Dharmender and Rafi combination in the 60s
By Souvik Chatterji
Mohd Rafi with Dharamender
Dharmender had a grand combination with musical maestro Mohammad Rafi which contributed the most in the major part of his acting career which glorified bollywood films for more than 40 years. Dharmender and Rafi’s combination was unique for a number of reasons. Firstly Dharmender was not attached to any big banner in the early part of his career like Dilip Kumar with Bimal Roy or Shammi Kapoor with Shakti Shamanta. Secondly Dharmender played prominent roles opposite senior actors in many films in the early part of his career like Balraj Sahani in Haqeekat, Rajender Kumar in Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Raj Kumar in Kajal, to name a few. For those reasons, different composers composed music in the films of Dharmender and most of them were sung by great Rafi Sahab.
In the film Shola Aur Shabnam, composer Khayyam’s soft passionate compositions for Rafi were given adequate expression by Dharmender, like “dhunti yeh ankhen mujhme”, “jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum”, “pehle to aankh milna”, “phool ko dhoonde pyaasa bhawra”. The lyrics of Kaifi Azmi touched the hearts of numerous film lovers. In the film Neela Akash, all the songs composed by Madan Mohan for Rafi were brilliant including “aakhri geet muhobbat ka sunalun”, “pyar woh shaye hai aye mere yaaron” and “aapko pyaar chupane ki buri aadat hai”.
In the film Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi, Rafi’s ghazal “aap ki haseen rukh” composed by OP Nayyar and picturised on Dharmender was extremely romantic and made the audience spellbound in the early 60s. In the film Yakeen, the title song “yakeen karlo”, “baharon ki baraat aa gayi” and “ghar tum bhula na doge” composed by Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi had all its romantic appeal embedded other than the melodious orchestration.
In the film Mere Humdum Mere Dost, all the songs of Rafi composed by LP for Dharmender including “hui sham unka”, “na jaa kabhi aab na ja” and “chalkaye jam” were masterpieces which became super hit in the mid-60s. All the songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Pyar Hi Pyar for Rafi became super hit including “mai kahin kavi na banjayun”, “abhi salaamat abhi hai zinda”, “dekha hai teri aankhon me”, “tu meri mai teri”, etc. Roshan’s composition for Dharmender in the film Mamta titled “in baharon me akela na phiro” also became super hit.
Mohd Rafi with Dharamender
Also Madan Mohan’s compositions for Rafi in Dharmender’s film Aap Ki Parchayiya require special mention. His ghazal andaz was evident in the songs “yehi hai tamanna tere darke” where the lyrics were written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. The songs of Dharmender’s film Izzat composed by LP were brilliant by every musical standard. The best of them included “lute dilpe diya jalta nahi hum kya Karen”.
LP was involved in music composition in a number of Dharmender’s films. Among them in Aye Din Bahar Ke, all the songs were melodious including “khudaya khair”, “mera dushman tu meri dosti”, to name a few. Also all the songs in the film Aya Sawan Jhumke were smash hits including “o majhi chal”, “aya sawan jhumke”, etc. LP continued to utilize Dharmender Rafi combination in films like Jivan Mrityu, Lalkar, Maa, Aaspas, etc. Prominent songs included “jhilmil sitaron ka”, “o maa tujhe dhundhoo kahan”, etc.
The songs in the film Chandan Ka Palna were equally melodious. RD Burman used Rafi for the songs “bahe pavan mand sugandh”, “tumhe dekha hai maine gulsitan mai”, “zulfon ko aap yun na sawaara karo”. Composer Ravi gave impressive music in the film Ankhen. Rafi’s song “tere paas aake mera waqt guzar jata hai” was very impressive. Shankar Jaikishan’s compositions for Rafi in Dharmender’s film Shikar, including “shikar karne ko aye”, were also successful. SD Burman used Rafi in Dharmender’s film Ishq Par Zor Nahin. The songs “yeh dil diwana hai” and “mehbooba teri tasveer” had his latent folk touch. The other notable songs of Rafi in the 60s for Dharmender included “dil ne phir yaad kiya” sung with Mukesh, in the film Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya.
