Salil Chowdhury and Mohammed Rafi

Salil Chowdhury’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

Salil Chowdhury image courtsey: Wikipedia.org

Salil Chowdhury, noted poet, musician, lyricist, thinker is one of the most renowned intellectuals who had glorified the Silver Screen (both Bollywood and Bengali Cinema) with his stories, poetry, lyrics, dynamic musical compositions in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He was a member of the IPTA, an organisation which has been an instrument of public awareness during the pre-independence and post-independence period. Salil Chowdhury’s story was picturised under the title Do Bigha Zameen, in 1953, depicting the struggle of a farmer of a village in coming to urbanised city of Kolkata and earning his livelihood as a rickshaw-puller, which had brought national and international awards for the story, direction of Bimal Roy and other categories.


The poetic and literary skills of Salil Chowdhury had synchronised with his east-west blend of music in most of his creations. Best example can be “Ujjal Ek Jhak Paira” sung by Classical Bengali singer, Sandhya Mukherjee. It was written by Bengali poet, describing the flight of pigeons and Salil Chowdhury composed the upward and downward movement of the song in the same lines as the pigeons fly in air. The literary society in Bengal were flabbergasted with the composition of Salil Chowdhury with the translation of famous poetry titled “Runner” (postman) written by Sukanta Bhattacharya, the way the movement in music changed with the moods of the postman delivering mails on road. Other landmark musical creations of Salil Chowdhury include “Palkir Gaan” written by famous Bengali poet Satyendranath Dutta and sung by Hemanta Mukherjee.


While bringing in revolution with words and music in Bengali modern songs Salil Chowdhury went to Bombay with his treasure of knowledge. Very interestingly the song “apni kahani” in Do Bigha Zameen, 1953, sung by Manna Dey had been based on Russian processions. While using Mukesh in a number of songs in Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho, 1956 and DilipKumar’s Madhumati, 1958, Salil Chowdhury acknowledged the versatile talent of Mohammad Rafi, the man with the golden voice. Salil Chowdhury created a Choir Group in Bombay, where Rafi, Lata were all members.


Probably Madhumati, showed the range of music composition of Salil Chowdhury, where he got an opportunity to blend the flavour of music in the hilly regions. The songs for Rafi included “Jangal Me mor Nacha kisi ne na dekha” for Johnny Walker. But Salil Chowdhury reserved the best song in the tragic andaz for Rafi titled “tute hue khwabon ne”. The pathos in the role of Dilip Kumar was depicted by the serene performance of Rafi.


Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the film Maya. The song “Tasvir teri dilme” which was a duet song with Lata Mangeshkar was very big hit. The other song of Mohammad Rafi included “Koi sone ka dilwala” which was also successful. Rafi was used in the film Musafir, 1957, where his songs along with Dilipkumar’s own song “lagi naahi chute rama, chahe jiya jae” showed the tragedy of Dilipkumar who had provided his immortal performance as a poor wretched violin player, who could not marry Usha Kiran, but played the violin for a handicapped child, not knowing his son, and dying at the end of the film. It was the beginning of journey in film direction of Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.


Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the song “insaan ki zindagi hai” from the film Jhoola, 1962. There was also a chorus song of Rafi and Lata, “aag pani me lagi”. There was a song “dil tarpe tarpe” for Rafi in the film Poonam ki raat, 1965, and “tumhe dilse chaha” in the film Chand Aur Suraj, 1965. Besides Rafi was given an Afghani song “ho ya qurban” in the film Kabuliwala, 1961, in which Manna Dey’s song “ai mere pyare watan” was also a big hit.


In the 1970s, Salil Chowdhury reduced composition of film music in hindi films, as he was busy with Bengali films and Bengali modern songs. Even then Manna Dey’s song “Zindagi kasi hai paheli” in the film Anand, 1970 shows his class in composing chorus songs. Even Mukesh’s song “Kahi Door Jab din dhal Jaye” was well acclaimed by musical pandits in India.

