KOCHI: Talat Mehmood was the melody king in Hindi films in the fifties. Though he became less active in the next two decades, the few songs that he sang in the sixties and seventies stood out for melody. Talat died on May 9,1998.He remains one of the all-time greats in Hindi film music though he sang only around one thousand film songs. Lovers of true melody continue to cherish that shy, seductive voice. The sheer sweetness of the voice, coupled with the subtle emoting made Talat unique. Veteran composers like Madan Mohan,Naushad, C.Ramachandra, Anil Biswas,Roshan,S.D.Burman, Shankar Jaikishen, Ravi, Khayyam, Jaidev and others produced evergreen melodies in Talat’s golden voice.Talat was the first choice for composers till Mohammed Rafi, with his versatility, established himself as the super singer.Talat’s decision to act in a few films in the fifties also proved detrimental, with many producers and directors assuming that Talat was going into full-time acting. Melodies like ‘Suhana Safar’ and ‘Dil Tadap’ for ‘Madhumati’ which Salil Chowdhury had composed with Talat in mind, ultimately went to others. The archetypal Lucknowi aristocrat that Talat was, he was too suave a person to canvass for songs. “I never approached composers for songs”, Talat was quoted in several interviews.But Talat had a stroke of fortune too. ‘Jalte Hai Jiske Liye’( ‘Sujata’) which was planned for Rafi by S.D. Burman was later handed over to Talat. It emerged as a classic and Talat missed the 1959 ‘Filmfare’ award for this song narrowly.It was Talat who really pioneered ghazal singing in India. Even ghazal legends like Jagjit Singh have described him as their idol. Talat recorded many non-film ghazals which became very popular in those days and set a trend.He always stressed the importance of poetry in ghazals. His soulful, soft rendition of poetic ghazals struck a chord in listeners’ hearts. That unique,silken voice was capable of reaching out even to listeners who did not know much Urdu.In far-away Kochi a youngster called Yesudas grew up singing Rafi and Talat melodies. No wonder that some Bollywood writers described Yesudas as a throwback to Talat when Yesudas burst into Hindi films in 1976.Malayali listeners were bowled over by the one song that Talat sang in Malayalam, ‘Kadale’(‘Dweep’) in the mid-seventies. Even without knowing Malayalam, Talat brought in amazing expression, and the soothing rendition in that soft voice made it a big hit that is savoured even today. Promoters of music reality shows would do well to introduce a Talat round to test the real mettle of a singer and also to bring in much-needed variety.“Talat’s songs may appear easy to the layman, but when one tries to reproduce those subtle nuances and velvety vibrations, one finds that this is difficult,” says singer G Venugopal who idolises Talat.
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