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.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:34 am
myk and xxx, both of you have posted have very interesting comments, but this thread is devoted to pancham, and not to sd, sj, op, salil or sj. If we want to discuss these giants, we should switch to the threads created by souvik, instead of giving undue importance to rd. xxx, please do not bring in khayyam here; he was never prolific but the gems that he has composed will last for a few centuries. Unlike Naushad or OP, Khayyam was singer-neutral, at least as far as male singers were concerned, so his giving songs to Kishore is not surprising. But that may have more to do with Yash Chopra than anything else. Anyway, here’s Khayyam’s classic composition in Footpath for Talat:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=87rp-0ebZQk
And here’s his composition for an unlikely pair (Mukesh-Asha) in Phir Subah Hogi:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwiuj1BVzg
I challenge anyone to give a Mukesh-Asha duet that can surpass this one.
And with this, when we discuss sd, sj, salil or op, let’s switch to the respective threads.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Common belief is that after ‘Gambler’, Rafi sang for Dev Anand in ‘Manpasand’. However, before ‘Manpasand’, Rafi sang for Dev in ‘Jaaneman’ as well, released in 1976, the qawwali “Is mulaqat ka” composed by L-P.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:12 am
I would like to mention two songs that showcase the RDB-Rafi magic:
Nagma Hamara (Bundalbaaz): This is one of Pancham’s best ever composed classical songs. Look at the taans that Rafi and Lata have incorporated into the song, pure genius. Excellent tabla theka, and the sarod is outstanding, the way it has been played in is very emotional and touching. RD learnt the sarod from ustad ali akbar khan and he has showcased the instrument very nicely in this song. The flute, santoor, veena and violins have also all been used in a good way. This is one of the best and most beautiful Lata-Rafi duets, very soulful, haunting and divine.
Pyar Hai Ik Nishan Qadmon Ka (Mukti): This is the Hindi version of “Modhumash Jaaye” which was sung by Pancham in Bengali. A person I know said this song would arguably make it to RD’s Top 5. It is a masterpiece composition, again very soulful, haunting and divine. Rafi’s rendition is excellent, very emotional, and he does full justice to the tune. This song has a classical flavour and Pancham has made nice use of the sitar, flute, santoor among other instruments.
In both songs, the lyrics by Majrooh and Anand Bakshi respectively are nice.
The RD-Rafi combo is very under-rated, they have a lot of variety in their association.
Mr. XXX, what do you think about the above two songs ?.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:00 am
XXX-ji,
OPN tunes required vocal flexibility that only Rafi had. If you observe his melodies carefully, you can notice that they are unique and very bright and lilting in nature, along with the “sweet” factor that made him immortal. “Pukarta chala hoon main” has a signature intro piece on the guitar followed by Rafi’s very stylish rendition. Look at the way he not only matches Biswajeet on screen but puts his own stylish stamp on the composition. If another singer was singing they would probably end up shouting when reaching the high notes, but Rafi saab not only reaches the high notes with ease but its a soft rendition. Rafi was the only one who could have rendered “Toote hue khwabon ne”, no other singer had that capability which is why Salil turned to Rafi. With Rafi, no composer was restricted in creating tunes, the melody of this song is great, and Rafi takes it to such excellent heights. As you mentioned both songs have their highs and lows in notes, Rafi was the best at switching from high to low and singing songs with changing notes.
“Rahi Manwa” from Dosti is another one of those songs that only Rafi saab could sing. Look at the way he sings the stanza’s, from low to high, again out of the reach of any other singer, along with so much emotion. Pancham’s harmonica was excellent, as it was in “Hai apna dil to awara”, he really had a talent in playing this instrument. The part where he picks up from midway in the mukhda and proceeds to play in the interlude is very nice.
I would like to mention another Salil creation, “Dil Tadpe Tadpaye” from Poonam Ki Raat by Rafi saab, there are so many variations in the song that no other singer could have sung that, Salil turned to Rafi for this song and Rafi made this creation immortal.
