Did R.D.Burman really preferred KK over Rafi?
This article is written by Mr.H.V.Guru Murthy.
A regular browser to web site mohdrafi.com, having gone through the letters of Rafi lovers would assume that R D Burman did not utilize Rafi properly, instead he preferred Kishore Kumar. Because of this reason, Rafi Fans are still upset with RDB even though he passed away a decade back.
Yes, it is true that RDB preferred KK over Rafi during early seventies. For that matter, which Music Director or Actor or Producer or Director will not have his preference. It was well known that Raj Kapoor always preferred Mukesh, Manoj Kumar preferred Mukesh or Mahendra Kapoor, B.R.Chopra films had Mahendra, MD Ravi also had plenty of songs with Mahendra so also O.P after he broke with Rafi. Similarly OP always had either Asha or Geetha Dutt and never Lata. Salil also used all other Singers. Director Subba Rao insisted on Mukesh for SAATHI even though the hero was Rajendra Kumar and MD Naushad, two Rafi Fans. Even Kalyanji Anandji had many films with Mahendra Kapoor, Mukesh and KK even though Rafi was instrumental in their raise through JAB JAB PHOOL KHILE, AAMNE SAAMNE, etc. LP, by all means Rafi Bhakts, used KK regularly in the early seventies even for Rafi heroes like Jeetendra, Dharmendra, etc. SJ also switched over to KK in movies like MAIN SUNDAR HOON, DIL DAULAT DUNIYA, KAL AAJ AUR KAL, etc. Of course, the music standard came down a notch or two in that period. But, well, it is their prerogative to have whomsoever they wanted though I am sure in heart of heart, why even openly, they would have admitted the superiority of Rafi over all other Singers. Similarly, RDB also used KK for almost all his movies in the early seventies as perhaps he had some special chemistry with him.
However, let us not forget that RDB used Rafi extensively during late sixties as his main playback singer right from the first movie. He gave hit music with Rafi in TEESRI MANZIL, NAQLI NAWAAB, CARAVAN, PYAAR KA MAUSAM, THE TRAIN, ABHILASHA, ADHIKAR, RATON KA RAAJA, etc. Later during late seventies he returned to Rafi and gave hits like SHAAN, HUM KISISE KUM NAHIN, ABDULLAH, ZAMANE KO DIKHANA HAI, etc. In between, he had Rafi in CHANDI SONA qawali with Mannadey (Ek Shok Hasina Se), YADON KI BAARAT (Title song and who can forget the duet with Asha Chura Liya Hai Tumne), DIL KA BAADSHAH (this Raj Kumar starrer had all songs by Rafi), THE GREAT GAMBLER (Raftasa Mera Naam), SHEHZADA (Solo Tere Attaroo and duet with Lata Kaahe Ko Bulaya), etc.
If a person cannot appreciate the greatness of Rafi, then it can be safely concluded that the person does not have a sense of music. Of course, RDB was a good MD though not a great MD like Naushad, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, SDB, etc. RD would have definitely known the great qualities of Rafi, the Singer. Just because he did not use Rafi extensively as one would expect, let us not degrade this MD who gave us some good songs in CHANDAN KA PALNA, PADOSAN, HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI, AJNABEE, AMAR PREM, SANAM TERI KASAM, BHOOT BANGLA, BAHARON KE SAPNE (Rafi solo Zamane Ne Maare), PARICHAY, KINAARA, APNA DESH, ZAHREELA INSAAN, RAMPUR KA LAKSHAMAN (Pyaar Ka Samay with Lata, KK and Rafi), 1942 – A LOVE STORY, KATI PATANG to certain extent, etc. though he gave some very mediocre music in films like DEEWAR, SHOLAY, KITAAB, ZAKHMEE, RAFOO CHAKKAR, NAMKEEN, DHARAM KARAM and BIWI O BIWI (so un-RK film like), etc. so many forgettable movies as for as music was concerned.
The irony of RDB was either he gave good music or petered out to a very mediocre music in so many films. I read some where that Shashi Kapoor called RD as National Anthem Music Director. In those days, theatres used to play National Anthem at the end of the movie and the Hall doors used to be shut till the completion of the Anthem. As soon as the Anthem used to commence, our in-disciplined people used to rush to the Hall Door and wait for the door opening. Similarly, whenever RDB songs commenced in most of the movies, people used to rush to toilet.
