Versatility, Thy Name is Mohammed Rafi
Two Rafi Songs from the Film ‘Naya Raasta’- A Study in Contrast
By
Mrs. Usha G Rao- a Senior Member of ‘Baar Baar Rafi’- The Fan Club, Bangalore, India
Mohd Rafi
Call it a cliché, an oft-repeated statement or stating the obvious, I would still like to dwell on this topic and say- ‘Versatility, thy name is Mohammed Rafi’. For me, a discussion on any aspect of Rafi Sahab’s singing amounts to a joyful celebration of his music. Each time I look at the prism of his songs, I see a new angle, a new dimension hitherto unseen by me.
I wish to present here a study of two of his songs from the 1967 film Naya Raasta. The mood and the ethos of the two songs are at total variance with each other and hence are perfect examples for the topic under discussion. The music is composed by Narayan Dutta, better known as N Dutta and the lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi Sahab are some of the most meaningful lyrics ever written for films. The two songs are:
- “Ponchh kar ashq apni aankhon se”
- “Main ne pi sharaab, tum ne kya piya”
A brief outlining of the film’s story is necessary so as to understand the mood of the two songs. Balraj Sahni and his screen sister Asha Parekh belong to the economically and socially backward section of society. They are abused, insulted and ill-treated by people belonging to the affluent upper class. Jeetendra who is the love interest of Asha Parekh in the film plays the role of a sheet-anchor in her troubled life.
The first song ‘ponchh kar ashq apni aankhon se’ is happy, upbeat and full of hope and optimism. Saddened by her circumstances, the heroine Asha Parekh is in tears and the hero Jeetendra implores her not to wallow in self-pity and despair but to challenge the existing system and dream of a new social order.
The second antara has some of the most eloquent and thought-provoking words. They are as follows:
“Rang aur nasl, jaat aur mazhab,
jo bhi ho aadmi se kamtar hai,
is haqeeqat ko tum bhi meri tarah maan jaao
toh koyi baat bane.”
Rafi Sahab, as always, breathes life into the poignant lyrics. Gauging the mood of the song, his voice, flowing like a gentle stream, assumes a tender yet cheerful demeanour that is both soothing and comforting. As he sings this song, his voice encapsulates so much of hope, promise and happiness that it encourages the listener to think positively in life.
The second song is “Mainne pi sharaab, tum ne kya piya”.
This song is complex and multi-layered as varied emotions are portrayed in it. There is a sense of doom and despair, anger, frustration, bitterness and even defiance-emotions that are incongruent with each other.
As is evident from the lyrics, the character played by Balraj Sahni is in a drunken stupor while singing this song. Defeated and frustrated by the trials and tribulations he has to undergo in life, he gives vent to his feelings in this song.
As for Rafi Sahab’s singing, well, this is a Rafi song par excellence. This sing should definitely be counted among his best. Rafi Sahab, a teetotaller in real life, does a perfect imitation of a drunken man’s ways of enunciating the words. Notice his slurring and the slight incoherence while singing. When he repeats the mukhda, after each antara, notice how he sings the line ‘main ne pi sharab’ dragging the word ‘pi’.
The second antara begins with the words:
“Tum kaho toh sach, hum kahe toh jhooth,
Tum ko sab maaf, zulm ho ke loot”
While singing the line ‘hum kahe toh jhooth’, he lets out a snigger, a derisive laugh to show the character’s utter contempt, bitterness and a deep sense of hurt towards an unjust society.
Mohd Rafi
The last antara brings out strongly the discrepancies between the haves and the have-nots.
“Reet aur riwaaz sab tumhare saath,
dharm aur samaaj sab tumhare saath
apne saath kya dhool aur dhuan,
aaj chahe tum noch lo zubaan,
aanewala daur lega sab hisaab.”
The intensity of emotion comes out so well in Rafi Sahab’s voice when he sings this antara, especially in the last two lines:
“aaj chahe tum…
……sab hisaab” where he (that is the character played by Balraj Sahni) throws a challenge and warns people around him that future generations would make them pay for their misdeeds.
I urge all Rafi bhakths to watch the video clipping (if they have not done so already) of this song in which Rafi Sahab’s soulful rendition brings out all the subtle nuances of the song and enhances the brilliant performance of veteran actor Balraj Sahni. The entire song sequence, embellished by the two great artistes, makes for a moving visual and aural experience for the viewers.
Kishore kumar lovers : Please note that this is “truly” a mohammad rafi lovers site and all those who try to pollute or colour the pure waters herein are despised by rafi lovers .
please thank the moderator for printing your views without censorship unlike the other kishore kumar website which use “multiple filters” to filter views expressed by music lovers or mohd rafi lovers. I never bother to even see those columns due to the standards of contributors therein.
the orchestrated programme to make famous songs of your favourite singer has fallen flat and people never would in this life time listen songs in films like : ishq, ishq, ishq; warrant and others which were played reguarly on binaca geet mala coourtesy music companies and amin sayani and also the music lobby in existence in the seventies.
i understand you peoples plight – that u cant stand the divinitiy and longevity of mohd rafi saaheb songs and works . and hence all ur intrusions in the mohd rafi lovers site.
for the sake of non-partisan views i am sure that this website would welcome people like u. so carry on the game. u have nothing to lose.
binu nair
Sandeep Nadkarni ji – Your post 93
Mr. Arghya Dutta stands correct and truthful and dignified in his views. If you are a real artist as you claim, then my respects to you. Otherwise, it will not be a surprise to note that another person in the guise of a biased rafi fan has been commenting in this site and many others including binu nair ji start supporting such fans (it is enough if they praise rafi even if they are not genuine personalities) . Why you do not straight away answer arghya ji’s questions. Your post 93 is simply deviating and does not answer arghya’s questions.
Some biased rafi lovers (I respect few genuine rafi lovers such as Mr. A S Murthy, H V Gurumurthy ji, Mr Manish kumar etc. who give positive responses to even fans of other singers in this site)
I am in a very top professional position dealing with highly placed & respected people (including people who have seved as principal secretaries to the govt’s) . Even when I posted a one message (this is my 3rd message in this forum), some time back questioning rafi’s ability, response from rafi fans was very very harsh. This is the respect rafi fans give to even dignified & respected people. I stopped posting messages, but was taken aback by the way rafi fans talk to even respected people. Something against rafi, you can expect fireworks. What is this. Even arghya ji is now facing the same thing in this site.
Binu Nair ji, – 88
I expected better posts from you – Where is arghya wrong. Should I presume that you too are hiding facts when straight questions are asked (by mr arghya to nadkarni ji and you start supporting) & try to support others. I expected a dignified and matured comments from the leader of the rafi foundation , mumbai. This does not befit you at all.