As you mentioned, SDB was not in the best of health all the time in the 70’s, and others were in charge, so that may have led to Rafi saab not being used in his films. However what is surprising is that when SD was in a position to dictate terms, what made him choose KK over Rafi ?, even though he thought Rafi was the greatest singer ever. For example, giving songs to Kishore that should have gone to Rafi, SD rehearsed KK for “Badi sooni sooni hai”, before he went into a coma, this song was made for Rafi, not Kishore, Rafi would have made it one of the best songs of the decade. Anyhow, all this didn’t matter because SD’s best came through Rafi, but it would have been nice to see more of SD-Rafi in the 70’s. However, whenever Rafi sang for SD in the 70’s, it was a winner all the way. What is ironic is that, even if Pancham spread the Kishore wave, he used Rafi more than Dada during this period.
I think it was producer pressure that made Khaiyaam choose Kishore in his films. I don’t think Kishore did proper justice to Khaiyaam’s tunes. There is a film called Chambal Ki Kasam in 1979/80 in where there is a beautiful Lata/Rafi duet “Simti hui yeh ghadiyan” as well as Rafi’s “Sher ka husn ho”, both fantastic songs composed by Khaiyaam.
I agree, those Dev-RD films, music-wise, were not in the same league as SD-Dev films. The only ones that are great overall are HRHK and Joshila, the others have only one or two good songs, or are mediocre. I feel S-J gave better music to Dev than RD did.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Post 368:
re: Mukesh ji may i ask u, today - how many times u would in a
month listen to “Kabhai Kabhaie mere dil..” and how many times
u would “long” to hear tere mere sapnae or a din dhal jaaye or
chaundvin ka chaand ho or a suhaani raat dhal chuki or the many
songs which the legend rafi saab has sung to suit ur moods of the
time or the day…?
not using rafi saab is the film producers loss and that of everyone
who love “divine music”…….
binu nair…..the rafi foundation……mumbai..
February 14th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
thanx to khayyam sahab dat he gave some pride to mukeshji in his later years wd kabhie kabhie odrwise things wud have been worst for dis dear frnd of rafi sahab, among his(mukeshji) contemps rafi sahab was his fav, he admitted it many times…
thanx to rdb too, he also reserved some genuine gems for mukeshji like jis gali mein tera ghar na ho, ek din bik jayega maati k mol, suhani chandani raaten….
February 14th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
narayanan ji,,
khayyam sahab also did “thodi si bewafai ” wd rafi sahab like sdb & sj did in early 70s, might be on producers insistenece, might b some odr reasons, but it took nothing out of rafi sahab..
im agree wd u–”MDs who do not use Rafi sahab are at loss and not the otherway around.”
February 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
post 366
Dear XXX
Khayyam took Mukesh successfully in KabhieKabhie and it was dominated bythe singer well.But in case of Trishool and Thodisi bewafai it may be due to the producers as the actors were AB and RK.
He is no LP and the producers are no MKD n NH who are devotees of Rafi sahab.
Anyway the MDs who do not use Rafi sahab are at loss and not the otherway around.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
naushad sahab was gr8 composer, if somone interested in some class music dan plz check out dat naushad ji leading dis area, classical gems like pandit jsraj ji many times open heartedly admired d work of naushad sahab.. even his later songs like “jab dil se dil takrata hai” were songs of utmost quality..
im a classical music student and i know many odrs from d esteemed music schools of delhi, all of dem including their gurus have very high regards for naushad ji, not only among singers, naushad sahab is lovable among classical dancers too..
he is immortal, it was only & only genious of his tune dat made ustaad bade gulam ali khan sahab to sing in mugleaazam..
February 14th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Mr. myk
you mentioned some rdb-dev movies, first of all i want to mention that navketan banner lost its charm after 1971, that is why score of hare rama hare krishna was exception among your list,
heera panna– album with two catchy duets panna ki tamanna & bahut door chale jana hai
joshila– i think this was directorial venture of yas chopra, music was really awesome, kiska rasta dekhe, dil mein jo baaten hain, jo baat isharon mein kahi, kaap rahi main(rythm was awesome)…
ishq ishq ishq, bullet– mediocre albums..
warrant– two songs were nice ruk jana o jana, main tumse mohabbat karti hun…
but its a fact dat pancham never created same magic wd dev as his father created, one reason might b dat navketan’s standard of film making was also degraded post 71 as film making has lot to do with music , andr reason– dada was better than pancham…
and myk ji if u noticed that burman da neglected rafi sahab during early 70s as pancham spreaded kishore wave all over during early 70s. but wat went wrong in case of khayyam?? he utilised kishore for his 3 commercial gr8 movies kabhi kabhi, trishool & thodi si bewafai, i can understand dat dada was not well during those days and pancham might be manipulating the equations but why md of sensebility like khayam ignored rafi sahab???
