Khayyam and Jaidev’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi
This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji.
Khayyam with Mohammad Rafi
When we visualise the golden era of music in Indian cinema we primarily think about the giant music directors like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, etc., or lyricists like Shakeel Badayani, Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri or singers like Rafi, Lata who made major contribution to the music of that age. Among the legendary giants there were other composers who composed music for less number of films but created their identity and everlasting appeal even with the less number of compositions. Jaidev and Khayyam are two composers who received numerous awards for their classic performance and still remain few of the offbeat composers without whom the firmament of music would be colourless.
Jaidev who came to Bombay initially from Ludhiyana to become an actor learnt music from K. Jaokar and Janardan Jaokar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and after ashort span of stay in his home town Ludhiyana, returned to Bombay with his immense command of folk and classical music. As he initially worked with Navketan Banner, he got a scope of working with SD Burman also. His debue with Chetan Anand’s film Joru Ka Bhai, 1955, gave him opportunity to compose independant music but he got recognition with the film Humdono in 1961.
Mohd Rafi with Jaidev
Humdono was also the starting point of Jaidev’s relationship with the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi. The unique style of Jaidev included his tunes which appeared not to end with the antara or the sanchari and uniting them with the mukhra unlike other composers. Rafi’s voice had the effect of sedative which doctor’s prescribe for patients who cant sleep in the song “Abhi na jao chor kar, ki dil abhi bhara nahi” in Hum Dono. The way Rafi pronounced adhuri yaas, hardly any playback singer can think even today. The emotions of the character were kept intact and the musical value of the song was enhanced by Rafi in a tremendous way in Humdono. The ghazal in the film “kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona aya” can be categorised as one of the ten best ghazals Rafi did sing in his life. At the same time the other song “main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya” which showed the carefree attitude of Dev Anand, who got admitted in military in the film, had the effect of santoor and the prelude and interlude followed the main song of Rafi that music lovers even memorised them as a song itself. Lata Mangeshkar’s performance in the song “Allah tero naam” in raag gara was probably one of her best performances ever. Jaidev’s return path of the sanchari was again evident in the classical bhajan which is still sung sometimes as prayer song at other times in temples and places of worship. The other film he composed music for include Mujhe Jeene Do, 1963, where Lata’s song “Nadi nare na jao sham” became hit. As it was female oriented film with Wahida Rehman providing the lead performance there were hardly sequences for male songs.
In the other film Kinare Kinare, in 1963, Jaidev asked Rafi to sing duet song with Usha Mangeshkar titled “maya anchal jale kaya ka abhiman“. His other notable songs for Rafi include “aaj ki raat hai bus jalwa dikhane ke liye” and “roop ki dhoop to dhalke rahegi” from the film Jiyo Aur Jeene Do, in 1969. Both were successful with Jaidev’s folk effect in the respective songs.
In the 1970s, Jaidev shifted towards Ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh for most of his songs, with “Do Diwane Shahar Me” and “Ek Akela is shahar me” from the film Gharonda, 1977, directed by Gulzar with Amol Palekar in the lead role.[1] Runa Laila’s song “tumke hona ho mukhko to itna yakeen hai” looked like it was never going to end with the brilliant lyrics of gulzar. The violin was played so brilliantly in the song “Ek akela is shahar me” depicting urbanised folk songs, that it identified the pathos of Jaidev who was a loner in life. The other successful film of Jaidev included Dooriyan, 1979, acted by Uttamkumar and Sharmila Tagore. There Bhupinder Sing’s song “Zindagi zindagi o mere ghar ana ana zindagi” and “zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the” showed Jaidev’s unconventional movement in the rise and fall of the antara and sanchari. Jaidev along with Madanmohan had composed music for Rishi Kapoor’s film Laila Majnu, 1977, where Rafi’s songs “barbad muhobbat ki dua saath liye ja“, “is reshmi pazeeb ki jhankar ke sadpe“, “likhkar tera naam zameen par” were superhits and marked Rafi’s tremendous combination with Rishi Kapoor.
Jaidev received national award for the brilliant composition of music in the films Reshma Aur Shera, Gaman and Ankahi, most of which included Rajasthani folk music. Jaidev never got the recognition which he deserved. It is a pity that Jaidev got a scope of composing music for female oriented films where he made the best use of Lata Mangeshkar, because Rafi could have made enormous contribution to Jaidev’s remote style of music composition. Even then the combination of Rafi and Jaidev carry enormous musical value for music lovers across the country.
Khayyam better known as Mohammad Zahur Khaiyyam is the other music composer, who had such an immortal appeal in his compositions, yet had not received the recognition he deserved. He was born in Jullundher, Punjab in 1927, and learnt music from Pandit Amarnath and Hunslal Bhagatram. Khayyam initially used Tala Mehmood in the song “Sham-e-gham ki kasam” in Dilip Kumar’s Footpath, 1954, where he made his debue and Mukesh in the songs “Woh subah kabhi to ayegi” and “phir na kije meri gustaq nigaho ka gila” in Raj kapoor’s Phir Subah Hogi, 1958. Although Rafi had one song “jo bore kare yar ko us yaar se touba” in Phir Subah Hogi, 1958 where it was a duet with Mukesh singing for Raj Kapoor and Rafi singing for Rehman.
Mohd Rafi with poet lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and composer Khayyam
But Khayyam acknowledged the golden voice of Rafi in the film Shola Aur Shabnam, 1961, where most of the lyrics were written by Kaifi Azmi and Rafi’s songs “dhunti rehti yeh ankhe mujhme“, “jeet hi lenge bazzi hum tum“, “pehle to aankh milna“, “phool ko dhoonde pyaasa bhawra” had a soft, passionate flavour of the soil of mountains. The songs were picturised on Dharmender. In the film Shagun, 1964, the song “parbaton ke paron par sham ka basera hai” sung by Rafi carried the intoxicating appeal of Khayyam. The next film Mohabbat is ko kahte hai, 1965, picturised on Shashi Kapoor had a fantastic duet song of Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur titled “thehriye hosh me alun to chale jaiyega” which was a form of a poetry where each of the poets answered one another. In Akhri Khat, in 1966, Rafi’s song “aur thori der theher” had the same folk effect of Khayyam. Lata Mangeshkar was brilliant with her performance of “baharo mera jeevan bhi sawaaro” and “mere chanda mere nanhe” in the same film.