At the same time Salil Chowdhury had encouraged new talents in Bombay and allowed noted Bengali singers to flourish in the all India arena, examples include Shyamal Mitra in the song “Ek aye ek jaye” in the film Musafir, 1957. He also composed songs for Dijen Mukherjee, Subir Sen and other singers for Bollywood films. In Bengali films like Ganga, 1960, Kinugoalar Goli, 1964, Lal Pathor, 1964, Marjina Abdulla, 1976, Salil Chowdhury’s music amazed the listeners with folk songs and westernised tunes. Besides his basic compositions for Monobendra Mukherjee, “Ami parini bujhite parini”, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, “Jhanana Jhanana Baje”, Krishna Ganguly’s “Dakhina Batashe Mono keno Kande”, Sandhya Mukherjee’s “Srabon Ajhor jhore”, shows his control over Hindustani classical compositions.


It is difficult to highlight the contribution of Salil Chowdhury in a short article, because he had created immense number of immortal poetry, prose, songs, music in Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam films in a span of 50 years. But his admiration for Rafi is evident in the rich compositions. So Rafi’s archive should be adorned with Salil Chowdhury’s compositions to mark their fair relationship.

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1. Salil Chowdhury received Filmfare award for best music in the film Madhumati in 1958.


2. Salil Chowdhury’s Assistants like Probir Majumdar, Anol Chatterjee, Abhijit Banerjee, became legendary Music Directors in Bengali Modern Music in later years.

3. My father, Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, Kolkata, had interviewed Abhijit Banerjee, renowned Music Director who had composed Bengali modern songs like “muktojharar neiko konya neiko motir haar”, “jodi amake dekho tumi udashi” for Manobendra Mukherjee, who said Salil Choudhury’s most of the creations are based on scientific, logical justifications of lyrics and tunes, which only a small section of the listeners understand, giving example of song “dhitang dhitang bole” which was based on Caribbean Calypso.

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.


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Rahul Dev Burman and Mohammed Rafi

Rahul Dev Burman’s immense respect for Mohammad Rafi.

Rahul Dev Burman image courtsey: downmelodylane.com

Rahul Dev Burman, the son of eminent singer and composer Sachin Dev Burman, is one of the most popular composers of the last decade whose tunes are used by many modern composers in their own compositions. Being the son of the legendary Music Director, SD Burman, RD had a great challenge to match the sheer brilliance of his father. It happens with the son or daughter of all the famous personalities.


RD Burman started his journey with Chote Nawab in 1962 with the help of the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi. Major songs in the film was sung by Rafi and RD Burman commanded respect in the musical community of that period, who were still mesmerised with the classical compositions of Naushad, folk songs of SD Burman, western effects of Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Salil Chowdhury, Ghazals of Roshan, Madanmohan. RD Burman had other skills like playing the mouth organ, tabla and other related instruments and he showed his skill while playing the mouth organ for Laxmikant Pyarellal in the film Dosti, 1964 where Rafi had galvanised the silver screen with his tragic andaz *.


The bigger challenge of RD Burman was to create a gharana which was different from SD Burman, which was very difficult. He created western composition in “Ayo Twist Karen” for Manna Dey in Bhoot Bangla. But he received the maximum appreciation from music lovers with his compositions in the film Teesri Manzil, 1966. All the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. All the songs were superhits, including “O haseena zulfonwali”, “Aja aja”, “Dewaana tujhsa nahin”, “ janeman janeja, tumne muhhe dekha hoker meherba”, “O mere sona re sona re sona re.” The rock and roll flavour of Shammi Kapoor, which was started by Shankar Jaikishan in films like Junglee, 1961, songs like “Asman se aya farishta” in An Evening in Paris, 1967, “Aj kal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawan par” in Brahmchari, 1967, was matched by RD Burman in Teesri Manzil, 1966, and he gave the message to the Indian audience that he had arrived in the musical arena and was going to be a leading composer in future.


The relationship of RD Burman with Rafi continued in films like Pyar ka Mausam, 1969, where the songs like “Tum bin jayun kahan”, “Ni sultana re pyar ka mausam aya” were major hits. RD Burman developed a beat of his own which marked his identity in the 1970s. The biggest success came in 1970, with the film Karwa, where the songs “ kitna pyara wada” “are ho goriyan kahan tera desh re” were superhits, and Rafi’s voice balanced the choreographic skills of Jeetender for whom the maximum number of songs were sung by Rafi. For a short period RD Burman composed songs for Kishorekumar in films like Amar prem, Kari Patang, but that was due to the fact it matched with the voice of Rajesh Khanna.


