An Amazing Family!

This is unmistakably one of the most unforgettable Lata Mangeshkar melodies from the golden era of Hindi film music. ‘Aeri mein to prem diwäni’ (Film: Naubahar, Music: Late Roshan) bears unmistakable stamp of Raag Bhimpaläs and almost fifty years since it was composed, the song still holds its position on the top of charts. Similarly, Bhimpaläs, an afternoon melody in classical repertoire belonging to Käfi Thät, also retains its popularity amongst vocalists and instrumentalists alike despite availability of other raag-matrices in this time zone.

Some musicologists hold that Bhimpaläs’s originates from Raag Dhanäshri (rarely sung in recent times), but differs from Dhanäshri in its emphasis on Shuddha Madhyam (fourth note). Right from the old maestros like Ustäd ‘Baba’ Alläuddin Khän, Ustäd Faiyäz Khän, Pt Krishnaräo S Pandit, Pt Mallikärjun Mansoor to today’s Pt Kishori Amonkar, Late Dr Vasantrao Deshpände, Pt Jitendra Abhisheki and a host of others have explored Bhimpaläs’s matrix according to individual creativity. The Abhisheki composition ‘Rang chhuye jo kesarake’ is worth mentioning here with the maestro’s creativity highlighting upper half of the Bhimpaläs This composition is available for your listening pleasure in the voice of Vijay Koparkar, Pt. Abhisheki's disciple, elsewhere on this page.

Maräthi nätyasangeet has derived a host of popular numbers from this matrix. Bäl Gandharva’s ‘Swakul tärak sutä’ (Sangeet Swayamvar) is one of the most remarkable and popular compositions in Bhimpaläs. Equally popular is ‘Prem sewä sharan’ from ‘Mänäpamän’ composed by Late Pt Govindräo Tembe in Bhimpaläs. This composition was later given a distinct ‘Multäni’ flavour by Pt Dinänäth Mangeshkar. ‘Marathi rasik’ will also forever remember ‘Amrutähuni god näm tuze devä’ sung by Late Smt Manik Varmä in her inimitable, sweet voice.

There are a couple of other melodies that are close to Bhimpaläs’s structure but with a small variation thrown in. The first that comes to mind is Raag Patdeep, identified separately from Bhimpaläs with the use of Shuddha Nishäd and its emphasis on Pancham. Patdeep has been immortalized in Hindi film-music by Late SD Burman in his composition ‘Meghä chhäye äadhi rät’ (Film: Sharmilee, Music: Late SD Burman) while Veer Säwarkar’s ‘Marma bandhätali thev’ (Sangeet Sanyasta Khadga) has been sung by a number of vocalists over the years and has truly been a treasure-trove.

Another raag-matrix that’s close to Bhimpaläs is known as Raag Dhäni. The emphasis here is on ‘Gandhar’ (third note) and the matrix uses only five notes from the octave. SD Burman once again comes up with a masterpiece in this raag with ‘Khilte hai gul yahän’ (Film: Sharmilee). But the ‘magnum opus’ in Dhani has been composed by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. His brilliance was evident when he composed an electrifying version of ‘Ghei chhand makarand’ in ‘Katyär Kälajät Ghusali' (also available as a link under "For your listening pleasure..."). Late Jaidev also immortalized Dhäni in ‘Prabhu tero näm’ (Film: Hum Dono)।

Truly an amazing family – Raag Bhimpaläs and its siblings! Then there's Raag Madhuwanti - also from the similar time-slot, but an independent raag-matrix closer to Raag Multäni worth writing a separately on. More about it in some other episode...

The Multi-faceted Family

As dawn progresses into morning, there’s a wide variety of raags in this zone under Indian Classical music system. One of the foremost matrixes in this time-slot is Raag Särang and its variants. Sung in the second quadrant (prahar) of the day, Särang belongs to the Käfi Thät. Apart from the main melody, there are several variants of Särang like Shuddha Särang, Brindäbani Särang, Madhmäd Särang, Miyän-Ki-Särang, Lankä-Dahan Särang, Badhans Särang, etc. The entire family presents a wide menu of soundscapes.

Raag Shuddha Särang uses both sharp and flat Madhyam (fourth note) highlighting tension and is ideally suited to projecting the intense heat and restlessness of summer. Brindäbani Särang, on the other hand, is much more soothing while Madhmäd Särang also follows serene path. Other variants like Lankä-Dahan Särang, Badhans Särang are rarely heard these days.

