Mohammed Rafi renders songs written by Shailendra
This article is written by Mr. D.P.Bijoor & Mr. Nitin.D.Dhareshwar
Mohd Rafi during song recording for the film Usne Kaha Tha
Mohammed Rafi renders songs written by Shailendra – Toothe huwe kwaboon ne humko ye sikhaya hai Dil ne Dil ne jisee payya thha aankhon ne Gawaya Hai.
“Shailendra” who in him had that extra pinch of a unique greatness & that beautiful feather touch of class more than any of his other contemporaries or writers is our very personal opinion and hence he automatically becomes our favorite choice as one amongst the all-time Greats.
Mr Shankardas Kesarilal Shailendra popularly known as Shailendra was born on 30th August 1923 at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He was the eldest of the four sons of Parvati Devi and Kesarilal. During his childhood days his family moved to Mathura for good but the sudden and accidental death of his mother after the shift caused a deep pain for Shailendra which almost turned him an atheist. Shailendra started his career with the orthodox method of joining the Government organization and lead his secure life and his job in the Indian Railways brought him to the city of Bombay in the year 1947 when the Indian freedom struggle was at its best. The stereotype and technical aspect of his job was totally out of line with his artistic nature and started spending more of his duty hours writing poetry than toiling in the workshop and accordingly his in-charge always used to complain about his working habits and was the cause of general resentment
Raj Kapoor discovers Shailendra
Shailendra decided to take active part in the Freedom struggle in his own style and started writing verses and fiery poems which would ignite the masses. His poem “Jalta Hai Punjab” was a highlight and when reading out aloud during a public meeting, Raj Kapoor spotted and caught eye on him. Raj Kapoor saw an emerging star for the Indian Film History and expressed his desire to buy the poems Shailendra has written for his new production. Shailendra the young patriot blood refused to do so, but due to some domestic reasons and responsibilities again approached Raj Kapoor and eventually agreed to his terms.
RK in those days (1947) was busy making his film “Aag” which had music composition scored by Ram Gangoli (Shankar Jaikishan were the assistants) and at this juncture Mr Kapoor promised Shailendra a break in the Industry and eventually he was signed for the film “Barsaat” in the very next year i.e. 1948
Shailendra started his career in the industry with his first ever break in the year 1948 and ended the same in the year 1970. It would indeed be a unique distinction that both his first & his last film were with Raj Kapoor starting from “Barsaat” (1948) to “Mera Naam Joker” (1970)
A unique career spanning almost 22 long years Shailendra has given all of us some of his greatest contributions and a link of those beautiful and evergreen songs which we will cherish everlastingly. Shailendra in his career span has written 258 songs which can be broadly divided or bifurcated as follows:
1) For Shankar Jaikishan he has written 190 songs which works to an whopping average of 73.64%
2) For S D Burman he has written 30 songs which works to an average of 11.63%
3) For Salil Chaudhari he has written 30 songs which works to an average of 11.63%
4) Balance 08 songs were written by him for other music directors namely C Ramchandra, R D Burman, Roshan, Ravi, Dattaram, Pandit Ravi Shankar and S N Tripathi
For S N Tripathi he wrote songs for the musical film “Sangeet Samrat Tansen” and for Pandit Ravi Shankar that beautiful film “Anuradha”
In respect of the singers his total 258 songs is classified as follows
1)Â Â Â Â Â Lata Mangeshkar almost 90 songs averaging 34.88%
2)Â Â Â Â Â Mukesh almost 56 songs averaging 21.71%
3)Â Â Â Â Â Mohammed Rafi almost 45 songs averaging 17.44%
4)Â Â Â Â Â Various other singers 67 songs averaging 25.97%
In his career spanning almost 22 long years Shailendra has won 3 Filmfare Awards as follows
1)Â Â Â Â Â “Ye mara diwana pan hai ya muhobbat ka kasoor tu na pehchane tho hai ye teree nazronka kasoor rendered by Mukesh from Bimal Roy super hit film “Yahudi” in the year 1958 with music by Shankar Jaikishan starring Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari & Sohrab Modi
2)Â Â Â Â Â “Sab kuch sikha hamne na sikhee hoshiaree such hai duniya waloon ke hum hai anadi” again rendered by Mukesh in the film “Anari” in the year 1959 with music by Shankar Jaikishan starring Raj Kapoor, Nutan & Motilal
3)Â Â Â Â Â “Main gaoon tum sojawo sukh sapano mein kho jawoo – kal tum jab aankhen khologe tab hoga Ujiyara” rendered by Mohammed Rafi from the film “Brahmachari” in the year 1968 with music by Shankar Jaikishan starring Shammi Kapoor, Rajshree, Pran & Mumtaz.
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Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar in a song recording for the film Usne Kaha Tha with Salil Chowdhury, Bimal Roy, Shailendra, Asit Sen
Shailendra has also acted in very small or minor roles in the following films
1)Â Â Â Â Â Aah in the year 1953 where he appeared as the tangewala
2)Â Â Â Â Â Boot Polish in the year 1954 where he is seen giving his lip movements with Baby Naaz for the Talat Mehmood & Asha Bhosale song “Chalee kaunse desh – tu saj dhajke”
3)Â Â Â Â Â Shree 420 in the year 1955
4)Â Â Â Â Â Teesri Kasam in the year 1966
Shailendra also produced the following film
1) Teesri Kasam in the year 1966 starring Raj Kapoor & Waheeda Rehman
Shailendra also wrote the dialogues for the following film
1) Parakh made by Bimal Roy in the year 1960 with lyrics by himself & music by Salil Choudhari starring Sadhana & Motilal in one of his greatest roles ever of a postmaster
Today I would like to stroll down the memory lane in remembering those great renditions by our beloved King of Melody Mohammed Rafi Saab on the beautiful lyrics penned down by Shailendra and the small comprehensive list is enumerated as follows
| Song/Rendition | Film | Year |
| Nanhe munhe bachhe tere muthee mein kya hai | Boot Polish | 1954 |
| Ramaiya Vastavaiya maine dil tujhako diya | Shree 420 | 1955 |
| Duniya ne bhaye mohe aab to bula le charnon mein | Basant Bahar | 1956 |
| Toothe huwe kwabone hum ko ye sikhaya hai | Madhumati | 1958 |
| Jangal me mor nacha kisine na dekha hum jo peekar jara jhoome | Madhumati | 1958 |
| Yeh duniya ye duniya shaitanoo kee baste hai yahan zindagee | Yahudi | 1958 |
| Matwalee aankhon walee | Chhote Nawab | 1961 |
| Chhahe koyee mujhe jungle kahe | Junglee | 1961 |
| Ek sawal main karoon ek sawal tum karo | Sasural | 1961 |
| Aa gale lagja mere sapane mere apne kareeb aaja | April Fool | 1964 |
| Radhike tune bansaree churayee | Beti Bete | 1964 |
| Aaj kal mein dhal gaya | Beti Bete | 1964 |
| Agar teree jalwa numaya na hote | Beti Bete | 1964 |
| Goree chalo na hans kee chal jamana dushman hai | Beti Bete | 1964 |
| Kya se kya hogaya bewafa tere pyaar mein | Guide | 1965 |
| Lal chhadee maidan khadee | Janwar | 1965 |
| Badtameez kaho ya kaho jaanwar mera dil tere dil pe fida hogaya | Badtameez | 1966 |
| Le gayee dil gudiya japan kee paagal mujhe kar diya | Love in Tokyo | 1966 |
| O mere shaahee khuba O mere jaane | Love in Tokyo | 1966 |
| Main gaoon tum sojawo | Brahmchari | 1968 |
Shailendra considered his life as his real poetry and used to derive the inspiration from his regular walks along the banks Juhu Beach every morning
It is indeed quite ironical that for the man who loved life so much, the spectra of death always haunted him and was indeed obsessed by death. There was no fear involved but a kind of helplessness drew him towards it. His producing “Teesri Kasam” caused him several heartaches and it was also the ultimate cause of his death. But what bothered him was not the films failure at the box-office but that his investment in friends he trusted and loved went wrong.
