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.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
dear haldar sahab
can u give me any detail about kamal barot? where is she now/?
secondly,i think naushad and anil are pioneer in bringing classical music in films?
in raaga mian ki todi,there is only one song which was composed by khursheed anwar.what u think about khurishd anwar?
naushad said in an interview no one was been able to get out from been music of hemant except khurhid.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:19 am
ref post 172:
Mr. Kulkarni, what my friend wrote is that the kalavati raga is usually sung in a frivolous and playful mood, but Naushad cast it in a sombre mood in “Koyi sagar dil ko bahalat nahin”. RD used the same raga for the qawaali in HKKN that rafi sung so well. “Aaye bahar banke” is one of the most wonderful creations of SJ; rafi modulates his voice in this song so well! SJ created so many wonderful semi-classical compositions for Lata, Manna and Rafi. One song that I particularly like is “Radhike tu ne bansari churayi” from Beti Bete. The song reminds me of a classmate in college who used to play the sarod, and hardly knew anything about Hindi songs. One day he told me that no one could sing semi-classical songs like Rafi, not even Manna. His justification was based on only one song, the one mentioned above. He was particularly impressed by the way Rafi sang the mukhda. Note that SJ’s “Jhanak jhanak tore baje payalia” for Manna was based on the same raga.
Naushad, SD, SJ, Madan Mohan, Roshan, OP and other md’s in the 50s and 60s tapped into the gold in rafi’s voice. There was so much fluidity in his voice that he could easily create those Jinhe naaz hai hind, Zindagi bhar nahin, Man re, Jane kya dhoondti, Tumhari zulf, Meri awaaz suno, Din dhal jaye, Kabhi khud pe, Mere mehboob tujhe, Baharon phool barsao moments. You pick any one of these songs and you can be sure that 50 years from now, people will still be listening to it. That is the hallmark of an eternal voice! Commenting on whether his voice had lost its magical touch in the 70s would take us nowhere, but my guess is that Rafi will be remembered more for what he generated in the 1949-1971 time period than in the 1972-1980 period.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
What a funny line ! “RD preffered KK over Rafi” Who cares ! RD was not greater than Naushad Sabeb or SD Burman or Madan Mohan or OP Nayyar or Shankar Jaikishan. All music lovers know this (except a certaint community).
Rafi Saab was like a blessing to mankind from God. Those music directors were really lucky who worked with Rafi Saab. Every Hindu can not reach Kashi-Banaras and every Muslim does not reach Macca-Madina and every Christian can not reach Jerusalem. It needs great good luck and special blessing from up above the world. RD must consider himself a lucky one who worked with a legend like Rafi Saab. He must have known his “level” before talking a single line about Rafi Saab.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Ref: Post 170
Dear Haldar Sahab,
This is one of the many great songs sung by Rafi Sahab. I was a bit surprised that this song was composed on the same raga as that of the song sung by Manna Dey sahab! Surprised, because the impact created by both songs are totally different. While Manna Dey Sahab’s song was light and forgettable, Rafi Sahab’s ‘Koi Sagar” was full of pathos and unforgettable. This only shows what a singer of Rafi Sahab’s calibre can do to a song. He can take it to dizzying heights!
Another song which does not get its due is “aaye bahar ban ke” from Raj Hath. Can i have your comments on this pl?
Shirish Kulkarni
Rafi Foundation, Mumbai
098204 52562
September 20th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Haldar ji..
Your post I read atleast more than three times and I think how
our thinking on songs are so near and close. The same thing happened
last week when an UAE NATIONAL called me up and started paying
tributes to rafi saabs singing. He mentioned that even frivolous songs
sung by rafi seems so fresh and he mentioned the duet of ek phool
do maali :Yeh pardah hata do… note rafi saabs line : Jara maa ko
samjha do.. bas ithna bata do… hum pyaar karne waale hai koi gair
nahin…. this song i had listened the same day in a saloon over the
radio so i could feel how rightly a foreign national has studied
rafi saab songs. His knowledge about the music and what he told
about r.d.burman - also is so similar to what music lovers write in this
site.
the conclusion is that music lovers and rafi lovers think alike.
