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.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
this picture is taken during recording of heeralal panalal song seedey raste chalonge to next to puncham da is kishore da not in the picture
July 17th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Ref Post 35 and 41
“Coming back to RD. I believe the song that KK sang so well - the famous “Tum bin Jaaoon kahan” was first sung by Rafi and the spool passed on to KK for a week to improve upon. Is it an acceptable norm ?? If yes, than credit must go to KK to improvise on Rafi version, but if not than it is unscruplous on the part of RD and KK. I read somewhere that towards the end, most of his movies/songs flopped as Bhappi Lahiri was able to give RD taste of his own medicine and overtake him in his own field.”
>>>>Yes KK sang it well but does that equate to he sang better than Rafi……it is indeed a ridiculous proposition. Both songs had different moods, tune and situation. For me Rafi’s version excels as it has so much of romance and elan in the song. KK has sung good songs even before that period and those songs get no mention in the desperate propganda of KK fans. Shows how much they know of HFM and KK.
>>>If at all Rafi must be given more credit to sing the hindi version he KK had already sang the bengali version. The idea that RD asked KK to better the song makes one sick in the stomach. If this is true then the case is clear, RD had a problem with Rafi and the conspiracy theories discussed above are actually true. Its like asking some third rate actor to better Dilip Kumars or Amitabh’s performace.
” Yes, it’s true that RD copied/adapted tunes from others. But so did Anil Biswas, S. D. Burman, O. P. Nayyar, Roshan, Hemant Kumar, Shankar-Jaikishan and Salil. That is something that almost everyone indulged in those days. Sometimes there were copies of copies, like from sd to roshan to rd. After all, it’s “bombay meri jaan”.”
>>>>Yes but then these MD’s are not treated like demi gods further look at the percenatges of plagerism. RDB leads the chase. Further all his so called great songs are not original. Others did but handful and they are not even known for those songs. ? Dont you see an ethical and moral problem with that?
>>>Seriously as Rafi fans we must not even be slightly bothered about why and how RD side lined Rafi so that KK could make some bread ad butter. It is meaningless as Rafi’s quality could never be reached by any singer.
>>>Commercially he may have had a setback for some time (72 -74) but for a man who sang free several times and was not a business man, this woud be the most insignificant thing.
>>>Infact Rafi was unhappy about the quality of music that was produced in 70’s. One cant count the number of decent songs in that era. Lets face it KK got to sing better songs but that does not make him a better singer tha Mana and Mukesh let alone Rafi.
>>>The rigged charts and the nexus behind them had also a very dirty and big role to play, the producers made their decisions based on the charts and pressurised MD’s to use KK.
>>>But when it was a question of quality, they knew they had only one option and that is Rafi. Can you imagine that he was called in 1973 to re-record a song that was sung by KK, the title song of ek mahal ho sapno ka. The producer was disapointed with Kk’s singing and called on Rafi….isnt this enough proof about the fact that KK was used more as a means to make some quick bucks and not to achieve excellence in singing.
>>>It is a joke that with all that backing and popularity he lost film fare awards to Mukesh, Chanchal, Mana Dey, Yesudas and Rafi. Come on guys….this is amazing stuff that the popular choice award going to others and not to the popular singer of that period.
>>>Much has being said and will be said in future about Rafi but people cant change one thing and that is Rafi still rules and has a fan following second to none, a vast majority of great MD’s, singers and critics have Rafi as at the pinnacle of singing in HFM. We are not living in an ideal world there will be a miniscual proportion who would like to term everything that shines as gold when in reality they are useless pieces of scrap.
Rafi ran the marathon of singing and KK joined the race in the last 100 meters, led for the first 50 and still could not win the race…..the wise here will get my point.
If there was ever a synonomn for winner, it is Rafi.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
The sad version of “Tum Bin Jaun Kahan” sung by Rafi has not been released but appears in the film. This is the strategy followed by Pancham to promote KK over Rafi. Plus the romantic version sung by Rafi is effortless. If one listens to the word “Chaah Ke” in the song, Rafi resonates the word like a tuning fork, where as KK sings it straight. Plus the antara of the KK version does not appear effort less like Rafi. The plus point in the KK version is only yodelling.