Whenever RD Burman reverted back to Rafi, the songs were successful as ever, like “Yaadon ki Baarat,” “Chura liya hai tumne jo dilko”, in the film Yaadon ki Baarat, 1973, “Yeh ladka hai alla kaisa hai diwana”, in Hum kisi se kum nahi, 1977. In fact Rafi’s outstanding combination with Rishi Kapoor compelled RD Burman to provide the successful qawalli “Hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi ghan nahi”, in Hum Kisi se kum Nahi, which Rafi only could sing. The same film provided Rafi with the National award in 1977 with the song “Kya hua tera wada”. Further the musical competition in the film had Rafi and Kishore singing songs, including “chand mera dil”, etc.


The combination of RD Burman with Rafi continued in Rishi Kapoor’s film, “Zamane ko dikhana hai” where “Sochenge pyar kya hua” with Asha Bhosle, was a major hit. Further in the film Burning Train, 1980, the biggest hit was the qawalli sung by Rafi and Asha, titled “pal do pal ka saath hamaara”. The action of Dharmender and Vinod Khanna was balanced by the excellent choreography of Jeetender in the song “Pal do Pal”, and superlative performance of Rafi.

People have a wrong conception of the fact that RD Burman underestimated Rafi, which is not true. He had tremendous respect for the man with the golden voice. The only lacuna was that RD Burman had a lot of inherent classical skill which he did not get any scope of showing due to the demand of popular music except in the films of Gulzar. In Kinara, 1977, “Naam Gum Jayega”, “Meethe Bol Bole” sung by Bhupinder Singh, shows RD Burman’s gharana. Had Rafi survived for a longer period of time and had RD Burman got more opportunities to blend eastern and western music, the combination could have provided everlasting creations for future generations to cherish. Rafi’s archive should also contain the compositions of RD Burman which are admired by the modern generation and should be restored for music lovers of different ages.

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* My father Ex chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, (Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Kolkata) had interviewed Manobendra Mukherjee, a versatile classical singer having immortal records on bhajans, kirtans, nazrulgeeti, modern bengali songs, film songs and asked him to sing his first Bengali Modern Song “Naichondon Lekha, sriradhar chokhe, nai nai shemorai” before the crowd in a function held in Paikpara, Kolkata where Manobendra said it was his beginning of his musical journey and a song which was a blank verse without musical instruments. If that song could be heard minutely it can be realized that modern music is almost bankrupt. Aroti Mukherjee, the famous Bengali singer, also my father’s witness in a case instituted in Bankshall Court, in the anurodher asor, in all in Radio, said that her teenage was shaken up by Manobendra with the song “Naichondon Lekha” in 1953. In the same interview Manobendra Mukherjee told my father, the real starting point of compositions is classical background. He said the more RD Burman tried to move away from SD Burman in composing western tunes, the more he landed back with SD Burman’s classical gharana in Kinara, 1977, Parichay, 1972, Masoom,1982, where he was appreciated the most by musical pandits where the classical songs were sung by Bhupinder Singh and Lata Mangeshkar..

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.


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Laxmikant Pyarelal and Mohammed Rafi

Laxmikant Pyarelal's immortal relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

Laxmikant Pyarelal emerged into the Indian film arena at a period when the main stream cinema was flooded with extremely talented music directors,lyricists and filmmakers in the 60s.Already the film industry has created its own unique standard due to the sheer brilliance of Musical Giants like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madanmohan, Roshan, Khayyam, Salil Chowdhury and many others and the versatile performance of Mohammad Rafi for over 15 years.

Laxmikant and Pyarelal

Laxmikant Pyarelal the legendary musical duo included Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar(1937-1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born in 1940).Laxmikant was quite impressed with Mandolin and learnt to play it by his own. He used to play mandolin in street functions.Pyarellal was the son of renouned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma and his specialisation was violin.Laxmikant and Pyarelal met at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children, run by the Mangeshkar family. After Lata Mangeshkar came to know about their financially poor backgrounds, Lata recommended their names to different music directors in the film industry.Both them started their career with the film Parasmani(1963).Two songs of Mohammad Rafi "Woh Jab Yaad Aye, bahut yaad aye" and "Roushan tumhi se duniya" brought fame for the musical duo.