Admin – Moderator pl.
Many times it is noticed that rafians (specially binu nair ji ) are directing (not asking) people who write against rafi to leave this forum. Is this a public forum or rafi forum. If it is only a rafi forum, then please do not post messages of any person who writes even a neutral message here. If it is a public forum, who are rafi fans to ask others to leave. This stands simply absurd. My kind request to the administrator to pl. interfere in such posts (including of binu nair ji’s 88 as it is offensive sir) and kindly see that all are given equal opportunity to post messages here as it is a public forum. Otherwise suitable instruction may be put – this forum is only for pure rafi lovers and no comment other than in praise of rafi will be tolerated or posted.
I have been observing the recent posts in this thread and also elsewhere in this site on the comparison of our farishta against other singers, comments made by some music directors on Rafi sahab etc.. . I would appeal to all concerned from continuing this endless debates.
Appeal to non Rafi fans–please accept one fact that all along Rafi did not get his due because of so much of politics -you would find even to this day in media there is almost no mention about him in mainstream media even during his anniversaries. This is the main reason why some die-hard fans get upset.
Appeal to Rafi fans-just do not bother about the point mentioned above as Rafi himself did not ever bother about this and carried on his work like a true “Karma-yogi”–balanced in joy and sorrow, succes and failure!!
Remember–Gam aur khushi mein farq na mahsoos ho jahan, mein dil ko us makam pe laata chala gaya….as usual our farishta has a song for every season or reason or occassion.. Be proud of that–(ironically in the recent Total recall program on Asha, when the birthday cake was cut what song did you think was playing–Baar baar din ye aaye, baar baar dil ye gaye tu jiye hazaraon saal…happy birthday to you..)
sandeep nadkarni ji..
My questions are still unanswered…
All are entitled to express their views. But it would have been better had you expressed them by admitting you came to know them from different articles, or from some industry people or from some interviews and not that physically you were there when they were done and you saw them and all.. Pl remember, verification in terms of existence and authenticity takes hardly little time. Forums and esteemed people were not agitated for your remarks but for your falsified impersonification as a musician who knows all about pancham and salil!! Things got clarified the instance close associates of those two MDs were questioned.. Even if you are real as a musician, you are not recognized or remembered by any! So, please be a bit careful in future while commenting.
Lastly, since my queries are still not answered, in case you feel hesitant in open forums, pl mail me at arghya.kishoreda@gmail.com with the queries i have raised on some of your testimonials. wastage of time in an open forum is nonsense.
Awaiting your reply and no goodbye to you..rest of all, adieu..
Dear Sandeep Nadkarni ji,
As per your request, no word against pancham da and salil da anymore; rafi saab himself wouldn’t have been happy if he had seen some of my comments. Our thoughts and prayers will be always with you.
Please accept pranam from one of the most fanatic rafians.
P. Haldar
post 87:
Mr. Bhagchandani,
The interview that I referred to in my earlier post was not aired on radio but came out in either Filmfare or Illustrated Weekly. I now wish that I had kept all those issues but little did I realise then that one day that I’d be able to meet so many rafi bhakts virtually on the internet.
to be fair to salil da, he had equal disdain for most of his fellow composers (I don’t want to mention their names here). And in 1987, after Kishore da passed away, he offered a backhanded compliment to rafi saab. In a special issue on Kishore, the Bengali magazine Anandalok had asked Salil on his opinion of Kishore, to which Sir Salil responded (I’m paraphrasing here): “Kishore jodi shastriya sangeet sikhten, sudhu jonopriotar mapkathi te noi, sangeet’er gunogoto bichare uni sohojei Rofi’r samakokhyo hote parten”, which roughly translates to English as follows: “If Kishore had learnt classical music, then he could have easily reached the status of Rafi not only by the yardstick of popularity but also by the standards of musical excellence.”
The strange thing about this statement of his is that it will please neither Rafi’s fans nor Kishore’s fans. But that’s Salil for you. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the Lata-Salil combo has been one of the greatest combinations in hindi film music.
post 90:
In support of what binu ji has posted, let me quote benny gracias (Gregory Booth, “Behind the Curtain”):
“We used to do a song recording within four hours… One time we had an emergency with L-P, and we did five songs in one day. That was when Mohamed Rafi was living, and he had to go abroad for some shows. Today with all this technology, the song recording is going on four days or five days.”
MD-s like LP who always wanted Rafi to sing for them don’t give excuses. Only md’s and producers who wanted other singers provide excuses.
Arghyajee & Others
I am extremely sorry & regret for my statements since they have definitely caused & hurt a few valuable sentiments. Personally I did not intend to hurt any one’s feelings & sentiments but if the same has brought this effect in this great site than I deeply regret for the same. A small human being of my caliber who is presently on his own death bed but still alive and profusely counting his last days in-fact should not have entered in to such a controversy.
For me Salilda & R D Burman (Pancham) technically have been legends & masters in their own selves and my association with both of them over the years have truly been fruitful, except for a incidence here or there.
In view of the above and since I do not want to take away with me such ill feelings I personally request arghyahee & all the other admirers of Rafi Saab especially Mr P Haldar & Binujee to please put an end to this controversy and to please help to die a peaceful death.
Thanks, Regards & best wishes to all of you
p haldar sahab..
I dont hob around with bhanu gupta and basudeb chakraborty.. Because unfortunately, basudeb chakraborty is no more with us.. He has departed last year.
Not surprising that you do not know this and dont carry more respect to him than a unknown musician(?)
And dont put posts to me. I am here only to clarify certain points here with a musician(?)… I am not bothered about any of you. as soon as i get a reply from him, i will communicate with him personally.. Till then, in an open forum, i am as much admissible as any individual.
Friends,
Let’s take all those controversial comments made by all those famous MDs with a pinch of salt. I hope all of you remember the non sense comments made by Sajjad Hussain, who had a great sense of melody:
1. “Sirf Lata gaati hai, baki sab roti hain”
2. Kishore Kumar == “Shor” Kumar
Now tell me who is going to endorse that? no doubt Lata was supreme but the first comment is a big insult to all other greats like Asha, Geeta(my huge Fav), Shamshad, Rajkumari and various others. Kishore too has many excellent renditions to his credit.
So Let’s only pay attention to the great songs they(Salil,AB,Sajjad) have made, not to their non sense comments.
Haldar Ji, Myk Bhai, Binu Ji:
All of you are very knowledgeable Rafi lovers, can you please write on the Rafi-Ravi and Rafi-Chitragupt as passionately as you have written on the controversial topics, here in this thread. We all would love to have your take on these combos.
