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Sachinda and Suraiya

Yeh Kisne Jaadu Daala

- Ritu Chandra

                      On 31^st January 2004, one of the greatest singing stars of all times, Suraiya Jamal Shiekh or known simply as Suraiya passed into the ages. This disarmingly sweet-voiced singer represented an old world charm that invokes wistful nostalgia. Her voice was the last remnant of an ethos that has long vanished. As a tribute to Suraiya, we explore this honey-voiced singer’s short but memorable association with Sachin Dev Burman...

(Play music with the page)

Above : Sachin Dev Burman

The singing diva of the 40s  tuned with SD Burman in only three films - (Above : Suraiya)

Sadly Suraiya only made a special appearance in Burmanda's music room. These two stalwarts have tuned in together only for three films.But this short tuning has left us with some timeless gems whose sheen has not diminished even half a century later.

Suraiya was a huge singing star in the late 40s. She had scaled great heights under almost every important composer of those times, particularly so under her mentor Naushad. Most of this happened while SD was still in Calcutta and then later when he was struggling to make a mark in Bombay. Thus for most of their careers Dada and Suraiya’s paths did not cross. He was busy with Geeta Dutt, Lata, Shamshad, Amirbai Karnataki and other singers who were regulars with Bombay Talkies and Suraiya stuck to Naushad, Husnlal Bhagatram, Khursheed Anwar, etc. with her main contact point with the Bengal school of music being Anil Biswas.

However, Sachin Dev Burman and Suraiya’s paths were destined to cross.And there is no second-guessing why they had to cross. Yes, it is thanks their equally legendary associations with the evergreen Dev Anand. And so it comes as very little surprise that some of Suraiya’s most high profile songs for Burmanda come from the Navketan banner. It is also a lesser surprise that two of the three films that Burman worked on with Suraiya were Dev-Suraiya starrers.

If we go back and trace their association we see that the first time Suraiya and SD came together was two years after his arrival in Bombay. It was for a 1948 Dev Anand-Suraiya starrer called Vidya. Vidya was a fairly significant film in other ways too. It marked the beginning of Dada’s legendary association with Dev Anand. On a side, it was also Suraiya’s first film with Dev Anand. After Vidya, these three artists teamed up again in Afsar. Afsar was the film that launched the Navketan banner in 1949. The film was released in 1950 and it boasts of two of Suraiya’s all-time-great solos. After Afsar Suraiya sang for SD Burman only once more. This was for a 1952 film called Lal Kunwar.

If one glances through the Burman-Suraiya songs together, the one thing that becomes quite apparent upfront is that their association was more representative than definitive. The handful of songs that the two did team up for was far more indicative of what they could have done together rather than being indicative of what they actually did do together.

Sachinda's first film with Suraiya, Vidya, is redolent with the fragrance of the 40s. The most famous song out of this film is the rare Suraiya-Mukesh team-up for the duet Laayi khushi ki duniya. Kise maloom tha might win favours for being the song most representative of the decade in which it happened.

The decade that we mention above relates to that era of film singing when bass heavy voices were the order of the day. Suraiya too had a bass heavy voice. But what set her voice apart from that of her contemporaries, was a pleasant lilt and a fluidity that was rare in those times. When utilised effectively Suraiya's voice had a quaint bell-like tinkle to it. Naushad was the first to discover and exploit that natural lilt in his compositions like Murliwale murli baja. Other composers like Khursheed Anwar (Paapi papiha re), Anil Biswas (Door papiha bola and Rahi Matwale) and later Ghulam Mohammad ( Nukhtacheen hai gham-e-dil ) also played around with this tonal quality in her voice.

Above: SD Burman

Burmanda's most effective utilisation of Suraiya too was in the same mode as his above-mentioned contemporaries. As always, Dada did things in his own distinctive style that bears fruit in form of the beautiful songs of Afsar. Dada's compositions for Afsar find their roots in Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali folk music. Here he moulds Suraiya's voice in a manner that brings out a restrained sweetness from these tunes. Under his baton her voice sounds delightfully rich, textured and sprinkled with just the right amount of sweetness… quite like a perfect gourmet dessert!