Laxmikant was fond of the orchestration of Shankar Jaikishan to such an extent that some of their earlier tunes were similar to a huge number of Shankar's compositions. In the next film Dosti,1964, Laxmikant Pyarellal got inspired by a very extraordinary standard of musical performance by Bengali Music Director Robin Chatterji in composed music for the Bengali film Lalu Bhulu, 1958.The story depicted a blind boy and a his friend who did not have one leg.In the bengali film all the songs were sung by Manobendra Mukherjee who was a genius in hindustani classicals and has rich collection of Bengali modern songs,Kirtan, Nazrulgeeti and Bhaktigeeti. The notable songs include "Dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu","Jar hiya akasher neel nilimaye","Ei pranjholona jaglo".The striking part of the film was that no conventional hero or herione were depicted in the story, as the tragic story of the two handicapped friends was the central attraction.

Laxmikant Pyarelal had a huge challenge to match the music of the bengali film and create the same standard of excellence. Both Laxmikant Pyarelal and Majrooh Sultanpuri sat together to compose the songs.The result was history. Rafi's song "Chahunga mai tujhe saanz sawere", "Mera to joh bhi kadam hai","rahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyun satati hai", "janewalon zara"brought tears in the pandemonium hall.Rafi was so impressed with the compositions of Laxmikant Pyarelal that he had taken just one rupee for singing the song because it was the custom of a singer to take something in return for a professional song.The film became a huge success. Laxmikant Pyarelal won the filmfare award in 1964 for composing best music in a year when Shankar Jaikishan has composed songs for Sangam, 1964, Naushad had composed for Leader, 1964, Madanmohan had composed songs for Woh Kaun thi, 1964, Roshan had composed songs for Aarti. From that time onwards Laxmikant Pyarellal never looked back and their everlasting bond with Rafi just grew with time.

Their similarity with Shankar-Jaikishan is evident in the composition of the songs "woh hai zara khafa khafa" in the film Shagird, 1967 picturised on Joy Mukherjee and "Nazar na lag jaye" in the film Night In London,picturised on Biswajeet, 1967. These compositions had led to Shankar Jaikishan transforming their own style as people started geeting mixed up with their composititions. But one factor was unique.The amount of affection Shankar Jaikshan had for Mohammad Rafi, the same passion was carried on by Laxmikant Pyarelal till Rafi's death in 1980 as his last song in the film Aas Paas , 1980,was composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Dharmender and Jeetender had different story lines in the films of late 1960s and early 70s, but one thing was common. both had some of the extraordinary songs of Mohammad Rafi composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal.Examples can be "Hui sham unka khayal agaya" from the film Mere mhumdum Mere Dost, 1968, "Baar Baar Din yun aye" from the film Farz, 1967. Besides LP pair had provided tunes sungs by Mohammad Rafi in the films of Jeetender namely Jigri Dost, Banphool, Humjoli and the hits of Dharmender namely Aya Sawan Jhumke,Jeevan Mrityu, etc.Lastly after the death of Jaikishan in 1971, Raj Kappor engaged Laxmikant Pyarelal for his films starting with Bobby in 1973.

The song "hum tum ek kamre me bandh hai" had the same effect with the accordian as Shankar Jaikishan used to have in RK films.That led to LP pair ruling the film industry in the 1970s when most of the legendary music directors died and his only rivals included RD Burman and Kalyanji Anandji. In a very action pact scenario when the films of Amitabh Bacchan, Vinod Khanna had more concentration towards violence, LP pair created soft songs for Rishi Kapoor. Rafi's songs "Dafli wale", "Ramjiki nikli sawari" in the film Sargam, 1978 and"Parda hai Parda", "Shirdiwali Saibaba" in Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977 and "Darde dil" in the film Karz, 1979, had brought filmfare awards for Laxmikant Pyarellal one after the other. He had tremendous combination with Rishi Kapoor and Mohammad Rafi and balanced romantic songs with the popular taste of film music.As they survived for the longest period of time, substantial number of Rafi's songs are composed by them. So the creations of Laxmikant Pyarelal involving should be preserved in the aarchives where Rafi's other songs are restored.

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.

