Remembering D. N MADHOK – MAN WITH MANY FACES (22 October 1902 - 9 July 1982 by Archana Gupta Shri D. N. Madhok was a multi-faceted, well rounded personality in the world of Indian film making. While he is best known as a lyricist, his portfolio also boasts of Direction, Story, Screenplay, & Dialogue writing, Acting, as well as Production of a few films. Very few film personalities can claim such versatility and well-roundedness, imho. Yet, he is a relative unknown for the cine-goers of today – such is the travesty! He was born on October 22, 1902, at Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) to the modest family of a First Class Post Master. He completed Bachelor of Arts* from Lahore and worked for the Railways for some time before moving to Bombay in 1931. Thus started the thirty eight year (1931**-69) long, active association with the Film Industry in various capacities. His first film as a lyricist was Radhey Shyam (alternate title Zulm-e-kans) in 1932. He wrote 29 songs for that one!!! He also wrote the screenplay for that film – a practice that became very prevalent in the initial two decades of Hindi cinema and was to some degree practiced later too. He played a small role in this film as well as “helped” with composing the music though there is no official credit given to him as a composer. In the same year, he also directed 3 ventures – Lure of Gold, Flame of Love and Three warriors (likely re-released or released in 1937 as Dilfarosh). In 1933, he directed and wrote lyrics and songs for a film called Khoobsurat Bala. For the next three years, he wrote screenplays and dialogues as well as directed a few films but there was no output as a lyricist. His next films as a lyricist were Dilfarosh (possibly re-released) and Lahari Lutera in 1937. He also continued to direct Hindi and Punjabi films during these years Eventually, in 1939, he associated with Ranjit Movietone and never looked back as a lyricist. Some of his major output for Ranjit came in the form of songs for films like Nadi Kinare, Diwali, Holi, Musaafir, Paagal, Beti, Dhindhora, Ummeed, Mehmaan, Bansuri, Chandani, Pardesi , Sasural, Shadi, Bela, Nurse, Bhakt Surdas, and Tansen etc.. Many of these soundtracks – especially last two, enjoy popularity to date. He was also instrumental in introducing Naushad to the film industry – Naushad was chosen as Assistant MD for Punjabi film Mirza-Sahibaa (1939) at Madhok Sahib’s recommendation. This film was directed by D. N. Madhok himself. Songs of Naushad’s first independent venture, Ranjit Movietone’s Prem Nagar (1940), were also penned by D.N. Madhok. Subsequently, they worked together for a number of films like Mala (‘41), Sharda (’42), Kanoon, Namaste, Sanjog (’43), Geet, Jeevan, Pehle-Aap, Rattan (’44). Of these, Rattan was the most successful. Ironically, it was also their last venture together. Madhok sahib was an extremely prolific song-writer. In his 116 film career, he has produced 850 songs *** ! It is said that he was so busy that he dictated songs on the phone at one point in time!!! Understandably, he worked with most of the big and small MDs of that time like Gyan Dutt, N. R. Bhattacharya, Khemchand Prakash, Bulo C. Rani, Naushad, Khursheed Anwar, Pt. Amarnath, Sardul Kwatra, Anil Biswas, R.C. Boral, Robin Chatterjee, Sunder Das, Rashid Atre, C.Ramachandra, Sajjad Hussain, Ghulam Haider, Vinod, Gobind Ram, Husnlal-Bhagatram, A.R. Qureshi, Roshan, Sardar Malik, Ghulam Mohammad, and Hansraj Behl etc. His lyric writing was extremely versatile as well, covering a wide gamut of styles and emotions in his lyrics. Though he mostly wrote in a simple language prevalent at the time and used colloquial expressions – think “Rumjhum barse badarwaa” (Rattan), “Ghir ghir aaye baadal kaare” (Daak Bangla) etc., he was also capable of penning ghazals like “Ham ishq ke maaron ko “ , “Parwaanon se preet seekh le” (Bilwamangal), “Dil mein