In the 1970s, Khaiyyam composed music in lesser films but again came up with creative music and received the filmfare award for composing music for the film Kabhi Kabhi, 1975, where the title song written by Sahir Ludhianvi and sung by Mukesh and Lata were well acclaimed by music lovers of India. His composition in Umrao Jaan, 1981, brought him the second filmfare award and amazed the musical pandits with classical mujra, which became extinct from bollywood music at that time. His songs in the film Bazaar, 1982, picturised on Nasiruddin Shah, titled “karoge yaad to” had ghazal andaz and Bhupinder Singh was sublime with his performance.
As Khayyam, like Jaidev, composed music in mostly offbeat films their presence was felt whenever the directors came up with thoughtful stories, powerful direction and rich lyrics. Although they have provided less number of songs for Rafi but the creations of the combination should be restored for the epic value of the folk and classical effects in the songs.
[1] Bhupinder Singh in his TV interview in DD1 Channel said he was an absolute admirer of Rafi. He said he got a scope of acting in Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat, 1964 where the songs were composed by MadanMohan. There was a song “hoke majboor usne bulaya hoga” which had to be sung by Bhupinder, Tala Mehmood, Manna Dey and Rafi. He wanted to share the microphone with Rafi. As Rafi was shorter in height than Bhupinder a tool was provided during the recording to match both Rafi and Bhupinder.The song was very successful and was a landmark in Bhupinder Singh’s life.
Mr. Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
I am a newcomer to this website and have thoroughly enjoyed the write up and the discussion that followed. please let me know how I can sign up.
Rafi saab’s songs are made to listen and munching only when I hear some one else try sing I really feel sickened. nobody else has right to imitate him. I am fully agnostic person but when I listen to his voice it makes me think otherwise.
A very well written article by Mr. Chatterji. He deserves all the credit for giving good information about the legends – Jaidev and Khayyam.
I would like to give my views on certain points. The Mujhe Jeene do song “Nadi Nare na jaao” was sung by Asha and not by Lata.
I think the instrument used in the begining of ” Mai zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya” is Jal Tarang and not Santoor.
Anyway these are minor points. Without hurting anyone’s feelings, and due respect to the Great Khayyam, I would rate Jaidev a shade greater. He did not get a chance or intentionally did not do commercial films is really not knwon to any one. However, hats off to Dev Anand and Sunil Dutt. Both took great chances to team with Jaidev, knowing fully well that Jaidev was not a commercial films material.
We should not forget Jaidev’s Rajasthani folk music in KA Abbas’s fim “Do boond Paani”.
Now comming to Rafi saab, who can doubt about his greatness. But Greats like Anil Biswas, Naushad, Khayyam and Jaidev all started with the so called “Siky Voice Talat Mahmood. SD Burman always preferred Kishore Kumar. Manna Dey had his area. But, then there was a time when it was only Rafi. So irrespective of the others greatness, it had to be only Rafi. There was a time when almost all the music directors preferred Kishore over Rafi. That time belonged to Kishore Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Amithabh, Dharmendra and Kishore Kumar dominated the industry.
My salutations to Rafi saab and to Mr. Chatterji who wrote such great things about Jaidev, Khayyam and Rafi.
SK Chadda
New Delhi
But why khayyam having received the divine gift of Md Rafi’s voice in his films in the 1960, suddenly had shifted to Bhupinder in the 1970? Is there any expanation?
Sir
I have the feeling after listening to song Janoo kya Mera Dil From Ziddi movie released in 1964 that the tune must be definitely composed by Rahul Dev Burman Saab I will be very much grateful if you clarify my doubt
Yours Respectfully
Ghalib
Dear Mr. P. Halder,
This is in reply to your post no. 73.
Whatever you have quoted in the previous post I dont want to rebut the facts as they are the words of Rishi Kapoor.
Regarding affinity towards RD and LP, I want to reiterate that the attitude of Rishi Kapoor under Raj Kapoors guidance and in relationship with other producers were totally different. From the language that had been quoted it is very obvious that it was not a comparison of RD Burman with other composers but Rishi’s acknowledgement that RD’ music suited him the most as opposed to music created for Big B, Rajesh Khanna and others.
Regarding Rishi Kapoor under Raj Kapoor banner, Raj Kapoor in his interview in Doordarshan had categorically stated that he wanted to create a different identity for Rishi Kapoor, and that was the reason he had asked LP to use Shailendra Singh for him who sang for nobody else. Raj Kapoor never wanted Rishi Kapoor to get lost in the ocean and wherever he had used Rishi Kapoor in his films starting from Mera Naam Joker to Bobby to Prem Rog to Henna, there was express command of Raj Kapoor which also helped Rishi Kapoor to create his identity. He was the only son of Raj Kapoor who faced the action blasts of Big B and Vinod Khanna in the 70s and 80s and maintained his stardom till 90s. Raj Kapoor had a very very strong role to play in building up his career.
Mind it, Randhir Kapoor’s career never flourished, you can only pick up hit songs given by RD Burman and argue on the success of the songs, the obvious reason is Raj Kapoor knew himself that banking his resource on that son, was a waste of energy. In fact the love of Randhir Kapoor towards Kishore Kumar had compelled Shankar Jaikishan to use him in the film Kal Aaj Aur Kal, both Dharam Karam and Biwi O Biwi were Randhir Kapoor’s songs where again the KK, RD Burman chemistry worked.
In none of my articles, I had ever mentioned that I consider LP as a greater composer than RD. I placed statistics to show the number of films that LP had given music in and the list is the maximum in the 70s.
In respect of statement of celebrities you know for yourself how Asha Bhosle had made statements in the recent past about her association with Kishore Kumar and from her statement it appears that there was only one composer in bollywood who had come in the 60s and took the world by storm. Asha Bhosle had forgotten Mohammad Rafi altogether and she even refuses to mention the films of OP Nayyar where Rafi and Asha had sang together, including Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Mere Sanam, Kashmir Ki Kali, etc. The new generation even listens to Asha and gets misled in every possible way. You know it yourself there was no existence of RD Burman at all in the mid-60s.
