Bollywood Retrospect: 5 songs to celebrate the voice of Vani Jayaram

Like Sudha Malhotra, the singer covered in last week’s post, Vani Jayaram was a tremendously talented singer who did not get her due in Hindi films. Unlike Sudha Malhotra, however, Vani Jayaram enjoyed a long and fulfilling career— just not in Hindi films. The singer found tremendous success in films of other Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Her numerous awards are an indication of how diverse her discography is— National Film Awards for Tamil and Telugu films and State Awards for Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati and Odiya films.

Vani Jayaram turned 70 last week on November 30 but continues to work, singing for films, performing concerts and judging TV talent shows. Just a few months ago she was nominated for Filmfare South’s Best Female Playback Singer for the song ‘Olanjali Kuruvi’ from the 2014 Malayalam film 1983. (Shreya Ghoshal won it for ‘Vijanathayil’.)

Here are five Hindi film songs to celebrate this versatile singer.

‘Bole Re Papihara’ (Guddi, 1971)

Although Vani Jayaram made a career primarily in South Indian films, she debuted as a playback singer in the Hindi film Guddi. Impressed by her classically trained voice, Vasant Desai gave all three songs in Guddi to her. Considering Lata Mangeshkar’s dominance at the time, this was a brave decision. With the songs of Guddi making waves, Vani Jayaram more than justified Vasant Desai’s faith in her. A strange thing happened after the movie was released— one of Vani Jayaram’s songs, the bhajan ‘Hari Bin Kaise Jiyoon Ri’, was edited out of the film and replaced with a newly shot sequence featuring Jaya Bhaduri singing Lata Mangeshkar’s “Aaja Re Pardesi” (Madhumati, 1958). Although it has never been substantiated, the change was said to be a conciliatory gesture to appease Lata Mangeshkar. My pick from Guddi is probably one of the best examples of a Hindi film song based on Raag Miyan Ki Malhar. It is not hard to see how Vani Jayaram’s rendition of the song could make even the most accomplished of singers insecure.

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‘Mora Saajan Sautan Ghar Jaye’ (Pakeezah, 1971)

When Ghulam Mohammed passed away during the making of Pakeezah, Naushad was brought in to compose the film’s background score. He also composed songs, some of which were used for the background score. Naushad’s choice of singers for the thumris he recorded was offbeat and interesting — up-and-coming classical singer Parveen Sultana; a singer who had seen better days - Rajkumari; and a bright star on the horizon, Vani Jayaram. Vani Jayaram’s Hindustani classical training under Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan held her in good stead in her soulful rendition of ‘Mora Saajan Sautan Ghar Jaye’.

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‘Bikhre Taar Mile Phir Man Ke’ (Grahan, 1973)

Despite Vani Jayaram’s talent, everything that followed Guddi paled in comparison. Her voice was largely relegated to obscure, low-budget films or films that Lata Mangeshkar had declined. This was a pity because many lovely songs got lost in this clutter. ‘Bikhre Taar Mile Phir Man Ke’ is one such song. Vasant Desai not only composed this Khamaj beauty but also wrote the lyrics. Vani Jayaram’s singing in this hauntingly beautiful and simply arranged song is nothing short of breathtaking.

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‘Mitwa Mitwa More Man Mitwa’ (Parinay, 1974)

Parinay is best known for the Doordarshan favourite, ‘Jaise Sooraj Ki Garmi Se’ by the Sharma Bandhu, but the film has another lovely gem, albeit underrated.  ‘Mitwa Mitwa More Man Mitwa’ is a superb, semi-classical duet by Manna Dey and Vani Jayaram. Jaidev’s choice of Vani Jayaram for the song was another validation of the singer’s talent.

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‘Mere Toh Giridhar Gopal’ (Meera, 1979)      

In the preface to Gulzar’s script of Meera published by Radhakrishna Prakashan, Gulzar wrote the fascinating story of the making of the film. Among other nuggets of information, he revealed that Vani Jayaram, was not his first choice as the voice of Meerabai. Lata Mangeshkar declined to sing for the film because she had just recorded non-film albums of Meerabai’s bhajans and believed that singing for the film would dilute her earlier work. Unable to get their favourite singer on board, music directors Laxmikant–Pyarelal dropped out of the film. Eventually, Gulzar travelled all the way to America to coax and cajole Pandit Ravi Shankar to compose music for the film. By the time Gulzar left the US, he not only had the maestro’s agreement to come on board but also a decision on Meerabai’s voice— Vani Jayaram. Meera is a substantial and wholesome offering of Meerabai’s bhajans. For her excellent effort, Vani Jayaram won her only Filmfare award for Hindi films for the song ‘Mere Toh Giridhar Gopal’.

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Bonus: Vani Jayaram’s Marathi classic ‘Runanubandhachya’ with Kumar Gandharva composed by Vasant Desai:

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