I look forward a list of 100 best songs of your choice of the great
farishta Mohd Rafi : so that we can comparte notes as also learn
of some songs which we have not enjoyed so far….
binu nair mumbai.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
ref post 166:
Mr. Cherian, I’ll respond to your question when I get more time, but here’s an email from a friend, who is a diehard SD fan. Please read his message carefully, because this person used to be a Kishore fan:
——
Soumen has presented me with a 4-CD collectors’ pack of 70-odd songs of Naushad. It is titled ‘Remembering Naushad’, and comes with a write up on the man and some rare photographs. One shows him greeting Raichand Boral and another of him in the company of Jaikishen and OP, all three in jacket and tie. Yesterday evening I went back 30 years in time. Not that I haven’t heard Naushad in between, but there were a few songs that I heard after a very long time. One such was ‘Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salami lele’ and another ‘Koi sagar dil ko behlata nahin’. The latter was a favourite with me even when in my youth I was a die-hard SD-Kishore fan. I’d like to believe that my musical taste and sense have mellowed, matured and become more refined since then. It may or may not have, but yesterday I played ‘Koi sagar’ no less than 3 times in succession and enjoyed it more with every hearing. In fact, if someone were to tell me that, barring ‘Hari Om’, it is the best song to come out of the Naushad-Rafi encounter, I should very likely stop to wonder if he might not actually be right. I say this with full realisation of the existence of the ‘Madhuban mein Radhikas’, the ‘Mere mehboobs’ and the ‘Duniya ke rakhwales.’ It is based on Raga Kalavati (origin, Carnatic), which is of a somewhat frivolous temper. RD-Manna’s ‘Zindagi hai khel’ from Seeta aur Geeta is also based on Kalavati, at least for part of the way. The second line of the mukhra, ‘Khilari hai koi, anari hai koi’ is pure Kalavati. It is amazing how Naushad could conceive it to be capable also of conveying a mood of gloom and pathos. I heard the second antara, ‘Zindagi ke aine ko tod do, is mein ab kuch bhi nazar ata nahin’ and wondered if Shakeel had written better lines in his life. But I have heard very few Rafi fans speak of this song as one of his best. I have never been able to figure out why.
September 18th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Dear Shri. Anil Cheriyanji,
With reference to Post no. 166, I am surprised to hear that people are of the opinion that quality of Rafiji’s voice fell after 1971. Where was the question of Rafiji’s voice quality suffering when he gave some wonderful melodies like “Teri Bindiya Re”, “Main Ek Raja Hun”, “Dilne Pyaar Kiya Hai Ek Bewafase”, “Dilka Suna Saanz”, “Ek Daal Par Tota Bole”, “Kahin Ek Masoom Nazuksi Ladki”, “Tu Is Tarahse Meri”, “Bade Bewafa Hain Yeh Husnawale”, “Chadi Re Chadi”, etc. etc. during post 1971 period. Of course, the quantity came down due to various reasons but the quality was maintained in spite of the fact that good songs from various movies like Kabhi Kabhi, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Mere Jeevan Saathi, etc. etc. were sung by other Singers. Also I am not sure whether Mr. Haldarji expressed this opinion in his columns.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
To all those who talk of post 1970’s etc.
Can they justify, post 1948 Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest cricketer ever was finished? or say our own great Sunil Gavaskar was finished post 1987 due to the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar or Sachin is finished due to the emergence of say someone like Dhoni? Can anyone touch Sir Donald Bradman’s average of 99.96. All the other great players including Sachin and Sunil Gavaskar or even King Richards have just managed to touch 50 plus average. For us, our own Rafi Saab is the Don Bradman of Music. Others may have achieved the greatness tag but that may surely be only 1/4 of Rafi Saab. Now all those who talk of post 1970, pl. answer. or else under your judgement even Kishore or say Abhijit or Kumar Sanu or even Sonu Nigam(the present day great singer and a follower of Rafi Saab) all will be placed much below that topiwala called “Himesh Reshammiya”, who was about to be slapped by another great “Asha Bhosleji”.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
what a pity for the famous R.D.burman. recently when the Govt of Tripura wanted to felicitate his mother they found her in a very very pathetic state in an old age home in stead of her being settled down happily with her daughter in law, an eminent personality.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Dear Haldar Sir:
I consider it an honour to be posing a question to you. You have, time and again hinted at a fall in the quality of Rafi Sir’s voice/ singing post ‘71. I can’t digest it entirely; if anything his voice was a bit inconsistent, unusually thin at times and unusually thick at times, however to me the voice sounded as melodious as ever. I checked up with the members of orkut community; they also seem to share the same opinion. Kindly enlighten us.
September 16th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Sathya-jity : Rafi came back to his rightful place because of the
fame of rishi kapoor … good joke .. hah… hah.. hah… post 163
u are a learned person. why dont u give credit to shri madan mohan
composer of laila majnu, usha khanna : hawas the song being teri
galiyon me na rakhenge kadam ( anil dhawan ) Laxmi-pyare,
manmohan desai and nazir hussain for rafi saabs comeback films
after his sabbatical ( rest of a few months ).
