Pics from personal archives of
Rajtilak Naik, Panaji
Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (MB)
June 14, 2007
Dattaram solo; Dattaram with Manoj Kumar
Dattaram with Raj Kapoor
Dattaram with singer Mukesh; Dattaram in action with Raj Kapoor
Dattaram directing the singing legend Mohd Rafi
Dattaram directing Lata Mangueshkar and Mohd Rafi
Dattaram on his Drum
Dattaram and his team at the time of recording
Dattaram is seen with Noted Music Directro Duo Shanker-Jaikishen and Kalyanji Anandji
Dattaram is seen with Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle
Dattaram heading the Grand Orchestra
Dattaram with Mehmood, R.D Burman and others
Dattaram with Mukesh and Nadira
Dattaram with the Famous and noted Raj Kapoor Team
Dattaram with Shashi Kapoor; Film billboards outside theatres in Mumbai ..'Ab Dilli Door Nahin'
and 'Qaidi No 911' (Music by Dattaram).
'Dattaram' -- The Man behind Immortal Tunes
By Frederick Noronha
(excerpted from goanet)
Do you remember the hit Bollywood film songs like 'Aansoo Bhari Hain Yeh Jeevan Ki Raahein' (from the film 'Parvarish'), 'Chun Chun Karti Aayee Chidiya' (from 'Ab Dilli Door Nahi') or 'Masti Bhara Hain Sama' (also from 'Parvarish'). The man behind these and scores of other hit songs of the yesteryear remained forgotten in a small village outside Goa's dusty mining heartland.
Music director Dattaram Wadkar, more popularly known as 'Dattaram', lived in Maulinguem in Goa's Bicholim taluka. The man who did the music for 19 films as the independent music director may find his work a refrain on lips across India, but there were few to take care of his health.
Dattaram had also done music in the languages of Bhojpuri, Magadhi and one Marathi film ('Preamchi Savali' which starred prominent cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.) Dattaram undertook major contribution was as assistant to Shanker Jaikishan from 1948 to 1974. He was in charge of the rhythm section and one can see his name in the credits of most landmark Hindi films of this period.
This artiste was credited with having improvised and innovated many a rhythm which are taken as a standard even today. "Ask a pro from the Hindi film music fraternity in Mumbai and anyone will tell you about 'Dattu Ka Theka'," said a fan of his who tried to get help to the ailing musician.
Somewhere in the early 'forties the young Dattaram made his way to Mumbai and was working in the docks as a laborer. Obviously, he was poor and not exactly educated. He had learned the tabla for a few years mainly encouraged by his mom who was a local singer.
He used to be a gym enthusiast where he met Shanker became his disciple for the tabla and also joined the Prithvi Theater as a helping hand with music. He worked on many films as a 'theka' player for rehearsals and finally did his first recording for the film 'Nagina'.
After that there was no looking back and he made major contributions under the 'SJ' (Shanker-Jaikishan) baton. Dattaram became an important member of the RK Group as it was then called and worked closely with the likes of Raj Kapoor, Shanker Jaikishan, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. A part of this team was also Sebastian D'Souza, the great arranger who also hailed from Goa.
Until last week, Dattaram was the only surviving member of this team. Through the 'fifties and 'sixties, Dattaram found himself close to Jaikishan, who expired in 1971. After the decline of the Shanker-Jaikishan team, Dattaram found himself at sea.
He did work with other music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, and was Raj Kapoor's trusted man when he worked on the music for 'Bobby' with Laxmikant Pyarelal. Later he chose to retire and return to Goa.
Veterans in the music world believe that Dattaram's contribution had sadly not been recognized as yet. Apart from the music to which he contributed he also gave breaks to numerous artistes in the 'sixties and seventies'. "The film industry, being what it is, little can be expected. Even the governments -- central or Goa -- have not exactly helped this senior artiste, said a fan.
Dattaram's plight was discovered quite by accident. A media professional was researching for a film script, on the life and career of Shanker-Jaikishan. Tracing through newspapers, magazines and books led him to Dattaram. But it was very difficult to trace this artiste, and took him a year to finally reach Dattaram! "I located him and went across to meet him. He was extremely gracious and we spent three days together," says Pune-based media professional Sandeep Apte.
Some others who realized the man's contribution formed a felicitation committee called the Dattaram Sanman Samiti. They did a programme on April 26, 2003, the Shanker anniversary.
Dr Padmanabh Joshi of Ahmedabad who has written a biography of Shanker-Jaikishan made an audio-visual presentation about the team. He also featured excerpts of a video interview of Dattaram. A collection of a Rs 35,000 purse was collected.
Those involved included biographer of Shanker-Jaikishan, Dr Padmanabh Joshi of Ahmedabad, Mumbai-based graphic designer Kamall Mustafa, Pune-based doctor Prakash Kamat, Internet entrepreneur Randhir Dange, Institute of Management Development and Research (Pune) director Dr A P Bhupatkar, Prof Atul Sapre, Film & TV Institute of India former dean Samar Nakhate and media professional Apte.
"We seem to have a terrible apathy about our culture as it gets shaped by these very people. Because senior artistes are treated badly it creates the ultimate misunderstanding about how we value our people. And in turn we end up not fostering the very things we should be valuing in the first place," said one of those closely connected with the event.
It is a known fact that artistes from the tiny state of Goa, 600 kms south of Mumbai have have made immense contributions to Hindi film music. But today, most Goans themselves seem unaware of it.