In the film Dulhan Ek Raat Ki, Madanmohan’s composition for Rafi titled “ek haseen sham ko dil mera kho gaya” still mesmerizes the audience. Rafi’s other songs in the film included “kisika kuch kho gaya” and “zindagi dulhan hai aadhi raat ki”. Ravi used Rafi in Dharmender’s film Phool Aur Patthar, in the songs “mere dil ke andar” and “tum kaun”.
In the 70s, as RD Burman and SD Burman used other singers for Dharmender, the evergreen combination of Rafi with Dharmender was seen in lesser number of films. Articles after articles can be devoted to the combination of Rafi and Dharmender, as the music produced for the combination was of diversified quality with compositions of giants like Madan Mohan, Ravi, Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarellal, Roshan, OP Nayyar , and others and lyricists like Kaifi Azmi, Hasrat Jaipuri, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, to name a few. That is the reason why the films and the songs of the hit combination should be preserved.
Mr. Souvik Chatterji, the author of this article
I’m Huge Fan Of Sh. Md Rafi Sahab Ji. I Always Listen His All Melody Song And I Love His Soulful Voice. Thank You For Shareing Md. Rafi Ji All These Biography. Thank You
Film “Lalkar” Music was composed by great Kalyanji Anandji not Laxmikant pyarelal
Thanks Souvikji for a very good informative article. But one point I would like to bring home before you and all other music lovers who would go through your nice tiny article. My point is, notwithstanding the fact that Md Rafi sang some tremendous melodious gem for Dharmenderji right from his first film ‘Shola aur Shabnam’ in 1961, and no other singer can match Md Rafi in terms of quality songs picturised on Dharmender, the way in the backdrop of Kishoreji-Rd Burman wave had almost tried to OUST Md Rafi from his No 1 position of male singer in Bollywood in the early 1970s ( particularly from 1972 to 1976 ) was really woeful and sad in the history of Bolywood musical world. Why? Obviously because Md Rafi was more versatile and was endowed with a divine touch in his timbre which none except great Lata Mangeshkar can match only. But not only that, one can admit Rajesh Khanna along with RD Burman preferring KK to Md Rafi in Rajesh Khanna films, ( although some unwarranted manouvering of other great names were also involved in the ploy) but how that RD-Kishore wave could influence Dharmender films, when Kishoreji was invited to sing for him in compositions made by Laxmikant-Payarelal and Kalyanji- Anandji. You might object to my opinion by counterpointing the arguement that it was LP who continued to use great Md Rafi sahab for Dharmender in films like “Loafer’ or “Pratigya’ or few other films. But what about rest of the films of Dharmendra? Where LP made Kishoreji to sing for him like ‘Dream girl” and quite a few no of films? If great music director Madanmohan and Dilipkumar had the temerity to dauntlessly stick to their ground for not allowing any singer to sing for their composition, or to sing for him on screen ( in case of Dilip kumar, pl. ignore ‘Sagina’ for the time being) why Dharmender or LP ( who had doubtlessly tremendous reverence for Md Rafi sahab) fail to show that assiduity and courage by sticking to their faith and dedication for great Md Rafi? Recall please what happened in case of Shashi Kapoor or Jeetendra? Without Md Rafi’s voice they were incomplete and almost insifnificant throughout the 1960s, how could they compromise their clear preference to Md Rafi and played themselves straightaway into the hands of the demand of the producers? Could there be any Sashi Kapoor without ‘Jab Jab phool khile”, ‘Amne samne’ ‘Haseena Man Jayegee” or Kanyadan without KA, SJ and Md Rafi sahab in particular? Actually there is no ground for any misgiving or doubt about Kishoreji’s greatness as a singer, but with the revelation of Youtube from 2000 or so, it is increasingly becoming clear that Md Rafi’s mesmerizing voice was far superior to Kishore Kumar. Can we imagine Lataji being outsted by Asha Bhosle from her number one position from 50s and 60s, and none is comming forward to mend the injustice, as it happened in case of Md Rafi? But still it happened, and happend from the ‘blue’ while few music director meastro rise to the occasion to mend the injustice. Yes, sadly Jaikishan had passed away in 1971. Naushad and OP Nayar had passed thier prime in the 1970s, Ravi was and Chitragupta had also lost their splendour of 1960s, and great SD Burman’s inclination towards Md Rafi was muted by his son’s choice, but sadly that is not the whole story. Believe me, I would not have been happy to see Md Rafi was ousting every capable singer and singing for one and everybody with his meserizing voice, like he did from the late 50s to almost 1969, but the greatest play back singer of modern song was almost banished from singing for the top icons of Bollywood from 1972 to 1976 ( though he staged a grand come back in 1976-77 once again) is still should be regarded as a sad episode , obviously did not sublimate Indian music. Thanx.
