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The
Music Maker
S.
MOHINDER: The Most Decorated Music Director of Punjab
Harjap Singh Aujla
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One of the finest music directors of Indian film industry S.
Mohinder, now in his eighties lives in the state of Virginia on
the outskirts of Washington D.C. He started as a Kirtania under
the guidance of Sant Sujan Singh and later on under the tutoring
of Bhai Samund Singh ji, but later on became a film music
director. |
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 It
was the year 1956, a soulful melody in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar,
with opening lyrics “Guzra Hua Zamana Ata Nahin Dobara, Hafiz Khuda
Tumhara” was on every one’s lips. It was being broadcast time and
again virtually everyday on the airwaves of All India Radio, Radio
Pakistan
and Radio Ceylon. Of course Lata Mangeshkar, in its rendition, did
full justice to it, but the real credit did legitimately belong to
the composer of its soul touching tune. And that was music director
S. Mohinder. Born and brought up in what is now West Punjab in
Pakistan, Music Director S. Mohinder’s full name is Mohinder Singh
Sarna, some people used to call him Mohinder Singh Bakhshi also. S.
Mohinder in early fifties was a young music director of Hindi films.
Although he was not as big a name as the pioneers like Rai Chandra
Boral, Timir Baran, Pankaj Mullick, Ghulam Haider, Khem Chand
Prakash, Naushad and Anil Biswas. But he was one among the second
generation of music directors, which included Sachin Dev Burman,
Sajjad Hussain, Pandit Husnalal Bhagatram, Madan Mohan, Shanker
Jaikishan etc. He was better as a music composer compared to many
other contemporary music directors. The lyrics for his music were
mostly composed by poet Tanvir Naqvi, an import from Lahore.
Earlier on S. Mohinder had composed music for several films
including Sehra, Jeevan Saathi, Shadi Ki Raat, Neeli, Bahadur,
Shahzada and Paapi. But the name and fame he earned with his music
in “Sheereen Farhad”, based on an Iranian love story, was unmatched.
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The runaway success of film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” ushered in an
era of making well meaning movies based on Sikh religious
stories. S. Mohinder composed the music for most of the new Sikh
religious movies. |
The biggest female Bollywood superstar of those days Madhubala, who
was also the leading actress in the film, was so much mesmerized
with the music of “Sheereen Farhad” that, while coming home after a
hectic shooting session, she herself visited the residence of
S.
Mohinder,
to thank him for the special music he had created. This film had
nine songs, all were great hits. Big playback names like Talat
Mehmood, Hemant Kumar and Mohammad Rafi gave their voices to the
songs of this movie. During those days there was no such thing as
“President of India’s award” for the best movie, best song, best
music and best acting.
S.
Mohinder had to wait for 14 years to get the Presidential Annual
Award for the best music for his musical score for the superhit
Punjabi (Sikh religion based) movie “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” in 1970.
This movie was made in 1969, but it became so popular that its
successful run at the box office spilled into 1970. It was studded
with great musical compositions sung in the voices of highly revered
Bhai Samund Singh ji, Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhonsale. S. Mohinder
felt highly elated with the award but thought that he should also
have received a similar recognition for composing the music for film
“Shireen Farhad”. As far as Punjabi films go, “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai”
broke all records at the box office.
He
was born in 1925 in a small village/town called Silanwala in
Montgomery District of un-divided Punjab. His roots are in
Rawalpindi District, but the family had aquired land holdings in
Montgomery District. His father Sardar Sujan Singh Bakhshi was then
serving in the Punjab Government as a sub-inspector in police. Soon
the family moved to a comparatively larger and affluent city of
Lyallpur, where young Mohinder Singh, around year 1935 came in
contact with an accomplished Sikh religious musician Sant Sujan
Singh. Mohinder Singh honed his skills for several years in
classical music in the tutelage of Sant Sujan Singh. Initially he
wanted to be a singer. After the years in Lyallpur, the family under
his father’s new posting orders as an inspector in police (in 1940)
moved to nearby Sheikhupura District from where Nankana Sahib, the
birth place of Guru Nanak, was also not too far. While living in
close proximity of Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak, S.
