Did R.D.Burman really preferred KK over Rafi?
This article is written by Mr.H.V.Guru Murthy.
A regular browser to web site mohdrafi.com, having gone through the letters of Rafi lovers would assume that R D Burman did not utilize Rafi properly, instead he preferred Kishore Kumar. Because of this reason, Rafi Fans are still upset with RDB even though he passed away a decade back.
Yes, it is true that RDB preferred KK over Rafi during early seventies. For that matter, which Music Director or Actor or Producer or Director will not have his preference. It was well known that Raj Kapoor always preferred Mukesh, Manoj Kumar preferred Mukesh or Mahendra Kapoor, B.R.Chopra films had Mahendra, MD Ravi also had plenty of songs with Mahendra so also O.P after he broke with Rafi. Similarly OP always had either Asha or Geetha Dutt and never Lata. Salil also used all other Singers. Director Subba Rao insisted on Mukesh for SAATHI even though the hero was Rajendra Kumar and MD Naushad, two Rafi Fans. Even Kalyanji Anandji had many films with Mahendra Kapoor, Mukesh and KK even though Rafi was instrumental in their raise through JAB JAB PHOOL KHILE, AAMNE SAAMNE, etc. LP, by all means Rafi Bhakts, used KK regularly in the early seventies even for Rafi heroes like Jeetendra, Dharmendra, etc. SJ also switched over to KK in movies like MAIN SUNDAR HOON, DIL DAULAT DUNIYA, KAL AAJ AUR KAL, etc. Of course, the music standard came down a notch or two in that period. But, well, it is their prerogative to have whomsoever they wanted though I am sure in heart of heart, why even openly, they would have admitted the superiority of Rafi over all other Singers. Similarly, RDB also used KK for almost all his movies in the early seventies as perhaps he had some special chemistry with him.
However, let us not forget that RDB used Rafi extensively during late sixties as his main playback singer right from the first movie. He gave hit music with Rafi in TEESRI MANZIL, NAQLI NAWAAB, CARAVAN, PYAAR KA MAUSAM, THE TRAIN, ABHILASHA, ADHIKAR, RATON KA RAAJA, etc. Later during late seventies he returned to Rafi and gave hits like SHAAN, HUM KISISE KUM NAHIN, ABDULLAH, ZAMANE KO DIKHANA HAI, etc. In between, he had Rafi in CHANDI SONA qawali with Mannadey (Ek Shok Hasina Se), YADON KI BAARAT (Title song and who can forget the duet with Asha Chura Liya Hai Tumne), DIL KA BAADSHAH (this Raj Kumar starrer had all songs by Rafi), THE GREAT GAMBLER (Raftasa Mera Naam), SHEHZADA (Solo Tere Attaroo and duet with Lata Kaahe Ko Bulaya), etc.
If a person cannot appreciate the greatness of Rafi, then it can be safely concluded that the person does not have a sense of music. Of course, RDB was a good MD though not a great MD like Naushad, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, SDB, etc. RD would have definitely known the great qualities of Rafi, the Singer. Just because he did not use Rafi extensively as one would expect, let us not degrade this MD who gave us some good songs in CHANDAN KA PALNA, PADOSAN, HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI, AJNABEE, AMAR PREM, SANAM TERI KASAM, BHOOT BANGLA, BAHARON KE SAPNE (Rafi solo Zamane Ne Maare), PARICHAY, KINAARA, APNA DESH, ZAHREELA INSAAN, RAMPUR KA LAKSHAMAN (Pyaar Ka Samay with Lata, KK and Rafi), 1942 – A LOVE STORY, KATI PATANG to certain extent, etc. though he gave some very mediocre music in films like DEEWAR, SHOLAY, KITAAB, ZAKHMEE, RAFOO CHAKKAR, NAMKEEN, DHARAM KARAM and BIWI O BIWI (so un-RK film like), etc. so many forgettable movies as for as music was concerned.
The irony of RDB was either he gave good music or petered out to a very mediocre music in so many films. I read some where that Shashi Kapoor called RD as National Anthem Music Director. In those days, theatres used to play National Anthem at the end of the movie and the Hall doors used to be shut till the completion of the Anthem. As soon as the Anthem used to commence, our in-disciplined people used to rush to the Hall Door and wait for the door opening. Similarly, whenever RDB songs commenced in most of the movies, people used to rush to toilet.
Still, it is not fair that we use harsh and sometimes, un-parliamentary language against any body if they differ with our views. We cannot forget the contribution of all these MDs, Heroes, Singers, Directors, etc. in making the Indian Film Music so rich.
HALDARJI,
DO YOU HAVE THE TEXT OF THE INTERVIEW, IF SO CAN YOU PLEASE E-MAIL TO hvgurumurthy@yahoo.co.in.
ref post 398:
the interview that guru murthy ji has referred to appeared in the illustrated weekly of india. There was a picture of rafi saab with one of his sons. In that interview, rafi saab reminisced about the great music composed by the likes of naushad, roshan, sj, mm, sd, op and khaiyyam, and revealed his displeasure about the quality of music in the 70s. I clearly remember what he had said about the present-day mds: “only laxmikant-pyarelal seem to have some sense” (not a very lofty compliment, though). It was one of the few times when he had criticised anyone.
Post no. 397, Mr. XXX says, “i can firmly say that Rafiji wudnt b happy wd the music scenario of d 70s”. I remember reading a small interview of Rafiji in the seventies, when he frankly told that he is not happy with the music being churned out those days and also felt that only LP gave some good music based on Indian classical music. The same opinion was echoed by Lataji also.
mr.myk,
“kahe ko bulaya”.. was amazing song.. thanx for ur these lines–“Maruti Keer revealed that for this song the dholak beats were created first, then the song was composed after based on that particular taal. “.. its been added into my knowledge base..
pancham did somwhere 100 songs wd rafi ji in 70s and all those were gr8, also the charm of his most of d compositions increased 4 times wen rendered by rafi ji, but same is not the case wd kishore, kishore bring down d charm of most of his great tunes, although kishore da was great singer but just notice his heavy voice with these songs by pancham…
1.mere naina sawan bhado
2.tere bine zindagi se shikva
3.aap ki aakhon mein kuch mehke hue se raaz hain
there are dozens more examples where kishore’s heavy voice not at all going with the melody of the tune, but still pancham employed him..
