by
Dinesh Shankar Shailendra, who writes in his series DIRECTOR’S CUT on director Pachhi and one song written by Shailendra in this film
The fifties and sixties ….. Known as the golden period for Hindi Film Music, had the greatest Music Directors, who gave GREAT music….. But unfortunately, the same cannot be said about all the Directors of that period.
Many times, some good music scores were lost to these directors.
One such example is a director called Pachhi…. whose only claim to fame was that he was character actor Om Prakash’s brother.
Pachhi made almost all his films in foreign countries.
Shooting in foreign countries had its benefits…. In the eighties, one of the most reputed directors was under the scanner for his involvement in ” Kabootarbaazi”..the code word for the smuggling of illegal immigrants.
Producers, under the pretext of shooting abroad, would carry a few people who paid handsomely to be taken abroad as part of the shooting crew…. These people would stay back as illegal immigrants. They would pay so much, that the producer would recover most of the shooting expenses !!!
Some producers were blatant smugglers !
They would carry old equipment from here ( cameras and sound equipment ) and would return with brand new equipment…. showing that as what they had taken in the first place….
That was just a little ‘aside’…. I am not casting aspersions on anybody.
Coming back to Paachhi… he got Shanker Jaikishen, Hasrat and Shailendra to give songs for ‘Around the World’…. they gave him music that we still listen to and enjoy…. after 50 years…. but the film and picturisation of songs left much to be desired.
Take the title song of the film, written by Shailendra.
Shanker Jaikishen start with the roll of drums and trumpets….. close your eyes and listen…. it is like an announcement….Heralding the Greatest Show on Earth !!!
Violins and guitar join in, playing the melody…
The ‘mukhda’ on an ageing Raj Kapoor and a fairly good looking Rajshree…They are riding a horse-cart through the snow….
” Duniya ki sair kar lo, duniya ki sair kar lo,
insaan ke dost ban kar, insaan se pyar kar lo…”
The refrain:
” Around the world in eight Dollars,
around the world in eight Dollars…. “
Many people…. especially the younger generation wonder why ” Eight Dollars ” ?
At that time, eight Dollars ( or its equivalent ) was all the currency one was allowed to officially carry on a trip abroad…!!!! Unthinkable but true…. !
A guitar, violins and an accordion bring up the interlude…. the pacy rhythm needs a special mention…
” Los Angeles bhadkeela,
jahan Hollywood hai rangeela,
dekho Disneyland mein aakar,
pariyon ka desh dharti parr… “
Accordion and violins are used in the second interlude…
” Jab Grand Canyon dekha,
yaad aa gaya woh andekha,
nahin tera koyi saani,
arrey wah re wah Miami “
Guitars, violins and trumpet join in to add to the grandeur…
Shailendra comes into his own in this stanza…. His INDIAN roots speaking up….
A lesson for mankind ….
He goes back into the flow of the song in the last two lines…
” Hum aman chaahney waaley,
hum pyar pe marney waaley,
ek baat kahengey sabse,
nafrat ko mitaa do jag se…”
“Insaan ke haath ka tonaa,
mitti ko banaaya sonaa,
yeh Washington albelaa,
New York sheher ka melaa…”
The last interlude…. guitar and violins with an accordion…
” London ki daud diwani,
Paris ki shaam mastaani,
kudrat ke yeh khel niraaley,
zaraa dekh le dekhney waaley…”
” Berlin ka badaltaa chehraa,
aur Rome ka rang sunehraa,
Venice mein naav ki sairein,
yeh geet gaati hui lehren… “
” Duniya ki sair kar lo, duniya ki sair kar lo,
Insaan ke dost bankar,insaan se pyaar kar lo… “
” Around the world in eight Dollars,
around the world in eight Dollars….”
You give this song to a ten year old… He/ she will shoot it better if not as well as Pachhi has….
It seems as if, after listening to the song a couple of times, Pachhi has called his cinematographer and sent him to take shots of all the places mentioned in the song… Then, on the editing table, the editor has just matched picture with sound, added a few shots of the actors and ” Eureka ” !!!! the song is ready for viewing… It is sad…
Listen to the excitement Shanker Jaikishen have created with their peppy music…Listen carefully to the words…. written by a man, Shailendra, who has only traveled to Moscow and Cairo…. He describes the world so beautifully…. and ….he adds to an apparently simple song his thoughts…. the quest for love and peace to make this beautiful world better….
” Hum aman chaahney waaley,
hum pyaar pe marney waaley,
ek baat kahengey sabse,
nafrat ko mitaa do jag se….”
The praise for our achievements…. ” Insaan ke haath ka tonaa, mitti ko banaaya sonaa…”
The sensitivity to gauge what is happening around him…. He writes, prophetically about Berlin…. ” Berlin ka badaltaa chehraa…”
The Berlin wall, which caused so much misery to the world, was finally brought down in 1989….about 25 years after Shailendra wrote this ….
Give it a thought…. Listen…..
