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Din Dhal Jaaye … Haaye .. Raat Na Jaaye

This article is written by Mr. Shrirang Nawathe, Muscat. 00968 92 89 90 89

Mohd Rafi and Dev AnandWhile viewing the song, DIN DHAL JAAYE HAAYE… RAAT NA JAA.YE. TU TO NA AAYE TERI..YAAD SATAAYE … from the 1965 film GUIDE, one can easily be filled up by number of thoughts. Even after listening the song NON STOP 3 horus, I still have desire for ONCE MORE…. The beauty of the song lies in the fact of “Dedicated Team Work”. Every member of the team had contributed the best and therefore the product has come out with the tag of Excellent Quality. The quality which lasts for the decades and centuries.

What is the beauty of the song? Beautiful things cannot be expressed in words or for that matter the dictionary of the words is not enough to express the simplest forms of beauty of nature. It just has to be experienced. However, I think of some inherent factors which made the song a Quality Product. Beauty of the song is its melody,voice, music, lyrics, besides direction, presentation and performance by the Legendary Artists.

Dev Anand and Mohd Rafi
Mohd Rafi and Dev Anand

Coming down to the song, one can observe that, Rafi Sahab had done full justice to the given situation and to create the moods as expressed by Dev Anand in the film. It is clear that, Rafi Sahab got himself involved to such an extent that, we hardly are able to distinguish whether the song is sung by Dev Anand Sb or Rafi Sahab. What an understanding of the situation and matching of the voice by Rafi Sahab..just unparallel.

The extra melodious low voice was maintained by Rafi Sahab. Throughout the song which produces great impact on our minds whenever we listen the song. Even to-day, the voice of Rafi Sahab creates such vibrations in our nerve cells that, after more than 40 years of recording of the song, we get moved by the theme and situation and tears just roll down on our cheeks unknowingly and we get convinced with Dev Anand’s situation.

Here, equal credit goes to two stalwarts namely, Shailendra and SD Burman. The mysteries of the life were revealed in the simplest words by great Shailendra and this was his extraordinary quality.

SD Burman too did not leave any stone unturned. He created such a melodious, meaningful, lovely music to give due justice to the song situation. A typical SDB style reflected and is quite visible to a music lover, when one listens Flute is used so effectively that, it altogether keeps you going with the song in the same moods. Similarly, use of Saxophone was also a masterpiece. SDB denied signing new contracts when he was busy with the music composition of GUIDE just to give full justice to the job in hand. This shows the total dedication of a music director. Therefore, it is quite obvious that, music created with such dedication has to leave an everlasting impact on music lovers’ minds.

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In this song, the helplessness of Dev Anand was exactly expressed by Shailendra right from the beginning. It is evident when we listen the first line of the song i.e. DIN DHAL JAAYE HAI RAAAT NA JAAYE. In fact, we can not ignore the classic efforts put by Vijay Anand directing this song. The helplessness is reflected at every moment of the song. Not only that, but also it gets worsened gradually as the song advances towards completion.

For instance, the almost empty bottle and glass are shown in the hands of Dev Anand & he was shown sitting on the floor whereas his colleague is shown sitting on a chair. Similarly, the door of Wahida Rehmaan’s room was shown locked in the beginning to express her helplessness. These are classic indications and reveals the talents of the director.

Rafi Sahab was all time great and this was proved once again when he had sung this beautiful tragedy song. Rafi Sahab had sung many tragedy songs for that matter, but, this song has a speciality that, the justice to the job was done by every member of the team to produce the everlasting effects.

Therefore, listening DIN DHAL JAAYE..HAI RAAT NA JAAYE.. ultimately leaves only and only feeling of ONCE MORE… in our minds…

Hats off to SD Burman, Shailendra, Rafi Sahab, Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman & last but not the least, VIJAY ANAND who GUIDED the team in such a way that, GUIDE achieved a status of a mile stone in the Hindi Film World, winning 7 film fare awards in the year 1967.


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117 Blog Comments to “Din Dhal Jaaye … Haaye .. Raat Na Jaaye”

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  1. myk says:

    Ref. Post 47:

    Manish,

    I tried searching for the article (which had the quote from SDB) that I read a few years ago, but couldn’t find it, maybe it doesn’t exist on the net anymore. However I found another article that mentions the quote and more. It’s a nice article, and an interesting read:

    http://www.geocities.com/~sm0e/R-madanMohan.txt

  2. P. Haldar says:

    xxx, you and myk have listed several SD-rafi gems in another thread, but you missed out on a really good one. I am mentioning it now because this song also gives you the “sooni” feeling, a feeling of loneliness. In this song, rafi prolongs the word “kahaa…an” to give a dard-bhari experience. Unfortunately, this song did not get the same fame as “hum bekhudi” or “din dhal jaaye”, but when you hear it, you wonder if it is any less. Sadly enough, this song got somewhat overshadowed by another beauty from the same film (hint: the competition was from unexpected quarters). I’d request you to start a thread on the song with a detailed analysis.

  3. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 45:

    myk, I think you are right. I remember that dada was very impressed with the music of heer ranjha and naushad with the beauty from anpadh. Anyway, I am posting an interesting mail from one of my friends, who is a great sd fan; this may give a partial answer to one of your earlier queries on sd’s tabaliya.