Shailendra was admitted to the hospital on 13th December 1966 but on his way he decided to stop at the famous cottage at the RK Studios to call on Raj Kapoor where he promised RK that he would complete the lyrics for “Jeena yahan marna yahan” for the film “Mera Naam Joker” and that was the one promise he could never keep mainly since Shailendra died on the following day on 14th December 1966 at the very young age of 43 years which also happened to be the birthday of Raj Kapoor.
Reading the following lines from “Anari” can indeed see his obsession for death
“Ke mar ke bhee kisi ko yaad aayenge
Kisi ke aansuoon mein muskuraenge
Kahega phool har kali se baar baar
Jeena isi ka Naam Hai”
Friends I profusely remember and can never ever forget this day of 14th December 1966 mainly since my elder sister got married on this day and left for her in-laws place and above all Shailendra suddenly left all of us for his heavenly abode on this very day never ever to return again.
While summing up this small piece from our heart we indeed would like to remember one of the greatest combinations & rendition by Mohammed Rafi Saab and Shailendra which is narrated as follows from the film “Madhumati” starring the Greatest Dilip Kumar with his superb expressions
Toothe huwe kwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai
Dil ne jise paya thha aankhon ne Gawaya Hai
Hum Dhoondte hai unko, Jo milake nahii milate
Ruthe hai na jaane kyoon, Mehamaan woh mere Dil ke
Kyaa apanee tamannaa thee, kyaa saamane aayaa hai
Toothe huwe kwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai|
Dil ne jise paya thha aankhon ne Gawaya Hai
Laut aayee  sadaa meree Takaraa ke sitaaroon se
Ujadee huvee duniyaa ke, sunasaan kinaaron se
Par ab ye tadapanaa bhee, kuchh kaama na aayaa hai
Dil ne jise paya thha aankhon ne Gawaya Hai
Toothe huwe kwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai
May the souls of both these Greats rest in eternal peace
This small piece is penned down by Mr D P Bijoor and has equally been shared by Mr Nitin D Dhareshwar.
Dear Mr. D.P.Bijoor & Mr. Nitin.D.Dhareshwar….
What a detailed and informative write up…………………
Very Nice……………….
Regards,
-Imran-
ref. post 41,
Respected Raju Korti ki,
Wow! What a post! Actually it is not just a post, it is an article to its own.
Many many thanks for sharing these awesome words with us.
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Sorry my post 42 is fine, thanks admin. raju bhai, i take your words as acompliment but many of my friends have stated the same. Sorry to take you off your breezy trip.
Its great to see such good, factual and constructive posts. Rafisaab lived close to our home in bandra and never a day went without people crowding out of his gate to have a glance of the emperor.
Playback singing has never being the same without him. His humility is displayed in his adorable voice that is second to none.
I like to cut and paste a few words of my previous post” the empereor and only Guru of singing is the one that can remain un corrupted for 30 or more years in this industry singing songs in a way that no one had or can ever dare, making careers of MD’ s and actors and still creating riches for the music industry. Oly one man fits this description and that is Rafisaab, all others are false gurusa nd nightangles”
dear gaurav
i am ovewhelmed that you have put me on such a high pedestal. but honestly speaking, i am not worthy of such a high honour. as i have repeatedly stressed on this site, i am just one of those fanatic admirers of the great rafisaab. if anyone deserves to be worshipped like the lord almighty, it has to be our rafisaab.
what really stuns me that even young and driven people like you are consumed by the rafi magic. in fact, i suggest why don’t you write an article on rafisaab’s timeless and agless appeal and how it’s charisma appeals to even today’s generation which is not spoken of very highly when it comes to their choice of music. you must have seen that most budding singers who want to test their luck in so called reality musical shows, swear by rafisaab as their idol and inspiration. now that’s what i call as eternal charm.
it is so encouraging to know that the newer generation too is hooked onto the rafi magic. gaurav, the mantle of carrying the rafi torch now rests on the shoulders of people like you. please keep up the good work. as mr halder said you are the gaurav of this site. may you write more and more
Post 41 & Post 43.
Raju Korti Saab. Indeed great words of wisdom which can only flow from the likes of dear Korti Sirs pen.
The inner beauty you possess indeed makes you a charmer and a very great worshipper of the Greatest Legend Mohammed Rafi Saab.
There are a very few personalities in this universe whom I regularly adore & respect and from today onwards I have one more great personality in the sheer form of Mr Raju Korti who will be the Ace of my heart.
Please keep the good show continuing Sir.
ref post 42
dear suhana safar ji
for one, your post left me with little doubt that you can make a great copy editor. while i grappled with hundreds of words to drive home my point, you did so in just one-tenth of them. on a serious note, i felt i was on a beautiful, breezy trip, as your name conveys.
you are absolutely right about rafisaab’s pure and noble character. and it came through so resonatingly in his four-decade mind boggling career. i still recall the day i first met rafisaab. my senior colleagues had told me fairy-tale-like stories about his humility. yet, when i met him, it left me totally flabbergasted. he climbed down the steps, his bowed, and a beatific smile on his angel-like face. here i was, just a kal ka chokra, and the man with the towering personality was greeting me with folded hands, eyes half-closed. It had a terribly sobering effect on me. A man elder in age and with such epic achievements should be so humble. But that was eminently him. Always like that. So self-effacing, never trumpeting about himself, kind words for all, never one unparliamentary word for even detractors, incredibly soft spoken, ever smiling, affectionate demeanour, adjusting nature…..
look, this is what happens. i go on and on. vocabulary falls short, and it become virtually impossible to encapsulate his persona and achievements.
we said suhana bhai
Janab Raju Korti Saheb, Salam,
Bahut khoob, Congratulations!
Long live Rafi Sahab,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
please ignore my posts 42 and 43. The post 44 is the post that i wanted to send. Just getting used to this site.
Raju bhai
What a post, superb buddy, I appreciate your comments. Rafisaab is indeed a 1 man industry that proved no other ariste or celebrity let alone a singer could prove and that is greatness of a person lies with his/her ability to remain pure in the most impure enviroments.
SDB said to KK that he could never sing like Rafisaab well the fact is no one could or sing even half as good as Rafisaab, male or female. Further look at how Rafisaab did not compromise his noble character for false glory. Good or tough times the giant of singing always had a smile as if he was telling others what a bunch of fools they all were and now when we look back we can see how right he was.
The King and only Guru of singing is the one that can remain un corrupted for 30 or more years in this industry singing songs in a way no one can ever dare, making careers of MD;s and actors and still creating riches for the music industry. Oly one man fits this description and that is Rafi, all others are false gurus and nightangles.
ref post 40
i read with (of course) pleasant surprise mr halder calling me a rafi archeologist and the subsequent encomiums he has bestowed upon me. i don’t know whether i am a rafi historian or an rafi aracheologist. i do not and cannot arrogate to myself all the knowledge and authority that some people believe that i have on this singer non pareil. what i know for sure is i, like millions of others have grown up on rafi’s vast repertoire of songs. by which, i mean people like mr halder and many of his ilk who contribute so handsomely and substantially to enrich this website (at times vitiated by mischief mongers, and i need not name them) are no less mortals.
thank lord almighty that there is no meter which can gauge an individual’s sentiments. there cannot be any lesser rafi fan or a more devoted rafi fan. we are all strung together harmoniously by the voice of this one man who has brought joy and sparkle to our lives day in day out. rafisaab may have gone to his heavenly abode three decades back, but we are mighty lucky that we are still living in times where at least one tv channel or one radio station across the world continues to dish out his countless melodies and rhapsodies. i have collected rafi gems painstakingly for decades, at times keeping awake in the dead of the night and getting up at all unearthly hours. it has been truly love’s labour. if there is anything i feel happy (not proud) about is i have always shared my rafisaab treasure trove with whoever wanted it. unlike some unscrupulous collectors who find in it the proverbial hen that keeps laying golden eggs. it is always a pleasure and privilege to do this as a tribute to someone who only swore by melody and charted out a course that did not reek of crass commercialism, especially when his supposedly illustrious peers were making hay when the sun was shining.