In classical repertoire, Pt Bheemsen Joshi’s Shuddha Särang, recorded about thirty-five years ago, is still popular while Pt Jasraj-ji’s Shuddha Särang projects a typical Mewati Gharänä treatment. But Ustäd Abdul Karim Khan’s 1905 recording of Brindäbani Särang, lasting just three-and-half minutes, puts a sparkle in your heart even today. Smt Hiräbäi Barodekar’s Särang, on the other hand, projects a very composed and sweet picture. With the technology available today, all these recordings have been preserved for posterity and are highly recommended for listening.

Light music has also used various forms of Särang Family and given us numerous memorable songs. Composer SN Tripathi was probably in love with the Särang matrix when he worked on ‘Rani Roopmati’ way back in early-50s. He composed as much as five songs in this matrix for the movie. The best known amongst them is the Mukesh number ‘Aa lautke aajä mere meet’ based on Madhmäd Särang. ‘Lägi tose nain’ (Talat Mehmood-Asha Bhonsale, Film: Chändi Ki Diwär), ‘Jhanan-jhanjhanä ke apani päyal’ (Lata, Film: Rani Roopmati) are some of the better-known songs in Särang. But the most lilting melody comes from under Late Hemantkumar’s baton. ‘Jädugar saiyyä, chhodo mori baiyyä’ from ‘Nägin’ is as fresh as ever with Lataji’s soft melodious voice. Marathi array also boasts of some evergreen numbers with Sudhir Phadke’s ‘Santh vähate krushnämäi’ topping the charts. But the honour for the most energetic presentation based on Särang matrix undoubtedly goes to Shammi Kapoor – Sharmilä Tägore ‘masti’ number ‘Häy re häy, ye mere häthonmein terä häth’ from the legendary OP Nayyar’s ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’. Wow – what a variety! Truly a multi-faceted ‘Särang Family’!

The mercurial ‘Chärukeshi’

This matrix puzzles me – on one hand, there are romantic songs like ‘Baiyä nä dharo’ (Film: Dastak) or a lively Marathi number like ‘Rutu hirawä’ by Asha Bhosale (Music: Shridhar Phadke), while there are equally sweet but sad numbers like ‘Akele hai chale äao’ (Mohd. Rafi, Film: Räz) or that famous Hridaynath Mangeshkar song ‘Gele te din gele’! These songs belong to the mercurial repertoire of Raag Chärukeshi.

Although Chärukeshi hails from the Kärnatic musical tradition, it has been assimilated in the Hindustani tradition for quite some time now. A sampoorna raag (employing all seven notes in the octave) that uses komal Dhaivat and Nishäd (minor sixth and seventh notes), Chärukeshi has found more favour with instrumentalists. Probably, the usage of all seven notes allows them, esp. the maestros of string instruments like sitär, santoor, more freedom of expression and better playing techniques. Pt Ravi Shankar’s recording of Chärukeshi from mid-‘70s is popular even today and memories of Pt Shivkumar Sharma’s early morning’s presentation of this raag in a concert at Pune in early ‘80s are still vivid. Pt Hariprasad Chaurasiyä had also recorded this raag for HMV once upon a time but the cassette seems unavailable these days.

The vocal tradition, however, seems to have sidelined Chärukeshi in a way. This may have been because of availability of other beautiful raag-matrix in the closer range like, for instance, Nat-Bhairav, Asävari, etc. But Gäna-Saraswati Kishori Amonkar used to sing Chärukeshi in her own inimitable style around twenty years ago. Others have rarely, if ever, included this raag in their repertoire. Popular music, on the other hand, has made extensive use of Chärukeshi’s captivating notes to belt out some of the most memorable songs. Lata Mangeshkar’s outstanding songs like ‘Chhod de sari duniya kisi ke liye’ (Film: Saraswatichandra), ‘Kisi räh mein kisi mod par’ (Film: Mere Humsafar) or ‘Aaj dil pe koi jor chalta nahin’ (Film: Milan) are all based on Raag Chärukeshi. But who can forget that nätyageet from ‘Yayäti Aäni Devayäni’, ‘He suräno chandra vhä’, composed by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki? Almost thirty years since its debut, the song still holds its forte as one of the all-time favourites and artists of current generation also seem to be enamored by its magic. This composition, in the late maestro's own voice, is now available for your listening pleasure elsewhere on this page as a link. Do enjoy the rousing 'peshkari' of this otherwise serene raag-matrix!

Although we borrowed it from the South Indian music, Chärukeshi is now here to stay, like the proverbial spoonful of sugar in a glass of milk!