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Mohammed Rafi Songs

Immortal Ghazals sung by Mohammad Rafi

Mohammed Rafi

Mohammad Rafi is a name which has galvanised the Indian firmament during golden age of Indian film music. As his dimension was as wide as the horizon of creative arts, various categories of his songs has been remembered by generations for the last 50 years, including ghazals, Hindustani classical songs, bhajans, folk songs, songs on the freedom movement of India, qawallis, najrul geeti and many more types of geet. Among them ghazal is one category where Rafi’s sweet voice has brought life into the sensational lyrics and outstanding music compositions of the Golden era.

The ghazal is a common song form in India and Pakistan today. There are different definitions of it, but simply it is a musical form, but having a poetic recitation. Today, however, it is commonly conceived of as an Urdu song, with prime importance given to the lyrics.In some modernized ghazals the poet's name is hidden somewhere in the last verse, usually between the front and end of a word.

In the 1950s and 60s, the song picturised on the different films were based on different moods of the characters depicted in the stories. As the lyrics of the ghazals were quite rich, having immense literary and poetic value they generally captured the pensive moods of the major characters of the stories.Most of the films had ghazal in one form or the other composed by the musical giants of the golden age.

Madanmohan used to be considered as the king of ghazals. His most outstanding creations were composed for Mohammad Rafi , including “Tumhari Zulfke sayeme sham karlunga, safar is umraka palme tamam karlunga” from the film Naunihal, 1967, “ Baad muddat ke yeh ghari aayi, aap aye to zindagi ayee”, from the film Zahanara, 1964, “kisiki yaad mai apna ko hai bhulaye hue”, from the film Zahanara, 1964, “ Rang aur noor ki barat tujhe pesh karu, in muradonki hassen raat tujhe pesh karoon,” from the film Ghazal, 1965, “Barbad muhobaat ka dua saath liye ja” from the film Laila Majnu, 1977, picturised on Rishi Kapoor (1).

There were very dignified ghazals composed by Roshan during that era. Some of them include “ jane who kaun hai kya naam hai in aankhoka” from the film Bheegi Raat, 1965, picturised on Pradeep kumar, “ Hum intezar karenge, tera kayamat tak, khuda kareki kayamat ho, aur tu aye,” from the film Bahu Begum, 1967, “ Aab kya misal doon mai tumhare shabab ki,” and “aapne yaad dilaya tha to mujhe yaad aya” from the film Aarti, 1963, picturised on Pradeep Kumar.Roshan composed one of the most evergreen hit titled “ Zindagi bhar nahin bhulenge woh barsaat ki raat,” from the film Barsaat ki raat, 1960, picturised on Bharat Bhushan.The legendary lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhiyanvi (2).

S. N. Tripathi composed few immortal ghazals based on the life of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The songs included “ Na kisisi ki aankh ka noor hoon” and “lagta nahin yeh dil mera” from the film Lal Quila. Jaidev composed one of his master pieces, “ kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aya, baat nikli to har ek baat pe rona aya” from the film Humdono, 1961.

Shankar Jaikishan is known to create songs of diverse range of subjects.Even amongst his stylish western compositions the best ghazals were composed for Mohammad Rafi. Some of them include “unke khayal aaye to ate chale gaye” from the film Lal patthar,1971, picturised on Raajkumar, “ Chalke teri aankhose sharab aur ziaada” from the film Aarzoo,1965, picturised on Rajenderkumar, “O Mere Shahe Khuba, o meri Jan- e- jajana” from the film Love In Tokyo, 1965, written by Hasrat Jaipuri and picturised on Joy Mukherjee.

Ravi has composed few unforgettable tunes like “chaudavi ka chand ho yah aaftab ho, jobhi ho tum khuda ki kasam, lajawab ho” from the film Chaudavi ka chand, 1960, picturised on Gurudutt, also “Chulene do nazuk hoton ko, kuch aur nahin hai jaam hai yeh” and “yeh zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye to accha ho” from the film Kaajal, 1965, picturised on Raaj Kumar.

Naushad had done proper justice to each and every raaga he has used to compose his songs. His notable ghazals include “ Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam” and “ tumse ishar – e –haal kar baithe” from the film Mere Meheboob, 1963 picturised on Jubileekumar Rajender Kumar” written by Shakeel Badayani, “ koi sagar dil ko behlata nahin” from the film Dil Diya Dard liya,1966, and “aajki shaam mere dilki salaami lele, dilki salaami lele, kal tere bazm se diwana chala jayega, shamma rah jayegi, parwana chala jayega”, from the film Ram Aur Shyam,

1967, picturised on Tragedy king Dilip Kumar (3).

