The Madan Mohan soundtracks I've featured so far have all been from the 1970s, yet his career did in fact extend back several decades. 'Bhai Bhai' is from 1956 and I was primarily attracted to it because of the lovely, lively 'Ye Dil Muje' which appeared (in shortened form) as 'Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De' on the Geeta Dutt compilation posted a few months back. She's credited under her maiden name on this issue of the soundtrack (one with a different cover had been released earlier); incorrectly I believe, as she had already been married to Guru Dutt a few years when it was recorded.
All the other songs on the album feature Lata Mangeshkar, Mohan's female singer of choice. It's a very lively score for the most part. 'Mera Nam Abdulrehman', 'Duniya Mein' and 'Sharabi Ja' are infectious and danceable and tear along at nearly frenzied tempos; as such the slower paced 'Ghar Mera' is an almost welcome respite. But as with many Bollywood soundtracks of the era, everything has that compelling, almost mysterious, old-wordly aura about it I find really appealing.
Incidentally, there's also an Ollywood film with the same title and from the same year as this one. I have to admit that led to some confusion while I was researching this post.
Track listing:
1. Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar: Mera Nam Abdulrehman
2. Lata Mangeshkar: Duniya Mein
3. Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus: Raja Jane Jani
4. Lata Mangeshkar: Sharabi Ja
5. Lata Mangeshkar: Ghar Mera
6. Lata Mangeshkar: Mera Chotta
7. Geetha Roy: Ye Dil Muje
8. Lata Mangeshkar: Dil Teri
9. Lata Mangeshkar: Kudar Jane Na