Still, it is not fair that we use harsh and sometimes, un-parliamentary language against any body if they differ with our views. We cannot forget the contribution of all these MDs, Heroes, Singers, Directors, etc. in making the Indian Film Music so rich.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Ganeshji, I fully agree with you. The duet from MAYA - “Tasveer Teri Dilme” is a very good song, sung beautifully by both Rafi and Lata. But if observed closely, Lata’s efforts seems to be laborious while singing at high pitch, her voice becomes shrill where as Rafi’s voice is very steady even at high pitch. I personally feel, Lata is a great Singer, but at high pitch, her voice always became shrill, where as voices of Rafi, Mannadey and Mahendra Kapoor used to be very steady even at high pitch. Recall songs like “Zindabad Zindabad” from Mugha-E-Azam, “Na Muh Chupake Jiyo” from Humraaz, “O Duniya Ke Rakhawale” from Baiju Bawra, “Subaha Na Aayi” from Cha Cha Cha, etc.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Mr RD Burman was born as a single child to legendary MD SD Burman in 1939. Md Rafi Saheb was already an established singer in 1946. RD Burman started calling himself great by 1966 (Post Teesri Manzil) and started critisizing near perfect voice of Mohd Rafi to steal limelight.
He worked under his dad and carried on the seniority to his advantage. Anybody who listens to RDB’s singing and not condemning must be a fanatic. It is something like Amitabh’s son Abhishek became superstar within a year. Rather than calling RDBurman great and in turn insulting music and real greats like Madan Mohan, Shankar Jaikishan etc, RD BUrman and Asha husband wife pair should be called as commercial greats.
I will want to write more within a few days on this subject and welcome anyone who can correct me.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:40 am
I do not know whether it is appropriate to condemn RD on this forum, but reading his comments about Rafi saheb do not seem right.
He is the only music director other than Anil Biswas who have spoken indiffrenetly about Rafi saheb. I remember listning to special programme on Air India flight by Asha Bhonsle. She mentioned that When Aaja Aaja was to be recorded for Teesri Manzil, Asha was apprehensive of taking it on and RDB told her not to turn it down, but take a week or so to reherse and then decide on whether to accept or decline this number. When querried by Asha as to the male singer’s comments on singing this number. RDB stated that Rafi Saheb had accepted the song unconditionally. Only on hearing this that asha took up the challenge. Soft spoken and underplaying Rafi Saheb and loud mouth RDB are gone. Could someone approach Asha Bhonse for clarification. TRust me I heard Asha’s voice in that programme.
What is RDB as compared to Rafi Saheb. RDB does not figure in best five MD’s of Lata She called Madan Mohan, SJ, Salil Chaudhrey etc her favorites. No other personality other than Asha Bhonsle raves about RDB as the greatest for commercial reasons. RDB’s linking OPN-Rafi chemistry to being Punjabis. Thank God one was hindu and the other a muslim, otherwise RDB might have thrown religious bond also.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
ref post 290:
naveen ji, give me a couple of weeks, and I’m going to respond in kind. It has been a one-way street all along (form raju to the world); we’ll give it back in kind. It’s going to get ugly.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Why is raju bharatan not “reporting” that r.d.b. recorded songs
in the voice of rafi saab , gave it to Kishore saab and then
recorded in KKs vocals……
the songs are : Mere sapnon ki raani kab aayegi tu; roop tera
mastana and the released Pyar ka Mausam number : tum bin,
jaoon kahan, duniya me aake……
raju want’s to rake in controversy like raakhi so that his
columns are widely read..
rafi lovers please do not become victims of their personal agendas..
binu nair………
January 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Who is liar and who is lieing….
r.d.b or raju bharatan ; well i have a clue.
a naushaad ali saab aide tells me : composers make the singers
sing. all the singers make ‘great mistakes’ like singing, like
all we individuals in real life..do….
that’s why when senior singers are being rehearsed the composers
do not allow any outsider to come to the ‘rehearsal rooms’.
only rafi saab has acknowledged the composers role..
o.p.nayyar gives credit : 50% to the lyricists, 25 each to the
composer and the singer.
does anyone know that in a joint recording of asha-kishore
composer pyarelal walked off since KK was not calling the
“tune” right. only laxmikant and asha saved the day - for kishore da.
these things always happen and hence r.d.b. and raju have
their own “axes” to grind - if ever such episodes … ever happened.
binu nair.. the rafi foundation…. mumbai..