anyways, 2morow i was listening d two gr8 songs of rafi sahab,, pukarta chala hoon main and toote hue khwabo ne.. mykji wats ur views on these two??
i think these two songs were beyond d capability of any singer,, juss go thru d notations, notations are not at all steady, some times notes are coming to lowre octave & than immediately going to higher octave sometimes landing beautifully on middle octave, i mean something extra odr than classical training were requirements of these songs, and only rafi sahab found eligible by salilda & opnji to render these highly modulated songs….
also salilda gave his most melodious solo to mukeshji but most challanging number from d same movie went to rafi sahab…
also wats ur views on d lp’s classic & inspirational gem “raahi manwa”, i think here we heard some odr rafi sahab who conveyed d msg through his ultrasoft voice, do xpress ur views on pancham’s piece of mouth organ also from d same number, i think he was best in dis business, dats y earlier dada employed him for “hai apna dil to aawara” and later lp for dosti..
February 14th, 2008 at 9:46 am
post 364:
every composer and each individual has a style of his own..
as r.d.b would never have composed gems like : bhagwan;
Mana tadapat, Madhuvan mein and a host of numbers, naushad ji
also would not have made a chura liya hai or a gulabi aankhen
type songs to perfection.
the songs based on classical tunes surely will last “more” than
songs which are “not”..
both naushad and r.d.b. lived in an era and gave music according
to the times - to become immensely popular.
binu nair… the rafi foundation..
February 14th, 2008 at 4:23 am
i agree with salil choudhury. rdb ranks among the best and naushad was overrated - he was very predictable. he lacked the versatility or ability impose himself onto the times rather than other way around. rdb had such genius that he could impose himself to even 1994 with 1942 love story. he didn’t let trash like aashiq banaya (that line repeated 20 times as criticized by lp) become the fad that music is today. naushad couldn’t even do that in the 70s. rdb’s music has no date whereas with naushad (people will still appreciate 50 yrs from now don’t get me wrong) - but you can easily tell he is from a certain period due to the style / fashion. with rdb - the only reason you can tell is because it is so good that no one has replicated since.
so i disgree with the article - naushad was a good composer, rdb was a gr8 composer.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I think they came the best when they togatter Naushand dilip Kummar and Mohd rafi,SJ or O P nayar shammi Kapoor and Mohd Rafi,SD Dev anand and Rafi
February 13th, 2008 at 5:06 am
I would like to add something else, with SDB out of the picture in the Dev-RD films, there was no need for Dev to call Rafi to sing for him, especially when he made the switch to KK in the 70’s. However with SDB there, Rafi could have been called at the insistence of Dada, which happened in Gambler. However in Prem Pujari, TMS, YGH, and CR, that did not happen which is why SDB might have decided to go with what Dev wanted these times, even if SDB may have wanted Rafi to sing for Dev in these films.
RD created Rafi songs to go on Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh, both whose main voices were KK, so maybe at the back of his mind he wanted to create Rafi songs for Dev. So like Dada, he probably went along with what Dev had wanted.
It would have been interesting to see a Dev-Rafi-RD combo.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:46 am
SDB rehearsed KK for “Badi Sooni Sooni Hai” from Mili before he went into a coma, RD then recorded the song. SD never had anything against KK, but what was the reason behind taking KK for songs that should have gone to Rafi ?. When SD was in bad health during the 70’s, others may have been in charge of his music, but when SD was in a position to dictate terms, what made him choose KK over Rafi, especially when he thought Rafi was the greatest singer.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:24 am
When I mentioned that SJ were one of Dev’s best composers, I was taking SJ as one team, but if you want to look at it in another way, you can say they were two of his best composers, since S & J composed songs individually.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:23 am
XXX-ji,
SJ composed excellent songs for Dev, they were one of his best composers. Those two duets are very nice, the one from Love Marriage shows how SJ set the trend and changed film music, the rhythm is unique and so is the orchestration.