actually the site mwntioned is http://drdilipsongs.in/
Interesting and Appreciable work for Rafi-Dharam combination..in fact I was looking for this type of data from which I can select Rafi- songs for my site
where I upload one song per day since 31-07-2013 and will continue until 31-07-2014 as tribute to great Mohd.Rafi…..I invite you as well as other Rafi-lovers to my site(drdilipsongs.in or https://www.facebook.com/dilip.deliwala.5) and give your valuable opinion……today is Day-109 and this evening there will be one more Dharmendra song(16th song up to now)….btw Rafi-Dharam have some very popular fast songs (Yamla Pagla Deewana-Pratigya ,O meri mehbooba-Dharamveer etc) which are pleasant to listen as well as watch…
To this day Dharmender Sahib says that Mohd Rafi Sahib is his favourite singer and it seems that he is still around but when he hears Mohd Rafi Sahib’s voice he is reminded of his sad departure. What a coincidence that the man voted as one of the world’s most handsome men is part of Mohd Rafi Sahib’s history as it was for him that this singer of all singers sang his swan song.
Another great article Souvikji and it must be said that Dharmendra has stated in an interview that even though there has been quite a few singers that have contributed to his success and career that his personal favourite is the late great Mohd Rafi sahab and as he said the songs that Mohd Rafi sang for him remain evergreen and popular even today, and you can’t argue with that.
His on screen personality was a great match with Mohd Rafi’s voice as he was and probably to most women myself included remains to be a handsome, gorgeous looking man so it was only right to have a beautiful voice for his singing. The two were a great combination but with that amazing talent of Mohd Rafi I find myself saying that with lots of combinations, for example one of my favourites has to be Rajendra Kumar and another Shammi Kapoor. The list is endless with Dilip Kumar, Pradeep kumar, Joy Mukerjee and Biswajeet. Mohd Rafi was a genius working his magic with every actor.
souvik must be congratulted on his wonderful work.i am also staunch fan of the immortal duo.even during peak of days rajesh khanna-kishore kumar, dharmendra-rafi combination was at its best in block busters like jeevan mrityu,mera gaon mera desh,rakhwala,tum haseen main jawan,kab kyon aur kahan,ishq par jor nahin,loafer in bettween 1969-73 was remarkable in the sense that some extraordinary relation existed between them .this combination further consolidated in the hits like pratigya, chacha bhatija,dharmveer ,resham ki dori etc.summarily they were made for each other.we know their rhythmic contribution in 1960’s but ,their contribution to indian cinema in fading days of rafi is a matter of research and a lesson to human relation.
dear souvik chatterji thanx for sharing great article with us i would like to share a documentry on rafi saab produced by films division , i have uploaded in you tube,in 8 parts, also you will find rafi saabs interviews,rare songs,etc etc.also i would like to inform you about the blog dedicated to rafi saab,total over 300 pages are there,you will find rare pictures,and videos of rafi saab,to go to next page,kindly click older posts,you will find bottom of every page,kindly visit this links,take care
http://www.rafifanblog.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/mohamedparvez?feature=mhum
regards
mohamed parvez
kahaaniya sunaati hai, pawan aati jaati,
ek tha diya, ek baati…….
