Posts Tagged ‘Malik’

A fan’s tribute: Vol. 1

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Geeta Dutt with Pankaj Mallik

This is a tribute to Geeta ji by one of her fans. We will be publishing several tributes over the next few days.

Song: Mujhe dekhkar woh jab muskuraayenge
Film : Zalzala (1952)
MD : Pankaj Mullick sahab
Lyrics: Ali Sardar Jafri
Singer: Geeta Roy Dutt

Zalzala

Whenever I see these pictures or hear this song from the film Zalzala (1952), I have this fantasy of my darling singer GEETAJI and the musicians gathered around a large microphone, which must have funneled the sounds they produced down to a diaphragm, which vibrated and moved the cutting needle & translated that acoustical energy into a groove in the wax master recording. Oh! What a rare combination of angelic delicacy and extraordinary power, that was capable of such a bravura moment as this rendering ,of my most favorite song of hers composed by my most favorite composer, the one and only Pankaj Mullick –the great !!!

Listen to the way she starts off the song…..MUJHE VO DEKHKAR JAB MUSKURAYENGE , TO KYA HOGA… tenderly ,achingly romantic, pure of voice with lush musical arrangements by the genius composer, she is so emphatically sentimental, & with such emotional singing style….she stands apart for me because ,as they say about “STYLE”…..“you’ve either got it or you haven’t got it, [and] if you’ve got it ,you stand out a mile” ….oh! that she does,…several miles apart !…in my opinion .
Already full of confidence & impeccable sense of timing, she glides effortlessly into MERI DUNIYA PE BIJILI SI GIRAYENGE TO KYA HOGA …at the end of this kya hoga ,….her voice became deeper and even richer, with her phrasing cleaved more closely to the emotional demands of the song….

With apparent frailty, innocence and a vulnerability that evokes deep passions, casual and unpretentious — almost self-deprecating….she sings… MAI UNKE SAAMNE AAYI [2] AAYI TO HU JEE KO KADA KARKE
Such articulated words of a personal anguish…ISHARON SE JO PAAS APNE BULAYENGE, TO KYA HOGA…wah!
A singer can have a note-perfect high range and no flexibility at all. What counts is the capacity to negotiate the tricky intervals, and listen to Geeta do an instantaneous jump here that can leave the words ringing as clear and open as the previous lyrics …
MERI NAZARON SE GHABARAKAR , VO [NAZARE KHUD CHUPALENGE ]-2,
what an angelically soaring journey…..

Geeta Dutt

The standard item of praise for any singer is ‘breath control’ but certainly every professional singer has a certain amount of that. What Geeta ji really had was enunciation control….please listen to her start the next line thus….JHUKA KAR APNI NAZARE PHIR UTHAYENGE TO KYA HOGA

For me GEETA ji , is literally my heartbeat singer-of a persona who can make every song a story, with her characteristic signature style, so much so that her songs become more than stories rather they became epics or anthems to me…..plz listen to the rest of the song to understand my feelings……

YE MAANAA [2] UNKE AAGE APNA HAAL-E DIL CHUPA LUNGI..DIL CHUPA LUNGI
JO VO ALHAD JAWANI KO JAGAYENGE TO KYA HOGA….
UJALA HAI[2]…ANDHERI SHAB ME AANSOO KE CHARAGON SE AANSOO KE CHARAGON SE
AGAR PALKO SE AANSOO TOOT JAYENGE TO KYA HOGA…What an original sound she brought forth to the world ,memorable and undeniably addictive……..GEETA ROY/DUTT-is the kind of singer who comes along once in a lifetime—a vocal brand with a powerful style that is NONPAREIL….period!!!

Acknowledgements:

1) The photo of Geeta ji with Pankaj Mullick sahab has been taken from the official website http://pankajmullick.org/

2) We are extremely grateful to our dear friend Priya for writing this article on our special request.