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.
Shukla ji… Yes, I never carried any of those controversial topics.. Surprising, people fall ill only when something serious comes upon, otherwise they are very much fit and fine to abuse legends..
By the way, here is a big list of Pancham’s musicians in the 70s. From true sources. One “legend”‘s name is surprisingly missing!!( I can also do copy -paste a lot..lol..this list is not made by me, but taken from an authentic source)
Tabla: Devichand Chauhan, Amrutrao Katkar, Homi Mullah, Chandrakant Satnak, Deepak Naik, Indranath Mukherjee, Vijay Katkar, Nitin Shankar.
Tabla, Dholak: Shashikant, Iqbul Khan
Dholak: Dubey, Roshan
Drummer: Franco Vaz, Buggy Lord, Vancy, Trilok Gurtu, Lesli Vaz
Bongo: Kawas Lord
Hulgi, Dhol, Chanda: Ganpatrao Jadhav
Bangla Dhol: Oboni Dasgupta
Tabla, Tarang: Janardan Abhyankar
Ghatam, Matka: Indra Atma
Mridangam: Jairaman
Tumba: Ravi Gurtu
Tabla, Pakhwaj: Bhavani Shankar Singh
Madal: Ranjit Gazmer alias Kancha
Flute — Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Suman Raj
Mouth Organ — Bhanu Gupta; R D Burman
Trumpet — Castro; Joseph; Kishore Sodha, Raj Sodha
Clarinet — Hussain Durbar
Shehnai – Sharad Kumar
Piano — Louis Banks, Lussila
Synthesizer — Louis banks; Kesri Lord
Organ — Kersi Lord
Accordian — Kersi Lord
Violin: Uttam Singh, Babloo Chakravarty
Guitar:
Electronic Guitar – Sunil Kaushik, Dilip Naik
Lead (Hawaiian & Lead) – Bhupinder Singh,
Acoustic & Bass – Ramesh Iyer , Charanjeet Singh
Rhythm – Bhanu da
Dholak, Conga & Bongo – Nitin Shankar
Taar Shehnaai – Dekhni Tagore
Sarod – Zarine Daruwala
Sitar – Arvind Mayekar
Sarangi – Sultan Khan
Mandolin – Manohari Singh, Prodipto , Kishore Desai , Mustafa
Swarolin – Rajendra Kumar
Trombone – Blasco Monsoret
And all those names mentioned above, Shukla ji, never foul mouthed Pancham or Salil..
Dear Friends & Admirers of Rafi Saab,
I have been closely reading & monitoring the comments of the joker of the jokers namely Arghya.
Since I did not wanted any such controversy I had almost gone out of my way in expressing sorry & regrets on my statements on dear Salilda & Panchamda, but this stupid Arghya is still bent upon his stupid ethics and is still enjoying & roaming in this beautiful site as if this site is his personal property.
Under these circumstances I request all the dear fans & admirers of Rafi Saab to totally avoid this bug as rightly suggested by Mr Haldar Saab. I am definitely sure that this joker Arghya is one of the most frustrated lot, importantly very jealous and above all the certified crook who has presently gone either mad or has been recently discharged from a mental hospital.
Further it is also evident from his continued comments that he has absolutely no work at his disposal at present and is trying to just time pass or is showing off his cultured smartness to all of us. We are already having plenty of such jokers in this world around and with Arghya we have one more added to the list of jokers.
The best and the simple way is to keep quiet, observe and ultimately sprinkle the required spray to flush out these poisonous mosquitoes to where they actually belong and as rightly said by me earlier “Arghya jare jare jakar gande nale mein pehle apna kala mooh dhoke aa” and thereafter speak to me as I will show this beautiful world which you are yet to see. Indeed stupid jokers – birds of a feather always flock together
And now dear arghyajee I warn you as to please for god’s sake please don not open my mouth further for sure or you are well aware what will be the ultimate situation and please don’t blame me for that. Just get lost from this site as early as possible – shayad usme hee tumharee bhalayee hai.
Haldar Ji,
I understand you were busy with bug fixing,so no apologies please, what ever you have said on Rafi Sahab and his deity Saigal Sahab is an absolute truth.
Liked your analysis as always :-), keep writing such informative posts
Thanks
Arghya ji, – correct
Your post 137 – You have said as follows to rafi fans:
“What respect you have even amongst rafi fans has come out very clearly in orkut. What you can do is only quarrel even with respected hindustani vocalists also, only because they did not support you.”
Yes, this indeed happens. In true voice column, When One Mr. Khan and another Mr. Surajit Bose, respected hindusthani vocalist (who have infact great respect for rafi as well) had rated ghantasala, the southern singer as greater, the quarrel started, running into hundreds of posts. At least, proper thinking & balanced analysis should be made before commenting, whether the hindusthani vocalist is correct etc. Proper respect should be given at least to qualified hindusthani vocalists.
Next, there was an article by mr. souvik chatterjee on sonu nigam here.
There was a huge quarrel again, though the article by chatterjee ji never speaks anything against rafi, but in facts supports rafi. Even then, the quarrel is there.
It is well known how comments have been made against kishore kumar, running into huge number of posts.
Arghya ji, – You have not mentioned anything against rafi or kishore – you have not brought the topic at all, yes you had shown interest towards knowing about sandeep nadkarni ji. – It is a big surprise that your desire to know about sandeep nadkarni ji had been responded by an intelligent escapism. Till today straight response has not been given to you. Indeed surprising.
It is better we close the issue once for all, as we came to know that it will not serve any purpose, rather than receiving some u-turn questionable escapism comments and nothing beyond that.
post 143:
Hi Sudip, welcome back to the forum; haven’t seen you in a long time. I’d rate sj above lp for rafi-lata duets but this, I acknowledge, is a subjective opinion. Anyway, I’m going to start my detective story in Darjeeling (remember Feluda in Darjeeling Jomjomat), with Rafi showering his love on the beautiful Kanchenjunga using the following magical words: tum dil ho dilruba ho. Which song is it?
As promised, the mystery will end in Gangtok (Gangtokey Gondogol). In the process of writing the detective story, I’d refer to several prominent figures and I’d like to emphasise that whatever I write will be just for fun & entertainment.
anil.
A last post from me. I do not act innocent to anyone. I am what i am. I had cursed nadkarni and for what all know. He had still not improved his mentality. That is his problem. Now i did not curse him. Only wanted to know certain things when you people started gabbling around and diverting the topic to rafi-kishore and bla bla bla. If, asking people to act judicioisly on commenting is ‘spreading venom’, then it is you all who are Acting innocent. I am not at all innocent, only respectful to legends,yes, naushad, roshan, opn also.
A last query ti anil, dont reply it here,or dont reply if u dont wish, simple one:
Change the site from mohdrafi to yoodleeyoo.
Change sandip nadkarni from rafi fan to kishore fan(rest all his self claimed credentials in tact)
Change the MDs he commented,ie, salil and pancham to opn and naushad.
Now, given these circumstances, forget about me,can you promise, no one from here would not have gone there to react?? Again a plain, straight forward question anilji, reply in a plain,simple way only- and truthfully, not innocently.