ek din gali gali, aisi kuch hawa chali,
jyot ko chura ke, legaya utha ke,
Dil diye ka buzh gaya, ho gayee baati juda,
phir bhi usne yeh kaha, jyot ko di yeh dua,
tuzh ko koi gam na ho, roshni yeh kam na ho,
tu kisi ke ghar jale, khush rahe phule phale,
film – rajput, on dharmendra,
there was a theme song and holi song also in the same film, sung by rafi
Can anyone deny that the best song in the dharam-hema fil ‘charas’ is +
‘ke aaja teri yaad aayi which rafi sang so sincerely with lata ? Surely it rates very high in even l-p songs. In my opinion it is among the top in lata-rafi duets if i make a list of 50 +. In that list Kuch kehta hai yeh sawan and Yeh dil deewana hai will also feature.
Recently Dharam ji appeared on a t.v. reality show of ‘indian idol’ which is a singer’s competetion. The best among the remaining singers sang three songs in that show –
1. Mehbooba from ‘ dharam veer’
2. Aaj mausam bad beiman hai from ‘ loafer’
3. aaya sawaan jhoom ke – ‘ ” ‘
All three rafi song, and dharamji had to say only one sentence that ‘ Rafi sahab to meri jaan hainaur hamesha rehenge ‘
Another fact relating to RDB -Dharam is many years after rafi sahab death, RDB scored music for ‘Betaab” (Sunny Deol’s debut film). It seems the songs were all composed and ready for recording, lata ji was available but kishore kumar was not free/available. As the director/producer wanted to begin shooting, the songs were recorded using Shabbir kumar & lata mangeshkar. We all know the songs were very good by the standard during that period. who is shabbir kumar? one of the many singers who made their name during the post rafi era as music directors in the industry were conciously looking to fill the gap left by rafi, and trying in vain.
The songs of lata shabbir had turned out so well that those recordings were finalised and used for the film. does that mean even RDB was to miss rafi ? some would say ‘devine justice’.
I think there was one rafi song for Dharmendra in ‘Professor pyarelal ” also.
Rafi had special voices for Dharmendra, Shammi,Shashi, Rishi, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Vinod khanna, Amitabh bachchan, Rajendra kumar, bharat bhushan, pradeep kumar, mehmood, johnny walker, guru dutt, joy mukherjee, even “vijay anand ” (he had a rafi song in film ‘ Kora kagaz” i think), rah babbar, sanjay khan, feroz khan, sunil dutt, mithun chakravorty, Vinod Mehra(gem of a duet by S. D. burman in ‘Auraag), jeetendra, Vijay Arora , Ajit, ‘ balraj & prakshit Sahani’ and many more.
in varsatality in singing capabilitiy he is in competetion only with lata mangeshkar. no one else can come near him. that is for sure.
‘Sun le tu dil ki saada, pyaar is pyaar badha…….”
meri awaaz ka tir, jayegaa dil ko bhi chir,
Na rahun mien na rahe tu, rahegi daastan….
Sun le tu dil ki ………..”
Diwakar ji,
It is only an expression. You, I and people with astronomical understanding only know that what we call Sun is only one of the millions of stars in the galaxy and is closest to the earth. In fact we on earth are on its orbit.
Rafi saab’s followers are just in thar comparison as we all say similar things to express ourselves. If you do not believe ask a mother what she calls her son, in all probability a moon.
No offence here.
Scientifically, there are billions of SUNS ( STARS) in the universe, thousands of moons, but RAFI IS ONLY ONE..SO DO NOT COMPARE HIM WITH SUN OR MOON
One favorite song of mine is from Lofar”aaj mausam bada baiman hai”this song too is a fine example of how Rafi could sing in the style of actor on the screen.By listening to songs picturised on Dilip kumar,Rajender kumar,shashi kapoor,Shammi kapoor, Johny Walkeretc you can make out on whom the song have been filmed.Such was the amazing quality of Rafi that stands him apart from other singers.Rafi’s songs for Dharmendra really brought magic to the listners and to the movie viewrs.Hats off Rafi Saab.No wonder that even so many years after his death we continue talking, listening the singer and make our best moments that takes to a listening pleasure out of this world.”Tu Aas Pass Hai Mere Dost “
In reply to Kishorefan,
Initially I thought there was no need to comment on the reference made in respect of Rafi’s combination with Dharmender in the 60s, because his focus was on the songs mostly composed on the 70s. He spoke about Chacha Bhatija, Sholay, Jugnu, Ram Balram, none of which had been released in the 60s.