OP Nayyar had made a very unique use of the santoor with the sarangi, and he too while making his western blend thought about ghazals for Rafi. His best creations include “ aapke hasin rukh pe aaj naya nur hai, mera dil machal gaya to mera kya kusur hai” from the film Baharen phir bhi ayegi , 1966,picturised on Dharmender, and “Aachal se sajane lena dilko” and “Zulf ke chayon me chehere ka ujaala lekar”from the film Phir Wohi dil Laya Hoon, 1963, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and picturised on Joy Mukherjee.

There were ghazalas from other Classical composers also like “Kahin bekhayal hoker yuhin chuliya unhiko,” and “ Aise to na dekho, ki humko nasha ho jaye” by SD Burman in the film Teen deviya, 1965, “Theheriye hosh me aaloon to chalejayiega” by Khayyam.As these songs are soft in nature, they create an everlasting impact on the souls of numerous music lovers of the country who find themselves associated with Rafi. It is very difficult to mention the notable ghazals sung by the maestro who has around 26000 songs in a span of 35 years.An archive should be created where Rafi’s creations are restored, categorised and preserved for future generations to know the noble hertitage of ghazals India had during the golden age.

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(1) Noted and renouned Ghazal Singer, Ghulam Ali had said that Rafi’s songs had reflected the truth that the man possessed and the sweetness of the songs depict his generousness and kindness of heart.

(2) My father Ex Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall court, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court interviewed Monobendra Mukherjee, the Bengali Classical Singer composing Music for Bengali films Mayamrigo 1960, Joyjayanti,1970, Badhu,1962, and singing more than 1000 nazrul geeti, who said that he used to do the riyaaz everyday for several hours to do justice to his thumris, tappas and he is amazed about only one singer in India, Mohammad Rafi, whose voice floats like a river and the harkats in the songs are so accurate and effortlessly sung like the way clouds flow in the sky.

(3) Jagjit Singh, one of the most legendary ghazal singers of the present century, said some of the very melodious Ghazals were sung by Rafi during the Golden age, listeners heard them and appreciated them even sometimes not knowing that they are categorized as ghazals. Jagjit Singh composed music for noted film Saath Saath and TV serial Mirza Ghalib starring Nasir uddin Shah and directed by Gulzar.

Article By: Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, UK and
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University,USA.
Assistant Director, CUTS International
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation
D-217, Bhaskar Marg,Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
http://www.cuts-ccier.org

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Mohammed Rafi

Mohammed Rafi a Versatile Maestro

Mohammad Rafi

Music had played a very significant role in translating Indian thoughts throughout thousands of years. Right from the time of maharajas and nawabs it used to be presented in their courtrooms either by ustads or by the ruler himself. There was music inherently existing at every place, every part of society, every geographical location irrespective of being sung by sants or bairagis or fakirs or majhimollas. Indian cinema in the last century had based its feet on the strong story base of such characters. Now one of the main reason of reaching the stories to millions of people in our country and abroad was the everlasting music produced during 1940s, 50s, 60s.Mohammad rafi is a name which has galvanized the musical history of the golden era of Indian cinema.


Now being very popular icon of the 50s, 60s and the 70s a lot had been said about the man with the golden voice in all the leading electronic media including, newspaper, journals, television and radio. What has not being said is the everlasting treasure of rich lyrics, compositions, tunes, orchestrations that had been left by the great legend for millions of his lovers to cherish for decades and decades.


1950s and 60s can be described as an era of classical prose, poetry, shayeris. Although the subject matter of Indian cinema ranged from Historical classics like “ Tajmahal”, “ Mughal-I –Azam” to classic literature like”Devdas”(written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee) “ Kabuliwala” (written by Rabindranath Tagore) to Suspense Thrillers like “ Woh kaun thi” “ Mera saya”. The list can go on. But what were common to all those films were the pains, devotion and imagination with which lyricists and music composers composed the songs. And of course the expression, andaz, style and perfection Mohammad Rafi had presented which is a rich asset for future generations.