Thanks
A quote from mr.Raju Naushad : Rafi saaheb used to practice his songs much before the actual recordings. he would come prepared. composers like naushad, sd burman and salil da would practice the songs much before the recordings.
raju naushad : “once mohd rafi is prepared with the song, it would be very difficult to make changes at the last minute”. so, the controversey about the maya duet song was nothing new. one thing that was at work was the ego factor of people involved who belonged to different musical camps.
says composer ravi : “mohd rafi durng the trials would suggest changes to the songs and most of them were accepted by me”.
says rafi bakht pyarelal : yes. rafi saaheb used to take time for the preparations of the song but we had a wonderful working relationship. on a day he recorded five songs for us – before leaving on a foreign tour. three of them became big hits.
i again say that mr sandeep saaheb has just said what was already known. we must admire his guts to say these things publicly. most of his erstwhile colleagues and composers would never even discuss these subjects with music lovers.
and, for this sandeep nadkarni deserves a pat on his back.
==============================================
and, one more fact :its the music directors who teaches us ” how to sing our songs ” mohd rafi has said in several of his interviews. they are my gurus.
its a known fact that naushad saaheb used to train the singers for months his songs – which have become immortal.
almost all singers would take credit themselves for a songs success and never would credit the composer who has burnt the midlight lamp in making the song.
only mohd rafi saaheb credited the composers for his songs. this is one more aspect of mohd rafi’s singing career.
binu nair, mumbai – binus2000@hotmail.com
At the very outset let me make it abundantly clear that I do not personally know either Shri Sandeep Nadkarni or Shri Arghya. Arghya has posed some very existential questions to Sandeep sahab, which in normal circumstances would have been answered by anybody by return post. We must understand here that Shri Sandeep, though critically sick and 77, quite regularly contributes on this forum. Then, why this continuous silence ?
Priya Sanyal, post 85, has raised a very valid point, what if Arghya is proved wrong ? We all have developed a soft corner and respect for Nadkarniji. I for one fervently hope that he will come out with relevant facts.
The lack of response from Nadkarni sahab, however, also tempts me to think counter to Priya’s poser.
Priya and my other dear friends, what if Arghya is proved right ?
Padmanabhan NR
Rafi Foundation, Hyderabad Chapter.
RAFIANS ARE NOT LIKE GANDHIJI….. i thought that rafi fans are all gandhians…… thought that they are all very cultured, very gentle like our mohd rafi saaheb and will offer the other cheek when a slap occurs in one cheek. i am talking of detective cop mr arghya dutta who has been behaving like on – to a senior industry musician named mr.sandeep nadkarni saaheb.
the posts of Priya sanyal ( No 85 ) and of haldar saaheb (post 84) has duly conveyed that rafi fans will atleast answer to these parasites who have frog in the well attitude who come herein to pollute the waters – herein.
mr.arghya : please note that mr.sandeep has said nothing new . all these things we know from journos and musicians from the industry. we are never questining ur “musical tastes” – hence let’s have ‘our pleasant music which appeals to our ears” and some of the realistic things which happened in the industry. you can’t gag our thought process. make this amply clear and leave this site as fast as u can.
binu nair….
I had some amount of respect for Salil Choudhary for his great compositions, though his scent use of Rafi’s voice in his compositions always mystified me. But I always took it as ‘just one of those things’. Many a times regional considerations override the creative instincts of the people (RDB, SDB are the other examples). I thought that it was Salil’s loss that he did not use Rafi saab as much as he should have. But when I read post no. 74 wherein Mr Haldhar has quoted Salilda accusing (in a radio interview), rafi of using ‘gimmicks’ in his singing, it was too much for me to tolerate. Did Salildamean that music maestros like Naushad, SJ, OPN, LP MM etc. created those master pieces by employing a singer who used gimmicks? What a shame!! Or did he try to project himself on a higher platform than other music directors? Are the songs ‘Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj man…’ or ‘Din dhal jaaye haae…’ or ‘Abhi naa jaao chhod kar…’ or ‘Is rang badalti duniyaa mein….’; (and thousands more) gimmicks? In one sentence Salil has insulted not only our Rafi saab but also almost entire music fraternity of the golden era of Indian film music, and that is unacceptable. Salilda is no more. It pains me to say such harsh words about him. But he had said something that has prompted these harsh words.
Dear Arghya,
I like detective stories too; I’m sure you share my passion for Felu da. Remember Gangtok-ey Gondogol? My detective story will also end in Gangtok but will start in Darjeeling, a favourite haunt of mine during my younger days.
Before I start writing my story, let me make one thing very clear: Rafi saab, Kishore da and Mukesh bhai are legends; no one will ever be able to replace them. If they were singing today, singers like Sonu, Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet would be singing in hotels and bars.
And I promise you one thing; I will not bring in Kishore da. But because you love Salil da and Kishore da, the title of my story is “Jungal mein mor nacha kisi ne na dekha”, a unique blend of melody and comedy. If you haven’t heard the song, here it is for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwbhh5Q6cCc
In the process of writing the story, I will ask you a series of questions. The first one is a rhetorical one: Jangal mein mor nacha kisise na dekha; kyun?
I promise you one more time that I’ll not bring in Kishore da. And if you don’t answer my questions, my young friends myk and kapil will answer those questions for you. But I’m going to request myk and kapil to give some time to you to respond.
Arghya Dutta ,a kishore kumar fan,,,is here for no appriciation of Rafi sahab but with the approch of suspection…..Anyway,,Arghya,,refer to comment 27 by Mr nadkarini in dur reh kad na kado baat,,,and go ahead with ur crime branch investigation….http://www.mohdrafi.com/meri-awaaz-suno/door-rahkar-na-karo-baat-an-immortalized-affirmation.html?cp=1#comments
Arghya,i`ve followed ur discussions with savita,manish and smitha,months ago,,,with savita garcia ur debates presented me a very nice image of urs that u r not a mere critic but a real admirer of music who respect rafi sahab and kishore da both…..and i myself,conrgatulated u for ur foundation,,,but whats now,,,,,whats going on here,,,may be u r right or not,,,but just for a moment think if u r wrong,,then ur suspicion would be nothing but an insult to a legendry person who has contributed to golden era of music…
Expecting this issue to be resolved very soon from both side.
