A father’s legacy lives on...

Music composer Madan Mohan���s legacy revived with new album of unreleased tunes
When did you last see someone hear an old filmi gaana, get all misty-eyed and sigh, ���They just don���t make music like this anymore...��� Now think back to the Golden Era of our film industry and think Madan Mohan, the legendary composer who passed away at 51 on July 14, 1975, but left behind a rich musical legacy.Little did music fans know that over three decades later, they would be discovering new unheard compositions that he had left behind.
But first, a recap. Over a 25-year period, Mohan added his deft musical touch to over a hundred films, some of the more memorable ones being Adalat, Anpadh, Mera Saaya, Woh Kaun Thi, Sanjog, Haqeeqat, Laila Majnu and Dastak. And some songs haven���t made it past the vault... so far. Aural sketches, doodlings and musings. Tunes he taped and stored for later. Unfinished business. Thirty years later, Yash Chopra used some of them on the soundtrack of Veer Zaara. And lest you think these songs were ���fillers���, think again. There were some songs recorded by Mohan for films that remained incomplete ��� and thus remained unheard and unused.
Find 15 such songs on an unique album called Tere Bagair released by Yash Raj Music, three songs each by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle, one each by Talat Mahmood and Kishore Kumar and also seven nuggets by Mohammad Rafi, that have been revived and digitally mastered in 2009 and sound as if they have been recorded recently. It is being released to commemorate Mohan���s 85th birth anniversary on June 25.
Lata and Mohan yielded a lot of hits. ���For me, he was always ���Madan bhaiyya��� and as a composer, he is one of our all-time greats. I am happy that his fans still revere him and listen to his music with such fondness. I am sure they will love the songs on Tere Bagair, which were recorded over 40 years ago but still sound fresh,��� says Lata. While Yash Chopra adds, ���Though I never worked with Madanji, 30 years after his demise his tunes embellished my film, and today I am happy that we are following this up with Tere Bagair.���
Mohan���s elder son and ex-CEO of YRF, Sanjeev Kohli says, ���It will always be my endeavour to keep my father���s music alive. We are launching a website called www.madanmohan.in, devoted to his life and music with a lot of rare material on it. Tere Bagair is a rare treasure for a Madanji���s fan as well for all fans of the great singers heard on it.���