#320

        Song:   Kyoon chameli khil khilaati hai bata
                Kamalni(?) kyoon muskuraati hai bata
        Film:   Bahut Din Huwe (1954)
        Music:  E Sankara Sastry
        Lyrics: Pandit Indra
        *ing:   Madhubala, Swaraj, Rattan Kumar

"'Bahut Din Huwe', which was full of  magic,  vanished  from  the
theatres  like  magic".  This  is  what  Tamil writer Asokamitran
writes about this movie in his reminiscences on  Gemini  Studios.
S.S.Vasan's  purported Gemini "blockbuster',for all its elaborate
fairytale-ish story and lavish sets, more or less sank without  a
trace.  Two things about this film, however, still strike a chord
of memory among those from that era: Madhubala  fell  dangerously
ill  on  the  sets  of  Bahut Din Huwe while location shooting in
Madras (this was  probably  the  first  serious  symptom  of  the
chronic  heart  problem  that  claimed  her life 15 years later).
Apparently, the entire nation prayed  for  her  life  and  speedy
recovery   (rather   like  the  'Coolie'  incident  with  Amitabh
Bachchan).

The second thing, which is more relevant to this post, is  Emmani
Sankara  Sastry's  lush musical score- this movie has got some of
the most gorgeous music I've heard (with the obvious South Indian
flavor  -  liberal use of the veena, a heavy classical influence,
etc.) This is my favorite song in the movie- a  charmingly  sweet
tune  that  Lata  has done full justice to, as always.  It starts
off with a short, high-octave prelude that  dissolves  into  some
beautiful  veena  strains and slowly echoes its way into the main
mukhda. Just beautiful.  My only complaint  about  this  song  is
that  it  gets  over  too quickly (it's only got one stanza). The
movie has some other great Lata solos and duets too.

This post is dedicated to the memory of Lalita Pawar, who  has  a
fairly  important  role  in 'Bahut Din Huwe', playing Madhubala's
superstitious and martinet step-mother.

(If anyone has any idea about the availability of this soundtrack
on any audio medium, PLEASE let me know).






Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit