Song that made History in the Hindi Film Music Industry
This article was written by Mr. Shashank Chickermane.
Old is gold! So is the music of old Hindi movies. Many a singers’ names are written in golden letters in the history of Hindi music industry, at the same time, many were paid little or no heed at all in this world of fleeting success. But this industry has also created legends and they still rule our hearts with their melodious voice and soothing music. If you just take a peek at the music of the Hindi movies released in between 1940’s and 1970’s, you would notice the golden era of pure music. This music was far from any dilution or influence of western music as it is now, though we cannot really ignore today’s music, the older music is where our heart is still a prisoner.
Mohd Rafi with Kishore Da, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh
Rather than trying to speak on a very generic term, why not go and analyze one song of “Amar Akbar Anthony†(1977) to understand the song that leaves us with an ache to hear more. The romantic duet by Rafi-lata, Kishore-Lata, Mukesh-Lata are the best pills of building a fire of love in any heart.
“Humko tumse ho gaya hai pyar kya kare†is the song in discussion here. It was picturized on all the actors in the movie showcasing all the young couples enjoying light moments with each other. With no controversial scenes or movements, we get not only a clean song picturized in tongas or local buses as well as motor boats, the music was equally admirable, with the male singers gelling very well with the sweet voice of Lata Mangeshkar. The images here show the four singers doing the performance together. It just floods one mind with memories. Wherever I see or hear this song, I go back to the time when these legends must have shared a stage and sang this outstanding song.
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Hamko Tumse Hogaya Hai Pyar Kya Karen. Courtesy: Kapoor2007@Youtube
Directed by late Manmohan Desai, “Amar Akbar Anthony†dealt with the story of three lost-in-childhood brothers who grow up in different part and in different families. They grow up according to their foster parents with different religions. The three actors who made the roles look larger than silver screen are the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor. To give them company on the screen and act as their ladyloves we have three enigmatic beauties of film industry Parveen Babi, Sabana Azmi and Neetu Singh, playing with the heroes respectively.
The movie created history in many different ways, it was for the first time that there were three brothers who fall victims to a cruel fate and ill will of villains. Their father becomes the victim of foul play and the family shatters like a pack of cards with the mother loosing eyesight. An inevitable turn in the movie that places the three children in the hand of three different men, who grow them up according to their religion and it again shows that no matter which blood is running in you veins you still accept the religion which is taught to you. Though the brothers are all of Hindu religion, they grow up as Christian, Hindu and Muslim and even fall in love with the girls of their adopted religions. The mother is only too happy to get her sons back and religion hardly matters to her. It was indeed an eye-opener in many respects; religion is after all what we prefer not what we must. Late Manmohan Desai sent this message loud and clear.
It was not only an eyewash to see these young and lovely couples making the most out of the screen presence but also not diverting from the fact that we absolutely had great music pleasing the souls as well. The unique thing about this movie was not only the casting, which was also noteworthy and we still remember an Anthony Gonzales or an Akbar Hyderabadi or an inspector Amar but also the playback singers. This movie witness the union all four legends of music industry, i.e., Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Mohd Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar. These singers combined their talents to the music of Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyrics of Anand Bakshi. It’s as well the combination of such talented people that the song became historical.
Shashank Chickermane, the author of this article
Rafisaab was a very,very great singer.But he was also a greater human being.He is as immortal for his singing as he is for his generosity.To-day we have people praising various singers,music directors but hardly anyone talking of Rafisaab.What a shame.
dear , very good afford made by you. but why you are not trying for silent and hindi films, which was made from 1896 and onwards..? and if it is possible,please present all those in hindi lengauge…thank you very much in advance….all the best for effords…..naisadh shukla
dear common man, i had read artical on “nafrat ki duniya”. it was k.k.who
sang in the rehersal but couldnt render the required sadness in the song.
lps were not satisfied. ultimately kk having great heart and due respect for
rafi saab, suggested still great singer rafi saab’s name and refi saab did
justice to song.
“SWAGAT” – This is an inflight magazine read in Indian airlines… kindly try to get april 2009 issue of this magazine, there is an exclusive interview of Pyarelal, in which he said the tape of this song was given to kk, and the very next day kk returned the tape to pyarelal saying – “this is for Rafi Saheb…”. Please check.
Dear FRIENDS & RAFI bahkts,
Lets be magnanimous & give all the greats their due. Each had their own distinct style, some had different limitations in their singing/voice/range etc. But they have left us a legacy unrivalled in the entire world.
