This Geeta Dutt tune from the 1956 film Bhai Bhai featured music composed by Madan Mohan. It was his first hit. The film ran for 24 weeks. It would have gone on to a silver jubilee run, but a dispute between the director and the producer scotched that hope.
I’m fairly certain that the Goan trumpet player Chic Chocolate was his assistant, even though he isn’t mentioned in the credits. That would explain why the melodic inspiration for the tune, and a direct quotation that starts from 1.51, are from this classic Portuguese fado, Coimbra, performed here by the diva Amalia Rodrigues as April in Portugal. It’s a tune that Chic Chocolate would most likely have heard in his home state, which was still a Portuguese colony when Bhai Bhai was made (and would remain one for five more years).
Chic Chocolate styled himself as “India’s Louis Armstrong” and, for what it’s worth, here’s a version of April in Portugal by “America’s Chic Chocolate”.
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America’s Chic Chocolate! Love it!
IMDB credits Chic Chocolate among the ‘music assistants’ as they were called at that time
The original title of the song is “Coimbra é uma lição” (Coimbra is a lesson), with melody created by Raúl Ferrão and lyrics by José Galhardo. The lyrics of this song make reference to the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in Europe. This song dates maybe from 1939. Christian goans were actually consuming Portuguese music even after 1961 (when Goa was taken by the Indian army).
Here is a version by Amália Rodrigues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqB8RAPC9QM
And here is a version by a brasilian band trying their way with fado song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73zCSkkte_E
Very clever observation …
However, Goa was a Portuguese territory, not a colony. The Goan population were Portuguese citizens, a portion of who had voting rights since the mid 1800’s.
Oops, yes, I stand corrected, Jason.
A very, very small portion, one must add. And the simple fact that the Portuguese did not call their colonies by that name does not make such “territories” any less colonized.
CHIC CHOCOLATE’S name appears in the movie credits of Bhai Bhai below the name of Madan Mohan, have a
screen shot of that.
Is it possible to get contact details of Kittu, Chic Chocolate’s daughter, sang for a while at Starboard bar , The Taj
Mahal Palace Mumbai.