O Saanware Aajaa Pyaar Liye
Film: Private Secretary
Year: 1962
Composer: Dilip Dholakia
Raaga: Shuddha Sarang

We heard the non-Sarang raag Gaud Sarang last time. Midday to early afternoon is also the realm of true Sarangs. This is a major raaga group, the core melodic idea of which is contained in the kernel R m P m (m)R, both the shuddha madhyam and the rishabh being very important notes. The specific variety of Sarang is differentiated by which other melodic gestures are spliced onto this foundation.

The flagship raag of this group is considered to be Brindavani Sarang. It is sometimes referred to just as Sarang. Sarangs have their roots in older musical traditions and it may be conjectured that Brindavani Sarang emerged from the heartland of the country. This raaga employs both nishads - shuddha N in the aaroha and komal n in the avaroha. This gives it great emotive potential. It is a major raag and supports elaboration both in vilambit and drut layas.

One of my personal favorites is the energetic rendition by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. He has sung this raag extensively, but the commercial LP that features the jhaptaal bandish ‘tum rab tum saheb’ and the beautiful drut teentaal ‘jau.n mai.n to pe balihaari’ with its exquisite taan work is really special. (Watch it on Youtube)

The jhaptaal cheez sung by Bhim-anna must have been derived from the sultaal composition attributed to Tansen, and sung by Uday Bhawalkar. It is interesting to note the extensive tarparan he does before singing the dhrupad itself. It is a fine performance. (Watch on Youtube).

The pliant sound of the shehnai seems to be well-suited to this raaga, or maybe it is just the mastery of Bismillah Khan (Watch  on Youtube). Finally, there is an intriguing version of ‘vande mataram’ by Vishnupant Pagnis in Brindavani Sarang. (Watch on Youtube). 

There are a number of film songs based on the main Sarang. ‘aajaa bhanvar’ from Rani Roopmati is a fine example, where Lata excels in intricate taans and the fast-paced composition. (Watch on Youtube). A somewhat contrasting composition is ‘pyara hamara munna’ from Sansar. It has an unusual taal structure, nominally set to jhaptaal but with nonstandard anchor points. Lata aces it like a pro though. (Watch on Youtube).

If we take out the arohi shuddha N from Brindavani, a distinct identity is obtained. Madhmad Sarang is a pleasing pentatonic raag based on this notion. It has been performed extensively. Interestingly, the Gundecha brothers sing the same Tansen cheez seen earlier in Madhmad Sarang. (Watch on Youtube). 

The dulcet Lata - Mahendra Kapoor duet from Stree ‘aaj madhuvatas dole’ is based on this raaga  (watch on Youtube). The obverse side of this melody, obtained by eschewing komal n from Brindavani, is called Salang Sarang, a relatively rare raaga.

An attractive new raag emerges by introducing a piquant teevra madhyam to the main Sarang framework. A few other changes have to be made for structural elegance, but the interplay between the two madhyams is at the heart of raag Shuddha Sarang. This has gained great popularity in the last few decades and has become the most performed variety of Sarang. One of my personal favorites is a powerful performance by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sahab. There is a full recording available, but his early 78rpm record is delectable. (Watch on Youtube.) There are many other popular and excellent recordings of this from across gharanas.

The main song of this episode is the song ‘o saa.Nware aa jaa pyaar liye’ from the 1962 film Private Secretary. The composer is Dilip Dholakia, who had a long association with Chitragupt. The current song bears the stamp of the Chitragupt camp, and one may be forgiven to mistake this to be his composition. The song starts with a vocal prelude and a brisk taan that captures the imagination immediately. The composition is a tour de force that deftly mixes drut-laya taan fragments with compact meend work. Lata navigates this complexity with ease and the song is a fantastic example of a Shuddha Sarang based composition.