The new generation pretend as if Teesri Manzil was the only film 1966, where RD Burman had composed music and created a new dimension for western music, where Shankar Jaikishan had already began with rock and roll music in films like Junglee, Janwar, An Evening in Paris, Raj Kumar, Prince, to mention a few.
If you remember my article on RD Burman and Rafi, there was strong criticism in respect of their relationship, but no one could rebut my opinion that RD Burman had background of classical music but he seldom used it other than Gulzar’s films like Parichay, Kinara, etc., or Shekhar Kapoor’s films like Masoom. But point to be noted is that at least he had acknowledged the talent of Bhupinder Singh in these films who had been given chance only by giants like Madanmohan in Haqeekat, Mausam, Jaidev in Gharonda, Dooriyan, Khayyam in Bazar. The biggest trouble was that RD Burman banked all his reources on Kishore Kumar, and the moment he wanted to create any classical he had look back on Rafi or Manna Dey or Suresh Watkar or Bhupinder Singh. I have full knowledge about RD’s talents and I again repeat he failed to utilize his own talent.
Regarding SD Burman, I had interviewed Abhijit Banerjee ( the composer of Manobendra Mukherjee’s song “muktojharar neiko kanya”, “jodi amake dekho tumi udashi”), who was also the assistant of Salil Choudhury. He told me even Salil Choudhury, the scholar, the poet, the giant composer had admiration for SD Burman. But again he said SD could not use 50% of his talent while composing music in bollywood films due to external pressures. He had tremendous control over bhatiyali, bhawwaiya, etc. You know it for yourself how many of them he could reproduce in bollywood films.
Another fact, I learnt classical music from Sapna Dey, the student of Girija Devi, it is their statement they have mentioned that without classical background it is not possible to sing every type of song with whatever acting skills the singer has.
I repeat, I have tremendous respect for SD Burman. I had just facts about the 70s due to the debatable issue, otherwise I am more focussed at unearthing the music of 50s were 60s which were more rich in quality and content of music of 70s.
Souvik Chatterji.
ref post 70:
dear souvik, I don’t know rishi kapoor personally and which md he was personally addicted to. Frankly, I don’t care. What I don’t like is revisionist writing where people make up facts without any basis. You had initially said that all the big banners after sj’s time went to lp, and that is what I was responding to. There are many music lovers who consider lp to be greater than rd, and I have no problems with that; that is your opinion. From your posts, it is clear that you are not a great fan of sd, but if you had been to maharashtra in the 50s and 60s, you’d have known what a following he had there. I love the music of all the three famous mds who arrived in the 60s, but in my humble opinion, none of them was big enough to fill sj’s shoes. By the way, I rate shankar in the same league as jaikishan and sd; these are my personal tastes and you don’t have to agree with me.
Now coming to the topic of rishi kapoor, this is what I read in Indian Cinema News last year; please let me know if you have any other information to refute what has been written in this article:
————–
Rishi said the maximum number of his hit songs were composed by Pancham.
‘Though my first film ‘Bobby’ had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, my maximum hit songs were by Pancham. There’s one thing that you must note about Pancham’s music. All of his youthful music was for Rishi Kapoor. The other heroes like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were older. But for Rishi Kapoor Pancham could really unplug the grooviest sounds.
‘At the start of my career Pancham did music in my ‘Zehreela Insaan’ and ‘Khel Khel Mein’. These had evergreen songs like ‘O hansini’ and ‘Khullam khulla pyar’,’ said Rishi.
‘In his prime Pancham gave all his youthful music for me. In ‘Naya Daur’ he used empty bottles to create a special effect in the song ‘Paani ke badle peekar sharaab’ sung by Kishore Kumar and Danny Denzongpa.
‘I had become a big star after ‘Bobby’. I wanted to work with Pancham. I used to vibe with him much better than with Laxmi-Pyare. Pancham was way ahead of times. Picture chale na chale his music was damn good. His music suited my age and image.’
Pancham was like a family member to Rishi.
‘He used to come home and I used to visit him. Ashaji used to cook for us. Like me, he was very fond of eating and drinking. I knew him through my brother Randhir Kapoor, Nasir Husain and others.
‘He died eleven years ago but he lives in our hearts to date. Pancham loved watching me shoot his songs. He told all my directors, ‘Chintu is performing on my song? I want to see him do it.’ I’d get nervous.
‘On the sets of Nasir Husain’s films ‘Hum Kissise Kam Nahin’ and ‘Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai’ he’d have lunch with Nasir saab and then watch me dance. It was a great compliment.
‘For the song ‘Dil dena khel hai dildar ka’ in ‘Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai’ Pancham came on the sets twice because the choreographer Suresh Bhatt was also Pancham’s buddy. He used to shout, ‘Buck up buck up’. We were all a team.’
Haldar-ji,
Ofcourse all MD’s missed Rafi in the 80’s, and RD was one of them.
My question to you is, what do you think was RD’s contribution to SD’s Ziddi (1964) and Kaise Kahoon (1964) ?.
There is a RD-ish feel in songs such as “Pyar ki manzil mast safar” (especially the opening sax piece and orchestration), and “Janoon kya mera dil”. In Kaise Kahoon released the same year, there is an excellent Rafi solo entitled “Zindagi tu jhoom le zara” with RD-ish orchestration as well.
Could the above songs also have been composed by RD ?.
Ref Post 66:
Haldar-ji, Thanks for the info on Love Story and Bobby. Even when Shailendra Singh received a great chance to be the “fixed” voice of Rishi Kapoor, it did not materialize. I don’t think he could have asked for a better launch pad, career-wise as well. Singing for the RK banner under L-P, with wonderful songs. Rafi eventually became the voice of Rishi Kapoor later on. Had Bobby gone to Rafi, it would have been a mammoth score. Although its a great album, with Rafi it would have reached a much higher status (imo).
