The era between 1940 and the 60s in Indian cinema was often referred to as ‘The Golden Age’. The magic of this era is such that it’s hummed and appreciated even today. It saw a huge surge in popularity with legendary singers like Mohammad Rafi saab, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mukesh ji in the lime light.
It wasn’t just the tune that made the song or film successful. Two other factors were considered in creating success stories – lyrics and the singers. In the early 60s, the musical combination of Rafi saab and Shammi Kapoor took the era by storm and the 70s saw Kishore da and Rajesh Khanna work like magic! Growing up in Kolkata, I had the opportunity to listen to Rafi saab sing Tum Se Accha Kaun Hai live and it was mesmerising to say the least! Needless to say, it instantly became my favourite song. With the late Pankaj Mullick, a renowned singer and music director, who also happened to be our landlord, my passion for this genre only grew.
In the 70s, Kishore Kumar along with RD Burman formed an outstanding team that ensured a chartbuster whenever they came together. In 1984, while working in Muscat, I had the opportunity to attend Kishore Kumar’s live performance with Kalayanji-Anandji and got an opportunity to sing Khai Ke Paan Banaras Wala with the legend himself.
With the advent of technology, and access to music in an instant, it can be both a boon and a bane. The thrill of waiting to watch a live performance has lost its charm over the years. The concept of karaoke, however, is fascinating. I was introduced to the concept in 1995-96 through a close friend who travelled to Japan often, and there it meant that if you’ve had a long and terrible day you hit a karaoke bar to sing and de-stress. Having gone through tedious processes like recording minus tracks and synchronising voices to sing for an audience, karaoke made everything so simple, and enjoyable. This was one way for me to inspire people to sing.
In India, karaoke has today become an integral part of all occasions, but it is targeted at youngsters and the focus is often only on English music. Why not go back to our roots and turn to Indian cinema? Afterall, it wasn’t called the Golden Age for nothing.
– The writer is a Bengaluru-based karaoke jockey and is paying tribute to the ‘Golden Age’ with 24 other singers on March 12 at Dr Ambedkar Bhavan.