what i think that pancham’s strenth was his jazz music(fusing indian melody into jazzy base and interludes) and his knowledge of classical music. his knowledge of classical and jazz was unparalled among 2nd gen mds, as we can see that most of his outstanding work with rafi sahab in 60s was either in jazzy genre(teesri manzil) or in classical genere(chandan ka palna). but how intelligently he changed his face of music in 70s to bring up kk!!! pancham was very well aware of the fact that kk wasnt d master of these two genre like rafi ji so he changed his music to simple melodies,peppy tunes, pop oriented, shor-sharaba music.. notice that whenever he used jazz in 70s(gulabi aakhen, chura liya hai) he used rafi ji, imagine that same person composing “tumhe dekha hai maine gulsita mein” & “o mere dil ke chain”.. one is classical melody and odr one is melody on straight notes.. but his stock for these kinds of tunes only remained for 5 years(70-75) as fusing evergreen melody into straight notes is not at all easy. his stock was over untill 1976, as we can see that there are very few notable pancham-kk solos post 1975. i think as a commercial point of view 1976 was his dead end, he gave many quality albums in 1976 and his best was mehbooba, but it was classical based and commercially did not helped pancham much, his darbari kanadda based gem “gori tori paijaniya” went unnoticed, only famous song was “mere naina” where he exploited kk’s weakness rather than strength, i think at that time he was not at all comercially stable,he was badly losing the awards & movies to lp,ka & rr….
but thanx to nasir hussain, in 1977 came hkkn, i think this movie was commercial come back for both(rafi ji & pancham), pancham’s commercial strength was jazz and that’s wat he finally used as a bramhastra to made comeback,and who was the best jazzy singer?? yes ,, rafi ji, it was 3rd time that pancham introduced new sound to the hfm, earlier he did with his breakthrough jazzy album teesri manzil and with many albums from 1971.. 2 solos & 2 duets with rafi ji rocked the nation, and from d sam movie kk’s numbs went unnoticed(except bachna aey hasino).. in the same year pancham gave another great album but this time classical based(kinara), nasir hussain & gulzar exploited the real strenghts of pancham..
so i think hkkn was pancham’s comeback as well, rafi sahab was always there in quality throughout his career but he was not the same commercial phenomenon in 70s as he used to be in 60s, reason was simple, king maker of 50s naushad backed rafi ji, king makers of 60s s-j used rafi ji but king maker of 70s rahul dev burman utililised kishore.. pancham’s strength was jazz and classical but he limited his strenghts as per his favourite’s limitations
but i really dnt bother abt who utilised whom in 70s as truly golden era was ruled by rafi sahab, i have a lot of respect for the 50s & 60s, here some esteemed names from 50s and 60s- naushad,sd,sj,mm,roshan,opn,hb,cr,salil,anil biswas, vasant desai, chitragupt,ravi… and many odrs, some of them used rafi all d way some used rafi for selective songs but all of them were truly great and very melodious. but wat abt mds from 2nd and 3rd gen?? i think only 3 names we can rank alongside veteran gr8s(rd,lp,ka), wat abt dozens of odrs?? and these 3 also went over quantity rather than quality..
i can firmly say that rafi ji wudnt b happy wd the music scenario of d 70s, the only thing that making him happy those days wud b the rise of his good frnd kishore kumar…
Dear MYK,
I agree with you, “Churaliya Hai” was a class song, but let us not forget songs like “O Mere Sonare” of the same Rafi-Asha-RDB combo, which were also huge hits. Of course, both these songs “Aa Raat Jaati Hai” and “Vadiyan Mera Daman” were good songs of RDB-MR combo and can be heard again and again. Other songs of the same team which can be bracketed with these songs are “Chand Mera Dil”, “Kya Hua Tera Vada”, “Maine Poocha Chaandase”, “Pucho Na Yaar Kya Hua”, “Bolo Bolo”, “Yeh Ladka Hai Allah”, well, the list is becoming longer and longer.
Mr. XXX,
You mentioned RDB re-created the magic of “Churaliya Hai Tumne” with “Aa raat jaati hai”. That is true, and both the duets are the best songs of their respective films. Whereas “Churaliya Hai Tumne” went on to become probably Pancham’s most popular song ever, “Aa raat jaati hai” didn’t receive the attention it should have gotten.
Mr. XXX,
Sorry, but I don’t have a direct link or source to Majrooh’s comments on “Wadiyan Mera Daman” Whatever I mentioned was part of what Majrooh said at a function for his 80th birthday. A Pancham fan on another forum attended this function, and wrote about that particular part I mentioned. It would be great if we could find out more on what Majrooh said about this Abhilasha gem.
The Rafi-Asha duet from CKP is outstanding, the melody is excellent. CKP is one of Pancham’s best and most under-rated albums, the songs have a lot of variety.
I think “Yaara O Yaara” from Benaam received more attention than the Rafi-Asha duet. It is a good song by Chanchal, but I think “Aa raat jaati hai” was better, and it didn’t get the credit it deserved. It was a classy composition, check out the saxophone piece played at the start of the second interlude, simply brilliant.
What do you think of the song “Kahe Ko Bulaya” from Humshaqal ?. Maruti Keer revealed that for this song the dholak beats were created first, then the song was composed after based on that particular taal. It is a brilliant song, one of the best Lata-Rafi duets, the orchestration is very nice, and the melody is great.
mr.myk,
very well said abt asha ji’s family
well iam agree that rd-rafiji pair was great, i love that chandan ka palna solo-“tumhe dekha hai”, also that duet with asha is also really melodious one-“zulfo ko aap yun na sawaara karo”.. these two songs are something that i never expected from the pancham, specially not after the jazzy “teesri
manzil”. infact whole “chandan ka palna” was something different by pancham,
aa raat jaati hai- rdb recreated the magic of “chura liya hai tumne” with this song but somhow this one didnt get so much attention, dn knw y?? may b coz of film was flop..
myk ji, cud you provide me the exact words of majrooh on “vaadiya mera daman”?? do you have any link or excerpt of that from an original??
Mr. XXX,
Pancham was involved in SDB’s music as an assistant, and he was part of the creation process for some of Dada’s compositions, but the NDG song sounds vintage Dada to me. Asha Bhosle and her family are out to promote Pancham and sometimes what they say is a joke, so you shouldn’t take all their comments seriously.
The two songs you mentioned from Chhote Nawab are nice, Pancham composed great songs in his first film.
“Wadiyan Mera Daman” is outstanding, you are right, not a lot of praise has been given to this song when it deserves it. Majrooh Sultanpuri had once singled out this song as one of his favourites, and explained how he compared the heroine with earth, and the lyrics “raaste meri baahen, jaao mere siwa, tum kahan jaaoge”. It’s a wonderful melody with nice orchestration, Rafi’s rendition is beautiful.
Two more excellent songs from RDB-Rafi:
Tumhein Dekha Hai Maine (Chandan Ka Palna): This a fantastic classical-flavoured song in the ghazal genre. Rafi-saab sings this song in such a soft manner, yet the rendition has so much punch and is very soulful. RD combines many traditional instruments beautifully, and there’s also some Roshan influence in this song as well. This is definitely one of RD’s career-best compositions.
Aa Raat Jaati Hai (Benaam): One of the best duets of 1974, this is a composition set in the “waltz” style, something that S-J were masters at. The melody, rhythm and arrangements are all top class, and wonderful singing by Rafi and Asha.
It seems whenever RDB and Rafi came together, the result was melody and innovative compositions.
