Movie Details of Baiju Bawra
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
Label: Saregama HMV
Director: Vijay Bhatt
While Mughal-e-Azam is an unquestionable musical magnum opus from Naushad, that was not the first or the best instance that the composer produced with a classical masterpiece. That happened in 1952, with Vijay Bhatt's story of the singer who defeated Tansen. While the composer got Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to voice Tansen in Mughal-e-Azam, it was another veteran, Ustad Amir Khan who played that role in Baiju Bawra. The star of the soundtrack though, was Mohammed Rafi, as the voice of Bharat Bhushan (except in the climactic musical duel, where Naushad used Pandit DV Paluskar to make Tansen's defeat sound more convincing). Rafi's songs from the soundtrack were an incredible testament of his range and skill as a singer, making it a turning point in what would become a prodigious playback career.
Best Song of Baiju Bawra: This would be the heart-wrenching bhajan O Duniya Ke Rakhwale. The Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni-Rafi team had many great compositions before and after this one – even in this very movie (Mann Tarpat is another gem) – but Duniya Ke Rakhwale would always rate as the best to me. The trio manage to bring out the melancholy in raag darbari in the most spectacular fashion, aided by the dramatic touches in the arrangement.
The Baiju Bawra Playlist:
Listen to the entire album of Baiju Bawra here:
(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com; information partly sourced from myswar.com)