Excellent description of the two gems from Gambler and Abhimaan. I agree, the SD-Rafi pair was in a class of its own. We know that SDB was not in the best of health during the 70’s, and others may have been in charge of his music, but when he was healthy, why didn’t he take Rafi saab more during that time ?. The combination of Rafi-SD would have been amazing in the 70’s, we got glimpses of it, but it should have been more.
SD turned to Kishore for the whole Sharmilee soundtrack, and he sang the songs well but Rafi saab would have done much more justice to those tunes. For example, notice “Kaise kahen hum”, KK cannot lift the song to great heights, his rendition of “Khilte hain gul yahan” is nice but is alright when compared to Lata’s rendition of the same song. Rafi is given no song on Dev for Prem Pujari, he gets the best song from Gambler filmed on Dev, but after that its no Rafi for Dev in Tere Mere Sapne, Yeh Gulistan Hamara and Chhupa Rustam, very surprising. Dev mentioned in an interview that he stuck to KK 1970 onwards because he realized in 1970 that he needed a more youthful voice to compete. However he missed the point that Rafi’s voice is the most youthful voice of all, and those KK-Dev songs in the 70’s are no match for what Rafi gave him previously. If this was Dev’s ideology, SD still had Rafi in mind for Gambler but after that he may have gone with what Dev had wanted, and the same with Pancham, when he composed for Dev, there is no Rafi, most likely that had more to do with Dev’s influence than anything else.
I mentioned Sharmilee, SD put KK on Shashi, in Naya Zamana, Jugnu and Phagun, SD put KK on Dharmendra, and even in Sagina, KK sang for Dilip, there is no Rafi in any of these albums considering he was the voice for all these actors and suited them the best. Abhimaan was the perfect time for SD to fix Rafi’s voice on Amitabh (as P. Haldar pointed out in one of his posts), but that didn’t happen. Rafi could suit any hero the best, and was the best choice to be the voice of every actor because he was the greatest.
Had SD lived it would have been interesting to see what he would have composed for Rafi in the later half of the 70’s decade. What is more interesting is that Pancham composed more for Rafi in the 1970-75 period than SD.
Coming to the Pancham-Rafi combo, Pancham is responsible for many of Rafi’s modern classics. Whenever the two came together, it was experimentation, innovativeness, melody all at its best. Pancham experimented a lot in his Rafi songs, I will give some examples soon.
XXX-ji, Pancham composed for Dev in the following films (there may be some more):
HRHK
Shareef Badmash
Joshila
Heera Panna
Ishq Ishq Ishq
Warrant
Bullet
Darling Darling
Swami Dada
Anand Aur Anand
Hum Naujawan
What do you think about these films music-wise ?. Compare the quality of music in these films with that of what SDB composed for Dev before. The music in these films was nice, but I don’t think it reaches the SDB-Dev level. Also had Rafi been there in these films, the output would have been more better.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
mr.myk,,
nice description have given by you on those 5 legendry songs…
im agree dat dev was lucky dat he got burman da for navketan,, also wenever i think of dev 0f 60s only sdb songs comes into my mind,, but wen i thinks of dev of 50s odr dan sdb’s gr8 songs,, d two most romantic duets comes into my mind immediately, both by sj
1.yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum(hemant da-didi)
2.dhire dhire chal chand gagan mein(raf sahab-didi)… sheer magic by sj.. juss listen wen rafi sahab sung “WO kya cheez thi milake nazar pila di” in second song.. great singer!!!
now regarding those two gems:::
teri bndiya re — no doubt best duet of 1973,, song starts wd roopak taal theka in tabla, then rafi sahab hums so melodiously,, i rate dis duet over any of lp’s bobby duets & rd’s ykb duets, dada as usually used sitar, santoor,tabla, basoori so beautifully, this song is romantic but on d odr side gives divine feeling too,, juss like conversation wd god,, juss listen to santoor music,, im really surprised dat how dada made dat much divine song in the era of “teeera tara tara tara & aah hahah hahahah” and no doubt rafi sahab was best person to convey d divine & romantic feel of d song,, didi also sung really well,,rafi sahab & dada burman,, both were maestros wd clean & divine conscience thats y most of their outputs were so silken,, unfortunately they didnt work much in 70s, but wenever they worked they created magic…..
