Zindagi To Bewafa Hai… The K-A/Rafi Jukebox
This article has been written by Mr. Ali Rashid
Mohd Rafi with Kishore Kumar and Kalyanji
Zindagi to bewafa hai
Ek din tukhrayegi
Maut mehbooba hai apne
Saath lekar jaayegi
How right Rafi-saab was, when giving a soul-stirring rendition to this Kalyanji-Anandji tuned composition from Muqqadar Ka Sikandar. Three years later, Khuda willed, and Mohammad Rafi breathed his last, bringing to a close an era of melody. Now, twenty-nine years after his death, his star shines brighter than ever, and his legacy continues to enthrall music lovers of all generations, across the globe.
The name Mohammad Rafi conjures so many enchanting memories and compositions of a diverse nature. Blessed with phenomenal talent, a beautiful sweet and melodious voice, an unbelievable range, and sparkling versatility, among many others, Rafi ruled the HFM scene like a monarch. For over three decades, Rafi was a composer’s dream. His unmatched brilliance, consistency, and variety gave shape to every possible kind of song, and gifted us music lovers with fantastic melodies. Truly speaking, they don’t make them like Rafi anymore.
In the same year as Rafi put his soul into the sad version of the Muqaddar Ka Sikander title song, he also, yet again, reminded us how lonely life can be without our beloved, with his emphatic rendition of another Kalyanji-Anandji beauty, “Zindagi teri yaadon mein khoyee” (Darinda).
A lot has been written about Rafi’s fantastic association with many legendary composers. As this year is Rafi’s 29th death anniversary, and Kalyanji’s 9th death anniversary, I’d like to take this opportunity to ponder upon an under-explored relationship, one that is no less than any one of Rafi’s other associations, and that is Mohammad Rafi with Kalyanji-Anandji. Not much has been written about this team, which is quite a surprise, as they consistently produced excellent songs. This fruitful association may not have been as high profile as other Rafi associations, but was no less in terms of memorable outings and outstanding melodies. With close to 200 songs, many classics and hits, this team was anything but low-key.
K-A’s compositions with Rafi covered large ground, a lot of genres, and contained intense melody and variety. From soft romantic ballads, to western-based nuggets, from the sentimental to the classical, with the qawwali thrown in, not to mention the ghazals, and the fantastic duets and multi-singer songs, add to it the lively, fun, and trendy gems, the K-A/Rafi jukebox is a prized commodity. K-A always had this “sweetness” factor associated with their compositions, and this aspect of their music was ever so naturally fluent when they combined with Rafi. In addition, K-A’s Rafi songs were fresh and had both an old- world charm and modern appeal. The K-A duo refined their overall style every few years, acclimatized to various times, and Rafi was a part of their journey from the 50’s to the 80’s. K-A made full use of Rafi’s dazzling vocals in a variety of ways, and in turn Rafi gave them (as he did all others) his very best.
What is interesting is that Kalyanji, one half of the dynamic duo, started his association with Rafi as a ‘solo composer’ in his debut film, the 1958 ‘Samrat Chandragupta’. In this film, Rafi sang his first hit “Chahe paas ho chahe door ho”, a melodious Lata-Rafi duet along with another Lata-Rafi gem in “Bhar bhar aaye akhiyan”. Kalyanji is one of the rare composers in Hindi Film Music to score successfully solo, and excel as part of a duo. With this in mind, I’d like to briefly mention some of the melodies that Rafi sang for Kalyanji ‘solo’, before Anandji joined him hand in hand. In Post Box 999, Rafi vocalized two nice duets, “Main hoon papa khan” (with Suman), and “Bichde hue milinge” (with Asha). Rafi and Manna vocalized “Kya hamne socha tha” in O Tera Kya Kehna and in Ghar Ghar Ki Baat, the solo “Ooperwale ne jaldi mein” was well-received. Anandji, the second half of the duo joined him in 1959 with Satta Bazaar to complete the great duo. However before that, Kalyanji scored another solo film with ‘Bedard Zamane Kya Jane’. By the time this film came around, the industry had taken notice of this young talent. Kalyanji created such evergreen treats in this film, “Kyun mile hum tum”, “Main yahan tu kahan”, and “Door kahin tu chal”, each an excellent duet in the voices of Lata and Rafi. For it was this golden duet pair of Lata and Rafi, that would become a K-A favourite in the years to come.
