Part 7

(continued from Part 6)
Mohd. Rafi held two distinct voices for much of his career. One, that he used for regular occasions, no matter the kind of song and no matter the kind of emotion, and the other, that he reserved specifically for Shammi Kapoor. The former, however sweet and mellifluous, had an indistinguishable quality, in that he sang for Raj Kapoor the same way he sang for Rajendra Kumar. Mehmood's voice sounded the same as Manoj Kumar. But enter Shammi Kapoor - "Tumse acchaa kaun hai", "chaahe koi mujhe junglee kahen", "deewaana hua baadal", "aaja aaja main hoon pyaar teraa" - were as much Rafi's renditions as they Shammi's songs. The irreverent, energetic style of Shammi Kapoor rubbed off on Rafi and brought out his playful side and consequently the songs of their combination were cast in a different mold, when compared with the rest. Observe the lazy drag in the voice when Rafi croons

maanaa ki jaan-e-jahaa
laakhOn mein tum ek ho
hamaarii nigaahOn kee bhee
kuchh to magar daad dO, kuchh to magar daad dO
bahaarOn ko bhee naaz jis phool par thaa
vahee phool hamane chunaa gulasitaa se ||ishaarO ishaarO||
Movie: Kashmir Ki Kali

or the extra dosage zest and an extra helping of verve he adds to the song

chakke pe chakkaa
chakke pe gaaDee
gaaDee pe niklee apnee savaaree
thoDe aagaaDee thoDe pichaaDee
thoDe aagaaDee thoDe pichaaDee
Movie: Brahmachaari

What differentiates between these and many others that he had sung for other heroes before, is the willfull acknowledgment of the attitude of the character (and the hero, Shammi) and the playful attitude to go along with it. It is not only the singers that take the extra leap of faith to dance in step with the character (like how Balu does when he sings for a comedian or someone who has a special trait in his voice, like Nutan Prasad), but also music directors, who dare to share the ride.

S.D.Burman's "Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi" is a classic example of a music director coming out of his mold to deliver a score that is in tune with the tone of the movie. The orchestral arrangements for some of the songs in "Chalti Kaa..." like "baabu samjhO ishaare, aur hum pukaare, rum pum pum", or "hum they woh thee aur samaa rangeen samjah gaye na", or "ek laDkee bheegee bhaagee see" do not lock in step with what is generally regarded as an S.D's arrangement, in that it is more a melody of harmony. The music director here seems to clearly enjoy the challenge of cacophony as he goes off on an entirely different tangent to what he has composed for similar situations many times before. So a regular duet that usually plays in a prescribed format attains a new form and plays out

F - haal kaisaa hai janaab kaa
M - kyaa khayaal hai aapkaa
F - tumtO machal gaye O ho ho
M - yuhee phisal gaye aa ha ha

The peculiarity in this composition is the length of each line, waiting to be cut short by the one succeeding it. This rapid-fire exchange creates a new energy in the song that remained hitherto hidden. The situations aid in a large extent to the eccentricities of the score. Only because it was Kishore Kumar and only because the movie was supposed to be a wacky comedy (with more emphasis on the former) does the music director create a situation that allows Kishore Kumar's yodeling be a part of the song. It is the attitude that dictates the song completely.

Here is a couple whose love affair is cloaked in secrecy. The heroine is at the hero's place, masquerading as someone else. The situation is such that the tiff that happened before causes the hero to go starving for the night, as the heroine approaches him and cajoles him to loosen up a bit. As the blanket of darkness drapes the surroundings, the heroine whispers

gopemma chaetilO gOrumudda
raadhamma chaetilO vennamuddaa
mudda kaavaala muddaa kaavaalaa
aa vindaa ee vindaa na muddu gOvindaa
Movie: Preminchu Pellaadu

The tone is low and the tune is slow. The song is a series of interjected conversations, going back and forth, with each trying to complete the other's sentence, trying to vie for the mouthpiece. S.D.Burman's "Chalti Kaa Naam Gaadi" became a benchmark to this combination who stamped on each song their distinct brand that came to be known as a Vamsi-Illayaraja song

