#322
        Song:   Hum haal-e-dil sunaayenge
                Suniye ke na suniye

        Film:   Madhumati (1958)
        Music:  Salil Chowdhury
        Lyrics: Shailendra
        Singer: Mubarak Begum
        *ing:   Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala

So whatever happened to Mubarak Begum ? Is  she  still  around  ?
Dulcet  is  the word that springs to mind when trying to describe
her voice- almost diabetically sweet, but with  the  unmistakably
sharp  edge. It's sad that she remained rather under-appreciated.
(Truth is, I know very little about this singer, but judging from
the  number  of  her songs around, I'm guessing she did not enjoy
the popularity she deserved. Maybe I'm wrong.)

As aberrant as it sounds given the number of  popular  hits  this
Bimal  Roy  classic  has delivered, this remains my most favorite
song from the movie (edging past 'Aaja re pardesi' by a  *really*
narrow  margin).  One  of the striking things in this song is the
way the tabla strikes (and hence the word 'striking') around  the
time  when  she returns to the  mukhda from the antaraa- when she
sings the 'na' in "sunaayenge', the tabla echoes  so  forcefully,
it  seems  like  someone  nailed  it  with  a  sledge  hammer  or
something. Anyway, a truly lovely tune.

Is there any compilation of her hits released on audio by  anyone
Like  HMV  or  anything)  ?  'Hamaari  Yaad  Aayegi'  is  another
soundtrack that I think has some  glorious  Mubarak  Begum  tunes
(remember 'Kabhi tanhaaiyon mein' ?).





Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit