Some Rare Diamonds of Rafi Saab - 5
This article is written by Mr. B.Venkatadri
(Rafi & Suman Kalyanpur - A Compatible Pair) Rafi Saab’s duets with Suman Kalyanpur have one unique characteristic. Both the singers seem to be completely at ease with each other, for Suman Kalyanpur always knew and accepted that she was singing with a distinctly superior male singer. This was so unlike the Rafi-Lata recordings, wherein the high ego of Lata often used to make the recording room intensely tense!
The humble and pliable Suman Kalyanpur was willing to learn the song from the MD and even from Rafi Saab and always fell in line, like Rafi Saab, with the MD’s conception of the song. Hence, Rafi Saab could bring out his own best without having to compromise to the whims of the female singer. With Suman, for him, there was no modifying of his own scale or making a forced later entry after the female singer or having to give up some of his unique vocal sangats, etc.!
Suman Kalyanpur and Rafi Sahab with Hasrat and Jaikishan on harmonium
Today, let us discuss three excellent, but somewhat rare, duets of this pair.
1.“Aap Ne Huzur Mujhe Kya Se Kya Banaa Diya—Meherbaani, Meherbaani”—Film:Fariyaad(1964)—Lyrics:Kedar Sharma–MD:Snehal Bhatkar
2.”Tere Hum, O Sanam, Tu Jahan Main Wahan, Suraj Tu, Zara Main, Tu Kahan, Main Kahan”—Film:Bachpan(1963)—Lyrics:Hasrat Jaipuri–MD:Sardar Malik
3.”Mujhe Yeh Phool Na De, Tujh Ko Dilbari Ki Kasam, Yeh Kuch Nahin, Tere Honto Ki Taazgi Ki Kasam”—Film”Ghazal(1964)—Lyrics:Sahir Ludhianvi–MD:Madan Mohan
1. Snehal Bhatkar is the lesser-known MD who scored some great music for films such as ‘Hamaari Yaad Aayegi(1961)’ and Chhabili(1959/60).
Some of us may be knowing the great Mukesh solo, “Farishthon Ki Nagari Me Main Aa Gaya Hoon” from Film:Hamaari Yaad Aayegi. Also the title song of this film by Mubarak Begum.
Similarly, Chhabili(1959/60) has the very nice solo, “Ae Mere Humsafar, Rok Apni Nazar”, sung by none other than Nutan herself!
Now, coming to our first Rafi-Suman duet of today from Film:Fariyad(1964), it goes thus: “Aap Ne Huzur Mujhe Kya Se Kya Banaa Diya - Meherbaani, Meherbaani”. This duet was picturised on Ashok Sharma and Zeb Rehmaan.
The song has, at once, utmost melody and catchy rhythm. Renditions of both the singers are of top quality. Whenever I listen to this duet, I go back to my final schooling days! Listen and enjoy. “Aap Ne Huzur Mujhe—Meherbaani”
2.The next Rafi-Suman duet for today is the one from Film:Bachpan(1963) composed by the highly talented Sardar Malik. You can drift into a beautiful trance while listening to this melody! It goes thus: “Tere Hum O Sanam, Tu Jahan Main Wahan”. Listen, enjoy and comment
3.The last one is from the 1964 film, Ghazal, starring Sunil Dutt and Meena Kumari. Meena Kumari is offering a mere flower to Sunil Dutt and as he is not satisfied, he is telling her “Mujhe Yeh Phool Na De, Tujh Ko Dilbari Ki Qasam, Yeh Kuch Nahin, Tere Honton Ki Taazgi Ki Qasam” What great lyrics by Sahir Saab!
This duet is a semi-classical composition by Madan Mohan and is one of the many duets of Madan Mohan wherein he clearly chose Rafi Saab and gave up even his favorite Lata, during that ‘dispute’ period! But, I have no regrets as Suman did utmost justice.
I just love the divine way Rafi Saab says the word “Qasammmmmm” during all the Mukhdas! And, further, see how he keeps making subtle variations to that “Qasammmmm” each time!
Please do listen and enjoy.
Finally, as all the three are great songs, please listen to each at least two times to obtain true enjoyment!
Shall be grateful for comments.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
ref 22,
that quote should have deleted immediately at your web page. it is sad when people have to bring in religion which is irrelevant for music lovers at the end of the day. let’s not get in a !spiteful! rafi - lata battle. why can’t we discuss these matters dispassionately? to raise your favorite singer you don’t need to throw mud at the other. the day lata ji is no longer will be one of the saddest days i’ve seen. all the respect, love, and fanship she gets - is well deserved. she has done much more good than bad (we all do make mistakes). the reason lata ji may have enemies is because she is in a position & industry where she can’t keep everyone happy. in fact - i think i just quoted her! and it is very true. given the nature of the industry - she always has to watch her back and stick up for herself - even if the other people don’t appreciate it. i wanted to further discuss this interesting topic - but will do so in the weekend as right now i must head off arrrggg!
