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C U L T U R E
Punjabi Film
Music: Sardul Kwatra and his Soulful Music
Harjap Singh Aujla
 Sometimes I feel
that there are several important aspects of the history of Punjab, which have
gone unrecorded. Although Punjabi pop music is currently dominating the musical
scene of India, yet no one has taken pains to discover the pioneering times of
its mother, the folk and light Punjabi music. I have hardly seen any material on
the history of Punjabi cinema. This article is an attempt to record whatever I
know about the history of Punjabi film music.
 History of
Punjabi films is almost as old as that of Hindi cinema. The first talkie in
Hindi Alam Ara was made in 1931 and the first Punjabi film was made in 1934, its
print is unfortunately lost to our callous indifference towards our heritage. It
is never too late to start preservation, I think it is time we should establish
an archive of our old films and their music.
 Based on my
research, I shall divide Punjabi music directors into three distinct
generations. The first being the generation of pioneering music directors, who
had no role models to follow? The second generation being that of the
trendsetters and the third is the post 1980 period of pop music and innovations
in folk. I shall not attempt to write about the contemporary music directors,
who are currently composing the Punjabi music and making big bucks. I think it
will be more appropriate to write about the strugglers of 1934 to 1979 period,
who’s memories are already fading and very soon the people will start
forgetting them.
The first
Punjabi music director was Ustad Jhande Khan. The second was Rafique Ghaznavi
B.A. The third fourth and fifth music directors were Ghulam Haider, Pandit
Amarnath and Pandit Gobind Ram. They all attained their peaks prior to 1950. Two
more music directors Dalip Chander Vedi and Harish Chander Bali also fall into
this category, but they did very little work.
 The second
generation consists of among others Khurshid Anwar, Feroze Nizami, Rashid Atre,
Master Inayat Hussain, Shyam Sunder, Pandit Husna Lal, Bhagat Ram, Hans Raj Behl,
Vinod, Alla Rakha Qureishi, Shiv Dayal Batish, Madan Mohan, Sardul Kwatra, S.
Mohinder, Roshan, Ravi, Khayyam, K. Panna Lal, Pandit Amarnath Second, O.P.
Nayyar and Usha Khanna. Some of them did not compose music for Punjabi films,
but by origin all of them were Punjabis.
 Out of all
these, the ones I know intimately are S. Mohinder and Late Sardul Singh Kwatra.
This article is about the life and works of Sardul Kwatra (1928 – 2005).
Sardul Singh Kwatra was born and brought up in Punjab’s capital Lahore. Since
childhood Sardul was fond of music. Lahore was a place where Punjab’s finest
maestros attained name and fame. Sardul while studying in school got the initial
training in classical music from Sardar Avtar Singh. Sardar Avtar Singh
possessed good knowledge of most of the Ragas mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib
as well as those Ragas, upon which the folk tunes of Punjab are based. Among the
male voices Sardul was a great admirer of Agha Faiz of Amritsar and among the
females he was especially fond of the silken voice of Zeenat Begum.
 Sardul thought
that Zeenat’s voice was culturally very well marinated into music. He was also
a great admirer of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his brother Barqat Ali Khan. Since
his childhood Sardul Kwatra had a fairly good knowledge of the basic tunes of
Central Punjab’s folk songs like “Heer”, “Mirza”, “Tappe”,
“Bolian”, “Jugni”, “Dhola”, “Mahiya”, “Multani Kafi” and
“Saiful Malook”. Such knowledge came in handy when later on Sardul became a
film music director.
 I had my first
exposure to his film music, when I saw the first “Kwatra Production” a
Punjabi film “Posti” in 1950 in New Delhi. Being a child I could not
understand the story, but I certainly enjoyed the music and still remember its
songs and tunes. In person, I saw him in 1957 in Amritsar, when he came there to
accompany Mohammad Rafi in a mixed Hindi Punjabi film song concert. He was
playing piano accordion and serving as the master of ceremony.
 The second
opportunity came my way when I met Sardul Kwatra in the Madhya Marg shopping
center in Sector 7, Chandigarh. It was a surprise meeting. I saw someone
resembling Sardul Kwatra that I had seen in 1957. On asking he said that he
indeed is Sardul Kwatra and has shifted from Bombay to Chandigarh. He said he is
rediscovering his roots and wants to open a film institute in this city, where
he will impart training in acting, direction, singing, dancing and tune making.