Hi Arghya,
I think I already scrapped you, but did you ask these musicians if they knew anyone by the name of Sandeep Nadkarni before or after quoting what he said? Because I remember you telling us on rdb’s community that these musicians reacted violently(well, not “violently” lol, but still quite fierily 😛 ) Because if you did give them a preview of his words, then there is a chance that they are the ones who are lying, and not Sandeep Nadkarni.
Also, take into consideration that Sandeep N. has posted a long time ago here on a few occasions (I don’t see anything wrong in P Haldar’s copy pasting, it is just validation na?) He said he was a musician long ago and worked with rafi saab and other greats. Moreover he has never spoken about the rdb rafi saab issue before, and only now before he passes away did he say this. It could mean either one of 2 possibilities:
1. he really desired to reveal this.
or
2.someone is using his name to add fuel to the rafian/kkfan fire, this has been done by kk fans b4 i think?
But I do not like to believe such things(option 2) abt ppl, (just noting the possibility) I will go for the first possibility.
Having said that, I will also say that according to our friend ali that mohd rafi’s friend said that rdb and rafi saab had a great relationship. Also surprisingly it seemed that:
1. rdb was dreamy eyed when rafi was singing(i once felt like making the joke that rdb was dreaming abt kk singing it instead 😛 but its just a joke)
2.rdb gave his prized song to rafi saab.
3.Also he cringed whenever his great works went to b grade and c grade films, and these included rare rafi/rdb gems i think.
4.He used to celebrate with rafi saab and distribute jalebis to ppl after recordings.
5.RDB fondly spoke of rafi saab going to fly kites.
btw what did u mean by who is katrina to ashish kapoor :S.. lol
take care
Sid
Post 107 (MYK):
——————-
My favorite Rafi-Lata duet composer is undoubtedly LP, followed by SJ and then by Naushad and SD.
My top 5 favorite LP songs in this category are:
1. Yeh dil tum bin (Izzat)
2. Rut beqarar hai (Maa aur Mamta)
3. Aaja teri yaad ayi (Charas)
4. Patta patta, boota boota (Ek Nazar)
5. Aashayon ki sawan mein (Asha)
I regret that the duet in Badaltey Rishtey (Mere sanson ko) went to Mahendra Kapoor. I have no idea why, though it could well be another example of Rafi saab’s generosity.
Mr.Arghya & Company is indeed worked up with the musician Sandeep nadkarni for writing some facts which developed in the course of recordings with salil da.
may i tell arghya that rafi fans do have a right to report, discuss, analyse songs and events. mr. sandeep is a witness to many happenings in the music industry and he has every right to report these matters – as it unfolded then.
mr.sandeep is a respected figure here and is unwell. he will not, never respond to your personalised queries howmuch u and ur jealous supporter instigate him.
u must feel obliged and thankful to sandeep ji and rafi lovers who do not smear the music legends and publish their darker side of life – which are known universally.
u must be thankful that mr.sandeep wrote about the technical issues related to the music room and not of facts like how salil da was imprisoned for a murder of a person at saraswat colony in santa cruz west. its a fact that after maya and chaaya, salil da spent 2 years in jail and lost all the films and the touch in the film industry. it was only due to the efforts of then congress strongman rajni patel and dilip kumar that salilda walked a free man,.
still the words of shri dilip kumar spoken at shanmukhananda hall felicitations of salil da in ’75 rings in my ear:” that had salil not gone for his second marriage, he would have been the No one composer in the industry.”
please do not throw muck on our members arghya and company, the muck will only get stuck on yourselves back in good measure – u jealous and unwanted fellas.
binu nair.
All:
Let’s not be obsessed with the authenticity of Nadkarniji. Personally, it is a non-issue. As Binu sir has pointed out, there is nothing totally new about what he said; they are things which HFM followers know. If Nadkarniji is infact someone who’s worked with those MDs and he’s ailing, let us pray for his health. If that’s not the case, it is not the end of the world for us.
Haldar sir:
Nice to see your post on our singers. Totally agree with your views. Rafisahab is a great singer, greater play back singer and the greatest combination of both. He’s a bit like the male version of Ashaji and Lataji rolled into one. Or may be (as a Soth Indian would put it) Yesu Das sir and Balu sir rolled into one.
Arghya:
Please don’t try to act innocent. You had not only abused Nadkarniji but also cursed him. I remember it very well; actually he replied to you and blessed you in return.
Ushaji,
There are list of hit and lowprofile songs of rafiji for example in maa aur mamta,aakhridao,dadima,himmat,jeenekiraah,yaar mera,to be remember and write about versatility of rafi ji songs,and values.
Even rdb had given most memorable songs of rafiji for example baharo ke sapne-zamanene mare jawan kaise-sad mood,tum ne muje dekha hokar meharbaateeesri manzil-happy song,kya hua tera vaada-semi sad mood,kabhi kabhi aisa bhi to-waaris,nisultana re-pyaar ka mausam,etc.etc.
and a last request to Dr. Ashish Kapoor.
before giving me advice to give you missed call, would you care to tell me who is Katrina???
It is a direct question to you.. Remember this name Dr. Kapoor?? The same name with which you abused Kishore fans just some months back???
toufique sahab post 127.
i appreciate your views. By the way, i have asked in mumbai from a muusic director, ( i can provide name and contatc number also), who is in sound recording for more than 22 years, he never ever heard of such violinist. He also, says, he has known only a Sandeep Thakur, who also knows him in turn, as the only reputed violinist with that name.
The question on ‘authenticity’ comes again.. and when they are asked people bring bullshit like
1. Kishore and rafi- god knows when i brought that..lolz.
2. Abusing nadkarni- god knows when i did that again, i just asked his authenticity and asked him to contact me personally just not to disturb people in open forum. First two causes i did not get any reply from horse’s mouth, and the last cause became fun rather than disturbance
3. Lasltly, if the water in this site has to be ‘purified”’ it can only be done by speaking great things on the great soul on whose name the site is made and not on abusing other legends and hooliganism. And also come out of this preconceived notion that no kishore or pancham or salil fans can be a rafi admirer. Whenever a person comes who is not known as a rafian, shouting starts. Very funny indeed.
aseer faiz
So, u have again come to bullshit? I had given my explanation and related apologies for using a word which i did not mean.
But you never apologized for Calling Lata ‘budhhi sathiya gayi hai’ or speaking bullshit of other Legends. Anyways, there is no proof of that, because your own friends have deleted all your posts.. Just shows your own status.
Ashish kapoorji, when did i use ‘money minded’? Must have been reading some other arghya then.
By the way, bijoorji, when industry boasts so much of jaikishen sahab and nadkarni freindship, why nadkarni does not even know how many years his bossom friend lived??
I expect simple answers to simple questions.. And remember, throughout, i never mentioned any rafi or any kishore here. So, put a stop to gabbling.
Aseer miyan, i dont need any support of hooligans to speak and ask things like you.. What respect you have even amongst rafi fans has come out very clealrly in orkut. What you can do is only quarrel even with respected hindustani vocalists also, only becauuuse they did not support you.