When it comes to Lata-Rafi duets, K-A stand tall on a separate pedestal, amidst the other legendary composers who created duets for this pair. It seems whenever Lata and Rafi came together for a K-A duet, they gave that extra little something to the composition. Just sample these amazing melodies. The sweeping feel of “Humne aaj se tumhen” (Raja Saab), the intensely melodic “Kabhi raat din hum door the” (Aamne Samne), the South Indian flavoured “Humko hone laga hai pyar” (Dil Ne Pukara), the catchy western-based “Aao tumhen main pyar sikhadoon” (Upaasna), the deep romantic “Bekhudi mein sanam” (Haseena Maan Jaayegi), the song that rocked in 1974 and still does, “Waada karle saajna” (Haath Ki Safai), and melodies as vintage as “Saaz dil ched de” (Passport), “Yunhi tum mujhse baat” (Sachcha Jhoota), “O jaanewale sun zara” (Preet Na Jane Reet), “Husn chala kuch aisi” (Bluff Master), “Tu bhi aaja” (Maryada), “Tere nain mere nain” (Rakhwala), “Bol mere saathiya” (Lalkar), “Mere pyar ki awaaz” (Raj Mahal), along with many other assorted gems.
Mohd Rafi with Kishore Kumar and Kalyanji
Apart from the Lata-Rafi duet pair, K-A produced fabulous duets for Rafi with other singers, most notably Asha Bhosle and Suman Kalyanpur. With Asha, we have the exotic “Chal diye tum kahan” (Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara) with its Arabic flavour, the trendy “Kya dekhte ho” (Qurbani), with Feroz Khan and Zeenat Aman exchanging sweet nothings on a speedboat, the semi-classical romantic “Rehne do rehne do” (Rakhwala), the breezy “Sare shehar mein” (Bairaag) which had Dilip Kumar romancing a young Leena C, and the trendy “Pyar se dilbar de” (Kab Kyun Aur Kahan) filmed on macho man Dharmendra and Babita, among others. Along with this, we had Suman-Rafi adding their bit to the K-A record with lovelies such as “Na na karte pyar” (Jab Jab Phool Khile), “Tu jungle ki morni” (Raja Saab), “Aye jaan-e-tamanna” (Ji Chahta Hai), “Jaaneman hum aap se” (Anokha), and a few more. Geeta Dutt, Krishna Kalle, Usha Timothy on the female side, and Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mukesh on the male side, besides others, occasionally came in for duets or multi-singer songs with Rafi.
How did K-A and Rafi fair on the ‘solo’ lane ?. Absolutely marvelous I must say. K-A’s Rafi solos are not celebrated as much as they should be. It is here that I recall two stunners, “Tere jaisa kaun hai” (Tamanna), and “Yeh raat hai pyaasi” (Chhoti Bahu). The emotion and romance Rafi put into the former gives one the feeling of ecstasy. With the glorious voice doing its magic, hero Biswajeet did not have to do much on screen, just let the voice do everything. This romantic masterpiece is no less than any one of Rafi’s historical romantic ditties. The latter classical-based composition, craved Rafi’s peerless art, and so Rafi it was on Rajesh Khanna. The tabla, santoor and violins transport one into another world, the ‘phirat’ and ‘masti’ in Rafi’s voice leaves one in a dizzy. The immortal bhajan filmed on the Thespian Dilip Kumar “Sukh ke sab saathi” (Gopi) was another outstanding creation from K-A/Rafi, as was the haunting “Mohabbat ke suhane din” (Maryada), a sentimental beauty and one of Raj Kumar’s best ever songs. Other extraordinary solos include the Kashmir- flavoured “Pardesiyon sena akhiyan” (Jab Jab Phool Khile), the extraordinary “Teri zulfen pareshan” (Preet Na Jane Reet), the folksy “Aaja tujhko pukare mere geet” (Geet), the tour-de-force “Akele hain chale aao” (Raaz), the composition that conveyed the emotions about being alone, “Sab ke rehte lagta hai jaise” (Samjhauta), the suhaag raat “Yeh baat hoti hai” (Majboor), the pathos-based “Jinki kismat mein” (Raja Saab), the piano-based “Kuch log yahan par” (Vardaan), the story that Rafi told through a song “Ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul” (Jab Jab Phool Khile), the romantic “Chandni raat mein” (Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati), and many more.
