6th Mohammed Rafi Award 2010
By Hashim Khan
Remembering Madan Mohan with Sanjeev Kohli
To mark music icon Rafi Saab’s, 30th death anniversary, the Rafi Lovers Circle conferred their 6th Mohammed Rafi Award 2010, posthumously, to honour music composer Madan Mohanji, an an event in Kolkata on Sunday, 1st Aug 2010. Madanji’s eldest son, Sanjeev, and only grandson, Akshay, attended the event which was held at the prestigious Satyajit Ray Auditorium, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, in Kolkata.
Rafi Saab, the undisputed music icon and Madanji the legendary composer, created many memorable melodies together ( over 150 solos and duets ) ….many of them will be remembered forever. The event was titled Remembering Madan Mohan with Sanjeev Kohli, and was organized with immense emotion and care to do justice to the statures of Madanji and Rafi Saab. The evening, compered impeccably by Shakeel Ansari, began with a visual tribute to Rafi Saab , including poignant shots of the saddest day in our lives, 31 July 1980, , and then panned to some stunnings footage showing Rafi Sahab live, including him singing a few uncommon songs in his inimitable style.
Preceding the Award presentation, was the screening of a 20 minute exclusive Film Meri Awaaz Suno – Memories of Madanji through his timeless melodies sung by Rafi Saab which was conceived and produced by by Madanji’s illustrious eldest son Sanjeev Kohli, the erstwhile GM of HMV ( EMI India ) and the creator of the popular HMV / Sa Re Ga Ma music Cd’s and Cassette collections, marketed under the label – Legends, Golden Collections, Revivals and Anmol Ratan . Connoisseurs of Hindi film sangeet consider this as a veritable treasury of timeless music. This 22 minute film, featured rare sound bytes by Madanji speaking on some of his creations for Rafi Saab, punctuated with rare pictures of them both, as well as tributes to Madanji by his colleagues….each embellished by a hit Rafi – Madan Mohan song, which included Kabhi Na Kabhi, Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil, Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho, Humsafar Saath Apna Chhod Chale, Kar Chale Hum Fida, Main Nigahen Tere Chehre Se, Tumhari Zulf Ke Saaye Mein Shaam Kar Loonga, and various others .
The Concert
The visiting members of Madanji’s family were welcomed by Hashim Khan, Convenor of the RLC. The award was then presented to Mr Sanjeev Kohli by the President of the RLC, Mrs Ruhi Khan, after a citation was read out by Sarosh Khan. Sanjeev, therafter, gave an emotional insight into his memories of his father as well as of Rafi Saab, including his personal interactions with them both. Speaking from the heart, he shared with the audience, about the recognition denied to Madanji both by the industry ( Not a single Filmfare Award, inspite of a string of chartbusters ) as well as by the Govt of India, who did not honour Madanji with a Padma Shri. Sanjeev said his father was an upright honest man who refused to pamper the egos of the decision makers. This denial always played on the master composer’s mind, often leading him to spells of depression, and ultimately at a young age of 51, cirossis of the liver, ruined him. An emotional Sanjeev then pleaded to music lovers and all concerned to give due respect and recognition to music composers, lyricists and playback singers during their lifetime. He said he was very happy to be in Kolkata, where an award was being given to Madanji, 35 years after his death. He thanked the Circle President for inviting him and his son and requested all music lovers in the audience to support organisations like Rafi Lovers Circle, who were constantly making an endeavour to revive / recreate that golden songs of yesteryears. Akshay Kohli, also spoke with warmth and finesse about his grandfather whom he had never seen
Sanjeev Kohli and Ruhi Khan
The presentations were then followed by a concert of Madanji’s songs by the talented sung by talented RLC singers including, Ruhi Khan, Mita Paul, Rohit Singh, Chandrakant Jain, Irshad Hussain, Mohd Akhta, as well as Shakeel Ansari, these songs included some vintage melodies like Aap ke pehlu mein aa kar ro diye, Ek haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya, Yun rootho na haseena meri jaan pe ban aaege, Zameen se hamein aasman tak, Ye maana meri jaan mohabbat saza hai, Rang aur noor ki baraat kise pesh karoon, Main Nigahen tere chehre se hatau kaise, and Tere paas aake mera waqt guzar jata hai.