    ————–

    Here is an interesting fact: In the case of almost all Hindi and Beng. songs with the same tunes, the Beng song was the original. However, in the case of Jaane kya tune kahi from Pyaasa, it was the Hindi that came first. Later, when the song became a big hit, Roby Guha Mojumdar, who had taken talim in Purab-ang thumri from SDB when the latter was a Calcuttan and who had penned the lyrics of many of SDB’s Beng songs, persuaded Korta to record the song in Bengali. The old man initially refused, saying that a Bengali copy of a Hindi hit would never be a success, esp. when Geeta had greater market value than himself as a singer. However, Roby Babu’s wish prevailed and he himself wrote the lyrics to fit the tune (Mono dilona bondhu, mono niloje shudhu; ami ki niye thaki). This story was narrated to me by Roby Babu himself. I was first taken to his house on Hazra Road by my singer-friend Bablu (around 1986-87) and later became a frequent visitor. In his house I met Brojen Biswas, the blind tabaliya, who was SDB’s regular accompanist since his early days.

  4. Manish Kumar says:

    myk,

    do you have that article where sd said it? it’d be a good read? seeing that both great mds sadly died the same year – i hope madan mohan was alive to hear that. it hurt him to know he didn’t get the appreciation he deserved. i hope such remarks coming from a great like sd would cheer him – but it was probably too late.

    as for rafi leaving hurt – sd did acknowlege even in 1970s who his best singer was and what his best songs were – so i hope rafi realized sd did it to give kishore a break, someone sd had personally & closely seen not get enough assignments for 23 years.

  5. myk says:

    Ref Post 40:

    Mr. Haldar, wasn’t it Naushad who mentioned he’d trade his entire life work for “Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha” from Anpadh ?. You are right, SD really respected MM as well, when asked about Heer Ranjha, he said:

    “I could not have scored Heer Ranjha with half the felicity Madan Mohan did.”

    That is a huge compliment coming from the grand master of music. I am having a hard time believing that some songs of Guide were composed by Jaidev.

    I love your analogy about Rafi’s 96 not out “retired hurt” with SD. This innings is much better than many centuries. How about Rafi’s century with RD ?. This innings also consists of many awesome fours, sixes, glorious cover drives, cuts, hooks, pulls, excellent straight drives etc.

  6. souvik says:

    Sunil Dutt is one of the cultured actors of bollywood who always has been respected by a large section of the filmlovers. He got decent role in Bimal Roy’s Sujata, opposite Nutan,

  7. A S MURTY says:

    narayanan sir, ref post no. 31… I do not know the names of any of the musicians of today who sit on judgement on reality shows that showcase rubbish noise calling it music and while i had watched it for mr abhas joshi singing rafi sahab’s songs, i just happened to see the above episode and i immediately lost all further interest in the programme. there is no point in discussing these so-called mds of today who have little or no idea of the real music and unfortunately the media gives them all the unwarranted importance. but then, like ‘power’ money corrupts too. leave alone today’s mds and the singers of the present day bollywood, no one could have given the song such a singular and unique dimension that rafi sahab has provided and it has withstood the test of times, just as thousands of other golden songs from rafi sahab’s matchless voice.

  8. myk says:

    Ref Post 34:

    Binu-ji, Thank you for the reply, and taking the time to ask Yogesh-ji the questions, much appreciated.

    The Rafi gem from Us Paar should once again shut myths that Dada Burman could not compose western-based songs. Many say that he left his western-based songs to Pancham, and that he wasn’t strong in this genre. The truth is, that Dada Burman was strong in every genre.

    Kishore did a great job with “Badi Sooni Sooni Hai”, but as Mr. Haldar mentioned one time, had Rafi sang it, the song would have been an all-time classic.

  9. P. Haldar says:

    While we are on the topic of SD’s assistants, a sudden thought came to my mind. Dev crooned “abhi na jaao chhod kar” to stop his beloved from leaving, and then years later he told her “ruk…ruk…ruk”. What a fall! Sorry, I’ll be more sober from now on.

  10. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 25:

    mr. jai, when I said that rafi retired hurt at 96, I meant the 96 songs he delivered under dada’s baton. I used the word “hurt” to convey the hurt feelings of rafi saab when he was deprived of completing his well-deserved century. If after composing the tune of “badi sooni sooni re”, dada had said, “rofi, tu gaa”, that one would have gone for a sixer. Rafi would have taken the rough hues off that song, and you’d be talking about that song in the same breath as his other famous “sooni” songs, including this one.

    I have compared Rafi’s innings with dada to Vishy’s 97 not out against the fearsome West Indian attack at the Chepauk. That’s what Narayanan ji was referring to in his post. Andy Roberts bowling at his fastest on a bouncy wicket and Vishy goes on the backfooot to guide the ball through square with a turn of his wrists. The ball went so fast that no one had a chance to move; all that they could do was to stand helplessly and admire the artistry. That’s “mera man tera pyaasa”, one of the last SD-rafi gems.

  11. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 33:

    mr. iyer, please don’t get me wrong. I consider jaidev to be one of the unsung heroes of film music. I would include at least two of his solos, if not three, in Rafi’s top 25 list. What I didn’t like about your post is the allegation that dada blackmailed dev to throw jaidev out. Just because we love jaidev, we don’t have to assassinate the character of someone whom stalwarts like naushad, op, mm, roshan and salil admired, and who played a big role with almost every major playback singer.