The last mentioned song from Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati brings us to the film’s hero, Shashi Kapoor. If elder brothers Raj and Shammi had the ‘duo of all duo’s’ in S-J for their music quotient, the younger Shashi had the melodic support of K-A. In films such as Jab Jab Phool Khile, Aamne Samne, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Raja Saab, Do Musafir etc., the K- A/Shashi/Rafi team created chartbusters. The bond and symbiosis was such that Shashi became linked with K-A in the public mind. Although Rafi also produced excellent songs for Shashi with other composers, his songs for the star under K-A remain unique for their special appeal. Besides the youngest Kapoor, under K-A’s baton, Rafi sang for every hero that mattered. From Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Raj Kumar and Biswajeet to Joy Mukherjee, Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, right down to Feroz Khan, Sanjay Khan, Vinod Khanna, Anil Dhawan, and others, Rafi vocalized a multitude of K-A beauties.
If one has observed K-A’s music, it is quite perceptible that in their early days, K-A modeled their music on their idols Shankar-Jaikishan. The pacy rhythm, orchestral finesse, and beautiful east-west fusion, among others, that S-J are known for, is reminiscent in many K-A compositions of those times. I’ve always had a hunch that “Dil beqarar sa hai” (Ishara) was K-A’s tribute to S-J and the S-J/Rafi combination. For everything about this song screams S-J. The rhythm, accordion, melody, and violins have a distinct S-J feeling. Yet the composition is quintessential K-A, with amazing singing from Rafi. In addition to S-J, if there was another composer the duo admired, it was the Grand Old Man from Tripura, S.D. Burman. One can find traces of the senior Burman in choice K-A songs, whether it is their use of the santoor, the calm feeling their music generates, or the evergreen melodic aspect of their compositions. Nevertheless, having absorbed the best of both S-J and SDB, at the end of the day, K-A’s music was essentially their own.
Writing about more K-A/Rafi gems would need numerous pages, so here I will pick and choose a few more memorabilia. “Aaj kal hum se roothe” (Aamne Samne) has an excellent east-west fusion, with its classical favour, splendid tune and soft orchestration in which at two points, the sax takes us through a short journey to be followed by the famous K-A santoor and violins. The shelved film Sweetheart boasted of great songs by the duo, including a catchy, sweet and sizzling Lata- Rafi duet “Ban ke saathi pyar ki rahon mein” which followed the tradition of sublime K-A Lata-Rafi duets. Rafi used to start most of his mid-to late 70’s concerts with “Badi door se aaye hain” (Samjhauta), a terrific composition with a nice melody and rhythm. There is a beautiful pathos-laden gem from Shammi’s Kapoor’s Preet Na Jaane Reet entitled “Main bewafa nahin hoon” in which K-A and Rafi’s artistic side flourishes. Another artistic song with a classical flavor is the haunting beauty which released in 1980, “Kisi aasman pe to saahil milega” (Kashish), immortalized by Rafi and K-A. Raaz had an intimate duet entitled “Kya soch rahe ho tum” in which Krishna Kalle accompanied Rafi. This duet is almost music-less and K-A allowed just the two voices to work their magic. “Tu hai kahan” (Log Kya Kahenge) and “Aap ka shukriya” (Anokhi Pehchan) are two more wonderful songs from the K-A/Rafi team. An aspect of K-A/Rafi that also needs to be mentioned is the men who wrote these beautiful songs. Delve into this association and you will find lyricists as varied as Anand Bakshi, Indeevar, Gulshan Bawra, Kaifi Azmi, Rajinder Krishan, Hasrat Jaipuri, Gulzar, Qamar Jalalabadi, and Bharat Vyas writing their songs.
