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Thursday, July 20, 2006

Raag BAGHESHRI ..


The Son on the Cross cried out at the last to his Father, "My Lord, myLord why has Thou forsaken me?."
Not out of anger or frustration but more as a pleading, arising not so much out of helplessness but an awareness that only He can help you.
The highly emotive raga, Bageshri, kindles the same feeling in you.
Bageshri bears the same name both in CCM and HCM.

While it is 10thThaat in HCM it is presented as 22nd mela in CCM
Arokan : S R g m D n S
Avr : S n D m G R SA
a very melodious raga, it suits more classical and semi classical format.
Unlike Hamsanadham or Sindhu Bhairavi, it is possibly quitedifficult to fit it into folk/ western formats. May be that is why thisis not so much utilized by the various MDs for filmy geet.The beauty of the song is best brought out in the prayog of ' D n S'(either in the lower or upper octave).
Bagheshri is best portrayed in a few Hindi songs like "Jaag Dard IshqJaag" (Anarkali), sung by Hemant Kumar and Lata. The shrill, and to anextent the feminine voice of Hemant Kumar perhaps was the best choicefor C.Ramachandra to suit this raga. Interestingly, Hemant Kumar hassung a few more songs in Bageshri, "Nain so nain" (Janak Janak PayalBaje) and "Khogaya Jane kahan".(To a person not quite initiated in relating various songs to aparticular raga, let me give an example. Try to sing the second linefrom the Anarkali song - dil to bekaraar kar". You would immediatelyrealize it is almost the same as the opening line of "Khogaya JaaneKahan", both of them using the same pattern of D n S in the same way)
Can you forget a drunken Dev Anand confessing to a slightly sobre DevAnand he has to cry on anything? "Kabhi khud pe" brings out at once thevery essence of the raga. When Rafi sings, "Kisliye jeete hain, humkiskeliye jeete hain", it right away appeals to the Dev Anand in you torespond the same way, "kisiliye jeete hain hum."Another memorable semi classical number on the raga is from TalatMehmood "Hamse aaya na gaya" in Dekh Kabira roya.On the Tamil front, the best presentation to this date on this ragaremains, "Nilave ennidam nerungathe" (Ramu). AM Raja, another sweetvoiced singer gave us "
Kalaiye en vaazhkayin" (Meenda Sorgam) and"Mayakkum maalai pozhudhe" (Gulebagavali).
Incidentally, do you knowthat the title of this MGR starrer is actually an Urudu expression(gul-e-bagavali meaning Flower of Bagavali!). Like Hemant Kumar, bothAM Raja and PBS could scale a high pitch without disturbing theunderlying melody, a quality which is very essential for Bageshri).

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi:

This is in response to your blog on the raaga Bageswari. The three Tamil film songs you menton (from the movies Ramu, Meenda Sorgam and Gulebaghavali) are no doubt among the best to bring out the essence of this raaga. GSMani alludes to another beauty from Maaya Bazaar (Unakkahave naan uyir vazhvene ...) One delightful song set in Bageswari seems to have been forgotten. It is a song by Arunagirinathar - Sivanai valam varum aruvi ... - sung soulfully by TMS. Please follow the link if you want to enjoy this song:

http://www.indianheartbeat.20m.com/SivanaiValamVarum.rm

BTW, which movie is this song from?

Bairavi

Unknown said...

There is also another beautiful song sung by Lata Mangeshkar in Azaad 'Radha Na Bole Na Bole.." which is again based on Raga 'Bageshwari'.