Pancham recorded with Amit for Love Story, with Shabbir for Betaab, but chose Kishore for Rocky. Out of the three, Betaab was the most successful. RD definitely missed Rafi in the 80’s. “Maine poocha chand se”, “Poocho na yaar kya hua”, and “Pal do pal ka saath hamara” were a sign for things to come.
There was a mistake made in the previous post. The song “tum hi tum ho” composed by Shankar Jaikishan, was from Raj Kapoor’s film Ek Dil Sau Afsana, where Wahida Rehman acted opposite Raj Kapoor.
Souvik Chatterji.
In reply to post no. 64 of Binu Nair, the record of Rafi singing 25 songs for Raj Kapoor. It is not unusual. Raj Kapoor in his statement in Doordarshan in mid-70s said all the other singers were greats, Rafi was a genius. Some of Rafi’s songs sung for Raj Kapoor include “ruk ruk ruk” from Do Ustad composed by Op Nayyar, “nazron ke teer mare kas kas kas”, “tu larki mai larka, tujhe dekh merra dil dharka”, the songs “tum hi tum ho is gagan me” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Dil Hi To Hai, there were Rafi’s songs in the film Andaz composed by Naushad for Raj Kapoor, to mention a few.
In reply to P. Halder’s comments,
Rishi Kapoor was not only addicted towards LP, he was one of the very big fans of Rafi too. You will notice that Rishi Kapoor gave lips in some of the films where LP composed music, where Rafi had only sung for Rishi Kapoor when Big B gave lips for KK and Vinod Khanna for Mukesh. The film is Amar Akbar Anthony. Rafi’s songs include “parda hai parda”, “shirdiwali saibaba”, “humko tumse ho gaya hai pyar kya karen”.
Rishi Kapor gave lips in all the songs of Rafi in the film Laila Majnu composed by Jaidev and Madanmohan. He gave lips in all the songs of Rafi in the film Sargam composed by LP.
When RD composed music for Rishi Kapoor, it was a mixed package, in Hum Kishi Se Kum Nahi, Rafi sang for Rishi “hai agar dushman zamana”, but KK sang “bachna aye haseeno” and other songs too. In Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai also some songs were of Rafi, others were of Shailendara Singh.
After Rafi’s death in 1980. in whichever films Rd Burman had composed music for Rishi Kapoor, including Sagar, all the songs were sung by KK.
Rishi Kapoor played a very vital role in the comback of Rafi in the post-76 era.
Souvik Chatterji.
refer post 61
mr manish kumar there you are. precisely the point i was trying to make. that one cannot assess the relationships between the mds and their singers on just one yardstick. of course, chitalkar’s comment was made out of personal prejudice.
if you know the kind of relationships asha-op and anil biswas-rafi have had, you will understand what i mean. we can never go by what people say but by the professional rapport they have had.
Mykji:
Please see my post in “Did RDB prefer…..”.
ref post 58:
myk, let me clarify what you have said on rajendra kumar, one of the most loyal rafians. When we was making love story, he was actually thinking of his ghost voice and he wanted someone who could emulate that voice. But, from what I’ve read, there was some pressure to use Amit Kumar and finally rajendra kumar agreed.
As for bobby, I have heard from a second-hand source that lp were all set to give the score to rafi in case Shailendra Singh didn’t pass the audtion.
dear souvik, I’m enjoying the adda, so don’t feel bad about refuting anything I have to say. Since you mentioned shakti samanta’s howrah bridge, I’m including a song from the film which has rafi going on om prakash. This song incidentally is celebrating its golden anniversary this year. pancham was around 18 when the film was being made, so it wouldn’t be realistic to assume that shakti would assign him the job. But soon after that guru dutt did; the film, unfortunately, was never released and mehmood’s chhote nawab came to be recongised as pancham’s first score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIEPYnSkJ4
myk, please watch this video carefully, especially around 1:10 when the Ballygunge lakes are being shown. I’ll make my last comment on the rd thread based on this location.
And xxx, sometime back you had commented about op and naushad; I’d like to add a few more things. I’ll post my comments on the true voice thread.
mohd rafi & kapoor family connection: Much has been written about the rafi-rishi connection and i may add a few more .
mohd rafi sang for three generations of the kapoor clan; the shammi-rafi combo created trend setting songs and musical moods in the sixties, mohd rafi attended the wedding of raj kapoor’s daughter ritu nanda and sang “baharon phool barsaao, mera mehboob aaya hai” (also video recorded) and that the rajan nanda – ritu couple are great mohd rafi fans and host a great musical event in new delhi every year, sponsored by their escorts group.
its said rafi sang 25 songs for raj kapoor and eleven songs for kishore kumar. both, impeccable records. could the knowledgeable list these songs.
binu nair
myk, have you heard this song:
bada natkhat hai re pancham bhaiyya
ka kare meera maiyaa
…
It’s a beautiful compostion; the mother totally helpless and the father playing defence!
Ref Post 54:
Cherian-ji, although I think RD was better than Jaidev/Khayyam due to the versatility factor, we also have to keep in mind that RD could not do some things that they could do, or that other composers could do.
For example, RD could not compose ghazals like MM and Roshan (even though he has some great ones to his credit), or compose a Guide or a Pyaasa like SD, or a Dosti like L-P, or a Do Badan like Ravi, or a Sangam like S-J, or the many masterpiece songs that Chitragupta composed, and so forth. True he was excellent in classical music as well as a variety of genres, but just because he was versatile, I still think he couldn’t do everything that others could do. He may have an Amar Prem, or Baharon Ke Sapne, or Pyar Ka Mausam or Kinara etc. to his credit and some of these are as good as the classy albums by others, but does that mean he was as good as others in all facets of composing ?. Many of those albums, although great can not touch the league of a Guide or a Kashmir Ki Kali or many other albums. RD can definitely can be compared to the greats and placed in their league, and mentioned alongside them, because of the variety of songs he did, as well as his talent, and masterpiece compositions (regardless of genre). However as others say, that he was as good as anyone in everything, would be a far-stretched statement.