I was thrilled to hear all that. From that chance meeting on we used to meet
often in his “Chandigarh Film Institute” located in a sprawling Sector 5
house only a stone’s throw away from Sukhna Lake. There were chatting sessions
in this building, the adjoining lake and at my house in Sector 11 that gave me a
peep into his achievements and failures.
 I was fascinated
by Sardul Kwatra’s brilliance as a music director of Punjabi films. His tunes
reflected the real folk music of Punjab, the music of Lahore and Central Punjab
of pre-partition era. His musical score for some Hindi films is also at par with
that composed by some of the stalwarts of Hindi film music. Sardul disclosed
that he has always been a highly romantic person and his best tunes were
composed during various episodes of romancing.
 The first
production of the Kwatra family was film “Posti”. The idea took shape while
the family was still in Lahore, but the partition of Punjab left the family high
and dry. After a short duration in Amritsar, the family moved to Bombay
virtually penniless. Most of the cast of the film had also arrived in Bombay.
Majnu, a Christian stage and film artist of Lahore performed the leading
male’s role as Posti. Bhag Singh performed his father’s role. The
heroine’s father was a very popular actor Ramesh Thakur. The lady for the role
of the heroine was still being searched. Sardul Kwatra took it upon himself to
choose a heroine.
In Shyama, a seventeen year old budding actress Sardul found
the heroine of the movie. Shyama, an athletically built charming girl hails from
a Punjabi family. She was conversing in chaste Punjabi. Sardul’s choice
received the final nod from the senior member of the family the elder brother of
Sardul Singh and the producer of the film Harcharan Singh Kwatra. After initial
hiccups financing was also arranged. The film was completed in 1949. It was an
instant hit. The music was brilliant. Shamshad Begum and Mohammed Rafi were the
leading female and male singers. A famous Hindi playback singer Rajkumari sang
for the first time for a Punjabi film. Asha Bhonsle made her debut in film
“Posti”.
 Sardul Kwatra
said that he was a great admirer of the femininity and beauty of “Shyama”
and Shyama was a natural dancer, who will instantly start dancing to the tune
composed. Sardul never touched Shyama, but being a silent admirer, he created
some of the most everlasting Punjabi tunes.
The Kwatra
family was so much impressed with Shyama’s fluent Lahori Punjabi and her
natural gift of dancing and acting that it engaged her as the heroine for their
second Punjabi film “Kaude Shah” made in 1952. Sardul Singh composed the
music of this film too. Like “Posti”, “Kaude Shah” also became a hit
movie. Its music reached newer heights in popularity. Shamshad Begum excelled as
the female Punjabi film singer. Hindi cinema’s most romantic male singer Talat
Mahmood also sang a Punjabi duet with Rajkumari for this movie. This soulful
song “Zulfan Ne Khul Gaiyan, Akhian Ne Rul Gaiyan, Ki Khattia e Dil Laa Ke”
is one of the evergreen Punjabi film songs.
 The Kwatra
family shortly there after made a Hindi film “Mirza Sahiban” also in 1953.
The hero was Shammi Kapoor, but the heroine once again was Shyama. This film did
not do too much business, but it launched Sardul Kwatra as a music director for
the mainstream Hindi cinema. Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi sang most of its
songs. The music became more popular than the movie. One Punjabi song in
Rafi’s voice “Nahin Rees Punjab Di, Kehndi e Lehar Charab Di” became very
popular all over Punjab.
During the mid
fifties, Shaminder Singh, a landlord from Muktsar in Ferozepore District reached
Bombay with a hope to produce a Punjabi film and desire to have an opportunity
to sing a song or two with Lata Mangeshkar. Shaminder with the collaboration of
Kwatra Brothers produced a Punjabi film “Vanjara”. Lata was the leading
female singer. Shaminder did sing a couple of duets with Lata. Sardul Kwatra
scored the music. The film was not a big success, but Sardul Kwatra’s music
attained new heights in excellence.
 Sardul Kwatra
scored the music for a Hindi film “Pilpli Sahib”. Its songs are great pieces
of art. Sardul did not hide his admiration for actress singer Suraiya. He always
longed to compose tunes for her. Suraiya was a real star. She was rich and
classy. She used to travel in a shoffer driven long black Cadillac Sedan. It was
a treat to watch this VIP. In 1957, Suraiya accepted Sardul Kwatra’s request.