Coming to the 71-75 phase Rafi has rendered many songs which were beyond the capability of any singer to render them. Though it was a KK era but Rafi Saab was called for delivering such songs. The few songs sung by Rafi in this era were all mega hits. Since Rafi was a complete singer the so called “lean phase” was not really applicable to him since he delivered very few gems and was very there in the lime light. This was not case during 60s for KK, since he was never a complete singer.
Comparing the database on both Rafi & KK website it has been observed, that between 1948 to 1969 KK has delivered a max of 25 songs in a year. Where as Rafi was delivering far more number of songs per year during 1971-75. Another fact in 1980 Rafi has sung more number of songs then any singer, though he lived only for 7 months.
The Rafi come back was very much engineered by LP. LP’s use of KK was unique which was totalling different from the Burmans. During the 71-75 phase compared to Pancham there are equal numbers of hits by LP for KK. The only difference was Pancham certainly composed more number of songs for KK. Plus LP never missed any apportunity to use Rafi Saab, so was Madan Mohan and other composers excluding Pancham.
Once LP were on the top i.e. during the mid 70s. there immediately brought back Rafi and gradually started side lining KK. If one carefully observes KK has not sung many songs for LP during the 80s. KK sang max songs for Bhappi Lahiri during the 80s compared to Pancham and other composers.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Dear fans
All music directors were indebt of Rafi sahab. He gave his best to everyone. He didnt need music directors like R.D.Burman. It was R.D.Burmans good luck that he could approach Rafi Sahab.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
ref post 35:
“Coming back to RD. I believe the song that KK sang so well - the famous “Tum bin Jaaoon kahan” was first sung by Rafi and the spool passed on to KK for a week to improve upon. Is it an acceptable norm ?? If yes, than credit must go to KK to improvise on Rafi version, but if not than it is unscruplous on the part of RD and KK.”
Yes, it’s acceptable because Rafi has sung many, many songs that were initially dubbed by other leading singers. In fact, the Aradhana songs were supposed to be dubbed by Kishore and then delivered by Rafi. SD used to employ this ploy quite often; he even used to record the same song in different voices and select the one that’s the best. But no one knows of a single Rafi song that SD discarded.
The “tum bin jawoon kahan” tune was originally sung by Kishore in Bengali. Then rafi sung it in hindi, followed by Kishore in Hindi. It only shows how much in awe Kishore was of rafi. Rafi couldn’t care less. Even after listening to “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” thousands of times, neither kishore nor lata could come close to the original. The trick that rd employed in this song was different; he played to kishore’s core strength: yodeling. The kingmaker (as prakash ji rightly said) was strategizing on how to dethrone the emperor. It didn’t work then, but it worked later. I’m surprised that people on this forum can’t see through the puzzle.
Hemant, Talat, Manna, Kishore, Geeta, Lata and Asha played a lot on the bengali stage. Rafi and Mukesh didn’t. More on that later.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
according to shakti samant rafi saabs sabattical for many months
post 71 created the vacuum and Kishore Kumar stepped in to fill
the slot.
Even Latas three month foreign tour enabled singers like Kavita,
anuradha and others to take centrestage which Lata could never
digest.
Laxmikant - Pyarelal the composers never again became the blue
eyed boys of Lata after their daring association with the above new
singers.. the relations simply cooled off..
so lata was their benefactor who became a detractor in later years.
binu nair
July 17th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Dear Rafian,
What i believe is Till late sixties all md has one and only mohd.rafi as a choice in playback singing for heros like shammi,dilip,rajendra,dharmendra,jeetendra,and numeroes others.
