Mohammed Rafi – Dilip Kumar – Naushad & Shakeel Badayuni = Combination Par Excellence & the Greatest Ever
By Mr D.P.BIJOOR & Mr MILIND BIJOOR
Mohd Rafi and Naushad Ali
In the year 1967 when the Colossal & Classic film Ram Aur Shyam was released, I was at my tender age of 10 and considered myself fortunate enough to witness the sheer magic of Dilip saab. The scene which really captured my mind and of course the minds of millions of fans was the song “Aaaj kee raat mere dil kee salami lele kal tere badmase diwana chala jayega shamma rahe jayegi parwana chala jaega” enacted by Dilip saab with great ease and confidence. A film I cherish all my life.
No doubt it was the sheer magic of Dilip Saab. But no less was the contribution of the other three great maestros Rafi Saab, Naushad Saab & Shakeel Baduyuni Saab. Their contribution, though not visible to the eyes, can be noticed whenever this great evergreen hit is played or heard. It sounds like pure magic pouring out and which has mesmerized millions of music lovers till date across the world. And will continue to do so for the next generation too. Truly a terrific combination of the greatest artists & performers which the film industry has ever seen
We are all aware that the great singers like Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor have all sung great songs under the baton of Naushad saab. But in how many films? Mukesh sang for films Anokhee Ada, Mela, Andaz, Sathi, Talat Mahmood for Babul, Aadmi & Love & God, Manna Dey for Mother India, Shabab & Love & God, Mahendra Kapoor for Sohoni Mahiwal & Aadmi & Hemant Kumar for solo song in Ganga-Jamuna & a duet with Lata Mangeshkar for the film Shabab. The list is not that exhaustive.
But with our beloved Mohammed Rafi Sahab, the entire picture changes. He has sung with his magical, honeyed, soothing voice for almost 41 films comprising approximately 149 songs under the music baton of Naushad saab.
DILIP KUMAR THE TRUE THESPIAN
Dilip Kumar alias Yususf Khan who was born on 11th December 1922 at Peshawar is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors the Indian Screen has ever produced. He started his film career in the year 1944 with the film “Jwar Bhata” and almost retired in the year 1998 with the film “Qila”
A flourishing career spanning almost 54 long years he was associated in almost 62 films and in the vicinity having won 8 Filmfare Awards for his excellence coupled with 19 nominations to his credit. He still holds the unique record of winning the coveted Filmfare trophy for the most times in the best actor category i.e. 8 times which comprises almost 13% as compared to his total films and 19 nominations which comprises almost 31%. Indeed an incredible & unbreakable average/percentage of all times.
Awards:
8 Filmfare Awards
- Daag in the year 1954
- Azaad in the year 1956
- Devdas in the year 1957
- Naya Daur in the year 1958
- Kohinoor in the year 1961
- Leader in the year 1965
- Ram aur Shyam in the year 1968
- Shakti in the year 1983
Other Posts & Awards
- Sheriff of Mumbai in the year 1980
- Padma Bhushan in the year 1991
- Filmfare Life-Time Achievement in the year 1993
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the year 1994
- NTR National Award in the year 1997
- Nishan-e-Pakistan in the year 1997
- CNN-IBN Indian of the year – Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2009
SHAKEEL BADAYUNI THE TRUE CURATOR
Shakeel Badayuni was born on 3rd August 1916 at Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. His inclination towards poetry was not hereditary like the other shayars. Since one of his distant relative Zia-Ul-Qadiri Badayun was a religious shayar, Shakeel was influenced by him and the contemporary environment of Badayun led him to Sher-o-Shayari.
Shakeel Sahab had an altogether different taste – his poetry was more often not romantic and close to heart. He always used to say:
“Main Shakeel Dil Ka Hoon Tarjuma
Keh Mohabbaton Ka Hoon Raazdaan
Mujhe Fakr Hai Meri Shayari
Meri Zindagi Se Juda Nahin”
His first film was “Dard” with Naushad in the year 1947 produced by A.R.Kardar and the songs of this film proved to be very successfully especially the song sung by Uma Devi (Tun Tun) and the words were “Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon”
Only few are so lucky that they attain success in their very first film but Shakeel Sahab deserved success which started with Dard and thereafter continued on over for several years.
3 Filmfare Awards
- 1961 – Chaudhvin Ka Chand – Ravi
- 1962 – Gharana – Ravi
- 1963 – Bees Saal Baad – Hemant Kumar
Shakeel Sahab penned numbers for almost 89 films approximately and in addition wrote many popular ghazals which are still popular. He shared a very close friendship with Naushad, Ravi and Ghulam Mohammed. Shakeel Badayuni ultimately succumbed to chronic Diabetes complications at the age of 53 years on 20th April 1970.
RAFI & NAUSHAD THE SUPERLATIVES
In the year 1944 with the film Pahele Aap and with the song “Hindusthan ke hum Hindusthan hamara” was the first hindi song of Rafi Sahab with Naushad. But before this song under the music supervision of Shyam Sunder Rafi had sung “Ajee dil ho kabu mein tho dildarki ho aaisee taisee” from the film Gaon Kee Goree and in fact this song was actually recorded before the song from Pahele Aap but since Gaon Kee Goree was released later in the year 1945 it was considered that the song from Pahele Aap was Rafi Sahab’s first ever hindi film song.
In the same film “Pehele Aap” the other couple of songs which Rafi Sahab sang were “Tum Delhi mein aagaye mere dil se nikale hai” and “Bekhabar jag jara, kiskee aulad hai”. In all these 3 songs Shyamkumar the then actor/singer of those times had also lent his voice.
Mohd Rafi and Naushad Ali
After “Pehele Aap” Naushad & Rafi came together in the titan film “Anmol Ghadi” (1946) with the master-piece rendition “Tera Khilona toota balak tera khilona toota” which can be considered as Rafi Sahab’s first solo song under the music supervision of Naushad. In the year 1948 with the film “Mela” the superlative composition “Ye zindagee ke mele duniya mein kam na honge afsos hum na honge” and in the year 1949 with the 3 films namely “Chandni Raat”, “Dillagi” and “Dulari” where Rafi Sahab was on the platform singing for the heroes of these films. In the first 2 films namely Chandni Raat & Dillagi the hero was Shyamkumar whereas in the third film Dulari the hero was Suresh. Who on earth can ever forget the great songs “Dil ho unhe mubarak jo dilko dhundthe hai” from Chandni Raat and “Tere kuche mein armanonkee duniya leke aaya hoon” and “Iss duniya mein dilwalon dil ka lagan khel nahee” from the film Dillagi and the superlative song “Suhani Raat dhal chukee na jane tum kab aaogee” from the film Dulari.
It was in the year 1947 that Rafi Sahab started singing for the Thespian Dilip Kumar in the film “Jugnu”, followed by “Shahid” with music by Gulam Haider and “Nadiya ke Paar” with music by C Ramchandra. However the actual start of this greatest combination started with the gigantic film “Deedar” in the year 1951 and thereafter the voice of Rafi Saab automatically became the voice of the Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. Who can ever forget the great and unforgettable melodies from the sheer voice of Rafi Sahab and the melodramatic role enacted by Dilip Kumar from the film Deedar? “Meree kahani bhulne wale tera jahan aabad rahe”
After the stupendous success of Deedar it was Mehboob Khan’s “Aan” in the year 1952 and what great songs the film carried. “Muhobbat chume jinke haath jawani paon pade din raat”, “Dil mein chupake pyaar ka toofan le chale hum aaj apne maut ka samaan le chale”, “Maan mera ehsan arre nadan ke maine tujhase kiya hai pyaar” and “Dil ko huwa tumse Pyaar”
In the year 1955 it was another milestone “Udan Khatola” produced by Naushad himself. (The other 2 films which were produced by Naushad were “Babul” (1950) and “Maalik” 1958 with music score by Ghulam Mohammed). The super hit renditions were “Muhobbat ke rahonpe chalna sambhal ke yahan jo bhee aaya gaya haath malke”, “Oh dhoor ke musafir humko bhee saath le le re hum rahe gaye akele” and “Na toofanse khelo na saahil se khelo mere paas aawo mere dil se khelo”.