January 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Can anybody even imagine the song “Aaja Aaja” from Teesri Manzil by any other Singers other than Rafi and Asha. Either RDB did not know what he was taking or Raju Bharatan has misquoted RDB either unknowingly or knowingly to create controversy and gain cheap popularity, no sorry, notoreity.
January 8th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Naveen,
RD makes a comment that Rafi Saab had issues grasping the nuances of the Teesri Manzil song. RD also states that he had a tough time dealing with him in the’Tumne Mujhe Dekha’ song. More importantly, he talks of the Punjabi comfort level that Rafi saab had with OP Nayyar.
Lata stops singing with Rafi Saab as he allegedly struggled with the ‘Tasveer..’ Maya song, as a much-needed excuse for a break-up due to the Royalty issue.
On the other hand,
Anandji (of the KA duo) mentions that Rafi Saab was extremely fast at pick-up (the same person who utilized Kishore a lot more than Rafi)
OP in the special Jaymala radio program mentions the same unique grasping prowess of M Rafi.
Rajesh Roshan mentioned that M Rafi never needed a take-home spool for picking up a song and was always ready when needed , obviously referring to Kishore who preferred this as habituated by RD
Laxmikant Pyaralel clearly mentioned that Rafi Saab was the only singer who could sing 6 songs in a day for them, when recording techiniques were not as advanced as they are today, a feat that they admired a lot.
None of the other MDs who worked with Rafi (Naushad, Madan mohan, SD, Ravi, Roshan, SJ etc) have never mentioned anything about Rafi’s struggles with “nuances”, even though the level of difficulty of their Rafi songs was much higher that RD.
So I have no option but to take these comments from RD with a “pinch of salt”. The “Punjabi” comfort he talks about only show the regional prejudice that RD and other such MDs have been perenially suffering from.
As far as the Maya song is concerned, the end result shows that Rafi handled the “antara” much better than Lata. His “Jahan hai Kadam Mere..” is extremely smooth and effortless, whereas Lata had to scream at the top of her lungs for “Naino ka Kajra” to achieve the desired effect….I would urge you to listen to the song very carefully.
And for my final 2 cents, Rafi has sung the ‘Aaja Aaja” much more effortlessly and eloquently than Asha who overdid the part in an enthusiam to prove that she could do it better than Rafi, as a bet that she keeps talking about in her interviews. And by the way, she had rehearsed 15 times for the song for the same reason… did RD mention that?
Cheers.
Ganesh
January 8th, 2008 at 7:22 am
P. Haldar,
Just to follow up on your post # 263. In reference to my previous posts about L-P’s success, I was mentioning how L-P were successful and reached the top spot due to the quality they produced. If S-J didn’t have their problems, I feel they would have continued to be the top MD’s. This does not mean S-J didn’t produce quality 1970 and onwards, ofcourse they did. I feel S-J produced quality all the time, right from their debut, all the way up to Jai’s passing away, and even after, when Shankar was composing solo, he still managed to come up with good music.
There are two Rafi songs composed by Jai in 1970 from the film ‘Bhai Bhai’ that are diamonds, they are, “Mere Mehboob Tere Dam Se” and “Ek Tera Sundar Mukhda”. These two are really beautiful gems, and show yet again that Jaikishan was the master at love songs.
January 8th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Naveen - that is the problem - I tried to do the same. But that site is such trash that they don’t post the feedback!
January 7th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Halder Sahib,
Ref post 272. I am in total agreement with you.We must protest with reason.We can’t let Mr Bhartan distort the history. Do you have any ideas as to what we could do , though. Perhaps posting comments on the HT side where this article appeared or writing to the editor may be a good start.
Thanks
Naveen
January 7th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
ref post 281
Mohamed: I’m not sure if RD Burman was a racist (I *think* some of his training was by Ustads and so it is likely he’d be aware of the beauty of the relgion) but I do agree 100% that Raju Bharathan was a racist. It must have hurt Raju Bharathan to see Rafi Sahab rule the 60s. I didn’t want to bring up that issue because it is very sensitive. It is a shame that this guy will try to drag RD Burman’s name into this and give him a false, image.
