Bollywood Retrospect: Sajjad Hussain's musical gems

Sajjad Hussain is somewhat of an enigma. His career in Hindi films spanned about 20 years, but he composed music for only 14 films – less than an album a year. That record looks even more flimsy if we consider the two very obscure films he made music for in the 1970s, a decade after he recorded what is considered his swan song in Rustam Sohrab (1963). Including this comeback, his tally was 16 films in 33 years. Despite his sparse discography, he gained the respect of his peers and music aficionados and earned the epithet of the “only original composer” from Anil Biswas. He could play many musical instruments and was a mandolin virtuoso. What explains the discrepancy between Sajjad Hussain’s obvious skill and his slim body of work? We don’t know for sure, but various anecdotes suggest that Sajjad was not easy to work with. Singers were terrified of him because he was a tough taskmaster and not easy to please. The list of people he may have antagonised at one point in his career or other is the veritable who’s who of the Hindi film industry of that time - Noor Jehan, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Naushad, DN Madhok, Dilip Kumar, Madan Mohan, Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. We can only wonder what might have been if this forgotten master had composed more songs. 

My pick of Sajjad Hussain’s songs:

Badnam Mohabbat Kaun Kare (Dost, 1944)

Dost (1944) was Sajjad Hussain’s debut as a solo composer. Before this, he had assisted his mentor Pandit Hanuman Prasad for the film Gaali (1944) and also composed a couple of songs for it. Two things happened when Dost’s music was released – things that would become a recurring theme in his career. First, his work was appreciated and several songs became very popular. Second, he got into a tiff with the film’s director Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi (who would go on to marry Noor Jehan) who attributed the success of the film’s music to her. Sajjad would never work with SH Rizvi or Noor Jehan again. While Dost has several lovely songs, my pick is the charming 'Badnaam Mohabbat Kaun Kare', which happened to be amongst Noor Jehan’s most favourite songs. In this beautiful Sajjad tune sung expressively by Malika-E-Tarannum, the cherry on the cake is Noor Jehan’s playful delivery of 'Badnaam' followed by a pause – expressive enough to grab the listeners’ attention and tasteful enough to not reduce the song to a gimmick.

Aaj Mere Naseeb Ne Mujhko Rula Rula Diya (Hulchul, 1951)

This is one among only the 14 songs Lata Mangeshkar sang for Sajjad Hussain. In an interview, Sajjad said that this was the first song he asked Lata to sing for him, although Khel (1950) was released earlier. In the same interview, he said that the song was removed from the film. However, this song, shot on Nargis, is available and so maybe his memory betrayed him. For a very long time, Sajjad Hussain considered this his best song and given that Lata Mangeshkar had often cited him as her favourite composer, this is a special song. Lata recalls being very nervous while recording this song, but does not betray this in her rendition of the poignant tune. If anything, her singing appears deceptively effortless. Unfortunately, Sajjad fell out with the producers due to a financial dispute and walked out of the film after composing only three songs. Mohammed Shafi, Naushad’s long-time assistant, was brought in to compose the remaining songs.

Yeh Hawa Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni (Sangdil, 1952)

This Talat Mahmood classic is probably Sajjad Hussain’s best song, and Sangdil his best album. The story behind this song is stuff that legends are made of. So obsessive was Sajjad Hussain’s quest for perfection that the song was finalised in the 17th re-take. Sajjad’s masterful composition was matched by Rajinder Krishan’s brilliant lyrics and Talat Mahmood’s silken voice. They say imitation is the best form of flattery and Madan Mohan showed his admiration for Sajjad by using the tune of this song to record his own hit 'Tujhe Kya Sunaoon Main Dilruba' (Aakhri Dao, 1958) in Mohammed Rafi’s voice. When confronted by an angry Sajjad Hussain, Madan Mohan’s only defence was that even copying Sajjad’s tune was not easy task! Given its success, Sangdil could have been a big boost for Sajjad’s career. That was not to be when a misunderstanding developed between Sajjad Hussain and the rising star, Dilip Kumar. Sajjad was never called upon again to compose for Dilip Kumar’s films.

Tere Jahan Se Chal Diye  (Duet) (Rukhsana, 1955)

After the success of Sangdil (1952), Sajjad did not land any work for three long years. And although Rukhsana had a perfectly respectable musical score, he did not get to make music for another eight years! This when he was at his prime. Rukhsana was the only film in which Sajjad picked Kishore Kumar. That even genius can be wrong is demonstrated by the fact that Sajjad Hussain would jokingly refer to the singer as ‘Shor’ Kumar! While I prefer this Asha-Kishore duet, there is another solo version of this song in Asha Bhosle’s voice that’s worth a listen too.

Yeh Kaisi Ajab Dastan Ho Gayi Hai (Rustam Sohrab, 1963)

By the time Sajjad Hussain was offered Rustam Sohrab (1963), a full eight years after his last film, he must have seen the writing on the wall. The film was supposed to be the singing star Suraiya’s last film. Stars burn their brightest before they die out and as this song shows, so it was for Sajjad and Suraiya, who incidentally share their birthday on June 15. Suraiya did not act or sing again. Sajjad did make a comeback of sorts in the 1970s but his career practically ended with Rustam Sohrab.

Bonus: Mandolin solos performed by Sajjad Hussain

Sajjad Hussain was called upon by director Bapu to do the background score for the Telugu film Mutyala Muggu (1975). It is this score that contained Sajjad’s best work in over a decade. On Bapu’s request, Sajjad himself played the mandolin solos used in the film’s score.

Sajjad Hussain also gave concerts performing Hindustani music on the mandolin. Here is a compilation of some of his performances:

It’s ironic that although the use of mandolin was pioneered in Hindustani music, the instrument came to be associated primarily with Carnatic music over time, thanks the primarily to U Srinivas.