it speaks volumes of the greatness of the man that the sun has still not dared to set on the mighty rafi empire while those who indulged in every trick in the book to trip him, are now in the evening of their lives — and living on past glory. i don’t have to name them. they have found enough mention in countless posts on this site. that’s what sets rafi apart from others. rafi is still alive after his death. others are dead or gasping for breath even when alive.
to be honest, i don’t claim to have done anything to perpetuate his memory. a rafisaab is too big to need lesser mortals like raju korti to do that. or even some ill-informed naysayers who keep spilling names of rookie singers to show our hero in poor light. there’s a saying in marathi which loosely translated means “a crow’s curse cannot kill a cow”. years ago, famous hindi novelist gulshan nanda told me this in a conversation about rafi: “many star singers came, twinkled for a while and vanished, but rafi remained perched at top like the dhruva whose place in the celestial space was guaranteed .”
on a more honest note, i try to share whatever stories, anecdotes i know about the maestro. some are based on my interactions with rafisaab and many on the basis of the sounbytes i could get from people who were associated with him or close to him personally and professionally. They were all unabashed in their admiration for rafisaab. the god-fearing, simple man that he was, rafisaab never gave anybody any chance to point fingers at him. he was so impeccably honest and humble. yet, there were also occasions when people who would be lavish in his praise, would say something not exactly charitable. i also met up with people who during their early part and peak of career were frugal in their engagement with rafisaab, but heaped praises on him later in their lives. sometimes, it confused me like hell. experience taught me that in the quicksands of film industry, personal and pofessional equations change at the drop of a hat. what can you expect where heroes become zeroes and vice versa just with a few strings pulled here and there and with money the biggest motivation? to rafisaab’s credit, he remanined aloof from this ugly cut-throatism and yet maintained good, healthy relations with everyone. i know for sure he too bore the brunt when some mds who made their greens with his help, turned their backs on him later. these were the people who never foul-mouthed rafi, but showed him their backs when they found their pastures elsewhere.
in my profession, i know one has to and tends to read a lot between the lines. but doing this has its own share of perils. at times, it can lead to needless gossip. and this is not only not fair to us, it ins’t to the people talked about either. take for instance, the debate about rd burman dumping rafi or allegedly not caring about him much later. on the basis of whatever interaction i had with rdb, he never made any secret that he was in the awe of rafi’s voice. yet, we all know how sdb and rdb equated with rafi between 1975-1980. yes, it was the same sdb who would openly chide kishore saying “tum uska jaisa kaaabhi naaahi gaa payega”. i will also repeat here what the late c ramchandra said about his pet female singer (miss ivy as mr halder puts it succintly) after the chord (or cord) between them broke: “she’s at best a good tape recorder”. sometimes, actions speak louder than words. having said that, it doesn’t make sdb or c ramchandra any less great than they were. that’s the mercurial film industry for you where egos, jealousies, and unpredictability are the determining factors. this is precisely the reason i find such debates a little dicey to participate in.
ethical journalism demands that fairness and truth should prevail though hundred per cent objectivity is humanly not always possible.
nevertheless, it is amazing and heart-warming to see so many people debating animatedly about the one-man industry. shows how many new vistas rafisaab opens up whenever there is a news subject or dimension discussed about him. and here is his beauty. rafisaab is like an ocean whose mighty waves will rule this earth while “ripples” will be seen and vanished even before their effects are felt.
in all humility, let me state that if i start commerialising my god, how does it make me his worshipper ?
It would be wrong on my part to call mr. raju korti a rafi historian. To me he is a rafi archaeologist who digs up hidden treasures for ordinary mortals like us to enjoy. What he has done, no one in the film industry or the music industry — which minted money in rafi’s name — has cared to do. What all of us are eagerly waiting for is his book, which to me would be “the gospel according to raju korti”. What we need is a few gospels covering rafi saab’s life so that future generations would get to know more about the life of the farishta.
Dear Gaurav Bijoor,
I agree with you that numbers are not important but when you are putting up articles on the gretas like Shailendra the hard work should not have belittled Shailendra Sahab by attribiting only 258 songs and also the main frame of the article attributes two songs from `Love in Tokyo`to Shailendra which in fact have been written by Hasrat Jaipuri.
Hope the criticism leads to better reasearch,and also looking forward for more articles from you.
The article on the Great Shailendra can be considered as stupendous & superb as it has brought those beautiful by-gone lingering memories of those great golden days period in which I myself curse for simply not being a part of that era. The sheer hard-work of both the writers (one being my dear father & the other a very close uncle) is easily visible in the said article.
Yes I fully agree with Dr Paranjape that the pure soul of the piece on which the article has been subjected is definitily more important than the number game as it helps in building the harmony between the heart and the soul.
“Tuthe huwe kwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai, dil ne jise paya hai aankhon ne gawaya hai” from the classic film Madhumati by the Graet Bimalda with music scored by Salil Choudhary can be rated as one amongst the best work by Shailendra Saab. Further to sum it up this beautiful song was picturized on the Greatest Thespian Dilip Kumar which indeed made the song “Sone pe Suhaga”
Shailendra was so simple and pure in heart which can be easily gauged from his innumerable renditions which he has penned down ranging from his first film “Barsaat” to “Mera naam Joker” under the great RK Banner.
Yes it was as if “Roye tho dost ke khande pe roye aur chale jaye to usee dost ke khande be hansthe huwe jaye”
Dearest Shailendra we all indeed miss you a lot today — “Agar aaj aap hote tho in mehfilon kee baharein kuch aur hotee”
SALUTE SIR!!!
Ref. post 32 by Mr. Bijoor.
I am with Mr. Bijoor and requesting Sanjay ji again through words of Bijoor ji:
“In fact I would request Sanjay Saab to try and publish a list of all the songs of Rafi Saab ranging from his very song from the film Gul Baloch (1944) to his last song from the film Aas Paas (1980) which in fact would be a great gift to all the dear fans & admirers of the legend Mohammed Rafi Saab.”
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Dear Korti-ji,
According to your stats, approx. how many unreleased songs does Rafi-saab have with Pancham ?. I know there are more than the five unreleased that are known to the public.
There is one from ‘Padosan’ that was recorded but never used, and one from ‘Hum Kisise Kum Nahin’ as well.
Though I am a regular surfer of this site it would probably be my first occasion to submit my comments & views in this great site dedicated in the everlasting memory of the Legend Mohammed Rafi Saab. Being a doctor by profession it hardly gives me enough time for such matters.
However this article by Mr D P Bijoor and Mr Nitin Dhareshwar indeed made great reading mainly since it brought forth a gentleman of the caliber of Shailendra very near to the focus of my heart & mind. Friends personally speaking I never ever believe OR believed in the number game in respect of how many songs were penned down by Shailendra, when and under whose music direction and whether it was 258 songs which the article has suggested OR 824 songs as enumerated in the comments by Mr Sanjay Arora mainly on account that this number game hardly gives any genuine figure mainly since the creators themselves are either not aware OR they do not possess these facts & figures.
Take the simple example of the Greatest Rafi Saab – can any one on this earth categorically figure out as to how many songs were rendered by him ranging from Gul Baloch (1944) to Aas Paas (1980). The figures friends would definitely vary from person to personality mainly since neither Rafi Saab himself nor his family would be able to figure out the correct picture I personally doubt.