If the compositions of the legendary music directors are analysed it can be said that each of them had their own foundation “ in musical terms we call it gharana”.It was a rich combination of ghazals, qawallis, Hindustani classical,mujras, thumris, kajris, bhajans, folksongs( like bhatiyali, bayul) , light songs, rock and roll, western..The composers included Shanker Jaikishan, Naushad, Roshan, Madanmohan, SD Burman, Gulam Mohammad, Wasant Desai, Khemchand Prakash, Salil Chowdhury, OP Nayyar, C.Ramchandran, Anil Biswas, Khayyam, Jaidev,Iqbal Qureshi, Ravi, Dattaram,S.N. Tripathi and others. Typically in those days musical sequences used to be created on the basis of the situation the story required, and both the lyricist and the composer used to create music which suited such sequence. Mohammad Rafi had the record of transforming the creation into history.


If we look at the film “ Tajmahal” ,released in 1963, after the demise of mumtaz mahal , Shahjahan was associated with the lyrics” hum ate rahen hai, hum ate rahenge, muhabbat ki rasme nibhate rahenge, jan-e-wafa tum do sada fir kya thikana humko ana parega.” The lyrics was written by Sahir Ludhianvi and music composed by Roshan in Rag- Pahari..Rafi had transformed his passion with the badshahi andaz of Shahjahan that existed at that time.The song had not lost its immortal value even today.


Similarly in the film “ Bahubegum” , released in 1967, Meenakumari had waited for Pradipkumar a long time and was almost deciding to marry Ashokekumar when came the classic song “hum intezar karenge, tera qayamat tak,khuda Karen ki qayamat ho aur tu aye”.The song had such an everlasting impact that people forgot to pay homage to the serious performance of Ashokekumar who burnt himself in that film.


There are songs where Rafi had made people intoxicated. There are other songs where he had awakened the audience. One of the example is in the Film “ Bheegi Raat” .At the frag end of the film, the song “Dil Jo na kah saka wohi raz-e dil, kaheneki raat ayee.” It was picturised on Pradeepkumar in 1965 and song composed by Roshan in raag kalyan.


In the film “Zahanara” Rafi’s immortal song “ Baad muddat ke yeh ghari ayee, ap aye to zindagi ayee, isq marmar ke kamyab hua , aaj ek zarra aaftab hua” and “ kisiki yaad me aapnako hai bhulaye hue” had brought poetic passion in numerous Indians. People could not understand what to appreciate, Rafi’s poetic passion , or Bharatbhusan’s natural performance or the strong lyrics or Madanmohan’s composition. In the film “ Mirza Ghalib” Rafi had brought life into few quality ghazals composed by Ghalib himself where tunes were given by Ghulam Mohammad.


In the film “ Mere mehboob” released in 1963, the title song “ Mere mehboob tujhe meri muhhobat ki kasam , phir teri nargisi aankhoka sahara deden, mera khoyahua rangeen nazara deden” had brought the cultured pardanashin community of Aligarh to Cinemahall. Rafi’s sweetness and bass had overpowered the majestic screenpresence of Jubilikumar “ Rajenderkumar” , classic creation of Naushad and rich lyrics of Shakeel Badayani.The pandemonium hall of Aligarh University was opened for the classic song.

In Gurudutt’s Pyasa released in 1957, the climax of the film came into being when Gurudutt did not accept the recognition given to him by brothers in open hall.The famous song “ yeh mahalon , yeh takhton , yeh tajon ki duniya “ had created unrest in the cinema halls. Rafi’s voice had helped in social awakening. The song was composed by SD Burman. The same Rafi had mesmerized the listeners with his romantic mood in the film “Chawdavi ka chand” acted by Gurudutt , released in 1960,with the title song, “Chawdavikachandho, yah aaftab ho, jobhi ho tum khudakikasam lajawab ho”. The music was composed by Ravi. Rafi’s tragic andaz in the film Kagaz ka phool , released in 1959 had brought tears in the eyes of the audience with “ are dekhi zamane ki yaari, bichre sabhi, bari, bari.” The sensitive words were put in by Sahir Ludhiyanvi.