Mohinder received his serious training in classical music from
legendry Sikh religious musician Bhai Samund Singh ji (1900 – 1972).
Frequent transfers of his father kept the family on the move. Since
S.
Mohinder’s
education was suffering badly, durIng early forties, he was enrolled
in Khalsa High School in village Kairon in Amritsar District. Even
in village Kairon, his love of music never diminished.
 In
1947, the rest of the family also had to move to
East Punjab
in India. The love for classical music brought S. Mohinder to
Benares
the Mecca of North Indian classical Music. After a couple of years
of grooming in disciplines of classical music in Benares, where
several great musicians were trained in classical regime, S.
Mohinder, moved to Bombay, the leading center of film industry in
India. Here he tried his hand at composing film music and his first
successful film happened to be “Neeli”, which was musically a hit,
but otherwise it had a mediocre nationwide exhibition. This
reinforced his determination to stay in the profession of music
composition.
Leaving their homes and hearths in
Pakistan’s
Punjab and coming empty handed in
East Punjab,
the life for every Punjabi refugee was hard in any part of
India.
The same was true about S. Mohinder also. Life in Bombay was hard,
but odds of success in
India’s
largest business center were better. S. Mohinder took a regular job
of music director in “Filmistan Studio”, which was churning out
movies like a mint producing coins. S. Mohinder composed music for
“Filmistan” for half a decade. It was a great music making
experience.
S.
Mohinder believes that just like the USA, which is considered a
great melting pot of all the cultural groups of the World, Bombay is
the melting pot of all the film making cultural groups of India.
Bombay
had attracted the best music composers of
West Bengal
including Anil Biswas, Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chaudhry and Hemant
Kumar who influenced other music directors. There were great maestos
from
Maharashtra
including C. Ramchandra and Shanker Jaikishan.
Central India was represented by Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam Mohammad.
Vasant Desai hailed from Gujarat and Khem Chand Prakash represented
the finest traditions of Rajasthan’s musical heritage.
The biggest contingent of music directors to arrive in Bombay was
from Punjab. In chronological order, it consisted of big names like
Ustad Jhande Khan, Rafique Ghaznavi B.A., Khurshid Anwar, Shyam
Sunder, Ghulam Haider, Firoze Nizami, Rashid Atre, Pandit Gobind
Ram, Pandit Husna Lal Bhagatram, Master Hans Raj Behl, Vinod, Alla
Rakha, Sardar Malik, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Ravi, Khayyam, O.P. Nayyar,
Sardul Singh Kwatra and Usha Khanna. The fact remains that when the
old cock crows, the young one learns. This is exactly what was
actually happening in Bombay’s music World. The people like S.
Mohinder learnt immensely from their seniors.
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The biggest contingent of music directors to arrive in Bombay
was from Punjab. In chronological order, it consisted of big
names like Ustad Jhande Khan, Rafique Ghaznavi B.A., Khurshid
Anwar, Shyam Sunder, Ghulam Haider, Firoze Nizami, Rashid Atre,
Pandit Gobind Ram, Pandit Husna Lal Bhagatram, Master Hans Raj
Behl, Vinod, Alla Rakha, Sardar Malik, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Ravi,
Khayyam, O.P. Nayyar, Sardul Singh Kwatra and Usha Khanna. No
doubt, S. Mohinder learnt immensely from his seniors.
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After a successful relationship as a music director with “Filmistan
Studios”, S. Mohinder started composing music for a prolific
producer Chandu Lal Shah’s (Ranjit Movietone) films, the one which
became popular was “Zamin ke Taare”. It became a musical hit. After
that he composed the music for Wadia Brothers film “Reporter Raju”.
S. Mohinder composed the music for producer Roop K. Shori’s films
too. He also gave music for film “Do Dost”.