Kalyanji was fond of “Yahan main ajnabi hoon” (Jab Jab Phool Khile) and was of the opinion that it was one of the best songs that Rafi sang under their baton. This splendid composition also showed that K-A were also masters with the violin ensemble. The way the violins have been tuned to convey sorrow and pain, combined with the piano and Rafi’s immaculate rendition, makes this another winner from the K-A/ Rafi team. Kalyanji in a TV interview mentioned “Rafi jaisa singer koi nahi ho sakta” and said that whenever an aspiring male singer came to them, they almost always tried to sing “O duniya ke rakhwale” (Baiju Bawra) or the songs of Dosti in an effort to impress them.
The K-A/Rafi Jukebox is what classics are all about. As long as music is alive, these compositions will continue to enrich our lives. Next time you’re in the mood for some pristine melody, put on a Kalyanji Anandji-Mohammad Rafi creation, and enjoy music and voice at its best.
Very touching write up by Mr Ali Rashid. The duo Kalyanji ANandji was exceptionally talented in all sorts of songs and were the real melody kings after Shankar Jaikishan. But heavily overshadowed by greates of Golden era and later on LP and RDB, though they have proved their talent time and again.
I can only say that due to not getting adequate favour by media and film industry this great duo remained highly underrated. But the articles like thing must acarry on to tell the present generation that nusic is not only what RD Burman or other glorofied composers made but there are other genius like Kalyanji Anandji who deserved a word of appreciation for a treasurer of melody they created for us.
Thanks
Nothing remains to write here as all Rafians wrote so many precious comments,yes I also agree for the great memorable gems by KA and Rafi Sahab. Thanks Rashid Sahab for an unforgettable memories.
THE FIRST RAP SONG EVER COPMPOSED WAS BY GHULAM HAIDER FOR SHAMMI KAPOOR STARRER `RAIL KA DIBBA`SUNG BY THE ONE & ONLY ONE RAFI SAAB & SHAMSHAD BEGUM ,WITH PHENEMONEL BREATH CONTROL BY RAFI SAAB,
THE PROBLEM IS FANS QUOTE FROM LATE SIXTIES ,IT IS THE EARLY FIFTIES WHERE ALL TIMES OF COMPOSITION WERE THERE SIMILARLY FOR ROCK`N ROLL JUST LISTEN TO `AA AA AA GORI AA GORI AA` BY RAFI SAAB & GEETA DUTT COMPOSED BY N.DUTTA MUCH MUCH BEFORE `TEESRI MANZIL`
Greetings to all fellow Rafians,
I am not sure if this is the right place but couldn’t help breaking the news.
Today’s (24th oct) ‘The Hindu’ carries a great article on Rafi Saab titled ‘Forgetting the Phenomenal Talent of Rafi?’. Please do go through it. It is as if the author went through all the conversation here at mohdrafi.com and published our sentiments emphasizing specially on conferring awards like Bharat Ratna and Dada Saheb Phalke on our master. If not much it will at least open the issue and make millions of people think.
Samina
P.S Apologies if it is a repeat news already broken by someone else.
Well there is only one kohinoor in the world and that is Mohammed Rafi.
Kindly ignore people who even think of comparing Rafi sahab from the rest.
Some of his classics which i love listening to are.
Yaa meri manzil bataa ya zindagi ko cheen le picturized on Ashok Kumar from Movie Rakhi.
Hum tumse juda hoke on Feroz khan from Ek Sapera Ek Lootera.
Madhuban mein radhika naache from Kohinoor
yeh duniya yeh mehfil from Heer Ranjha shows his versatality.
Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge from Pagla kahin ka.
It was Rafi Sahabs voice that made Shammi Kapoor a huge Star.
No one can ever come close to him though they are good singers but sorry Rafi Saab jaisa koi nahin
more than a decade back,during an interview to door darshan ,kalayanji bhai,commenting on rafisaab said, you give any song to him;surely you will come out with your best!!!;there can be no better !! he was the ultimate of singing.
it is true that, rafi-ka combo probably is nowhere near the associationship,rafisaab shared with sj,naushad,madan mohan,lp,ravi ,op or even sd.but the duo
produced lot of memorable & all time hits through the golden voice.never forget, the first rap song in hindi film ever composed “hum ko tumse pyar aaya” from jab jab phool khile was a rage at it’s time.my favorite number however is the ever green yahan mein ajnabee hoon from the same film rendered in a sweet & subdued manner making the song extreamly beautiful.