Thank you
Dear Arghya,
Since you seem to be hobnobbing with luminaries like Bhanu Gupta and Basudeb Chakrabarti nowadays, why don’t you ask them if they have heard of a journalist by the name of Raju Bharatan? I’m quoting him from one of his articles:
————–
“Rafi perhaps nursed the sneaking feeling that Lata, in reality, was not prepared to acknowledge his late-earned suzerainty. While the two, for example, were rendering Tasveer Teri Dil Mein (to go on Mala Sinha-Dev Anand in Maya: 1961), Lata had even lost her cool with Rafi in a certain passage of the song.
Rafi here felt belittled upon seeing Salil Chowdhury siding with Lata. Certain composers were not all out for Rafi and Lata knew it. Yet just hear, afresh, Tasveer Teri Dil Mein and you just cannot tell where Rafi is anything less than Lata.”
—————
Given your connections, I’m sure you’d be able to establish contact with him. Why don’t you first verify the story with him? As for Salil’s other quotes on Rafi, let me know if you need them; many of them are publicly available. According to him, Rafi had problems with fast-changing harmonic progressions. I guess he is implying that his main singers Talat and Mukesh never had a problem with those progressions. What a conceited person! Ask the Salil group in Kolkata if they know of anyone who could come anywhere near Rafi’s “Toote huwe khwabo ne”; swapno bhenge jabe.
Mr.Arghya Post 82 : Do you know that elderly people forget things and names which happened many years back.
i had the opportunity to meet these seniors in the music industry a number of times. they either brush aside uncomfortable queries or say they do not remember them – since they happended long past. they will try to be diplomatic on controversial subjects .if you persist, they become angry tooo.
all they need in a meeting with them – is to talk good about their music – only.
Please do not act as a “bully” or a “cop” in this forum and demand, i say demand – peoples telephone nos and addresses. i seriously object to that mr.arghya dutta. please duly take a note of this.
the internet is for sharing views -not at all for sharing personal details – involuntarily. I hope u possess commonsense understanding and is literate too to understand such issues .
Kindly, put ur spare time in listening to ur most favourite composers/singers
and not behaving like a detective when different views are expressed in the forum.
binu nair.
awaiting your reply ‘sandeep nadkarni’ sahab..
kindly also give us the details of the songs of RDB where you played violin in recording studio. We will verify them with no one else but Manohari Singhji.. As a legendary singer used to call you ‘laadla beta’ according to your claim, you must be quite a celebrity,sir! Surprising, none of your colleagues recognize you even!!
Respond with contact address, contact number and song details. Pancham and salil forums from Pune and Kolkata as well as family members of Basudev Chakraborty ( I hope you know who he was) are eager to know who you are and make certain points clarified as your own authenticity.
Regards,
Arghya Dutta.
Haldar Ji,
A while back you said that after mid 70s Rafi Sahab should have worked more on the non filmi Gazals and Bhajans with the likes of Khayyam and MM . I couldn’t agree more on that, take his “Paon padu tore shyaam” and “Bas ke dushwaar hai”, such songs are 1000 times more “musically” and “lyrically” enriched than his most of filmi songs post 1975.
Thanks for your views on MM-Rafi unreleased album.
Haldar-ji,
Thanks, I bought the album and I must say it is definitely sublime.
“Mehbooba meri mehbooba” reminds me of many of the Jaikishan love songs that Rafi sang….so sweet, melodious, and breezy.
Only Rafi could do full justice to those amazing and difficult MM tunes….and ofcourse Talat also had his own space in MM land with his excellent ghazals (and other songs) under the maestro.
Thank you Haldar sir for the Rafi-MM clip. This album would be the first thing I buy when I am in India.
Ushaji:
We are all humans and naturally we react when we feel that our ‘farishta’ had been ill-treated. So please don’t feel too bad about these discussions. Having said that, you may rest assured there would be no contributon from my side to this particular debate in this article. And let me congratulate you whole-heartedly once again for such a wonderful article.
Dear Kapil, Anil Cherian, MYK and all my young friends,
Here’s a slow delivery that kept low and hit the stumps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWCQPed0tnM
Short but beautiful. It’s from the album “Tere Bagair” (unreleased compositions of Madan Mohan). I’ve been addicted to the title song since I first heard it a year ago. The song was recorded in the mid 60’s. Even God cannot reproduce that voice.
Out of the 15 songs in the album, 7 are Rafi’s. Get the album as soon as you can. A must buy!
dear rafi bhakths,
my sincere request to all rafi bhakths. please, let us not continue with the raging debate about the r.d. burman-mohd rafi controversy. friends, can a small lamp ever obscure the brightness of the mighty sun? the answer is a resounding NO!
rafi sahab’s innumerable songs — each one a gem– bear testimony to the legendary singer’s immense singing prowess and provide a fitting reply to his detractors. more over, rafi sahab was way above petty human emotions like jealousy, bitterness, anger and hatred. he never bore any ill-will towards anybody. we will be doing a great disservice to the memory of this noble soul by continuing with this debate.
with warm regards,
usha g rao.
ushaji
Thanks to remembering old songs of naya raasta a nadiadwala film and balraj-jeetu -nanda starrer.
sandeep nadkarni sahab..
With all investigations done from all the associates of Pancham and Salil Chowdhury, even in the likes of Mr. Bhanu Gupta, a close associate of both the MDs, there has been no proof your authenticity established, as you call yourself a member of Panchamda troop. People related to RD and SC have declined to recognize you.. The most resemblant violinist who has been identified is Mr. Sandeep Thakur and not “Nadkarni”..
This is a warning to prove your authenticity and back up of whatever you have officially quoted over here.. Your contact address and phone number would be highly appreciable.
Wishing you a speedy recovery,
Arghya Dutta.
post 73:
Dear Mr. Cherian,
Lata di had sung the same tune in Bengali a year earlier. Here it is for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhXbqQgioMI
You are absolutely right that changing the scale at the last moment could be problematic for any singer. And that is what happened. But despite that, rafi saab came out on top.
I am providing you an excerpt from Salilda’s website:
“Some of Salil’s best compositions are in this film. Besides, 4 songs by Rafi includes the well-known ‘Zindagi hai kyaa, sun meri jaa.n’ which is based on the theme of Limelight ( the famous Charlie Chaplin film). Although it’s widely known that Rafi had a tough time trying to sing the antara of ‘Tasveer teri dil mei.n’, I think he did a marvellous job and sang 4 very different and unforgettable songs.”
Even while praising Rafi, this reviewer had to qualify his comments. And that is because Salil himself had spread this misinformation through his mouthpiece Raju Bharatan. What happened within the recording room should have stayed inside. Instead, this story has been widely circulated in an attempt to showcase Lata’s superiority over Rafi.
