The ascent
In 1949 came Rajendra Krishan’s chartbusting hits Baharen phir bhi aayengi from Lahore and Chup chup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai from Badi Bahen and Krishan had arrived. The appreciative producer of the latter film gifted the lyricist a thousand rupees and a new Austin car. With Suno suno and the film Badi Bahen, Krishan formed a hit team with composers Husnlal-Bhagatram.
Thanks to his knowledge of Tamil, the writer was rapidly offered Hindi films in the South, as several regional blockbusters were being remade in Hindi. Krishan usually rewrote the Hindi dialogues with the right pan-Indian flavour as well as the lyrics, but there were several films for which he reworked the screenplay as well.
Having worked with big names like composers Husnlal-Bhagatram, Shyam Sunder and Anil Biswas to start with, Krishan began another very successful association with the emerging force that was the innovative C.Ramachandra. Never a camp-oriented writer, Krishan had notched up an array of other composers as well early in his career, like Hemant Kumar, Madan Mohan, S.D.Burman and Sajjad Husain. The list later grew to include S.Mohinder, Chitragupta, Naushad, Shanker-Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhury, Kalyanji-Anandji, Ravi, R.D.Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Usha Khanna, Jaidev and Sonik-Omi. And he finished up with the youngest names of his times that included Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik, Shiv-Hari and Anand-Milind!
Technically, Rajendra Krishan’s last released soundtrack (after his death in 1988) was the 1995 Aag Ka Darya, a film toplined by Dilip Kumar and Rekha and Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music, but the film never got released. Silsila and Mard were his major triumphs in the ‘80s, though he wrote only a song or two each in these films.
The Reign Man
From 1949 to the late ‘70s, when he had chartbusters galore, Krishan had a sustained reign in Chennai as well as Mumbai. Come AVM Productions as well as popular filmmakers like K.Shankar, Vasu Menon, A.Bhimsingh, A.Subba Rao, Ramanna and many more down South and R.K.Nayyar, S.D.Narang, Bhappi Sonie and Sunil Dutt in Mumbai, Krishan was a regular fixture with them all even as he worked with almost everyone else who mattered, like Chetan Anand, Vijay Anand, L.V.Prasad, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Desai, Gulshan Rai and others.
Krishan, for all his heavy literary exposure, kept his verse completely simple and yet pithy, and this could be one reason why his bountiful quantum of chart-smashers are well-known and endure even today. The Chennai influence also made simplicity a compulsion, but the advantage of being a freelancer lent Krishan’s scripts, dialogues and lyrics a straightforward and lucid feel that encompassed every genre of filmmaking from loud melodramas to comedies and every kind of song.
The artless writing along with a refusal to tomtom about his work and achievements, however, lost the poet a lot of his due. Ironically, the only time that Krishan hogged media headlines was when this unassuming and jovial gentleman won a jackpot of Rs 60 lakhs in horse-racing in the early ‘70s. From the ‘50s to that period he was termed the “King Of Madras (as Chennai was called then). Probably tributing one of his earliest career-turnarounds - AVM’s Bahar (The Spring Season) in 1950, Krishan even launched his production banner of Bahar Films with brother Hargobind as producer and churned out hits like Patang, Mera Qusoor Kya Hai, Shaadi, Doli and Jwar Bhata.
The pen for all seasons
Krishan’s versatility was evident in the broad spectrum of his songs and of course his scripts. Depth of meaning pervaded the simplest of Krishan’s songs and he is ranked among the pioneers of simple, everyday phraseology in film lyrics.
Among the foremost masters of the fun-song, Krishan’s triumphs here included Shola jo bhadke (considered one of the five biggest chartbusters of all time) and Shaam dhale khidki tale (both from Albela), Mere saamnewali khidki mein and Ek chatur naar (Padosan), Gore gore o baanke chhore (Samadhi), Govinda aala re (Bluffmaster), O meri maina (Pyar Kiye Jaa), Rafta rafta (Kahani Kismat Ki), Mr John (Baarish) and others. Proving prophetic, Krishan in 1970 penned Ramchandra keh gaye Siya se, a biting satire in Gopi about the socio-political scenario to come.
Krishan also pioneered English in Hindi songs five decades before it became a norm with Aana meri jaan (Shehnai) and wrote to the scat singing style in the chartbusting Eena meena deeka (Aasha).
The devotional tenor became Krishan’s forte in songs as unforgettable as Tumhi meri mandir and Badi der bhayi Nandlala (Khandaan), Krishna O kaale Krishna (Main Bhi Ladki Hoon), Sukh ke sab saathi (Gopi), with most being odes to Lord Krishna.
Romantic songs, ballads and litanies of love, often laced with innovative imagery, were Krishan hallmarks concealed by his simple lexicon, as graphically illustrated by Pal pal dil ke paas (Blackmail), Hum pyar mein jalnewalon ko (Jailor), Rang dil ki dhadkan (Patang), Bikhrake zulfein chaman mein na jana (Nazrana), Chanda ja (Manmauji), Aaj ki mulaqaat bas itni (Bharosa), Yeh khamoshiyan yeh tanhaiyan (Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke), Phir wohi shaam (Jahan Ara), Man dole mera tan dole (Nagin), Yeh zindagi ussiki hai (Anarkali), Kaun aaya mere man ke dwaare (Dekh Kabira Roya), Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche (Brahmachari), Tum na jaane kis jahaan (Sazaa), Saiyyan dil mein aana re (Bahar), Kitna haseen hai mausam (Azaad), Geet tere saaz ka (Intequam) and others. Philosophical gems, lullabies, patriotic songs and every other genre including Lata Mangeshkar’s rare cabaret number Aa jaane jaan (Intequam) saw this understated and uncrowned titan excel, forming specially-fruitful teams with Madan Mohan, Ravi, Shankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
Known to be very speedy at work, Krishan often wrote his most lasting songs in a matter of 15-20 minutes, regardless of whether it was a free-hand job or a song written to a tune.
It is impossible to do justice to one of the greatest colossi in Hindi film songwriting within these space constraints. All we can summarize about the humungous contribution of this man vis-a-vis the media injustice done to this genius is quote his own mukhda from Sachaai, Ae dost mere maine duniya dekhi hai/Acchi tarah apni nazar se dekhi hai/Yahaan accha bura kaun hai pehchan-na mushkil.”
