 279, exactly two third 186 were solos and the remaining one third 93 duets. Female solos had lions share with 145 of which Lata Mangeshkar with 115, Asha Bhosle with 20 and Shamshad Begum with 5 had the major share. On the male side, CR himself (known as Chitalkar as a singer) with 9, Kishore Kumar with 8, Talat Mahmood and Rafi with 7 each were the main singers. In the male-female duet songs which were 60, Lata Mangeshkar with 35, Asha Bhosle with 13 and Shamshad Begum with 8 on the female side, and CR with 29, Rafi with 16 and Talat with 7 on the male side were main singers. There were 13 all male, 11 all female and 9 multiple singer songs.

Now I come to the song selection. I have altogether left Anarkali and Azaad for the selection and only taken one sample song from Patanga – their first hit film – and one from Albela as a representative of Chitalkar solos. Similarly, I have left out the parting hits of Lata from Amar Deep. It being well known that CR-Lata combo is special, I have tried to focus on a variety of songs which Lata sang to show the range of both of them. I have tried to accommodate other singers where possible. Due to this the list has become too long. I hope friends would like the selection and pardon the long list. Here it is.

1. Pyar ke jahan ki nirali sarkar hai – Patanga – 1949 – Lata Mangeshkar and Shamshad Begum

The glory of Patanga has already been shown in its brightest colours with a special article on the film by AK. The lyrics and music were mesmerising. The lyrics of this one has a unique imagery and a lot of similes and perfectly fitting for a fun song. Dil is thanedar, havaldar and chowkidar of ‘muhabbat ka thana’. ‘Ankhon ka daakhana‘ ‘nazron ka taar (telegram) ‘ is used in the first antara. Then in the second antara he compares ‘pyar‘ to a ‘class‘ where ‘koi koi paas hai (only a few are successful in this class). This song also shows how different was Shamshad Begum as a person. She allowed more than equal share to Lata in the song, which Lata never allowed new singers when she was established.

2. Wah paas aa rahe hain hum door ja rahe hain – Samadhi – 1950 – Lata Mangeshkar

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

This was the film which had the blockbuster ‘Gore gore O banke chhore’. Lata had at the time a natural tinge of sadness in her voice which she lost later. That is the reason her sad songs of the time, particularly with CR, had special charm. Rajendra Krishna was at his best with lyrics. Amazing choice of words. Look at the last antara how beautifully he uses the words roothna and manaana, हम रूठ कर ख़ुशी से ग़म को मना रहे हैं.

3. Kabhi kaali ratiyan….O betaji kismat ki hawa kabhi naram – Albela – 1951 – Chitalkar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DPN72QhjH8

CR was very fond of fun songs and in his quest he created gem after gem. This was one of such songs where his solo singing also shone forth. Lyrics department was taken care of well by Rajendra Krishna.

4. O daddy ji meri mummy ko satana nahin achha – Sagaai – 1951 – Lata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsm4JinSBSE

Rajendra Krishna was an expert at finding words for every situation. Here he is expertly handling the words where a male has to be castigated for his misdemeanours. Just simple lines for the light song. Later he wrote a similar fun song against female ‘Jawan ho ya budhia‘ in Bhabhi. Lata had by now become indispensable for CR. This song is also a visual treat with special antics of Gope along with his thumkas.

5. Hum hain yahan…Ankhon se jo bhi aansoo bahega – Sagaai – 1951 -Lata Mangeshkar

The mukhda may suggest the song is a sad one but, this one is also a song in light vein. Again, simple lines to go with the situation. Rehana was for a certain time period quite popular. She made an unusual pair with Premnath but the film was a blockbuster, probably due to the songs.

6. Dil-e-beqaraar soja, ab nahin kisi ko tera intezar – Ghunghroo – 1952 – Lata Mangeshkar

A perfect sad song for a person who is feeling melancholy believing nobody cares for her. The first para says don’t talk about your woes because nobody listens. The second para tells ‘Teri tadap par hanste hain chaand taare’.

