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''Mughal-e-Azam'' is the
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
for the 1960 film of the same name directed by K. Asif. The soundtrack was composed by music director
Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...
, and the lyrics were written by
Shakeel Badayuni Shakeel Badayuni (3 August 1916 – 20 April 1970) was an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter in Hindi / Urdu language films. Early life Shakeel Badayuni was born in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhta Qadi ...
.


Background

As with most of Naushad's soundtracks, the songs of ''Mughal-e-Azam'' were heavily inspired by
Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...
and
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
, particularly ''
ragas A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspec ...
'' such as ''Darbari'', ''Durga'', used in the composition of "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya", and ''Kedar'', used in "Bekas Pe Karam Keejeye". He also made extensive use of symphony orchestras and choruses to add grandeur to the music. The soundtrack contained a total of 12 songs, which were rendered by playback singers and classical music artists. These songs account for nearly one third of the film's running time.


Production

A total of 20 songs were composed for the film, at an average cost of 3,000 (valued at about US$629 in 1960) per song, though many were left out of the final cut owing to the film's length. Both Asif and Naushad approached Hindustani classical vocalist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan inviting him to participate in the film's soundtrack, but he refused, explaining that he disliked working in films. Asif, adamant about the presence of Khan, asked him to name his fee. Khan quoted a fee of 25,000 per song, at a time when Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar (the best paid playback singers of the time) charged 300–400 per song, thinking that Asif would send him away. Instead, Asif agreed, and even gave Khan a 50 per cent advance. Surprised and left with no excuse to turn down the offer, he finally accepted. Khan sang two songs, "Prem Jogan Ban Ke" and "Shubh Din Aayo"; both were included in the final version of the film and demonstrated the artist's vocal virtuosity.


Composition

The composition of "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" was especially time-consuming – on the day of the song's scheduled recording, Naushad rejected two sets of lyrics by Badayuni. Subsequently, a "brainstorming session" was held on Naushad's terrace, beginning in early evening and lasting until next day. Late in the night, Naushad remembered a folk song from eastern
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
with the lyrics "''Prem kiya, kya chori kari hai...''" ("I have loved, does it mean that I have stolen?"). The song was converted into a ''
ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...
'' and subsequently recorded. At that time, since there was no technology to provide for the reverberation of sound heard in the song, Naushad had Mangeshkar sing the song in a studio bathroom. Some sources state that a chorus of a hundred singers supported singer Mohammed Rafi for the song "Ae Mohabbat Zindabad", though other sources place the number at a thousand. The song "Mohe Panghat Pe" was objected to by veteran director Vijay Bhatt. Although he was not directly involved with the project, he thought that it would "ruin the film", since it showed the Mughal emperor celebrating the Hindu festival Janmashtami. Though Naushad argued that the presence of Jodhabai made the situation logical, he met with the film's screenwriters and subsequently added dialogue that explained the sequence.


Track listing


Reception

The soundtrack of ''Mughal-e-Azam'' received universal acclaim from critics in India. It is often cited as one of the best soundtracks in Hindi film history, and was one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1960s. Shahid Khan, writing for Planet Bollywood, gave the soundtrack ten out of ten stars and called the music the "soul of the film". In 2004, Subhash K. Jha reviewed the re-mastered release of the soundtrack, praising the technical quality of the re-release and the original vocals of
Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...
. In 2013, Baldev S Chauhan of '' Sun Post'' called the songs "some of the greatest songs of Hindi cinema."


Colourised version

When the film was colourised for re-release, the soundtrack was also reworked, with original composer Naushad receiving help from
Uttam Singh Uttam Singh (born 25 May 1948) is an Indian music director and a well-known violinist. He has also worked as a music arranger, programmer and recordist for many Bollywood films. He worked as a music assistant for Ilaiyaraaja in numerous Tamil la ...
. The score remained the same, but the sound was touched up and converted to
Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3 (see below), is the name for a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, it is lossy compression (except for Dolby Tr ...
. The orchestral part was re-recorded with live musicians, but the original solo vocals were retained. The cost was reported to be between () and ().


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * {{Cite book, last1=Gokulsing, first1=K. Moti, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwGgF-rDucEC&pg=PT359, title=Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas, last2=Dissanayake, first2=Wimal, date=17 April 2013, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-0-415-67774-5 1960 soundtrack albums