Group Photo
The Rafi Lovers Circle headed by Founder President, Ruhi Khan, instated this award from 2005, and awards it to a music personality who has worked closely with Rafi Saab. Earlier receipients have included composers Ravi and Omi ( of Sonik- Omi ), Singers Sharda, Mubarak Begum and a postumous honour for Mahendra Kapoor, recived by his son Ruhan Kapoor. Considering the fact that Rafi Saab worked closely with Madanji from his 1st film Ankhen to his last unfinished work, Laila Majnu, it was indeed an ardous task of honouring these stalwarts with dignity and honour. The committee members and the audience rose as one when the 6th Mohammed Rafi Memorial Award was being recived by Mr Sanjeev Kohli. The Madanji filmography brochure was also released on the occasion.The audience enjoyed every moment of this nostalgic and melodious evening dedicated to the musical legacy of two icons of Indian music.
The evening ended with a soft ballad wafting in the background, an ode to the titans.
The title number, from the unreleased collection of Madanji songs, beautifully packaged by Sanjeev Kohli and Yash Raj Music in a CD tiltled Tere Baghair.
Kaise Kategi Zindagi, Tere Baghair, Tere Baghair
The awaaz, unmistakeably Mohammed Rafi Saab.
The music, Madan Mohan Saab all the way.
love yo mohdrafi
asalamu alaikum hashim khan saab thanx for nice about 2 legends of bollywood music,i would like to share a documentry produced by films division,i have uploaded this video in you tube in 8 aprts also i have uploded rare songs,and tibute pragrams on rafi saab also you will find rare fi saab”s interviews, also i would like to share link of rafi saab”s blog,you will find rare pictures,videos and many more,total over 300 pages are,there,to go to next page,kindly click older posts,you will find bottom of every page,kindly visit this links,take care
http://www.youtube.com/user/mohamedparvez?feature=mhum
http://www.rafifanblog.blogspot.com
regards
mohamed parvez
If I am not mistaken Madan Mohan Ji did get a National Award for the composition of film “Dastak” in 1970.
All the so called ghazal singers like Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Talat Aziz, Anup Jalota, Ghulam Ali, etc are incomplete, since they never had the prevlige to work with Madan Mohan.
The ghazals sung by Lata, Rafi and Talat for Madan Ji are ever green and far superior to what we hear today.
aaj socha to aansu bhar aaye………..
muddatien ho gayeen muskuraye……
tum jo mil gaye ho….
to yeh lagta hai…..
ke jahaan….. mil gaya……
betaab dil ki tamanna yehi hai…….
tumhe chahenge tumhe poojenge,
tumhe apna khuda banaayenge
unmatched melodies by the king of melody madan mohan ji…..
“woh kaun thi” ” mera sayaa’ Heer ranjha, hanste zakhm, haqeegat, hindustan ki kasam,
I think ‘do badan’ , dastak, mausam, too were madan mohan’s
,
quality of music given by mr. madan mohan, far surpassed his more prolific contemporaries.
how come BR films hardly used his music before ‘veer zaara’. i am not able to think of any old films which had madan mohan as composer.
I congratulate to all who were associated with the organising of the evening ” remembring Madan Mohan With Sanjeev Kohli”.Who can deny the fact that the compositions of Madan Mohan are class apart and they are matcless.Otherwise how music lovers all over the world enjoy his songs till today.These songs are immortal to say the least.There is no award which shall not feel honoured if given to Madan Mohan. According to me no award is above the love and affection showered by the music lovers on Madan Mohan. I just quote when Lata Mangeshkar felt sorry to Madan Mohan when he was not awarded National Award for his song .She said Madan Bhaiya mujhe afsos hua ki apko ye award nahin mila”Madan Ji replied to her ” Ke isse bada award kya ho sakta hai ki aapko afsos hua.”