In seventies a flow of new star sons like Rishi,sunny,and newcomers like mithun,govinda,kumar gaurav,aamir etc entered so mds started using shailendra singh,amitkumar,firstly for this boyish look 2nd generation and after they established as heroes md started using kk(For club,stage,and jazz type songs) for them,so there is no groupism or unfair deal md’s part i sees to not using MD.Rafi.RDB was working as asst.md with father sdb,and sdb had high respect for rafiji and it shows in early film of rdb using rafi when he started as md.The whole scenario and image of film set up of hindi cinema has change between 70-75.What i believe that “hame aaj ki tarikh me rafiji ke achhe songs sunke “luft” uthana chahiye.aur ye kehna ke rdb ki vajah se kisika achha ya bura hua to ye to ye dikhata hai ki rdb jaisa koi king maker nahi tha?is kadar ki baate rafiji ki tohin nahin to kya hai?
July 17th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Venkat ji, thanks for sharing your thoughts. You are one of the most knowledgable rafians I’ve encountered over the years. Reminds me of my days growing up in Kolkata where there used to be people with encyclopedic knowledge of film music and the personalities involved. At some point in time, I’d like to share my top 25 rafi songs with you; let’s see if we agree on at least 15. Let me assure you that my list won’t include any post-1971 songs.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:03 am
In regards to my previous post about SJ and RD vis a vis western music, all three, SJ and RD were trend-setters and handled western music in different ways.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:58 am
ref post 34:
myk, there are other rd films in the 1970-75 period like Parichay, Khel Khel Mein and Anamika that also had hit songs. I just gave you a sample. I have to listen to the songs of Amir Gharib and Prem Kahani to figure out whether they compare with the list of rd films that I had provided. There were songs like “Soni aur Moni ke ek jodi ajeeb” and “Prem kahani mein ek ladka hota hai”, but I don’t think you are talking about those songs. The songs in Bobby, Mehboob ke Mehndi, Daag, Aan Milo Sajna were definitely good.
I am also a bit amused to learn that Sonik Omi produced more hits than RD; now that’s something! Kishore was always a great singer, no one disputes that. Everyone — including Khemchand Prakash, C. Ramchandra, S. D. Burman, Shankar Jaikishan and LP — had used him in the 40s, 50s and 60s. The truth is that none of them was able to elevate him to even the no. 2 position, which was perenially held by mukesh. Kishore reached the no. 1 spot after the twin blasts generated by rd: Amar Prem and Kati Patang. My question to you is why did rafi have to wait for six long years before rd composed “Kya hua tera wada”? What were sonik omi, lp and ka doing? It’s true that the rajesh khanna wave had a lot to do with kishore’s success, but to keep rafi sidelined for six years needs something more than that. And that something was rd’s music. There were three md’s who could have helped rafi remain in the No. 1 spot, a position he had maintained since 1952. They were SD, Jai and OP, all master trend-setters. The first decided not to, the second died in 1971 and the third lost his midas touch. LP tried his best over the years and his AAA score did support rd’s hkkn score to some extent to elevate rafi to the top, but it is a fact that hkkn was rafi’s comeback film. If someone does not want to accept that simple fact, so be it.
Even when Kishore used to be the voice of Dev Anand, everyone from OP to SJ to Salil used rafi on dev; such was rafi’s dominance. And look at chhote nawab; in a couple of years, he switched all rafi-based actors, including Jeetu, Dharam, Sanjeev and Shashi, to Kishore. And you guys are telling me that Kishore’s rise had nothing to do with rd’s music. Please note that producers/directors like Ramesh Sippy, Ramesh Behl and J. Omprakash were not Bengalis.
Yes, it’s true that RD copied/adapted tunes from others. But so did Anil Biswas, S. D. Burman, O. P. Nayyar, Roshan, Hemant Kumar, Shankar-Jaikishan and Salil. That is something that almost everyone indulged in those days. Sometimes there were copies of copies, like from sd to roshan to rd. After all, it’s “bombay meri jaan”.