mera mann tera pyaasa– needless to say anything abt this,, wdin gambler’s music there was all vs one, i mean “mera mann tera> dil aaj shayar hai + choori nahi mera dil hai+ odrs”.. as i said earlier that kk was nowhere close to rafi-sd pair,, specially their sweetness.. antras of dis song were sheer magic.. and as usually rafi sahab added his silken touch to d sweetness of d song…
now regarding rafi-rdb pair,, it was gr8 pair too,, gave some gr8 numbers to industry but this pair was not as magical as rafi-op, rafi-sdb, rafi-naushad(best pair), rafi-roshan, rafi-madan & rafi-sj,, but rafi sahab created magic wd rdb too, like gulabi aakhen, kya hua tera vaada, diwana mujsa nahin.. & many odrs.. and as you said earlier dat rafi sahab- rdb pair was gr8 mix of voice & music…….
February 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
How would have been “chingari koi badhke” - in the soft
mellifluous, melodious voice of the the ultimate singer mr. shoeb
(post) 354 ?
and imagine if r.d.b had not recorded songs of rafi saab first and
not given to Kishore ji ………..for rendering them, how it would
have been?
rafi lovers will add more songs to this list; i am sure and more sure.
binu nair. the rafi foundation.. cell 9833 250 701 .. mumbai..
February 11th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
respected guru murthy ji,,
sdb do came wd excellent albums in 70s too wd very high quality standards,, only there was difference of rafi sahab.. odrwise tunes & shayari were itself of very high standards..few of dem wre abhimaan,sharmilee,tere mere sapne,gambler,chupke-chupke, milli… dada & madanji gave songs wd high lyrical value in their later years too.. like dada’s teri bindiya,mera mann tera pyaasa, jaise radaha ne mala japi shyam ki… & madanji’s tum jo mil gaye ho, tum bin jeevan, rasme ulfat…….
February 11th, 2008 at 8:16 am
XXX-ji,
You have mentioned five of the best solos of not just the sixties, but of all time. I fully agree, those five solos were enough to prove Rafi saab’s superiority not only over the year but the decade as well. Imagine, along with that, the same year and decade, he had tons of other gems from SJ, MM, Roshan, LP, KA, OPN, Ravi etc, what a brilliant singer. This is not only confined to the sixties, but other years/decades as well. Rafi is unmatched brilliance in the 40’s/50’s/60’s/70’s/80’s, can any other male singer claim to match that ?.
I will briefly write on the songs you mentioned, so many things can be written on these five gems:
Tere mere sapne: One of the most romantic songs ever created, a beautiful melody crafted by Dada, full of emotions, Manohari’s sax is one of the highlights, along with the vintage Dada santoor, guitar, tabla etc. Rafi is just haunting in the whole song and in the “O mere jeevan saathi” line, none could have created the impact he did with this composition. This is a masterpiece composition. Bhupinder chose this song when asked what song best conveys the feeling of togetherness.
Din dhal jaaye: Another emotional gem, an amazing renditon by the Saatwan Sur. The tune is very touching, SD uses minimal orchestration and comes up with a winner. When Rafi sings, you can’t help but be mesmerized. In this rendition, Rafi’s rendition is soft, yet powerful, that was one of his amazing abilities as a singer.
Kya se kya ho gaya: Look at the pathos, range and emotional impact of Rafi in this song, and in the lines “Dil ne kya, na saha, bewafa” and “Hona hai, aur kya, bewafa”, no other singer in this world, past or present could reach such heights. The use of the chorus by SDB adds to the charm of the song. Shailendra’s lyrics in all these three gems from Guide are excellent.
Aise to na dekho: One of the best Rafi songs ever, look at the romance, smoothness, ease, confidence, strength, delicate nature, a very crisply composed song, what a masterpiece. Rafi also displays his teasing ability so well, his voice is magestic. This composition is based on Rabindra sangeet.
Kahin bekhayal hokar: SDB composed a ghazal that is as good as any ghazal from any composer (putting MM on a different pedestal). Another haunting gem, this composition could not have been attempted by any other singer except Rafi, since it had so many variations, and highs and lows. The tabla in this song is outstanding, vintage SD.
Dev Anand is lucky to have gotten these five songs in one year, as well as all those other Rafi-SDB songs. As much as I love the music of SJ’s Suraj, I think Guide deserved to win the Filmfare and even National Award for its music. Rafi saab won it for his Jaikishan gem “Baharon phool barsao”, and it would have been nice as well if he won it for any one of his Guide solos.