What do you think ?.
mr.myk,
no doubt that these two songs were great, personally i like that bulandi song, very melodious one, also these two songs are most underrated rd-rafi gems as well, including many odrs like ilaahi tu sun le & aan chum taan chum(1st one is sad & 2nd one is funny num from chhote nawab). also that abhilaasha number “vaadiyaan mera daman” very melodious one,but i never heard someone praising this one …
by the way i read somwhere asha’s son interview where he mentioned that pancham composed that melodious duet “aakho mein kya ji” from nau do gyarah, dont you think that they praising pancham by just going beyond the truths & facts????,i mean koi bacha b bata dega ki ye song dada ne hi banaya hai..
When I mentioned KA had choice albums in the 70’s and 80’s that didn’t match their own high standards which they set in the 60’s, it is no different from many other composers. There are times when composers don’t match their standards in choice albums. It has nothing to do with talent, and its due to various other reasons.
I would like to mention two more outstanding KA-Rafi songs:
Mohabbat ke suhane din (Maryada)
Kisi Aasman Pe To Sahil Milega (Kashish)
Mr. XXX,
Thanks for your views. I agree that KA gave their career-best compositions to Mukesh, but I also feel they gave their career best compositions to Rafi as well. There are many KA songs sung by Rafi that are amongst KA’s and Rafi’s career best. Some examples, “Yeh raat hai pyaasi pyaasi” (Choti Bahu), “Teri zulfen pareshan” (preet na jane reet), “tere jaisa kaun hai” (tamanna), “tu jo nahin koi mera” (darinda), “mere mitwa mere meet re” (geet). They also gave great songs to Kishore, but in my view their best was reserved for Rafi and Mukesh.
Talk about duets, and KA composed their best duets for Lata-Rafi which surprassed any of their other duet combinations (in my view). KA’s Lata-Rafi duets are in a class of their own. They are very under-rated composers, even though they managed to produce great music throughout their career. KA did change with the times, but I also feel in other choice albums from the 70’s and 80’s, they produced music that didn’t match their own high standards set in the 60’s. They made great use of a variety of singers, such as Rafi, Lata, Mukesh, Kishore, Asha, Manna, Mahendra Kapoor etc.
I agree when you say LP gave their best to Rafi, and RDB his best to Kishore and Rafi.
Since this is an RDB thread, I would like to mention two more Rafi-RDB songs that are excellent:
Mohabbat mein aji kya (phandebaaz): This is one of the best duets RDB ever composed, and one of the best ever Lata-Rafi duets as well. A beautiful melody, with excellent orchestration, the flute, santoor, accordion, violins etc. and the RD rhythm stamp are all in this song.
Hum Jab Ek Saath Hai (Bulandi): The mood of this song is similar to SJ’s “Jab bhi yeh dil udaas hota hai” from Seema sung by Rafi-Sharda. Another gem of a song, it has a classical flavour, again a great melody, and again one of the best Asha-Rafi duets and one of Pancham’s best duets as well.
Mr. XXX, what do you think of the above two songs ?.
mr.myk,
im really not much into the ka’s music, but yes they gave amazing music in 60s. some of their associatios with rafi sahab were really great like in jab jab phool khile, hasina maan jaayegi, geet, and that bhajan “sukh ke sab saathi dukh mein na koi”.. but i believe their career best compositions went to mukeshji. as i can eaisly rate “chandan sa badan” & “chand si mehbooba” among their best compositions, some of their associatios wd manna da were also great like kasme vaade pyaar wafa & nadiya chale chale ye dhaara. in 70s they became composers of kk, in most of big banners they prefferd kk.
on the other side pancham & rafiji association was full of fun & music. among the 2nd gen coomposers. lp took out best from rafi sahab followed by rdb. ka were gr8 wd rafi sahab but their career best went to mukeshji.. lp gave their career best to rafi sahab, rdb gave his career best tunes to both(kishoreda & rafi sahab)..
mr.abey john,
1st of all i wud like to mention that musical tastes differs from person to person, yes i praised pancham but keeping mds of 2nd & 3rd generation in mind(lp,ka,rr,rj..). but there is simply no comparison of pancham to veteran md naushad as i accept that apple orange theory, both of them gave diff type of music.. also i never compared these two, only i wrote that naushadji was greater than pancham. juss check out that who was more consistent and dedicated, the naushadji-rafiji pair was something that cudnt be surpassed, also there is a bulk of mediocre albums by 2nd & 3rd gen mds(rdb,lp,ka,rj,rr) but same is not the case wd naushadji & other veteran gr8s.
as i mentioned that musical taste differs from person to person & my kind of music is in the bracket of higher & divine standards set by naushadji. ofcourse i like western music too but later is not my 1st preference. you mentioned that naushadji lacked d ability to change with time. but i think he is known as a successful md of 40s,50s,60s who never compromised wd quality.note that he changed himself in each of these decades wd utmost quality. sj were most versatile & prolific but great shankar did nothing exceptional after 1972. as far as 50s concerned all of them(sdb,sj,roshan,mm) gave great music but i think naushadji was king maker of 50s, there wud be no rafi sahab if naushadji wudnt b there wd d songs suhani raat dhal chuki, o dunia ke rakhwale and many odrs, this great shy personality groomed under naushad sahab & came out as a voice which was as rocking as heavenly. now finally here im mentioning 3 naushad-rafi songs of ultra high quality, can any one cite me 3 songs from hfm which cud surpass these 3 in respective generes.
1.nain lad jai hain to manwa main.. folk.
2.madhuban mein raadhika naache re.. classical
3.o dunia ke rakhwale… genere of songs having ultra high range covering all three saptaks…..
and for the above mentioned third genere, only rafi sahab was utilised by everyone, so we can call it rafi genere. .
Mr. Haldar & Mr. XXX,
I would like to mention that I love both the KA-Rafi and RD-Rafi combinations, these three composers created many beautiful gems for ‘Saatwan Sur’. I am asking you the question of KA and RD vis a vis Rafi-saab because I would like to know what you think of both the combinations, which combination attracts you more and so forth.
Thanks Mr. Haldar for the interesting flashback, that six-man orchestra must have had such a great time with Rafi. How many concerts did Rafi do in his lifetime ?. Thanks Mr. XXX for your response as well, I agree RD was amazing in his guitar use, the GG song you mentioned was a great arabian influenced gem with Rafi coming in for the Big B and stealing the show.
A question to both of you, Mr. Haldar and Mr. XXX, who was the better composer for Rafi, Kalyanji Anandji or RDB ?. I am interested in knowing your opinions, since they both created excellent songs for ‘saatwan sur’. You can say KA were Rafians, but they also composed quite a bit for Mukesh and later Kishore. RD was a Kishore man, but the “melody” in his world came through Rafi as well as many of his greatest songs.
I know a lot of people on this forum would say K-A in a blink of an eye, but there’s much more to the RDB-Rafi combo then people think. You can list all the great composers Rafi worked with, but it would be injustice if RD’s name was not one of them. Rafi even won a Filmfare and National Award for the same song under his baton (something KK could not even do), and many of his modern classics are composed by that same man. Had Rafi lived longer, and the two created more songs, I’m sure many opinions would change, but I see no reason why they shouldn’t now considering their output was still excellent, regardless of number of songs compared to other MD’s Rafi worked with.