Rafi Saab as you all are aware had changed his residence on various occasions from Bhendi Bazaar to Bandra (West) and in this process of shifting his residence the great treasure of the records & songs rendered by him were either lost OR misplaced is what I had gathered when personally speaking to his lovely family members. Some say the figure was 5000 songs and a few others are of the opinion it was more than 10,000 songs and so on.
Hence I was indeed delighted to read this article which I felt as if these 2 great writers had penned down the same from the core of dear Shailendras heart.
Friends I do not intend to disintegrate the pains & sheer hard-work carried out by my fellow friend Mr Sanjay Arora & others in indeed giving us a very beautiful insight of almost all the songs written by our dear Shailendra, however the beautiful presentation of this article has a lot more effect on the subject matter than the number game I suppose.
Hence there should not be any specific room for ill-feelings if any friends
Ref.respected Korti Sir.there are many private songs of rafi saab which i am still collecting and tabulating and more than 100 punjabi film songs which are there in my collections,but the film names are not fully available with me,
Sir if possible you could help me in getting the details and one song from
`Shanti `- Jeevan hai anmol musafir, is still eluding me.
Sir, I have also come to know that the first song of Rafi Saab from `Gul Baloch`is currently not available.
Sir I shall be extremly grateful for your advise on the above
ref post 34
i have an encyclopaedia of all rafisaab’s songs. the actual number he sung (duets and chorus included), when, the md(s), the lyricist(s), the year, on whom picturised etc. i also have the list of all those songs that were recorded, but not released or not inluded in films. even the multiple versions that he sang for the same film. there is a who lot of exhaustive stats that can leave the reader flummoxed.
needless to say, i have the entire repeat entire collection of these songs and from the original soundtrack. what rafisaab has done in his four-decade career, no other singer can perhaps ever hope to achieve. believe me, it’s just a one-off thing, something that happens only once in lifetime
I take this opportunity in truly expressing my sincere gratitude and thank all the erstwhile writers of this great & beautiful site for their most valuable suggestions, views and comments posted in respect of the article on the legend Shailendra Saab.
My special thanks are also due & reserved for Mr Sanjay Arora Saab, Mr Girish Prahalad Saab, Mr Anwar-ul-Haque Saab and Mr P Haldar Saab for their great work & apt comments.
Mr Arora Saab for your very informative & beautiful presentation of almost all the songs penned down by the Greatest Shailendra which indeed is a collectors delight.
In fact I would request Sanjay Saab to try and publish a list of all the songs of Rafi Saab ranging from his very song from the film Gul Baloch (1944) to his last song from the film Aas Paas (1980) which in fact would be a great gift to all the dear fans & admirers of the legend Mohammed Rafi Saab.
Respected Girish ji and Sanjay Arora ji,
Many many thanks for clarifying my doubts about Shailendra nd Hasrat writings. In fact my understanding for some of the songs (which I already mentioned in my post 15) was that they were written by Hasrat Jaipuri. So many thanks for clarifying me.
But strange thing is that how the figures mentioned in the article were tally with the list of respected Sandeep ji and the list of Gujrati book (ref. post 10)?
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Sanjay Arora saab post 28
Many thanks for your clarifications. I. personally did not have any doubts regarding the authenticity of your list. The permutations & combinations in my post was just an arithmetical exercise to clear the doubts surrounding the numbers.
Many thanks once again.
what mr. sanjay arora has said is absolutely correct; there is no ambiguity about who wrote the lyrics for what songs. These are clearly documented on the lp covers, as well as in different forums. mr. arora’s list is almost complete, but it still provides a lower limit, given that some of the songs were not released or some of the lp’s are not currently available. So, if there is any error, it should be an error of omission. Shailendra penned around 400 songs for sj; I don’t think we should revise this figure downward by 50% on an ad hoc basis. Hasrat penned another 500+ songs for sj.
Mr. arora, I have one question for you. According to my estimate, the shailendra-rafi combo produced more than 150 songs. Could you please verify?
Dear Girish Prahalad & janab Anwar sahab,the list i referred in my mail is based on the covers of lp,cassettes & from 78 rpm records ,as you may be aware 95 % of Shankar jaikishan composed movies are already available on lp`s ( the lp cover used to carry information about the singer & the lyricist) ,lyricist for some movies like Kali Ghata,
Badal ,Nageen,Parbat,Poonam is obtained from the 78 rpm records so there is no doubt about the lyricist,
As regards S.Chaudhory & SDB majority of the films composed by them are already available on records ,cassettes and of late on audio cd.
As regards bhojpuri songs of Shailendra sahab are concerned the information is retrieved from the records only.
On paper it was a duel between shailendra and hasrat. On screen it was a rivalry between two rk’s (raj kapoor and rajendra kumar). On air it was a collision between mukesh and rafi. But in reality it was a battle royale between two superstars of the music industry. What began as a partnership during barsaat culminated in a broken sangam. Shailendra’s lyrics set in Bhairavi by Shankar for Mukesh to go on Raj Kapoor result in one of the most soulful, heart-touching songs ever (dost dost na raha):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_QCeyjOTCk
After hearing the song, you might say, “Rafi has no chance”. But the second half of the duo had other ideas. Hasrat wrote the lyrics remembering his own unrewarded love and Jaikishan bequeathed the song to his beloved, the gorgeous Pallavi. For those of you who haven’t seen the film or haven’t heard the full version, here is one of the immortal love songs of all time, with rafi on rajendra kumar, . The orchestral prelude and interludes are absolutely brilliant, composed by a man who was still in his early thirties. And we should be proud and thankful that our own nadkarni saab led the violin ensemble in this piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohEIWdIGXCo
Girishji post 12 and 23
Many thanks for the exhaustive list and the clarification by you Sanjay Arora saab and many others…on the lovely treasure of Rafi-Shailendra music combo
Narayan
respected girish ji,
Very well summed up the matter. Now it again seems to me that Shailendra has written more songs than mentioned in the article (this was my earlier apprehension too). Many thanks to you Sir.
But how sad is that we can’t figure out how many exact number of songs written by this great lyricist (or other lyricists too). Can any one figure out the exact number please? And there is also very much confusion about songs written by Sahilendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, which I think should also be addressed by some knowledgable person.
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Haldar Sir:
My top-4 (not from the Rafi context) would be identical to yours. As the 5th one, I think I have to cast lots. Roshan saab is class act, OPN is a real trend-setter, Raviji and LP are two of my personal favourites. Then there are the less prolific but especially brilliant artists like Jaidev and Khayyam.
In the Rafi context, I would leave out SDB (this is not forgetting the sublime pieces of art SDB had created with the ‘baadshah) and would include LP (for their unfailing faith in Rafisahab) in my top-5.
Anwar saab Post 15
Many thanks for your inputs on the list of Rafisaab’s songs for shailendra.
Sir, you are right about the songs of Jagte Raho & Boot Polish.
Just to clarify the mist surrounding the numbers ( Rafisaab’s songs), I will sum it up like this –
Bijoorsaab’s list – 20 songs
my earlier list ( post no 4) – 32 songs
my recent list ( post no 12 ) – 95 songs
Total – 147 songs
in my earlier post 12, as a buffer I had given an error margin of 20% on the total songs. Now if we deduct 20% from 147, the numbers will still end up at 118. Even then, if we further reduce the number by 50% ( as songs wrongly credited to shailendra) we still up end up with a figure of 59 songs which is 14 more than what Bijoor saab has quoted in the article.
regarding the total number of songs written by Shailendra saab, Sanjay Arora saab’s post 19 provides a comprehensive list of the movies for which shailendra has penned down lyrics. Here to avoid the Shailendra / Hasrat confusion if we take out the sj scores from the list, we end up with a number of 403 songs (788 – 383). Even here, if we keep an error margin of 50%, the number still comes up to 201 which is just 57 short of the total figure quoted by Bijoorsaab in the article. Now, to this figure if we add just 30% of the total sj scores for shailendra (383) we will end up with a figure in excess of 300.