Intentionally or otherwise, a long term association with a director establishes a template for the music director, a proprietary zone that he finds suits the tastes of the director, specially if the director comes with the baggage of his own trademark, be it in the picturization of the songs or picking an odd moment for the placement of one. It is for this reason alone that one can easily pick out the songs of a, say, K.Viswanath or a Bharatiraja or for that matter, a Raj Kapoor from a given line up. The classical bent of Viswanath's tunes, the rustic folk touch of Bharatiraja's songs and the sweet meaningful and heart-touching melodies of Raj Kapoor reflect the respective makers' tastes and aesthetics. Consequently the corresponding music directors do not sway too much away from the established path. Going along that line, Vamsi's trademark remains the unrelenting tempo. Whereas the rest of the world moves at its own lackadaisical pace, Vamsi's characters are caught up in a time warp operating in their own time zones. This rapidity in thought and action gives rise to an unintentional side effect - zany humor. There is nothing funny about a character cycling his way along the road, reaching his destination, parking the cycle along the wall and walking inside the house. But Vamsi's pacing is different. His characters fumbles and bumbles along the road escaping and avoiding the earthly decorations in a dangerous manner, and upon reaching his destination, alights the cycle in a hurried away even before it has come to a complete stop, pushing it in a ditch that runs along the wall and darts into the house, making the whole sequence unintentionally hilarious.

When the characters move such way, when the dialogues are rapid-fire and when the plot moves moves at a break-neck pace, it forces the music director's hand to move furiously on the harmonium and the result sounds something like

sundaree sundaree
iTTaa raaavae iTTaa raaavae
tippukunToo tippukunToo
aTTaa aTTaa poTaavaemae
kotta raikaa? chakkagundae
mucchaTaestaa muddugundae
kannukuTTae kuTTu chooDu
kuTTinODu gaTTivaaDu
kaTTukunna ninnu choosi
kannu kuTTanODu evaDu
Sobhanamgaa chuTTabeTTi
sambaramgaa pongutunna
inta chittaraala raika kuTTinODu evaDe?
paDamaTeedhi sandulOna
paata inTi mundurunna tailaru
paeru sundaram...

Thus starts what is arguably one of fastest songs ever scored in telugu "ekkaDa daakkunnaavae lakkunu tecchae chukka" from the movie "Ladies Tailor". The temp never eases down, the pacing is relentless and the rendition, truly breathless and breath-taking. Even unenviable is the task of creating the shot division of the song that totally lacks the usual cut away points, only because the only time the song slows down to catch its briefly is during the interludes.

Interruption and interjection play a prominent role in Vamsi's world. Even before a character finishes his statement (even when delivered in a rapid-fire fashion), the second character cuts him off and goes off on his own rant, only to be shortchanged just before the final delivery, by the former. Again, this constant back and forth creates a unique rhythm of its own, and it needs are a few orchestral accompaniments to turn it into a song

M-vennelai
F-paaDanaa?
M-navvulai
F-pooyanaa?
M-mallelae
F-podaganaa?
M-puvvulO
F-ha
M-navvulO
F-ha
M-muvvalaa
F-a ha haa
Movie: Sri Kanakaamaalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe

M-aekaanta vaeLa
F-kougiTlO
M-aekaanta saeva
F-mucchaTlO
M-paDuchamma dakke
F-guppiTlO
M-dindaLLe unDu
F-niddaTlO
M-kavvintagaa, vaLLu tuLLintagaa, malle puvvuLLO taavalle kannullO vennela
Movie: Anveshana

This style didn't emerge pre-packaged, all wrapped up. The origins of it are found in the hard labor of the maker trying to find his footing. The hardest part for any film-maker is finding his own style (baaNee). In the 75 years of telugu cinema, only a handful dared to ditch the prevailing trend in the hope of finding their true inner calling - Bapu, for moving out of the stifling studio indoors into more natural outdoors, Varma, for stylizing and glorifying the technical aspects and definitely Vamsi, for dictating a new pace to the movie, through the use of the lens, scissors and music. The repeated imagery, the constant cutting away, and the interweaving of abstract aspects into the regular flow, are something that Vamsi took right out of Bharatiraja's leaf, having assisted him on a couple of ventures. And it wasn't until "Sitara" that Vamsi was able to find his forte, especially during the song "ku ku koo, ku ku koo, kOkila raave". While the rest of the songs in "Sitara" bear a typical Illayaraja mark, this song stands out from the rest for its innovative song design and inventive camera work. This is where the seeds for the interjecting style were sown, only to see them come to fruition in the innumerable melodies that followed soon after.

The combination of Vamsi and Illayaraja took this template however far they could take right from the slowest melody possible ("kOnalO, sannajaaji malli jaaji malli, maenulO, ponna poola valli paala velli"), to the fast beat Sanskrit discos ("oorvaSi groubha, praeyasi hreema") and all the ones that fell somewhere between ("aa kanulalO kala naa cheli, aalaapanaku aadi mantramai", "gOpee lOla nee paala paDDaamuraa", "nirantaramoo vasantamulae mandaaramulaa marandamulae", "allibilli kalalaa raavae, allukunna kadhalaa raavae"), branding a unique style that is as much inimitable as it is throughly engaging. It is impossible to take Vamsi's name without the mention of Illayaraja, and the world is certainly an interesting place because of their combined efforts.

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