    “hum bekhudi mein” was not jaidev’s composition. I clearly remember what jaidev himself had said on the jaimala program. He said that he heard a Rajasthani naat (some say it’s a muezzin’s call to prayer) and relayed the tune to dada. Dada then sang it himself in Bengali and then had Rafi deliver it in Kalapani.

    What xxx has said about mm assisting sd is true (though xxx says he is from genX, I think he is an old monk). You can’t imagine the kind of respect that the old man had for mm; once he had said that he was willing to exchange his entire life’s oeuvre for mm’s score in only one film! Then why would he go all out to destroy Jaidev, who was one of the most talented assistants that the music world has seen? Other than your post, I haven’t read about the guide episode anywhere else. In fact, what I have read totally contradicts what you have said. There has been some noise about “kahin bekhayal hokar” from teen deviyan. The rd camp tried to sell it as a pancham composition, but I have serious doubts about that. But if someone puts a gun to my head and asks me to select one of the assistants, I’d say “jaidev”. The only problem is that jaidev was not assisting dada then.

    Here’s a sobering thought for all of you who want to join the dada-bashing bandwagon. Post Aradhana, when everyone knows for a fact that jaidev and pancham were not around assisting sd, which assistant created the music for gambler, ipzn, tere mere sapne, sharmilee and abhiman? What the old man created lying on his sick bed, many md’s of the 70s couldn’t create when in the pink of health.

  12. biman baruah says:

    Dear Sri Shrirang Nawathe Ji

    very nice, well research and heart touching article.

    It is the best song ever picturised on Dev Saheb sung by Rafi Saheb with association of SDB, Shailendra and Vijay Anand. Director Vijay Anand will be recognised forever as best director for song picturisation in HF.

    SDB used the voice of Rafi for three solos in Guide: “Din Dhal Jaye”, “Tere Mere Sapne” and “Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya” and SDB openly admired for which no other singer never matched .

    The association of SDB,Rafi and Dev Anand created some everlasting songs in HFM (in the films like Nau Do Gyarah, Kala Bazar, Kalapani, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Guide, Jewel Thief, Teen Devian, Gambler, etc.)

    with warm regards 2 all rafians

    biman baruah
    sivasagar, assam

  13. xxx says:

    haldar ji,
    “jane wo kaise log the” indeed shows tagore’s influence on dada. im agree wd u,composer of dada’s caliber would not rely on jaidevji for his raaga based compositions, atleast not for well known bilawal whose sargam is equally well known to music lovers as well as to common man, this raag is directly or indirectly known to everyone.

    jaidevji & pancham might helped dada during his compositions but overall music direction was of dada only, madan mohan & manna dey assisted this maestro during their early days and let themselves groomed in an innovative manner.

    i think enough is enough, some wants to bring down naushadji by simply ignoring his gr8 contribution to 40s,50s & 60s and saying that he cudnt surivive in 70s, odrs want to bring down dada by saying that his assistants did all the tricks. i really dn know why all this happening here with these two greatest composers.

  14. Well Binuji, Both songs are difficult to sing. Of course, raising the voice in “Bhagawan” and maintaining the soft low voice in “Din Dhal Jaye” especially with those slight raising and lowering and dragging buit still maintaining the melody, we can say demnaded quite opposite requirements.

    Regarding MDs not using Rafi much in the fiftees, well, the reasons are obvious. The leading heroes of that period had their own favourite Singers like Raj Kapoor had Mukesh / Mannadey, Dilip Kumar had Talat, Dev Anand had KK / Hemant, Pradeep Kumar had Hemant, etc. Heroes like Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, etc. were yet to find a permanent place. Only Bharat Bhushan and Guru Dutt had Rafi as their main Singer and among MDs, OPN and Naushad were using Rafi regularly. The success of Baiju Bawra revealed the range of Rafi. Subsequently, songs from Mother India, Vachan, CID, Naya Daur, etc. established Rafi as the No. 1 Singer so much so that even Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Pradeep Kumar started using Rafi as their Singer. The arrival of heroes like Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, etc. forced MDs to use Rafi as their main Singer by late fiftees. And of course, in the sixties Rafi was the main Singer for almost all the heroes except of course Raj Kapoor.

  15. k b iyer says:

    Somebody has said it correctely. FAILURE IS A ORPHAN, SUCCESS IS A BASTARD. More people will come forward to father a successful attempt. There are so many unknown artists, and tecnitions whose work comes out in somebody’s name, and they silentely suffer hoping to make it one day. And also there are groups and lobby, where they don’t allow anybody else to enter. Very few have survived in these man eating man Industry. Madan Mohan, and Jaidev were good friends, they shared booz and and creative ideas imagined alike. MM was also a victime of these groups and failed commercially. Kishore Kumar has replaced Rafi’s voice in the film “Paisa ye Paisa” and was not ready to shoot untill he playbacked the song.(K.K was the hero of this film) Rafi sab was replaced several times by Anil Biswas for Talat Mehmood. This is a routine in film Industry. If you are powerful and has got God father, only can survive. Dev sab and Dada Burman had very close emotional relation, and that is why JD told that Dada had emotionaly blackmailed Dev to remove JD, and he did it for his Guru. Every Music Director is talented, classically trained, but to strike at a perticular tune at the right time is essential. When they get a right tune irrespective of the source, they grab it and nobody is exceptional here.

  16. binus2000 says:

    what and where is the difference when one tries to sing two songs:
    the immortal bhagwan and the daisy fresh ” din dhal jaaye raat…

    which among the two is more difficult?..

    please try…

    binu nair.