7. Meri sakhi bata teri pee bin kaisi gujri raat re – Hungama – 1952 – Rafi and Chitalkar

This song appears to be some nautanki song. As in nautankis of old times parts of females were also played by males, the song presents Rafi singing the male part and Chitalkar the female part without any change of voice. Words are again simple. The song must have titillated the audience no end.

8. Azal se husnparasti likhi thi…Mera mizaaj ladakpan se aashiqana hai – Saaqi – 1952 – Rafi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z61PzSIHcnM

This was the year when Rafi was singing songs of irritating flirtation to Nadira in Aan. Here Premnath gets paired with the beauty Madhubala and he is busy having fun in the song, boldly presenting his ‘dil‘ as nishana.

मुझे डराएंगी क्या मुश्क़िलें ज़माने की
के मेरे सीने को आदत है तीर खाने की
ऐ हुस्नवालों ज़रूरत नहीं निशाने की
ख़ुशी से तीर चलाओ ये दिल निशाना है.

9. Aarzooyein ro rahin hain…..Kise maloom tha ek din muhabbat bejuban hogi – Saaqi – 1952 -Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar

CR sang a number of duets with Lata. But he also gave a number of duets to the Lata-Talat duo ousting Rafi who was his initial favourite. I don’t know whether it was because Lata felt more comfortable with Talat or whether CR used Talat more because his main adversary Naushad was not using him. Whatever be the reason this combo produced one of the sublime duets penned perfectly by Rajendra Krishna in the ghazal format. Sample:

Kabhi ik khwab dekha tha, mere pehloo men tum hoge,
Kahani pyar ki ankhon hi ankhon men bayan hogi

CR gave the couplet before the mukhda to Lata instead of Talat, who was a master in this craft.

10. Mohe laage sara jag pheeka pheeka – Jhaanjhar – 1953 – Lata Mangeshkar

If there is a song where full credit can be given to the composer, it is this. CR gave such twist to words like pheeka and teekha with well-timed repetitions that you do not care for once for lyrics at all. He was master of this craft and created songs like ‘Baabdi boobdi bum bum‘. In fact many thought he overdid this trick sometimes. This song is total fun and Lata is equal to the task. She sang a number of such saucy songs in the early period, particularly with CR. Later, she changed tack and even castigated Raj Kapoor for the way he picturised ‘Main ka karun raam mujhe budha mil gaya’.

11.  Ghir ghir aayi kari badariya – Shagufa – 1953 – Lata Mngeshkar

Shagufa and Sin Sinaki Babla Boo were films whose names had special attraction for me in radio days. Even till the 1970s songs from these films were played on Radio Ceylon regularly. The female announcer’s voice coming on short wave gave a special effect to names of these films, which I remember till now. Shagufa has many songs worth listening. Premnath produced this under the banner PN Films and entrusted direction to HS Rawail who was director of his successful films like Sagaai and Saaqi. I don’t know how this one fared on box office, but I like its music. I considered 3-4 songs but chose this because it is classical based and shows CR’s range of composition.

12. Teri ik ik ada jhhothi….Maan kare kya rang roop ka tu kaagaz ka phool hai – Kavi – 1954 – Talat Mahmood

CR declared that he would create another film like Baiju Bawra with Talat Mahmood, but the film proved a resounding flop. But, music-wise, if you listen to the songs, the film has quite a few good songs. This song has great lyrics and perfect coming from the slighted lover. He goes on berating her with negative superlatives. Rajendra Krishna has kept his senses while writing the lyrics. He used the lines ‘Shabnam khud ko saagar samjhe ye shabnam ki bhool hai‘. Here shabnam is not used in a bad sense but it tells shabnam has its limits quite like ‘Haseen ho tum khuda nahin ho’.

13. Dekh ke gora ora mukhada…Achhi soorat hui ya musibat gali men aana jaana band – Pehli Jhalak – 1954 – Lata Mangeshkar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnx0Dhsm4EU

This film can be watched just for Vyjayanthimala’s dances. Writing this I suddenly remembered that Bhatiaji was fond of her dances. This film has a number of great songs picturised on her. I selected this beause this is one of the best worded songs of self-praise.