One can argue maybe he didn’t get the chance to showcase that side of his talent, because when he made it big in the 70’s, that point in time was the supposed downfall of the type of classy music of the 50’s and 60’s. But I would say he had enough chances to prove that side of his talent, and he did with his classical scores and other scores. Yet we cannot say all of his excellent albums match excellent albums by others right ?.
Rahul Dev Burman is one of my most favourite musicians, in fact he is in my Top 3 MD’s of all time, and I love his brand of music. Having said that, I don’t know about you but, although I think he belongs in the league of a Madan Mohan or Roshan, or S-J, or SD etc., I still can not say he was better than them, and these musicians (and more) have many songs and albums beyond the work of RD. However there are also some things (for example western-based music/songs), that RD may have been better at too (I think S-J were equally brilliant when it came to western-based music/songs), so the same can be said vice-versa, but overall, I still think a Roshan, Madan Mohan, Naushad, SD, S-J etc. were in a class of their own.
We do know though that RD was capable of doing many things, and was a brilliant talent. When it comes to western music, he had very few peers, and he definitely was one of HFM’s trend-setters and brought a new and revolutionary sound to HFM.
What is your take on the above Cherian-ji ?.
Mr Raju Korti: I sincerely thank you for your priceless stories. I certainly can’t get this kind of information in the history books or geet kosh. However, I would discard 100% Chitalkar’s comments about Lata during his last years. There’s a good chance he made those unappreciative comments out of bitterness as he did have a bitter rift with Lata.
Dear Mr. Halder,
This is in reply to your post no. 56.
Please take this entire discussion sportingly. I agree with some of your points, I disagree with the others, with justifications.
Regarding LP, RD and their use of Rafi in the 70s, I want to clear one fact. I just had forwarded statistics. I have mentioned at the end of the writing that filmfare awards do not judge the best music or best film accurately and music itself so divine that there cannot be any comparison western classical with a rajasthani folk song. You will find in my original article the films where Jaidev had got national awards, in the films Gaman, Ankahee, etc. The same Jaidev did not get one single filmfare award.
You must have wondered if I had been an advocate of quality music then why had I given such a huge amount of space for Shankar Jaikishan who were known for popular music. The answer is that they had combined quality with popular music. If you remember the background of the song “meherban likhoon” in Sangam, you will find westernised chorus had followed the theme of the film, it was not a cut copy paste western composition which happen these days. There are numerous no. of songs of SJ which were successful and also had high quality. My father, Ex-Chief PP, Bankshall Court, Kolkata, interviewed Mr. Sri Daure of HMV, Kolkata who reflected on the recording of the song “tumhare bhi jai jai” in the film Diwana of Raj Kapoor. He said SJ synchronised the beat of train with the beat of the song and it continued after the song ended. I had spoken with many personalities who were involved with SJ and they have separate admiration for them for their orchestration quality.
I will give you a list of at least 4 to 5 films composed by LP in the 60s, you will find for yourself that there was absolute similarity with SJ. The films are Shagird of Joy Mukherjee, Night in London of Biswajeet, Pyar Kiye Ja of Shashi Kapoor, Patthar Ke Sanam of Monoj Kumar, any child will also get confused whether it was SJ or LP.
Besides SJ had given music in Bimal Roy’s films, Shakti Shamanta’s films, Raj Kapoor’s films, Hrishikesh Mukherjee films, Promod Chakravarty’s films and many other directors, producers, the list is very long, which proves their versatility and indepensability till 1971.
Regarding LP you yourself know, there was very strong competition in the 60s with Naushad, Roshan, Madanmohan, Salil Choudhury, SD Burman, OP Nayyar, all in their prime time, so LP’s recognition was awaited till the stalwarts became old and the competition came into picture with the new generation.
Now in the 70s, with the aging of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Rajender Kumar, Joy Mukherjee, Raj Kumar, Biswajeet, Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar; obviously the new brigade consisted of Rajesh Khanna, Dharmender,Jeetender, Shashi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan.
In their list of films, you will find LP had composed music for Dharmender’s films Izzat, Loafer, Jeevan Mrityu, Aya Sawan Jhumke, etc, for Jeetender in the films Humjoli, Jeegri Dost, Farz, etc., for Rajesh Khanna in the films Hathi Mera Saathi, Aan Milo Sajna, Roti, etc., for Amitabh Bacchan in the films Ek Nazar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Suhaag, etc., to name a few. Most of these films were released in the 70s with few exceptions. Very significantly RD Burman also composed music for Dharmender in films like Yaadon Ki Barat, Jheel Ke Us Par, Sholay, etc, Jeetender in films like Parichay, Khusbu, Kinaara (mainly Gulzar’s films), Rajesh Khanna’s most of the films including Amar Prem, Kati Patang, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Namak Haram,etc). I did not go into the details for the producers and directors of the films
When you say RD Burman dominated, yes he dominated in the very early part of 70s, LP caught him up by 73, 74, and the film arena was divided between the two MDs, specially in relation to the films of the young actors.
Please note that, I had just placed facts as they are.
The regard for Jaidev, Khayyam, remains intact after this discussion, as their quality overpowered the quantity of music.
I am happy you have enlightened the All India Audience with Shambhu Mitra, Amit Maitra, IPTA in relation to the film Ekdin Ratre of Raj Kapoor.
Just for reference, whenever Raj Kapoor contributed in bollywood films as an actor, other than Shankar Jaikishan, he had used Roshan in Bawre Nain and Dil Hi To Hai, Salil Choudhury in Jagte Raho, Naushad in Dastaan, Andaz, Dattaram in Parvarish, KA in Chaliya, to name a few. When it came to his production and direction who relied on the genius composers SJ.
Mr. Halder, just for reference, I am an absolute admirer of SD Burman, please ignore comments on the giant of giants.
Whatever adverse comments I have made was due to the fact he had superlative classical training which was manifested in his huge number of basic discs. All along his career, he compromised with producers and that was the reasons the hindi version of the classical songs did not get justice. Manna Dey was so close to SD Burman, instead of banking his resource on Kishore Kumar, had Sd Burman done more justice to Manna Dey and Rafi, viewers could get many more number of “phoocho na kaise maine rain bitai”, “yeh mahalon, yeh takhton”, etc.