Ignore what this garbage writer has to say - he will have no impact on Rafi Sahab whose golden voice is like eternal sunlight that is always there.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Post 281.. please keep aside communal feelings from this site…
binu nair… the rafi foundation…
January 7th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Post # 285: If Raju Bharathan hates Rafi Saheb, then I hate this Raju Bharathan infinite times.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
so this writer frequently likes to defame rafi sahab. his quotes are often very suspicious. he has given suspicious quotes SUPPOSEDLY from rafi sahab, talat, rd burman, etc. a lot of his articles could very easily be fabricated - it is criminal.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
hussein sheik,
exactly. i highly doubt rd burman said those things. this raju bharathan HATES mohd rafi. i don’t know why and it isn’t worth thinking about. he is the same person who tried to start trouble against rafi sahab with anil biswas and kishore kumar + public lashed at him. this trashy writer made baseless insulting remarks again & again against rafi sahab - the worst when he called rafi sahab’s “baabul ke dua” from neel kamal a “vocal gimmick”. this is the song, as you probably know, where rafi sahab cried because he remembered his own daughter whom he gave away 2 days before. music director ravi was extremely happy with the sincere rendition - else he could have asked for a retake. don’t waste your time / thought on this trashy writer - ignore him. i wish he could be charged in court for defamation but there’s little legal proof as rdb is no longer alive and this so called interview was 17 years ago. in a country where arrest warrants are issued against richard gere & shilpha for something silly - we can’t do something against unlawful defamation of an angel who is the pride and joy of this country? well, at least raju bharatan got his press and at least he’ll be REMEMBERED (unfortunately) for that anil biswas piece - he must be happy. doesn’t matter - he’ll never be able to make a dent on rafi sahab’s immortality or prevent the many many new generations of fans who will be in awe of the everlasting voice.
- Manish
January 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
The greatness of s.d.b. dada or the finesse of roshan saaab
their wards could never reach…..
but they are better than other kids of famous men and women..
remember - nothing can surpass ‘quality’ or ‘originality” they
become immortal…..
i totally disagree with r.d.b ’s conduct towards the king of
playback singhing - farishta mohd rafi… who had this strange
habit of giving the roses in his backyard - a bad name, unlike
the 99% composers who worshipped - rafi saab.
binu nair….
January 7th, 2008 at 10:19 am
refer to d post 265,,
it was nothing more than cheap publicity stunt by mentally sick raju bhartan…
he also maligned rdb’s name through this crap…
January 7th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Mr. XXX, (Ref Post 276):
Yes, RR definitely was great in his early period, and during that time he gave outstanding music. True, RD was a trend-setter and the reason why I said I feel Rajesh Roshan was also a trend-setter is due to the type of music he created, and he brought something new to HFM. Yes, you could say that RR’s music at times had the RD “aroma”, there may be some similarities between their music, but in my view RR’s music was different. I feel Bappi Lahiri was more of an RD copy, from his rhythm to his arrangements. Bappi also had his own style of music, but he was also from the RDB school. RR’s music on the other hand was not based on the RDB school, but was original and creative. The style he brought was totally new and refreshing at the time, which is why I consider him a trend-setter.
RR’s rhythm was also unique and different. He introduced many rhythm patterns that became a part of his signature, one example is the ‘muted congo’ rhythm, and his percussion was different than that of other composers, including RD. The style in which he used the drums, bongo’s, tabla etc. was his own too. In many songs, you can notice the trademark RR percussion that became his hallmark. As I said before, there may be some similarities between RR’s and RD’s music, and this includes rhythm as well, but RR’s rhythm patterns were different and his own.
I feel RR’s orchestra was also different from that of anyone as well. If you take a look at RR songs, you’ll notice the unique way in which he uses his violins, and arranges his instruments, all in his own style.
To be called a great music director, or a music director of merit, one must show consistency of quality over an extended period of time. One must also bring something new by way of style to their work, something by which the listener can identify the music director with. Rajesh Roshan fits this description, which is why I consider him a great MD for the innovative and trend-setting music he made. Every music director has their share of inconsistencies, including RR, but that should not take anything away from their achievements. RR also has quality albums in every decade, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and the current decade.
Composers such as Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik and others have used RR’s musical grammar in their compositions. So just like SJ and RDB set a musical grammar used by other composers in their songs, RR also set a grammar used by composers as well. This is another aspect that makes RR a great MD.
Yes, Ravindra Jain was great as well, and had his own nice style of music. Out of all the debutantes in the 70’s, I feel RR brought the most freshness, and all of them made great music during that time.
Soon I will share some interesting things on one of RDB’s greatest experiments that also involves Rafi saab.