A lof of our friends on this forum have been advising sandeep nadkarni saab to exercise restraint. I wonder what these people were doing when Salil was leaking this information to the press. Even if the incident were true, Salil should have never talked about it to outsiders. But since it is already out, “truth in reporting” requires that we hear both sides of the story.
I am really disappointed that some of our friends have become so weak-kneed when mr. nadkarni, who had an inside view of the proceedings, decided to reveal what had actually happened. I don’t know what they are afraid of.
I recall vividly one interview that salil gave to raju bharatan in the 70s:
raju: salil da, why are you not using your “toote huwe khwabon mein” rafi?
salil: are you sure he won’t try his gimmicks?
Nadkarni saab, I trust every word you’ve written on Salil.
Binaji:
Actually I was about to enquire Sandeep sir whether the scale was raised or lowered. Listening to the song, it is obvious that it is Lataji who’s struggling with the high notes and not Rafisahab.
The switches of notes in the song is pretty sharp, swift, unpredictable and decisive (like many of the Salil tunes) and any change of scale at the last minute whether up or down would make singing it tough. Perhaps, Lataji might already have rehearsed with the altered scale and Rafisahab would have been caught completely surprised when he came for the recording.
Speaking of high notes, a male voice can’t really compete with a female voice. Female voices have almost unlimited range both in the upper and lower registers. It is in the high ‘ma’/’pa’ notes that Lataji struggles usually where she can’t really make the transition from the full (chest) voice to the head voice. But going further up she is more comfortable having completely switched over to the head voice.
Sandeep Nadkarni Sir:
Refer your post no. 63.. I find it very difficult to believe that Rafi Saab found it difficult to pick up the high pitch set by Salilda for tasveer teri dil mein from the film maya…dont we all swear by Rafi Saab’s ability to strike the high notes without batting an eyelid?….especially, when he had already sung the same MDs toote hue khwabon ne from Madhumati at a much higher note than the one from maya…!!!
Bina
Even though Salil changed the composition of the maya duet, mohd rafi came out as the winner. listen to the song “tasveer tere dil me jis din se basayee hai” – and u will find this to be true.
binus
Myk, as you said, Aaradhana or no Aaradhana Rafi is the greatest, in a similar vein i would say, Salil or no Salil, Biswas or no Biswas, Pancham or no Pancham, Rafi is the greatest, no doubt Biswas and Salil contributed amazingly to HFM, but anti-Rafi bias of 2 or 3 great MDs takes nothing out of Rafi.
Listen following Rafi gems from a musical bonanza Kajal(1965) by Ravi, no matter from which singer’s camp you belong to, the songs will simply blow you off your feet:
1. Chhu lene do nazuk hoton ko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMWOoMu6Vd0
2. Aapke pas jo aayega
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFKIVimkNk
3. Ye zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLB833QEMLY
Dear Sandeep Nadkarni Uncle,
With due respects to you, your great profession and for your well-being & quick recovery
Your recent outburst on R D Burman & Salil Choudhari can well be understandable mainly considering your deep love, respect and your admiration for our beloved king of melody Mohammed Rafi Saab
However in the present circumstances when all these legends in their own adversity are not alive and are no more with us, the sudden burst of crackers on your part is definitely not in a good taste and hence not digestible Sir
Yes many may & may agree with you that Panchamda & Salilda did dislike Rafi Saab as also there were many more in your own industry who had the same opinion on the greatest of all Rafi Saab but has that made any such difference to the reputation of the titan amongst titans – Rafi Saab. My answer will be no and never. Nadkarni Saab they all were jealous and did not possess the sheer confidence which Saab had within himself.
Pancham & Salil Choudhary as all are aware had their own cup of tea and were always inclined & interested in Kishore Kumar & Mukesh respectively as compared to the legend. Subsequently you might have also observed & noticed that a genius of Naushad’s caliber had only one song for Kishore Kumar can that be substantiated & discussed more from your point of view.
Like-wise you may also take the examples of Hemant Kumar (hardly 35 songs) & Anil Biswas (exactly 07 songs only) who hardly had much songs or renditions with Rafi Saab
As you are quite aware of being a part & parcel of this glorifying industry that every musician or music director for that matter of fact has had their own choice & favor for their singers, then why on earth you have thought for this sudden outburst I for one am not aware, please clarify sir.
Above all when our own dearest Rafi Saab never ever had any qualms & complaints on the subject matter, than who are we & why are we fighting over this very a small a issue Sandeep Sir.
Mohammed Rafi Saab has always had that extra class and that extra confidence of punch in him which no other singer in this world would ever have boasted for. Can there ever be an example where Rafi Saab was the product of a music director the answer will be never ever because the music directors were in fact the several products of Rafi Saab and his domain & the beautiful Rafi kee duniya !!!
Kapil (Ref. Post 62):
From what I have heard, Pancham was a genuine good soul who never said a bad thing against anyone. However recent revelations on this website go against that idea. I am not saying he was a bad person, but he did also have had his whims, bias, and so forth. Pyarelal mentioned that Pancham genuinely respected and rated Rafi high. That view is supported by the things Pancham has said about Rafi (lip-service or not).
The point is that regardless, Pancham knew very well, as Rajiv Vijayakar would say, “which side his Rafi bread had to be kept buttered”.
On the other hand, Jaikishan (S-J) would have beat RD at his own game had he lived post September 1971. Here is a KK-Asha duet from 1971, “Saanjh savere nain”, the film is Duniya Kya Jaane, notice the orchestration (I suspect its a Jai song) and the melody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwgFKGm0klY
Starting from Shailendra’s death in 1966, one by one the greats of HFM started to achieve immortality. As Rafi-saab himself said in his tribute to SDB, with Roshan, Jai, MM and SDB gone, the “melody” in HFM went along with them. Rafi’s death was ofcourse the final and biggest blow to HFM.
Usha g. rao : Post 64…..
when i was reading your above post, i was “believing” that i was reading “my” own post.
Sahir saaheb was unmatchable and he left few months within mohd rafi going away. i remember when sahir died, there was an editorial in the times of india about sahir’s life and times.
very few leftists can have the prievelege of an editorial in the commercial marwari news paper group toi.
sahir ludhianvi was too towering a writer for the toi to ignore him.
usha ji –pls keep up the good works and the rejoinders too….
binu nair.
post 63:
Dear Nadkarni saab,
I don’t know how to thank you for revealing the truth about the Maya incident. I had always suspected Pancham of foul play when it came to rafi; your posts simply validated my suspicion. But the Maya incident was a total revelation to me. It is unfortunate that when it comes to the Rafi-Lata equation, the mainstream press in India is so one-sided. In Raju Bharatan’s hagiography on Lata, he quotes Salil as saying that Rafi had problems in picking up the tune and Lata became irritated because of that. The diplomat that she is, Lata didn’t say anything. She didn’t lie but at the same time she didn’t tell us the truth.