As for rafi sahab, he was a farishta-who set an eg for all of us in the world. He too must have been taken for a ride, betrayed, humiliated(We know who all MDs tried in vein), etc yet as per his own statement-Suraj ko hatheli se nahi chupaya ja sakta!! He endured it all-delayed or no payments etc, contributed handsomely to charity, encouraged new talent of all genre personally & now thru his songs… Thats the epitome of greatness!!! End of debate.
dear rajesh: i agree with you 100%. moreover, kk was never asked to sing “nafrat ki duniya”. it was composed specifically for rafi right from the start.
Post 17: Was kk cheated with all producers?? Why other singers were not cheated???
KK never sang without advance payment because he was cheated on several occasion when producers kept delaying his payment for months together and sometimes vanished from the scene.
Suno sajnoo
Rafi sahah and Kishore da had respect for each other and its foolish to compare them to each other.Both of them are Mahan
in their style of singing.Since they are not alive so we donot know what exactly happend in the past so no need to discuss that.All we need to remember is that they are still alive in our hearts
and will always be.what do you think?
I thank Laxmikant-Pyarelal to made it possible to bring these giant singers together..LP were balanced and moreover they were unbiased, music directors in terms of singer selection.
Kishore failed to sing Nafrat ki Duniya ko… from Haathi Mere Saathi. KK never sang unless he was paid in advance! Now where is the respect?
Come on now. No need to put down other singers to raise Rafi Sahab (he doesn’t need it). Kishore Kumar on more than a dozen occasions referred a particular song for another singer – NOT because he couldn’t sing it himself but because he had respect for other singers. So yes, Kishore would have made a sacrifice as he did multiple times. As for Asha or Lata – you have a point – but I won’t comment further 🙂
What’s greatness of Rafi Saab in A.A.A.
Rafi Saab sung four solo songs (Title song…khoon khoon hota hai, pani nahi,Parda hai Prada, Shirdiwale Saibaba & Tayyabali Pyar ka dushman) & one chorus song with all other singers. Total Five Song for Rafi Saab, two for KK, one each for Mukesh & Mahendra Kapur.
Everybody konwing that Manmohan Desai was fan of Rafi Saab & also LP like Rafi saab……….IF RAFI SAAB WANTS THEN DESAI & LP ALSO GAVE TITLE SONG “anhoni ko honi kar de” TO HIM ON REPLACEMENT OF EITHER SHAILENDRA SINGH OR MAHENDRA KAPUR.
But, that was our RAFI SAAB so, simple & humble……JO MILA USI MEIN KHUSH…
Can you expect this same sacrifies from Lata, Asha & Kishore…….
NEVER….NEVER……NEVER…..
This is only my & our Rafi Saab
The three icons of music KK, Rafi & Mukesh singing in ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ could have seen a repeatation once again in the film ‘Kranti’ for the song Chanaa Jor Garam. Since Mukesh was no more at that time he was replaced by son Nitin Mukesh.
A song like is illustrates one of my favorite parts about LP and one trait that made them shine: they always used the best singers and used them well. Many LP songs – just by virtue of being rendered by Rafi or Lata – are immortal. This song is an even greater example of it – with all 4 great singers – the undisputed top 3 male singers and the undisputed Queen of Melody.
Yes a unique song that brought the legends together. There is another unique song that had 4 male singers-one unknown at that time but later on became popular and three legends. I am talking about the song “Hoke majboor mujhe usne bulaya hoga..zeher chupke se dawa jaanke khayaa hoga..” from Haqueekat. Music by the king of Ghazals-Madan Mohan. The four singers were (in order of their rendetiion)-Bhupinder, Rafi saab, Talat Mehmood & Manna Dey. In those days, each singer had his/her unique voice & style of singing, which is sadly lacking in today’s world.
Also who can forget the ultimate quawwali by Rafi Saab–Ye ishq hai ..ishq ishq from Barsat ki Raat(Music by King of Quaqqalis-Roshan). Apart from Rafi saab, Manna dey, Meena Kapoor, Sudha Malhotra had sung this masterpiece.
