Harjap Singh Aujla

OF course Lata Mangeshkar was discovered by Music Director Ghulam Haider, but somehow he did not give his most soul inspiring tunes to her to sing. As a result the tunes of Lata’s most brilliant renditions were composed by other music directors. Punjab born and Punjab bred music director Vinod happened to be one of the first music directors who gave his finest tunes to Lata Mangeshkar to sing. Punjabi film “Chaman” made and released in 1948 has the distinction of being one of the first films to contain Lata Mangeshkar’s best composed debut songs. Music Director Vinod had the unique distinction of composing the most brilliant musical score for this second oldest Punjabi classic made in Bombay.

A yesteryears popular music director of Punjabi films Sardul Singh Kwatra who is no more with us, once painfully remarked that the Bombay film industry can swing in extremes. At times Bombay can be very generous and at others it can be very cruel. It bows its head before you, if you have a big nametag or a big name God-father is solidly behind you and more often it denies respect to your genius. Perhaps Sardul also meant that even he was not given his due by the Bombay film World. According to Sardul, the Bombay film industry certainly did not give what was due to some brilliant music directors of yesteryears like Shyam Sunder, Vinod, Sajjad Hussain, Alla Rakha, Khursheed Anwar, Hans Raj Behl, Jamal Sen, Snehal Bhatkar, Jai Dev and Sardar Malik to name a few.

According to Sardul, the Bombay film industry deserted Husan Lal and Bhagat Ram, when they were at their creative best. Even the acclaimed greats like Anil Biswas and Madan Mahan did not get their rightful due, compared to some much pampered but business savvy mediocres. Sardul would have been a very happy man, had he been alive when film “Veer Zara” became a box office and musical success and an all time great music director Madan Mahan got a lot of public support and several top awards for his 1972 musical compositions in 2005. About music director Vinod, whom Sardul knew since his childhood, Sardul believed that he was very creative, who produced some of the most soul stirring tunes, but he never got what he deserved in life and in death.

Music Director Vinod’s real name was Eric Roberts, but for film industry he chose a more familiar and shorter name “Vinod”. This was revealed to me by one of his sons-in-law Kelly Mistry, who is married to his daughter Veera Roberts. His other daughter’s name is Veena Roberts (after marriage Veena Solomon).

Sardul was feeling very dejected about the plight of music director Vinod, who died at a young age and in poverty on the Christmas day in 1959. Sardul Kwatra knew Vinod since his days in Lahore and from a time when Sardul himself was a child, quite ignorant about his destiny. Vinod hailed from a Christian family of Lahore, who were converted from Hindus. Vinod had his family tree connected to Gurdaspur and Amritsar. As a child Vinod was fascinated by the band music which was prominently played during Lahore’s colorful Hindu weddings.

Vinod also listened carefully for hours to the Rababi musicians performing “Shabad Kirtan” at Gurdwara Dehra Sabib Lahore and other Sikh shrines. Sardul said Vinod became a student of Lahore’s famous music director Pandit Amar Nath and learnt the fundamentals of ragas and tune making with the help of a harmonium from the great maestro. He started making tunes while being in Lahore prior to 1947 and during Pandit Amar Nath’s illness leading to his death in 1947, Vinod got the contract of composing the music for a number of films including Punjabi film “Chaman”. But the film could not be taken up due to tense communal atmosphere in Lahore. It was made much later on in India after 1947. Pushpa Hans and Shamshad Begum lent their voices to the songs in this film. Lata Mangeshkar was a new find, looking for work and Vinod gave her three songs to sing. Incidentally Lata’s all three numbers became landmark songs not only for this film, but for other Punjabi films to follow. Those were the days of extreme communal tension on both sides of the Radcliffe line in Punjab, as a consequence after its release the film did not do so well in Pakistani Punjab. But the selling of its music even in Pakistan did quite a decent business.