Saute to the spirit of the great Madan Mohan.His compositions shall contiue to provide listening pleasures to all and one till eternity.
Dear Hashimbhai,
Hearty congratulations on successfully completing 6th Mohd Rafi awards nite.
The collective brilliance of Rafi-Madan Mohan, will remain unsurpassed and going by the songs listed, I am certain that the audience would have had a time of their life. The icing on the melodious cake, appears to be the presence of Sanjeev Kohli sab, whose contribution to Hindi Film Music
is commendable both as a music industry professional and as the son of
the maestro. Thanks to him, we are able to celebrate the unreleased tunes.
Veer Zara is an amazing experiment of reviving the tunes of Madanji,
whose success actually vindicates the general feeling that Madanji never
got his dues in terms of awards and recognitions when he was alive.
Loss is surely not his.
Hashimbhai, my best wishes to Rafi Lovers circle and hoping to see many
more from you.
Warmly
Nagesh Sidhanti
In my previous comments on sept 5th i could not mention respectable sanjeev kohli ji who was the special guest of honour at the mohd. rafi award 2010 function at kolcata.I wish sanjeev kohli ji a very bright future and prosparityand sucess in life.he must follow the footsteps of his great father.he was the father of music.his compositions are unforgetable and ever green.we are proud of snjeev ji being a punjabi.i think he will always remember enlighting punjabi as Rafi sahab always did up to the last moment.he always talked in punjabi.
MADAN MOHAN IS GREAT. HIS SONS ARE ALSO GREAT CAUSE THEY ARE TAKING FURTHER THE great MM LEGACY.
after what rafi saab gave in haqueeqat (kar chale) – it was impossible for any composer to dis-regard mohd rafi.
no mohd rafi , no music composing – was the diktat which madan mohan saab followed.
sanjeev ji :we love madan mohan saaab and very shortly rafi foundation would be doing a madan mohan musical in mumbai. many thanks for attending our previous musicals too.
the rafi foundation, mumbai
binus2000@hotmail.com
cell : 9833 250 701
Ref Dr.J.Ketwaru’s Post No 3.
“Toote Hue Khwaabon Ne “from film “Madhumati, was undoubtedly sung by Rafi Saab, but the music composer for this pain staking melody was Salil Chowdhury.
Once more: I think it was very simple for any musician when Rafi Saab was alive to compose a song and let The Angel sing this.I am talking on base of my experiance with him when he was in the Netherlands and Rafi saab asked me to write a Dutch text on the melody of Baharo Phool Barsawo.The moment he song this song on stage I was really perplexed of the sweetness,emotion ,variation and improvisation. Oh,that was very great!Last I enyoyed of his songs in Goans (language of Goa):very perfect.It is same like somebody from Goa is singing .
congrats to hashim bhai for holding this most memorable function(which i could not attend due to serious illness of my parents) to honour immortal music stalwart who created rare n classic melodies with rafisaab as well as latajee…both always appreciated his exceptional talent to bring out best out of singers….we fans are most lucky to enjoy their wonderful compositions ….i remember one incident during making of “lailamajnu” the director insisted madanmohanjee for taking singer kishoreda for rishi kapoor perhaps the latter impressed upon the director but madanmohanjee refused to give music without rafisaab….after astounding success of that film in music the same actor gave credit to rafisaab for making him classical actor….madanmohanjee compositions can not be forgotten….hashimbhai your rlc should honour rishi kapoor with rafisaab award next year…….i also do agree with jagmohan singhjee…some music celebraties are only showering innecessary kudos to rdb…whereas stalwarts like sj,naushad,mm,sdb,opn,khyaam are being relegated in the background …great pity…but we fans will keep on hitting them below their belt for tarnishing their image…y best filmfare music director award after rdb…not after any of the above mentioned classic veterans….
