Movie Details of Chitralekha
Music: Roshan
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
Label: Saregama HMV
Director: Kidar Sharma
The 1964 film by the multi-faceted Kidar Sharma was a remake of his own directorial debut from 1941, by the same name. While the original had music by A S Gyani and Jhande Khan, here he chose the man whom he had launched in his 1949 movie Neki Aur Badi – Roshan. Writing for the composer was the lyricist with whom he had the most prolific partnership, Sahir Ludhianvi. And together they produced a piece of work that far outshone the original soundtrack.
Best Song of Chitralekha: Mann Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare is my favourite from Chitralekha. Ludhianvi paraphrased a Tulsidas couplet – reportedly on the director's request – to create this song. Roshan set it to a pensive raag yaman kalyan based melody and a delectable mélange of sarod, violins and flute. Mohammad Rafi of course, took care of the delivery bit with his characteristic finesse.
The Chitralekha Playlist:
Listen to the entire album of Chitralekha here:
(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com)