I’ve always loved the RDB-Rafi pair, the modern and innovative music of RD combined with the Golden voice of Rafi. What Rafi brought to RD’s compositions, is something KK could not do. Whenever they (RD-Rafi) came together, the result was magic.
Here is a clip of RD playing the tune of Rafi-Lata’s “Lehra Ke Aaya Hai” (Waris) on the harmonica, in a concert from Dubai. Read some of the comments below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du54paUkRFQ
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Abey John,
I think Rafi is the only singer you can attribute “only full justice” to simply because of his wide range and skills combined with his heavenly voice. True, every singer sang songs that suited their range, skills etc. and its hard to imagine another voice doing justice to those songs, but if you had to pick one singer that could cross boundaries and sing those songs rendered by others as well or even better, it would have to be Rafi. Whereas with Rafi’s songs, there is absolutely no way others could replicate them since they are way out of reach of any other singer.
Coming to Aandhi, Kishore wasn’t at all suited for these types of themes, including Mehbooba, Parichay etc. This is where RD didn’t pick up cues from his father, choosing the best singer for a particular theme. When I listen to these RDB themes, all I see is Lata shining high and bright and leaving her male counterparts far behind. The songs in these films were made for Rafi, had he sung them, the result would have been different and mindblowing, and I can say only Rafi could have done full justice to them, even though Kishore sang them, because Rafi’s skills were above anyone else’s.
xxx,
i admit it is apples oranges comparison with naushad & rdb as they produced different kinds of music as binu ji suggested. however, what i revere is the ability to change with the times. sj & sd burman had it. naushad seemingly did not. before one argues that naushad refused to compromise – you yourself astutely pointed that rd burman did not compromise with quality even as late as 1994! rd was innovative and always experimenting. this is why he could produce great music in 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. i hold that in very high esteem.
i can perfectly understand a classical student like you holding naushad at #1 but you’re part of a very select group and we must look at from an overall spectrum if applicable.
myk & xxx,
remember perspectives when you talk about “only rafi could have done full justice to aye-jaane-wafa”. you are calibrating “full justice” to exactly what you heard with rafi singing it. it influences your definition. if you set your standard or definition BEFORE the song was actually rendered, you’re standards would be different. a mukesh fan could easily feel the same had the song been in his voice. more interestingly this idea extends beautifully to your discussion about one of my favorite songs “tere bina zindagi se koi”. kishore’s rendition was not your “traditional or technically perfect”. combine that with his golden voice and soulful personality and you have a NOVEL, unique rendition. rafi’s version would have been no less but it would be from the voice we’ve had as #1 for last 20+ years (and never get tired of, just like sunlight), more importantly it would have been technically perfect and that would make it somewhat routine and you’d unjustly (through no fault of rafi) lose the novelty factor. in this case it hurts to not make mistakes if this is making any sense at all. if i had to describe rafi’s voice i’d say “as close to heavenly a human voice can be”. if i had to describe kishore’s voice i’d say “as cool as can be”. my apologies to both if i appear to get into a rafi kishore debate which is not my intention. imo some songs are best suited for a heavenly voice like ehsan tera hoga mujhpe whereas other songs are better suited for the cool voice (even if the heavenly voice would be no less). tera bina zindagi se koi shikwa ranks the top 10 of my favorite songs but had it been rendered by rafi, it would have fallen behind songs like tere mere sapne, kyse kya hogaya, ehsaan tera hoga mujhpe, yeh mera prem patra, etc. the kishore rendition is just novel and i love his personality & voice for that song. it isn’t something you expect.
mr.myk,
rdb made gr8 use of guitar throughout his career, dat song Aye jaane-e-wafa was gr8 indeed, but omposition was totally rafi dependent, i mean dis song wudnt have been even recognizable if it wud b rendered by some odr. juss check out first 3-4 starting notes of rafi sahab, only he was capable to do more than justice wd these type of compositions..
imagine rdb’s gr8 compositions like ” tere bina zindagi se shikva ” or
” chingari koi bhadke ” wd rafi ji. but ok its fine, kk did fine job, also these type of songs help dis rafian to earn some respect among classes.
i also like rdb’s guitar work in d song ” main tumko kya kahu, diwana ” from d movie gr8 gambler. also myk ji notice dat rafi sahab rewrites d history of “late entry & outshining d asha” wd d song rakasa mera naam from d same movie.. earlier he did amazingly in “yamma yamma yamma tu parwana main shama” under ravi’s baton
If Naushad was the musical personality who had nurtured the talent of Rafi, from the beginning, then he is the same person who had given immortal tunes to Lata considering her melodious voice. Lata had a tragic appeal in the song “bhool gaye sawariya†from Baiju Bawra, composed by Naushad in 1953.
myk, the concert that you are referring to was held in February, 1980. Pancham was not on stage while rafi was performing. Pancham and Asha sang together for an hour or so, then Kishore came to the stage and joined them. Manohari Singh, Uttam Singh, Kersi Lord, Swapan C. and Hemant Bhosle were there, along with other musicians. Pancham and Asha left after some time, and then Kishore performed alone. Around 10 pm, Kishore asked one of the organisers, “Rafi saab aa gaye?”, and when he said “yes”, Kishore sang “chalte chalte” and left the stage. When rafi came on to the stage, pancham was already gone, so there was no interaction at all. If I remember correctly, other than the hkkn and teesri manzil songs, he also sang another unreleased pancham composition; the film must have been released the following year, but I can’t remember the name.
Rafi’s style was very different from most of his contemporaries. Unlike Lata, who would have Dilip Kumar or Sunil Dutt introduce her, and have Hemant Kumar or salil c. or hridaynath m. direct the orchestra, he would always travel with a six-man orchestra (Narinder Kaka, Leslie Godinho, Anibal Crasto, Syed Ali, Ramnarang Naidu and Anwar Ahmed) without any accompanying fanfare. He was the real star. Once at a concert I remember the tabaliya couldn’t come, but can you guess what song he started with? Yes, with the kohinoor of film music!
Mr. P. Haldar,
How was the interaction between Pancham and Rafi during that 1979 concert that you attended in Calcutta, when the crowds went crazy over Rafi saab. I’m sure Pancham knew at the back of his mind that Rafi was the greatest ever, and was he on stage when Rafi was singing, or present when he was singing his Pancham songs ?. I know Pancham and Rafi had a great relationship. How many concerts did Pancham and Rafi do together ?.
———————-
Mr. XXX,
The Pancham-Rafi combo has a freshness to it, and their association is beautiful. I would like to mention an excellent solo from Chhalia (1973), “Aye Jaan-e-wafa”, I have mentioned it before on this site, and I would like to point out that the guitar work in this song is similar to KK’s “Jaan-e-Jaana Jao Kal Phir Aana” from Samadhi (1972). Compare the two renditions, KK is good, but Rafi just rocks, combined with the sweetness !.