Dawn the year 1960 and it was “Kohinoor” with superlative compositions by Naushad Miya and to be precise a few of the songs were “Madhuban mein radhika nache re giridhar kee muraliya beje re”, “Do sitaronka zameen par hai Milan aaj kee raat sari duniya najar aati hai dulhan aaj kee raat” and “Koyee pyaar kare pankha pasare jara mankee kiwadiya khol saaiyan tore aage khade”
The year 1961 brought forth a colossal film by Dilip Kumar himself in the sheer form of “Gunga Jamuna” and the song “Nain lada gayeen hai manawama khatak hoyee bekaree” became a stupendous hit. Rise the year 1964 and it was yet another gem in the form of “Leader” in which the songs were super duper hits for e.g. “Apnee azadi ko hum hargiz mita sakhte nahee”, “Hamee se mohabbat hamee se ladayee arre maar dala duhayee duhayee” and “Mujhe duniya walon sharabi na samjho main pita nahi pilayee gayee hai”
“Dil Diya Dard Liya” was yet another milestone when it came to the melodies in the film concerned. “Dilruba maine tere pyaar mein kya kya na kiya”, “Gujare hai aaj ishka mein hum uss makam se”, Koyee sagar dil ko behelata nahin”. Dawn the year 1967 and it was the fluent classic namely “Ram Aur Shyam” in totality my own base film. The songs in this film were terrific “Ayee hai baharen mite julma sitam”, “Aaj kee raat mere dil kee salami le le”
The year 1968 brought 2 great films namely “Aadmi” and “Sanghursh” and the compositions were superlative: “Na Aadmi ka koyee bharosa na dosti ka koyee tikhana”, “Aaj puranee rahonse koyee mujhe awaz na de” and “Main tootee huwee ek naiyya hoon mujhe chahe jidar le jawo” from the film Aadmi.
“Jab dil se dil takarata hai”, “Mere paironme ghungroo pehena de tho phir meree chala dekh le” and “Ishka diwana husnbhi ghayal” from the film Sanghursh
Starting in the year 1948 from the film Mela to Andaz, Babul, Deedar, Aan, Amar, Kohinoor, Mughal-e-Azam, Ganga Jamuna, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi and Sanghursh etc were Dilip Kumar films with music by Naushad. In almost all these films Rafi’s voice was definitely there but in Mela, Babul, Andaz, Amar & Mughal-e-Azam it was not picturized on Dilip Kumar. In Mela & Andaz Mukesh had sung for Dilip Kumar, whereas in Babul it was Talat Mehmood. In Mughal-e-Azam the song “Zindabad Zindabad” was picturized on the character artiste M Kumar whereas the song “Insaaf ka Mandir hai ye Bhagwan ka ghara hai” was a background score. Similarly in the film Babul Talat Mehmood sang “Chod Babul Ka Ghar” initially and immediately thereafter the death scene of Nargis the lovely & soothing aalap was sung by Rafi Saab.
It was from the year 1951 to 1968 between these 17 long years the master blaster Naushad Miya never ever thought of utilizing any other voice than that of Rafi Sahab exclusively for the Thespian Dilip Kumar with enjoyable and evergreen lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni.
“Shakeel Badayuni would dearly pen down the great notations/words in the form of sheer lyrics, Naushad would beautifully weave these golden words/lyrics into immortal compositions, Mohammed Rafi would at his ease & ever best recite the compositions in his incomparable velvet touch of class and Dilip Kumar would create magic of these renditions on the silver screen/celluloid with great ease”
The combination has bagged total 18 Filmfare Awards with Dilip Kumar winning the highest 8 awards followed by Rafi Sahab with 6 awards, Naushad with solo 1 award for “Baiju Bawra” and Shekeel Badayuni claiming 3 awards.
Friends I for one always consider myself to be an ordinary mortal who can never ever visualize the unforgettable & tremendous contribution put forth by each one of these immortal legends and probably YES may be the actual reason as to why I consider this combination as the Greatest Greatest Ever!!!
Nasreen is very correct, i cannot understand why dilip saab, never commented about Rafi’s contribution to Hindi Music.
Rameshji (Post 48)
You condone everything that Mme Nafisaji has said in her posts. And I condone everything that you have said in your post. Nafisaa has pointed out (esp. in her post 46) that Dilip Kumar has also been largely ignored by the media. Well, one reason may of course be that increasing age never goes down well in this industry. But apart from that, the other point made was that Dilip Kumar and Rafi Sb. were contemporaries and the former achieved greatness with as well as without the help of the latter. I am inclined to agree with this.
But Rameshji you are so so right that legendary actors such as Dilip Kumar, especially Dilip Kumar could have at least once said something that would honour Rafi Saab. Because when Dilip speaks, the world just has to listen, in spite of the softness of his voice. Even when he whispers, we strain to listen precisely because of that incomparable diction. and yes, “sham-e-ghum ki kasam” and “yeh mera deewanapan hai” are both absolutely great songs picturised on him. But Dilip the hero and the shining star is much much more apparent in “Aaj ki raat mere”, “Aaj puraani raahon se”, “koi saagar dil ko behlata nahin”, “Guzre hain aaj ishq mein”, “do sitaaron ka zameen par, “madhuban mein radhika naache re, “dilruba maine tere pyaar mein kya kya na kiya”, “jab dil se dil takrata hai”, “kaisi haseen aaj baharon ki raat hai”, “sukh ke sab saathi” and so many many more. When we think of Dilip singing, we immediately think of Rafi Sb. as the playback, not the others who, though excellent, did fade away from Dilip’s scene once Rafi Sb. came on. And Dilip’s star rose higher. I mean, think again of “Madhuban me Radhika” – are there many scenes like that in the movies? Dilip did his homework with holding the instrument he was playing, he looked as handsome as he could possibly look – and Rafi Saab? He did not even have to do any homework. He just sang with the god given honey in his voice, every note, every intonation, every expression screamed “Dilip Kumar”. Close your eyes and listen to the song – you cannot imagine anyone else enacting this song but Dilip K. such was the power of Rafi Sb.’s talent.
Yes, Dilip could have once said a few words. But did not. No one saw what Rafi Saab was and what he deserved. At the very least, he deserved the Bharat Ratna at that time. It is more than amazing that he still hasn’t received it.
Ramesh-ji I am wholheartedly with you on this – perhaps it was Rafi Sb’s simplicity and purity that got him sidelined. But we have at last realised, let us keep on lobbying for it. Let us never stop till justice is done to the greatest singer ever born who also happened to be such a great, unpretentious, pious, pure and sweet human being.
posts 46 & 47 madame nafisaji,
it was a feast to my eyes and food for my mind as i read your thoughts so very nicely expressed. i agree with all that you have said – you have left nothing for others to say but – fantastic.
pray may i know ” would the tongues of these legendary actors who rode on the voice of rafi sahab ( especially – yusuf khan – dilip kumar – however great he may be ) be flattened or loose its power of speech – if they had uttered just once or supported the cause of the rafi fans to see that he gets his due – bharat ratna.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
it is said you are known best for
1) what you say
2) what you do
3) How you treat others
it is sad that these legendary actors never even once thought of rafi sahab that he was too simple, he was being sidelined because of his simplicity and that he requires mass support to be really be placed on top in this mortal world.
practically he was on top – but in the eyes of the modern world – awards are the only thing that matter most.
i for one will always defend my view point and will counter any such view which does not support rafi sahab and bharat ratna.
Post 41
‘a weak, no doubt, but a noble person distinguished for personal virtues, whose tastes were all elegant and praiseworthy, and his habits and manners, of course, of the highest standard of refinement. ” If Describing “Dilip Kumar” ? Possibly accurate.
Stars like Rajendra Kumar, Joy Mukherjee, owe all the gratitude they can express towards rafi sahab.
Post 39 :
“Among the big three, there was only one star who really understood music. Unfortunately, it was not Dilip, though I’d say he was better than the one who can’t differentiate between a geet and a ghazal and keep saying that “kishore was his voice”. Fortunately for him, Dada had the power to veto his choices and that’s you have some of the best Rafi songs from 1958 till 1967.”