  17. binus2000 says:

    myk: this is re ur query….

    i) Song ae mere man, mai hoon agan : fully composed
    and recorded by s.d.b. (dada burman ) confirms our friend
    shri yogesh goud the lyricist from goregoan , mumbai.

    ii) Badi sooni sooni hai : out and out Kishore song, practiced by
    him in music sittings. the lyricist : yogesh and s.d.b. had kk in
    mind when the song was concieved.

    my rafi fan has almost ditched me re the aradhana song , roop
    tera mastana and meri sapnon ki raani, sung by rafi.

    i strongly think that such two songs do not exist; and i
    request the rafi fan – not to indulge in gossips re great legends….

    binu nair… the rafi foundation, mumbai…9833 250 701

  18. k b iyer says:

    I am not here to start a controversey, since main people involved like Dada, Jaidev, Shailendra, and Goldie are no more. I knew Jai dev personally and he told me that he was replaced from Guide, which was a big set back of his carrier, and two of his compositions were used with little modification by Dada. On an earlier occation, for the film Kalapani, gazal “Hum bekudi ” was also originally composed by Jai dev. Film Industry has certain unwritten rules and style. They need successful artists than talented, that is why Madan Mohan, Jaidev, Roshan and Khayyam could not survive, because they failed in marketting. Jaidev , a Punjabi was the diciple of Sarod mestro Ustad Ali Ali akbar Khan, and Ustad was invited to compose music for Navketan and he brought Jai dev as his assistant Music director. But Ustad was not interested in film music, and then came Dada, but Jai dev remained and was permenent empolyee of Navketan in their Music department, and was cheif Assistant Music director to Dada in all Navketan films. Chetan Anand introduced Jai dev as independent Music director, and with Dada’s consent Dev signed Jai dev for Hum Dono, HD turned out to be big musical hit for Navketan, and so Dev sighned Chetan Anand and JD for next production, which latter turned out to be Guide. Chetan Anand and Vyjayantimala walked out because of subject. JD composed two songs for Guide, which was used with liitle modification. Bilawar is a rag very close to JD. He is the only Music Director who had bagged four times Sur Singar Samsad award for classical songs in Hindi Film, twice Nation award for best Music, playback singer award twice for his composition. Don’t under estimate him, he was not powerfull, didn’t had any lobby
    his contribution to Dada was much bigger.He is the only Music Director who was not repeated by his producer inspight of giving a Musical Hit. Comming back to “Din Dal Jaye . this song was selected by Times Music ,musical division, Of Times of India as one among their list 100 Millenium songs in 2000. Other song they selected was “Abhi na jaao” (Hum Dono), which they gave ten out of ten marks saying that its a perfect song.Reason given:- best lyrics by one of the best in the industry Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Music by talented Jaidev, based on Raag Yaman which was used for Romantic sequence, and was a evening Raaga( here Hero Heroine meet in the evening) was apt, Floute in the song was played by Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasya, and beautiful santoor by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, and of cource most beautiful and best playbacking voice Rafi- Asha. There is a unreleased film “Khunnus” which had a beautiful gazal composed by JD and sung by Rafi, and Rafi sab has held this song as good as of Guide and Hum Dono . that tells all.

  19. krishnarafian says:

    Good Article!!! I love this song many times after 2 bacardi large with a good Gold flake king in hand.. Rafi saab many moods one great gentleman. Jai Rafi saab not only for your voice but your humanity and behaviour too.

  20. Narayanan says:

    Very nice article on my Favourite song which brings tears to all music lovers.
    Murty sir told me that when some youngster talent singer sang this song in one of the reality show one of the judges told him why you selected a simple song?.
    Murty sir pl highlight who this musically deaf judge made such stupid comments.
    I personally cannot think of any tribute to Rafi sahab or Burmanda without atleast 8 songs in list of 28 songs played by the duo.
    Yes Haldar da like G.R.Vishwanath scoring 97 runs in that agressive innings at Madras which gave us victory Rafi sahab has scored that 96 or 97 to give us the best hits from the Navketan banner….

  21. myk says:

    Ref Post 20:

    Mr. Haldar, I agree with you regarding MM’s and Roshan’s top singers during that period, but they did also use Rafi, maybe not as much as others, but I don’t think it had anything to do with their different opinion on Rafi at the time.

    The point I was trying to make is that I find it hard to believe both Roshan and MM who later on used Rafi so much, didn’t take him as much earlier because they weren’t convinced of his talent. I think taking others and not Rafi (even if they wanted him) could be for various reasons (as I mentioned in the previous post). I mentioned that these composers were Rafians which is why I find it hard to believe they didn’t take him as much earlier because they didn’t find him as great.

    You can look at it from another way, that because of what they did with Rafi later, we “now” term them as “Rafi composers”, and maybe earlier they weren’t inclined towards him for their own reasons. However I find it hard to believe that these composers who turned fully to him later, had a different opinion of him earlier. I’m sure all along they knew he was the greatest, but due to various reasons they used others.

    As for SDB, being another Rafi composer, I am surprised why he didn’t take Rafi as much as earlier, when he thought Rafi was the greatest. I find it hard to believe he or others recognized Rafi’s supremacy later on (if that’s the case).

    What I think is that all these greats, MM, Roshan, SDB knew Rafi was the best from the time he made his mark, but somehow their thoughts didn’t turn into actions until after. Or maybe they weren’t like Naushad and OPN who recognized Rafi’s supremacy very early and used him a lot from early on.