According to some historians Vinod’s mentor Pandit Amar Nath died in 1946. Some other historians say that Pandit Amar Nath died in February of 1947. I shall agree with 1947 date. But by 1944 most of the Lahore based music directors like Khurshid Anwar (in 1941), Shyam Sunder (in 1943), Hans Raj Behl (in 1944) , Rashid Atre, Feroze Nizami, Ghulam Haider, Pandit Husna Lal Bhagat Ram shifted their base to Bombay in 1944. Pandit Amar Nath and Pandit Gobind Ram were the only music directors left to hold the fort in Lahore. After Pandit Amar Nath’s health deteriorated in 1946, Vinod inherited some of his contracts. “Khamosh Nigahein”, “Paraye Bas Main” and “Kamini” were some of the movies which fell into Vinod’s kitty. None of these 1946 movies did well at the box office and Vinod did not get any milage out of them.

Vinod got the best break in life in 1949, when he got the contract to compose the music for Hindi film “Ek Thi Ladki”. A Shourie production this film became a hit and its Lata song “Lara lappa lara lappa layi rakhda, addi tappa addi tappa layi rakhda” became a nation-wide hit. The tune of this song was based on an old Pahadi Punjabi folk tune of Kangra district. While listening to his other songs for this film particularly its duets, a similarity with the tunes of film “Mirza Sahiban” composed by his mentor Pandit Amar Nath could be clearly established. This goes to prove that Vinod, in letter and spirit, learnt the art of tune making from his teacher. This earned him contract for another Punjabi film “Bhaiya Ji” made in 1950. Lata sang several memorable songs for this movie. One of its sad songs “Ajj mera mahi nall tutt gaya pyar ve akhiyan na maar ve” was acclaimed to be a landmark song. Even Sardul Kwatra had a great admiration for this emotional song. This song later on inspired the tunes of several Hindi songs. In 1949 Vinod composed music for another Hindi film “Taara”, which did not create any waves.

Talat Mahmood and Mohammad Rafi were the favourite male singers of Vinod, who always did full justice to his tunes. According to Sardul Kwatra Vinod had no God-father like Shanker and Jaikishan had in producer actor Raj Kapoor and producer Amiya Chakravarty and Naushad had in a very popular producer Mehboob Khan. Roop K. Shori, who gave Vinod music composition contracts for his films, although was a very big name in Lahore, somehow did not belong to the big league of Bombay based film producers like Sohrab Modi, K.A. Abbas, V. Shantaram, Mehboob Khan, A.R. Kardar and Raj Kapoor.

Roop K. Shori of course earned great name and fame as a producer in Lahore, while moving to Bombay, took his entire team with him. Music director Vinod and lyricist Aziz Kashmiri were members of his core group. In Bombay Vinod composed the music for most of Roop K. Shori films. In all Vinod composed music for 27 Hindi films, out of which he shared music with other music directors for at least six films. Some of his films were not completed and some were not released even after completion. Among some of Vinod’s best known creations were the musical compositions of films “Anmol Rattan” (1950), “Wafaa” (1950) “Sabaz Bagh” (1951) “Aag ka Dariya” (1953), “Laadla” (1954) and “Makhi Choos” (1956). For a while Roop K. Shori got Vinod a salaried job as a music director in “Filmistan Studios”. One characteristic of Vinod was that in Punjabi films he inserted Hindi songs and in Hindi film songs he inserted some Punjabi wording. This trend was discontinued later on, but since the nineties once again Punjabi songs are becoming a part and parcel of most Hindi films and these songs are proving big hits, especially in the Western countries.

According to Vonod’s son-in-law Kelly Mistry, Vinod was born on May 28, 1922. On the average Vinod was doing one or two successful films a year from 1948 to 1957, but one or two hit films in a year are not enough to ensure a decent standard of living in a city like Bombay. Husan Lal Bhagat Ram gave the music for 19 films in 1949 and 1950 and Shanker Jaikishan were composing the music for on the average 3 to 4 hit films every year during the fifties and sixties. Such busy schedules made both duos financially quite well off. O.P. Nayyar was also doing 3 to 4 successful films a year during the fifties, but somehow he did not manage his finances well. On the other hand Naushad was professionally quite creative and he always managed his finances well and lived in style.