The king took his rightful place - after all and he also got a much
deserved break after more than two decades of non-stop singing
adulation.
binu nair the rafi foundation… binus2000@hotmail.com mumbai.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Please don’t fight with each other , as rafi sahab and kishor da had never fight
with each other, both are great singers , “but rafi sahab is rafi sahab” , please don’t compear rafi sahab with any one , as we don’t dare to compaire any one with lata ji.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Dear Mr. Rahul Or whosoever you are…
First of all… Please mind your business. I don’t feel that my comments on Mr. Mallik are rude. They are as similar as those which are seen, heard & accepted everywhere. Be it in Times Editorials OR even in a Judgment pronounced by any Indian Court.
Secondly, how does it concern you ?? You are not Mr. Mallik.
Thirdly, I know people from the industry who have worked with Rafi Sahab and Kishore Da. These are their views that I’ve made a research on and which I’ve compiled.
Fourthly, it is true that once Kishore Kumar went to the Top; all other singers including Rafi Sahab had a set back BECAUSE Kishore gave playback to almost all the Top stars at that time.
Fifthly, it is a well established universal principle that a person’s CAREER GRAPH IS NOT STEADY BUT goes on various frequency modes !!! Some people start off easily and then thump down. For some people, it takes time BUT efforts pay off towards the end.
Rafi Sahab started off well and then took off and touched the skies!! But after the entry of Amitabh Bacchan & Rajesh Khanna, kishore kumar was more in demand. YOU CANNOT DENY THIS FACT CAN YOU?!? Then, suddendly towards late 70’s it again picked up due to the fame of Rishi Kapoor.
I hope I’ve made myself clear.
September 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Post 155 : Mr.Satya -jit.,
What is the sathya or facts post 1970 in the hindi music scene.
Does a carreer of a singing legend end abruptly. Was Rafi finished
in 1970 ? an emphatic no is my answer and r.d.burman did not
succeed in his” bring down rafi mission”
U are talking about Aradhana film which had 2 beautiful duets of
rafi saab , one with lata and the other with asha.
Both these songs during the mahurat of aradhana were recorded
by s.d.burman before he got the stroke. If he would
have been all right, the next two songs also would have been recorded
in rafis voice. s.d.b ( dada ) fell severely ill and r.d.b his son brought
kishore kumar for roop tera mastana and meri sapnon ki rani.
Why I say rafi would have sung these songs is due to the fact :
rafi was the voice of all heroes then and the financers dictated , in
whose voice the songs will - be recorded.
Kishores luck and time had come - no doubt about it. But a caucus
or a group of composers - rooted for kishore. there was also large
scale rigging of songs and cash also played its part - to artificaially
boost some numbers. these numbers are forgotten by the peopletoday.
coming back to my view : rafi saab made a remarkable comeback and
in june 1980 : rafis 12 numbers out of 16 were being played in the
popular binaca geet mala. Will u say Kishore Kumar was finished in
1980 mr. satya-jit ?
binu nair. the rafi foundation cell no : 9833 250 701
September 12th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Namaste Binuji,Thank you for ur feedback I really appreciate,but plz don`t misunderstood the words that talks about best,,I didn`t talked about greatness I just tried to replace the word best,,well,good better and best is just comparison but greatness is beyond comparisions.Mus. Dir. Like RDB can surely be stated as gr8 for he gave or can be said had set a new direction to Indian Music Industry,as the act is great, Rdb is gr8 too.But as said word good better best is comparision or hence is relative,,,and refrence of all these comparisions and relativity in the ontext of Indian music is Indian Classical,the only music system of the world where the word melody exist in fact melodius form of music came out of ancient Indian classical.And on the scale of Indian classical,,,we can deciede good better best,or if u want western music scale ,,u can`t say anyone best who copied composition of other composers and made smashits,,,,,see Mr A R Rehman Saab,,,what a wonderful and original skill he has ….
September 11th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Post 159 : rahul ji…
all these music makers wre ” great “. please do not have any
doubts over this.
Only thing is that these great men had some real follies in them
barring a few.
these follies brought them thundering down the ladder.. you can
think about these follies and you will get the answers.
Mohd rafi saab is a lotus - who thrived in murky industry waters
like a lovely lotus in all its glory.