    Like I said I find it hard to believe these genius composers didn’t recognize Rafi’s talent early on as to use him a lot, because they all fully switched to him later on. Not using Rafi could be due to various other reasons, and nothing to do with talent. Maybe since Talat was the top singer for a short period, due to various reasons they stuck to him, even if they wanted to use Rafi, and could use him (the way they did) in the 50-54 period, because of other factors. Once the mid fifties came, they switched over to Rafi.

    I agree, the OPN-Rafi combo was very successful during the 50-64 period and ofcourse later on.

    What do you think ?

  22. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 23:

    xxx, well said. dada bashing has become a popular sport (no pun intended). For someone who took talim from Ustad Allaudin Khan, arguably the greatest figure in Hindustani classical music in the last century, to have to rely on Jaidev for composing in raag bilawal must be something. To compose in raag bilawal, all you have to do is to refer to the national anthem. Junior burman gave his parichay in that raga. By the way, I was thinking of the second line from Jaane woh kaise (pyaasa), which goes like this: hum ne to jab kaliya mangi knato ka haar mila. Isn’t it eerily similar to “punjab sindh gujarat maratha” from the national anthem?

  23. Aseer says:

    Interesting story Iyer ji.

  24. KS Ramachandran says:

    “Din Dal Jaaye” is one of the very many difficult songs of Rafi Sahab simply because this song demands dhard, expression from the whole heart out, clarity and above all that softness without being volatile, to bring that evening soulful expression of a true lover. All this and many more demanding qualities of a singer can undoubtedly be brought by our one and only Rafi Sahab..
    Regads
    Chandan
    9841071388

  25. Let us not forget that though Talat had very good songs in Jahanara under MM, two songs of Rafi also stood out in this film, solo “Kisiki Yaad Me” and duet with Suman “Baad Muddat”. Perhaps MM thought that these two long and soft songs required Rafi.

  26. Jai says:

    P Haldar: “Rafi retired hurt at 96, which included several sixers and fours, the likes of which I doubt you will ever see in film music.”

    I didn’t get your slang – please explain.

    btw…Mr Iyer never questioned SDB’s talent as a composer who could produce hit after hit – he only suggested that even SDB had to be watchful of FICKLE forces in the industry. The SAME fickle forces that overlooked Kishore in 50s, Rafi in early 70s, Madan Mohan for most of his career, RDB during his last years, etc.

  27. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 15:

    Mr. Iyer, very interesting story, but it doesn’t tally with the reports I’ve read on Guide. Jaidev had stopped assisting SD in the early 60s. I’m sure Jaidev, along with pancham and n. dutta, were the brains behind many of sd’s tunes, but you cannot survive in the cut-throat world of film music for 30 years if you don’t have super talent. The interesting thing about sd is that no matter who left him — sahir, lata, jaidev or pancham — he not only kept producing quality music, but also “hit” music.

    SD was not in good health while Guide was being made. But Dev Anand has mentioned several times that he waited dada to recover. And here’s an excerpt from one of his recent interviews:

    —————-
    Q: Your skills as a man-manager are well known. You got the best work out of a short-tempered eccentric like composer Sachin Dev Burman.

    Ans: His greatest compositions were created in the most informal sittings – Dada Burman playing around on the harmonium for hours, and I huddled next to him, rejecting one tune, and egging him on before approving another. It was a great feeling. But he had to be handled carefully. We once recorded a ghazal by an Urdu poet – which Dada composed and got Mohammed Rafi to sing. After the recording, Goldie and I thought it fell short of the mark. Baat bani nahi jo banne chaahiye thi. But we didn’t dare tell Dada right away. That night, I called him and asked how he felt about it. Bahut achha hua Dev, he said. I said, Dada usme kuch zarasi baat reh gayi hai, but I can’t explain what exactly is missing. He said, Nahi, nahi, bahut achha hua hai, and banged the phone down. I sensed he was mildly irritated, but also knew I’d succeeded in sowing a doubt in his mind. And the very next morning, he called to say he was coming over that evening. He came, played the harmonium for a little while and hummed the first notes of a new tune. And I said, that’s it. We summoned lyricist Shailendra who wrote the mukhda, and right there was born the famous Guide song: Din dhal jaaye, raat na jaaye.

  28. xxx says:

    ref to p 15::

    k b iyer ji,

    are you sure about your story? i read somewhere dev’s interview where he mentioned that he was eagerly wanted sdb to do the score of guide, but dada after completing one song refused to continue bcoz of ill health, he said to dev that hire some odr composer, but dev also refused to do so.

    in d same interview dev told d story of “din dhal jaaye” they already recorded the song with rafi sahab but goldie and dev were dissatisfied by the tune, they called dada & told him regarding this but dada replied “song is ok” but goldie & dev said “perhaps it could be better”.. half an hour later dada called up and said that “may be we had a point, he said that arrange a harmonium there for me im coming tommrow morning” and dada came up next morning wd excellent melody of din dhal jaaye than dev called shailendra who wrote up lyrics in juss 5 mins…

    iyer sahab, sorry but ur story is just beyond my belief.. there are already various myths & crap regarding dada like pancham & jaidev were major architects behind his compositions, plz dn strengthen these myths. we all should respect these great composers..