Dear Kapil,
Sorry for not responding to your query earlier. Yes, I did say that Rafi should have worked on non-filmi songs composed by md’s like madan mohan, jaidev and khayyam in the 70s. I’d also add ravi to the list.
What can one say about madan mohan? Look at rafi’s output in the 70s and you’ll find that some of his best songs are composed by mm. Unfortunately for mm, he either worked for small banners or his films didn’t click at the box office. In many ways, I think he would have been much more successful as an md if we had the culture of producing music independently of hindi films. But it wasn’t the case at that time. In contrast, bengal had a thriving music industry that was independent of the film industry, where talents like hemanta, salil, sudhin dasgupta, shyamal mitra, s. d. burman and r. d. burman flourished.
In the 30s and 40s, there were a lot of singing actors — pankaj mallick, k. c. dey, saigal, noorjehan to name a few. When rafi, mukesh and lata entered the scene in the mid 40s, it was still the actors who took centre stage. Just around the time of independence, a lot of major events in the music industry took place. The biggest blow was the death of saigal. Noorjehan, Ghulam Haider and Feroze Nizami decided to move to Pakistan. And slowly the power started shifting from New Theatres, Kolkata, to Bombay Talkies.
Among the male singers who were trying to take over from Pankaj Mallick, K. C. Dey and Saigal were Talat, Mukesh, Manna, Rafi, Hemant and Kishore. Hemant followed pankaj mallick’s style while manna tried to emulate his uncle. Initially, rafi, mukesh and kishore all tried to adopt saigal’s style. I don’t find talat’s style to be similar to that of any of his predecessors. After hearing mukesh in dil jalta hai to jalne do, I guess rafi realised that there was no way he could beat mukesh at his own game. For a while he attempted g. m. durrani’s style but with his mentor naushad at his side, rafi slowly started developing a style of his own. But the biggest breakthrough that rafi made was in the area of playback; he was truly india’s first and best acting singer. Before him it was the era of singing actors. With playback singing beginning to take shape, rafi went far ahead of the competition.
Other than Naushad, there were few people who knew Rafi better than manna dey. In one of his interviews, manna states that rafi would have excelled in any field he had chosen, but in the field of playback singing he was truly peerless. Rafi, Lata, Asha and Manna are all great singers but if you consider the playback aspect, Rafi easily tops all of them. And it’s in playback that you’ll find Mukesh and Kishore going ahead of Manna. That is why Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore are still considered to be the holy trinity of playback singing.
But satisfying the demands of every single hero and comedian for close to 20 years is not easy. Singing for shammi kapoor may seem easy to you but it could damage even the best of voices. And then you have shankar-jaikishan stretching rafi’s voice in every possible direction. It seems that there was nothing that rafi couldn’t do. On top of that, he was going for foreign tours every year, as well as doing regular stage shows in bombay, delhi, calcutta, bangalore, lucknow and even in some of the smallest towns in india.
It is in this context that I had said that rafi should have collaborated with mm on private albums. When it comes to quality control, there are few md’s who are close to mm. And given that mm did not have a lot of film offers, he could have produced some of the best music with rafi. Of course, rafi’s fans would have never let him retire from film music and I seriously doubt that rafi would have himself wanted that. At the time of his death, the number of songs he had signed would have left any aspiring singer wait for years. The man who used to make heroes out of zeroes had started creating waves again; before his death, he had expressed his wish to sing for chimpu kapoor. Take a look at the Kapoor khandan and you’ll find that he has sung for each one of them including the in-laws Rajendra Nath and Prem Nath.
But still as a music lover, and not as a Rafi fanatic, I wish he had worked on private albums with the likes of madan mohan, jaidev and khayyam in the 70s, cutting down a little on his film assignments.
Dear Friends,
I think it’d be best if we ignore this person’s comments. The more you interact with him, the more venom he is going to spread. Last year I had lost my cool when these guys were constantly trying to make mischief on this site; they are back doing the same again. The best way to treat these guys is to ignore them.
P. Haldar
One of the posts requested Rafi-Ravi & Rafi- Chitragupt write up.
My understanding of music is minimal as compared to Haldar ji, but I would like to initiate this debate.
RAFI-RAVI :I always believed that Raf-Ravi gave magical numbers, be it Nai Roshni, Khandan, Kaajal, Waqt and many many more. Percentage wise(Melody & Popularity of songs) MD Ravi would score over any MD. I know this would not go well with some, but please look back and see for yourself. Please watch Ravi ji’s interview on youtube where he also makes this claim. Old man speaks from the heart. I read his yesteryears comment “You got to listen to Rafi from the heart and not only from the ears”. I have heard that mighty Chopras had a spat with Rafi saheb and did not like using his voice much. Ravi made Waqt’s title song’s tune and presented it to Chopras. Ravi also stated to Chopras that only Mohd Rafi can do justice to this song. Buisness minded Chopra agreed to pay Ten thousand rupees fee for the song. This amount was not asked for by Rafi, but Ravi himself and incidently exceeded the monies paid collectivly to other singers for all the songs of the movie. Upon completion of recording, great Rafi saheb distriubuted that amount to musicians. That perhaps satisfied Rafi’s saheb’s ego and yet did not hurt others. I love to learn of such tales.
RAFI-CHITRAGUPT: Another unsung combo. Not to the extent of Ravi, but close. Listen to Chitragupts Bhabhi, Vaasna, Akashdeep etc and listen to pure quality & melody.
Dear Mr Binujee & Mr P Haldar Saab,
It feels so nice to read the comments & views from both of you which have directly flown from the core of your heart in defending a human being and a shining personality of the caliber of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni Sir. I am truly proud of both of you since you have indeed done a great job.
I personally do not feel that there should in-fact be any need & necessity to prove the authenticity of Mr Nadkarni mainly since he has already certified the same through his various posts & comments in this site since the past almost a year or so. This gentleman has brought forth those memories and such innumerable facts & figures in this site which a common man for example like you & me may not even dream of, then how on earth can one ever expect that he should prove his authenticity?
We a few of the ardent fans & admirers of Rafi Saab have through the several luminaries from the silver screen have obtained verbal certificates proving the authenticity of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni Saab as being one of the most popular musician of his times and a great human being.
Dear Arghyajee I for one was indeed shocked & surprised beyond my doubts that you above all needed the authenticity of Mr Nadkarni only for the simple reason that he had spoken the truth in respect of the 2 legends namely Salilda & Panchamda (Yes I have very high regards & respects for both these legends) through the columns of this site. Arghyajee is speaking the truth an offence or is it a crime or is it a sin?
