Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika, known for his baritone voice and poetic lyrics, was celebrated for his folk music compositions. He created outstanding music for Rudaali, a film that initially struggled but later thrived. The song "Dil Hoom Hoom Kare" was particularly impactful. In the latest Lehren podcast, Hazarika discusses the song's controversy and record-breaking success.
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00:00gumsum gumsum nishayi maan ke dhagon se bun bun kar chadar nili layi
00:17bimur tamur nikha tijen mauna tar khutare boan
00:26akhani nila sadar
00:46Yeah, as I was telling, why people buy these pops, pops or whatever, I don't know, pop,
01:02so-called popular, some people call it not very refined, some people call it vulgar,
01:10some people, you see, I was in a trap in during Rudali, Rudali nobody took, you see, big big
01:22companies didn't take, because one song on some part of costume of a girl and another
01:34song related to bed, you see, sleeping bed of a couple were going so fast that very with
01:48lot of fear and apprehension, Dil Hum Hum Kare was put in the competition and it brought
02:00six crores of rupees, you see, six crores of rupees.
02:07And it was sung by Lata, Ashaji Lata, myself also one, which I never thought will be in
02:17the picture. So, some very important paper, Marathi paper wrote that why this is running,
02:29along with blouse and bed, why this is sold so much? An important writer on music, after
02:40his research, he has written that Bhupen Hazarika's, this album, Rudali's album came like
02:51light breeze. The blouses and the beds, you see, I have not been able to eat it up. Who
03:02have bought it? Six crore rupee, ka record kisne liya? Then this writer wrote that they
03:12are children from 18 to 22, whom I always say ke khali Engreji gaana gaate ho tum log,
03:18khali pop song gaate ho. They have bought it, because their parents have not bought
03:23it. Dil Hum Hum Kare, or Samay Odhire Chalo, or Dola, you see, Maula. So, he said that
03:33we, good composers, if we are good, then we must give to this younger generation something
03:41of our country also. We can be modern, in an Indian way, with respect to the soil of
03:48India. We can be Indian, you know. A Marathi tune, if I take and make it universal, I mean,
03:56it is a creditable thing. Don't forget your mother, when you make nude creations. Just,
04:05you see, all these great modern singers like Bing Crosby's and Nat King Cole's, Harry
04:11Belafonte's, have always been inspired by their folk songs, you see. And we, if we
04:18do not take classical ragas and raginis, which I have given in Rudali, all are in different
04:25ragas. Jyoti Murti Mitva, the rain song, you see, I have given rain raga. So, we have,
04:39instead of, instead of criticizing the young generation from 18 to 22, of forgetting us,
04:47we have also forgotten how to make it. The music directors are responsible. The people
04:52who buy them are responsible. They also will have to give their explanation, why do they
05:02buy certain type of songs, and not take certain type of songs, you see. That is my, and I,
05:14I don't have any fanatic idea, eternal melody will be eternally there. Only little forms
05:27will come here, jumping around, and then, when, in America, I have seen, in front of
05:32Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and others, when those early fifties. But new rock and roll
05:43came. And it died in New York itself. But it has been accepted in Kolhapur and Bengal
05:54and Assam's hills. Yeh ho jata hai. But while making new music, I should not, we shouldn't
06:04forget the roots. Keep a little. It will be all right.
06:11Daman kahi gaana jo.
06:13Yeah, Daman's one song. Please sing.
06:20It is an abstract poetry.
06:22Bimur tamur nikha tigen, mona tar khutare bowan, akhane nila sadar.
06:36Abstract is my night, woven by the threads of silence.
06:47This black night has become a blue chaddar.
06:52Where I am getting? Sagar of Alingan. I am getting embraced. Embracing, I am embraced
07:08by many embraces, you know. Bimur to. In Hindi, Amitabh has done.
07:19Gumsum gumsum nisha aayi, maun ke dhaagon se bun bun kar, chadar nili laayi.
07:36Kaamay na ki. Etcetera. Another special
07:47thing that we have done, at least I have done, is to confront newer boys and girls
07:58with new musical thoughts, as well as electronic media, which is becoming almost human.
08:08In this album, I have been helped by a little organization named Imagic, with three great
08:15brains. One is Anirban, another is Namita, another is Vivek. He is from Kerala.
08:30Our Anirban is from Bhutan or Bengal. Then
08:39Namita is from Bombay. They have done wonders. And I have also felt that they have
08:55respected the tradition, because they have accepted all the traditional musical
09:01instruments that we need in Indian classical. That also is there. But only difference is,
09:08I have been singing since my childhood. I have been coming to Bombay for Ashmis,
09:13Bengali recordings. Since Meenu Katra's days, I have been coming. But musicians today
09:24are so busy that they get only few hours to make a thing. And those days were
09:34beautiful when Narvekar used to play the song violin for one hour, and then he was
09:41recorded first. And then Lataji comes. But here, in one day, these electronic musicians
09:54have, with great maturity, have made the new things also classical. That's what I have found.
10:04With whom I have worked, I don't know about others. But right now,
10:13I have worked with the new generation, with new thoughts and new expressions.