What are your thoughts on the above songs ?
jaidev’s only one score wd dev hum dono was superb…
guru murthy sahab, i think “pal bhar ke liye” & “o mere raja” were nice numbers by k-a for johny mera naam..
Post no. 376, I think Jaidev gave music for only one Dev Anand film – HUM DONO, so also OPN – CID. Numberwise, SDB gave music for maximum movies of Dev followed by SJ (Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Asli Naqli, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Patita – Yaad Kiya Dilne Kahan Ho Tum, Duniya, Pyaar Mohabbat, etc.) all with hit songs. KA also gave good music in MAHAL but not in Jhonny Mera Naam. But the music of Dev’s films in 70s deteriorated considerably even though MDs like LP, RDB, RR, etc. gave music (with few exceptions like Des Pardes, HRHK, Warrant and Gambler). It should also be admitted that the standard of Dev’s films also came down drastically in his seventies and later movies.
Post 369 mr.xxx
i am sorry to say that my friends had some bitter experience when
they approached khayyam saab to say a few words on rafi saab.
the former demanded cash to say a few words on camera…….
we do not have a great opinion about such mercenary characters…
binu nair.. mumbai.
mr.myk,
those two pancham songs were gr8, that mukti song was really master piece, infact in later 70s he maintained gr8 balance b/w rafi ji & kk, he served his kheer to rafi sahab in later 70s, no kk song from late 70s cud matched d quality of songs like kya hua tera vaada, pyar hi ek nishaan, .
lp also did same thing, western numbs like paisa ye paisa, om shanti om, anthony gonsalvis obviously went to kk, but real quality songs like mujhe mat roko, darde-dil went to rafi sahab…
compositionwise some kk songs were gr8 beyond doubt, like hazaar raahen by khayam sahab & rim jhim gire sawan by pancham, but renditions were comparatively much weaker dats y we cant compare dem wd kya hua tera vaada & mujhe mat roko mujhe gane do…
im agree dat rafi-rdb pair was underrated, infact there 1st association from 1961-69 and second association 1977-80 were sheer magic.. and in between they gave some pathbreaking scores too..
regarding your comment–“I feel S-J gave better music to Dev than RD did.
” im agree wd u dat sj were next to sdb for dev followed by pancham and jaidev.. and honestly i feel dat jaidev’s association wd dev was better dan any of pancham’s association, none of d dev-rdb movie cud stand before jaidev-dev association wd exception of hare rama hare krishna..
“kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aaya” was simply masterpiece by jaidev,
navketan lost its sense of music & filmmaking post 71, they simply ruined their legecy of music by ignoring rafi sahab post 71,, and its a fact that moment they parted their ways wd rafi sahab they simply deteriorated..
myk and xxx, both of you have posted have very interesting comments, but this thread is devoted to pancham, and not to sd, sj, op, salil or sj. If we want to discuss these giants, we should switch to the threads created by souvik, instead of giving undue importance to rd. xxx, please do not bring in khayyam here; he was never prolific but the gems that he has composed will last for a few centuries. Unlike Naushad or OP, Khayyam was singer-neutral, at least as far as male singers were concerned, so his giving songs to Kishore is not surprising. But that may have more to do with Yash Chopra than anything else. Anyway, here’s Khayyam’s classic composition in Footpath for Talat:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=87rp-0ebZQk
And here’s his composition for an unlikely pair (Mukesh-Asha) in Phir Subah Hogi:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwiuj1BVzg
I challenge anyone to give a Mukesh-Asha duet that can surpass this one.
And with this, when we discuss sd, sj, salil or op, let’s switch to the respective threads.
Common belief is that after ‘Gambler’, Rafi sang for Dev Anand in ‘Manpasand’. However, before ‘Manpasand’, Rafi sang for Dev in ‘Jaaneman’ as well, released in 1976, the qawwali “Is mulaqat ka” composed by L-P.
I would like to mention two songs that showcase the RDB-Rafi magic:
Nagma Hamara (Bundalbaaz): This is one of Pancham’s best ever composed classical songs. Look at the taans that Rafi and Lata have incorporated into the song, pure genius. Excellent tabla theka, and the sarod is outstanding, the way it has been played in is very emotional and touching. RD learnt the sarod from ustad ali akbar khan and he has showcased the instrument very nicely in this song. The flute, santoor, veena and violins have also all been used in a good way. This is one of the best and most beautiful Lata-Rafi duets, very soulful, haunting and divine.
Pyar Hai Ik Nishan Qadmon Ka (Mukti): This is the Hindi version of “Modhumash Jaaye” which was sung by Pancham in Bengali. A person I know said this song would arguably make it to RD’s Top 5. It is a masterpiece composition, again very soulful, haunting and divine. Rafi’s rendition is excellent, very emotional, and he does full justice to the tune. This song has a classical flavour and Pancham has made nice use of the sitar, flute, santoor among other instruments.
In both songs, the lyrics by Majrooh and Anand Bakshi respectively are nice.
The RD-Rafi combo is very under-rated, they have a lot of variety in their association.
Mr. XXX, what do you think about the above two songs ?.
XXX-ji,
OPN tunes required vocal flexibility that only Rafi had. If you observe his melodies carefully, you can notice that they are unique and very bright and lilting in nature, along with the “sweet” factor that made him immortal. “Pukarta chala hoon main” has a signature intro piece on the guitar followed by Rafi’s very stylish rendition. Look at the way he not only matches Biswajeet on screen but puts his own stylish stamp on the composition. If another singer was singing they would probably end up shouting when reaching the high notes, but Rafi saab not only reaches the high notes with ease but its a soft rendition. Rafi was the only one who could have rendered “Toote hue khwabon ne”, no other singer had that capability which is why Salil turned to Rafi. With Rafi, no composer was restricted in creating tunes, the melody of this song is great, and Rafi takes it to such excellent heights. As you mentioned both songs have their highs and lows in notes, Rafi was the best at switching from high to low and singing songs with changing notes.
“Rahi Manwa” from Dosti is another one of those songs that only Rafi saab could sing. Look at the way he sings the stanza’s, from low to high, again out of the reach of any other singer, along with so much emotion. Pancham’s harmonica was excellent, as it was in “Hai apna dil to awara”, he really had a talent in playing this instrument. The part where he picks up from midway in the mukhda and proceeds to play in the interlude is very nice.
I would like to mention another Salil creation, “Dil Tadpe Tadpaye” from Poonam Ki Raat by Rafi saab, there are so many variations in the song that no other singer could have sung that, Salil turned to Rafi for this song and Rafi made this creation immortal.