However, all these are just numbers that does not affect the status of Shailendra as a genius par excellence.
Dear Mr. Cherian:
I might have talked before about the top 5 md’s for rafi saab. The pancha ratna, in my opinion, are naushad, shankar-jaikishan, s. d. burman, madan mohan and o. p. nayyar. Please note that this is my opinion only and such opinions tend to be subjective. My list tallies almost entirely with old monk xxx’s, except for the last one; he has replaced op with roshan. I can’t leave op out because to me his contributions to rafiana are immense. I am aware that I’ve left out several md’s whose contributions are significant, most notably roshan, ravi, chitragupta and lp, but it’s incredibly crowded at the top. Apart from the md’s mentioned above, I love salil’s music, even though he didn’t work that much with rafi. Salil sometimes tests my faith but then I immediately turn to shakeel-naushad-rafi/hasrat-sj-rafi/shailendra-sd-rafi/kaifi-mm-rafi/sahir-op-rafi and realise that no one can surpass 29,028 ft.
Very informative article. Congrats and thanks, Bijoorji and Nitinji. Thanks to the learned gentlemen who have provided additional informations too.
Haldar Sir:
May I ask you something on your favourite MDs? I remember having read your comment that 3 of your favourite MDs (out of your top 5) have their names starting with the alphabet ‘S’. Can I take it that they are Satyam, Sivam and Sundaram? And who are the other 2? Can I take a guess? Roshan saab and Madan Mohanji?
this period can be considred as golden period of indian cinema, where the right combination of great lyrcist music director and talented singer were present , that film industry is still thirsting to have them for 3 decade.
therefore they have been auditioning to get real voice , but no single person they could f
Dear Mr. D.P.Bijoor & Mr. Nitin.D.Dhareshwar,the great lyricist Shailendra sahab wrote more than 800 songs,to be precise 824 songs which is almost 4 times the songs mentioned in your article.
For Shankar Jaikishan,Shailendra sahab peened for 90 movies and 383 songs more than your total songs of shailendra sahab.
Next comes S.Choudhary with 19 movies and 109 songs,
Below is a list of film alongwith the number of songs for that particular film,
Sr.No Film Year No.of Songs
MD Anil Biswas
1 Sautela Bhai [1962] 8
2Chhoti Chhoti Baaten [1965] 6
Total 14
MD Basant Prabhu
1 Badnaam [1952] 5
MD C.Ramchandra
1Chhatrapati Shivaji [1952] 8
2 Anarkali [1953] 2
Total 10
MD Chitragupt
1 Kal Hamara Hai [1959] 3
MD Dattaram
1Ab Dilli Door Nahi [1957] 4
2Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai[1963] 7
Total 11
MD Hemant Kumar
1Anandmath [1952] 4
2Chaand [1959] 5
3Hum Bhi Insaan Hain [1959] 6
4Masoom [1960] 1
Total 16
MD Jimmy
1 Shrimati Ji [1952] 1
MD Kalyanji Anandji
1 Satta Baazar [1959] 1
2 Kanch Ki Gudiya [1961] 6
Total 7
MD Kishore Kumar
1Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Me [1964] 8
2 Hum Do Daaku [1967] 5
3 Door Ka Raahi [1971] 2
Total 15
MD Manohar
1 Chingaari [1955] 6
MD Mukul Roy
1 Sailaab [1956] 2
2 Detective [1958] 8
Total 10
MD Ninu Majumdar
1 Bhai Sahab [1954] 10
MD P.Ravishankar
1 Anuradha [1960] 7
MD R.D.Burman
1 Chhote Nawab [1961] 8
MD Ravi
1 Devar Bhabhi [1958] 5
2 Dilli Ka Thug [1958] 2
3 Jawani Ki Hawa [1959] 2
4 Nai Raahen [1959] 3
Total 12
MD Roshan
1 Anhonee [1952] 1
2 Nau Bahar [1952] 4
3 Sanskaar [1952] 7
4 Aagosh [1953] 4
5 Mashooqa [1953] 6
6 Chandni Chowk [1954] 4
7 Coffee House [1957] 1
8 Aji Bas Shukriya [1958] 1
9 Deep Jalta Rahe [1959] 5
10Heera Moti [1959] 4
11Madhu [1959] 4
12Surat Aur Seerat [1962] 4
Total 45
MD S.Chaudhory
1Do Beegha Zamin [1953] 4
2 Naukri [1954] 5
3 Amaanat [1955] 6
4 Aawaz [1956] 3
5 Jaagte Raho [1956] 4
6 Parivar [1956] 6
7Ek Gaon Ki Kahani [1957] 7
8 Musafir [1957] 6
9 Madhumati [1958] 10
10 Honeymoon [1960] 7
11 Parakh [1960] 5
12Usne Kaha Tha [1960] 4
13Char Diwaari [1961] 6
14 Mem Didi [1961] 6
15Sapan Suhane [1961] 7
16Half Ticket [1962] 7
17Chand Aur Suraj [1965] 6
18Poonam Ki Raat [1965] 6
19Pinjre Ke Panchhi [1966] 4
Total 109
MD S.D.Burman
1 Buzdil [1951] 4
2 Munim Ji [1955] 4
3 Madbhare Nain [1955] 8
4 Insaan Jaag Utha [1959] 7
5 Kagaz Ke Phool [1959] 1
6 Kaala Baazar [1960] 8
7 Miyan Biwi Raazi [1960] 7
8 Naughty Boy [1962] 8
9 Bandini [1963] 7
10 Meri Surat Teri Aankhen [1963] 6
11 Guide [1965] 10
12 Jewel thief [1967] 1
Total 71
MD S.Kwatra
1 Pilpili Sahab [1954] 2
2Tees Maar Khan [1955] 1
Total 3
MD S.N.Tripathi
1 Dilli Darbaar [1956] 1
2Ram Hanuman Yudhh [1957] 5
3Sangeet Samrat Taansen[1962] 14
4Shiv Parvati [1962] 1
5 Kunwari [1966] 7
Total 28
MD Sapan Jagmohan
1 Begana [1963] 8
MD Shailesh
1 Savera [1958] 5
MD Shankar Jaikishan
1 Barsaat [1949] 2
2 Aawara [1951] 7
3 Baadal [1951] 5
4 Kali Ghata [1951] 2
5 Nageena [1951] 5
6 Daagh [1952] 6
7 Parbat [1952] 3
8 Poonam [1952] 4
9 Aah [1953] 4
10 Aas [1953] 5
11 Aurat [1953] 3
12 Naya Ghar [1953] 4
13 Patita [1953] 5
14 Shikast [1953] 8
15 Mayur Pankh [1953] 3
16 Baadshah [1954] 2
17 Pooja [1954] 7
18 Seema [1955] 3
19 Shri 420 [1955] 8
20Basant Bahaar [1956] 8
21 Chori Chori [1956] 4
22 Halaaku [1956] 5
23Kismat Ka Khel [1956] 5
24 New Delhi [1956] 7
25 Patraani [1956] 9
26 Raj Hath [1956] 7
27 Begunaah [1957] 3
28 Kathputli [1957] 6
29Baaghi Sipaahi [1958] 5
30 Yahoodi [1958] 6
31 Anaari [1959] 5
32Chhoti Bahen [1959] 6
33 Kanhaiya [1959] 6
34Love Marriage [1959] 5
35Main Nashe Mein Hoon [1959] 4
36Shararat [1959] 5
37Ujaala [1959] 5
38Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi [1960] 5
39Ek Phool Char Kaante [1960] 6
40Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai [1960] 10
41Singapur [1960] 4
42Aas Ka Panchhi [1961] 4
43Boy Friend [1961] 3
44Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai [1961] 2
45Junglee [1961] 3
46Karorpati [1961] 5
47Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja [1961] 7
48Sasural [1961] 5
49Aashiq [1962] 6
50Asli Naqli [1962] 2
51Dil Tera Diwana [1962] 4
52Hariyali Aur Raasta [1962] 6
53Professor [1962] 2
54Rangoli [1962] 6
55Dil Ek Mandir [1963] 4
56Ek Dil Sau Afsaane [1963] 4
57Humraahi [1963] 3
58Aai Milan Ki Bela [1964] 2
59Apne Hue Paraye [1964] 5
60April Fool [1964] 1
61Beti Bete [1964] 4
62Raj Kumar [1964] 4
63Sanjh Savera [1964] 3
64Sangam [1964] 4
65Zindagi [1964] 4
66Gumnaam [1965] 3
67Jaanwar [1965] 3
68Aamrapali [1966] 4
69Budtameez [1966] 2
70Gaban [1966] 3
71Love In Tokyo [1966] 1
72Pyar Mohabbat [1966] 4
73Sooraj [1966] 2
74Teesri Kasam [1966] 7
75Aman [1966] 1
76An Evening In Paris [1967] 5
77Around The World [1967] 5
78Chhoti Si Mulaqaat [1967] 3
79Deewana [1967] 5
80Gunahon Ka Devta [1967] 1
81Hare Kaanch Ki Chhoriyan [1967] 4
82Laat Saheb [1967] 2
83Raat Aur Din [1967] 5
84Brahmchaari [1968] 4
85Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan [1968] 2
86Kahin Aur Chal [1968] 3
87Sapnon Ka Saudagar [1968] 3
88Mera Naam Jokar [1970] 3
89Jawan Mohabbat [1971] 1
90Jwala [1971] 2
Total 383
MD Shivram
1 Naya Kadam [1958] 1
Grand Total 788
Sr.No Film ( Bhojpuri ) Year No.of Songs
Chitragupt
1 Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyri Chadhaibo [1962] 7
2 Ganga [1965] 6
Total 13
C.Ramchandra
1 Mitwa [196] 6
Jaidev
1 Naihar Chhutal Jaaye [1964] 5
Ghulam Mohammad
1 Saiyan Se Naiha Lagaibe [1965] 6
Dattaram
1 Vighna Naach Nachave [1968] 6
Grand Total 36
Overall Total 824
In case of any further information is required please contact me on my personnal e mail
arorasanjay1@rediffmail.com
Dear D.P.Bijoor sab & Nitin.D.Dhareshwar Sab,
That was everything I wanted to know about Shailendra but did not know
whom to ask. Congratulations for a superb write up. I saw Mr. Girish Prahalad making great value addition as well.
10 on 10 for passion.
Cheers
Nagesh Sidhanti
Fantastic article D.P.Bijoor & Nitin.D.Dhareshwar Sahab, very informative. I would also like to convey my thanks to Girish Prahalad ji. i would love to have this article on my blog for more availability avenue. it will be my privilege to have provided both the writers allow me. I would request Bijoorji and Dhareshwar ji to give their consent and send to me at shankerjai@yahoo.com
Regards
ref post 12:
mr. prahalad,
very good list. my estimate is that the shailendra-rafi combo produced around 150 songs.
Respected Sandeep ji,
Many many thanks for your clarifications. Yes! You are absolutely correct that Hasrat Jaipuri was the other lyricist who shared the songs with Shailendra for compositions of Shankar – Jaikishan. In fact most of the films for which SJ has given music, Hasrat Jaipuri wrote larger number of songs as compared to Shailendra.
Now, in my opinion, we are wrongly relating some of songs with Shailendra; they belong to Hasrat Jaipuri. As per my (little) knowledge, following songs of the lists provided in the article and by Mr. Girish were penned by Hasrat Jaipuri, not by Shailendra. It is possible that my knowledge is wrong, but a comprehensive and thorough study is required to distinguish songs penned by those two lyricists.
1. Aaye behar ben ke – Raj hat
2. Ager teri jelwa numayi na hoti – Beti bete
3. Badtameez kaho ya kaho janwer – Badtameez
4. Chhun chhun kerti aayi chirhya – Ab Dilli door nahin
5. Doobte hue dil ko tinke ka sehara – Kahin aur chel
6. Gori chalo na hens ki chal – Beti bete
7. Kal ki daulet, aaj ki khushiyan – Asli Naqli
8. Japan, Love in Tokyo – Love in Tokyo
9. O mere shah-e-khuban – Love in Tokyo
Furthermore, I think following two songs are penned by some other lyricists instead of Shailendra:
10. Koi na bhi koi na (with Bilbir) – Jagte raho (penned by Prem Dhavan)
11. Nanne munne becche – Boot Polish (penned by S. K. Deepak)
Again my upper information may be wrong, but it seems that we are going too much wrong in identifying the songs of this great lyricist known as Shailendra. Hence now clarification from Mr. Sandeep looks absolutely correct to me.
But this does not decrease the greatness of lyricist Shailendra. I want to mention here his two songs amongst the many greats:
1. Hum ne jefa na sikhi, un ko wefa na aayi – Zindegi: A great ghazal written by Shailendra. It is the one which equally expresses its impact on paper, means without music. The first verse is the most admirable containing many poetic qualities related to Ghazal verses.
2. Yaad na jaye beete dinon ki – Dil ek mandir: Again great lyrics. Just read the verse that says: “Din jo pakheru hote, pinjre mein main rekh leta. Palta un ko jeten se, moti ke dane deta. Seene se rehta legaye.” Just amazing!!!
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Hello D.P.Bijoor Ji & Nitin.D.Dhareshwar Ji,
Thanks for sharing this great write up on song writer Shaliendra. He was an incredible lyricist. No wonder great icons don’t live long.
My earlier post 11
Sincere apologies for the mistake in addressing maanya Sandeep Nadkarni saab as Sandeer Nadkarni saab
Post 10 – manya Sandeer Nadkarni saab
A big heartfelt thanks to you on your comments regarding the topic and on my post. I consider it my privilege that a most distinguished person who has worked with the legends from the hindi film music world has taken the trouble of clarifying the number of songs actually written by Shailendra saab particularly more so the songs sung by Rafi saab.
My sincere apologies for the duplication of the songs as pointed by your respected self. There is also an error in my list – koi sone ke dilwala was written by Majrooh & hence the song goes out of the list. That leaves us with 32 songs.