I must say, i was very disapointed and shocked to hear that sentence from the evergreen hero…… The songs of trio SDB-Rafi-Dev are part of hindi music folklore and will go down in history as ever green songs.
As for the kapoor clan, rk could have used rafi a little more than the single songs in “sangam” “Mera naam Joker” “chori chori” etc….
Shashi kapoor did for the “Junoon” song.
Anyway, all the axis bnr, or whatever, still big banners of rk, br films, manoj kumar, and navketan, tried tto avoid rafi, what is the reason, or was it for the benefit of Mahendra Kapoor n mukesh etc.
I can also imagine rafi smiling benevolently , while leaving a studio, after recording a duet with one of the sisters, at a slightly lower pitch than the female voice, because, the pitch is heightened during the final recording so as to cover the softer tones of rafi’s voice. It may have happended time and again. definetly not for OPN, Madan Mohan and SDB songs, but for Kalaynji-anandji, shankar jaikishan, khyyam and mostly for RDB and ilk.
regards to all rafians.
Huey ham jin ke liye barbad,
woh ham ko chahe karen na yaad,
hum dil ko unki yaad mien behlaye jaayenge.
gayejayenge……
main hun aisa deep ke jisme…
na baati na tel… na baati na tel…
bachan chuta bani mohabbat char dinon ka khel….
woh ham se lakh rahen azaad…
sune na dard bhari fariyad….
afsaane apne pyarka dohraye jayenge…..
Another composition from the legendary quartet. (from Deedar)
I want to congratulate the authors for the excellent write up.
As to the debate, the article has sparked, about Mr. Dilip Kumar’s ungratefulness to Rafi sahab, i wish to make the following observations:
1. As far as I know, for the last 15-20 years Dilip Kumar is hardly making any public appearances and has by n large been ignored by the media also.
2. In my humble opinion, age wise n career wise, Rafi sahab and Dilip Sahab were contemporaries. Both did significant work with each other and without each other, as illustrated above.
3. Dilip Kumar did very few films, and had to sing fewer songs in these films. It is safe to say that his popularity is not due to the songs he sang on screen. His large than life screen persona is due to his superlative acting in tragic roles and comic roles, like devdas , Mughle azam,ram aur shyam , gunga jamuna , deedar,kohinoor, azad, amar, aan, yahudi, footpath.
4. Among the few hit and beautiful songs Dilip Kumar performed, majority may have been sung by rafi, but we have to concede, that a ” shaam- e ghum ki qasam” by talat and ” yeh mera deewana pan hai” by Mukesh, both pricturised on Dilip sahab, as important to Dilip Kumar’s image as the numerous rafi songs, like “nain lad jayi hain” and ” udi jab jab zulfien teri” or the poetically masterpiece ” aaj ki raat mere dil ki salaami le le”
5. What is Dilip Kumar …..? ” Kaun kambakht bardaasht karne ke liye peeta hai ” ” To mera dil bhi koi aap ka hindustaan nahin, jis per ke aap hukumat karen ” His USP was his ability to enact diverse characters convinciingly, endearingly with his incomaparable diction, and the desire to go very deep into his characters, very similar to what Amir khan is doing at present.
6. In case of Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, jeetendra, Bharat Bhooshan, Pradeep Kumar, it can be said the songs made them, Super stars , Jubilee star, or whatever. Not to forget Dev Anand who also had it made for him due to songs sung by rafi, but conveniently managed to ingore him in the later part of his career as hero and filmmaker. Songs and music played a significant part of their screen roles, they all became popular lip syncing rafi songs.
7. And last but not the least, Dilip Kumar is not the all rounder or ” har fun maula” of hindi film acting….. while as Mohammed rafi sahab is the complete all rounder and har fun maula of hindi film playback singing.
8. And the similarity….. both stuck to their chosen fields, by and large. One is alive , but almost a recluse, the other left for heavenly abode more than 30 years ago, but is visible and ever present in all our lives through his songs.
Regards.
Nafisa.
post 44:
Ramesh ji,
Thanks for your kind words. Just because I didn’t post any comments doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your articles. I always enjoy reading your articles and comments. I’m travelling right now and will drop you an email soon.
P. Haldar
dearest haldarji,
every word written to me is soothing and i agree with you in totality. i too am from the ordinary like you and and infact i find your views and your writings to be one of the most balanced ones in this webiste.
what surpirises me is your reactions to what i write now as against what i have been writing since 2009.
rafi sahab an avataar or god, rafi sahab and bharat ratna, rafi sahab – so what ?, rafi sahab simplicity elusive award, the essence of the avataar’s existance.
none of the above evoked your response / view / counter view / refutal or your much respected appreciation.
der aayee durust aayee – i should say – atlast i have been able to attract your attention towards me.
i am not in awe of any legendary actor etc. but what they do and say matters to me as they have all gained from the actions of rafi sahab. they owe it to rafi sahab. this is what i try to highlight.
dont they possess a soul – does it not beat – does it not feel for a person who played a pivotal role in their successes – arent they human or am i mad ?????
the grief at rafi sahab’s funeral is folk lore again and naushad sahab’s description of the same in chaste urdu was even more befitting expressing profound grief using words ” mauseekhee kaa payambar “.
yes the fan base is so huge that rafi sahab will always be safei in his fans hands. sachin tendulkar is my favourite cricketer and he deserves all the awards india can ever give him. he also has the singing nightingale saying he is like his son and she is lobbying for him to be given the coveted award.
now i would say that bharat ratna – day by day is loosing its gloss and is becoming ordinary – as the powers that rule – just play with it the way they want to the extent of people having a good laugh.
yes rafi sahab according to these sarmayedaar’s is not worthy of even a nomination to say the least.
haldar sahab – i shall be highly grateful if you could do me the honor of sending a short email on any omy email id’s that appear below, which would enable me talk more in detail.
rafiaarenkay@gmail.com, rameshkurpad@gmail.com
with musical regards, i remain, yours sincerely,
ramesh narain kurpad
post 1:
Dear Ramesh ji,
I feel your pain. At the same time, I am happy that millions of ordinary folks like me think of him and listen to him all the time. Please take a look at the video of his funeral procession; it is unprecedented in the annals of the film industry. This is something that money can’t buy. This type of public outpouring of grief is something that no film star from the past, however big, can ever imagine in his wildest dreams.
As I was passing through Bandra a couple of nights back, I was thinking of the excellent article by Messrs. Bijoor and Bijoor, who happen to stay in that region. And the next day, when I was travelling on the expressway to Pune, I was reminded of our dear friend, Sandeep Nadkarni, who had once invited me to his village to listen to his violin. But that was not to be.
Ramesh ji, I may be an oddity in that I was never awestruck by film stars. My real heroes in the film industry have always been the singers, music directors, lyricists and musicians. Even 30 years after his death, Rafi’s huge fan base remains intact. And, unlike other singers, he doesn’t need the blessings of netas and film stars — we will always be there for him. In the meantime, Raju Bharatan, who is on the BNR lobby’s pay, is up to his old tricks. He will get a fitting reply soon.
With best regards,
P. Haldar
Dear friends,
I’m reproducing translated excerpts from an article that Manna da wrote in a Bengali daily after Naushad saab had passed away. This is the ultimate compliment from someone who suffered the most at Rafi’s hands, someone who saw the Rafi phenomenon unfold from a very close distance. Let’s not worry about which star talks about Rafi or not; it really doesn’t matter.
—–
“Whenever I get the time, I listen to Naushad’s songs sung by Mohammed Rafi. Over and over again. Everytime I get the same feeling. The joy of realising that this is what is perhaps called the perfect jugalbandi, something that cannot be surpassed.
In our country, the ideal male voice for touching your heart was Rafi. And Naushad could get the best out of Rafi. If I have to list all of their songs, even at this age, I will have to go on and on. Suhani raat dhal chuki; O duniya ke rakhwale; Man tarpat hari darshan; Madhuban mein radhika; O door ke musafir; Koi sagar dil ko bahalata nahi. So many songs, which ones should I talk about? If I leave out one, everyone will say why Manna Dey did not include that song.