S.
Mohinder says that during the sixties, when only Hans Raj Behl and
Sardul Singh Kwatra were left in the field of composing music for
Punjabi films, he also tried his hand at Punjabi films. The response
from the cine goers was good. His music for his first Punjabi film
“Pardesi Dhola” (started in 1960 and released in 1962) was a hit.
After that he mainly devoted his attention on composing music for
Punjabi films only. His music for “Chambe Di Kali” also became a
hit. Inderjit Singh Hassanpuri, a friend of S. Mohinder, made a
Punjabi film “Daaj” in which S. Mohinder composed very emotional
tunes. The film did very well at the box office, which encouraged
the producer to go for its Hindi version also. The Hindi version
named “Dahej” also had lyrics by Inderjit Singh Hassanpuri and the
music by S. Mohinder. Later on during the late seventies S. Mohinder
composed music for some non-film Punjabi albums too and the singers
included the best in the Punjabi music business, Surinder Kaur and
Asa Singh Mastana. These private albums were also instant hits. You
can easily see S. Mohinder’s touch in their soul inspiring tunes.
Shaminder Singh, a friend of S. Mohinder, was a big landlord of
Muktsar (then a part of Ferozepore district) in
Punjab.
He was a naturally gifted singer. His voice was similar to that of
Talat Mahmood, a superstar singer of the nineteen fifties and
sixties. Shaminder wanted to try his hand at producing Punjabi films
and that desire brought him to
Bombay.
In partnership with music director Sardul Kwatra, he made several
movies including “Vanjara”. Shaminder had a desire to sing duets
with Lata Mangeshkar. His wish came true in “Vanjara” when he was
given an opportunity to sing two duet songs with Lata Mangeshkar.
The music was composed by Sardul Singh Kwatra. Later on S. Mohinder
composed the music for a Shaminder starrer movie “Dukh Bhanjan Tera
Naam” which became a hit.
 S.
Mohinder’s last Hindi film was “Mehlon Ke Khwaab” produced by
Madhubala in 1967. Probably it was the last venture of
India’s
first lady of silver screen. The film did quite well at the box
office and its music also became a hit. The untimely death of
Madhubala, during the prime of her youth, profoundly saddened S.
Mohinder. He came to the conclusion that the field of composing
music for Hindi films was getting a lot of new players and the
melody was slowly yielding place to noisy heavy metal music. So he
decided to go back to his roots and switched to composing music for
Punjabi movies. This move paid good dividends. During the seventies
he got more contracts than even the old doyen Master Hans Raj Behl.
A
very interesting incident happened during the early sixties. It was
narrated to me by none other than S. Mohinder himself. In order to
become a movie actor, Shaminder Singh shaved off his blonde beard
and moustache. Lata Mangeshkar had seen him as a fully practicing
Sikh. One day in the company of S. Mohinder, Shaminder Singh ran
into Lata Mangeshkar. Lata could not recognize him. When Lata asked
as to who this gentleman was? S. Mohinder said “He is Shaminder
Singh”. Lata retorted “You looked so good in your blonde beard,
moustache and turban, why did you do this to yourself”. Shaminder
had absolutely no answer. As remarked earlier also, Shaminder Singh
later acted as the hero in Punjabi film “Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam” and
S.
Mohinder
composed the music for it. This film also did roaring business, so
did its soulful music.
 Mohammad Rafi’s dream of singing in a Sikh religious theme based
film got fulfilled in 1969. Ram Maheshwari and Panna Lal Maheshwari,
originally Sindhis of Amritsar, decided to make a movie in Punjabi
based on Sikh religious beliefs. The film was titled “Nanak Naam
Jahaz Hai”. S. Mohinder got the contract to compose the music. The
story of the film required some scenes to be filmed in the Golden
Temple. S. Mohinder thought that the music for those scenes was a
very sensitive subject and must be performed by the finest exponent
of Sikh Religious classical music. So he requested his idol of
pre-independence days Bhai Samund Singh ji to sing some Shabads.