shama jala ke tere intezaar ki” (Sabak), and “Aaye bhi vo, gaye bhi vo” (Namaste) etc.. On one hand he expressed romance and longing in its simplicity as in “Jaadoogar balmaa tere nainon mein jiya kho gaya”, “Aaja kahin door chalen” (Pahle Aap), “Main kali bagh ki ,tu bhanwra”(Prem Nagar), “Maati ka but bhaa gayaa” (Do Dil) or “Tu kaun si badli mein mere chaand hai aajaa” (Khandaan), light-hearted teasing as in “Yun chhup chhup ke“ (Taraana), “Ankhiyaan milaa ke, jiya bharmaa ke” (Rattan) and heartbreak in extreme in songs like “vo raat din, vo sham kii guzari hui kahaniyaan” (Saiyan), “Ai dard zara dam le” (Zamaana), “Jab tum hi chale pardes” (Rattan), “Ai dil-e-beqaraar bol” (Fariyaad). On the other hand, he penned funny lyrics, bordering on ridiculous like “balahaarii re kukadakuun bol”, and “duniyaa mein sab jode, jode” (Sharda). In between, came the devotionals like “Nainheen ko raah dikha prabhu” (Bhakt Surdas), light philosophical numbers as “Jeene ka dhang sikhaaye ja” (Parwaanaa), “Jhoom, jhoom kar baadal aaye “(Khamosh Sipahi), and Patriotic/motivational lyrics as in “Bekhabar jag zaraa”, “Hindustan ke hum hain, Hindustan hamara” (Pahle Aap), “Watan ki maati haath mein lekar” (Gaaon) – but all were delivered with equal ease, or so it seems. While looking through songs that he has penned, two things struck me – in many of his romantic numbers, the lady is perpetually worried about the future and of being left – which I guess is a reflection of times and is perhaps not so unusual for songs of that era, just stood out for me. Second was the fascination with elements of nature, especially clouds – baadal, badarwaa , badali (just look at Ratttan soundtrack for example – there are atleast four songs that fit) and different birds, be it koyal , papeeha or simply panchhii. He has used them extensively – there were songs like “Ambuvaa pe baitha panchhi kya bole” (Prem Nagar) – both the characters express their thoughts and feelings using Panchhi as the representation, then there were case where characters talk to the birds and describe their feelings as in “Panchhi ja, peechhe raha hai bachpan mera” (Sharda) and many more and then there are many songs where koyal/papeeha/panchhi just set a stage but were sure there… Some other notable soundtracks ,that he contributed to as a lyricist, are Sneh, Lagan (1938), Kanchan, Pyaas (1941), Zameendaar (1942), Ishaara, Zabaan (1943), Daasi (1944), Shiirii-Farhaad, Preet, Dhamaki (1945), Anjuman, Kaajal (1948), Karwat, Saawan Aaya Re, Sunhere Din (1949), Khiladi, Anmol Ratan, Dilruba, Rasiya (1950), Goonj (1952), Dard-e-Dil (1953), Janam Janam ke Sathi, Barati, Majboori (1954), Oot Patang (1955), Aabroo, Makkhichoos (1956), Maharani Padmini (1964), Tasveer (1966) Samay Bada Balwaan (1969). To round-off his extremely impressive portfolio, it is essential to mention that he established Mansarovar Pictures and produced and directed two movies – Nao (1948) and Khamosh Sipahi (1950) for which he wrote lyrics and dialogues as well. In all, he directed 17 films, last of which was Madhubala Ltd’s Naata in 1955. Additionally, he also wrote screenplay for a number of films like Bhakt Surdas, Tansen, Shadi, Pardesi, Parwaana, Sharda, Nadi Kinare, Dasi, Khandaan, Rattan etc. He left for his heavenly abode on July 9th, 1982(in Hyderabad )at the age of 80 but his songs are still very much alive in the hearts and minds of Hindi Film Music Lovers. This is a humble attempt to pay an ode to unsung (pun-intended) hero that was Pt. Dina Nath Madhok. ** Some accounts claim that he worked for New Theatres before coming to Bombay but there is no evidence of any work as a lyricist prior to Radhey Shyam in 1932. Source: Wikipedia facebook/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FIZHJdEej7ME&h=KAQHl-mE7
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 09:39:56 +0000
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