It was indeed a great pleasure to note that one of the greatest music composers, Madan Mohan ji was honoured by the Kolkata RLC. I was really shocked to learn that he never got any filmfare award. This shows how lopsided and politically motivated these awards are!!
Each composition of Madan Mohan is a masterpiece.
The recently released song Tere bagair can be sung by all Rafi & Madan Mohan fans, addressed to both of them:
Kaise kategi zindagi, tere bagair, tere bagair
paaonga har shai mein kami, tere bagai, tere bagair…..
I can share the bitternes of Madan ji and his son because he really deserved the Padma Shree award and also a great trophee as a Great Great Gazal Composer. I Have always said that this man is “THE Gazal King of INDIA”. I will never forget this great Master Madan Mohan what he did for Rafi saheb and The sweetness of his melodies which he gave to Rafi Saheb, Lata and his listeners. I was just listening to “Ishq ki garmiye jasbaat kis pesh karoon” Jawab Nahin……..
I realy regocnise the greatness of these two MASTERS…
May God Bless our Madan ji and Rafi Saheb.. to eternity.
M.A. Piroe
Great to know. thanks for posting htis.
Girish
gtmluv@hotmail.com
I would like to thank Nasreen and Jagmohan Saheb, for their heartwarming sentiments and feelings which they have shared on this site. The event on 1st Aug, was truely mesmerising. The presence of two generations of Madanji family was a rare treat for RAFI lovers. The evening was seeped in memories and music of one of the finest composers who crafted his melodies with soft soul stirring finesse.
“Toetee Hoewee Khwabo Nee “from film “Madhumathi”is also a great production of both:Madan Mohan and of course The Badsha of songs : Mohammed Rafi.
It is quite true that Madan Mohan ji was never given due regard by the film industry and govt. of India as well in his life time.He was one of the best master composers of film industry.He composed songs like Naino mein badra chhaye(Mera Saya) Do dil toote do dil haare,Doli charte heer ne vain kiye(heer Ranjha) and Rang aur noor ki baraat kise(GHAZAL) These compositions are unforgetable and ever lasting.Madan Mohan ji and Mohd.Rafi Sahab were very close friends.They knew the quilities of each other.One thing wich was common in both of them was that they both were Punjabis.It is a matter of pride for all the Punjabis.The style of Punjabi people is always different,they love to all.I congratulate to the organisers of Mohammed Rafi Award organisation and specially to Ruhi Khan to organise such a graceful function in the memory of Madan Mohan ji And Mohd.Rafi sahab the God Father of music.
Hashim Bhai
Salaam. So great to see this article from you reporting about the fantastic function in Kolkata. Sounds like it was a wonderful evening. I am so glad that the RLC has started this prestigious award. Prestigious because it is in the name of the greatest singer of all time. It is a very apt tribute to him.
And choosing Madan Mohan as the posthumous recipient also proves that the RLC is particular (and wise) about whom it awards. As you have shown in your article, Madan Mohan and Rafi Sahab together made such heavenly music.
It is no wonder that his family laments that he was not awarded appropriately for his contribution to indian music which is colossal. However, I would like to say to Sanjeev Kohli that in spite of not being formally awarded, the award lies in the fact that millions aorund the world are still listening to his music, humming his tunes, which are unforgettable. All the songs sung on stage in your show are fantastic numbers. Neither Rafi Sahab nor Madanji are here anymore and yet we celebrate their memories with such feverish excitement. Can we even imagine what would happen if they were alive amd appeared on stage before our eyes.
Well, it is good to see how ardent fans are keeping golden memories alive. May these memories never fade. Congratulations to you, sister Ruhi and all those involved with organising such a wonderful show.