There was always a certain amount of freshness and unpredictabililty in rd’s music. And, as I’ve said before, I was waiting for another “Tumne mujhe dekha” and another “Ni sultana re”, but that was not to be. The farishta must have seen shades of jai in pancham; here’s a video of him enacting “tum ne mujhe dekha” on stage.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bCGC1t0iaTk
Incidentally, the last time I heard the farishta perform in Kolkata, Narinder Kaka, Leslie Godinho and Anabel Castro — the lead performers in his orchestra — played the “piya tu ab tu aaja” tune before the genial giant stepped onto the stage. The jalebis and halwa that the two were sharing were the signs of a great second-innings partnership to come, but destiny had other things in store.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Haldar Ji, Reg. post no. 28, what you suggested (ie. Rafi Saab should not have allowed the patch-up with Lata during 1967 and thus should not have revived her life as a duet singer!) is true, but if Rafi Saab could do that, he would never have been Rafi Saab!
He is the saint who has sung free of charge for many small-time MDs! But, by encouraging them so, he could give us some wonderful songs under these lesser-known MDs!Incidentally, he holds the record for having sung for the highest number of MDs (over 245 MDs in number!). So, from this one can make out how many of these must have been small-time MDs! A Lata or Asha would not even look at these people!
You have queried as to why MDs did not use Geeta much. One thing is clear and we have to face it! That is, Lata and Asha were not only very good singers, but their voices represented the beautiful, charming heroines! Like among male singers, only Rafi Saab’s voice did. Manna Dey says this in his language that Rafi Saab’s voice is hero’s voice. Among females, thus, none including Geeta could match up to these two sisters!
Having said everything, the bottomline is this! Genuine music-lovers with a real good ear for music, such as yourself, myself and others here and everywhere rate Rafi Saab as the greatest singer of all times, both in quality of singing and the actual songs sung, and also in the ’success’ achieved. And this conviction of genuine music-lovers is further reinforced by the superlative and passionate testimonies that are repeatedly uttered by legends such as Manna Dey, SP Balu, Jesudas, Ravi, S.Janaki and many many others. Mind you, these testimonies do not just say that he is a great singer, but they clearly and unequivocally say that he is the best of all for all times! As far as I am concerned, I know over 2500 songs of his, of which no less than 750-800 are real gems. Now, based on these 750-800 gems, I can confidently say that he is the ultimate singer that this earth has ever seen!
Venkat
July 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
if the article is true i think rafiji is the only singer escaped from the nefarious designs of certain group of coartists,thanks to his unmatched ability as a singer.we all know the special charector of a cuckoo(koyaliya)bird.though it sings beautifully it never lays it eggs on its own nest.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I think SJ more than picked out just a few points on western music, they were instrumental in bringing it to the fore front much before RD. In that sense SJ were the pioneers of western music, RD just introduced a new side of it to the audience and his rhythm patterns and orchestration was different than that of SJ’s. SJ also had their own unique rhythm patterns and orchestration as well.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Dear gurumurthy : we respect every artiste of the day : be it
a singer, actor, director, comedian etc as u said it.
I like Lata Mangeshkar s voice and ashas too.. truly great .
But , I will never excuse them for their nefarious roles in the film
industry - of intimidating rivals, running down the farishta mohd rafi,
spreading word that Kishore is better than rafi, their tantrums with
m.d.s, lata s frequent cancelling of recordings during her tenure putting
musicians to lose their daily earnings and other recordings, boycotting
music directors if they took other female singers and for often keeping
right talents from coming up.
runa laila was driven out from the industry every one knows and Kalyanji
bhai had a tough time for giving a song to this singer.
Laxmikant Pyarelal too were out of her good books once they begun
taking singers like anuradha podwal, kavitha krishnamoorty and
alka yagnik in the eighties when lata had gone on a foreign tour for
three months.
the list is long and it carries long tales of intrigues to keep their spot
and the cash : rafi saab did not fall in to the sisters grip; and hence
paid a price in the seventies when the sisters hit back at rafi saab.
but , all the intrigues could not dent the popularity of legend mohd rafi.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:25 am
If what mentioned in these posts about the conspiracy of Pancham, Lata and Asha is even half true then shame on them but why blame KK for their nonsense. The poor fellow was not even allowed to sing in chorus during the period Rafi reigned supreme.