There was deliberate reason for bringing the reference to the 60s, because if the readers had read the first two paragraphs, they would have understood, that the songs sung by Rafi for Dharmender during the 60s not only were melodious, but were composed by diversified groups of composers and lyricists.
I had referred OP Nayyar in Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi, whose style of composition had no similarilty with ghazal ka shehzada Madanmohan whose compositions in Dharmender’s films Neela Akash, Aap Ki Parchaiyan, etc., had stormed bollywood in the mid-60s. Shankar Jaikishan, Khayyam, Ravi, all contributed in Dharmender’s films, and as usual Rafi’s songs in those films had remain everlasting gems. Laxmikant Pyarellal probably was the music composer who had composed in most number of films of Dharmender, and Rafi had almost the soul of Dharmender in those films.
The tragedy with respect to comment of Kishorefan, was that, nowhere in the entire writing there was any regard shown to any singer in the country excepting Kishore. Manna Dey had sung landmark song for Dharmender “zindagi hai khel” in the film Seeta Aur Geeta, Mukesh had sung songs for Dharmender in a number of films, Hemant Kumar had sung songs in the film Khamoshi, Bhupinder Singh had sung song for Dharmender in the film Kinara, “ek hi khwab kai baar dekha hai maine”. Although their songs were much less than Rafi in number, their songs also had appealed to the audience.
If a music lover cannot appreciate the singing of these musical giants, then the music lover should think twice before writing anything.
Besides statements were made saying that in the late 70s, male voice was looked for, not a classical voice. In reply to that, it can be very well said, the music lover who hates the qualification of a classical singer, does not understand music at all.
In India, classic based singers had glorified bollywood films by just showing their level of excellence in one or two songs in landmark films, Bhimsen Joshi in the film Basant Bahar composed by Shankar Jaikishan, or Bare Ghulam Ali Khan in Mughal-i-azam composed by Naushad. If Rafi or Manna Dey, had classical orientation it was their gifted talent and rigourous musical practice which had reoriented their voices. Landmark composers could experminent with them only due to the jugglery of the voice that could be shown by them. In fact ghazals, or qawallies or pure classical numbers cannot be sung without that orientation.
The other factor which created lack of knowledge was only the association of RD Burman with Kishore Kumar in songs of Dharmender. Any admirer of Kishore Kumar should have the honesty to appreciate the compositions of other composers other than RD Burman in hit songs of KK. SD Burman’s composition in Jugnu, or Naya Zamana had a style of his own, Kalyanji Anandji, and other composers also composed songs in Dharmender’s films sung by KK.
So, it is a message to anyone who wants to comment any article, is firstly try to hear more songs of different lyricists and compositions, develop some understanding and then make remarks.
The films having Rafi and Dharmender combination should be restored.
Souvik Chatterji.
Arora ji,
Pocketmaar was a flop. But there is a zabardast song in it ___ one of the best examples of Rafi-Dharam ___ Banda parvar mein kahan yeh aapki tasveer kahan. In this song especially, you would think Dharmendra sang it. Rafi saab at his best for Dharam. In Resham ki dori, there is Sone ke gehne kyun tune pehne…not my fave song.
One of the best duets where Rafi saab sounds like Dharm is Kuch kehta hai yeh sawn from Mera Gaon Mera Desh. Like Rafi saab used to capture the andaz of Shammi, similarly, he brought out the essence of Dharmendra ___his adas __ in every song. A heavenly combination.