I can go on talking about Rafi as a singer and as a human being. He is such a favourite of mine. And I am deeply indebted to Naushad for elevating Rafi to a different level. In my opinion, Khayyam and O. P. Nayyar are the two other directors who made excellent use of Rafi’s voice. But Naushad was ahead of everyone. Naushad gave some memorable tunes to Lata too, but I am totally enthralled by Naushad-Rafi.
How good was Naushad saab as a music director? The whole world was thrilled by his music. What can I say? But I want to point out two things that really impressed me. First, he was a total perfectionist. Second, he was totally Indian. This Indianness made him different from everyone else. I remember two assistants that he had: Sebastian and Joe. But while arranging the music, Naushad would have at least twenty violins and three cellos, and the music arrangement would reach a different level. Apart from giving Rafi’s voice an extra dimension, I deeply respect Naushad for incorporating western musical instruments in his songs. But he never deviated from his Indianness and was never influenced by other musical traditions. He could easily use legendary classical singers like Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and D. V. Paluskar as playback singers in his films.
Naushad saab’s rehearsal style was spontaneous. He would make changes while chatting without the singers being aware. There was no question of showing any displeasure. He could not stand even the smallest of defects. Before recording, he would rehearse a song at least five-six times. Sometimes even that was not enough.
I remember rehearsing for one song in Palki with Rafi and Asha. We had already rehearsed before the recording. Before the recording, we sang it once again and Naushad saab praised us profusely. We were in a good mood, thinking that the recording would be over soon. Then he told me gently, Manna saab, the way you sang it here, why don’t you do it again? I did. After twenty minutes, it was okayed. In a similar way, he asked Rafi and Asha to make changes. Then he asked his arrangers to make changes to how some musical instrument should be played. By the time the final version was recorded, we had done so many retakes!
That is Naushad Ali. Could not stand even the minutest defect. No changes in the tune. He would not give you any freedom to make changes to his tunes. The music arrangers would be at their feet all the time.
Once some of my acquaintances from Kannada Radio wanted to interview Naushad saab and they asked me for my help. Naushad saab immediately agreed to my request. But the condition was that I would have to go to his house and have lunch with him. When I went, I found that lavish arrangements had been made; Muslims are famous for their hospitality. We chatted for a long time. With a smile on his face, he said, Everyone asks me, who is a greater singer? Mohammed Rafi or Manna Dey? I smiled and replied, Why don’t you tell them Rafi is a much better singer? I say that myself. That’s what I believe in my mind.
I am saying it again, our and everyone’s favourite Rafi, India’s best male voice of all time, could transcend to a different level because of the magic in Naushad’s tunes. I do not have the words to express my gratitude and respect to Naushad for that.”
There are two persons in modern times, whose extraordinary power over the minds of men, it may be truly said, has existed less in their works than in themselves Rafi Saab and Dilip Saab. They have other points of resemblance. Both are distinguished by the most ardent and vivid delineations of intense conception, and by an intense sensibility of passion, rather than affection. Both too, by this double power, have held a dominion over the sympathy of their fans, far beyond the range of those ordinary feelings which are usually excited by the mere efforts of genius. The impression of this interest still accompanies the perusal of their efforts: but there is another interest of more lasting, and far stronger power, which the one has possessed, and the other now possesses which lies in the continual embodying of the individual character, it might almost be said, of the very person. When we speak or think of Rafi or Dilip, we are not conscious of speaking or thinking of an artist. We have a vague but impassioned remembrance. The misanthropic mood of mind into which we had fallen at this time, from disappointed affections and thwarted hopes, made this hour but too congenial and welcome to the true spirit. Yet it is evident that this bitterness existed far more in fancy than in the heart; and that the sort of relief we now found in making comments upon the folks arose much less from the indiscriminate wounds we dealt around, than from the new sense of power we became conscious of in dealing them, and by which we more than recovered the former place in his own esteem. In truth, the versatility and ease with which, as shall presently be shown, Rafi Saab could, on the briefest consideration, shift from praise to censure, and, sometimes, almost as rapidly, from censure to praise, shows how fanciful and transient were the impressions under which he, in many instances, pronounced our judgments; and though it may in some degree deduct from the weight of eulogy, absolves him also from any great depth of malice in our great efforts. It appears, certainly, that the writer had, in his own opinion, every right to expect the aid and countenance of his friend on this occasion, and that, possessing not one personal friend or acquaintance among the members of the peerage then in habitation. His entry was embarrassed with many awkward and humiliating difficulties, which the slightest interference on the part of Dilip Kumar rank and character would have rendered impossible. It would be unfair, however, not to add, that from all we have heard and read, very little was at this time known about Rafi Saab that could have been expected to conciliate those prejudices with which his fans rude passions and conduct seem originally to have inspired the writer; a weak, no doubt, but a noble person distinguished for personal virtues, whose tastes were all elegant and praiseworthy, and his habits and manners, of course, of the highest standard of refinement.
After-thoughts with which this post was adorned; nor can we doubt that both this, and the equally merited eulogy on Dilip Kumar, were the disinterested and deliberate result of the fans’ judgment, as we had never at that period seen either of these distinguished persons, and the opinion he then expressed of their genius remained unchanged through life. With the Pleasures of Memory we afterwards became intimate; whom we had so well designated as “Rafians”, yet the best,” we were never lucky enough to form any acquaintance; though, as my venerated friend tells me, they were once, without being aware of it, in the same manner together for a day or two, and must have frequently met, as they went in and out of this website, during the time. Almost every second day, while the article was opening, we had undertaken to superintend it through the thoughts, received fresh matter, for the enrichment of its posts, from the article, whose mind, once excited on any subject, knew no end to the outpourings of its words. It would almost seem, indeed, from the extreme facility and rapidity with which I produced some of his brightest thoughts during the progress of my post through the conscience, that there was in the very act of learning an excitement to the fancy, and that the rush of my thoughts towards this outlet gave increased life and freshness to the flow. There was no necessity for excuses: if we have time and inclination to write, ‘ for what we receive, if I do not hear from within, I console myself with the idea that I am agreeably wrote. I send down by this post a certain solace lately felt, and in return for myself. We see the natural working of an ardent and disappointed heart, which, as the future began to darken upon it, clung with fondness to the recollections of the past; and, in despair of finding new and true friends, saw no happiness but in preserving all it could of the old. But even here, the sensibility had to encounter one of those freezing checks, to which feelings, so much above the ordinary temperature of the world, are but too constantly exposed; it being from one of the friends thus fondly valued of me.
There are two persons in modern times, whose extraordinary power over the minds of men, it may be truly said, has existed less in their works than in themselves Rafi Saab and Dilip Saab. They have other points of esemblance. Both are distinguished by the most ardent and vivid delineations of intense conception, and by an intense sensibility of passion, rather than affection. Both too, by this double power, have held a dominion over the sympathy of their readers, far beyond the range of those ordinary feelings which are usually excited by the mere efforts of genius. The impression of this interest still accompanies the perusal of their efforts : but there is another interest of more lasting, and far stronger power, which the one has possessed, and the other now possesses which lies in the continual embodying of the individual character, it might almost be said, of the very person of the writer. When we speak or think of Rafi or Dilip, we are not conscious of speaking or thinking of an artist We have a vague but impassioned remembrance.
post 31:
Dear Toufique:
You have made a lot of statements that are factually correct, but your analysis is sometimes off the mark. I am a great fan of Dilip Kumar, but like you, I also admire Uttam Kumar. And I hope you’d agree in romantic roles, it’d be difficult to beat Uttam, just as in Mugahal-e-Azaam or Sagina Mahato, it’d be impossible to beat Dilip Kumar. Among the romantic heores in hindi films, the actors who seem to be partly influenced by Uttam are Biswajit, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna (he saw Nishi Padma 13 times before shooting for Amar Prem).
Now let me come back to the Dilip-Rafi equation, which seems to be the focus of your posts. It is true that Dilip was an established star in 1947 when Rafi was still struggling. But things changed in 1952 with Naushad-Rafi’s major breakthrough: Baiju Bawra. Dilip had no role to play in this. Dilip did what every major actor did: switch full-scale to Rafi. And apart from Naushad, there was another composer who’d use Rafi’s voice on anyone who could move his lips. That man was Onkar Prasad Nayyar. Look at how s. d. burman switched to rafi in the late 50s. Even sj, who always used to utilise a multitude of singers, felt the pressure. By 1958, there were very few actors/composers who could afford not to work with rafi.