What Raju Bharatan writes becomes gospel. And his sources are none other than the three great Rafi lovers: Anil Biswas, Salil Chowdhury and R. D. Burman. Nadkarni saab, if you don’t mind, I’m going to write an article using your posts as support. I’ve waited for a long time for someone from Rafi saab’s inner circle to give us his side of the story. But not a single word from his wife, his sons, or his daughters; not even from Zaheer bhai. If it were not for you, we would have had to hear this constant chatter from mischief mongers whose only claim to fame is that they can quote Raju Bharatan, the serial liar.
post 61:
Binu ji, here are my comments on your post. Pancham was a bengali at heart; in bengali, there’s a saying “money-praney bangali” which aptly describes him. His mother Meera Sen spent time in Shanitniketan; you can’t get more bengali than that. He grew up in South Kolkata; his house is within 10 minutes walking distance from my house. His bahu has sung more songs in bengali than in marathi and that’s mainly due to the fact that pancham always used to compose songs for her in bengali. You are right that his father hailed from Tripura but culturally and linguistically, the differences between tripurans and east bengalis are not that great. Also, sd spent a lot of his time in Comilla (now in B’desh) and Kolkata. In fact, his initially forays into music were all in Bengal and he was deeply influenced by Tagore and Nazrul, in addition to the classical masters.
For Rafi saab, the rides on Bengal-Nagpur railway were never comfortable, despite the fact that he had two of his most fanatic support bases in Bengal and Maharashtra. The Howrah-Bombay mail, which used to stop in Nagpur, somehow got derailed near Khandwa. Look at how well pancham fit into the scheme of things. Thanks to him, someone reached the top and started telling his fans “Sala main to saab ban gaya”. Another singer finally had her hope realised of becoming a bengali bahu. But the biggest beneficiary was another singer who heaved a sigh of relief; with the competition taken care of, the ivy only kept climbing higher and higher [this paragraph is for humour only; no disrespect to anyone].
hello girish,
ref.post 12, aug 25th
thank you for your comments on my article. you have made some very valid points in your writeup. i am sorry i could not respond to it earlier. rest assured that you have not stirred a hornet’s nest but initiated a healthy, meaningful debate.
i do agree with you that it is wrong to make sweeping generalizations by painting all rich people black and all poor people white. but then people with leftist leanings — sahir ludhianviji was one of them — most often tend to gravitate towards this line of thinking.
at the same time, dont you think it is the people belonging to economically and socially weaker sections who get exploited and oppressed in our society? there are two sets of laws in this country — one for the rich and one for the poor. dont we hear of cases where the rich with their money power buy justice and go scot-free after committing crimes whereas a poor man is crucified for the same? it must have been these injustices that were the cause for sahir saheb’s outburst and tirade against the wealthy and the influential in the song ‘main ne pi sharab’.
juxtapose the lyrics of the above song with that of ‘ponch kar ashq apni ankhon se’, where the same sahir saheb entreats earnestly the poor and the down-trodden to fight injustice, to swim against the current and make their own life and shape their own destiny — “zindagi bheekh me nahin milti………. chheen pao toh koi baat bane.”
the other two antaras of this song are equally hard-hitting, one beginning with the words ‘rang aur nasl, jaat aur mazhab’ which says that it is the human being who reigns supreme, above caste, colour, race and religion. the last antara “nafraton ke jahan me hum ko” speaks of inclusion, of love helping to build bridges between people.
i,therefore, think it is fair to conclude that sahir sahab’s writing panned the entire gamut of human emotions, thoughts and idiosyncrasies and situations that arise in life due to man’s foibles.
with best wishes, usha g rao.
Friends and then there was also Salil Choudhary who disliked or did not agree with Rafi Saab’s domain. In-fact he was one of the most jealous personality when it came to using Rafi Saab under his music composition. Even he for sure knew that certain songs which he has composed for Rafi Saab can be sung by Rafi & Rafi only.
I would like to narrate one such most stupid incidence of Salilda from the film “Maya” and the song was “Tasveer teri dil mein jis din se utaree hai” It was on the sheer insistence & instigation of none other than the melody queen herself that he dared to change the pitch of Rafi Saabs version at the very last moment. In-spite of repeated requests from Rafi Saab this staunch Salilda was adamant on his decision.
After this incidence there happened to be a non-ending dual between Rafi Saab & Salil Choudhari and ultimately it was Saab who decided for good not to associate any further with Salilda. Hence in this film “Maya” one will observe songs rendered by none other than of the class of Dwijen Mukherjee also. Was this the class of Salilda?
Unfortunately for me since I was involved in the final take of this song I indeed consider myself to be involved in the most un-luckiest songs of my career
Myk,
————————————
RD also mentioned that he would regret forever not using Rafi as much as he wanted to, so atleast he realized his mistake (even though he still used him a lot).
———————————–
Though i like Rafi-RD, but don’t you think that article was just a lip service? I also heard once OP Nayar calling Lata No.1 singer in AIR, great lip service by Nayyar Sahab, as Nayyar repertoire says all what he would think of Lata, he never used Lata, his reasoning was Lata didn’t suit his style, and i seriously suspect on that, IMO lata could easily have sung those tunes, just like Rafi could also have eaisly sung the tunes of Anil Biswas, latter too said once Rafi didn’t suit his style, though it takes nothing out of the greatness of either of the composers, but one thing for sure, OP did have something personal against Lata, likewise biswas too had something personal against Rafi.
RD too could have used Rafi much more in his early 70’s period, against the wishes of the producers then, like MM did, but he definitely had some bias against Rafi .
Anyways, i don’t mind really if some composer prefers some other singer and comes up with phenomenol album like Amar Prem, but i do mind when same set of singer composer comes up with mediocres like “Ishq Ishq Ishq” or “Warrant” etc
Your Take Buddy …:-)
Sandeep Nadkarni Saaheb : Post…56….