As you mentioned, SDB was not in the best of health all the time in the 70’s, and others were in charge, so that may have led to Rafi saab not being used in his films. However what is surprising is that when SD was in a position to dictate terms, what made him choose KK over Rafi ?, even though he thought Rafi was the greatest singer ever. For example, giving songs to Kishore that should have gone to Rafi, SD rehearsed KK for “Badi sooni sooni hai”, before he went into a coma, this song was made for Rafi, not Kishore, Rafi would have made it one of the best songs of the decade. Anyhow, all this didn’t matter because SD’s best came through Rafi, but it would have been nice to see more of SD-Rafi in the 70’s. However, whenever Rafi sang for SD in the 70’s, it was a winner all the way. What is ironic is that, even if Pancham spread the Kishore wave, he used Rafi more than Dada during this period.
I think it was producer pressure that made Khaiyaam choose Kishore in his films. I don’t think Kishore did proper justice to Khaiyaam’s tunes. There is a film called Chambal Ki Kasam in 1979/80 in where there is a beautiful Lata/Rafi duet “Simti hui yeh ghadiyan” as well as Rafi’s “Sher ka husn ho”, both fantastic songs composed by Khaiyaam.
I agree, those Dev-RD films, music-wise, were not in the same league as SD-Dev films. The only ones that are great overall are HRHK and Joshila, the others have only one or two good songs, or are mediocre. I feel S-J gave better music to Dev than RD did.
Post 368:
re: Mukesh ji may i ask u, today – how many times u would in a
month listen to “Kabhai Kabhaie mere dil..” and how many times
u would “long” to hear tere mere sapnae or a din dhal jaaye or
chaundvin ka chaand ho or a suhaani raat dhal chuki or the many
songs which the legend rafi saab has sung to suit ur moods of the
time or the day…?
not using rafi saab is the film producers loss and that of everyone
who love “divine music”…….
binu nair…..the rafi foundation……mumbai..
thanx to khayyam sahab dat he gave some pride to mukeshji in his later years wd kabhie kabhie odrwise things wud have been worst for dis dear frnd of rafi sahab, among his(mukeshji) contemps rafi sahab was his fav, he admitted it many times…
thanx to rdb too, he also reserved some genuine gems for mukeshji like jis gali mein tera ghar na ho, ek din bik jayega maati k mol, suhani chandani raaten….
narayanan ji,,
khayyam sahab also did “thodi si bewafai ” wd rafi sahab like sdb & sj did in early 70s, might be on producers insistenece, might b some odr reasons, but it took nothing out of rafi sahab..
im agree wd u–“MDs who do not use Rafi sahab are at loss and not the otherway around.”
post 366
Dear XXX
Khayyam took Mukesh successfully in KabhieKabhie and it was dominated bythe singer well.But in case of Trishool and Thodisi bewafai it may be due to the producers as the actors were AB and RK.
He is no LP and the producers are no MKD n NH who are devotees of Rafi sahab.
Anyway the MDs who do not use Rafi sahab are at loss and not the otherway around.
naushad sahab was gr8 composer, if somone interested in some class music dan plz check out dat naushad ji leading dis area, classical gems like pandit jsraj ji many times open heartedly admired d work of naushad sahab.. even his later songs like “jab dil se dil takrata hai” were songs of utmost quality..
im a classical music student and i know many odrs from d esteemed music schools of delhi, all of dem including their gurus have very high regards for naushad ji, not only among singers, naushad sahab is lovable among classical dancers too..
he is immortal, it was only & only genious of his tune dat made ustaad bade gulam ali khan sahab to sing in mugleaazam..
Mr. myk
you mentioned some rdb-dev movies, first of all i want to mention that navketan banner lost its charm after 1971, that is why score of hare rama hare krishna was exception among your list,
heera panna– album with two catchy duets panna ki tamanna & bahut door chale jana hai
joshila– i think this was directorial venture of yas chopra, music was really awesome, kiska rasta dekhe, dil mein jo baaten hain, jo baat isharon mein kahi, kaap rahi main(rythm was awesome)…
ishq ishq ishq, bullet– mediocre albums..
warrant– two songs were nice ruk jana o jana, main tumse mohabbat karti hun…
but its a fact dat pancham never created same magic wd dev as his father created, one reason might b dat navketan’s standard of film making was also degraded post 71 as film making has lot to do with music , andr reason– dada was better than pancham…
and myk ji if u noticed that burman da neglected rafi sahab during early 70s as pancham spreaded kishore wave all over during early 70s. but wat went wrong in case of khayyam?? he utilised kishore for his 3 commercial gr8 movies kabhi kabhi, trishool & thodi si bewafai, i can understand dat dada was not well during those days and pancham might be manipulating the equations but why md of sensebility like khayam ignored rafi sahab???
anyways, 2morow i was listening d two gr8 songs of rafi sahab,, pukarta chala hoon main and toote hue khwabo ne.. mykji wats ur views on these two??
i think these two songs were beyond d capability of any singer,, juss go thru d notations, notations are not at all steady, some times notes are coming to lowre octave & than immediately going to higher octave sometimes landing beautifully on middle octave, i mean something extra odr than classical training were requirements of these songs, and only rafi sahab found eligible by salilda & opnji to render these highly modulated songs….
also salilda gave his most melodious solo to mukeshji but most challanging number from d same movie went to rafi sahab…
also wats ur views on d lp’s classic & inspirational gem “raahi manwa”, i think here we heard some odr rafi sahab who conveyed d msg through his ultrasoft voice, do xpress ur views on pancham’s piece of mouth organ also from d same number, i think he was best in dis business, dats y earlier dada employed him for “hai apna dil to aawara” and later lp for dosti..
post 364:
every composer and each individual has a style of his own..
as r.d.b would never have composed gems like : bhagwan;
Mana tadapat, Madhuvan mein and a host of numbers, naushad ji
also would not have made a chura liya hai or a gulabi aankhen
type songs to perfection.
the songs based on classical tunes surely will last “more” than
songs which are “not”..
both naushad and r.d.b. lived in an era and gave music according
to the times – to become immensely popular.
binu nair… the rafi foundation..
i agree with salil choudhury. rdb ranks among the best and naushad was overrated – he was very predictable. he lacked the versatility or ability impose himself onto the times rather than other way around. rdb had such genius that he could impose himself to even 1994 with 1942 love story. he didn’t let trash like aashiq banaya (that line repeated 20 times as criticized by lp) become the fad that music is today. naushad couldn’t even do that in the 70s. rdb’s music has no date whereas with naushad (people will still appreciate 50 yrs from now don’t get me wrong) – but you can easily tell he is from a certain period due to the style / fashion. with rdb – the only reason you can tell is because it is so good that no one has replicated since.
so i disgree with the article – naushad was a good composer, rdb was a gr8 composer.
I think they came the best when they togatter Naushand dilip Kummar and Mohd rafi,SJ or O P nayar shammi Kapoor and Mohd Rafi,SD Dev anand and Rafi
I would like to add something else, with SDB out of the picture in the Dev-RD films, there was no need for Dev to call Rafi to sing for him, especially when he made the switch to KK in the 70’s. However with SDB there, Rafi could have been called at the insistence of Dada, which happened in Gambler. However in Prem Pujari, TMS, YGH, and CR, that did not happen which is why SDB might have decided to go with what Dev wanted these times, even if SDB may have wanted Rafi to sing for Dev in these films.