Both Shyam Sunder and Vinod, in spite of being thoroughly professional, were never financially well off. They both died during the fifties. After Vinod’s untimely death at a young age of thirty seven on December 25, 1959, his wife Sheela had great difficulty in bringing up his children. Vinod loved his childhood city of Lahore and did not want to leave that great cultural centre, but the unfortunate partition of Punjab and the resultant bloodshed and the trauma of brutality left no option of going back to Lahore. Vinod was every inch a Punjabi and he longed to compose music for the Punjabi films, but after 1951 mostly two music directors ended up getting all the music direction contracts for Punjabi films. They were Master Hans Raj Behl and Sardul Kwatra. Vinod composed music for only five Punjabi movies. These are “Chaman” (1948), “Bhaiya Jee” (1950), “Mitiar” (1950), “Ashtalli” (1954) and “Nikki” (1958). Vinod died a frustrated man, who’s professional genius was always shortchanged.

Although Vinod composed music for thirty two films, but most of these films were under small banners and the music of many was let down by the film’s poor showing at the box office. The following is the complete list of his films:

1. KHAMOSH NIGAHEIN 1946 Lahore
2. PARAYE BUS MAIN 1946 (with Niaz Husain)
3. KAMINI 1946 Lahore
4. CHAMAN (PUNJABI) 1948 Bombay
5. EK THI LADKI 1949
6. TAARA 1949
7. ANMOL RATTAN 1950
8. BHAIYA JI (PUNJABI) 1950
9. WAFFA 1950 (with Bulo C. Rani)
10. MUTIAR (PUNJABI) 1950
11. FOR LADIES ONLY 1951
12. MUKHRHA 1951
13. SABZ BAGH 1951 (with Gulshan Sufi)
14. AAG KA DARYA 1953
15. EK DO TEEN 1953
16. ASHTALLI (PUNJABI) 1954
17. LAADLA 1954
18. RAMMAN 1954
19. HAA HAA HII HII HOO HOO 1954
20. JALWA 1955
21. OOT PATANG 1955
22. SHRI NAQAD NARAIN 1955
23. MAKHI CHOOS 1956
24. AMAR SHAHEED (with Vasant Desai) YEAR UN-KNOWN
25. SHEIKH CHILLI 1956
26. GARMA GARAM 1957
27. MUMTAZ MAHAL 1957
28. NIKKI (PUNJABI) 1958
29. MISS HUNTERWALI 1959
30. DEKHI TERI BUMBAI 1961
31. EK LADKI SAAT LADKE (with S. Mohinder) 1961
32. RANG RALIYAN (with Lachhi Ram and Mukherjee) 1962

Note: Last three films were released after his death at the age of thirty seven in 1959.

Had Vinod remained busy under big banner movie makers, he may not have died at the prime of his youth. One of Vinod’s masterpiece creations is the music for the Punjabi film “Mutiar” (1951). One of its Urdu Ghazals “Aye dil mujhe jaane de, jis raah pe jaata hoon” recorded in the silken voice of Talat Mahmood is simply outstanding. Its Punjabi version somehow was never recorded. The lovers of Punjab and Punjabi language, bow their heads before Vinod for all the great musical compositions he has given to his mother-tongue.

ACKNOWLEDEMENTS:

1. Dr. Har Mandir Singh Hamraaz of Kanpur U.P., the author of “Hindi Geet Kosh from 1931 to date, for painstakingly digging up and supplying complete list of Vinod’s films.
2. Dr. Surjit Singh of San Diego California USA, for enabling me to access his famous web-site for listening to Late Allahdad Khan of Peshawar Pakistan’s great collection of vintage Hindi and Punjabi film music.
3. Shri Harish Raghuvanshi, a film music historian of Surat Gujarat, the compiler of “Mukesh Geet Kosh”, “Gujarati Film Geet Kosh” and the writer of “Inhe Na Bhulana” for digging up information about music director Vinod’s forgotten Hindi and Punjabi film songs.
4. Late Sardar Sardul Singh Kwatra, Music Director of yesteryears for sharing his Vinod related precious memories with me.
5. Music Director S. Mohinder (Mohinder Singh Sarna) for sharing his ever inspiring memories of Vinod with me.
6. Vinod’s son-in-law Kelly Mistry for sharing thoughts and photos with me.

harjapaujla@gmail.com
 

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Insaaf (Justice): A short story

Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

"Is anyone there?"
"Is anyone there to listen to my story?"
"Is anyone there who can give me justice?"
"I’m Gursewak Singh."
"I’m the grandson of a famous freedom fighter who had served a life sentence for fighting against the British invaders who had ruled our country."
"I’ve been on this wheelchair for the last 25 years."
"We were a happy family too. I had a hard-working father who drove a taxi so that we could eat. I had a loving mother who took good care of us. I had a brother who was recruited by the army. He wanted to serve his country. I had a sister who was going to be married. But everything is gone now. My family, my home, my limbs, everything is lost."
"Is anyone listening?"
"I want justice."
"Why are you yelling?"
"What do you want?"
"Who are you?"
"Don’t you know me?"
"I’m the leader of this country?"
"Tell me what I can do for you."
"Oh! So you are the leader of the ruling party."
"You cannot give me justice."
"Well, I have the power."
"Tell me. What’s your problem?"
"My family was murdered 25 years ago."
"My father was a taxi-driver. My mother was a simple housewife. My brother was recruited by the army. He wanted to serve his nation. My sister was going to be married. All of them were murdered one by one."
"Why were they murdered?"
"Because of their identity."
"I don’t get it."
"My father and my brother wore turbans. They were easy to identify."
"But why would anyone kill them for wearing turbans?"
"This is what happened to them, sir."
"The killers were targeting anyone who wore a turban."
"Why?"
"Because two turbaned men had killed the prime minister. Her followers came screaming – you have killed our mother! They dragged my father out of our house and roasted him alive. My father kept pleading for his life. He reminded the crowd how our religious gurus had sacrificed their lives so that others could practise their faith. He had tried to reason that his father was imprisoned for fighting against the British empire. But no one cared. They stripped my mother and sister and burnt them too. My brother showed them his identity card but they did not listen. He took out his sword but he was overpowered by the goons and lynched. Even the policemen did not come to rescue us."
"Oh I see. You are talking about those two treacherous bodyguards who killed our leader. Hmm… This was bound to happen. After all, they had deceived the person they were supposed to protect."
"Ha!!! That’s why I said that you can’t give me justice."
"You are biased."
"Excuse me! Your leaders are biased too."
"Excuse me! Who are my leaders?"
"Those leaders who celebrated her death. They had distributed sweets. This had angered the supporters of my party."
"But that was not my fault. That was not the fault of my family. Why did we have to pay the price?"
"It was collateral damage. My sympathies are with you."
"No. I don’t need them. I don’t need anyone’s mercy. I want justice."
"Well… It’s an old issue. Our prime minister is dead. Her killers were hanged. People have forgotten and forgiven everything that happened in the past."
"Sorry. But I have not. I have lost everything. So how can I?"
"That’s history."
"So why do you remember this dead leader of yours? Why do you waste public money on her memorial service every year?"
"Let’s be fair. She was a prime minister."
"Her killers were hanged. But the killers of my family are still moving around. Is that fair?"
"Stop sulking! Now our party has appointed a turbaned prime minister. What else do you need?"
"When my people were targeted, the country had a turbaned president. What difference did it make? Your party has failed us."
"You cannot blame my party for that. We believe in secularism. It was a natural reaction of the people on the street."
"No, it was not. Why did this madness happen only in the territories governed by your party then? What more evidence do you need to prove the complicity of the authorities?"
"Why did your people kill our leader?"
"They were not my people. My family had nothing to do with their ideology. Your leader had ordered an army attack on our holy shrine. Her bodyguards had avenged that military operation. She herself was responsible for her death."
"After all, your people were spreading terrorism from that shrine. They were killing innocents too because of their identity. What choice did she have?"
"Why the hell are you trying to prove that they were my people? My family had nothing to do with terrorism. My grandfather was a true patriot. My father had always voted for your party. My brother wanted to serve the nation. But your people killed both for no fault of theirs!"
"How come you are alive?"
"I was the youngest in the family. My mother had hidden me in a room from where I could see them being burnt alive and lynched helplessly. I wish I had died too. They burnt the house later. The lower part of my body was roasted. My neighbours saved me and sent me to the refugee camp. Since then, my lower limbs don’t work any more."
"Okay. Let’s settle this. What do you want? You want money? You want a job?"
"I want justice."
"That’s what I am trying to do."
"Can you bring back my family?"
"That’s impossible."
"Can you hang the people who had killed my family?"
"Evidence?"
"Can you punish your party colleagues who had incited the goons?"
"Prove that."
"Can you give me a gun?"
"What do you mean?"
"I want to kill all those men who had destroyed my family."
"I am talking peace and you are talking like a terrorist."
"Then don’t let me become one. If you can’t do justice then let me get instant justice. Your government can call me whatever it feels like later, terrorist, criminal or anything like that."
"It’s no use talking to you. I better take my leave."
"Yeah. That’s better. You leave right now."
"I want justice."
"Is anyone listening?"