KK fans surely go over the top and ridicule Rafi to raise the stature of KKnot knowing that KK was a total discard as a singer and without Pancham favors would probably settle down in Kandwa and never be heard of.
If Pancham was not a Bengali, he would have being ridiculed like the way Anu Malik is for his violation of copyrights and shamelessley copying tunes left right and cente. Also for argument sake if Rafi was from Bengal, these 3 bigots would have no problem with his elite class of singing.
The film industry is even worst than a whore house, at least in a whorehouse there are some principles, thet have none. Due to Rafi, may of them are successfull and today they do not even remmeber him. KK treated these pigs well, he treated them like shit. Rafi was too honorbale and to classy for this industry.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:53 am
I am reading the blog on RD Burman and how he promoted KK. I expressed my views earlier also. To me first of all RD Burman should not be termed great. Yes he was instrumental in introducing Wetsern music in a big way. Earlier MD’s like SJ picked only bits and pieces from Western music. To me SJ , Madan Mohan and even LP were greater MD’s. Percentage wise even OP Nayyar, Khayyam and Sonik Omi would score over RD (It is songs rendered and popularity - only in terms of percentages) RD may score in number of movies and songs. RD is lucky to have a wife in Asha Bhonsle who is out and out commercial singer like our cricketers playing slog overs. I watched her live programme in Vancouver twop months ago and listned to her live interview/talk show. Firstly she is well past her prime. I was disappointed to hear her more or less plead promoters to call her again. She promotes RD’s songs and herself.
Kishore da was a brilliant singer and it is incorrect to say that RD promoted him. Yes RD also got the best out of Kishore in Kati Patand, Amar Prem etc, but to talk of RD only is insult to Kishore da. We now know that Aradhana wave and Rafi’s absence from Bombay in 1970-71 of 8 months. I have another interesting observation. Rajesh Khanna also brought in a wave of Single hero (No Mehmood/Johny Walker type of parrallel story). Pre Rajesh Khanna era invaribly had a song by the side hero. Overuse of Rafi Saheb’s voice for side hero/comedian or even father also made listners feel the need for a change. KK was there to grab it with both hands. Genius and singer with golden voice Rafi saheb’s ability to mould his voice to suit any face also turned against him. KK almost always sang only for the hero - that helped.
Coming back to RD. I believe the song that KK sang so well - the famous “Tum bin Jaaoon kahan” was first sung by Rafi and the spool passed on to KK for a week to improve upon. Is it an acceptable norm ?? If yes, than credit must go to KK to improvise on Rafi version, but if not than it is unscruplous on the part of RD and KK. I read somewhere that towards the end, most of his movies/songs flopped as Bhappi Lahiri was able to give RD taste of his own medicine and overtake him in his own field.
I do not agree that Lata-Asha sisters kept Rafi Saheb out. Post Aradhna the wave was such that the main singers title went from Rafi to Kishore. Good news today is that nobody is the main male singer be it Sonu, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Udit or even Himesh. Yes amongst ladies, Alka stands tall.
I know that RD could play almost all the instruements, but to become an MD at such young age is the gift/blessing of being SD Burman’s son- Same as Bhappi’s son turning into an MD as a teenager. Reminds me of a 15 year old Doctor parents son performing surgery in Chennai.
It is better we talk more of great MD’s and not include RD in the list. To me, he was very good and above average at best. If he helped KK, then KK helped him more than RD deserved.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:15 am
Hi P. Haldar,
I fully agree with you on RD’s albums both popularity and quality wise. I can add a few more to that list, mela, adhikar, raaton ka raaja, chhalia, benaam, humshaqal, ajnabee all had great music by RDB. Here are some LP films at that time (1970-75), Aan Milo Sajna, Khilona, Mehboob Ki Mendhi, Haathi Mere Saathi, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Jal Bin Machli Nritya Bin Bijli, Piya Ka Ghar, Bobby, Ek Nazar, Daag, Ameer Garib, Prem Kahani etc. These films had great music as well and were popular too.