The heart-tuggingly sweet Tagore adaptation Nain diwaane ek nahin maane is offset by the soulful and lilting Manmor hua matwala (arguably the pick of the lot).The chirpy gun gun gun gun bole re bhanwar, exudes the infectious spirit typical to Burmanda’s earlier numbers.Under Sachinda, Suraiya also does a rare team-up with Geeta Dutt for a charming Preet ka naat jodne waale. Then there is the wistful Pardesi Re, which is a rare Hindi film adaptation of the great Bengali poet/composer Kazi Nazrul Islam’s works. The Bengali original Padmar dheu re(Oh! The waves of the Padma) was rendered amazingly by the maestro himself. Afsar was undoubtedly the high point in the SD-Suraiya saga.

By 1952, the Lata Mangeshkar phenomena had already taken over the music world. More and more composers were discovering the joys of the higher octaves. In Lal Kunwar, SD Burman experiments by giving the same treatment to Suraiya’s voice. He moves away from the low-pitched songs that were typical to her and moves onto songs that play around in the higher octaves. The result is a whole lot of pleasant ditties but nothing quite as outstanding as Afsar. In all probability, after this film, Burmanda too realised that Suraiya’s voice shone in the lower octaves. The freshness and emotional depth in her voice was best tapped with tunes that did not span too many scales.

Even though the songs of Lal Kunwar haven't quite survived the ravages of time, they still make for a pleasant hearing for those who are fortunate enough to get hold of them. Tum jo mile , Nigahen kyon milayi thi and Preet sataye all display traces of the Burman brilliance albeit in snatches.

Lal Kunwar sadly turned out to be the last association between these two great artists. Sad, because, theirs was a team that could-have-been. For a fleeting second, one wonders what would have happened if the legendary Dev-Suraiya romance hadn't ended in tragedy. Surely both the music of Navketan and Sachinda's own musical oeuvre would have turned out to be a little different from what we see today. In all probability Dada's music room would have seen much more of Suraiya. Quite like the Geeta Roy-Guru Dutt union had a role to play in Dada's choices for Guru Dutt films and his own final musical output too.

However all this is idle speculation. History, as always, has it's own agenda….. All we can do is savour the delights that we do have and console ourselves with the wisdom that gourmet fare comes only in small servings……

Tum nas nas ras ki phuhaar mein rom rom madhushaala......

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Acknowledgements

A big thank you to Srinivas Ganti for helping us in putting together the audio clips for this section.

A complete list of Suraiya’s songs for SD Burman

• Film : VIDYA
• Lyrics: Y.N.Joshi, Anjum Pilibhiti, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Madhukar
• Year of Release : 1948
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman
• Hear Online :(You might get the songs here : www.IndianScreen.com)

Songs

1. Kise Maloom tha (Hear at :  http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XX01000L0E)
2. Kinare Kinare Chale
3. Jhoom Rahi Jhoom Rahi 
4. Krishan Kanhayya re 
5. Laayi khushi ki duniya (with Mukesh)  

• Film : LAL KUNWAR
• Year of Release :  1952
• Lyrics : Sahir Ludhianvi 
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman

Songs

1. Aayi Hoon Mein Raaja
2. Preet Sataye Teri
3. Nigahen Kyoon  Milayi thi
4. Tum jo Mile  (Hear at :http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XX01000B11)

• Film :  AFSAR
• Year of Release :  1950
• Lyrics : Pandit Narendra Sharma
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman

Songs

1. Pardesi Re
2. Manmor hua Matwala
3. Gun Gun Gun Gun bole re Bhanwar (Hear at : http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XX0100004Q )
4. Nain Diwane ek Nahin Maane
5. Preet ka Naata Jodne Waale (With Geeta)