Panchamrit 1 - Pancham begins..
Fellow Pancham Premees,
It has been now almost a year that I first had this idea. I have loved and enjoyed quizzes on the Indian Music newsgroup RMIM (Rec.Music.Indian.Misc). And having a quiz on the lines of the quiz RJGK (Rim Jhim GeetoN ki) exclusively for Pancham songs frequently gave me a heady feeling and uneasy nights. RJGK, as many of the RMIMers amongst us know, is a quiz on Hindi popular music in which the questions are in the form of lines from somewhere in a song and all you have to do is: guess the song. It has become customary to refer to the lines of the song as a clue. Many clues are accompanied by verbal sub-clues, that is, hints and information that's meant to point you in the right direction, plus whatever philosophizing the quiz organizer feels like inflicting on her/his captive readers. :)) (The definition is shamelessly lifted from Ashok Dhareshwar's description in one of the quizzes).
An article (written by Sami Mohammed, of course) that describes the evolution of RMIM's flagship quiz series RJGK can be found on Sami's music home page at http://www.geocities.com/~sm0e/RJhistory2.txt
Though the nature of RJGK is somewhat lyric-oriented, but then that is the best form that we can have on the net, IMHO. For a MD (like Pancham), ideally I could have thouhgt of a quiz that provides notes, beats, raagas and other musical components as clues. But as not many of us have proper knowldge of raagas and notes (though after the recent "Chromatic Note" thread, I started giving tips to lesser mortals on classical music :)), it would not have been very appropriate and of general interest. Also providing clips with quizzes would also have been a drawback and could have made the quiz inaccessible to many. The RJGK format, thus seems as the best alternative for a quiz on this Pancham Group with may be more emphasis on musical aspects in clues and selection of songs than on lyrics.
So here we start. I propose to have this quiz on a monthly basis. Every month one of the Group members will post the quiz, which would consist of about 15-20 clues/songs. Every quiz will be based on a theme. The group members will be given a time of about 15-20 days for solving the quiz and sending the answer to the quizmaster. The format of the quiz will be more or less similar to the RJGK quiz. The quiz consists of a set of questions (called clues) related to the theme. Each clue is one or more (or, occasionally, shorter than one!) lines from the middle (or, occasionally, the prelude) of a song. All you need to do is identify the song from which the clue lines come and in some cases also the movie. Many clues are accompanied by helpful hints, which sometimes are! (Ashok's words again). And nothing's better than an example. So here it is..
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Example (from Neeraj Deshmukh's RJGK 50):
0.
he: vaah rii cha.ndaniyaa, vaah re chakore
raam banaaii ye kaisii jo.Dii
kare nachaiyaa taa taa thaiyaa
taal pe naache la.nga.Di gho.Dii
Never get into a musical competition with your
neighbor, especially if
she is one pretty gal who is also smart. Of course, if Kishore Kumar
is your guru, it's another matter...
Answer:
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Song: ek chatur naar kar ke si.ngaar
Padosan (1968)
Kishore Kumar & Manna Dey
Rahul Dev Burman
Rajendra Krishan
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The first quiz is by truly yours. All those who want to post this quiz in future may send their requests to me with the name of the theme and I will include them in the list (yes..first come, first serve).
Now the name of the quiz. This has had a lot of bearing on my thinking faculty and frankly to an extent the reason for the delay in the announcement of the quiz. And then I had this great phrase in one of the posts from Madhav Ajgaonkar: "Panchamrit". This will be our monthly dose of Panchamrit. The quiz is thus named..."Panchamrit" and I, hereby, with all humbleness provide you an opportunity to dvelve into the sea of gems that Pancham's compositions are and enjoy Panchamrit 1.
Before the quiz starts....
Rules of the business:
* For the duration of the quiz, please refrain
from "knowingly(!)"
discussing any of the songs featured in the quiz, in any other thread
on the Pancham Egroup. If you have comments on the songs or on any of my remarks,
please send them to me, preferably along with an entry! I shall
include the comments in the answers/results posts.