True, its not always good to go by box office stats, BL will never be a better MD than MM even if he sold more, but sometimes its interesting to see what albums sold the most. LP never had a dull period for a long time after they took over SJ, Laxmikant once said RD kept them on their toes once they were able to take the number one position. I know you lived through that time, I have not, my father also lived through that time as well, but LP were always consistent as was RD in that 1970-75 period.
For me, RD’s best music came when Rafi saab was still alive. This is my opinion of general music itself, it took a turn for the worse after Rafi’s death. RD could never repeat the success of HKSKN until 1942 ALS, but even after HKSKN he had great albums in Ghar, Mukti, Devta, Kinara, Abdullah etc. but in the 80’s his music didn’t have the same kind of experimentation and in many of those albums it felt as if he was giving music for the heck of it. There are exceptions such as Saagar, Ijaazat and so forth but definitely not the same as before. His best in my view was 1966 to the very early 80’s with those Rafi-based films.
I also agree that RD overlooked Rafi on many occasions for his best tunes. If half of those tunes that he gave to KK went to Rafi, it would have been excellent, what a waste of an opportunity. If RD didn’t have this bias, his repetoire would have been much better. I don’t think an award in the name of RD was the best thing to do, that is giving him too much credit for no reason.
Take the film Chhalia (1973), RD used Rafi, Lata, Mukesh, Asha, Kishore and Vani Jayram for the songs. Asha was given two solos and a duet with KK, KK had only the duet with Asha, Mukesh and Vani came together for a duet, and there was each a solo by Lata and Rafi. IMO the Rafi solo “Aye Jaan-e-Wafa” was the best of the film followed by Lata’s “Aa Mere Saathi Aa”. That Rafi solo was proof of what RD and Rafi could come up with if RD wasn’t blind-sighted by Kishore, a beautiful song, the guitar is just excellent. Wish we had more such solos from RD-Rafi during that time.
Also, the RD-KK partnership can get quite repetitive, this is hardly the case for any Rafi-MD combo’s and RD also used KK for songs that should have gone to other voices.
There was a post about trend-setters mentioned, after Pancham, Rajesh Roshan was another trend-setter in his own way, with Julie he created another musical grammar that was followed by N-S, Anu Malik and others in many of their films.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:29 am
Ref Post 19
Pearl….explain me plz in what way RD was great……..
Great people are creative and do not scheme.
Here are a few of the tunes that he stripped from others…..the list is endless.
Raju chal Raju – Azad
MD: RDB
Oginally Composed by Ervin Drake in 1961
‘Karo baaten mulakaaten’ – Bhanwar
MD: RDB
Orginal Donovan’s 1968 hit ‘Jennifer Juniper’
Kabhi Bekasi ne mara – Alag Alag
MD: RDB
Original: ‘Kabhi khwaishon ne’ from the Pak film, Mehrbani, sung by Akhlaq Ahmad and composed by M Ashraf.
Aap sa Koi Haseen – Chandi Sona
MD: RDB
Original :Gharibeh Ashena, composed by Shamaiezadeh and sung by Googoosh in the early 70s.
Jab Tak hein Jaan – Sholay
MD: RDB
Original ‘Jomeh’, by Iranian singer Googoosh, who is one of the most famous Iranain singers
Kahi Na jaa – Bde Dilwala
Music: RDB
Original: French singer Edith Piaf’s 1946 number, ‘La vie en rose’.
Aja O mere Raja – Apna Desh
MD: RDB
Original :’Blue Light Yokohama’ by Japanese singer, Ayumi Ishida
Chura lita hein – Yaadon Ki Barat
MD” RDB
Original”: If it is Tuesday a Belgium song
Kaisa Tera pyar – Love story
MD: RDB
Original by Abba’s I have a dream
Tera mujse hein – AA gale la ja
MD: RDB
Original: ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ by Elvis Presley
Mehki thandi hawa – Bombay to Goa
MD: RDB
Original : Beach Boys number ‘Help me Rhonda’
Mera Kaha Manoge : Gurudev
MD: RDB
Original:Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound machine’s ‘Oye mi canto’
July 17th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Venkat says: From then on, I had many pieces of further evidence regarding the utmost meanness of these ladies!