RD created Rafi songs to go on Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh, both whose main voices were KK, so maybe at the back of his mind he wanted to create Rafi songs for Dev. So like Dada, he probably went along with what Dev had wanted.
It would have been interesting to see a Dev-Rafi-RD combo.
SDB rehearsed KK for “Badi Sooni Sooni Hai” from Mili before he went into a coma, RD then recorded the song. SD never had anything against KK, but what was the reason behind taking KK for songs that should have gone to Rafi ?. When SD was in bad health during the 70’s, others may have been in charge of his music, but when SD was in a position to dictate terms, what made him choose KK over Rafi, especially when he thought Rafi was the greatest singer.
When I mentioned that SJ were one of Dev’s best composers, I was taking SJ as one team, but if you want to look at it in another way, you can say they were two of his best composers, since S & J composed songs individually.
XXX-ji,
SJ composed excellent songs for Dev, they were one of his best composers. Those two duets are very nice, the one from Love Marriage shows how SJ set the trend and changed film music, the rhythm is unique and so is the orchestration.
Excellent description of the two gems from Gambler and Abhimaan. I agree, the SD-Rafi pair was in a class of its own. We know that SDB was not in the best of health during the 70’s, and others may have been in charge of his music, but when he was healthy, why didn’t he take Rafi saab more during that time ?. The combination of Rafi-SD would have been amazing in the 70’s, we got glimpses of it, but it should have been more.
SD turned to Kishore for the whole Sharmilee soundtrack, and he sang the songs well but Rafi saab would have done much more justice to those tunes. For example, notice “Kaise kahen hum”, KK cannot lift the song to great heights, his rendition of “Khilte hain gul yahan” is nice but is alright when compared to Lata’s rendition of the same song. Rafi is given no song on Dev for Prem Pujari, he gets the best song from Gambler filmed on Dev, but after that its no Rafi for Dev in Tere Mere Sapne, Yeh Gulistan Hamara and Chhupa Rustam, very surprising. Dev mentioned in an interview that he stuck to KK 1970 onwards because he realized in 1970 that he needed a more youthful voice to compete. However he missed the point that Rafi’s voice is the most youthful voice of all, and those KK-Dev songs in the 70’s are no match for what Rafi gave him previously. If this was Dev’s ideology, SD still had Rafi in mind for Gambler but after that he may have gone with what Dev had wanted, and the same with Pancham, when he composed for Dev, there is no Rafi, most likely that had more to do with Dev’s influence than anything else.
I mentioned Sharmilee, SD put KK on Shashi, in Naya Zamana, Jugnu and Phagun, SD put KK on Dharmendra, and even in Sagina, KK sang for Dilip, there is no Rafi in any of these albums considering he was the voice for all these actors and suited them the best. Abhimaan was the perfect time for SD to fix Rafi’s voice on Amitabh (as P. Haldar pointed out in one of his posts), but that didn’t happen. Rafi could suit any hero the best, and was the best choice to be the voice of every actor because he was the greatest.
Had SD lived it would have been interesting to see what he would have composed for Rafi in the later half of the 70’s decade. What is more interesting is that Pancham composed more for Rafi in the 1970-75 period than SD.
Coming to the Pancham-Rafi combo, Pancham is responsible for many of Rafi’s modern classics. Whenever the two came together, it was experimentation, innovativeness, melody all at its best. Pancham experimented a lot in his Rafi songs, I will give some examples soon.
XXX-ji, Pancham composed for Dev in the following films (there may be some more):
HRHK
Shareef Badmash
Joshila
Heera Panna
Ishq Ishq Ishq
Warrant
Bullet
Darling Darling
Swami Dada
Anand Aur Anand
Hum Naujawan
What do you think about these films music-wise ?. Compare the quality of music in these films with that of what SDB composed for Dev before. The music in these films was nice, but I don’t think it reaches the SDB-Dev level. Also had Rafi been there in these films, the output would have been more better.
mr.myk,,
nice description have given by you on those 5 legendry songs…
im agree dat dev was lucky dat he got burman da for navketan,, also wenever i think of dev 0f 60s only sdb songs comes into my mind,, but wen i thinks of dev of 50s odr dan sdb’s gr8 songs,, d two most romantic duets comes into my mind immediately, both by sj
1.yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum(hemant da-didi)
2.dhire dhire chal chand gagan mein(raf sahab-didi)… sheer magic by sj.. juss listen wen rafi sahab sung “WO kya cheez thi milake nazar pila di” in second song.. great singer!!!
now regarding those two gems:::
teri bndiya re — no doubt best duet of 1973,, song starts wd roopak taal theka in tabla, then rafi sahab hums so melodiously,, i rate dis duet over any of lp’s bobby duets & rd’s ykb duets, dada as usually used sitar, santoor,tabla, basoori so beautifully, this song is romantic but on d odr side gives divine feeling too,, juss like conversation wd god,, juss listen to santoor music,, im really surprised dat how dada made dat much divine song in the era of “teeera tara tara tara & aah hahah hahahah” and no doubt rafi sahab was best person to convey d divine & romantic feel of d song,, didi also sung really well,,rafi sahab & dada burman,, both were maestros wd clean & divine conscience thats y most of their outputs were so silken,, unfortunately they didnt work much in 70s, but wenever they worked they created magic…..
mera mann tera pyaasa– needless to say anything abt this,, wdin gambler’s music there was all vs one, i mean “mera mann tera> dil aaj shayar hai + choori nahi mera dil hai+ odrs”.. as i said earlier that kk was nowhere close to rafi-sd pair,, specially their sweetness.. antras of dis song were sheer magic.. and as usually rafi sahab added his silken touch to d sweetness of d song…
now regarding rafi-rdb pair,, it was gr8 pair too,, gave some gr8 numbers to industry but this pair was not as magical as rafi-op, rafi-sdb, rafi-naushad(best pair), rafi-roshan, rafi-madan & rafi-sj,, but rafi sahab created magic wd rdb too, like gulabi aakhen, kya hua tera vaada, diwana mujsa nahin.. & many odrs.. and as you said earlier dat rafi sahab- rdb pair was gr8 mix of voice & music…….
How would have been “chingari koi badhke” – in the soft
mellifluous, melodious voice of the the ultimate singer mr. shoeb
(post) 354 ?
and imagine if r.d.b had not recorded songs of rafi saab first and
not given to Kishore ji ………..for rendering them, how it would
have been?
rafi lovers will add more songs to this list; i am sure and more sure.
binu nair. the rafi foundation.. cell 9833 250 701 .. mumbai..
respected guru murthy ji,,
sdb do came wd excellent albums in 70s too wd very high quality standards,, only there was difference of rafi sahab.. odrwise tunes & shayari were itself of very high standards..few of dem wre abhimaan,sharmilee,tere mere sapne,gambler,chupke-chupke, milli… dada & madanji gave songs wd high lyrical value in their later years too.. like dada’s teri bindiya,mera mann tera pyaasa, jaise radaha ne mala japi shyam ki… & madanji’s tum jo mil gaye ho, tum bin jeevan, rasme ulfat…….