* Do NOT post your answers on the Net. Send it by email to me @ vpj@bigfoot.com
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Panchamrit 1 - Pancham begins...
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Pancham's entire work can be classified, in 3 phases of time-span. the first started in 1961 with Chhote Nawab. There was no other movie till 1965 when came Bhoot Bangla. His work spans in three major time-spans namely 1961-74, 75-84, 85-94.
I will start this quiz with that period of first 14 years of his work i.e. his compositions during that golden decade of 60s and till mid 70s. That then is the theme of this 1st Panchamrit.... "Pancham begins...". All songs in the quiz are from movies of Pancham released between 1961 and 1974 (both included). However, the clues may not be necessarily in chronological order.
As this is the first quiz, I have tried to keep it relatively easy. That would let me and all know the guage of the fanatics :). I have tried to include only the popular Pancham songs. Tough ones, next time. Also all icluded are my personal favourites(This is my quiz, yaar). So please be patient and keep your calm if you see some of your favourites missing. Quite obviously, one cannot, by any known measures, cover even all of one's own favourites in a single quiz of 15-odd clues. Wait for your own chance:).
What you have to do is to guess the song and the movie name. Each right answer will get 2 marks. One for the song and one for the movie. But answering only movie name without telling the song will not earn any points. The maximum one can get is 50.
The last date of sending your answers to me is 30th April, 2000. Send your answers, comments, disappointments and disapprovals only to vpj@bigfoot.com and Do NOT post them on the Net.
Also those who want to conduct future Panchamrits may send their theme and preferred month to me (the moderator) as well.
Straightaway to the quiz now...
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Clue 1
jabse milee nazar
maathe pe ban gaye
bindiyaa nayan tere
dekho sajnaa..
dhar lee jo pyaar se
meri kalaaiyaaN
piyaa teree uNgaliyaaN
ho gayee kaNgnaa
Absolute masterpiece this. Pancham mesmerised so many people around (and still continue to do so) with the twin-track effect that he produced by using another voice instead of any technology. The technology was anyway not around at that time. Beautifully rendered by the Mangeshkar sisters.
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Clue 2
chheD.ooN agar to shikwaa karo na chheD.ooN
to gila
lagtaa hai yooN ki tum aaj se deewaane hue piyaa
hone lage zaraa meiN kyooN be-ikHtiyaar se..
Majrooh, Asha & Kishore with Pancham. And your mind fills up with so many light romantic songs that can make any gloomy day bright. One of those.
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Clue 3
dil ke ho tum kaale, are bante ho dilwaale
door se dekho mujhko ya saNg mere ab jhoomo
baiTho meree raahoN meiN ya mere qadam ko choomo
This time it is Lata being naughty. Can't help it with Pancham in mood and a love-ly weather.
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Clue 4
too mujhko naheeN pahchaanta, lo aur suno
ye kal raat ko jis jaam se pee thee donoN ne
abhee tak hai meree jaaN
mere laboN ke nishaaN
are dekh to tere haath meiN wahee jaam to hai
The song had the true twin-track effect that Pancham proved to be a master of. And as early as in 72. A dazzling Asha solo this. The movie has another song fetauring in this quiz.
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Clue 5
aao ham bhee aaye haiN
baahoN ke haar leke
hoThoN pe ek nagHma
aaNkhoN meiN pyaar leke
is dil ke sheeshe meiN
tasveer-e-yaar leke
One of the best ever duets. Amazing beats. Right thru the song the words travel on the same thaap's of tabla. Equally brilliant use of Chorus. The transition from the interlude to stanza is also a joy.