Arghyajee I for one has always held you in the very high esteem and have also respected you through the columns of this great site however your recent posts especially on Mr Nadkarni are definitely not digestible. Are you aware that till today the industry speaks volumes of the greatest friendship between Sandeep Nadkarni – Jaikishan – Shailendra and till date the industry has their highest regards for this great trio
Arghyajee the lone human being is presently confined on his death-bed and almost counting his last few days. Previous year you had gone to the extreme extent of even cursing him but still Mr Nadkarni was so generous enough to you by saying “Kabhee waqt mila thho is gareeb ke ghar ajawo – apne ess remote violin se Kishore ke kuch behetareen geet sunawoonga”
And now Arghyajee if I truly believe in you and your great ethics then I are of the very personal opinion that a personality of the caliber of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni today & immediately deserves your apology. Arghyajee Sandeep ke zindagi mein aaj hai – shayad kal woh waqt ho na ho ——
Please remember that beautiful rendition by none other than Mohammed Rafi Saab under the music supervision of Salil Choudhary “Toote huwe kwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai – dil ne jise paya thha aankon ne gawaya hai — hum dhoondte hai unko jo milke nahee milte”
refer post 121,
araghya ji, it is u who starts un-necessary arguments on this othetwise peaceful site. it is u who throws mud and indulges in mud slinging on our farishta, u r the one who tries to create mischief and asks people for their contact no’s. gentleman i generally put my contact no at the end of my post. i am doing it again, please feel free to call me up anytime. but as u have written earlier that u are money minded like your “guru’ i shall repeat my “guru’s ” gestre, u can give me a “missed call” and i shall call back on your no so that u can save your money.
ashish kapoor, vice president, rafi foundation memorial society, delhi.
ashkpr@hotmail.com , tel- 09810087414, 09212587414
Dear Binu Ji n Haldar ji
I m really stunned to see this Virus here, and i am really surprised to see his claims. He never badmouthed any legend? In that case, the only legend according to his knowledge is kishore kumar(may be, he can claim talat magmood also just to save his skin.lolz) coz i have seen how he describes Rafi sahab’s voice elsewhere. This same person commented in orkut, the online social community, Rafi had a feminine voice (halder sir, u can understand , he said “meyeli awaaz”). Now here he is claiming otherwise. How charecterless these kk fans can be? keep on arghya. bring some of ur supporters here also, u may feel alone.
Binu ji,
On a serious note, I am not sure if you are for real. Tell me one thing honestly: are the folks writing articles on this site real or fake? I am getting very confused after the smart piece of detective work done by our esteemed guest. Now I’m not even sure if Mr. Nitin Dhareshwar who has written great articles on this site is real or not. Read his post below:
——————–
Mr Nitin D Dhareshwar Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 3:30 pm
We sincerely appreciate and thank all the erstwhile writers from this great site for their beautiful views & suggestions posted in respect of our article Mohammed Rafi – The Voice of the Masses published on 17/05/2009.
However while closely monitoring the comments of our dearest Mr. Sandeep Nadkarni the undersigned would like to reiterate that we still & shall forever remember those golden days when we frequently used to visit the small restaurant situated in Matunga and the other one being in Colaba besides the Regal Cinema. Those were the days when we normally used to be in the August Company of our dear friend Peter who was amongst one of the great artists from the R D Burman Camp and one of the ardent admirers of our beloved king of melody Mohammed Rafi Saab.
Sandeep Uncle such memories can never ever be forgotten so easily as you have elaborated in your comments mainly since they are still in-fact very close to our heart & soul and hence most difficult to erase so easily.
Uncle it has almost been the other way round where we in the best of our ability and above all patience have tried to locate you & meet you in person but we are extremely sorry to say that our all round efforts in searching you have totally gone in vain and hence we are left with no other alternative than to simply recite a small verse from the beautiful rendition by Rafi Saab who truly said “Chupane wale saamane aa chup chup key mera jee na jalaâ€
We all sincerely hope for better things to prevail upon you Unclejee, if you can arrange to come out of the hidden shell and let us all have your brief bio data including your complete residential address & indeed contact details like telephone, cell and e-mail address which will enable all of us to have an glimpse & insight of that beautiful world in which a human being of the excellence of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni is indeed still running very strongly & living so peacefully.
I on behalf of all the dear fans & admirers of Rafi Saab pray to the Almighty to usher on you his choicest blessings and may you continue to entertain all of us with that equal love & affection for several more years to come.
Jate Jate Rafi Saab ka ek khubsoorat sa naghma yaad aya Sandeep Unclejee jo main aapke shagird mein pesh kartna chahata hoon “Tere Naam Ka Deewana Tere Ghar Ko Dhoondtha Haiâ€
Mr. Nitin D Dhareshwar
haldar ji :
i think that mr.arghya and mr.shukla de are fictitious non-existent persons. i further think that some mad chap who is good at handling the internet has entered this portal – to spoil the party. he is writing in disguise, i feel.
he is good at writing stuff which will set off “ripples of mirth”. let’s “not” take him seriously at all and have some good laugh.
binu nair
Adaab Rafi ! to all..
well said Binuji n Haldarda…..
Think that for 2 persons who are questioning the identity the Rameshbhai Zaveri details are more than sufficeint.
We now request these 2 gentlemen to allow the Violinist legend Sandeep saab to live peacefully and not to question his credentials any more…
Narayan
post 121,
legends are human beings — they are neither perfect nor saints.
post 122,123
rafians should come with facts and reasoning, not with abusive remarks. because then it becomes too personal and bears no relation with music/rafi.
Mr. Nadkarni must have the guts to come forward and prove that all the allegations are false. Anecdotes or a ‘Ramesh Zaveri’ or a ‘Lone musician from Jaikishan camp’ prove nothing.
Any way, its really trivial. Because we do not need to believe what a Nadkarni or even a rd burman or a salil says (people can speak strategically without revealing the truth). we can derive a music director’s preference by analyzing his musical output over the years (taking other relevant factors into account). his behavior will reveal his preference regarding singers.
rd and kishore were friends. so when rd got chance he promoted his friend, it was not all about music. rd was so blind about kishore that in 1984 rd said that ‘kishore could sing classical better than any other male singer’ (wat a joke!!!). by 1984 rafi was dead manna was musically almost dead – so rd could say that. but look at wat salil said – kishore could not be a rafi because he did not know classical (rephrased). rd and salil both were greats, but look at how they differed in their views. i think salil was right, since he was neither rafi’s nor kishore’s friend. also he said that despite having some troubles with rafi. and salil understood music better than rd.
So, I get the following things:
1. Yes, there may exist a soul called on that name, whom someone must have seen somewhere but no one remembers. Chalo, maan lete hai, he EXISTS.
2. Now, considering, he exists, as claiming two-three things:
a) a “laadla beta” of a legendary singer. Great, how many people must have got such honour?? If such a privileaged one, he should be household name even amongst musicians,, he is NOT. excellent..
b) claims to have recorded with the legendary Jaikishan of SJ fame, does not even remember how many years Jaikishan lived?? Strange, very strange!
c) When asked about his work with RD, which his close associates( I dont think they need to be testified to the likes of Bhanuda, family of Basudev Chakraborty etc.), he keeps mum! Very good!
d) Some copy paste jobs were done.. Just to show he was a “legend”!! Thats is great! If he is a legend, why people dont recall him like Tony Vass or Manohari Singh?? Lacked in quality? If yes, then he should not speak ill of people who had much more quality than him, who was a poet, a freedom figheter and a mass leader!!!! If No, then why???