"Why are you beating your head against a wall?"

"Who is it?"

"I’m the leader of your community."

"I’m here to help you."

"Very brave of you! You want instant justice, eh? We’ll give you whatever you want."

"How?"

"You want an AK-47? Or would you like to become a suicide bomber?

"It’s no use begging for justice from the people who have killed your relatives."

"Are you a separatist?"

"I am surprised that you are calling me that. I’m a freedom fighter like your grandfather. We want a homeland for people like us. We want a place on this earth where all the turbaned people can live with dignity without any fear of the majority community."

"No, you are not like him! You want a theocratic state. My grandfather fought for a secular country. His organisation wanted the people to set aside religious differences to fight against foreign rule."

"Ha!!! What a secular country it is where your parents and siblings were murdered just because of their identity! Wow!"

"If my country has gone to the dogs, it’s not because of my grandfather. It’s because of the wrong policies of our leaders."

"How naïve you are! Despite losing everything at the hands of the state machinery you are still calling it your country."

"I am not dumb. I only want justice."

"Justice from whom? You are counting on people who have murdered your family. The majority community that killed your dad, your mom, your brother and sister will never give you justice. Come on, wake up."

"I am awake. You cannot blame a group of people for this. It was the people next door who had helped me. I wouldn’t have been alive without the support of the majority community."
"You are a moron. You are just seeing who had helped you reach the relief camp but you are forgetting who destroyed your family."

"Of course I am not. Why did this not happen to the people of our community in the states that were not ruled by a particular political party?"

"I am clearer on the subject than you are. You want to make it appear as an us versus them conflict whereas it was a state-sponsored massacre."
"Well… The state belongs to the majority community."

"If you want justice then you have to fight for a homeland where you can live in peace."

"You are saying this because you have not lost anything like me. You are just taking advantage of the issue to justify your cause."

"Who forced us to seek a homeland? We have been victimised since 1947 when our country got freedom. While most of the freedom fighters belonged to our community, including your grandfather, we were treated like second-class citizens."

"You must check your facts before making such statements. People from other communities had also participated in the freedom struggle. Barring what happened to us 25 years ago, we have never lived like second-class citizens. We have many success stories to tell. We have been better placed despite the small size of our population, compared to the large number of poor belonging to the majority community."

"You sound very pro-establishment. Why were we not given a separate homeland at the time of independence? The Hindus have got India and the Muslims have got Pakistan; what have we got, sir?"

"You can see for yourself what is happening in Pakistan. The Muslims are fighting among themselves now because of sectarian divisions. I do agree that the Hindu extremists are trying to turn India into a Hindu state but they are also targeting their own Hindu brothers in the name of language and caste."

"But the police never go after the Hindus; they only target the minorities for any damn terrorist incident. They had stormed our holiest shrine. Why?"

"Given my experience, I can say that certainly the state is biased somewhere but why did you people fortify a place of worship? Why did you kill innocent Hindus? Those killings have made us vulnerable in other parts of the country."

"Oh, come on. We never killed innocents. The Indian agents did all the bad things to defame our movement. As far as fortifying the temple is concerned, our guru taught us to use the sword when all other means to get justice fail. I am just reminding you of your duty as his follower."

"Our guru also sent his sons to the battlefield whereas you people have sent your children abroad. Why don’t you use your kids to kill your political enemies instead of asking others to risk their lives?"
"I think there’s no point in arguing with you. If you have chosen to live like a slave, that’s fine. I better take my leave."

"Yes please. You leave and let me handle this struggle myself."

"I am not a separatist and I don’t want to be one. But I need justice and the state is not listening.

Those who are promising justice in the name of freedom are enemies of the people’s unity. I neither want to become a terrorist nor can I take this continued humiliation anymore. More than symbolic gestures and alms, I need dignified closure. I want the state to punish the guilty. If not now then when?"

[Gurpreet Singh is one of the founders of www.southasiapost.org and a broadcaster with Radio India in Vancouver]

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