The Charm of Raga Kedar
Persian literature refers to seven stages of love that begins with attraction (dilqashi or hub); infatuation (uns); love (mohabbat) is the third stage; the fourth stage is one of reverence (aquidat); reverence gives way to worship (ibaadat) and evolves to the sixth stage of an obsession (junoon); death (maut) is the seventh and final stage of love.
Worship is also a stage of love. No raga exemplifies it better than Kedar – an evening raga named after Lord Shiva. This raga is best performed between eight and ten in the evening when listening to it is truly magical.
In Bollywood, several of the great music composers have used Raga Kedar to depict a wide range of emotions of worship as well as shades of love. But if I had to pick just one song that explains the essence of Raga Kedar then I would pick this gem from Narsi Bhagat made in 1957. Sung by Hemant Kumar, Manna Dey and Sudha Malhotra, this song was written by Gopal Singh Nepali (and not by Surdas as mentioned in the film Slumdog Millionaire) and set to music by Ravi (Ravi Shankar Sharma).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UYtyMXwEuo
Cut to 1971, a young Jaya Bhaduri in skirts is late for school. The film is Guddi - Jaya's debut film in Hindi. The school assembly is in progress and she tries to sneak in and blend with the other children hoping to avoid the attention of a strict teacher. This song was written by Gulzar and set to music by Vasant Desai. The director Hrishikesh Mukherjee wanted to use a Rabindra Sangeet but at the insistence of Vasant Desai, he reluctantly sat down to listen to Vani Jairam. The result was this gem set in Raga Kedar which has since then been adopted by many schools as their prayer song.
If you think that Kedar is primarily used to express Bhakti Rasa (the emotion of devotion) then you have to listen to this song from Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) composed by OP Nayyar and sung by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhosle. This song is fabulous example of the use of Kedar in a romantic setting with Joy Mukherjee and Sadhna on screen.
OP Nayyar has another gem in Kedar in the film CID 909 (1967). Check out the song CID 909 -Jaane tamanna kya kar dala. But I will pick Aap Yunhi Agar as the better composition any day.
Raga Kedar lends itself to many genres such as Khayal, Thumri, Dhrupad and even Qawwali as the composer RD Burman demonstrated in the film The Burning Train (1980). RD had used shades of Kedar in a song two years back for the film Ghar (1978). <click here for more> But I could not think of another example of a qawwali in Bollywood that is set to Raga Kedar. So here is pal do pal ka saath hamara. https://youtu.be/lAfo_dlJX6w
RD’s father SD Burman had used the voice of Lata Mangeshkar to sing Saajan Bina Neend Na Aave from the film Munimji (1955) for which Sahir Ludhianvi wrote the lyrics. The film had another hit by Kishore Kumar – Jeevan ke safar mein Rahi. But this song by Lata is a lovely example of Raga Kedar if you wanted to get the notes embedded in your senses. This brings out the pathos of the lover – another example of the many moods that Raga Kedar bring out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk5FcbueWfU
Madan Mohan had used Talat Mehmood’s voice to bring out the sixth stage of love ie junoon or obsession in the song Main Pagal Mera Manwa Pagalin 1952. Twelve years later when he set the lyrics of Rajinder Kishan to Raga Kedar for the film Jahanara, the result was this gem from Rafi who sang Kisi ki yaad mein duniya ko hai bhulaye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZfVAFBoyKQ
And now when you listen to Ustad Rashid Khan sing you don’t need to be told that it is Raga Kedar
https://youtu.be/2UH4X11mVk0
And the so very talented Kaushiki Chakraborty sings Raga Kedar in this beautiful clip.
https://youtu.be/O7vaAI4_dag