  29. abey john says:

    i also don’t see any connection with rafi and vijay anand (or the other anand brothers for that matter). especially in the 70s (even with vijay anand) i don’t see much rafi. rafi never appears from 70 to 75 except with madan mohan or sd burman in two films. maybe a few appearances in late 70s because of market forces.

  30. abey john says:

    I read an interview from Dev Anand where he specifically recounted about “a Rafi song he and Goldie were not satisfied by with”. He called SD Burman to tell him and SD thought it sounded just fine. The next morning, according to Dev Anand, SD Burman calls him and says you may have a point, he makes changes, and the result is what we have today Din Dhal Jaye.

    This interview by Dev Anand seems to indicate that some other song must be by Jaidev. I also hear that Dev Anand waited 6 months for SD Burman to recover in order to finish Guide. Is this true and does it have any relevance to who was original composer (Jaidev could have come right back as original if SD Burman was sick. There are rumors that RD called the shots when SDB was ill – so why couldn’t Jaidev for a movie he started himself and RD had yet to reach the big leagues with Teesri Manzil?).

  31. P. Haldar says:

    myk, please study madan mohan’s and roshan’s track record during 1950-54 carefully, and you’ll be surprised. During that period, Talat was mm’s no. 1 male singer, while for Roshan, it was Mukesh and Talat. You are partly right about SJ, that his music was totally Lata-oriented, but he did give a lot of songs to Mukesh, Manna and Talat during that period too. The reason I brought up this issue was to highlight the intense competion among the male singers those days and the immense contributions nayyar saab, along with naushad ji, made to rafi saab’s career.

    I deliberately mentioned the two Talat solos on Dilip Kumar (in Footpath and Devdas) to point out that Talat still had a grip on Dilip, and if you ignore Naushad, you’ll find that SD, SJ, Khayyam and Salil were happily using Talat/Mukesh on Dilip Kumar. For Raj Kapoor, it was Mukesh followed by Manna Dey, and for Dev Anand, it was Hemant/Talat/Kishore.

    If you do a dispassionate analysis, you’ll realise what Rafi was up against. And that’s why OP’s contributions were so important. See the kind of success he had in the 1954-60 period. I am sure Goldie took note of what he did with Rafi on Guru Dutt and Dev Anand in films like Aar Par and CID. OP made sure that anyone who could move his lips would sing in Rafi’s voice. Is it a surprise then that SD wanted Rafi for both Guru Dutt and Dev? And then came Tumsa Nahin Dekha, with which began the Shammi-Rafi association.

    When I said SD started his innings with Rafi in the mid 50’s, I didn’t mean it literally. If I remember correctly, Rafi sang a few solos and duets for SD in the late 40s and early 50s, but I consider that to be batting practice. His real association with SD began in 1957. Rafi retired hurt at 96, which included several sixers and fours, the likes of which I doubt you will ever see in film music.

  32. A S MURTY says:

    Mr. K B Iyer sahab, you have chipped in with vital information that was not known to me earlier. thanks for the useful ‘tidbit’ but like mr anmol singhji opined, it could be 100% true. Mr. iyer seems to know his music thoroughly well for he has named certain ragas and almost inside information about jai dev sahab. keep up this good work all rafians, we learn newer things almost each day through these columns and they are all very interesting indeed. kudos.

  33. shrirang nawathe says:

    Dear Mr Iyerji,

    1.-Thank you very much for your inputs.
    2.-I was not aware of the fact that, the song was composed by JAIDEV.
    3.-Surely after having the input and thinking on the tune one can conclude that DIN DHAL JAAYE might have been from JAIDEV..
    4.-Ultimately, the song is a magical song..

  34. Anmol Singh says:

    Great Article Nawathe ji,

    In fact the song “Dil Dhal Jaayei” is a landmark in music. It is impossible for any singer to sing this song to perfection. The line “Raat Na Jaaye” needs tremendous control sur, where Rafi Saab sings it totally effortlessly. Similar is the Line “Tu To Na Aye Teri Yaad Sataaye”. It is a slow song which needs tremendous power of expression, depth and feelings. Rafi Saab provides every thing. Later Goldie Anand as a director uses Dev Anand to perfection in the picturization.

    I agree with Halder Ji theory of Goldie’s association with Rafi. From the late sixties till the late seventies when Dev Anand himself directed films, Rafi was used only on one or two occassions. Other wise the main lead singer was always Kishore.

    Mr. Iyer, thanks for the information on Jai Dev’s involvement in Guide. it could be 100 % true.

  35. ATM SALIM says:

    DEAR SHRIRANGJI

    YOU HAVE DESCRIBED ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGS OF RAFI SAHAB SO VERY BEAUTIFULLY !
    THANK YOU VERY MUCH !

    BEST REAGRDS/ A.T.M. SALIM.