कैसे रोकूंगी मस्ती भरी चाल को
काट लूँ कैसे ज़ुल्फ़ों के इस जाल को
सारी दुनिया से हो गयी अदावत
गली में आना जाना बंद

14. Humein lakh na karod na hazaar chahiye – Duniya Gol Hai – 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar

‘Daalo karodon pe babuji khak, muhabbat ki duniya hai laalach se pak‘ sings Lata penned by Rajendra Krishna. She also sang ‘Lara lappa‘ in the film Ek Thi Ladki (1949) which had lines ‘Baabuji se mange paise, babuji bole paise kaise, len den par khak mubabbat paak bade farma gaye hain‘ written by Aziz Kashmiri. Totally opposite sentiments in the two songs.

15. Aai jhoomti bahar laai dil ka qaraar dekho pyar ho gaya – Insaniyat – 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar and Talat Mahmood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRicVSMr1kY

This film was an ambitious project of Gemini Pictures with both Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand in it, but cold response at box-office brought all the effort of CR and Rajedra Krishna to naught. This song is as sweet as any love duet with all ingredients for success, but ill luck put this in the list of forgotten songs.

16. Aasha ke jab deep bujhe tab man ka deep jala.. Apni chhaya men bhagwan bitha le mujhe – Insaniyat – 1955 – Rafi

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

In this film CR suddenly remembered there is a singer named Rafi and used him in 9 of the 17 songs. Later with Nausherwan-e-Aadil, Amar Deep and Paigham, Rafi was quite regular with him. This is a song of absolute submission to God with a sense of ‘sanyaas’, filmed on Dilip Kumar in a grand temple.

Na gham ka gham na khushi ki khushi,
hai andhera bhi mere liye roshni,
main jiyun jab talak aajma le mujhe

17. Nazar ke saamne jab lut gaya jahan mera…Mujhe bhi maut ka paigam aa jaye to achha ho – Lutera – 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar

In the last song Dilip Kumar was in a sanyaas mood and in this one his brother Nasir Khan has caused the extreme sentiments of seeking death in his lover’s mind. The same year saw CR using a similar tune in Yasmin in the eternal love duet ‘Tum apni yaad bhi dil se bhula jaate to achha tha’. Mark the words in the second antara:

Mubaarak ho tujhi ko ab khushi ke jaam ae duniya,
Yahan to zahar ka ik jaam aa jaye to achha ho

18. Kahan hai mere dil ki duniya…Veeran mera dil hai dil ki bahar aaja – Lutera – Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar

I think at a later stage of life CR must have realised what this pair of top singers could have added to his career after having a relook at such gems. This is a song of long distance at the time of separation with despair and hope built in the lyrics of the song beautifully by Rajendra Krishna.

19. Ishq aya meri duniya mein to aise aya..Ashqon men doob doob ke aayi hansi to kya – Teerandaz – 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar

In Anarkali Rajendra Krishna wrote ‘Zindagi pyar ki do chaar ghadi hoti hai’, but here the sentiments have reversed. All six songs of this film went to Lata Mangeshkar and most of them are gems. About this one I don’t want to say anything except copying the lyrics.

अश्क़ों में डूब डूब के आयी हंसी तो क्या
मर मर के दो घड़ी को मिली ज़िन्दगी तो क्या
बुलबुल ने जब कफ़स में ठिकाना बना लिया
अंगड़ाई लेके शाख से फूटी कली तो क्या
रो रो के बुझ गए मेरी आँखों के जब चिराग
फिर ज़िन्दगी में शम्मे मुहब्बत जली तो क्या
जब ज़िन्दगी में कोई तमन्ना ही न रही
तब दाग़-ए-दिल को इश्क़ की मंजिल मिली तो क्या

20. Udhar chali ja Janaki jidhar chalen tere Ram – Devta – 1956 – Manna Dey

This is one of the great songs sung by Manna Dey. Feminists may make wry faces on the lyrics, but the lines written by Rajendra Krishna conform to the values of those times. This song is presented for Mumbaikar8, so that she can consider ‘Tumhin mere mandir’ as a lesser evil.