I fully agree, 1942 ALS was indeed inspired by Dada’s music. It showed that SDB’s legacy will live forever as long as music is alive. Also, notice how the line of “Kyun naye lag rahe…” in “Pyar hua chup ke se” is similar to Pancham’s own “Heera to pehle hi kisi aur…” from “Panna Ki Tamanna” by Lata-Kishore from Heera Panna. Agreed, Pancham was also amazing in his original music.
In 1971, SDB saves the creme-de-la-creme for Rafi in Gambler, “Mera man tera pyaasa”. In 1973, the best duet from Abhimaan was Lata-Rafi’s “Teri bindiya re”. This song is also one of the best Lata-Rafi duets ever.
XXX-ji, I would like to know from you:
a) Your views on the above mentioned two songs in the 70’s, from Gambler and Abhimaan ?.
b) How you rate the SDB/Rafi combo vs the RDB/Rafi combo ?. SDB/Rafi was in a different class all-together, but how about the songs Pancham created for Rafi ?. We have a lot of variety here as well, from romantic, pathos, to classical-based, qawwali’s, devotional, philosophical to all those wonderful solo’s and duets, probably Pancham’s most popular song ever “churaliya hai tumne”, those pop/rock/western-based ballads to the traditional indian based gems. Rafi and RDB spelt melody all the way. Also, Rafi won the National and Filmfare Award under Pancham’s baton. The very best of RDB involves Rafi saab.
February 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
well friends i think there are many songs which are sung by kishore Kumar which if sung by rafi sahab it would have been a great hit
Rafi sahab was a legendary singer , there was a time when music directors used to prefer only and only mohd. Rafi.
he was a great singer as well as a great human.he was having the in depth knowledge of classical singing.
Rafi sahab has sung almost every type of songs.
even if there were no songs of rafi with rdb then also it would not had made any difference in the popularity of Rafi
there were many MDs who were more talented then RDB and they only preferred Rafi.
today peoples and even some of the singers give more preference to RDB music over other such veterans MDs
Rafi sahab has sung about 24000 songs in his career so 100 or 500 songs with RDb will not make any difference to Rafi sahab
February 10th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Refer post no. 349 & 350. In fact, SDB’s excellent music extended up to 1969 Aradhana. How can any one forget music of Guide, Kala Bazaar, Kala Paani, Paying Guest, Teen Deviyan, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Talaash, Jewel Thief, Aradhana, etc. After 1969, SDB though gave good music but could not match his earlier standards. In fact, films like Sagina, Tyaag were disappointing. Reasons may be Dada’s illness, uninspiring lyrics or may be even RDB could have composed these songs.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
myk ji,,
wat a gr8 write-up!!,,
im agree wd u,, pancham juss provided d gr8 heights to d experiment done by his father,,, actually sdb & sj were pioneers of fusion music,,
now regarding ur question who is more gifted– no doubt sachin da,, more talented– sachin da,,, better composer– sachin da,, only field in which he leads sachin da is those gr8 rythm patterns
yes rdb was gr8 and outstanding talent but his father was miles away,, his father never intermingled personal & professional life,
rafi sahab aur dada ki jodi ka b apna ek alag mukaam hai,,
myk ji wats ur views on these 1965 rafi-sd solos??
1.tere mere sapne
2.din dhal jaye
3.kya se kya ho gya
4.kahin bekhayal
5.aise to na dekho…..
i think these 5 solos were enuf for rafi sahab to prove his superiroty in 1965(may b over d whole decade) over odrs.. im feeling really pity for odrs,, wat wud b d pic wd op’s mere sanam & sj’s arzoo,jaanwar & odrs from 1965…
also mr.myk, dont u think that rdb’s come back music aftr 10 years(1942als) years was inspired by dada’s music?,, and wat a gr8 music it was by rdb
and ya, dat song from ijazat “khali hath shaam aayi hai” is a teen taal version of dada’s “tere bin soone nayan hamare”,, similar notatios again…. but no doubt pancham was gr8 his original work is juss brilliant like in teesri manzil,padosan, amar prem,aandhi,kudrat,masoom….. and list goes on and on……. but sdb was really baap…
February 9th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Just on a side note, modern technology was even used before the late seventies and onwards, but when I mentioned it in my post, I was referring to when the stereo effect came into play.