Her marital problems were taking a heavy toll on Geetaji. It appeared on the surface that this may slow down her singing assignments, but she still managed to sing in 30 or so movies. Number of songs she sang in these went down considerably, but she was still busy. She was very talented and music composers of the time were very much aware of this. Most of the songs she sang were unequivocal hits and this did not go unnoticed by them. They were still willing to put up with her tardiness or irregular attendance for recordings just to have her sing. It was a sure thing, like money in the bank. There was so much magic in her melodious voice that they were willing to forgive her transgressions.
Burmanda, who had Asha Bhosle singing most of his songs at this time, was still fond of Geetaji’s superlative talented vocals. This found her singing in four of his films. These were “Ek Ke Baad Ek” (two duets), “Kala Bazaar” (two duets), “Manzil” (a duet), and “Miya Bibi Raazi” (a duet). Even though all these were popular songs, yet there were few standouts among these. The duet, “Rimjhim Ke Tarane Leke”, with Mohd. Rafi in “Kala Bazaar” makes as if monsoons came alive. Here she was singing for Madhubala. In 1955 she sang a solo for Madhubala, “Thandi Hawa Kaali Ghata”, in “Mr. & Mrs. ‘55” (O.P. Nayyar was its composer). That song was like a cool evening breeze of a hot summer night. One can feel when Geetaji was singing for Madhubala that charming free spiritedness and engaging exuberance imprinted in the song all over. Another duet, “Chup Ke Se Mile Pyaase Pyaase”, from “Manzil”, again with Rafi Saheb, is one of those gems. It was beautifully composed by Burmanda. The song starts slowly with Geetaji’s soft-spoken and sweet words culminating in a breezy song. A beautiful listening experience.
Chitraguptji was there again in 1960. Geetaji sang in five of his films during that year. These were “Baraat” (two duets), “Maa Baap” (a duet), “Naache Nagin Baaje Been” (a duet), “Police Detective” (a duet), and “Zimbo Shehar Mein” (a solo and a duet).
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