21. Haal tujhe apni duniya ka nazar to aata hoga – Aasha – 1957 – Kishore

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

I think there would be hardly any person who has not listened to the twin version song ‘Eena meena deeka‘ a number of times. But, for variety I am presenting a hard hitting song addressed to God and describing the condition of this world. These sentiments have been expressed in different manner in different songs. The following lines are relevant at all times.

Nafrat is duniya ka tohfa, ulfat ik ilzaam,
Jhooth yahan ki subah, haqiqat is duniya ki sham,
Bol kya tujhe apne kiye par taish na aata hoga.

22. Ek nazar mein dil le jaye soorat ho to aisi ho – Baarish – 1957 -Talat Mahmood, Rafi, Francis Vaz and Chitalkar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQku0JMfSA

Nutan is being teased by four mawaalis in four different styles. This song is a unique creation. Earlier in the film Nutan teased Dev Anand, with a song ‘Zara dekho to soorat huzoor ki’, when he went to her village to convey money sent by her brother. This film has a number of good songs.

23. Mr John ya Baba Khan ya Lala Roshandaan – Baarish – Asha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sVXczfC6NQ

This is a club song and Asha Bhosle’s presence immediately tells the difference she could make. And this was the time when she had not gone into the so-called OPN mould. She is just a class by herself.

24. Jap jap jap jap jap re jap re preet ki mala – Sharada – 1957 – Mukesh

In my reckoning CR gave Mukesh just two solos. This one, and another in Wahan Ke Log (1967) – (Hum tujhse mohabbat kar ke sanam duniya ka fasana bhool gaye). This song is a marvel of picturisation and word play for giving a comic effect. Raj Kapoor and Meena Kumari change places as frequently as words are changed in the song with perfect understanding between composer and lyricist. Those who call Mukesh a limited singer need only to listen to this song. Listen with what ease he repeats the word ‘jap’ so many times. I think before this era of playback/pause it would have been a great challenge to count this word in each stint and in total. Even with the modern facilities, it will take a lot of time with pencil and paper in hand.

25. Lene se inkar nahin aur dene ko tayyar nahin – Amar Deep – 1958 – Rafi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrqqxAZJ5AE

If you listen to this song, you would think Johny Walker is lip-syncing. But, surprisingly it is Dev Anand himself and he does not lag behind JW in antics. Many film lyricists have described paisa in various ways but the description by Rajendra Krishna in the song beats them all. It is the most vivid description, covering so many aspects of money. Must listen song.

26. Mose rooth gaye more Ram re – Kaarigar – 1958 – Lata Mangeshkar

I have never seen such lines to describe the Sita-tyag situation. Here is the whole song:

मोसे रूठ गए मोरे राम रे – 2
अपनी  सीता को दे बैठे इक पतिता का नाम रे
कौन जतन से, लछमन भ्राता, रूठे राम मनाऊं
वो बोलेँ तो, शीश नवा कर, धरती बीच समाऊं
मरते मरते, भी होठों पर, राम का होगा नाम रे
काहे जीती, सीता सुनकर, राम से ऐसी बानी
पर क्या करती, गर्भ में उसके, थी जो राम निशानी
जान पे दुःख सहकर भी जीना, है माता का काम रे

27. Shabaab aane se pehle unka aalam aur hi kuchh tha…..Nazar bhar rama taka bhi na jaaye – Kaarigar – 1958 – Smt Chand Agarwal

This is one of the songs which shows CR’s multi-faceted talent as a composer. Slow recital of high quality couplets combined with the mukhda ‘Nazar bhar rama taka bhi na jaaye, ghoonghatwa jo khole karejwa hilaye‘. The singer is some classical singer rarely used in films. But what performance she has given. Meenu Mumtaz dance is icing on the cake.

In the above selection Lata Mangeshkar has naturally the lions share with only CR and Rafi coming in 2 or more songs. Despite the long list the songs cover just about one-tenth of the combo. So friends will have chance to post a number of great songs. Since this is a post on a lyricist, it would be better if something about lyrics is highlighted when posting the songs, though this is not must do.

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:

The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.

The post Rajendra Krishna with Albela Karigar C Ramchandra first appeared on Songs Of Yore.