Dear Ali Rashid bhai,
Very good article on a great combination of the 60s. I don’t know what happened to KA in the 70s, after that great opening with Geet. The picture that you’ve included in the article was taken during the cremation of Kalyanji bhai’s favourite singer, who entered the hfm industry along with rafi saab in 1944. That singer’s association with KA is not much talked about either, despite the fact that the combo produced some of the most beautiful songs in the 60s.
Great article, great selection of songs by the great one with ka, I may sound selfish, but everyone forgot to mention the greatest song by our ustad under ka that is always heard during Janmashtmi(Govinda) that the song is none other than Govinda alaa re alaa from Bluffmaster. This song has according to me Shammi Sahb at his best acting to the voice so naturally. I urge every Rafi fan to watch this video which will take you to the streets of Mumbai as they are during the time of Gokul ashtmi.
Rafi can and will never die.
REF-POST:7
DEAR SANJAY SAHAB
YOU ARE VERY CORRECT IN YOUR COMMENT FOR THE SOLO SONG OF ” SWEETHEART ” . IT’S REALLY A MARVELLOUS SONG !
RAFI SAHAB HAS RENDERED THIS SONG SO VERY BEAUTIFULLY EQUALLY SUPPORTED BY KALYANDI ANANDJI’S WONDERFUL MUSIC.
BEST REGARDS/A.T.M. SALIM
DEAR RASHID ALI SAHAB
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FANTASTIC ARTICLE ON THIS GREAT COMBO – RAFI SAHAB & KALYANDJI ANANDJI !!!
IT’S VERY WELL DESCRIBED ARTICLE !
I AM REALLY GLAD THAT YOU HAVE MENTIONED HERE MANY GREAT SONGS , PARTICULARLY THE SONGS OF ” TAMANNA ” , ” PASSPORT” , ” RAJA SAHAB” ,” EK SHRIMAN EK SHRIMATI “, ” EK KUNWARA EK KUNWARI” , “DARINDA”, ” DIL NE PUKARA” , ” SWEET HEART ” .
JUST AS ALL RAFI LOVERS HAVE MENTIONED SOME GREAT SONGS OF RAFI-K/A COMBINATION , I AM ADDING HERE SOME SONGS TOO :
1) ” JEEVAN PATH PAR PYAR NE CHEDI …..” WITH LATAJI ( FILM : EK
SHRIMAN EK SHRIMATI ) ;
2) ” TU ITNA SAMAJH LE SANAM …. ” (FILM: RAKHWALA , ) ;
3) ” DEKHA HAI SABHI NE CHAND KO …. ” ( FILM : DIL NE PUKARA );
4) ” ZARA JATE JATE ….. ” ( FILM : LALKAR ) ;
5) ” AISE NA NAZAR DALO…. ” WITH ASHA BHONSLE ( FILM : SHANKAR
SAMBHU );
6) ” YE TO ALLAH KO KHABAR YE TO MAULA KO KHABAR….” ( FILM :
KATILON KE KATIL);
7) ” YUNHI TUM MUJHSE BAAT KARTI HO…..” ( FILM : SACHCHA JHUTA ) ;
8) ” AE AE ABDULLAH ….” ( FILM : ISHARA ) ;
9) ” YE NAACH VACH KYA HAI……( FILM : EK HASINA DO DEEWANE ) ;
10) ” HE CHUP CHUP CHUP KYUN BAITHEE HO….” ( FILM : HAMRAHI ).
BEST REGARDS/ A.T.M. SALIM
Janab Khaja Aliuddin Sahab,
Many thanks for providing this precious information. So nice of you!
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
anwarhq25@yahoo.com
THE MUSIC DIRECTOR OF POCKETMAAR IS LAXMIKANT PYARELAL AND NOT KALYANJI ANANDJI
Janab anwar-ul-haque Saheb, Salam,
Fyi, Hasrat Jaipuri is the lyricist of songs from the movie “jee chahta hai.