The Kwatra
family made a Hindi film “Goonj” in 1957. Sardul Kwatra himself composed the
music. Suraiya became the lead singer and heroine. Sardul composed all the tunes
by sitting in front of Suraiya. To Sardul, Suraiya was such a celebrity that out
of reverence he will start sweating in front of her. Suraiya was fond of the
finest perfumes, but French cosmetics were her first love. Sardul was aspiring
to compose tunes that could match the scents radiating from Suraiya. This is
how, according to Sardul’s own admission, he composed the memorable tunes of
film “Goonj”. Some of the songs of “Goonj” are featured on the four
cassette set of Suraiya’s songs as well as a two CD set released recently.
Sardul used to admit that he did not have the courage to even formally shake
hands with Suraiya. His romanticism revolved around secret admiration of Suraiya
and that was enough to induce him into composing soulful tunes to be sung by
Suraiya. On the day of the demise of Suraiya, Sardul was in uncontrollable
tears. He was recollecting the precious moments he spent in her company in
Bombay.
Sardul and
Mohammad Rafi used to be good friends. Rafi suspected that Sardul had cheated
him of a sizable amount of money. Sardul denied it, but the industry had more
faith in Rafi. That was one of the reasons of Sardul Kwatra leaving Bombay and
initially settling in Punjab and later on moving to the United States. He had a
wife and children, they were all nice folks. Somehow Sardul’s excessive
romanticism became a bone of contention. He left his family behind in India and
moved to the United States, in the company of a much younger girl, who aspired
to be an actress and a dancer. There were two sons from this relationship, but
some irreconcilable differences led to a divorce.
While in the
U.S. Sardul tried to stay in the profession of composing music, but California
was no Bombay. In Bombay he could get the finest instrument players without much
efforts, in California Indian style musicians were hard to find. Thus his film
career came to an abrupt end. While in India Sardul Kwatra composed music for
about two dozen movies, mostly Punjabi movies. “Billow” was another great
musical, but it failed at the box office. He composed music for the first
Punjabi version of “Shaheed Udham Singh”; this film was also called
“Sarfrosh”. This movie was not a bad failure. Sardul’s last movie was
“Anthelia Métier” made in 1979. He had composed several tunes in America,
but there were no takers.
In America
Sardul was a frustrated man. Several times, when he was in a pensive mood, he
called me from California, we used to have long talks and from those
conversations, I could extract a lot of material for this article. There are
stories or rumours that Sardul wanted to romantically involve with some women in
America too, but things here are not as easy as those could be in India. Plus
age was not on his side. This led to, at times, heavy drinking on his part. He
was diabetic and developed hypertension too. He died in 2005 as a financially
uncomfortable and professionally frustrated man. I am firmly of the opinion that
Sardul Kwatra was a genius, but his brilliance was at best under used. Staying
in Bombay, during the years of his creative best, would have been best for
music.
BACK
The
Dynamics of Sikh Diaspora since Independence-2
[South Asia Post
is happy to publish the synopsis in two parts of the “Sixth Bhai Chanan
Singh Memorial Lecture” on ‘The Dynamics of Sikh Diaspora since
Independence’ delivered by Ambassador Bal Anand, IFS (Retd.) on 9th
Nov. 2006, at Bhai Vir Singh Sahyat Sadan, New Delhi.]
Coming to
Canada, the Indian independence had certainly awakened the pride of
Indo-Canadian community, which was particularly reflected in an unprecedented
reception to the first Indian High Commissioner, Sardar Hardit Singh Malik. The
Canadian connection of the Sikh community has been in a much sharper focus in
the recent decades. The present profile of the community started taking shape
only in the 60’s with the liberalization of the immigration policies. A survey
indicated that 49% of the Indo-Canadian population of about 851,000 (2001) wee
the Sikhs, with 24% Hindus and 10% affiliated with other religions – the
community as a percentage of the Canadian population of 30 million represented
about 2.8%. The political prominence of Indo-Canadians has been growing and the
Canadian politicians have been avidly cultivating Indo-Canadian ethnic groups.
There are more than 100 Gurdwaras and temples throughout Canada.