To clarify the numbers, I have attempted to list out the songs sung by Rafisaab for Shailendra saab (leaving out bijoorsaab’s and my earlier list)
1. Ho Haiya Naiyaa Teri Majhdhaar, Hoshiyaar Hoshiyaar – Awara – SJ
2. Pativrataa Sitamaai Ko Toone Diya Banwas (with lata) – Awara – SJ
3. Humse Koi Pyar Karo Ji, Hello (with lata) – Nagina – SJ
4. My My My My My Dear, O O O O Aao Near ( with Shamshad Begum) – Nagina – SJ
5. Kya Bataoon Mohabbat Hai Kya ( with lata & shamshad) – Parbat – SJ
6. Tumhaare Hain Tumse Daya Maangte Hai (with Asha) – Boot Polish –SJ
7. Gham Mein Jal Raha Hai Ulfat Ka Ashiyana – Shikast – SJ
8. Nai Zindagi Se Pyar Kar Ke Dekh, (Happy) with lata – Shikast – SJ
9. Chal Chal Re Musafir Chal – Pooja –SJ
10. Holi Ayi Pyari Pyari Bhar Pichakari (with lata)- Pooja –SJ
11. Jahan Kahin Deepak Jalta Hai- Pooja –SJ
12. Roomjhoom Ke Bajao Bansari Murari (with Krishnarao) – Pooja –SJ
13. Tum Arbboon Ka Her Pher – Chori Chori – SJ
14. Main Rickshawaala Hai Char – Choti Bahen – SJ
15. Dil Se Dil Takaraye (with Geeta Dutt) – Love Marriage – SJ
16. Kahan Ja Rahe Thay Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum – Love Marriage – SJ
17. Teen Kanastar Peet Peet Kar – Love Marriage – SJ
18. Yaaron Surat Pe Hamari Mat Jaao – Ujala – SJ
19. Jaane Kahaan Gayi – Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai – SJ
20. O O O Meri Baby Doll- Ek Phol Char Kaante – SJ
21. Dhokha Khayegi Na Yaaron Ki Nazar – Singapore – SJ
22. Hat Jaao Deewaane Aaye ( with lata)- Singapore – SJ
23. Kyon Ji Mujhe Pehchaana – Boy Friend – SJ
24. Bin Dekhe Aur Bin Pehchane – Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hain – SJ
25. Aayi Ayi Aa Suku Suku- Junglee – SJ
26. Kal Ki Daulat – Asli Naqli-SJ
27. Dil Tera Deewana Hai Sanam(with lata) – Dil Tera Deewana – SJ
28. Jaan -E- Wafa (with lata) – Dil Tera Deewana – SJ
29. Mujhe Kitna Pyar Hai (with lata) – Dil Tera Deewana – SJ
30. Rickshe Pe Tum Mere (with lata) – Dil Tera Deewana – SJ
31. Main Chali Main Chali (with lata) – Professor– SJ
32. Yaad Na Jaaye -Dil Ek Mandir – SJ
33. Tum Hi Tum Ho Mere (with lata) – Ek Dil Sau Afsane – SJ
34. Dil Tu Bhi gaa – Hamraahi – SJ
35. Karke Jiska Intezaar (with Lata) – Hamraahi – SJ
36. Aa Ha Aayi Milan Ki Bela (with Lata) – Aayi Milan Ki Bela – SJ
37. O Sanam, Tere Ho Gaye Hum (with Lata) – Aayi Milan Ki Bela – SJ
38. Dilruba Dil Pe Tu (with Asha) – Rajkumar – SJ
39. Jane Waale Zara Hoshiyaar – Rajkumar – SJ
40. Naach Re Man Badkamma (with Asha) – Rajkumar – SJ
41. Humne Jafaa Na Sikhi –Zindagi – SJ
42. Jaan Pehchaan Ho – Gumnaam – SJ
43. Hum Kaale Hai To (with Mehmood) – Gumnaam – SJ
44. Dekho Ab To kis ko (with Asha, Balbir)– Jaanwar – SJ
45. Dil Ko Na Mere Tadpao – Budtameez – SJ
46. Haseen Ho Tum Khuda Nahi Ho – Budtameez – SJ
47. Tum Bin Sajan Barse Nayan (with Lata) – Gaban – SJ
48. Dekho Dekho Madam (with Manna Dey) – Pyar Mohabbat – SJ
49. Huye Aap Naraaz Khuda – Pyar Mohabbat – SJ
50. Husn Ko Chand Haaye Mil – Pyar Mohabbat – SJ
51. Aaj Ki Raat Ye Kaisi Raat (with Saira Banu) – Aman – SJ
52. Deewaane Ka Naam To Pucho – An Evening in Paris – SJ
53. Hoga Tumse Kal Bhi Samna – An Evening in Paris – SJ
54. Mera Dil Hai Tera – An Evening in Paris – SJ
55. Raat Ke Humsafar (with Asha) – An Evening in Paris – SJ
56. Aao Aao Aate Kyo Nahi – Around The World – SJ
57. Panchi Re O Panchi – Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan- SJ
58. Aye Chand Jara Chup Ja – Laat Saab – SJ
59. Savere Waali Gaadi Se – Laat Saab – SJ
60. Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar (with Suman) –Brahmachari – SJ
61. Chakke Mein Chakka –Brahmachari – SJ
62. Sachcha Hai Pyar Mera Agar – Jhuk Gaya Aasman – SJ
63. O Laxmi O Sarsu,O Sheela,O Rajni – Kahin Aur Chal – SJ
64. Duniya Ki Kitabon Se – Jwala – SJ
65. O Meri Maina Arre Sun (with Kishore Kumar) – Krorepati – SJ
66. Tere bin sune nayan hamaare (with Lata ) – Meri Surat Teri Ankhen – sdb
67. Teri Dhoom Har kahi – Kala Bazaar – sdb
68. Tere Mere Sapne – Guide – sdb
69. Din dhal jaaye – Guide – sdb
70. Koina bhai koina (with Balbir) – Jaagte raho– Salil Chaudhry
71. Aaja karle muqaabla (with Geeta) – Detective – Mukul Roy
72. Aayi baaraat baaje gaaje se (with Balbir) – Awaz – Salil Chaudhry
73. Ab aayi barkha bahaar sajni (with Manna Dey) – Sangeet Samrat Tansen – SN Tripathi
74. Ajab tori duniya ho more raama – Do Bigha Zameen – Salil Chaudhry
75. Aman ka farishta kahaan – Aman – SJ
76. Arre re re dil kho gaya (with Asha) – Jabse Tumhe Dekha – Dattaram
77. Balkhaati sharmaati aaja (with sabita) – Usne Kaha Tha – Salil Chaudhry
78. Chun chun karti aayi – Ab Dilli Door Nahin – Dattaram
79. Hum kho gaye jo dil kho gaya (with Asha) – Kanch Ki Gudiya – Suhridkar
80. Ho raaja more doli leke aaja – Miya Biwi Razi – sdb
81. Kal talak ham thik (with Geeta) – Detective – Mukul Roy
82. Kaun jaane re baaba duniya mein – Jawani ki Hawa – Ravi
83. Main bhola vyaapaari laaya hoon – Miya Biwi Razi- sdb
84. Mehnat kar insaan jaag utha (with Asha) – Insaan jaag utha – sdb
85. Na ro bhai na ro (with vijaya) – Deep Jalta Rahe – Roshan
86. Nayi zindagi se pyaar karke dekh (with Lata) – Shikast – SJ
87. Rimjhim ke taraane (with Geeta) – Kala Bazaar – sdb
88. Sun meri sajni re – Miya Biwi Razi- sdb
89. Tose laage nain (with Asha) – Nai Rahen – Ravi
90. Tu mera copyright (with Lata ) – Shararat – SJ
91. Tum kahaan le chale ho (with Lata) – Poonam Ki raat – Salil Chaudhry
92. Tumhen dil se chaaha (with Suman) – Chand aur suraj – Salil Chaudhry
93. Tune le liya hai dil (with Geeta) – Miya Biwi Razi- sdb
94. Yeh chanda roos ka na yeh japan ka – Insaan jaag utha – sdb
95. Yeh sachch hai ae jahaanwaalon – Kal Hamara Hai – Chitragupta
The above list is not comprehensive and also not error free. However, even if we keep an error margin of 20% we would stille be left with around 100 songs
of the fabulous duo of Rafi-Shailendra.
Your comments are eagerly awaited.
In my earlier post, I had inadvertently left out another golden combination involving shailendra, that of shailendra-salil-talat. What a silken voice talat had; here’s talat on talat in “raat ne kya kya kwab dikhai”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5YJV1OFUQU
shailendra had been involved in some of the greatest musical hits of hfm. And he was involved with three great directors: bimal roy, raj kapoor and vijay anand. The first was infatuated with talat and the second was fixated on mukesh. But whoever their favourites were, the results were outstanding. Thinking of shailendra, I am reminded of a less celebrated song — if that’s possible — from madhumati, with vyjanthimala crooning “zulmi sang aankh ladi” on screen. Can any of the current-generation directors/lyricists/md’s conceive of such songs?
Mr Nitinbhanje & Mr D P Bijoor Saab,
Great & stupendous article, mainly since you both have indeed brought forth the colorful Shailendra in front of my eyes after a gap of several years.
The last occasion when we met together with Jaikishan was roughly in the year 1965 in the famous Gaylord Restaurant situated opposite the Church gate station situated in Mumbai. Friends this restaurant was once owned by Jaikishan himself.
Indeed Shailendra was a very good friend & above all a great human being par excellence.