Debates apart, Mr. Halder, please continue to enlighten the Forum with your deliberations. I appreciate them.
Souvik Chatterji.
Ref: Post 53:
Wow! Raju Korti Sir. You’ve made my day.
All:
A young South Indian friend of mine (a regular visitor of this site) says we have not covered the Rafi-Naushad relationship the way we should. And I think he’s right. What say…
Adding more to what Haldar-ji said:
Sunil Dutt also launched his son in “Rocky” with music by RD. Dharmendra launched his son with Rahul Rawail in Betaab with music by RD. I am sure had Rafi been alive then, he would have sang in both these films, including Love Story. There was so much to look forward to with RD-Rafi in the 80’s. Dharmendra wanted a Rafi-like voice for Sunny in Betaab which is why Shabbir Kumar came into the picture. I guess Amit Kumar was brought in for Love Story because they were looking for a new voice. Had Rafi been there, I am positive he would have sang those songs. Its ironic that after 1975, RD’s most successful scores were Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (with Rafi) and Betaab (with a Rafi clone).
Also, since Rishi Kapoor has been brought up, here is an excerpt from Rajiv Vijayakar from his article on Rafi entitled “His was a universal voice”:
“In the Shailendra-Kishore wave for heartthrob Rishi Kapoor, shrewd observers were already feeling a lacuna that only Rafi could fill – instinctively, they seemed to feel that Rafi, rather than both these singers, would suit Rishi Kapoor. But who would bell this musical cat?
The onus thus fell on Madan Mohan when Laxmikant-Pyarelal went out of H.S.Rawail’s Laila Majnu. The heavyweight Punjabi music with Sahir’s poetry was unthinkable then without Rafi’s skills, and the score emerged as Madan Mohan’s last burst of glory despite Jaidev having to come in to complete it when Madan Mohan passed away.
And then the floodgates opened, never to close till Rafi’s death. Rishi Kapoor, easily among our most musical stars, and Rafi seemed to share a rare and royal rapport and resonance as film after film and song after song were unleashed by multiple music directors, including the Kishore-oriented Pancham.
In the cavalcade of dazzlers they collaborated on, with Rishi’s on-screen expertise matching Rafi’s peerless craft, the truly standout ones included awesome songs like the complete score of Sargam (led by Dafliwale …), ‘Parda hai parda …’, ‘Shirdiwale Sai Baba …’ and ‘Taiyab Ali pyar ka dushmun …’ (Amar Akbar Anthony), ‘Hai agar dushmun …’(Hum Kisise Kum Naheen), ‘Pooncho na yaar kya hua …’(Zamaane Ko Dikhaana Hai) and Rafi’s last stunner released in his lifetime ‘Dard-e-dil (Karz). These were backed up by other hits as well as excellent but less-popular songs in films like Naseeb, Deedaar-E-Yaar, Badaltey Rishtey, Do Premee, Duniya Mein Jeb Mein, Aap Ke Deewane and Kaatilon Ke Kaatil.”
Rafi-Rishi Kapoor composers: Madan Mohan, Jaidev, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, R.D.Burman, Rajesh Roshan
Thanks Korti-ji for the interesting write-up. The Rishi Kapoor quote was fantastic. I personally feel Rishi’s best songs came from Rafi, and that Rafi was his best singer (Rafi suited him so well).
I remember Kalyanji and Anandji both mentioning quite a few times that Rafi was one of their favourites. He also mentioned that their recording rooms used to be like a family atmosphere, and that whenever Mahendra Kapoor used to sing for them, Rafi would come and help him out with his singing and other aspects (it shows how great and humble a man Rafi was).
By 1980, Rafi had sang the most songs for K-A, so I find it hard to believe that Rafi was not even third on their list. True, as you said stats don’t paint the whole picture, but based on what I have read and heard about K-A’s association with Rafi-saab, and their songs together, what you and Mr. Haldar have pointed out is indeed shocking.
Also, since stats don’t tell the whole story, one should also not assume that RD did not have a liking for Rafi-saab, when in reality he did.
ref post 49:
dear souvik, from your post, it is quite clear that you are a fine lawyer. Good lawyers, as you know, are adept at spinning things to suit their own argument. Please read carefully what I wrote before putting words in my mouth. This is what I had said earlier:
“you don’t seem to have a good handle on facts. please don’t make statements like: “They (lp) in fact continued the battle after the death of Jaikishan in 1971, from where SJ left. They bagged all the big banners including Raj Kapoor, Manmohan Desai, Subhash Ghai, to name a few.”
It is your claim that LP bagged all the big banners that I reacted to. I’ve already given you a list of big banners that rd bagged in the late 60s and early 70s; many of them were closely associated with sj. I’m giving you one more, F. C. Mehra, who produced six films with sj, and who switched to rd. If you want more names, let me know and I’ll be happy to provide them.
yes, shakti samanta worked with md’s other than sj, most notably op and sd. But in the 70s, his main md, apart from the bilingual films, was rd. When I talked about shammi kapoor, I meant the films he directed after 1971. Shammi Kapoor’s address to the audience during a recent awards ceremony is available on youtube . Find out for yourself whom he mentions other than sj and op. When rajendra kumar produced “love story”, find out whom he employed as md. And, in case you don’t know, “aa gale lag jaa” was directed by manmohan desai. And, from 1966 to 1985, nasir hussain stuck to rd.
also, just in case you didn’t know, “jaagte raho” was a hindi remake of raj kapoor’s bengali film “ek din ratri”, directed by shombhu mitra, probably the greatest name on bengali stage. So it was natural for raj kapoor to have sall as the md. Also, shombhu mitra, salil and shailendra were close comrades in ipta. (Incidentally, raj kapoor attended the mitra school in kolkata.)
I don’t have to minutely study the list of the filmfare awards that you’ve provided. There was a time when I could name the lyricist, md, singer(s), and actor(s) of a song within a few seconds of hearing a tune. Nowadays my memory is not that good. If you study the list carefully, you’ll yourself find that those awards were mostly rigged. Tell me honestly, who should have got the awards in 1965, 1966, 1970 and 1971?
