I found him to be simply adorable- a simple but forthright man totally steeped in music. Once the initial barriers were broken, he spoke on various topics in film-music recounting many experiences, sharing his pains and pleasures without any hint of diplomacy or arrogance. At times, he would seem touchy and emotional- but mostly he was quite genial, calm and courteous. What better certificate of appreciation I could have got other than when he actually called me over before a radio interview to assist him in selecting his favourite songs!
I still remember the way we both grappled with memory to find out a Marathi song composed by Shrinivas Khale for Lata that he had heard just two days back but which had slipped out of his mind. He kept on humming some notes and I kept trying to give that nebulous humming a musical identity. Finally when I nailed it down to the Abhang- Sundar Tey Dhyan Ubhe Veete Varii, the smile that flashed on his 64-year old face was simply priceless!
Such is the vastness and variety of L-P’s musical output that even these many hours were inadequate to cover it comprehensively but taking his promise of calling me every week at face value, I would like to say that it is just the beginning.
The article will be in two parts. The first part is the telephonic interview, I had taken prior to Pyarelal’s landing in Dubai.
Pyarelal – a telephonic interview:
The first few minutes of my telephonic interview are spent on perfecting the recording volume level as Pyarelal is not happy with the echo- as ever the perfectionist! Once that glitch is resolved, he speaks in sweet melodious Hindi about past and present of Hindi film music. These are the excerpts of the interview.
Tell us about your musical background.
Kesariya Balam