Friends in fact Shailendra was so close to me that I myself have a complete list of all his songs which he has penned for this industry and it indeed tallies 100% with what these 2 personalities have written. Recently a Gujarat based businessman has also written a detailed book in the memory of Shailendra in Gujarati language and the figures which have appeared in this article indeed tallies with the said book too. This book is actually a collector choice and I appeal to all the fans & admirers of dear Shailendra to purchase & own the same.
As regards the posts of Anwar-ul-Haque Saab & Girish Prahalad Saab your doubts are totally genuine & understandable and accordingly to clear the same I am narrating the following very simple equations as follows
1) Though Shailendra was very closely associated with Shankar-Jaikishan there was also the other great writer/lyricists in the form of Hasrat Jaipuri who has also penned down most of the songs. In fact there are several such films in which the combination of both Shailendra & Hasrat Jaipuri have equally penned down or written the songs
2) Films starring Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar with music by Shankar-Jaikishan were equally shared amongst Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri in almost most of the cases
3) Combination of Raj Kapoor with specific emphasis on the RK films with music by Shankar-Jaikishan has automatically awarded all most all of the songs in favor of Mukesh and except a very few in favor of Rafi Saab which were either written by Shailendra or Hasrat Jaipuri
4) Combination of Bimal Roy, Shailendra and with music by Salil Choudhary has given most of the songs to Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Manna Dey & others like Dwijen Mukherjee etc with very few songs to Rafi Saab. This can be attributed mainly since the great Bimal Roy initially had subjected several of his films with the women oriented base subject and hence very few of the songs were rendered by Rafi Saab. For example please take the films where Dilip Kumar had co-starred like Yahudi, Devdas and Madhumati where one will easily notice that most of the songs were shared by Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh
Hope the aforesaid equations will summon up the facts & figures. Further Girish Prahaladjee you have duplicated 2 songs Duniya na bhaye from the film Basant Bahar & Aa gale kaga ja from the film April Fool which are already there in the article list and hence the total of both the lists works to almost 33 songs leaving a balance of almost 12 more songs which I would request all the dear fans & admirers of Rafi Saab associated with this beautiful site to come forward and share with us those songs to help in tallying the total to 45 songs
Dear Mr. Bijoor and Mr. Dhareshwar,
I’m not sure where you got your figures from, but shailendra penned over 400 songs for shankar-jaikishan, over 120 for salil and over 60 for s. d. burman. In madhumati alone, shailendra wrote 11 songs for salil, so it’s not possible for salil’s favourite lyricist to write only 30 songs for him. If shailendra had not died young, my guess is that he would have written over 220 songs for salil and over 600 songs for sj.
Many people I know regard shailendra to be the greatest lyricist (not necessarily the greatest poet) to have graced hfm. His main association was with the satyam-sivam-sundaram of film music, yani shankar, salil and sachin, but he penned great songs for other md’s, too. In my humble opinion, these have been some of his greatest associations:
shailendra-shankar-lata
shailendra-shankar-mukesh
shailendra-shankar-rafi
shailendar-shankar-manna
shailendra-salil-lata
shailendra-salil-mukesh
shailendra-salil-manna
shailendra-sd-rafi
shailendra-sd-lata
dear bijoor sahab & nitin sahab,
so much of information about shailendra ji. its highly informative sir.
in fact in the hindi film industry it was shailendra ji, jaydev sahab, khayyam sahab, naushad sahab who lived their head high. they never compromised with their work. thats why their creations are green for ever & dont fade with time.
needless to say about rafi sahab. he was the heart throb of all by virtue of his natural talent & divine qualities as a human being. an example of simplicity & modesty. we are yet to see a person like him. but to me to see a person like rafi sahab is a very big question mark…………………….
Congrates for beautiful narration
RK is noot Rk without SJ and Shailendra,
even without kyase kya ho gaya guide is not guide,
Shailendra was great gift of god and will remain always with us thro his songs.
A Passionate Note in the Article : Rafi, the voice of the masses.
Mr.Sandeep Nadkarni – veteran musician now settled in mangalore has written a very passionate note in the above mentioned article. please do not miss it.
binu nair : mumbai………
Thanks for the beautiful article on Shailendra. All his songs sung by Rafi Sahaab were super hits! These include the title songs of Junglee, Love in Tokyol and Budtameez.
By the way, in Parakh it was Nazir Hussain who was the Post Master. Motilal acted as a postman who in fact is a millionaire with the British given title of Sir, and who wants to donate a huge amount for the upliftment of the village.
Shailendra’s death, it appears, is due to the box-office flop of TEESRI KASAM which had the main theatrical release in Apsara Cinema in Bombay. Of course, he also found out that relations of the heart are almost non-existent in the heartless Bollywood.
bijoor saab & nitin saab
Thanks for a very well researched article on an excellent subject. Shailendra was a special talent who could express the most complex of emotions and situations in the most simplest of words which could be easily understood by the common man. Unlike most of his contemporaries (not to demean their works) he usually avoided using heavy urdu phrases and instead preferred simple yet beautiful hindi words. When one gets to hear a meaningful song with simple words from the golden times, one could easily identify it with Shailendra’s pen.
Combined with Rafisaab’s magic voice, these songs produced a magical effect that cast a spell on the listeners. Some of the outstanding songs of the duo that one can recall –
Phir who bhooli si yaad aayi hai – Begana – Sapan Jagmohan
Kahan jar raha hai – Seema- sj
Badi dher bhai – Basant Bahar-sj
Duniya na bhaye – Basant Bahar-sj
Khoya khoya chand – Kaala Bazaar-sdb
Apni to har aah ek – Kaala Bazaar-sdb
Aaye bahar banke – Rajhath-sj
Nache man mora magan – meri surat teri aankhen-sdb
Taqdeer kahan lejayegi – saanjh aur savera – sj
Koi sone ki dilwala – maya- salil chaudhry
Dil tadape tadpaye – poonam ki raat –salil chaudhry
Ajab hai dastaan teri – shararat –sj
Aa gale lag ja – april fool-sj
Hum aapki mehfil mein – jabse tumhe dekha –dattaram
Doobte hue dil ko – kahin aur chal-sj
In the article, you have come up with the figure of 258 as the total number of songs written by shailendra, which I feel is not the correct figure. According to sjmusic.com a site specially dedicated to S-J, the number of songs written by Shailendra for S-J itself is 402. A conservative number would be around 700 songs. Apart from this, the number of shailendra’s songs sung by rafisaab as quoted also seems to be very low. If we put together the songs in your list and mine, that itself will come around to 32 songs. I am very sure that there are lot of other songs of the duo which we have not mentioned in the lists. A conservative number for this duo would be around 100 songs.
Request other knowledgeable rafifans to verify the numbers if possible.
Dear Bijoor ji and Dhareshwar ji,
A very well-written and informative article about one of the great lyricists of our sub-continent, Shailendra. You have provided information of initial life of Shailendra which was not known to me. What is most admirable about this article is that you have not only mentioned Shailendra’s total number of songs, but also their categorization with respect to musicians and singers are also provided. This is just amazing!!! Many many congratulations for such an informative article.
However, the figures of 258 total number of songs and 45 Rafi Sahab songs seem less to me. In my opinion, both these numbers should be more than those that are mentioned. May be I am wrong, but can you please re-check these figures.
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
Rafi & Shailendra were two bodies with one soul………………soul of songs.They are still live in our heart.
respected Sri D P Bijoor Ji & Dhareshwar Ji
heartly congratulations for great write-up on great lyriciest : Shailendra , one of my favorite lyricist of HFM. Earlier i was not aware of his initial life, thanks for sharing it with count down of his songs for various music directors and singers. If I am not wrong the failure of film Teesri Kasam at box office produced by him was a great setback in his life and one of the reason of his early death.
with warm regards to all Rafi Lovers
Biman, Sivasgar, Assam