Cheers
January 7th, 2008 at 9:24 am
he was racist without doubt a strict hindu rdb
thats reason he couldnot understand the great RAFISAAB
January 7th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Raju bharatan ..seems to start some contoversy everytime. he is considered good journalist but with his latest article on HT “Pancham visited”, his article talk abt more that how rafi is inferior that KK and asha. Article doesn’t talk abt overall music.
i doubt that RD ever said that or raju may be making it who knows. not sure what can be done now to counter that.
mind it RD peak time was till 75-76 as everybody gets it chance to luck. as with time, music changed and in last years. he was literally out of work, it doesn’t take away his greatness and work.
for me Rafi sa’b and KK were compliment to each others. true gems for HFM. rafi saheb was more versatile than KK. KK was at his best in plain straightforward songs with his voice.
more than KK talent, it was time, change of music, public taste in 1971 where kishore excelled with RD. in his last years, rafi voice was strained/degraded (in my opinion) due to 40 years of singing.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:58 am
Anonymous (Ref Post 270):
Jaikishan’s last recording was Lata’s ‘Gaya Bachpan’ from “Aankhon Aankhon Mein” produced by J. Omprakash who also happened to be the producer of Rafi’s last song in “Aas Paas”.
I don’t think Jai had any doubts for Rafi being his number one singer. Rafi was the greatest singer, and there was a huge difference between Rafi and Kishore in terms of singing, and the reason for SJ’s use of Kishore was primarily due to his popularity after Aradhana. As can be seen S & J continued using Rafi like before even when Kishore had become popular at the time, so I think it would have continued to be the same had Jai lived.
After Jai passed away, things started going downhill for Shankar, and the SJ team lost many banners, a good number of them went to RDB. Some examples, the film ‘Seeta Aur Geeta” started with SJ in the credits (from Screen Magazine), so it probably would have been SJ’s music in the film. The film “Bobby” would have definitely gone to SJ as would have “Namak Haram”, the producer of NH Sateesh Wagle was one of Jai’s best friends. There is a chance Sholay might have gone to SJ as well, after Jai’s passing away the Sippy’s made the move to RDB.
Jaikishan was a genius and so was Shankar and I am sure had Jai lived, they would proved yet again that they were a magical duo, and the whole 70’s scenario would have been different.
January 6th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
refer to d post 263,,
mr.p haldar,
i liked & agree wd your point
“”how well sj could exploit kishore’s strengths (like the burmans) and not expose his weaknesses, which pancham unfortunately did”"
this simply shows d intelligence of duo of prolific music composers(shankar-jaikishan)….
January 6th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Post 265: It is unbelieveable even “if” R.D. Burman said that Rafi Saheb was unable to grasp the nuances of “aaja aaja…” from Teesri Manzil. Mix the talents of both RD and KK, both will not equat to Rafi Saheb’s talent. RD made wrong choice of singers. Rafi Saheb sang more difficult songs than “aaja aaja…” under the baton of SJ. RD was a fool “if” he said so! Why he didn’t say it at the time of the song’s recording? All fake stories.
January 6th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
refer to post 269
mr.myk,
its really nice to hear from you abt the unreleased song of hkkn,, i was not aware of dis earlier.. well dats y i appreciated ur knowledge, also a person residing so far in canada & still know so much abt hfm, its really gr8,, well i will definiately do something regarding dis …
now regarding rr as i said earlier that he was awesome in his initial 6 years but aftr that suffered from mediocrity(exept few movies)…
also acc to me rdb was trend setter & rr was trend follower..
it doesnt mean that he entirely followed rdb trend but yes he definiately picked up clues from the rdb’s tunes & rythms…
as that kangha tarang,, rr used it many times,, also in some movies like des-pardes, bato bato mein,, his music & orchestra gives d feel of rdb,,, also in many songs he used the same rythm patterns as used by rd,, well not exactly same rythms like rd but we can say that he used d rythms having same theka as dat of rdb’s rythms…..
in short we can say that rdb gave the particular thaat in 1971 & rr created his own raag on that thaat…
however rr also had his own distinctions like
1.first english song.
2.first rap song is also in the rr’s bag(tune abhi dekha nahi fast version wd kk)
3.first composer who made legendry actor amitabh to sing..
so i think he was awesome from kuwara baap- yaarana but later he suffered from inconsistencies,,, so i cant term him as a great composer although he is known to be as a nice human being & very humble person….
on the other side rj was in his own league,, his music was so much pure & original,, i like his music,, although he also suffered from inconsistenceis in later 80s but he bounced back in 90s wd heena…
well there is no doubt in my mind that rr was more versatile but i think rj contributed more freshness in 70s,,
although both mds were highly talented… but i think rr was slightly towards rdb’s bracket…