Great going, guys! By the way, since Pancham and salil are axed, and people are also bored, who is in the next agenda??? C Ramchandra? Anil Biswas?( Ohh.. oops.. sorry, leader sahab, you have already axed him calling him a chameleon and moron, did Shikha Biswas know this when you met her with your hands folded?..lolz)? S D Burman?( Ya, he should be axed immediately)?? Bhimsen Joshi? Lataji and Ashaji( oops.. sorry, once again, leader sahab and his associates have already taken care of these two sisters)??? Jagjit Singh?( Ya, that is an interesting proposition, perhaps overlooked till now, come on).. Media? Press? Public? People? Industry?
My all questions lie still unanswered..
And before bothering about my job, be careful, as forums were ignorant of the existence of this forum, they are aware, and perhaps what Vishwa Bharati did on Sunil Gangopadhyay’s comments on Tagore( Haldar sahab knows the best), something might follow soon… For us, Salilda, Panchamda, Naushad sahab, OPN and all the luminaries are equally respected.. Ask a guy called Arindam, how much thrashing he got from me for caling Naushad sahab a “biased fool”….
Jaikishen did not die at the age of 36!
He was born in November 4, 1929 and died in September 1971( date I do not remember)… That makes him exactly around 42 when he left us..
Come out of copy-paste and ask your legend to be more precise on facts and calculation..
Dear Friends, in case you missed it, I’d like to post an interesting anecdote shared by Nadkarni saab sometime back.
————————–
Mr Sandeep Nadkarni Says:
March 7th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I am indeed indebted for the love & affection showered on me by all the erstwhile fans & admirers of our dear Rafi Saab from this beautiful site.
Sandeep Nadkarni is just a very small fakir & still enjoys his life to the fullest which is probably on account of my guru Rafi Saabs teachings. Hum Rafi Saab ke pawan pairoon kee chotisee dhool hai aur iske siwa hamaree pehchan kuch bhee nahee. Hence please dont expect great expectations from me mainly since I am already 76 plus of age at present aur bharosa nahee kab upar wale ka bulawa ajaye kyon ke sirf upar wala hee jankar anjaan hai.
Though my esteem & self confidence till today is probably at the highest peak the required support is not rendered by my body language mainly on account of the ageing factor.
In-spite of the above factors I shall occasionally try & remember those golden memories and will definately share with all of you the beautiful anecdotes involved.
Today I intend to take a stroll down the memory lane in respect of the most cherished Raj Kapoor camp which indeed had great personalities befitting the RK Banner.
Raj Kapoor had announced the making of one of the most memorable, classic & colossal film titled Sangam and as usual the grand finale was ended on a note befitting the status of the greatest Showman.
All the songs of this film were super duper hits however there also existed a very beautiful song which was specifically reserved for the Greatest Mohammed Rafi Saab which as usual used to be as per the tradition set out by the Raj Kapoor camp in most of his films.
The final take of — ye mera prem patra padkar ke tum naaraz na hona ke tum meri zindagee ho ke tum meri bandagee ho –. I was in-charge as the arranger of the voilinist team & when Rafi Saab started — meheraban likhoon ya haseena likhoon — hairan hoon ke is khat mein kya likhoon — .
Poor me I was totally blank & spellbound & forgot my music notes to which Jaikishan almost got wild and abruptly flattered a stick on me in the process slightly injuring me. Rafi Saab as usual very cool & composed patted on my back by saying — beta ab bhulna nahee ho ja shuru —
Thereafter I did not know what had happened but I distinctly remember Jaikishan embracing me for the fantastc job completed with the great words of Rafi Saab — beta ab bhulna nahee ho ja shuru —
This was the immense Greatness of Jaikishan a human being par excellance & a personality of great principles. How sad was when Jaikishan left us for his heavenly abode so early at a very tender age of just 36 years.
This song is therefore dedicated in the loving memory of Rafi Saab & Jaikishan.
May their Souls rest in eternal peace !!!
Binu ji,
The worm has crawled back to this site again. Wonder which news organisation employs a person like him. Should we employ a detective and find out where he works? I’m willing to foot the bill. With the prevailing culture of corporate social responsibility, I don’t think any organisation would like to see one of its employees continuing to engage in a vindictive agenda against an ailing musician. Also, there is a good chance that he is a fraud; only god knows which musicians he contacted or what questions he asked. Fraudulent reporting, as you are aware, could put a news organisation in a lot of trouble.
Remember the time he promised never to come back to this site. No one missed him but he missed being here. He no longer questions nadkarni saab’s existence; his investigative pursuits have suddenly changed. Anyway, enjoy the comedy enacted by two unwanted detectives (tiktikis)!
do jasoos kare mehsoos
ke duniya badi kharab hai
kaun hai sachcha
kaun hai jhoota
har chehare pe naqaab hai
haldar saaheb :
the self appointed dubious detective and the journo (who may term songs from heera panna, ishq ishq ishq, warrant as the greatest pieces of creative musical work)
may now ask : ” who is this Ramesh Jhaveri??? Is he for real??? ( post 113 ). is he faking his identity…..?? they may even ask his ration card, tel.bills and res. address proof.
thank god the almighty that they have not asked : who is mr.haldar or who is mr.binu nair…….thousand thanks for their mercies……
may i tell them that we are all leading very busy lives. so busy that we may not remember even what we had for breakfast today. in such a situation how the old men (musicians of course) known to the journo & detective – remember the persons name who left the industry some 30 years back.
i expected kk fans to be intelligent not foolish when they arrive here . any way we must take them lightly, treat their writings as ” jokes” and laugh loudly. this will be the better way of seeing their words.
finally, who said we have less number of comedians around.
lets all laugh heartily…… very heartily. ’cause its good for the heart.
binu nair
post 114
Mr. bla bla bla
Ask your hero, is it HIS CULTURE TO THROW MUD AT LEGENDS??
My question to Priya Santal:
Good madam, you condemn me.. I dont bother.. I did not see you or for that matter any so called music lover talking about distribution in music, when your ‘luminary’ was throwing mud at salil and pancham.. What happened to youm mada? Were you neutral? Ask yourself ..
I have the guts to promise that the day it is proved that sandip nadkarni is as big as salil chowdhury( or even as recognizable as his famous assistants) in the history of cine music in India, i would be the first person to take back my questioning on his ‘authenticity’… And that seems..well, you know..
Keep on praising the legenda, but never show down one to prove other greater… Have some character.
post 113 Rameshbhai,
You have cleared all doubts in the minds of persons like Argyaji and shukla da who were the only having their views which naturally irked n provoked senior veteran Rafi Bakts like haldarda, MYKji, Binuji, Kapil and many devotees like me…
With this I request all to respond peacefully and as cheerfully like our revered Guruji Janab Rafi sahab…
Jai Rafi sahab
Narayan
kabhi bhi apne idol ke upar se vishwas mat hathaao..
Jis din vishwas toot gaya, us din unko mahaan karne ke chalte dusre mahaan logon ko chhote karoge..
Ek sardar apne dil se bol raha hai, samajhna hai to samajhlo..
nahi to jaisa chal raha hai waise chalne do…
‘do din ki bahare hai jag mein..
Kab zulm kisi ki chalta hai
Yeh jhooth ka sooraj laakh jale
Har shaam ko ek din dhalta hai…’
Versatility is the name of Mohammad Rafi Sb………………absolutely right title………………….
