This article is written by Mr. Anmol Singh.

The Eyes which are an integral part of our body are a gift of nature. Eyes can give an expression without words. The portrayal of love, emotions, fear, confusion, mischief, solitude, pain, cruelty, truthfulness, etc can be expressed through eyes. In the golden era of 50s and 60s when love was expressed through sensuality, eyes played an integral part of the characterization of a role. This provided a lot of scope to writers to pen down some of the evergreen writings in the form of songs, dialogs, scripts, etc.

Let’s start with love through eyes. Perhaps the best song which expresses love through eyes is “Teri Aankhon Ki sewa Duniya Mein” from Chirag. These beautiful eyes belong to Asha Parekh. The blinking of eyes has been compared with sunrise and sunset. Rafi gives the perfect expression of love to each and every word of the song. One more for Asha Parekh is the song “Yeh Aakhen Oof Yumaa”. Here Rafi Sahab mixes the Masti with Romance to match the stylish Dev Anand. Another gem delivered by Rafi Sahab for Dev is the song from CID, “Ankhoon Hi Ankhoon Mein Ishaara Ho Gayaa”. The song from Bharosa, “Yeh Jhuke Jhuke Naina” is again for the beautiful eyes of Asha Parekh portraying honestly. Rafi Sahab sings for Guru Dutt on screen. For Guru Dutt there is yet another classic sung by Rafi Sahab from the film Pyassa, “Ham Aap Ki Aankhon Mein Is Dil Ko Basaa Den To”. The onscreen actress is Mala Sinha the one with big eyes. Who can forget the heart throb of the 60s, Sadhana. Some of songs written on her beautiful eyes include “Chalke Teri Aankhon Se” from Arzoo and “Mere Mehboob…..Phir Wohi Nargee Si Ankhon Ka Sahaara Dede” from Mere Mehmood. Sadhana’s expressions are stunning in both the songs. Rafi Sahab gives playback for Rajendar Kumar in both the songs, where he provides different expressions. The first one is a fun cum romantic song and the latter is a romantic ghazal where the lover has only seen the beautiful eyes during a close encounter. Sadhana’s eyes have been compared by a beautiful flower (Nargees) in the latter.

The song from Aarti “Ab Kya Misal Dun” includes a line “Aankhon Mein Hai Chaman Ki Jawan Raat Ka Suroor” which is great expression of gorgeous eyes of the “Tragedy Queen -Meena Kumari”. Her eyes have been compared with a pleasant evening breeze passing through a garden. Rafi Sahab does complete justice to this incredible poetry written by Majrooh with the perfect mood. One unforgettable score “Bahut Hasin Hein Tumhari Aankhen” is truly mind blowing and somewhat different from most the romantic songs. This is the beautiful eyes of actress from south Ragini.

Mohd Rafi

There is another song on the beautiful eyes from the film Naina, “Hum Ko To Jaan Se Pyari Hai Yeh Kaali Aankhen”. These are the eyes of Moushumi Chatterjee, which kept hunting the hero (Shashi Kapoor) of the film. Once again Rafi Sahab gives a perfect expression for the hero who is search of these beautiful eyes. From the film “Mere Hum Dum Mere Dost” there is a song “Chalkaye Jaam Aayeeye Apkee Aankhon Ke Naam” picturized on Dharmendra singing for Sharmila Tagore. Rafi Sahab without influence of alcohol drunk gives a perfect expression as per the situation.

Love for eyes can also be expressed through Mischief (Masti / Sharaarat). To start with is a classical based song “Akhiyan Sang Akhiyaan”. Then there is a folk song from “Ganga Jamuna”; “Nainlad Jaihen”. This is for the round and beautiful eyes of Vijyantimala. Rafi Sahab matches Dilip Kumar’s masti the best in this song. On similar lines is the song “Dekha Hai Teri Aankhon Mein”. Once again it is for the big round eyes of Vijyantimala picturized on Dharmendra. Of course there is another unforgettable song “Gulabi Aankhen” from the film “The Train”. Picturized on Rajesh Khanna is for the beautiful eyes of Nanda. From the film “Kashmir Ki Kali” there is a song “Ye Chand Sa Roshan Chehra” has a line “Ye Jheel Si Nili Aakhane”. Picturized on Shammi Kapoor, Rafi Sahab has given maximum playback to match his every possible aspect of “Masti”. Here the blue water of the lake has been compared with the beautiful eyes of Sharmila Tagore. Another song from the same film “Isharoon Ishroon Mein Dil Lene Waale” has a line “Nigahon Nigahon Mein Dil Lene Waale” sung by Shammi Kapoor for the “Sharaat Bhari Nazren” of Sharmilla.

Apart from fun and romance, songs have been written and composed to express sorrow & solitude through eyes as well. An all time classic is the song “Tere Bin Soone Nain Hamaare” expresses sorrow and solitude through eyes. Rafi Sahab does complete justice to Ashok Kumar’s expression. Another classic is the song “Apni Aankhon Mein Basakar”. The Bahadur Shah Zafar’s famous Ghazal, “Na Kisi Ki Aankh Ka Noor Hun” is a great expression of sorrow of losing every thing in life. The song “Yeh Aanson Mere Dil Ki Zuban Hai” from Hamrahi is another perfect example of expressing sorrow through eyes. The song “Kal Raat Zindagi Se Mulaakat” from Palki is a beautiful sad ghazal. In the film the character played by Rajendra Kumar recalls the beautiful eyes of his beloved (Waheeda Rehman) who is no more, through line “Aankhe Wohi Jin Aankhon Pe Dhokaa Ho Jaam Ka”.

Mohd Rafi

The song “Tere Naino Se Mein Deep” from Anuraag doesn’t fall in any of the above categories. The song is a Rafi-Lata duet where Rafi sings for a blind character played by Moushumi Chatterjee. It’s amazing that even such expressionless eyes of a blind person can inspire poets to right. Rafi is once again at his best providing the final touch to Anand Bakshi’s work.

It is very difficult to do a complete justice on this subject. May be English is not the right language to write on this subject. It should be written in the original language -Urdu in which these great songs where written. Of course Rafi Sahab’s excellent pronunciation and clearly of speech in Urdu in every scale of singing, did the true justice to these great songs. Perhaps that is what makes them evergreen (Sadaa Bahaar).

Mr. Anmol Singh, the author of this article

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