Not a word is untrue in the above mentioned post. No Rejoinder or comments now – as “such” people which you mentioned – did have two sets of teeth.
for many of these people regional bonding were greater than their art of creating “great work of arts”.
i am remembered of the fact that kishore used to take pride in stating that he was from khandwa, not bengal. he wanted to retire to khandwa, never to bengal during his illness borne last days.
r.d.burman/sdb belongs to tripura, not west bengal. manohari singh came from nepal but always was in the salil-sdb-rdb camps.
rightly said sandeep ji, before mohd rafi lovers they (and others) used to hide their true colous.
binu nair
@ p haldar saahab:
here are the exact statistics of “kya hua tera wada”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UGuXUN09PA
(1.35 million views)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDbK1eZYVzg
(400,000 views)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSRirYJtbgk
(350,000 views)
there were 2 more videos, 1 with almost 200,000 views and one with 75,000 views
i think it equals 2.3 million views in total, making it the highest viewed golden era song.
haldar sahab, ref post no. 55. hats off to you when you have the temerity to state : “I don’t know whether you or anyone else will agree with me, but my own take on this matter has always been this: sd or no sd, rafi would have finished kishore in a few days if it were not for rd. I know this statement of mine would be very offensive to many, especially to kishore fans, but this is my personal view and I’m not afraid to air it in public”. resolute lines. made a bold statement and i believe you are right.
Mr. P. Haldar saab,
Some of the best examples I can think of are 1) Koi aur dunia main tumsa hasin hain from pyar ki kahani – Amitabh, 2) Zamane ne maare.. from baharon ke sapne – rajesh khanna. no body other than my beloved rafisaab can deliever such a brilliant performance. If I can figure this out it was not very difficult for rdb to figure this out. He secrificed some of his best tunes for his association with or love for kk.
Haldar-ji (Ref. Post 55):
Excellent write-up and I do agree with everything you have to say. Although RD-KK was great, so was RD-Rafi. Pancham could have done more with Rafi-saab, but that does not take anything away from the great songs they produced. I think if not for Mrs. Hope, and his blind love for KK, RD would have done things differently. RD mentions the reason for not using Rafi as much as he wanted to as due to times changing, producers etc. and so forth. However he could have always gone against that as he had clout and power to express his own freedom in the 70’s. RD also mentioned that he would regret forever not using Rafi as much as he wanted to, so atleast he realized his mistake (even though he still used him a lot).
Anyways, we all know he made bad choices when it came to certain male songs, choices that exposed the limitations of his pet singer rather than the strengths. I think he realized that and by the late 70’s, was setting his sights more the Rafi way. Their second-innings partnership together was fantastic and would have rocked the 80’s had Rafi been there.
You mentioned once that Pancham probably reminded Rafi of Jaikishan. The handsome Gujarati composer was by far one of the stand out talents in the industry (along with Shankar), a trend-setter, complete composer, background music specialist etc. He was idolized and loved by many.
How sad at just 39, Jaikishan left us, and although he gave us many great songs, he had a lot left in him for the future. In fact, Jai was of the same age bracket as L-P, Pancham and K-A, its just that he started much earlier than all of them and his partner was around ten years senior, so it seemed he belonged to the previous generation.
I have a few questions for you Haldar-ji (please answer):
a) Would you say Pancham was Jaikishan’s successor in the sense that he carried forward his legacy ?. Who was the better composer in your opinion ?.
b) Had Jai been there in the 70’s, would he have forced a change in the tide ?. Remember it was he who also gave Kishore one of his career- biggest hits in “Zindagi ek safar” (Andaz) before he passed away.
c) You have not written much about Rafi’s combo with K-A, and I would love to know your views on the songs they produced together. K-A and Rafi formed a formidable partnership. K-A used a variety of male singers in a great way (Mukesh, Kishore, Mahendra Kapoor etc.), but they reserved many a masterpiece for Rafi, including those amazing Lata-Rafi duets.
d) How would you compare K-A to their contemporaries ?.
Dear Mr P Haldarjee,
Technically R D Burman was a great musician himself who in-fact knew his work & culture very well. Remember the film “Dosti” with music by Laxmikant Pyarelal in which it was none other than Pancham who had cooperated & helped the duo of LP a lot.
But the fame & slow popularity as one says almost kills ones own instincts and this is exactly what transpired from the likes of R D Burman in the later years.
Pancham in his recording rooms situated at Santacruz, Mumbai always used to remark “Rafi Saab Kaun Bada Aaya”. He was then with his own separate group led by the inimitable Manohari Singh or Manori Da (as one calls him). Manori too used to like & admire Kishore Kumar more than Rafi Saab. In-fact Manori was one of the greatest lieutenants of Pancham. Here I would like to say that “logonke khane ke aur dikhane ke daat aur hote hai”. Today since Manori has no other alternative one will find him praising Rafi Saab in every nook & corner and almost in every stage show in which he is present. Anyone please ask Manori what was his state when he was almost pumped by Rafi Saab while rendering the song “Ye duniya useekee zamana useeka” from the film “Kashmir Ki Kali” with O P Nayyar. It was Rafi Saab who had won the jugalbandi between Manori’s saxophones compared with Rafi Saab’s voice.
Pancham’s turning point came in the Vijay Anand directorial classic “Teesri Manzil” produced by the titan Nasir Hussain Saab. If it was not for the loving favor of Rafi Saab, Pancham would have almost lost this film which was almost in the platter of none other than the greatest orchestration pair Shankar-Jaikishan the very pet of Shammi Kapoor. Friends see how Rafi Saab almost pulled R D Burman from the bushes and thereafter he became the hero of Nasir Hussain and the rest is history.
If any one for the matter of fact can visualize & see the history one can easily solve the simple equation – e.g. take any film of Pancham in which Rafi has sung for him – it was mainly on account of the pressure either from the leading hero of the film or the producer of the film. Hence RDB had no alternative than to prefer Rafi Saab in such cases. In other films where the pressure was almost minimal Rafi Saab though used to render for Pancham since Pancham was clearly aware & knew that this particular song can be confidently rendered by Rafi & Rafi only especially in most of the high pitched renditions e.g. “Yamma Yamma” from the film “Shaan”
Dear Friends & all my well wishers – a million thanks for all the wishes for my health —
post 54:
binu ji, very well said. I know there were other personalities involved. I don’t know whether you or anyone else will agree with me, but my own take on this matter has always been this: sd or no sd, rafi would have finished kishore in a few days if it were not for rd. I know this statement of mine would be very offensive to many, especially to kishore fans, but this is my personal view and I’m not afraid to air it in public. You can call pancham a hero or a villain depending on which group you belong to. I’d openly admit that the rd-kk combo was a great one. rd-rafi combo was also good but it could have been much better had pancham not let his blind love for kishore cloud his own musical judgment. I agree with mr. korti that pancham’s relationship with rafi was a complex one; the complexity arose because the relationship was moderated by another relationship, a totally blind one. You need to interpret nadkarni saab’s statement from that perspective. It really doesn’t matter whether the aradhana songs were initially earmarked for rafi or not. Look at pancham’s pattern of behavior post-71 and his bias will become clear as crystal.
it is also important to remember that rafi was as much at home with the burmans as he was with shankar and jaikishan. The junior burman used to be at rafi saab’s side since the time he was wearing half-pants. Musically, father and son never had any problems with rafi saab. But whereas the father showered the highest of accolades on rafi, the son, at least publicly, was much more reticent. The reasons have nothing to do with music. Bring rd and rafi together and there’s a high chance that it will result in a major hit. Among several sites for “kya hua tera wada”, one is slowly approaching the 1.5 million mark and a site for “chand mera dil” is approaching 1 million hits. The combo would have rocked the 80s if rafi saab were alive; but that was not to be!