All singing styles are merged in one personality who is Rafi Sb………….
very nice article……..
Regards,
-Imran-
Priyaji and friends,
As much as I am not biased towards Arghyaji, I am not biased towards Nadkarniji too. I do not personally know either of them except through these columns. At the same time my obeisance towards rafi sahab does not in any way impede me any way in being objective and rational.
There were a set of questions on which the answers did not appear to be to the point. Well, again, I am not sitting in judgement on their relevance or irrelevance. i only offered my comments as i saw them in black and white. if nadkarni sahab is a genuine person i will be the happiest person. In this august forum only- please note importantly- I have myself reviewed the song ” huye ham jinke liye barbaad..” just a couple of weeks back dedicated to nadkarni sahab. Had i not been impressed by his contribution to the film music through facts related by him, i would not have done that.
Friends, we are distantly connected. if somebody wants to establish my, arghya’s or haldar sahab’s identity maybe PAN number will do. but how would you know how effectively i am associated with the things which i am championing ? I may be a sheep in lion’s clothes. again, the reference is not to nadkarni sahab, but a very general point. even in these columns, some are branded kk cronies or sonu bhakts and therefore talked off in a lowly and derogatory way. Why ? have we come to such a state that a dissent on some point is taken as a wholesale rebellion ?
there are so many mails these days proving that nadkarni sahab in fact is a living legend. If everybody is satisfied, i have no problem and i will accept it as a reality with full reverence to nadkarni sahab. In any case as far as i am personally concerned, deriding nadkarni sahab was never the intent. But, we have to be vigilant that impersonation or proxy writings do not proliferate based on the sympathy factors.
I think i have made myself clear.
padmanabhan nr
rafi foundation, hyderabad chapter
Baar baar rafi club, bangalore.
HALDAR SAAHEB ; The Third grade journalist and the Fourth grade pvt.detective can only do one thing when cornered. they will vanish from this site for some time like the four legged animal – hiding their tails.
u would note that their ilk has done the same action in this site – too often. IT NEVER SURPRISES ME.
BINU NAIR, MUMBAI
Padmanabhan NR ji,,,,well said if Arghya proved right in context of Nadkarini Ji,,,,but its not a point atal,,who is arghya who has given him authority to play a detective here,,,,,,,,MR NR,,,u have mentioned Rafi foundation hydrabad,,,,if some insane comes n challenge that u or Binu Ji don`t belong to Rafi foundation n further says there is no such foundation and would ask about prove,,,,,,why should u try to convince him,,,???
These r crazyness,,,Well, but arghya is not insane,,,,,rather nice person,,but I can`t comprehend why is he behaving so unmaturly,,,,,
If u doubt anyone`s authenticity,,u can request for ur doubts to be rectified with the concern person,,,,,but its ill mannered person who publicly challenges a person`s life`s dedication for one`s profession,,,,,,,we ought to possess some decency,,,,,its really undecent way of enquiring even if its the fact,,,,,,,
If Nadkarini ji belongs to orchestra group or not its not a matter of concern of this site thats a tribute to one of the finnest lovable person and genious singer,,,,,,,Rafi sahab,,,in addition with respect to all Lataji,manna de,mukesh ji,,kishore da,,etc,,all r respected,,,but,,,,,,,such counter statement of doubts only enhances differnces between lovers of music,,,….I condemn such queries!
Mr Sandeep Nadkarni has definitely proved to be the biggest hero of this great site whose regular comments which he has posted regularly has truly proved to be the most interesting readable chapters of this site and has also become the readers digest.
But suddenly one fine morning the same Messiah is being shown the dust of the universe mainly since a few of the least concerned or the few of the least interested & least bothered characters have put a big question mark on his mere existence and his sheer authenticity has been challenged for reasons better known to a section of the few very learned gentlemen. Indeed a shame on such characters who have started sprinkling mud on his shoulders and on a shining personality who presently is unfortunately bed-ridden and is on the verge of counting his last few days before the ultimate results are drawn and then the sheer jaws of death will automatically embrace him on his mere existence. Great Friends
Sandeep the front ranker violin arranger for most of the Jaikishan composed renditions is today being questioned on his authenticity. How many films & how many songs would be practically impossible to cover
Is this what we call as our culture and are we ourselves so cultured & so authentic to raise our fingers on a personality of the caliber of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni.
Dear Admirers of the Music Lovers,
My name is Mr Ramesh Zaveri and I am presently residing in Surat, Gujarat. Presently I am almost 75 years old.
I am very much fond of old music and not any particular artist or singer. In the very early 1960s decade we a small group had formed a musical group or an association in Bombay of which I was one of the committee members.
In those days (I don not remember the exact period or date) there used to be a regular publication of the top most singers (in the male & female category), artists, musicians, music directors etc which used to be published once in a period of almost 3 to 5 years gap. While just searching & reading of the old records I have come across a list of the top most musicians group which I feel would have been published some-where around in the year 1965-1966 in which the name of Mr Sandeep Nadkarni was visible to me and hence I thought it will be a help to all the music lovers and admirers from this site.
The list of the very popular & famous musicians around the year 1965-1966 is as follows
Arrangers Dattaram & Sebastian D’Souza
Violin Arranger Sandeep Nadkarni
Sitar Ustad Raees Khan
Sax phone Manohari Singh
Drum Player Leslie Godhinha
Tabla Anant Aiyar & Ramakant
Trumpet John Pereiara
Baas Edi Travers
Electric Guitar Dilip Naik & Anibal Castro
Flute Sumanth
I personally do not remember of knowing or meeting any of the musician appearing in the list but I can say that the names that have appeared in the list were very famous & popular in those days.
I am sorry to say that I am very weak in English and any mistakes to be pardoned
Binu Nair ji & Haldar ji,
We have nothing against anybody. In my earlier post, I had already mentioned to nadkarni ji, that if he is a true musician, my due respects to him. If it is not so, then the question arises. You might have noticed even Mr. Padmanabhan NR, member hyderabad rafi foundation has raised query to Mr. Nadkarni over his post 93. Not only myself and arghya ji have raised this, even rafi fans have raised the issue. What do you say ?
Post 93 of nadkarni ji does not reply to arghya’s questions and appears deviating. Naturally suspicion arises. Many kishore lovers such as arghya ji and others are also aware of what has happened in the industry. This does not require any certification from any musician.
We never use degraded words. We maintain the same respect to even rafi fans. Even arghya ji is dignified at all posts. It is that some rafi fans, mainly you two, use harsh and unpleasant words, which I think have become routine for kishore fans and hence no body cares. As Mr. haldar ji stands famous for his posts – form a group called united against rafi and we will take care of you or one word against the farishta you (other fans) are dead. Fine, it is his views. We never use such statements. We have respect for rafi ji as a great singer and we expect the same from you all too.
main sirf itna bolunga… Jo log puri zindagi mein kuchh nahi kar sakte wohi unse mahaan logo ko gaali deke apna naam kamaana chahte hai.