I often wonder why and how God has bestowed upon these mean mercenary creatures such great musical talent!
Adulterated talent kaho Venkat ji. This lady is sanile, arrogant and thankless.
Let me share this…..I hope KK fans are reading, they call her Asha Tai (he he)..said Sanjay dutt sings like KK……well its on record.
Any KK fans here to comment on their Tai….lol
July 16th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Friends, what sparked off this heated discussion is I guess my comment in response to Anmol Singh’s comment on Kishore playbacking for Bharat Bhushan. Let’s not continue with this thread because for some of us the wounds are still raw and we keep losing sense of our objectivity. The rafi tent is big enough to accommodate everyone: S. D. Burman and his son, Roshan and his son, Sardar Malik and his son, Chittragupt and his sons… Under this huge tent, there will always be mini-camps for the different md’s, so let’s learn to respect the followers in camps that may not be our favourite ones.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Friends, I want to share an interesting experience with you. On a recent visit to Kolkata, I switched on the radio to listen to hindi songs. There was a time, even in the recent past, when four out of ten songs used to be rafi’s. Not anymore, because the orkut babes have taken over the fm channels. To my surprise, 70% of the songs being played on this channel (that too around midnight) belonged to rd, kishore and asha. Anyway, here’s the interesting part. The rj went on and on about the greatness of rd and then made this startling announcement: That rd went to pakistan to convince parveen sultana to sing “hume tumse pyaar kitna”. And parveen sultana agreed to sing only after she was offered Re. 1 more than Lata’s rate. I thought I was having a bad dream because Parveen is from Assam, married to a bengali. My cousin has even carried her tanpura to stage at the famous Dover Lane Music conference in Kolkata. But I was not dreaming; I was wide awake listening to the garbage that is being spread in the name of music.
July 16th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
When RD got his first flim)chote nawab)RD said he went to Mohd Rafi to sing for him that time Mohd rafi was so busy but Mohd rafi singed for him.
We mohd Rafi fans mosly like RD music but we don’t agree that he was the best.
Media tried to sideline Mohd rafi from 1970 to 1975 the Media did that but from 1976 to 1980 the Media with two sisters lost because how they can win from God gift singer,Thanks to God that we lost Mohd Rafi when he was at the top,that was a gift of God to a great human and singer.as said by OP nayar world will not forget mohd rafi.where is Lata ji today?
July 16th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Dear Venkat ji,
In hindsight, I think rafi should not have patched up with lata. Suman and Asha were doing a wonderful job, why bother? Also, I want to know your thoughts on why none of the md’s brought in geeta to partner rafi. Given that her voice was so good till as late as Aavishkar and Anubhav, why didn’t the top md’s — especially sd, sj and mm who had worked with her earlier — use her services? I can understand op sticking to asha but what about the rest? After all, Geeta was accompanying Rafi on stage shows even in 1963, when the spat with Lata started.
July 16th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Dear friends,
This is a new experince for me about Rafi sahab, how talented he was , sorry,
“he is”. every one’s voice / singing style can be copied , like suman did for lata no one can make out who is singing ? sure lata, but no, suman kalanpur.
( Chale ja chale ja jaha chele ja pear male)or so many others. but she victimised of dirty politics, led by great singer like lata mangeskar.
But Rafi sahab had, sorry, having a unique voice which can not be copied.
The truth is the quality of Rafi sahab can not be discribed in mare words
Thanks
Zaman
July 16th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
ref post 20:
sj, you’ve said it. I think rd was scared that if he gave rafi a half-way decent tune, rafi would come back. And that’s what happened with “kya hua tera wada”. As I’ve said a couple of times before, even if rd had given one-fourth of his catchy tunes to rafi in the 1971-75 period, the comeback would have been earlier, not in 1976. Long live the king!