 The U.S.A., the
sole superpower looming large over the globe in the 21st century, has certainly
emerged as the single largest and the fastest growing component of the Indian
Diaspora, of Punjabis and Sikhs in particular. It has registered the fastest
growth in comparison to the other communities – estimated 815,000 (1990) and
1.7 million (2001), the Indo-Americans are presently reckoned to be about 2.1
million and are viewed with a new found respect in the United States. In terms
of statistics, the Indian Diaspora in the U.S.A. is one of the largest and also
one of the most well off, with medium income being 1.5 times of the host
country. As regards the specific issues confronting the Sikh community in the
U.S.A., a particular note has to be taken of the serious problem of the terror
backlash in the aftermath of the 9/11 resulting in the hate related crimes under
the mistaken identity of the Sikhs.
The complex and
divisive issue of the support and degree of commitment of the Sikhs abroad to
the so-called ‘search for statehood’ or to put bluntly, “Khalistan”,
could be approached from different scholastic point of view. It may, perhaps be
stated without serious contention that an overwhelming opinion of the Sikh
masses in Punjab and also abroad have dissociated themselves with the concept of
the demand based on the presumption, “to save Sikhism from dilution and
absorption in the sea of Hindu India”. There is no need to elaborate on the
still intact umbilical cord relationship and traditions of deep mutual trust and
overall admiration between the two communities i.e. the Hindus and the Sikhs and
also the overall good relations of the Sikhs with the other main religious
groups in India including Islam.
It may be stated
that many perceptive watchers of the affairs of the Sikh community in India and
abroad point out that the economy of Punjab has been undergoing a radical
transformation in the wake of unanticipated negative consequences of the Green
Revolution in terms of the farmers resorting to excessive tapping of the
precious underground water and the massive usage of chemical fertilizers as well
as the attendant mechanization of agriculture. The state has been confronted by
the large-scale unemployment and problem of drug addiction among the youth.
There are also regular reports in the media of the Punjabis youth suffering in
the prisons in various countries. It has been further observed that the time has
indeed come for the well to do among the Punjabis and Sikh Diaspora to play its
role in creating opportunities in Punjab by investments in the identified
sectors and also in the upgrading of the educational institutions and the
general quality of life in the rural areas of Punjab. It is a matter of
satisfaction that some villages in Punjab have got a complete facelift, thanks
to the success of some ‘sons of the soil’ ion a distant land.
It is
interesting to point out that the Diaspora has been exercising a powerful
influence on the cultural life of Punjab in the recent decades. The flock of
folk signers led by talented Gurdas Mann and others has been growing rich and
famous. The ‘Jathas’ of the gifted ‘Raagis’, popular preachers and
charismatic saints and ‘babas’ have also become globetrotters, quenching the
‘spiritual thirst’ and catering to the other concerns of the minds of the
well-to-do disciples who miss the ‘air’ of the homeland. It has been
mentioned earlier that in the waves of the migrants from Punjab, there were a
large number of persons who had been teachers and highly qualified persons and
some of them had been long aligned with the political parties. After initial
period of struggle and settling down, they were able to form active literary and
cultural organizations in their new nests. In the recent past, the newspapers
and magazines in Punjab have been devoting special attention in publishing their
good or not so good writings.
It may be stated
in the overall context of the Diaspora that it is never an easy path when people
unnecessary rake up controversies. It may, perhaps, be wiser not to pit
ourselves against the tides of time; everything – animate and inanimate – is
subjected to the elements of Nature: with the ever-evolving ideas and
environment around Please permit me to conclude with a couplet of poetry:
Imaan bhi hai khatme
Nabuwwat pe hamara:
Mehsoos bhi karte hein,
payambar ki zaroorat!
[This Lecture,
“by a non-Sikhs scholar on any Sikh theme of his choice in order to
demonstrate to the dark forces of communalism that no religion is the exclusive
property of its so-called believers” - is endowed by well known scholar, Prof.
Pritam Singh from Patiala in honour of the memory of his father. Since inception
in 2001, it has been a prestigious event for the Punjabis and the past speakers
included eminent scholars like Prof. Dipankar Gupta, Prof. Barun Dey, Prof. Hew
McLeod and Dr. Namwar Singh.
[The text of
the lecture is available at the web log of Ambassador Anand
http://bal-anand.blogspot.com.]
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