Baaki waise yahan pe sabhi jaankaar log hi baithe hai jinhe samaj mein oonche darje ka sanman mila hai,
“Authenticity” is the word and not “existence”..
The industry is huge and many people roam around recording studios but your authenticity is established only when “people know you”.. The test at which the person fails miserably.. Even he is not answering on his testimonials..
By the way, bad mouthing legends is a long tradition here, no one bothers about this also, as people are exposing them on the name of music lover as a music terrorist. My questions are not at all answered. As to why not a single luminary known this human who claims to be so close to legends and bad mouth them also at his own will…
In Tata Motors, in the assembly lines, hundred fitters work at a shift,, It is the fitter’s responsibility to ensure when he talks of character and mentality of Ratan Tata, whether he knows the person properly or not.
And who bothers about Rafi or KK or Mukesh or whomsoever? Had it been the case, I would have kept on coming and twittering here( as you guys always go on, anyways) just like Haldar sahab does in the neighbourhood nest,,LOL..
Haldar sahab, now you verify from all these sources, as you are a copy-paste master, did I have ever foul mouthed any legend in any forum?? Try out.. and you would fail.. The answer is “NO”,because that is called confidence.. Confidence on music and confidence on your idol.. The sheer confidence for which I am not using “third class” or “fourth class” word to you and still maintaining “ji” or “sahab” for all of you.. Hope you would also maintain the same- not for me, but for people like Basudev Chakraborty, who was great enough not to be verified from any source and died peacefully after completing a successful career.
Lastly, I do not spend “sleepless nights” by reading those stories which I know since time immemorial.. If RD had done that, as a MD he had all the right to do so.. If OP had called Kishore “besoora”, he had all the right as a MD to call so, and you would never find me abusing OP, Haldar sahab, because unlike you, my confidence is much much higher and strong.
Thanks.
post 107:
Dear myk,
There are so many md’s who composed great lata-rafi duets; here’s a partial list (in no particular order): sj, naushad, sd, lp, chitrgupta, roshan, ka…
post 105:
Dear Binu ji,
Don’t expect an apology from this third-grade journalist and fourth-grade detective. He is the worst virus that has infected this site to date. Last year, this brat arrived here and cursed Nadkarni saab. Now he and his associate are trying the same smear tactics, the reason being very simple: they don’t want people to hear the truth.
Also, here’s a note to some of my friends on this forum: a senior musician who has worked with Rafi saab does not need to be subjected to interrogation tactics employed by brats of dubious background. The agenda of these brats is to spread as much misinformation as possible. Rafi saab was the darling of the cine musicians; it pains me to find folks casting aspersions on a senior musician who had the guts to report facts based on what he saw and heard.
Ref Post 105:
As the saying goes:
“Don’t jump the gun, or you will shoot yourself in the foot”
which applies to all those who thought Nadkarni-ji was an imposter or a fake.
This site has been infiltrated by fanatical KK fans, bigots, spammers etc. for a while now. I think its time the Mod put restrictions on these individuals so that this site can return to its former glory. I am glad that many great Rafians are still here, and hope that other great Rafians who were here before, and who have left for some time, will return soon.
It’s awesome how Rafi attracts the most attention (and its ofcourse understandable since he is the best) everywhere. For example, this site is visited by countless daily, even fans of others who are jealous of Rafi. Whereas other sites of other singers are hardly active. Go Figure !.
——————
Haldar-ji, Kapil-ji, Binu-ji and others
It is said that the musicians who played in “Awaaz deke humein tum bulao” from Professor were stunned by the divine composition. I wish Nadkarni-ji could throw some light on the recording of this song.
This brings me to another question. Who composed the best Lata-Rafi duets ?. The answer would vary from individual to individual according to their personal tastes.
Dear Friends,
In post 102, Dr. Paranjape’s name has been mentioned by Mr. Ashok Desai. I have provided below a post by Dr. paranjape himself. Is he a fictitious character? Are his patients also fictitious? Binuji, are you a real person or a fictitious one?
———————————
Dr Suhas Paranjape Says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:27 pm
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
Post 99: Kishore fans shukla de & his counterpart arghya dutta are honourable men. They are very upright too . i would wish to ask them why they keep silent or look the other way when kk fans use “ghost names” & enter this portal and write thrash to undermine mohd rafi saaheb.
if, sandeep nadkarni is proved indeed to be in the industry for 30 long years, will they both apologise to the musician???? .
they have joined issues with mr.sandeep nadkarni, a musician himself and a mohd rafi lover and questioned about his “existence” itself in the industry. indeed, this is due to the facts mentioned by mr.nadkarni which has given them sleepless nights.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mr. pyarelal in our first 3 hour meeting has said something about musicians in the industry to me.
said he : “whenever we used to enter the recording studios, there were scores of musicians waiting for work – any given day. we used to take maximum number of musicians on the job, for it was their only livelihood.
now, if mr.arghya would ask mr pyarelal the names of these musicians (after 30 years) would pyarelal remember their names ????
mr.arghya and shukla de : composers nd musicians will more often recollect their music and tunes “not” the names of each musicians .
today, i called up industry musician mr.nandu kerkar who is a big arranger today in music events and one who has done recordings with mohd rafi, bappi lahiri, kalyanji anandji and others.
he immediately recognised mr.sandeep and told me that he has recorded songs with mr.sandeep nadkarni on the voilin. now, mr.arghya , pls ask manohar da about nandu kerkar, he will remember nandu because nandu even today does programmes in various places and is a noted arranger.
if u ask manohari da about mr.sandeep he may remember or not remember since mr.sandeep left the industry some 20 years back or more.
because manohari da does’nt remember mr.sandeep nadkarni, can any one say : mr.sandeep nadkarni was not in the industry.
mr.arghya dutta and shukla de : it’s hoped that this perverted thinking will stop from ur side and kk fans would show some dignity to a ailing person like mr.sandeep nadkarni saaheb. this is a request.
binu nair
Dear Aghyaji n Shuklaji,
Pranams and Adaab Rafi !
Now since Sandeep Nadkarni sir has expressed his views as he is ailing and seriously ill we all true music lovers request you not to further pursue and provoke any one..
we have only one birth and in this august forum kindly contribute by your vast knowledge on Rafism and the legend’s immortal treasures of songs
This is the only way to end this debate…..
Narayan
Baar Baar Rafi The Fan Club
Bangalore
I’m posting an earlier comment from Mr. Ashok Desai:
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Mr Ashok Desai Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Hello Sandeepbhaiyya,
Your small article is fantastic. One of my friends in the States informed me of this beautiful site and after surfing the same for a couple of days I got in touch with your article & other comments on various issues. On a couple of occasions you have mentioned of our other good old friend Mr Peter in your comments but seem to have all together forgotten me. How is Peter & where is he at present.