Haldar sir:
Agree with you that stats doesn’t tell the whole story, as the famous sying goes ‘Statistics, like bikini, conceals as much as it reveals’. Many of the senior music lovers that I’ve met also share your view on the state of affairs in the early ’70s (of RDB having a greater sway than anyone, followed by SDB). I’ve also met people who says that K-A was a greater force to reckon with than L-P at that point of time.
But didn’t LP always pose a real threat (with their ‘Daag’, ‘Bobby’,’mehmoob ki mehndi’ etc.)? How come it was mainly a father-son show during that phase, despite (statistically)massive hits by LP? Could you also tell us when and how did LP finally managed to break away from the pack?
Mykji:
What you’ve suspected (reg: RDB being better than Khayyam/Jaidev) is true. I am among those who think otherwise. Agreed, RDB could be versatile (and good) but he ran out of the classy ones rather quickly and had to resort to copying and hamming. In contrast, both Khayyam and Jaidev were quality personified. One can’t just expect anything less than sublime from them.
refer post 50
i can vouch as a senior journalist and more so as one who has deeply studied hindi film music, what mr haldar is saying is nothing but the truth.
i have been responding to myk’s queries on rd-rafi relationship where there is more to read between the lines than for anyone to make any clear cut comment. i can say so on the basis of being privy to a lot of conversation with the dramatis personae in this tumultuous chapter. the rd-rafi thread is such that umpteen number of watchers will make umpteen number of analyses and all will be right this way or that way. but let’s not make observations on the basis of mere speculation or mere choices or even mere statistics.
let’s not forget some composers — and i need not name them since we all know — indulged in rafi bashing although when they had no option they desperately knocked at rafi’s doors. mr haldar is absolutely right when he says rafi was not even third on ka’s scheme of things. it was justice’s way of evening up things when such music directors had to opt for rafi simply because they ran out of options given the song they had composed. by which i mean to say when they realised no one else was equipped to sing it better. i recall one of the threads in which somebody pointed out about ka using glowing words for rafi. i suspect it was just lip service.
having witnessed the hindi film industry from close quarters, i can say on oath, there were a legion of people who were jealous of rafi’s success. they had seen how rafi’s popularity had soared even more after his famous royalty clash with lata. lata had replacements and formidable ones like suman. most composers who fell over one another to do the songstress’ bidding, off-record slavered with pain to point out how rafi was ethically and morally right in taking the stance he had.
yes, it is a fact that rd did ignore rafi, but he was also smart enough to realise the potential strength of the maestro when he bounced back in the wake of hkkn and amar akbar anthony. and since rishi kapoor too has been mentioned in these threads, let me tell you rishi went out of the way telling producers and mds that it would be rafi and only rafi would sing for him. he was quite simply floored after the chartbusters a highly metamorphosed rafi gave him in laila majnu. “jee wo gaane itne behtareen the, unki awaaz itini jawaan ke maine aagrah karke unki awaaz maangi” is what rishi himself told me. and i can tell you, rishi is not a man who mines his words.
mr haldar writes: “In closing, let me say this: depending on the time period, rafi was rd’s no. 1 or no. 2 male singer. For lp, rafi was always No. 1. That is the main difference between the two. In the first half of the 70s, rd had more sway than any other md — this you will not understand by looking at binaca geet maala stats, filmfare awards and other dubious measures, but being actually present at that time.”
well, that actually is the truest story. music stats, like cricket stats do not tell the complete story. let me tell you one interesting story. the late c ramchandra — the big name that he was — was a known rafi critic like anil biswas. his affiliation for “miss ivy” as mr haldar says, doesn’t bear repetition. but in the dying stages of his career, he confessed to me and a fellow commentator that the best song in his career was sung by rafi (ye hasrat thi ke is duniya me bas do kaam kar jaate). “i admit he outclassed lata in the duets too,” he told us. but what really shocked us was what he said about miss ivy. “she is at best a good tape recorder.” we couldn’t believe our ears anna chitalkar was talking this of a singer who he tom tommed for decades.
the point i am making here is it is very dicey to assess the relationships between singers and composers on the basis of stats and popular perceptions (read hearsays). so on the one hand, we have had an rd going gaga over rafi and on the other resolutely opting for kk when circumstances so obtained.
sd was a genius no doubt, but he went by his whims a lot. remember he audaciously used talat, hemant and manna dey on dev anand when rsfi was the first and natural choice. sometimes also in the same film (ex kala bazaar). but neither dev anand nor any other producer/director had the nerve to question him. so howsoever jarring it looked on screen, dev had to sing na tum hame jaano in hemant’s voice barely minutes after singing akela hoon mai in rafi’s voice in baat ek raatki. in munimji it was hemant and kishore. the strange combos continued to happen in aradhana, abhimaan etc. rd was his son afterall. so we could see the same trend with films like kati patang, pyaar ka mausam etc.
i had pointedly asked pancham when he used both rafi and kishore for the same tum bin jaoon kahaan where the kishore version had become immensely popular and rafi admirers were upset that rd deliberately did this to bring down rafi. what rd said left me completely amazed. according to him, he personally liked the rafi version better becase it sounded more vibrant and young. “please realise kishore version has gone to the dad and rafi to the son because rafi sounds younger.” that was rd’s way of saying that rafi had gone on hero’s lips. whether it was rd meant it or his specious argument we will never know, but i seemed convinced at that point of time.
composers have gone by whims and circumstances all the time. a die-hard admirer like op nayyar would actually shed tears in the retired stage of his life for ignoring rafi (at the cost of mahendra kapoor) and geeta dutt. “why o why did i do this to those two,” he once told me during an extensive sitting. but at least he had the honesty to admit that he had blundered by banishing rafi from his recording rooms.
i agree that the rd-rafi issue has been flogged to death and it’s time we put a stop to that discussion. i am aware myk is deeply interested in it, but there’s nothing more left to be discussed about it. and since the entire subject has shades of grey, we may go on and on endlessly getting none the wiser.
i could write a thesis here and cite thousands of exmples to buttress my point. but what i am surprised, like mr haldar is, why aren’t we writing about mds like ravi, chitragupt, c arjun, s mohinder, nashad, usha khanna, shardul kwatra, s madan, ramlal and many others who extracted the rafi’s tonal gold.
i didnt have the privilege of meeting chitragupt, but a senior colleague of mine told me that chitragupt claimed that rafi sang the best under his baton. that claim can be explored and i feel, like many other frontline mds for whom rafi sang his heart out, those like him too need to be discussed and given their due in history.
so how about a piece on a man who gave us chand kitni door tha, mujhe darde dil ka pata na tha, mai kaun hoon, ab ke bahaar aai hai, itni naazuk na bano, teri aankh ka jo ishara na hota and chal ud ja re panchhi among hundreds of others?