  36. k b iyer says:

    Since, you have discussed about “Guide” and “Din Dal Jaye…” I would disclose one secret behind “Guide” and this song and also a Great composer who was victimised and sidelined. After the Silver Jubilee Musical success of “Hum Dono”Dev Anand signed Chetan Anand-Jai Dev The Director-Music Director team for his next film, as this is a convention in film industry to reperat a successful team. But later subject selected was “Guide”, and after hearing the subject, Chetan Anand withdrew himself saying that subject is on adultry, and also Vyjayantimala, the first choice of heroin on the same reason. But Jai Dev remained as Music Director. Shailendra wrote two songs which were composed by Jai Dev, which was liked by Dev, Goldie and lyricist. Shailendra took the news to SDB and told him that if his assistant continues like this he (SDB) will be out permanentely from Navketan camp. Hearing the same SDB rushed to Dev’s Bunglow, argued, thretened, and emotionaly blackmaikled
    and the result- Jai Dev was out, and SDB got in as MD of GUIDE. But he retained both the songs composed by Jai Dev. On Dev’s insistance Jai Dev worked as chief assistant to SDB in this film silentely. After giving a Big Musical hit Like HUM DONO, Jai Dev has not done a second film for Navketan. Out of two songs composed by Jai Dev. one was a Rafi sollow. “Din Dal jayee.. is based on Rag Bilwar and Yaman. Bilwar is Jai dev ‘s personal favourite rag and he composeas atleast one song in each film based on this rag. So it could be Din dal jaye. In Hum Dono, one hit song was Kabhi Kudh pe.. by Rafi sab. which was based on Raag Gara. Even Music composers repeat a successful raag in films. “Terre mer sapne” is based on Raag Gara, so this could be of Jai Dev’s composition. nobody knows, when I asked Jai Dev he didn’t tell which Rafi song is his composition. such a great composer, human being he was victimised by powerfull

  37. unknow says:

    On TV show when they asked Dev A u used KK mostly and he answered no also i used mohd rafi,Offourse KK gave great songs to Dev ji.
    Dev ji was first romantic actor in bollywood if I am not wrong that was boz of SD and Mohd Rafi as I think.
    the crazy actor of bollywood was Shammi Kapoor also because of Mohd rafi and SJ .
    there are few other actors jest take out Mohd Rafi songs from there flims there will be nothing.

  38. myk says:

    Mr. Haldar,

    You must be referring to one of the greatest composers of all time, OPN, he was indeed one of Rafi’s best composers.

    Interesting you mentioned how Goldie brought Rafi into Navketan, if that had not happened, would SDB not have moved to Rafi the way he did ?. I find it hard to believe that a person of SD’s talent would not recognize another great talent in Rafi. Maybe SD would have moved towards Rafi after but its good to know that Goldie brought Rafi into Navketan territory. After that Rafi became a Navketan pillar. I also find it hard to believe that any male singer was competition to Rafi after he made his mark in the early 50’s. From that point onwards he rose above all others.

    You mentioned another interesting point about those composers using other male singers more. With SJ, I see a trend of quite a few female oriented films in the fifties, maybe that could explain why, but even in 1954 for a film like Pooja, it was Rafi all the way and in other films during that time. As for the rest, we can maybe attribute it to various other factors and not anything to do with Rafi’s position or anything related to his singing. For example in 1953, MM’s Chacha Chawdhury is dominated by Rafi.
    So we can assume these composers (barring SD who made the switch later on and became a Rafian after) were Rafians from the beginning but due to other factors (i.e female oriented films etc.) could not use Rafi the way they wanted to (as they did after) and when they had the chance to during that period (no factors like female oriented films etc. involved), like in Pooja or CC, they did. As they and the majority were Rafians, I am sure Rafi was always their first choice, if at all in any situation Rafi was not used by them, I don’t think its a case of preference for others, but rather other factors. There are choice exceptions, like MM wanting Talat in 1964 for Jahan Ara, but that doesn’t mean his first preference was not Rafi, it just meant he felt Talat suited those songs better. Imagine Rafi singing “Phir wohi shaam, wohi gham”, what a masterpiece it would have been. However, Talat did a fantastic job with those songs. I don’t know why SD didn’t use Rafi a lot during that early phase, but he definitely made up for it later on.

    There has been no male singer in the history of HFM that ruled like Rafi, and that too for so many years. He left the competition far behind. KK’s reign for a few years (with Rafi not being there for a while) can’t be compared to Rafi’s reign, because Rafi, Mukesh etc. were right there in the mix, and not far behind, and Rafi came back to reclaim this throne, and left at the top. I find it amusing when Amit Kumar at his concerts mentioned his father ruled for 17 years after Aradhana, who is he kidding ?.

  39. unknow says:

    Magic is magic

  40. xxx says:

    din dhal jaaye is surely among the list of the songs which wud be nothing wdout rafi sahab, i mean this composition was beyond d capability of any singer.. again a sad and divine composition by dada burman..

    as Shrirang Nawathe ji mentoned that this song was utter example of dedicated team work, composers of 50s & 60s did their job with full dedication specially naushad ji…

    haldar ji,

    m agree wd u, goldie really brings magic to the navketan, apart from film making he was also master in d art of picturisation of songs..

    it was only goldie’s great picturisation of song dat made me first time to feel the inner view of kutub minaar in d silken romantic voice of rafi sahab.. many times goldie got the invitations from the acting schools to teach the lessons on d picturisation of song..

    goldie was nice actor too, my fav rafi sahab song picturised on goldie is
    ” masti mein chhed ke tarana koi dil ka ” composed by mm…

  41. Hussein Sheikh says:

    Interesting article, the song “Din Dhal Jaye Haye…” was specially composed for Rafi Saheb only. No other singer could dare to sing this song. This is Dev Anand ji’s best song. No words to describe how Rafi Saheb sang it! This song is as fresh as it was before 42 years. That’s Rafi Saheb’s magic.
    melodiousrafi@yahoo.com

  42. binus2000 says:

    post 4 Haldar hi…

    u are talking about the grand old ziddi man : op nayyar for whom
    rafi used to sing:

    yoon to hum ne kaee sangeet – kar dekhe hai; tumsa NAHIN dekha..

    binu nair…..mumbai..