Anyway we are probably meeting in words after several years since I clearly remember the last one was when we both were recording the evergreen song from the film titled “Dil ne phir Yaad Kiya†and the beautiful song was “Dil ne phir yaad kiya barfasee lehearaiye mein – who bhee kya din thhe ke hume dil mein basaya tha kabhee aur hass hass ke gale tum ne lagaya tha kabhe†with beautiful music by Sonic Omi (Darling amongst music directors)
Thereafter as you are aware I migrated to the States and you were still continuing in the industry. Dost it was indeed very sad to note & read that our dearest bhabi Shubhangee and your 2 beautiful sons Roheet & Prakash are no more with us. Hats off to both your sons for their brave decision in joining the army service and offering their precious lives in the service of our Country
Sandeep Sir for a couple of months I am with my brother at Arera Colony, Bhopal and thereafter will be flying back to the States for my usual routine. Since you are aware of this residence please arrange to contact me immediately.
Dear admirers & fans of the Greatest Ever Mohammed Rafi Saab:
Sandeep Nadkarni was one of the most loved & respected personalities of our times in the Film Industry & in fact very handsomely paid too. He was handsome, smart, tall & well built and hence the industry used to call him by a lovable OR a pet name of Shyam Junior (Remember actor Shyam who died while shooting for the film Shabhisthan by accidentally falling from a horse while enacting a particular scene)
In fact Sandeep was the one who had received several offers to act in various films which he always refused. Remember the great film Haqeeqat and the role of the major was in fact reserved by Chetan Anand Saab for Sandeep. Even the greatest Madan Mohan was eager to do this role but since he was unable to attend the shooting in time Chetan Anand himself enacted the role
Sandeep a great philanthropist & a great human being from the core of his heart and was indeed the beta of our dearest Mohammed Rafi Saab. There are several instances where Sandeep has almost gone out of his way to help many but always with a silent affair.
Hats off to you Sandeep Sir
Mr Ashok Desai
Arera Colony, Bhopal
Dear Friends,
I don’t want any division in our ranks. Two guests who have come to this site have already accused mr. nadkarni of falsely pretending to be a musician. I haven’t met mr. nadkarni myself and I cannot vouch for the absolute truth. But if you have read his posts, he has never claimed to be a great musician; all he has said is that he used to play the violin in rd’s and salil’s orchestra. In fact, he had said that he was a stand-by violinist for the (in)famous Maya duet. A violin ensemble could range anywhere from 15 to 40 musicians, though in rd’s case it would be on the lower side. But even then, it may not be possible for folks to recall the names of every violinist who played in the orchestra after so many years.
I’m posting below the comments of someone by the name of Ashok Desai who had reacted strongly to one of Mr. Nadkarni’s a few months ago:
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Mr Ashok Desai Says:
June 26th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
The Mohammed Rafi – Kishore Kumar war in this beautiful site is profusely the hand-work of the so-called politicians who claim to be their fans. My dear friend from Mumbai Dr Suhas Paranjape has sent me a sms message informing me about this most stupid gimmick ever played by these dirty politicians who probably have no business or work of their own and are just interested in maligning the image of this great site and also tarnish the image of these 2 great legends. Indeed when I surfed this site and this article I was totally shocked & surprised beyond my doubt and imagination that such a war can be created for exactly no fault or purpose whatsoever. I remember of having posted my single comment on my friend, philosopher and guide Mr Sandeep D Nadkarni Sir earlier and for me after reading the rubbish comments of Mr Nadkarni on this created war I was totally taken a back & could never believe what I had read with my eyes which can be simply described as disgraceful.
Coming back to the pure business I clearly remember that day when I myself and mR Nadkarni Sir were together for the recording of that beauty of a rendition by Rafi Saab from the film Kalpana with music score by O P Nayyar in which Kishore Kumar was the lead and the song “Mana mora bawara – aashaonke deepa jalakar†was to be shot on Kishore Saab. The greatest Rafi Saab as usual in his ever cool completed the recording of this song after a couple of re-takes and as all are aware he had left no stone unturned in singing forth this song by pouring out his heart & soul out for the master piece rendition. Rafi Sab had brought out his best mainly since he was play-backing for none other than the great Kishore Kumar and Rafi Saab wanted to be almost 200% sure and perfect in all the respects. After the final take was okayed Kishore Kumar almost wept profusely and came towards Rafi Saab and fell on his noble feet as a mark of his gratitude for the terrific rendition. Rafi Saab ne Kishore ko tab apne gale se lagaya aur kaha “Kishore agar aap ye gana gathe tho mujhase kaheen zyada behtar gatheâ€
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And I’m now posting Mr. Nadkarni’s response to that post:
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Mr Sandeep Nadkarni Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
My dear friend Mr Ashok Desai Saabs comments seems to have been taken very sharply & seriously by Mr Binu Nairjee & Savitaa Garciajee.
Friends and all the ardent admirers of dear Rafi Saab — I would like to inform you that Mr Ashok Desai has been one my greatest & best friend and in fact is a far more better voilinist than me and hence he is still in demand in the music industry though I have retired long back.
He is not only one of the ardent admirers of our beloved king of melody Mohammed Rafi Saab but one can say he is the “bhakt & poojary”
His house situated in the Arera Colony, Bhopal is presently beaming full of Rafi Saabs various large & small portraits and anyone visiting his this residence will be astonished to see his love & respect for the immortal legend.
However he also likes Kishore Kumar a lot and hence probably he was a bit taken aback after surfing this site & especailly when he read the various comments from the KK as well as Rafi Saabs fans.
Binujee & Garciajee — Mr Desai is a great gentleman and also a very soft spoken personality and if at all by his comments if he has hurt the feelings I Mr Sandeep Nadkarni exclusively on behalf of my dearest friend Mr Desai, sincerely apologise & deeply regret for the inconvenience.
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Here are the possible truths behind the mystery:
1. If mr. nadkarni is not a musician, mr. desai is a fictitious character.
2. if mr. desai is a fictitious character, so is dr. paranjape.
3. if dr. paranjape is not a fictitious person, he should come forward and clear the air.
I thought in our country we were innocent till proven guilty. Can’t believe that we don’t have the simple human decency to give the benefit of doubt to someone who might actually be counting his last few days on earth.
Post no. 93, purported to have emanated from Shri Nadkarni is disappointing to say the least. None of Arghya’s specific queries have been replied to. And it appears an admission in guilt.
Arghya’s mails did have substance because his questions were directly seeking response from nadkarniji. Will not any one of us be curious and verify, if he is in a position to do so, the background of someone who gives so many facts as a first person account ? Indeed the so called trivias by Nadkarni sahab have taken us all for a ride of deceipt. Because he was speaking so highly of Rafi sahab, we blindly allowed ourseves to flow in his pronouncements. So much so that after Rafi Sahab, he became our next God.
Friends, we do not need these type of insider informations to cement our reverence for Rafi Sahab. What rafi sahab gave us by way of immortal melodies is enough to last a life time. I do not know what ” Nadkarni sahab ” achieved by befooling all of us during these days. Had it not been for Arghya, we would have still been fighting between ourselves on a non-issue.
I once again reiterate that I do not know Arghya personally. At this moment of time, based on the available facts, I would tend to agree with him. We may have differences in opinion. That is ok. But do not stifle a genuine doubt. It might have merit. Maybe a re-look will set the matter right rather than wholesale condemnation.
Padmanabhan NR
Rafi Foundation, Hyderabad Chapter
Baar Baar Rafi, Bangalore.