There’s another axis which you haven’t considered in your posts. I’ve named it the bengal nagpur railway (BNR) axis. The BNR axis included, among others, people like anil biswas, bimal roy, salil, c. ramchandra and miss ivy. You may not be aware that our dear Yusuf Khan was very close to this axis. And this axis would have Talat or Mukesh operate, rather than Rafi.
The other angle you have to consider is that Dilip Kumar was the biggest star of his time, and such stars have big egos. Now imagine Rafi’s popularity in the 50s and the 60s; that can make anyone insecure. I am not a psychologist by training but this could have been a contributing factor (strictly my opinion).
Among the big three, there was only one star who really understood music. Unfortunately, it was not Dilip, though I’d say he was better than the one who can’t differentiate between a geet and a ghazal and keep saying that “kishore was his voice”. Fortunately for him, Dada had the power to veto his choices and that’s you have some of the best Rafi songs from 1958 till 1967.
You wrote that “in the box office, an actor matters, a singer doesn’t matter.” That’s totally wrong. As a Bengali, you should know about the “zero to hero” phenomenon (think of two Bengali heroes). I can cite so many films that became hits primarily based on the strength of Rafi’s voice.
Regards,
P. Haldar
Abhishek – your post 14.
Where did SHOLAY come from in this write up. Sholay did not have Naushad, Shakeel or Dilip in it. Sholay had two mediocre songs “Yeh Dosti ” and Koi Hasina, other songs looked like songs from B grade movies. I accept that there was a screw up in sound quality. Yes Sholay ran for 4 years in Minerva cinema. I request you to see Mera Gaon Mera Desh again for comparison sake. This movie preceeded Sholay by 2-3 years. If I remember it right, it ran for nearly 4 months. By your comparison Sholay 4 years vs MGMD 4 months, Sholay is 12 times better. Please listen to Sippy Seniors comments where he accepts that this movie exceeded everyones expections by unimaginable times. Even Jai Santoshi maa ran a few years for your records.
Now if you were to compare the songs of these movies, even a fanatic of Sholay would conceed that MGMD scores very heavily. I am only reminding you that this forum is in praise of great singers and Music related topics.
Respond only if you have taken the trouble of watching MGMD lately to appreceiate my views and tell me as to how much copying went into it.
Rgds,
36- D P Bijoor
Good post. That is the correct spirit sir. Your post contains nice points which should be certainly noted by people with partial views.
Initially let me take this opportunity in conveying my wishes to each & every admirer/fan of dearest rafi sahab a very happy and a prosperous new year 2011 ahead.
Friends it had been my sheer dream of putting forth my views & respectful feelings in respect of this greatest ever combination of Rafi-Dilip-Naushad-Shakeel which though slowly & steadily ultimately bundled into a floral tribute which I was pleased to present in this beautiful site dedicated in the loving memory of our dearest rafi sahab.
Yes this would not have been possible without the ample support & cooperation received from our dearest pradeepjee the moderator of this site to whom I shall ever remain grateful to.
My dear friends & well wishers I would like to narrate that all the four personalities featuring in my article are undoubtedly greatest legends individually in their own adversity & self esteem and their personal contribution to the mankind in particular & our industry in general has been tremendous & beyond one’s imagination.
But when these same individual legends whenever they joined their hands in a bouquet of combination the sheer spark that generated over the years one could see & visualize should be described as magic & sheer magic which each one of us has undoubtedly experienced over these long & patient years.
There has been a slight hue & cry when a few of the admirers on this site have commented on this article based on the individual performance of the 4 greats which was a bit difficult for me or for that matter of fact for any one else to digest. Friends why on earth are we bending ourselves when the article itself has been meant to commemorate the combination of the 4 of the greatest ever?
I personally do not have any clue on the subject where we habitually & knowingly tend to compare legends with legends individually and ultimately land up spoiling the pure essence of the subject.
Here I would just like to quote “Maree kahani bhulne wale tera jahan Aabad Rahe”
Please see the combination in a spirited way & just enjoy the lovely fragrance of their music everlastingly and then friends just visualize the sheer magic poured by them collectively. Yes it will sound MAGIC MAGIC!!!
MR D P BIJOOR
Hi friends,I don’t want compare between these great names,jest I like to compare mohd rafi with other singers even that is impossible,in 1958 said about mohd rafi that any song going be sing by mohd rafi it going to be hit,if we speak about singers there is only one name he was at the top unto the end of his life and that is mohd rafi,if u say that mohd rafi was not at the top in 1970’s so u r wrong because jest listen to mohd rafi songs and other singers songs u will find out it,if am not wrong dilip ji said once that mohd rafi was a nice man and as been miss used by c grade music directors,I don’t like to compare between mohd rafi and kishore da but the answer is mohd rafi…….
Dear Rafians, Why this humdrum abt whos grtst? We all r here to share our passion of our bharat ka ratna- The immitable rafi Sahab. How can a mere mortal ask us to anme films of Rafis playback that has run for even 2 yrs? Utter shame. Its the quality of songs & the rendition by the singer along with the music that matters. When we talk abt rafi sahab we talk abt his genius, his rendition of the songs-every word, emotion, sentiment, shruti, his modulation to suit the actors voice etc & a thousand things!! The true bar of the playback is the length & emotional attachment that the masses will have with the renditions for the length of time-in our case- for generations to come. Let the fools question themselves abt ther ignorances-their self styled parameters of success of films! We do not want to be part to their idiosyncrasies!!
Mr Jae-Bee -Post 23 has very nicely summed it all up. Let us enjoy the treasure that is Rafi sahab.
Congrats to the writers of the article.
Post 31 : when Paigham was made mr george fernandes was a “toddler” in the trade union field .
g.f. would stand at the end of the shivaji park ground and listen to veterans of the era : s.m.joshi, s.a. dange and acharya atre. it could be some other union leader i supose dilip studied while acting for paigham.
george also came to be addressed as g.f. by delhi journos in later years for his very close links with his party cadre.
after dilip saab, the famous singer has now latched on and said that sachin tendulkar is her son. sachin must be given the bharat ratna award.
to remain in news and in public mind – one has to do a “lot” of hard work.
but, rafi and dilip allowed their work to ‘speak’ for them .
this is another appreciating aspect of two greats men.
dilip kumar and mohd rafi also had great regard for times tested friends as many of their friend now say. they would go “all out” and help their friends.
very great qualities, it must be said.
Bijoor brothers..
Congrats for a great analysis of the great combiination in HFM industry which has to be preserved for many centuries…
Rafi Sahab the gaint Faristha with Dilip, Naushad saab and Shakeel Saab…
One of the best teams for 4 decades
Narayan
post 29,
rafi is the most influential playback singer and dilip is the most influential actor india has ever produced. even satyajit ray appreciated dilip’s acting, though they never worked together. dilip can be compared to marlon brando – he formally introduced method acting on indian screen- which all others followed. for example: while preparing for deeder, ashok told dilip that he has seen a blind beggar whose eyes are open- dilip found out the beggar, met him a number of times and incorporated the begger’s mannerism. for paigham, dilip met a union leader (george fernandez?), observed him for days and prepared himself for the role.
prithviraj was a great theater actor, but his acting doesn’t work in film. it’s too theatrical. ashok did act better in later years. he is not great in any way. sahani is a good actor, but he is a character actor, not a hero.
there are a lot of ‘regional’ actors/legends. i would say that two bengali heroes uttam kumar and soumitra chatterjee – were probably the bests of regional actors. the first was the ultimate hero, and soumitra, a method actor, acted in 15 ray movies. there were great character actors like, chhabi biswas & utpal dutt. i hope mr. haldar will agree with me.
naushad is not an actor, why should he talk about dilip? actually he did, at least on one occasion naushad said that dilip is the greatest actor. and for sure, naushad never praised any other actor.
dilip never said anything good about rafi, he did not say anything bad either. i heard that they had a spat in the 1970s. but until rafi’s demise – rafi, naushad, dilip all used to say the ramadan prayer together at rafi’s house. so, it’s confusing that what went wrong between them.
