The final curtain for the immortal Naushad-Lataji combination, which gave us such melodic memorabilia as Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Baiju Bawra and Amar, was a monstrosity called Guddu in 1995; hands-down it was the worst film of Shah Rukh Khan’s career and he knows it.
Except for one fabulous Bhajan sung by Lataji: Mere toh Radhe Shyam re.
Speaking of the film, which clocks 30 years on 11 August, and the song SRK once told me, “Yeah, Guddu turned out not too well. But it had a really good devotional song by Lataji. It was filmed on my screen mother Deepti Naval when I am dying. Of course, I am saved by the Bhajan.”
Interestingly, Mere toh Radhe Shyam re was the last song that Lataji sang for the incomparable Naushad.
Lataji recalled recording this 8-minute show-stopper as a tension-filled episode. Naushad wanted a certain divine aura in the song which took some time to create.
“Naushad Saab was always a perfectionist. Kisiki auqat nahin jo unhe tokey ya rokey. His song recordings would go on much longer than the other composers,” recalled Lataji, who was 66 when she dived into this dulcet ditty for a dialogue with divinity.
Interestingly, Mere toh Radhe Shyam re was a Bhajan composed by a Muslim (Naushad) and written by a Muslim (Majrooh Sultanpuri).
Decades prior to Guddu, in the musical masterpiece Baiju Bawra, Naushad had composed, Shakeel Badayuni had written and Mohammad Rafi had sung the immortal Bhajan Mann tarpat hari darshan ko aaj. All three were Muslims.
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