With regards,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
where can i get maximum songs of mohd rafi sahab, i have 400 songs of him…
i wanted more songs collection
Dear Rashid Sahab,
Heartiest Congratulations for this xlnt article. You have done a great service to k-a & rafi fans by enlightening all on this much neglected combination!! And “Sukh ke sub saathi” Bhajan is just heavenly!! The Presentation, acting, music, lyrics & the divine singing to top it all!! Out of this world!!
Love & Regards to All Rafians.
Do Well.
Dear Ali Rashid Sahab,
What a beautiful and complete article! You have provided almost all the key songs of the great combination and also highlighted musical qualities of the great duo known as Kalyanji – Anandji. The most amazing part of article is the one where you have correctly and accurately highlighted the inspirations of KA from SJ and S D Burman. Many many congratulations for writing such a beautiful article.
Following are some more brilliant songs of the said combination which are not discussed in article and comments:
Solos:
1. Aankde ka dhanda, ek din taizi sau din manda – Satta bazar
2. Banda parwar main kahan – Pocket maar (picturised on Dhermendra)
3. Chal musafir teri manzil door hai – Ganga ki saugand (picturised on Pran)
4. Dil to dil hai – Kab kiyon aur kahan (picturised on Dhermendra)
5. Ghorhi pe ho ke sawaar – Ghulam begum badshah (Marriage song picturised on Shatroghan Sinha)
6. Hum ne dekha hain tumhain – Jee chahta hai (picturised on Joy Mukherji)
7. Kal raat wali mulaqat ke liye – Raja Shahb (picturised on Shishi Kapoor)
8. Kisi meherban ki nazar dhoondte hain – Raja Sahab (picturised on Shishi Kapoor)
9. Kuchh kahen to khafa – Ek shariman ek sharimti (picturised on Shishi Kapoor)
10. Na tujh se door ja sakoon – Pocker maar (picturised on Dhermendra)
11. O dilberjaniye tere hain hum tere – Haseena maan jaye gi (picturised on Shishi kapoor)
12. Rang rangila mausam – Jee chahta hai (picturised on Joy Mukherji)
13. Watan pe jo fida ho ga – Phool bane angare (petriotic song picturised on Raj Kumar)
Duets:
1. Baharon se kahen ge with Lata Mangeshker – Ulfat
2. Diwane hain diwanon ko with Lata Mangeshker – Zanjeer
3. Hum hain piyar ki dagar ko do musafir with Lata Mangeshker – Do musafir
4. Ishq mein hum to jaan se guzer jahen ge with Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle – Farishta ya qatil
5. Kahin dekha na dekha shabab aisa with Asha Bhosle – Farishta ya qatil
6. Kia kehne Masha Allah with Suman Kalyanpur – Jee chahta hai
7. Meri morni o meri chorni with Lata Mangeshker – Qatilon ka qatil
8. Peete peete kabhi yoon jaam with Asha Bhsole – Bairag (picturised on Dilip Kumar)
9. Tum se door reh ke with Lata Mangeshker – Adalat
Can anyone tell who is the lyricist of the songs of Jee chahta hai? All the songs are indeed beautifully written and melodiously composed.
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
anwarhq25@yahoo.com
Rashid Bhai,
Very true. This combo of KA & Rafi is not as celebrated as other Combos but who can forget apart from the gems listed in the article, songs like Chale The Saath Milke, Saare Shahar Me, Toone Soorat Chupayi, Tere Zulfen Pareshan, Bolde Mere Sathiyan, Kaali Raat Kaali, Ek Baat Poonchun, Pyaar Ko Ik Din Hona Tha, Oye Humko Tumse, O Mere Bechain Dilko Chain, Nain Milakar Chain Churana, etc. etc. But I have a strong feeling that KA did not use Rafi in the seventies as much as they used him in sixties. Perhaps, this is one reason KA standard went down in seventies as compared to sixties.
To all Mohammed Rafi Saheb fans in India and all over the world, please accept my best wishes on DIWALI. May you all be blessed by the Almighty Above on this great day. Have a nice, happy, safe and peaceful DIWALI.
melodiousrafi@gmail.com
Thank you very much my dear friends for reading and appreciating my article. It is just my humble tribute to the great combination of Rafi-saab and K-A.
A note about “Kisi aasman pe to saahil milega”. There is also a second, more slower version of this song, which was released on the original L-P of Kashish in 1980. Rafi yet again demonstrated in this masterpiece why he was in a different class compared to the rest.