In most of the tragic situations Rafi had felt the pathos in himself while analyzing what the situation demanded. His song “koi sagar dil ko bahalata nahin” in the film “Dil diya dard liya” composed in raag kalawati had transformed intoxication into tragedy. It was released in 1966.In the film “ aadmi”, released in 1967, his song “ aaj purani raahon par koi mujhe awaz na den, dard me dube geet na den , gham ka sisakta saz naden” had made people think who was a better tragedian, Dilipkumar or Rafi himself. Both the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayani and music composed by Naushad. In the film “ Kohinoor” released in 1960, Rafi had presented a pure classical andaz in the song “ Madhubanme radhika nacchere, giridharki muraliya bajere”.It was composed by Naushad in raag hamir and was picturised on Dilipkumar.In the same film there was totally different melody in the song “ Do sitaronka zammen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”.The words of Shakeel Badayani had been given adequate expression by Rafi.Aushad had given some serious compositions to Rafi like “ Ek shahanshah ne banwake hasin tajmahal sari duniyako muhabbatka nishani di hai.”It was composed in raag lalit in 1964 in the film “Leader” acted by Dilipkumar.

Mohammed Rafi

In the film “Meri surat teri aankhe” acted by Ashoke kumar , SD Burman had given Rafi one of the tragic raag Pilu, the song was“ Tere bin sune nayan hamare”. It was composed on the same lines as “ ami chinu eka basoro jagaye” in Bengali, sung by SD Burman himself. Other notable creations of SD Burman were “Aise to na dekho” in raag Gara in the film “ Teen Deviya” , “ hum bekhudime tumko pukare chaalegaye” in “Kalapani”, 1960 and “Din dhal jaye” in Guide, 1965 *.


In the film “ Lal patthar”(1971), Shankar jaikishan had composed for Rafi “ unke khayal aye to ate chaale gaye”in raag gara. There the nostalgic mood of badshah was presented by Rafi.Other quality creations of Shankar Jaikishan included “ Aji ruth kar ab kahan jaiyega” in raag desh in Aarzoo(1966) starring Rajenderkumar, “ Khudabhi asma se jab zamin par dekhta hoga” in the film ‘Dharti,” “ mujhko apne gale lagalo ai mere humrahi”( Humrahi, 1962) “surahidar gardan koel sihi awaz”in the film “ Aman”. The lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri.


In creations of OP Nayyar, Rafi had mixed the eastern passion with western flavour. So in the song “Zulfke chayon me chehreka ujala lekar” in “Phir wahi dil laya hoon”(1963) written by Majrooh sultanpuri or “ Mujhe dekhkar aapka muskurana” in “ Ek musafir ek hasina” (1962) picturised on Joy Mukherjee , or “ Tukre hai mere dilke ai jan tera aansoo” in “Mere Sanam” (1965) picturised on Biswajeet, we find the voice floating with western air to suit the compositions.


Besides Rafi ‘s voice had been used in “Kabhi khudpe kabhi halatpe rona aya” (Humdono, 1961) by Jaidev, “Parabatoke Pedo par shamka basera hai’by Khayyam, “ ek sawal tum karon, ek sawal hum Karen” (Goonj uthi sahnai, 1959) by Wasant Desai.There were other composers also in those decade who had given their best creations to Mohammad Rafi. It is difficult to compile major songs of the legend who did sing around 25000 songs in a span of 35 years. But the songs are expected to be preserved for future generations as rich historical remains because the alfaz (words) and sur ( musical composition) were created not mechanically, but with the deepest thoughts from the core of the heart.


Tragedy King Dilipkumar had rightly said that “jaise indradhanush ke andar saat rang kaid hai, usi tarah rafi ki awaz ki ehmiat tafteez karne ke liye mere pass alfaaz nahin hai”, Meaning the way the seven colours (vibgyor), are immersed in a rainbow, in the same way it is not possible to express the significance of Rafi’s golden voice in words. An Archive on Mohamad Rafi’s works should be established where the creations of musical giants can be preserved. Furthermore the future generations can get inspiration for rich creation in future.


* [My father Sri Chittaranjan Chatterji, Ex Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall Court,Kolkata had interviewed classical Bengali singer “ Manobendra Mukherjee” who said his performance in the Bengali feature film “ Lalubhulu” featuring a blind and a handicapped young boy as friends was superceded by Rafi’s performance in the Hindi film “Dosti” for which Laxmikant Pyarellal won their first filmfare award in 1964.Manobendra Mukherjee said it was Rafi only who could have matched his performance .]

Article By: Souvik Chatterji.

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