Bhai Samund Singh, as explained earlier on, was also the mentor of
S. Mohinder during his early training in Sikh classical music.
Initially Bhai Samund Singh hesitated, but eventually he agreed to
sing for the movie. S. Mohinder believes that what Bade Ghulam Ali
Khan’s renditions were to the great movie “Mughal -e- Azam”, the
Shabads sung by Bhai Samund Singh are to Punjabi film “Nanak Naam
Jahaz Hai”. As we all know, film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” has been an
all time hit Punjabi movie. Its religio-cultural music was also as
big a success. In the sale of its music it broke all previous
records of Punjabi Film Music. Its cassettes and CDs are still
selling.
The President of India gives annual awards to the film industry of
India. One of these awards is for the best music composed throughout
the year. These awards are open not only to the Hindi film industry
but also to all the films made in all the regions of
India.
Among the top contenders for the award in music were a lot of South
Indian movies. The standard of Hindi film music was in constant
decline. Traditional Indian folk and classical music was on the way
out and hybrid Western music was making deeper than ever inroads
into the Hindi cinema. The Karnataka style of music in the Southern
movies was still maintaining a higher standard. S. Mohinder had
based all the tunes of film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” on the classical
music. That is why the President of India, after due deliberation,
gave the 1970 award for best film music to S. Mohinder. There was
obvious jubilation all over Punjab as someone from the state and
composing for a Punjabi movie was winning this coveted award for the
first time ever.
The runaway success of film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” ushered in an era
of making well meaning movies based on Sikh religious stories. S.
Mohinder composed the music for most of the new Sikh religious
movies. “Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam” featuring Shaminder Singh as the
hero was the next film, it was also quite successful. Then came two
more successful movies, namely “Man Jeete Jug Jeet” and “Paapi Tare
Anek”. Both were successful at the box office. All these movies were
made during the decade of seventies. S. Mohinder also composed some
of his most memorable music for these movies.
During the decade of nineteen seventies, S. Mohinder composed music
for some private albums also including some featuring Sikh
devotional music and some featuring the folk music of
Punjab.
Legendry Punjabi singer Surinder Kaur was prominently featured on
some of these albums.
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Harjap Singh Aujla |
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S.
Mohinder left India for the USA in 1982, when he was at the peak of
his career as a music composer. The last film featuring his music
was named “Maula Jatt”, with Dara Singh in the male lead role. This
film was also released in 1982. While in America, S. Mohinder
composed music for some private devotional and other music albums,
including one featuring Ghazals of Roshan Pukhraj on behalf of
producer Iqbal Mahal of Canada, another in the voice of Mrs Kavelle
Bajaj of
Northern Virginia.
One album of Shabads, issued during the nineties, in the voice of
redoubtable Asha Bhonsle is a musical masterpiece. S. Mohinder is
also interested in producing a CD or more of Shabads in the ethereal
voice of Bibi Amarjit Kaur of Northern Virginia in the USA. Amarjit
Kaur is a pupil of Late Bhai Santa Singh. But travel by air to
Bombay is becoming difficult for him. Every year he keeps postponing
this highly creative project. Hopefully some day he may pick up
enough courage to complete this recording in Bombay. Some of the
men, who once performed in his orchestra, are still alive. I am
looking forward to seeing that day coming soon. One of his
sons-in-law is now posted in Bombay as a top shipping executive. He
may eventually persuade S. Mohinder to travel to Bombay and do some
creative work.
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SOME OF THE PUNJABI FILMS FOR WHICH S. MOHINDER COMPOSED MUSIC:
Pardesi Dhola
Chambe Di Kali
Teri Meri Ik Jindri
Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai (most successful movie)
Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam
Man Jeete Jag Jeet
Paapi Tare Anek
Daaj
Sukhi Parwar
Fauji Chacha
Santo Banto
Laadli
Mughlani Begum
Maula Jatt |
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28
October 2009
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