The Kannada film Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (1967) remains evergreen in the memory of Kannadigas, particularly of film music buffs. Lata Mangeshkar, who was by then an omnipresent musician in the Indian film industry, sang her first Kannada song for this film, the mellifluous “Bellane Belagayitu”. This is a piece of information that is easily available in Kannada film mythology, but what is lesser known is that this film not only had two songs by Lata Mangeshkar, but also her sisters Asha and Usha sang for this film. In fact, this film goes down in the pages of history as the only Kannada film in which all the three sisters sang. What’s more, Manna De also sang two songs for this film; music was composed by Lakshman Beralekar, a renowned composer of the Marathi film industry.
Thinking about this film now, the cast and crew, it seems nothing short of a wonder. The film directed by BT Athani and produced by Ananth Hiregowdar, had a predominantly Marathi team. How did this happen? Into his eighties, Ananth Hiregowdar remembers that they were a group of friends who wanted to make a film all of whom were fascinated by the local hero Sangolli Rayanna who rose in revolt and single handedly fought the British. “I knew a lot of people in Maharashtra. Moreover, my aunt lived in Kolhapur and Lata Mangeshkar’s family were her neighbours. As a child I often went to Kolhapur and they were known to me.” He remembers how those years were tough on the Mangeshkars, till they moved to Bombay and began to sing for the Hindi film industry. “Beralekar was also a friend of mine from Kolhapur days, and he was a very good singer and composer. The Ganapathi festival was huge in Bombay, the Mangeshkar sisters, Beralekar… all of them together gave programmes at these pandals,” narrates Hiregowdar. When films like Chatrapathi Shivaji came, he often wondered why such a film couldn’t be made in Kannada, why Kannada films cannot have such music etc… When Hiregowdar took the idea to them, as he himself says, they willingly agreed to contribute in whatever capacity they could. “Those days were different. Friendships were special and we shared a lot of warmth. We felt we belonged to one family.”
The film was shot in Kolhapur, and the recordings took place in the studios of Bombay. Though Beralekar was a Marathi composer, the proximity to Hindi film industry which was located in Bombay, the professional recording techniques, elaborate orchestra… was available for him. In fact, this is true of the entire Marathi music industry, and you can find proof in the extraordinary background score of Marathi music. The songs of Krantiveera… are no exception. The song recording is superb and the background score remarkable.
You also realise that how Hindi film industry was such a huge presence in the work of these composers. “Bellane Belagayitu”, has shades of songs like “Sayonara” from Love in Tokyo (1966) and “Rasik Balma” from Chori Chori (1956) -- they made an impact on the nation’s imagination of a soft, romantic song. “Bellane…” has strong shades of popular songs composed in raga Bhupali, straying into Yaman occasionally. “Yaariva Nan Mana Marulagisidava” sung by Usha Mangeshkar has a dominant folk idiom while Asha’s “Yaako eno seraga nillavaldu” is a bhavageeth with the sensuous Maharashtrian lavani overtones. A sophisticated composition, it is rendered to perfection by Asha. “Neere Neenu Baare” by Manna De imitates the Qawwali genre, lively and charming.
The songs are beautiful, and the renditions are master class, but you can pick holes with the way Kannada is pronounced. If you are listening to them for the first time you will take a while to recognize it as Kannada. But you listen to it over and over again, it eventually becomes a minor concern. What then is Kannadaness? We can extend the same question to what has come to be known as “Hindi film music”. If for a moment we think what its constituents are, we realize it has nothing to do with Hindi. It is SD Burman, Naushad, Khayyam, OP Nayyar, Pankaj Mullick, Madan Mohan, and a whole lot of them who came from different parts of the country and gave Hindi film music its immortal quality. Kannadaness, similarly, is perhaps what flows into Kannada and becomes its own: the ability to hold, synthesize, and assimilate.
Film music of India encapsulates the idea of India itself -- the secular and diverse fabric of the Indian consciousness. For Ananth Hiregowdar, the dream was to bring to Kannada the best that was in India. In his “Kannada Jagattu”, he, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna De and Lakshman Beralekar could co-exist, speak different languages, and integrate into one single dream. The Kings of Mysore were the precursors of this trend in the Kannada land. All these glorious dreams were possible in Karnataka, pre Unification. In “Unified” Karnataka, it is a different story.
Inner Voice is a fortnightly column on film music