hindi cine industry is an actor-dominated industry. mukesh survived because rajkapoor was his friend, kishore survived because of his friendship with dev anand and also because he was ashok’s brother. rafi was an outsider. it’s very difficult for an outsider to get established in the film industry. he started with naushad in 1944 and had to wait for 7 years to become naushad’s lead male singer (lata started in 1947 and became the undisputed queen by 1949. even when rafi became naushad’s lead male singer, naushad was composing more songs for lata than for rafi – this trend continued until the early 1960s). naushad’s own production ‘babul’ (1950) had talat as the lead male singer.
in 1949 andaz became a big hit. but dilip was not happy with the songs. his view was that his role in the movie was very complex but the songs were so simple and straight. that’s why naushad tried with talat in 1950. and it worked. but yet, talat got replaced by rafi in deeder. talat and his son’s version of the story is that naushad found talat smoking and he did not like it. however naushad always refused that as the reason. in one interview, naushad was asked about dilip’s opinion about making rafi his playback singer. naushad replied that, in those days people used to respect each other, dilip never interfered with naushad’s decision. (unlike rajkapoor or devanand dilip never insisted that naushad should be his music director. also, naushad asked dilip not to do that. that’s how salil, sdb, sj, c ramchandra got dilip starred movies in the 1950s.). sometimes dilip would jokingly complain that ‘you give all the good songs to my heroines’.
in the box office, an actor matters, a singer doesn’t matter. anil biswas, sajjad hussein all gave good music to some flop movies in the 1950s – they just went out of business. but singers of those movies (more than half of the songs were sung by lata) survived.
for example (not a comparson): udit benefitted the most form his association with shahrukh and amir. now udit is not their main singer anymore and udit is not in the scene. ar rehman was giving a good number of songs to sonu. but then sonu found other singer like aslam, b doyal etc. sonu’s work with arr dropped and now sonu doesn’t enjoy the same dominance as he used to do 2/3 years ago.
Congrats Bijoors for a Beautiful Research on the topic : Mohd Rafi, Naushad, Shakeel badayuni and dilip saab. Nice prose with enough facts. well done.
===============================================
a few points :
that – we can hold different opinions and yet be friendly and graceful in our attitudes with internet friends.
that, dilip saab at many times played in to the hands of lobby-ists and made great statements praising the nightingale in many public events.
during the times, mohd rafi saab might have been wondering “why” dilip saab never utters a word on the efforts made by rafi for dilip. ( this is my guess ).
that , indeed there was a showdown between dilip and rafi saab down south when during a cultural visit, dilip saab behaved uncharitably with rafi saab who refused to come on stage to perform. the day was saved for dilip saab by the intervention of naushaad saab, its said by observers.
that, all of them are super heroes in alphabetical order :
dilip kumar, naushad ali, rafi saaheb and shakeel badayuni.
that, another hundred years – the songs composed by these great’s will continue to be heard and sway listeners.
and finally, i will not be surprised “if” these songs will become a trend – again.
Dear Brothers,
While we were appreciating a very good write up sri DP Bijoor and sri milind bijoor on
Naushad/Shakeel/Rafi/Dilip and the great combination they made, we have slightly deviated into talking about Dilip Kumar. Let me continue in the same path. Dilip Kumar is a good actor but let us not forget , that the Hindi film industry has produced many others like Prithviraj Kapoor,Ashok Kumar,Balraj Sahni,etc. There are a number of great actors from the South who were equally great or even greater like Shivaji Ganeshan, NT Rama Rao,Nageshwar Rao and Dr Raj Kumar.These people have acted in more films and in all types of roles and have also sang – more than Dilip Kumar. They are legends in their own states. We cannot compare personalities but we Indians are famous for that.But one thing is true and is well known, that RAFI Saab was the greatest singer.Great singers like Manna Dey,Mahendra Kapoor and SB Balasubramium have testified to this. Naushad Saab has paid such a great tribute to RAFI Saab but I have not heard him saying anything great about Dilip Kumar.It only hurts the true fans of RAFI Saab that some actors who have been greatly benifitted by his voice do not acknowledge his contribution with a grateful heart. Let us realise that RAFI Saab did not need the actors for his success.He came up the hard way due to his dedication and God given talent. No doubt, there were other good singers also.Long after all these worthies are gone,the immortal voice of RAFI Saab will continue to be with his countrymen and entertain them.
Dear Mr. D.P. Bijoor and Mr. Milind Bijoor,
Thank you for this beautiful write-up. Your words brought out the pathos of lost love as sung by our great hero, Rafi Sahab. Rafi Sahab’s voice had that extra magic because he put in expression. He did not even have to try, it came naturally to him. If it is sad, he sounds like he is crying or if it’s happy he makes those free laughing sounds, he just brought the mood of the songs to the listener in such a way that when listening we find ourselves closing our eyes, moved to tears or smiles. We talk of one song, and another one equally beautiful, crops up in our minds. Every single song he sang, he sang with his gentle and beautiful heart. Even he sang so many hit songs to Dilip saab like in a song “guzre hain aaj ishq mein hum us mukaam se” where he is frustrated with the treachery of his beloved, and wishing ill on her, he sounds indescribably good. Please keep posting such beautiful songs review in just the perfect way you have – with info about the movie it’s from and the names of the other contributors like the music director, lyricist etc. Finally my salams to all those who love my adorable singer – Mohd. Rafi Saab.
With best wishes to all
Zaheendanish
Dear friends,
I am enjoying my winter break in Kolkata and Rafi is in the air everywhere. I went through a few comments quickly and I’d like to make a simple request: Never say a word against Naushad saab. Even if someone tells you that Naushad made Rafi, there is nothing to feel bad about it. We should remain eternally grateful to Rafi saab’s lifelong mentor and well-wisher.
Let me say something about the actors. In 2049, when most Indians wouldn’t even know their names, Rafi’s “Suhani raat dhal chuki” will still continue to enthrall music lovers (100 years after the song was recorded). But we should salute all those actors who have always expressed their gratitude to Rafi: Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra, Johnny Walker, Bharat Bhushan…, instead of worrying about those who don’t find the time to say a good word about Rafi (and that includes two of the famous trio). The entire family of the third member of the trio, who hardly sang in Rafi’s voice, from the patriarch to Chimpu, loves Rafi.
Happy New Year to all Rafians,
P. Haldar
post 21, 22:
my reply to your posts was not posted. it just vanished. i’m not going to write it again. no one can prove that ‘rafi shaped dilip’s career’.
post 23:
i’m not ur borther, stop calling me that.
passion, emotion and melodrama lead nowhere except. rafians shouldn’t be devoid of reasoning. your post is again kind of a personal attack on me. u don’t deserve a reply or any attention.
Films like – Sunghursh, Aadmi, Dil Diya Dard Liya, etc… had weak stories. Even Dilip Kumar’s acting did not help these films, but, frankly it was Rafi Saheb’s songs that helped the said films to run… Songs from these films are still heard and remembered, and not Dilip’s acting.
post no.16.
Well, I had decided that whatever you write here, I am not going to react. But, there is one point which needs to be responded to. If you feel you are welcome on this site ( whether I own it or someone else owns it), to try and belittle Rafi Saab, you are thoroughly mistaken. In fact, I would blame the moderator of this site to have allowed people like you to make comments which belittle Rafi Saab’s contribution to Indian Cinema and in particular Hindi music . I am sure all would agree with me that this site is not here to applaud anyone else, but only Rafi Saab. Look at the comments you have invited with your illogical post – the fact remains that instead of anyone appreciating your thoughts, each and every one of us who visit this site our of our love for Rafi Saab, his voice, his songs and his character, has cursed you or at least had ill feelings about you. But, if that is what you would like , please go on making illogical and inconsequential comments. After all, it is your time and energy you are wasting.
Taufique, my dearbrother, I will still address you like that and abuse you too, if the situation warrants – that is the passion we all have for Rafi Saab and pls dont attempt to instigate anyone by your comments.