  43. Shahbaz says:

    Very beautiful song, sung by Muhammad Rafi Sahib. I m graphic designer in a leading newspaper of Lahore Pakistan. I have my colleagues who do not like old music. But, i would like 2 disclose this fact that when my colleague listened this song of Muhammad Rafi sahib. He said to me, he could not sleep all the night due to the most melodious voice ,great composition and thought provoking lyrics. This is the true fact of the melodious voice of Muhammad Rafi Sahib.

  44. Good article by Shrirang Nawathe. he sang some songs to devanand which became very famous. SDBurman gave most of the music direction in his films. I like the song very much “Tere Mere Sapne aab ek rang hai”, what a soft song it is.

    shashank_72@rediffmail.com

  45. Siva says:

    Nawathe ji
    Excellent article. In fact all the three solos of Rafi sahab in Guide are masterpieces-othet two being Kya se kya ho gaya and Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hai.
    Refreshing to see such good article after a long gap. I did not like so many controversial comments , personality clashes in this site and hence took a backseat. I feel this site should keep talking about such gems of Rafi sahab rather then going into endless controversies as who is a better singer/music director etc. This is more so important as Rafi sahab himself stayed clearly away from all controversies and was so humble.
    Message to Mr Venkadri–eagerly awaiting your 6th part of rare diamonds!!

  46. K.J.Ravi says:

    ‘Din dhal jaaye…’ stands out as one of the most melodious songs ever recorded. Rafi Sahab was in his element, and has infused so much pathos into this song that all listeners are still amazed by his incredible rendition! Rafi Sahab has deliberately suppressed his voice to reach the very low notes demanded by the intricacies of the tune. Fortunately, the picturisation did full justice to the singer, poet and composer.

  47. P. Haldar says:

    Any aspiring singer who wants to playback in films should study this song over and over again. Even if he can achieve 60% of this, he can be considered to be great. I don’t think any singer can cross the 70% mark. Along with “yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai”, this song is a masterpiece in playback singing. And kudos to goldie anand for choreographing this song.

    myk and xxx, I have been following your discussion on the decline of the quality of music in dev anand’s films. Other than the sd factor, there is an important factor which you missed: goldie anand. I am glad that mr. nawathe has highlighted his contributions. My guess is that it was goldie who brought rafi into the navketan camp, probably around the time of nau do gyarah. Till then sd was using three singers for dev: hemant, talat and kishore. Rafi’s innings with sd started a few years before ndg. Here’s a song from Devdas, which Venkat ji might label as a rare gem:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=tv0ooFyBfVk

    But there were other great songs by Talat, Bimal da’s favourite singer, including the beautiful “mitwa, lagi re yeh kaisi”:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=cDk9EO20HBI&feature=related

    SD hadn’t still made the switch. But by the time sujata came, he wanted rafi to croon “jalte hain jiske liye”. But Bimal da would have none of it and that is why there was so much unpleasantness between sd and talat.

    The 1954-60 period was very crucial for Rafi. Till around 1954, Madan Mohan, Roshan, SD and even SJ were using other male singers more. Baiju Bawra happened in 1952, but it took a few more years for Rafi to establish his No. 1 position. And for that we’ll have to recognise the contribution of one of the most loyal rafians, who used rafi’s voice on every hero and comedian: dilip kumar, raj kapoor, shammi kapoor, guru dutt, dev anand, johnny walker, kishore kumar, bhagwan das, joy mukherji, biswajeet… He is one of the pancha ratnas in rafi saab’s life, the other four being naushad, sd, madan mohan and sj.

  48. Binuji, I agree with you that any Singer will find it difficult to do justice to this song, one of Rafiji’s best. Rafiji sang throughout at very low voice without raising or lowering but maintaining the melody, the pathos and the feeling throughout the song. Very difficult for any other Singer to do that especially for three antaras. Any other Singer singing this song will become pedestrian and be-sura, out of tune. A very difficult song sung so beautifully. Another important point, even after 42 years, the songs of GUIDE appear so fresh and one will never feel that the songs are 42 years old.

  49. binus2000 says:

    Very keen observation sir.
    in a recent shailendra – rafi musical tribute , we kept this song out
    and included ” tere mere sapne ” for the only reason that no singer
    will be able to recast the song as rafi saaheb has done…. we may
    have been right and wrong bt the song has enough of passion and
    everything else which might should go in to a “immortal song.

    the director vijay anand was a great rafi saheb fan and his stamp
    of excellence can never be missed.

    binu nair….. the rafi foundation… + 9833 250 701

  50. A S MURTY says:

    Excellent research on this lovely composition nay creation of a world class music that does not loose its sheen even forty years of its recording. One of the all time great musical composition, DIN DHAL JAYE HAI from guide is indeed also one of the finest examples of the indian musical notes. i fully agree that the best of all the players in this creation was achieved and the song remains one of the most sought after by musical lovers of all shades. Great piece of writing too by mr shrirang nawathe sahab. you have laudable writing skills and a very active and knowledgeable musical mind too. keep posting such ‘greats’ among our film music, specially from rafi sahab’s plethora of the best that music can ever produce. thanks for refreshing our memories to the minutest details of this gem of a song. asmurty2@rediffmail.com

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