In reply to most of the previous posts, I want to add, comparison of one genuine composer with the other defeats the discussion of Rafi’s use by legendary composers. I have mentioned in myother articles, (articles on Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi, Madanmohan and Rafi, Roshan and Rafi, SD Burman and Rafi, OP Nayyar and Rafi, to mention a few) that it is not at all possible to compare the classical gharana of Naushad with the westernised compositions of Shankar Jaikishan, SD Burman’s use of folk music had brought tears in the eyes of the audience which had no similarity with Madanmohan’s Ghazals.
The tragedy is that from the 70s, music good totally commercialised and composers had to follow the dictates of many producers some of whom were not knowledgeable to that extent. The moment comparison of Jaidev, Khayyam comes with RD Burman, the entire purpose of writing my main article gets foiled.
Jaidev or Khayyam are not known for their quantity of music but for their quality. So if RD Burman had given music in 11 films in a particular year, Khayyam may have given in only one film. But the music had been unique and meaningful. That is the reason why I acknowledged and appreciated the comment of Mr. P Halder in respect of Rafi’s private albums including bhajans which were even richer than the film music of the 70s.
If the viewers are able to hear the bengali basic discs of SD Burman including “ami chinu eka”, “barne gandhe”, “jhilmil jhilmil jheeler jole”, “bansi shune aar kaaj nai”, etc., viewers will realise that in most of hindi version of the same songs Kishore Kumar could not do justice to the main raga embedded in the songs. SD Burman did not have a choice in the 70s.
He used Rafi to sing the hindi version of his own song like “ghum bhulechi” which was titled “hum bekhudi metum ko pukare”, like “ami chinu eka” which was sung by Rafi with the title “tere bin sune”, all the 60s. SD Burman had tremendous classical touch and Rafi justified the hindi version with his own classical control.
The same SD Burman could not create landmark classical songs because producers and RD relied on KK, and it is impossible to sing a thumri without any classical background. Audience other than bengal even dont know which are the songs RD Burman had used from SD Burman’s own discs. One examples is “madhu brindabone” which was used by RD Burman after the death of SD Burman in the film Kinara with the title “meethe bol bole”. The tragedy is that RD Burman had to engage Bhupinder Singh to sing it, it was not the job of Kishore Kumar.
So it is obvious that with the over interference of producers in the 70s, someof the genuine stopped giving music in the 70s.
I dont agree that Naushad or Ghulam Mohammad lost their touch. Ghulam Mohammad preferred to compose music for one film Pakiza and the music is remembered for the next 40 years. Same is the case of Jaidev and Khayyam. Their use of Rafi in less number of films did not matter, some of their songs touched everyone’s sole.
Another reason for the eternal appeal of Rafi’s songs lie in its variation. The moment we hear his songs the compositions of Naushad, Roshan, Khayyam, Madanmohan, Sd Burman, OP Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan, LP, KA, Ghulam Mohammad, Vasant Desai, Ravi, Jaidev, SN Tripathi, Chitragupt, C. Ramchandran, Salil Choudhury are reflected which are different, novel and captures different moods of Rafi. By hearing majority of songs of Rafi and I have come to admire different composers than comparing one with the other.
Souvik Chatterji.
Mr. Haldar,
Indeed we have beaten this topic to death in the past, however since it has cropped up again, and with others also sharing their views on the subject (again), I also wanted to write more about it.
I do agree that RD had an influential role to play in the events that took place in the early 70’s, but I also feel it was Rafi’s own circumstances that also played a role in him not singing for RD much in the 73-76 period.
Also, not all the films I mentioned were signed before or around Aradhana. True, it takes time for the results to kick in, but it was only after The Train that RD signed majjor films like Kati Patang, Mela, Amar Prem etc. Ofcourse with Nasir Husain he was a permanent fixture, and he was part of Dev’s team (along with SDB), but before his breakthrough he hadn’t signed any major films. With SD, he hardly gave Rafi songs in the 70’s except for a Gambler here, and an Abhimaan there (besides some other songs). With Rafi-RD you had many songs (and many hits too) being churned out in the early 70’s. I also agree that when it comes to rock-n-roll, pop, jazz etc. there was no one to touch Rafi and Asha. They were the best in the western genre. Besides that, Rafi was ofcourse the best in all genres.
According to Manohari Singh, both “Gunguna rahe hain bhanwar” and “Bagon mein bahar hai” from Aradhana were composed by RD. I have read that RD wanted to use Rafi for Rajesh Khanna more often, but probably due to the insistence of RK himself and certain producers/directors, he didn’t get the chance to. We see Rafi sing for RK under RD in BKS (background song), The Train, Shehzada, Humshakal and Bundalbaaz, and also if the story is true, in Aradhana. For Kati Patang, Shakti Samantha says they all wanted Rafi (but he was out of town), so I’m sure RD had songs ready in mind for Rafi to sing for Rajesh Khanna.
As for Dev, in the 70’s he decided to use Kishore and sideline Rafi, but the results were horrible to say the least (except for HRHK, Joshila and Heera Panna). Had he used Rafi more in the 70’s, his music in general from that decade would have been as memorable as previous decades, but instead its comical (with exceptions).
As for K-A, according to both of them, Rafi was one of their favourites, and Kalyanji mentioned in an interview that Rafi was a “gift” to the industry.