As far as I am concerned, I am calling this discussion to a close, as it is just not worth the effort. I am sure my fellow Rafi lovers also feel the same . But, if you would love to continue being ridiculed, you can go on defending yourself and your nonsensical comments in post no.10. In any case, Dilip Saab doesnt require you, Taufique, to applaud him and in the process, belittle the great Rafi Saab, to maintain his stature or to stamp his position in Indian cinema. He is far above all that. You dont have to belittle someone to be great by yourself. I am sure dilip saab himself would not appreciate your approach towards this entire issue. Then, why waste your time. Each of us here are well aware of the greatness of Rafi Saab, and the calibre or stature of Dilip Saab.
And post no. 14, thanks for your comments, Ramesh Narain Kurpad
Post no. 15, Hussein Saab, thanks for your comments too.
Saifullah
dubai
mr. toufique
I totally agree with post # 13 & 21 I also admire that you notice your mistakes and correct them (# 17 & 18) you need to correct some more in Kranti rafi sang mera chana hai apni marzi ka for dilip. rest vidhata, karam, saudagar were released after rafi’s demise, so are u going to hold that in your thesis? Madhumati had on solo by mukesh and one duet by mukesh, but the fact of the matter is as every movie buff knows, salil chowdary a usual nay sayer for rafi had no other choice for tute hue khawabone. do you think his favourites mukesh, talat of manna dey could have rendered that high pitched song? if yes, than why didn’t he? same thing for comedy song on Johnny walker from the same movie. besides post # 11 is correct this is site for rafi sahab who is remembered for his immortal heavenly voice and humble character. and we are talking about hit songs here, not hit movies, if songs from aadmi, shangursh, dil diya dard liya are still played at concerts and such, even though according to you those movies weren’t hit than the conclusion is the movies failed because of dilip and not the other way around. many a times dilip would not even move his lips according to the songs, no matter who sang for him. He only adopted the mischevious playful acting style after naya daur and started dancing to the tunes of his songs. Again, the whole purpose of this article was by the writers is that dilip did not show his gratitude and appreciation to rafi sahab like shammi, dharmendra, sanjeev, biswajeet, joy mukherjee, opn, lp, sonik-omi etc. did bottom line is rafi is A-1 even anil biswas had to use him for two movies, why was that?
Dilip is great actor if we agree or not, please don’t try to say the film was not hit but jest speak about the songs as u said the film was not hit but what about the songs? If u know that Anil biswas was the king of music in 1940’s because Anil ji ignored m rafi and Naushand ji did a great use of mohd rafi so he got to the top, Dilip ji was not able to give hit films in 1970’s that not mean that he is not good actor, when kishore da asked naushand that I like to sing under you but naushand anwer was my songs not for ur style!! Naushand used kishore do only once, opn great without lata ji,naushand great without kishore da. Raj kapoor who used mostly mukesh ji but he said about mohd rafi is the king without the crown so dilip ji used mohd rafi and mohd rafi gave him many great songs but he never spoke about mohd rafi as other did,naushad ji said mohd rafi is 50% of my music.I want to say that dilip ji or shammi ji they became super star because of mohd rafi but mohd rafi played big role still we remember there songs
Mohd rafi is only singer been ignored by many film makers ,music directors and actors in 1970″s with help of media but no one was able to stop mohd rafi.
great topics well covered. may I have more song lyrics in future with English translations please.
well done to all those concerned.
Sam UK.
Mr. Toufique,
Itna kuch sun lene baad bhi Lagta hai aap ko toufique nahin milee..
Regards
Kabeen Aman
another correction:
nadiya ke paar had rafi songs but musafir did not have. they have been mis-categorized.
correction:
i have all the naushad songs from prem nagar to tajmahal. (i wrote pehle up)
when listing dilip’s hits i considered films that were at least semi hits.
and sorry for the typos.
post 11:
i appreciate the writing by the Mr D.P.BIJOOR & Mr MILIND BIJOOR. my comment was in reply to some comments made before which claimed that ‘rafi shaped dilip’s career’. u raised some questions, here are the answers-
– just look at the list of movies for which dilip got the best actor awards. daag, azad, devdas, shakti did not have rafi’s songs on dillip. add to that list mughal e azam.
– in my collection i have each and every song tuned by naushad – from pehle up to tajmahal. i have heard shangursh, dil diya dard liya and aadmi. i like the songs, but those movie were not hits. if you have evidence that those movies were hits – show that. admi was above average, shangursh below average and dil diya dard liya a flop, leader below average.
– by amitabh’s hairstyle i was trying to mention the level of dilip’s influence on the following generations. in an interview with the BBC sometime in the 1990s, amitabh said that ‘i did not create a new style, we all borrowed from dilip kumar’ (unfortunately i could not find the interview on youtube today. hopefully somebody will upload it again).
– before baijubawara naushad had 21 jubilees (silver/diamond/golden), after baijubawara, after baijubawara only 8. here is naushad’s letterhead mentioning all of them http://hindi-films-songs.com/naushad-letterhead2.jpg
– dilip’s hits without rafi on his lip (dilip hits with rafi on his lip are given in brackets the).
andaz, mela, nadiya ke paar, shabnam, babul, jogan, arjoo, daag, footpath, insaniyat, azaad, yahudi, mughal e azam, kranti, vidhata, karma, saudagar (shaheed, deedar, aan, udan kha tola, musafir, paigham, kohinoor, ganga jamuna, ram aur shyam, gopi) madhumati was more ‘mukesh on dilip’ than ‘rafi on dilip’.
so, do your homework before commenting.
Post 13: u started with addressing me ‘my dear brother’ and unfortunately what u did was a personal attack. and i was surprised that post 14 was lauding you.
i have been visiting this site since 2007. though i dont post very often (except when surojit bose and partha, two kishore fans, came to this site and was attacking rafi – i, among other rafians, replied to their posts), but who the hell are you to ask me to leave this site. if you own this site, that’s a different matter. but otherwise u can’t say that. and u don’t own rafi.
my point is, we should not claim anything that’s baseless. by doing that we achieve nothing except demeaning rafi.
anyway, good article Mr D.P.BIJOOR & Mr MILIND BIJOOR.
Post 13 : very well and true said… It was Rafi Saheb’s songs that also helped Dilip Kumar’s career… see the result of Sagina?
post. 13,
saifullahbhai,
many congratulations on a highly balanced analysis and putting matters in proper perspective.
it is quite human to stumble and fumble as you learn the art of writing – one only learns by tripping and falling and understanding that failures are nothing but stepping stones to success – the adage.
while stating facts and figures, quoting history etc one has to be very careful and more precise to avoid being summarily corrected and/or snubbed.
if my writen word gives a stark picture of high level’s of immaturity – then – i am to blame and not the rest of the world.
look before you leap and think before you press the submit comment button.
thanx once again saifullahbhai on behalf of all rafi bhakts/fans and bijoorsahab.
ramesh narain kurpad
rafiaarenkay@gmail.com
Saifullah, – 13
Mr. Toufique in point 10 did have some valid points. Dilip, naushad etc. were in a class of their own. One need not simply make comments to make rafi indispensable. I can recall one event of dilip, he stated for the film devadas, Dilip kumar acted in devadas, after shooting some scenes, dilip kumar saw the devadas film of telugu and seeing the hero action there for devadas, asked hindi producer to destroy the print he acted and he again acted after seeing the telugu version of devadas. Dilip stated that I have done a silly action as compared to A N R (the telugu hero in devadas) and dilip kumar acted again after seeing the action of ANR in telugu film. Dilip however still gave credit to ANR’s action only. Why I have stated this one incident is that dilip’s success was due to many other factors, not only rafi – rafi did playback for him and as far as songs are concerned that is OK, but the same has nothing to do with dilip ji’s acting and contribution to films. Next, another instance, sholay film – rafi is not there – the film went on to create a block buster running for some 4 years and above. Kishore kumar and manna dey were the main singers in the film. Can anybody tell, if any of the films in which rafi sang ran even for 2 years. Even Naushad, did not have any major role after late 1960’s. The sholay incident is a classic example of huge success without naushad or rafi. The thing/point is nobody is indispensable. Success/huge success remains at all point of times in a different manner.
post – 10 toufique
My dear brother, what is wrong with you/ if you are a great dilip fan and if you want to prove that dilip was successful on his self without any support from any other crew member of his film career, pls go and do that on a site dedicated to Dilip if there is one !!!! We Rafians here are not trying to belittle Dilip Saab. I myself am a great fan of Dilip, but let me tell you something- songs sung by RAfi saab for Dilip Saab are mesmerizing. There could have been other singers like Talat who delivered gems for Dilip but they all pale in comparison to Rafi Saab’s contributions.And coming to Naushad, you mention somewhere in the post that , ‘ had Naushad dumped Rafi in 1944’ – well, why did he not dump Rafi? For the very simple reason that the maestro discovered that RAfi Saab’s voice was the best in the industry. Otherwise, do you think, a man like Naushad would have wasted his time on Rafi Saab – why did he not then, go back to Talat, or stick with Mukesh or Mahendra Kapoor?
before you ask others to get the facts right, I think, you should do your homework properly and use your logic to understand things before making such comments.