Ironically, the last song I heard rafi saab sing live on stage was “aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera”. RD along with his entire troupe performed that night before rafi saab graced the stage. RD sang with asha first, then kishore joined, then swapan c. joined; all of them had so much fun together on stage. And, oh, I forgot to tell you that mrs. hope changed her sari three times during her performance. And do you want to know which musicians were present on stage? Here’s a sample: kersi lord, manohari singh, uttam singh, hemant bhosle…and at least 15 other top musicians of the film industry.
When rafi saab came on stage, he had with him only six musicians: Narinder Kaka, Leslie Godinho, Anibal Castro, Syed Ali, Ramnarang Naidu and Anwar Ahmed. Only six musicians and Usha Timothy. That is all he needed to decimate the entire competition. Almost the entire music world was pitted against him. Pancham did not have the simple decency to come and greet him on stage; remember this was his hometown. The least he could have done is to come on stage and touch the feet of a figure who was blessed by Saigal as the chosen one.
RE : HALDAR Ji’s Post 51, Let me present one more view on the politics of music on one side and composer r d burman’s wish to prefer kishore over rafi post aradhana.
this is what shri shakti samanta told me six months before he died.
“i wanted to finish my film aradhana and mohd rafi was’nt available for recording of the songs. he was on a foreign tour.
i requested s.d.burman to take the services of kishore kumar for the songs since kishore was always singing for him.
kishore agreed to sing for rajesh khanna and the songs were recorded.”
i do not think that rdb was “solely” responsible for the whole episode. it was a case of many things happening at a given point at that time.
after aradhana became a musical hit the politics of the music industry coupled with rajesh khanna’s rise in popularity, the jealosies of a known group of singers who were eager-ly looking to dis-lodge mohd rafi – all came in to play – all at the same time.
amin sayani’s binaca geetmala became the focal meeting point of mohd rafi baters during the days. Keeping mohd rafi songs out or playing it down had became the trend on wednesdays – when the whole country were glued to radio sets to hear binaca geet malas.
just as a tide cannot be put down, these elements could not put down mohd rafi. when rafi was thinking about an retirement in the seventies, his guru naushad saaheb had chided rafi for trying to go away from the scene.
do you think the other singer has an iota of talent as compared to you? naushad saaheb had angrily retorted .
ironically it was mohd rafi who gave hits after hits to rd burman in the final era of his carreer.
r.d. burman went too far m- in promoting kishore kumar and his wife and paid for it with his musical career – once s.d.burman passed away.
binu nair, rafi foundation, mumbai : 9833 250 701
Dear Haldar-ji,
I fully agree with you.
However what I don’t understand is that the same Raju Bharatan (who has spread lies) about the whole Aradhana situation (and ofcourse many other things), has mentioned the exact same story that Nadkarni-ji related. Could RB actually be right this time ?.
Ofcourse I have never said I don’t believe what Nadkarni-ji has mentioned, we should believe what he says since he had direct contact with Pancham (and others), but with all the other factors in the mix, it would be great to unearth the mystery.
Nadkarni Ji,
There are instances in one’s life when one is not satisfied by what he has but yearns for things he never had. The brief that we know about you through these columns are the only -unfortunately- interactions that we could have with you. Your personal write-ups in these columns are not only great insights into film music but they also serve as beacons as to how good people like you can also survive and make a mark for yourselves amidst all these schemings.
in fact, that way you are closest to our dear Rafi Sahab in that like him, you are also rising like a phoenix from the ashes. Likes/ dislikes/ bias or prejudice can slow one from achieving the cherished objectives for a short while. But in the end, class will tell. rafi sahab had to undergo those pangs himself, suffering in the process. But, how did he come out of all this ? By belting out numbers which will never be surpassed for all times to come.
in a sense it is good that we hear of such adversaries. His melodious singing was unparallelled. His character, too, comes out shining like never before. These instances only go on to substantiate the great void between him and the also-rans. I have no love love lost for any of these singers, let me make it abundantly clear. they are/were all good – but in their own domain. None could come out of those limiting factors. and here was a humble soul who when given a chance to showcase his range, accepted and conquered those boundaries that others had self-imposed for themselves.
Beyond a certain point it will not matter how many opportunities one squandered to come on top but how many challenges one faced and converted them into opportunities to remain at the top – even beyond death.
That is Mohd. Rafi for us.
nadkarniji, yahaan toh aapse nahin mil paaye, wahaan zaroor milenge…..
Padmanabhan NR
Member
Rafi Foundation Hyderabad Chapter & baar baar rafi club, bangalore.
Dear myk,
Rafi saab used to go for foreign tours all the time. The protocol was to wait for Rafi saab to return and then record the songs with him. Shakti Samanta could travel to Paris because of the countless hits Rafi saab gave him in film after film: Howrah Bridge, Singapore, Chinatown, Sawan ki Ghata, Kashmir ki Kali… He would have ordinarily waited for Rafi saab at Santa Cruz Airport before recording any songs. Go through his filmography from 1958 to 1969 and you’ll see what I mean. All these excuses being offered are nothing but a sham. The anti-Rafi brigade has been spreading all kind of false propaganda through that serial liar called Raju Bharatan.
SD was known to be present at the final take for almost all his songs, even during his illness. It is also well known that SD had this habit of recording the same song by different singers. So the pictures don’t tell us much. There was definitely a lot of manoeuvring going on behind the scenes. The jewel thief was up to his mischief (take it as humour). The same person who let one singer yodel in one song and substituted it with mandolin for another singer. Would he ever have asked his favourite singer to do alaaps in any song? For instance, hai agar dushman? Never; he was too smart for that.
I don’t know about personal likes/dislikes. But I do believe in the central theme of Nadkarni saab’s post. He was on Pancham’s payroll and he wouldn’t say anything against his boss unless he knew the truth. For too long, we have seen crap written by folks like Raju Bharatan. Rafi saab never said even remotely negative about any musician and see the kind of crap being still written about him. It is time that we trust our own people more than folks from other camps.