Rafi did not sing much for Gulzar, but whatever he sang was wonderful. Remember how Rafi gave that unique sense of expression to Shankar’s “Jab bhi yeh dil udaas hota hai” from Seema. Or how magnificently Rafi stunned us all with his “Jane kahan dekha hai” from Biwi Aur Makaan composed by Hemant Kumar.
rashid bhai,
Kalyan ji anand ji ke combimation ka mujhe pata nahin tha, Rafi saheb ke intekal ke baad first time yeh gaana all india radio ki urdu service mein suna tha. aur 2008 rafi tum bahut yaad aaye naam ki documentary jo ki film division ne banai hai usme bhi anand ji bhai ne is gaane ka jikar kiya hai. Rashid bhai ek kissa jo mujhe yaad aa raha hai woh main aap sab ke saath share karna chahta hoon, vividh bharati kr jaymala programme mein dada muni (Ashok Kumar ji) ne bataya tha ki rafi saheb ka ek song film meri surat teri aankhe naam ki film se ek gaana tum bin sune nayan hamare is gaane ka music hata kar dada muni ne khali rafi saheb ki awaaj ko re record kar ke unko sunwaya tha.to is rafi saheb bhi hairaan ho gaye ki yeh maine kab gaaya hai.
I am despretaly lookin for a person or any friend in this site to who may give me the details of grat work done by Late Roshan sahib and our beloved Rafi saheb. god bless all
Janab Ali Rashid Saheb, Salam, Great article, congratulations! I would like to add few more gems of k-a and rafi combo to Uthara bahen’s list.
1) Teri zulfen pareshan – Preet na jane reet
2)Yeh kaisa maine madhur madhur si, ajab ajab si aaj suni sargam – Rakhwala
3)Tere jaisa kaun hai, tere jaisa koi nahi – Tamanna
4)Aaj galo muskuralo – Lalkar
5) Aapka shukriya, aap ki meherbani, aap aaye – Anokhi pehchan
6) Kabeera khade bazar me, sab ki maange khair – Sab ka saathi
7) Kisi aasman pe to sahil milega, mai laane vahi aasman jaaraha hoon-Kashish- Rafi sahab ki gayeki, is gane me ghazab ki hai.
8) Tere siwa na kisika banoonga – Duet with Asha – Professor pyarelal
9)Ban ke saathi pyar ki rahon me – Duet with Lata – Sweet Heart
10) Mere mitwa mere meet re – Duet with lata – Geet
After listening to rafi sahab’s any song, dil besakhta kahne lagta hai:
“Saath rakhta hoon hamesha teri yaadon ki dhanak
mai kabhi khoodko akela nahi hone deta”
With regards to all rafi lovers,
Die-hard fan of Rafi Sahab,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
Dear Rashid sahab , there is one more marvellous duet from `DELHI JUNCTION`-
KEHTI HOONMAIN SACH SACH- bY THE ONE & ONLY ONE RAFI SAHAB & LATA
AND ALSO ONE MARVELLOUS SOLO FROM `SWEETHEART ` – SONIYE TERA JO BHI HOON NAAM HUM TUJHE `AND ALSO ONE SOLO & DUET FROM MEHMOOD STARRER -` KAHIN PYAAR HO NA JAAYE`- THE BREEZY – MERI JAAN MERI JAAN — MAIN JANTA HOON` AND THE DUET `TUNAK TUN TUN BOLE JIYA `
AND ALSO THE `SAHELI `SOLO- BAHANE KYON KARTI HO
DUET FROM KATHPUTLI – EK BAAT POOCHON
Rashidji, thank you for a very comprehensive and informative article. It brought back many songs to my mind. Though K-a leaned towards Mukesh and Mahendra Kapoor, they always reverd Rafi sab.
Some gems from K-A and Rafi combination.
