This article is written by Mr. B.Venkatadri.

Out of years of my personal experience, I have come to learn that Rafi Saab is just not “Chaudhvi Ka Chand Ho” or “Din Dhal Jaaye Haaye Raat Na Jaaye” or “Aayi Hai Bahare Mite Zulmon Sitam” or “Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra” or “Badan Pe Sitare Lapete Huve” or “Aaja Tujh Ko Pukaare Mere Geet Re” or “Haaye Tabassum Tera” or for that matter, any of his well-known and popular songs running into hundreds! Rafi Saab, according to my estimate, has almost as many rare and lesser-known diamonds as his well-known and popular gems.

I thought it may be a good idea to deal with some of these Rare Diamonds of Rafi Saab in this forum, taking two at a time, as audio songs. Each time, I wish to take up one sober/melancholy number and one lively and happy number!

One word of caution, though. To a few people, some of the songs presented here may not be rare. But, if they are indeed rare and unknown (or even forgotten) to the majority, this series would have served its purpose!

Today, I have in mind the following two songs.

1.”Tere Kooche Me Armaanon Ki Duniya Leke Aaya Hoon” from Film:Dillagi (1949), composed by Naushad Saab.

Listen to Tere Kooche Me Armaanon Ki Duniya Leke Aaya Hoon

Friends, we need to always remember a couple of uniquenesses in Rafi Saab’s singing .

Mohd Rafi with family and friends

Firstly, he is a master as far a throwing in Sangats is concerned. What exactly does this mean? For example, in many of his best songs, each Antara is repeated twice and Rafi Saab makes the two repetitions sound so different and makes both the repetitions amazingly pleasant by using Sangats, to slightly modify the tune each time. Mind you, Sangats are normally deployed by pundits only in highly classical concerts, etc. But, Rafi Saab had masterd the art of using Sangats effortlessly even in many lighter songs!

Secondly, the feel and expression he pours into his songs by suitably modulating the voice is simply matchless. Sometimes, his voice gives out a tired and helpless tinge, as in this song under discussion. Some other times, it is a different feel and expression. That is why he is simply the darling of connoisseurs such as SPB, Jesudas, Manna Dey, Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, etc.

Just see the voice he deploys for this song. While his voice of the late forties and fifties is extremely fresh and by far his greatest, in this song, he makes it even better by adding that modulated feel to it. Of course, Naushad Saab had composed a divine tune, which was further enhanced by Rafi Saab.

Also, observe how his second repetition of each Antara in this great song beats his own first enunciation of the same, which by itself is out-of-the-world! For example, the first time, he says “Mila Tha Dil Se Jab Dil Yaad Kar O Bhoolne Wale” in a plainer way. But in the repetition, observe the extra emphasis he gives on “Mila Thha” and “Dil Se” and makes it so very attractive!

All said and done, simply a divine rendition!

Mohd Rafi with music director Datta Ram

2. Friends, do you know this excellent duet by Rafi Saab and Shamshad Begum from Film: Musafirkhana(1955), composed by O.P.Nayyar? When OPN is mentioned, many remember/know only his “Tum Sa Nahi Dekha”, “Naya Daur”, “Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon”, “Kashmir Ki Kali” or “Mere Sanam”, etc. This Musafirkahna (1955) has some very nice songs too, which are somewhat forgotten.

Today’s song is “Thhoda Sa Dil Lagaake Dekh, Nainon Se Muskuraake Dekh” by Rafi Saab and Shamshad.

Listen to Thhoda Sa Dil Lagaake Dekh, Nainon Se Muskuraake Dekh

The speciality of this Rafi-Shamshad duet is that almost the whole song is sung by Shamshad Begum and OPN uses Rafi Saab’s voice only to sing the interlude music, by keeping the instrumentalists almost away! Just hear for yourself and enjoy Rafi Saab’s “Tararampum Pampam Pam”s all through this duet!

The song is a lively and peppy one and was picturised on Johny Walker and Shammi.

I recommend friends to listen to each of the two full songs at least twice, in order to be able to appreciate their niceties

Lastly, shall be grateful for a candid feedback, which would help me assess the usefulness or otherwise of this proposed series.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Audio Songs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.