Another fine example ___ Mehbooba teri tasveer __ from Ishq par zor nahin. In Tum haseen mein jawan, we have chehra chehra masha allah and Dil achcha hai achch hai surat and Aapko pehle bhi kahin dekha hai. We have Dil kahe ruk ja re rukja and Chala bhi aa from man ki ankhen.
I can go on and on. I better stop.
With musical regards
Utthara
thanks dr khaja aliuddin shahab for the film name aaina
DEAR SOUVIK AS USUAL A NOBLE ATTEMPT BUT WEAK RESEARCH, MAJORITY OFF GEM SONGS LIKE – PHIR WOH BHOOLI SI – BEGAANA, MUJHE DARD- E -DIL KA PATA NA THA – AAKASHDEEP WERE QUOTED BY OTHERS,
AFTER READING ALL THE MAILS I AM COMMENTING ON MY CHILDHOOD IDOL ( THE BEST COMBINATION ) AND THE HEADING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED TO 60`S , THE COMBINATION CONTINUED TILL THE DEATH AND AFTER AFTERWARDS ALSO.
I FONDLY REMEMBER THE FILM `TEESRI AANKH ` GOT RELEASED AFTER THE DEATH OF RAFI SAAB AND THERE WERE FULL PAGE ADS`IN FILM WEEKLY- SCREEN WITH A HEADING THREE IMMORTAL SONGS BY THE IMMORTAL SINGER.
FURTHER I DO NOT FIND ANY MENTION OF DUETS BY RAFI SAAB ON DHARAMJI,
SPECIALLY ONE OF THE BEST PIANO SONGS – JEET HI LENGE BAAZI HUM TUM – FROM SHOLA AUR SHABNAM,
YEH DIL TUM BIN LAGTA NAHIN – IZZAT
CHALA BHI AA- MAN KI AANKHEN
AB DO DILON KI MUSHKIL – POOJA KE PHOOL
KABHI ITHLA KE CHALTE HO – AAP KI PARCHAIYAN
MAIN SOORAJ HOON TU MERI – DIL NE PHIR YAAD KIYA
SAATHIYA NAHIN JAANA – AAYA SAWAN JHOOM KE
YEH DIL DEEWANA HAI – ISHQ PAR ZOR NAHIN
TERE NAIN MERE NAIN – RAKHWALA
PYAAR SE DIL BHAR DE – KAB KYON AUR KAHAN
AND MANY MORE
IN ONE OF THE MAILS -UTTRAJI HAD MENTIONED THE QAWALI OF AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY VIZ BIG B,
IN THE SAME WAY THE SUCCESS OF DHARAMVEER ( ANOTHER BLOCKBUSTER BY DIE HARD RAFI SAAB BHAKAT – THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER MANMOHAN DEASI SAAB ) WAS THE SONGS
1 ) O MERI MEHBOOBA
2 ) MAINE TUJHKO CHAHA YEH HAI MERI MEHERBAANI
THE COMBINATION OF RAFI SAAB AND DHARAMJI CONTINUED TILL AASPAAS AND LATER ON TEESRI AANKH,PROFESSOR PYARELAL ETC.
I DID NOT WANTED TO COMMENT ON KISHOREFAN, BUT I WANTED TO TELL HIM THAT HE SHOULD LISTEN TO SONGS OF `PHANDEBAAZ` MUSIC RDB AND THE SONGS – DUNIYA MEIN PAISE BINA KAISE HUM JEEYENGE ,
MOHABBAT MEIN AJI KYA AAP AND THE TITLE SONG ( THAT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH )
Post # 51
This beautiful romantic duet of Rafi/Lata is from the movie, “Aaina”, composed by Naushad and lyrics by Jan Nisar Akhtar. This movie was released in 1973.
Long live Rafi Sahab,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
JAANE KYA HO JAYE JAB DIL SE DIL TAKRAYE SACH HAIN PEHLE PEHLE LAGTA HAIN DAR.CHECK THIS SONG ON UTUBE.WHAT A VOICE COMBO OF LATA RAFI.I DONT THE FILM NAAM.IT DARMENDRA AND NEETU SINGH.CAN ANYBODY GIVE ME THIS FILM NAME