1. My fave romantic song: Dil bekarar sa hai…listen to Rafi saab’s nashaapan in this song.
2. Another romantic song: Chale the saath milkar..how appealingly rafi saab entreats the girl.
3. My fave duet: kabhi raat din hum door the din raat ka ab saath hai..I can go on listening to this song forever.
4. Sad song: Sab ko rehte lagta hai jaise koi nahi hai mera…Rafi saab makes us cry.
5. Best birah song: Akele hain chale aoo jahan ho…beautifully renderd.
5. Best bhajan: Sukh ke sab saathi dukh mein na ho..so much bhakti.
6. Arabic style song: Meri zindagi ter pyar mein hum kahan kahan se guzar gaye…excellent.
7. South Indian style: Hum ko hone laga hai pyaar tumse uyyamma uyyamma..fantastic.
8. Teasing song: Pyar se dil bhar de..nahin nahin…only Rafi saab can sing in this manner.
9. Most popular song: pardesiyon se na akhiyan milana
10. Another excellent duet: bekhudi mein sanam.
Thank you rashidji for taking us down melody lane.
With musical regards
Utthara
Dear Siva,
I am responding to your comments in the appropriate thread.
Both “Kabhi raat din hum door the” and “Kisi raah mein kisi mod par” are indeed based on Raag Charukesi, and they are two of the greatest duets of all time. Like you, I love both of them. K-A were fond of this particular Raag Charukesi, and created mind-blowing gems with it. I agree, Lata did match Rafi in the Aamne Samne duet, and Mukesh sang very well in the duet from Mere Humsafar.
I think K-A deserve much more attention than what they receive (in general), and on this site. To me, they were among the finest talents in HFM, and their songs are proof of that.
dear rashid saab
your magnum opus on rafi saab and k/a was truly exhaustive. this was a great read for me.
i have always loved, over so many years, four songs in particular- husn chala kucch aisi chaal, for its bubbly style, mohabbat ke suhane din- as you said for its ability to haunt you, sukh ke sab saathi- which i regard as one of rafi saab’s great bhajans, and yeh raat hai pyaasi pyaasi, a truly romantic song.
with zindagi to bewafa hai, rafi saab rendered only four lines, but compared very favourably with the longer version rendered by kishore kumar.
great write up sir
achal rangaswamy
achal.rangaswamy@gmail.com
Rashid sahab,
Excellent review on a very different topic. your analysis on KA songs is too good. Yahan mai ajnabii hun…is a real classic from KA / Rafi team..In fact, Offe khuda..hamko tumpe pyar aayaa is another exceptional song from JJFK..where shashi kapoor and rafi both played extraordinary roles…The song also can be taken as one of the best for Dholak songs…The way Dholak was used in the song is just unmatched..hats off to KA …
Your write up has thrown a bright light on the KA – RAFI Combination…
hats off to you…please keep sending more reviews…
regards;
shrirang nawathe
respected rashid saheb
congratulations for a well research write-up on Rafi-K & A combinations which made memorable songs for all big actors of 1960s & 1970s : Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna & Feroz Khan . I would like to add the following :-
1. The theme song of Chalia, “Gali Gali Sita Royee” picturised on Raj Kapoor.
2. The duet by Rafi-Usha Timothy from Himalay Ki Godmein, “Tu Raat Khadi Thi Chhat Pe” picturised on Manoj Kumar & Mala Sinha.
3. The Rafi solos, “Nain Milakar Chain Churana”, “Mere Bechan Dil Ko” from Aamne Saamne picturised on Shashi Kapoor & Sharmila Tagore.
with best wishes & regards to all rafi lovers.
biman from assam
Rashid sahab, shukriya. You have fulfilled a long pending demand for a full review of the lesser written about K-A & Rafi combo. You have covered almost all the good songs and nuances about this combination. I have only one more gem to add-Chale te saath milkar, chalenge saath milkar, tumhe rukna padega, meri awaaz sunkar…really even a person not knowing about music would stop when he listens to the golden voice of Rafi asking “tumhe rukna padega meri awaaz sunkar”….
One more unique aspect of K-A, as everyone music lover would have noticed–their songs mostly had a great introductory piece–examples–in the above song mentioned by me the piana piece, in many of the Mukesh-K A combinations like chandi ki diwar na todi, meri tamannavon ki tasveer tum etc..
KA were one of the most under-rated duos who composed very good songs till 60’s end or early 70’s before becoming slightly off-key in later years. Still they maintained some melody even in the late 70’s.