Did anyone say that he was without any “blemish” and that he was
the smiling face of “divinity” itself.
binu nair Mumbai the rafi foundation binus2000@gmail.com
September 10th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Well, many comments are against this statement that RDB was not best Mus Dir,,,well, its true,,,,what we say best is better than all, and hence is one ,,,unique and peerless,but how his music be peerless,when most of hits is inspired by some hit western song like that of Anu malliks….I know there is no comparision between two,,, but,,Its about coping the song,,everyone know it,,,and as far as indian classic is concerned undaubtably he was at the last lane among the other legends like his father himself.
September 10th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
As far as I can understand SATYAJIT SWADI is most ill mannered person for replying such a heart felt article by Mallik sahab.Beacuse of lack in classical flavour this kind of people for their egoistic nature don`t desrve sigers like Rafi.Rafi Sahab had a divine voice,everyone should agree on it,and divinity never decline,,then who the hell has given you right to judge decline in his career.Well, even Kis Kumar(read in wikipedia)left singing himself stating that songs had too degraded and below standard to sing,,Is this mean Kk had decline or his career ended???? what rubbish…!!..Divinity…is beyond standard.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
dear friends,
personally I feel the melody started showing decline from the 70s, and then further accelerated post 1980…..
Till today the 50s and 60s are called fabulous,everlasting n evergreen contributed n dominated mainly by the great Lata,Rafi,Mukesh followed by ,Manna dey,Asha,Hemant,Kishore and Talat.
The music was also dominated by SJ,OPN.Naushad,SDB,Madan Mohan,Roshan,Ravi followed by RDB who picked up after70…
The true Golden Greats were the period from 1950-1970 remembered by the oldies n youth….
August 29th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Dear Mr. Mallik,
By cleaning your “YEARS” I mean please go back to the past and refresh your memory about Rafi Sahab and Kishore Kumar’s past achievements.
If possible, get in touch with people from the Industry and verify your comments with them AND then see what response you get.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Mr. Ritesh Mallik,
Please clean your years and educate yourself by learing ‘music”.
Why R.D. Burman preferred Kishore to Rafi was because by early 1970’s; Rafi Sahab’s career was almost on the verge of declination and simultaneously Kishoreda’s career sarted picking up. (Kishore who had patiently awaited for 15 years to make it at the top.)
R.D. Burman is a music director par excellence !!! He made his father Sachinda proud of him as Zakir Hussain did for Ustad Allah Rakha!!! R.D. has revolutionised Hindi Film Music after O.P. Nayyar and nowit is A.R. Rehman.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I slightly differ to agree with what Mr. Shirish Kulkarni has said as per article dated 3rd August, 2007. In those days…music directors like Naushad, S.D. Burman, Sajjad Hussain, O.P. Nayyar, Shankar-Jaikishen etc. believed in PERFECTION. They just wouldn’t care a damn if the singer resisted even slightly !!! Be it Lata, Asha, Rafi or Kishore.
Naushad Sahab has said that it took him 20 rehearsals for “Oh Duniya Ke Rakhwale” to record !!! And by the time the song got recorded, Rafi Sahab’s throat started BLEEDING.
Yes… its true that Rafi recorded “SIX” (Not Five) songs for Laxmikant-Pyarelal and that though without any dubbing techniques which are used Today.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
In music shows/concerts - audience ask for Baiju Bawra, Kohinoor,
Tere ghar ke saamne, Jab Pyaar kisi se ho hai , guide - rafi nos,
Mahua, Taj Mahal , Kaajal, Junglee, Jaanwar, rafi qawalis and other
olden goldies - and not songs from hare ram hare krishna…
and Naya daur with a rupee 4 crore re-colouring and hum dono in
colour will make new again - for its songs..
binu nair..
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Ref: Post 146
Dont quote that movie’s name. Nobody remembers that. We dont need any lessons from Benarzir Bhutto’s choice of songs. Like her, both are out dated and are flogged to life by vested interests. As for as your comments about college girls clamouring for some some stupid songs, it is puerile to say the least.
Your justification of remixes is childishness at its best!. This is a serious site of music lovers. You will be better off at orkut.
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Ref: Post 148
I am quiet surprised by the comment that Rafi Sahab used to take time to pick up a song’s tune!. Historically, it is well known that Rafi sahab was quick to pick a tune and finish the recording within stipulated time. In fact, it is documented that Rafi Sahab memorised and recorded 5 songs in a day!
In any case, if Rafi sahab had to take more retakes, it could be because of the fact that often he had to sing difficult songs, sing as if the actor is singing and add his own touch, unlike other singers whose neeyat was kharab but singing was dead pan straight!