As usual our Rafi saab reached the Mt Everest in the last line” Intehan ke bandhe ko Khuda karta hai Ishq” ( Lyrics by..who else..Sahir saaab)
I MISSED THE HIT SONG FROM “PRINCE” SUNG BY RAFI, LATA AND ASHA – MUQABALA HUMSE NA KARO”, “MATWALA JEEYA” AND “DUKH BHARE DIN BEETER BHAIYYA” FROM “MOTHER INDIA” AND THE WONDERFUL QAWALI – “BHARI MEHAFIL ME CHEDA” FROM “PALKI” SUNG BY RAFI, MANNADEY AND ASHA.
OTHER GOOD SONGS WHERE THREE SINGERS ARE INVOLVED ARE “BACCHE ME HAI BHAGAWAN” FROM “NANNHA FARISHTA” SUNG BY RAFI, MANNADEY AND KK, “TITLE SONG OF “AMAR AKBAR ANTONY” BY KK, SHAILENDER SINGH AND MAHENDRA KAPOOR SUPERBLY PICTURISED BY MANMOHAN DESAI, “NA JAANE KAISE” FROM “BADALTEY RISHTE” SUNG BY KK, SUMAN AND RAFI, “KYA MAUSAM HAI” FROM “DOOSRA AADMI” SUNG BY KK, LATA AND RAFI, “DUNIYA RANGA RANGILI BABA” FROM “PUNARMILAN” SUNG BY PANKAJ MALLICK, UMA DEVI (POPULAR ACTRESS TUN TUN) AND SAIGAL. ANOTHER GEM WAS FROM “JIS DESH ME GANGA BEHTI HAI” SUNG BY MANNADEY, MUKESH, MAHENDRA KAPOOR, LATA AND GEETHA DUTT – “HAI AAG HAMARE SEENE ME HUM” BEAUTIFULLY PICTURISED BY RAJ KAPPOR AND OF COURSE, WHO CAN FORGET “RAMIAH VASTAVAYYA” FROM “SHREE 420” SUNG BY RAFI, LATA AND MUKESH.
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SONG HAVING FOUR SINGERS WAS FROM THE MOVIE “HAQEEQAT” DIRECTED BY CHETAN ANAND. THE SAD SONG WAS “HOKE MAJABOOR MUZHE” SUNG BY RAFI, TALAT, MANNADEY AND BHUPENDER. ON SCREEN SUNG BY SOLDIERS WHO KEEP REMEMBERING THEIR BELOVED WIFES, THE PICTURISATION WAS SUPERB. WHENEVER, I SEE “SANDESE AAATE HAIN” FROM “BORDER”, I REMEMBER THIS SONG THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SONGS BEING ONE IN HAPPY MOOD AND THE OTHER IN SAD MOOD.
i think this flim is the best Amitabh Bachchan flim hit as music with Don and Naseb as I think…………………
with this flim Manmohan Desai got the best from Amitabh Bachchan and Mohd Rafi. Amitabh Bachchan got best actor award and I think also the best singer was Mohd rafi ………………….and Rishi Kapoor became mohd Rafi
It was a good effort by Laxmikant and Pyarelal to make 4 singers sing at a time in one song! But if you hear the song properly, Rafi Saheb was more melodious in singing the said song.
What a finely crafted article by Shashank Chickermane. Yes indeed this song made history by having all the four major playback singers in it and the composition by LP is also marvellous. Great work in writing this too. You have a natural flair of expression. Keep it up we love reading such articles. asmurty2@rediffmail.com
Very nice article. Small correction, Akbar’s name in the movie was Akbar Allahabadi, and not Akbar Hyderabadi.
The main credit goes to the greatest Laxmikant Pyarelal who succeeded to gather these 4 legends and made history. All 4 did full justify in their part, specially Rafi sahab, when he says “Heyyyy kab tak chhupaye rakha, shola dabaye rakhaaaa”. Wah! what sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.
Long live Rafi Sahab.
dear shashank,
1.-My complimetns for your article. It is a rare combination of four legendary figures of Hindi Film Music World.LATA, RAFI, MUKESH AND KK.
2.-There are other good songs of 60S Where three legends have performed equally well. Just remmebered DIL NE FIR YAAD KIYA…by RAFI, SUMAN AND MUKESH..What a lovely song by SONIK OMI duo..
3.-Similarly, a song from SANGAM by MUKESH, LATA AND MAHENDRA KAPOOR.What a beautiful composition by Shankar Jaikishen for HAR DIL JO PYAR KAREGA,,,..Just marvellous..
4.-Era from 50s to 70s was really a golden era of hindi film music..