Down Melody Lane..::..Composers

A music director, however popular, is often forgotten with the passage of time when the trend of music changes. Bulo C Rani was one such composer whose best is buried under the debris of time. When the slow paced melodious music was replaced by the fast paced rhythmic melodies Bulo suddenly lost his relevance as a composer. He lived in a state of hybernation for so long that his death - a suicide - on 24th May 1993 at 73 was reported as if it was a matter of no big consequence. The eventful career of Bulo C Rani in the 40’s and the early 50’s was forgotten.

Mukesh, after his initial failure as a singer, drew attention only when he sang for Bulo in Moorti (1945) ('Badariya baras gai us paar..'). The film 'Jogan' (1950) was a landmark in Bulo’s career. His composing skill enabled him to enhance the inherent charm of Meerabai’s traditional bhajans such as 'Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol re..', 'Main to Girdhar ke ghar jaaoon..', 'Damag damag dole naiya..' and 'Jogi mat ja, mat ja..'. Even the Holi song ('Rang daaro ri..') and the sentimental one in the voice of Talat ('Sundarta Ke Sabhi Shikari..') were no less appealing. More than Dilip Kumar and Nargis in the film it was Bulo’s music which turned out to be the real star.

Before 'Jogan' came his way Bulo had already earned recognition through the films such as 'Rajputani' ('Ja parwane ja kahin shama jal rahi hai..') and 'Anjuman' ('Kaise bataoon tum se is dil ko pyar kyun hai..') and the immense popularity of the song 'Armaan bhara dil toot gaya..' from the film 'Wafa' (1951). Bulo C Rani had a special fascination for heavy voices which were capable of more expressive power. For the same reason he was able to create a great impact on listeners with the voices of Amirbai ('Sooni padi hai payar ki duniya tere baghair..', Zohrabai ('Ankhon mein intezaar Ki duniya liye huve..') and Geeta Roy (Dutt) in the songs of 'Jogan'. Bulo did not hesitate to create an enchanting melody in the song 'Badi bhool hui tujhe pyar kiya..' in 'Maghroor'.

Bilwamangal (1954) was the last significant film of Bulo C Rani. Suraiya sang one of her most memorable song 'Parwanon se preet seekhli, shama se seekha jal jaana..' and so did C.H. Atma in 'Panghat pe more shyam bajaaye muraliya..'. Despite the popularity of a stray song such as 'Hamen to loot liya milke husn Walon ne..' sung by Ismail Azad and party in the film 'Al Hilal'(1958). Bulo C Rani just continued to drift because his music had not remained a viable commercial proposition. After 'Sunhare Qadam' (1966). Bulo's career came to an end. Having once enjoyed the position of prominence the lack of assignment made him restless.

It was an irony of fate that the song he composed in the voice of Lata in his last film 'Sunhare Qadam' was 'Maangne se jo maut mil jaati, Kaun jeeta zamane men...'. Irony was that in life he asked for death and he got it.