XXX-ji,
You have mentioned five of the best solos of not just the sixties, but of all time. I fully agree, those five solos were enough to prove Rafi saab’s superiority not only over the year but the decade as well. Imagine, along with that, the same year and decade, he had tons of other gems from SJ, MM, Roshan, LP, KA, OPN, Ravi etc, what a brilliant singer. This is not only confined to the sixties, but other years/decades as well. Rafi is unmatched brilliance in the 40’s/50’s/60’s/70’s/80’s, can any other male singer claim to match that ?.
I will briefly write on the songs you mentioned, so many things can be written on these five gems:
Tere mere sapne: One of the most romantic songs ever created, a beautiful melody crafted by Dada, full of emotions, Manohari’s sax is one of the highlights, along with the vintage Dada santoor, guitar, tabla etc. Rafi is just haunting in the whole song and in the “O mere jeevan saathi” line, none could have created the impact he did with this composition. This is a masterpiece composition. Bhupinder chose this song when asked what song best conveys the feeling of togetherness.
Din dhal jaaye: Another emotional gem, an amazing renditon by the Saatwan Sur. The tune is very touching, SD uses minimal orchestration and comes up with a winner. When Rafi sings, you can’t help but be mesmerized. In this rendition, Rafi’s rendition is soft, yet powerful, that was one of his amazing abilities as a singer.
Kya se kya ho gaya: Look at the pathos, range and emotional impact of Rafi in this song, and in the lines “Dil ne kya, na saha, bewafa” and “Hona hai, aur kya, bewafa”, no other singer in this world, past or present could reach such heights. The use of the chorus by SDB adds to the charm of the song. Shailendra’s lyrics in all these three gems from Guide are excellent.
Aise to na dekho: One of the best Rafi songs ever, look at the romance, smoothness, ease, confidence, strength, delicate nature, a very crisply composed song, what a masterpiece. Rafi also displays his teasing ability so well, his voice is magestic. This composition is based on Rabindra sangeet.
Kahin bekhayal hokar: SDB composed a ghazal that is as good as any ghazal from any composer (putting MM on a different pedestal). Another haunting gem, this composition could not have been attempted by any other singer except Rafi, since it had so many variations, and highs and lows. The tabla in this song is outstanding, vintage SD.
Dev Anand is lucky to have gotten these five songs in one year, as well as all those other Rafi-SDB songs. As much as I love the music of SJ’s Suraj, I think Guide deserved to win the Filmfare and even National Award for its music. Rafi saab won it for his Jaikishan gem “Baharon phool barsao”, and it would have been nice as well if he won it for any one of his Guide solos.
I fully agree, 1942 ALS was indeed inspired by Dada’s music. It showed that SDB’s legacy will live forever as long as music is alive. Also, notice how the line of “Kyun naye lag rahe…” in “Pyar hua chup ke se” is similar to Pancham’s own “Heera to pehle hi kisi aur…” from “Panna Ki Tamanna” by Lata-Kishore from Heera Panna. Agreed, Pancham was also amazing in his original music.
In 1971, SDB saves the creme-de-la-creme for Rafi in Gambler, “Mera man tera pyaasa”. In 1973, the best duet from Abhimaan was Lata-Rafi’s “Teri bindiya re”. This song is also one of the best Lata-Rafi duets ever.
XXX-ji, I would like to know from you:
a) Your views on the above mentioned two songs in the 70’s, from Gambler and Abhimaan ?.
b) How you rate the SDB/Rafi combo vs the RDB/Rafi combo ?. SDB/Rafi was in a different class all-together, but how about the songs Pancham created for Rafi ?. We have a lot of variety here as well, from romantic, pathos, to classical-based, qawwali’s, devotional, philosophical to all those wonderful solo’s and duets, probably Pancham’s most popular song ever “churaliya hai tumne”, those pop/rock/western-based ballads to the traditional indian based gems. Rafi and RDB spelt melody all the way. Also, Rafi won the National and Filmfare Award under Pancham’s baton. The very best of RDB involves Rafi saab.
well friends i think there are many songs which are sung by kishore Kumar which if sung by rafi sahab it would have been a great hit
Rafi sahab was a legendary singer , there was a time when music directors used to prefer only and only mohd. Rafi.
he was a great singer as well as a great human.he was having the in depth knowledge of classical singing.
Rafi sahab has sung almost every type of songs.
even if there were no songs of rafi with rdb then also it would not had made any difference in the popularity of Rafi
there were many MDs who were more talented then RDB and they only preferred Rafi.
today peoples and even some of the singers give more preference to RDB music over other such veterans MDs
Rafi sahab has sung about 24000 songs in his career so 100 or 500 songs with RDb will not make any difference to Rafi sahab
Refer post no. 349 & 350. In fact, SDB’s excellent music extended up to 1969 Aradhana. How can any one forget music of Guide, Kala Bazaar, Kala Paani, Paying Guest, Teen Deviyan, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Talaash, Jewel Thief, Aradhana, etc. After 1969, SDB though gave good music but could not match his earlier standards. In fact, films like Sagina, Tyaag were disappointing. Reasons may be Dada’s illness, uninspiring lyrics or may be even RDB could have composed these songs.
myk ji,,
wat a gr8 write-up!!,,
im agree wd u,, pancham juss provided d gr8 heights to d experiment done by his father,,, actually sdb & sj were pioneers of fusion music,,
now regarding ur question who is more gifted– no doubt sachin da,, more talented– sachin da,,, better composer– sachin da,, only field in which he leads sachin da is those gr8 rythm patterns
yes rdb was gr8 and outstanding talent but his father was miles away,, his father never intermingled personal & professional life,
rafi sahab aur dada ki jodi ka b apna ek alag mukaam hai,,
myk ji wats ur views on these 1965 rafi-sd solos??
1.tere mere sapne
2.din dhal jaye
3.kya se kya ho gya
4.kahin bekhayal
5.aise to na dekho…..
i think these 5 solos were enuf for rafi sahab to prove his superiroty in 1965(may b over d whole decade) over odrs.. im feeling really pity for odrs,, wat wud b d pic wd op’s mere sanam & sj’s arzoo,jaanwar & odrs from 1965…
also mr.myk, dont u think that rdb’s come back music aftr 10 years(1942als) years was inspired by dada’s music?,, and wat a gr8 music it was by rdb
and ya, dat song from ijazat “khali hath shaam aayi hai” is a teen taal version of dada’s “tere bin soone nayan hamare”,, similar notatios again…. but no doubt pancham was gr8 his original work is juss brilliant like in teesri manzil,padosan, amar prem,aandhi,kudrat,masoom….. and list goes on and on……. but sdb was really baap…
Just on a side note, modern technology was even used before the late seventies and onwards, but when I mentioned it in my post, I was referring to when the stereo effect came into play.