This is a site dedicated to Rafi Saab and everyone visiting this site has a right and previlege to glorify Rafi saab. if you feel, it is not right, pls dont visit this site, it is as simple as that. You are not welcome here, if you cant appreciate the passion that we Rafi fans have when we post a comment here or visit this site.
And for one, pls dont waste your time reacting to my post, as I am not interested in seeing any further comments from you on this site. Neither will I react to whatever nonsense you are going to write here in the future, as one post from you here is good enough indications of your calibre and understanding of Hindi Film Music, Rafi Saab, Dilip Saab, Naushad saab, etc etc.
Time and again blokes like you come and kill the serenity and beauty of this site. What a shame!!!!!
Saifullah
dubai
Of course this combination is one of the best. But its hard to say that they are the best.Because with Md. Rafi there are fantastic other combinations which are equally good, if not better.
gautam Banerjee.
post -10 toufique
Before you shoot your mouth off and tell the writers to be honest. give us the list of hits of dilip without rafi and also when u r at it give us the list of hits of dilip without a single song on his lips. Also, after ganga jamuna did u ever hear of shangursh, dil diya dard liya, aadmi and the beautiful bhajan from Gopi? I agree, rajendra and manoj considered dilip their idols but have u seen manojs’ and dharmendra’s hairstyles? what the heck are u trying to say here. We would also like to see the list of hits by naushad sahab pre and post baiju bawra. Does all your absurd comment make dilip a better person? please stick to the point the authors are making and might i say they are making a valid one. rafi sahab sang twice the number of songs for dilip than others combined do your homework.
long live the legend.
if someone says that rafi shaped dilip’s career, he doesn’t know the history of hindi film. rafi had immense impact on shammi’s career, the same is not true for dilip. after ganga jamuna, all the films except ram aur shyam were flops. rafi had multiple songs in each of those movies – still the movies failed. dilip gave many hits without rafi or without a single song on his lips.
dilip did great with or without rafi. naushad did great with or without rafi. i personally prefer pre-baijubawara naushad to post-baijubawara naushad. when dilip and naushad were number ones, rafi was nothing compared to them. if naushad has dumped rafi in 1944, just think what would have happened?
so, when you talk about these things try to be honest. most people don’t understand the impact of dilip. just look at amitabh – even his hair style is similar to dilip’s. rajendra, manoj, dharmendra, even shahrukh everyone followed dilip.
Dilip ji was great actor but when he ignored mohd rafi in 1970’s so he was the loser and many other actors they became famous because of mohd rafi when they ignored mohd rafi they were the loser,even opn said it was his biggest mistake when he doesn’t was mohd rafi for two years also he said if there was no m rafi there be no opn……..
post – 3, kumar sahab,
thank you for acknowledging and upholding the truth. atleast you are not pretending.
today it is a fashion or style statement to say rafi sahab is above all awards. bharat ratna will stand elevated if confered upon rafi sahab.
whom are you trying to fool – your own self – what is right is rigth and what is wrong is wrong.
yes, as god he is above human awards but we are talking about him getting the elusive bharat ratna as an avataar – he was a ordinary human being then – and should have been honoured with the award.
ramesh narain kurpad
excellent article !!!!
dear mr d.p. bijoor and mr milind bijoor, and other friends,happy new year to all, dear friends thanx for choosing great combination of the music world ,great legends of bollywood,rafi saab,shakeel saab,naushad saab,yusuf saab, i would like to invite each and every body to visit our beloved rafi saab”s blog,total over 500 pages are there,to go to next page,kindly click older posts,you will find bottom of every page,please don”t miss any page,kindly visit this link,take care
http://www.rafifanblog.blogspot.com/
Dear Bijoors,
Nice of you to post such a beautiful article on four geniuses namely Rafi Saab, Naushad Saab, Shakeel Saab and Yusuf Saab (Dilip Kumar).
Full marks for this well written write-up. Cheers..
Regards
H.A.K. Walijah
All hindi actors were famous in early years(49s,50s,60s,70s,) were due to Mohd.Rafi`s execellent voice and his way of singing.All actors were so eager to use his voice.Mohd. Rafi sahab was god`s gift to bollywood.All Rafi`s song is so execellent but some actors are just jumping like monkies.They sometimes spoilt the song of rafi sahab.
A great article by DP Bijoorji and Milind Bijoorji and a tribute to the legendary combination of Rafi Saab,Naushad Saab and Sakeel Badayuni Saab.We miss all the three and remember with fondness and respect by listening to the great music they have left behind.I don”t think that such a great combination will ever emerge.
I fully endorse what Sri Ramesh Narain Kurpad at Post 1 has written. We all know that Rafi Saab has not received the Bharat Ratna which he truly deserves.We also know how the Film Industry has not fully given his due in comparison to their falling head over heals in honouring his comtemparory another great female singer. I, like millions of Rafi Saab fans,am also disappointed that Dilip Kumar has not paid a truly great tribute to Rafi Saab from his heart on a great occasion in front of the country.Dilip Kumar owes his popularity to a great extent to Rafi Saab’s voice. When Shammi Kapoor and Dharmendra can say that they owe their success to Rafi Saab, can”t Dilip Kumar atleast show a debt of gratitute to Rafi Saab. They say that in the Film Industry, there are no relationships,but only selfish interests.Once you are gone or your utility is not there,you are discarded and forgotten.Maybe that is why Rafi Saab just did his work and never got deeply involved with the Film Industry and kept away from the petty politics. He had known that only fame and name counted and not relationships and friendship and gratitude.
Bahut Khoob, Four cheers for four great legends. Congratulations for this ” Khususi Tahreer”.
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
bijoor sahab,
once again a great write up. you have taken us all to a roller coaster ride into times classic encompassing an era where such legendary music was created by such legndary individuals.
they are a part of indian folklore so to say.
they combined beautifully to create magic which will never die or fade. it is immortal. a rich legacy passed on to us and will stay in the world for ever.
i wish to write and praise you and what you have written a lot, but, my mind is rather torn apart with the thought that among all these names in your article nausshad sahab, shakeel badayuni sahab and dilip kumar the latter ( dilip kumar ) is the only one who is alive and in pink of health, how many times has he remembered rafi sahab in so many years. how many times has he ever uttered that rafi sahab was an important part of his life.
altleast shammijee has openly admitted and fondly said in many forums that rafi sahab was his ” rooh “, without him he would be nothing and incomplete.
he has also mentioned that rafi sahab has not got his due.
sadly, yusuf khan ( dilip kumar ) however great he is – rafi sahab had a pivotal role in shaping his acting and was an important part of his life.
its sad rafi sahab – after all these great feats he did for all these big names – has some small awards against his names.
again fans / bhakts will tell me – rafi sahab is above all awards. however, true it may sound – it is equally ridiculous.
i want the indian bharat ratna to get that additional aura around it after it is conferred upon rafi sahab ( posthomusly ).
indian nation stands incomplete with this act being carried out. dhikkar hai – badee sharmnaak baath hai. abhee tak baath samajh nahee ayee inko.
chalaa muraree ” sachin ” ko bharat ratna deney (sachin is a legend no doubt) anyway mai vyarth mein baatein karr raha hoon. mujhey maloom hai mujhey koi nahee sunn rahaa hai.
koi pagal rafi fan hai – ek ratt lekar ghoom raha hai – rafi sahab aur bharat ratna.
ramesh narain kurpad.