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Clue 6
ho tum kis khayaal meiN
are poojate haiN sab yahaaN mujhe
dekhooN soorat tumhaaree
fursat hee kahaaN mujhe
ye bhee jaano ehsaan mera ek baar bhee jo dekh looN jee
Everything's in place in this song. Beginning with a great prelude of about 1/2 a minute, the song's beats start synchronising with your heart's very soon. Majrooh's "shokh" lyrics make this song a oft-repeat one for me.
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Clue 7
dil meiN ye kaisee uljhan
na jaanooN, na jaanooN
mere sanam, teree qasam ye kyaa ho gayaa
Early Pancham used Lata for more classically-inclined songs. One of those. The song goes deep inside and sits there. Nothing to be horrrified of :)
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Clue 8
she:
aankhoN ne chaaha dil ne saraaha
par maiN jubaaN se naheeN kah paayee
he:
dil ki kahaanee dil meiN rahee to
miT naa sakegee kabhee tanhaaee
She:
khwaaboN meiN tumko har baat kah dee
waise bataate hue sharmaayee
Pancham loved experimenting. And the experiment that he has done with the tempo of this song leaves one spellbound. Sahir wrote lighter songs as brilliantly as he did the serious stuff. And who were better to lend their voices for such songs than Kishore & Asha. A joy, all songs from this movie.
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Clue 9
lipaTe badan se, shole agan ke, teree lagan
ke, khelo na man se mere
kah dooNgee maiN ye sajan se
ha..ha.. teree lagan ke khelo na man se mere
kah dooNgee maiN ye sajan se
naaaaaaa jeee naa.. ha haaaaaN jee haaN..
ek hi gila sau baar karooNgee
..
Just see how beautifully he has repeated a line in the antara and revived it. These little techniques which lifted a song from average to class can be found scattered all around in Pancham Da's repertoire.
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Clue 10
armaaN hai koee paas aaye
in haathoN meiN jo haath aaye
phir kHwaaboN ki ghaTaa chhaye
barsaaye khumaar..
phir unhee din raatoN pe
matwaali mulaakaatoN pe
ulfat bharee raatoN pe
ham hote nisaar
Mukesh sounded so different with Pancham da.
Equally true vice-versa.
I love the stanzas of this duet. But then what's new. I love all of them.
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Clue11
der se lahroN meiN kamal khilaaye hue man ka
jeevan taal meiN bhaTak raha re tera hansa
Soft still firm. No false voice. Kishore da sounds excellent in this melodious solo. One of the best 10 Pancham compositions according to a well-known critic.
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Clue 12
kab se sulag rahee hooN maiN, dekho kaheeN jaana
na sanam
zara mere dil ko bhigo de, teree nazroN kee shabnam
yooN hee ruke rahnaa, abhee mujhko thaam ke
What if not his qaram on us were melodies like these.
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Clue 13
pyaar meiN bheege bheege aakaash ke tale
jaane ham jal jaana lagkar yaar ke seene se
choor thakan se hoke jab saaNs na chale
hamko jeevan mil jaata hai zahar ke peene se
jeete haiN pyaar se, marte haiN pyaar se
Lovely lyrics by Majrooh mingled with excellent composition by Pancham. Two of them stealing your heart once again.
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Clue 14
aake meree baahoN meiN tum dekho
inmeiN har ik ada tumhaari hai
kahne ko ye dil hai mera lekin
dhaD.kanoN meiN sadaa tumhaaree hai
tumse hai chain mera tumse hai mera qaraar
ho ho ho...
Oh those memories...
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Clue 15
pyaar kee kHushee meiN
kyaa jaane kyaa hai jee meiN
ki ankhiyaa phaD.ke meree
saathee mere man ke
dekho binaa pavan ke
chunariyaa sarke meree
ho rahaaaaa.. meraa jiyaa beqaraar
So, a-la-Pancham, ball is in your court...
Throw it back to me answered. Also please send your comments regarding the songs, the quiz, the format or even my comments.
LAST DATE: 30th APRIL 2000
And remember, DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS ON THE NET.
Mail your answers to Vinay <vpj@bigfoot.com>