February 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
dear vikas sharma,
let’s all just take it easy and not take every wonderful topic and make it controversial. at the same time, we should be able to discuss all reasonable topics and issues. when narayan ji ref 18 reported that sonik omi stated rafi sahab went off tune at times - i wasn’t entirely happy to hear it but i accept opinions especially when the opinions are reasonably possible. it isn’t hard to imagine that out of 20,000+ rehearsals - rafi sahab makes an error. same way with lata ji (i’m a big fan of her) - we love her but it doesn’t mean we keep painting the ideal image. you yourself accepted that there are misunderstandings, mistakes, etc that anyone e.g. lata ji would be prone to. misunderstandings between rafi & lata occurred, were very relevant to music due to impact, and are worth discussing. he spoke truthful possibilities and please don’t expect everyone to phrase things exactly the way you want to hear them. it isn’t possible and it’ll never be the case. sometimes i read an article on kishore kumar and ideally i’d like to read “kishore went on to become a dominant, top singer in the 70s” but usually it reads in a manner where rafi & kishore are compared (hence we get endless debates between fans that i’ve realized is a waste of time). we must be tolerant of reasonable opinions and not expect an ideal environment on the internet. at the same time, i’m always searching for the truth. venkatji is a true music lover, very knowledgeable, and can often back up his opinions with details, etc. pleae don’t discourage such valuable contributors who point out songs i’ve never heard of, come to listen & love.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Narayan Ref.post 18
I accepted lata is superior, monoploy is not good in any aspect…but lata was famous for arrogance, keep superiority, stop other singers in one movie.\\
For male singing its very often we can find many singers used by various md for various artists. but in female singing its vary rare due to only lata….
She is well knowing for giving Dhamaki (Hindi word) to music directors if they take other female singer then she will never sing with them in future.
Sometimes lata gave her voice to two or more heroine in one movie, rafi Sahab & kishore doesn’t have this type of mentality.
Lata have more enemies in film industry comapre to any other male-female singers, She is contravarsial women of bollywood.
Due to her career & performance people did not give their opinion in public.
Many stories will comes out after her death…..until….we have to wait.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Who is this brother Narayan, suddenly appearing from clear blue sky and very active in proving Lata was superior in every Rafi website.
please all the respected members, have a close look of what he had to say in my website www.eternalrafi.com
“Lata never played politics. All muslim supporters of Rafi should stop bleming Lata and accept that Allah was with Lata so she got this position .By dirty politics nobody can raise to this position. As Nature (you call it as Allah ) is superior than anyone else. It is his wish. Don’t compare Mubark begum , vani, Shardaa with Lata. Gem cannot be compared with stones.”
He tried to teach me my religion and also called me a muslim supporter of rafi sahab.
Now I ask should this kind of sick people be allowed to write their comments?
regards
February 8th, 2008 at 1:32 am
quick correction: i was wrong to say that sonik was also a spokesperson for madan mohan or that sonik claimed to compose madan mohan’s tunes. instead - omi was the spokesperson for sonik-omi duo, and he claimed that sonik composed most of madan mohan’s tunes (not sonik himself). sorry about that.
if anyone wants the madan mohan article or the op nayar interview with regards to geeta dutt not getting assignments from him - lemme know.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Mr. B.Venkatadri,
i m sorry to say that u are not a great music lover because you have insulted the saraswati mata(lata mangeshkar) and all your good work behind this article has completely taken a backseat.
SIR PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME THAT HOW CAN U EVEN IMAGINE TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THE GODDESS OF SINGING THE WORLD KNOWN LATA MANGESHKAR WHO SHARED SUCH AN AMAZING AND MINDBLOWING CHEMISRTY WITH RAFI SAHIB.SHE HAS GREAT ADMIRATION FOR RAFI SAHIB AND AS SUCH USED TO LOVE SINGING WITH HIM.
THERE ARE ALWAYS MISUNDERSTANDING B/W US ALSO DONT U HAD ANY MISUNDERSTANDING WITH UR PARENTS OR WIFE AT ANY STAGE IN UR LIFE IF U DONT HAD ANY PROBLEM WITH SOMEONE THAN U ARE NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON.
SIR MY HEART WEEPS AND SRY TO HEAR SUCH DRASTIC WORDS ABOUT LATA WHOM THE WHOLE INDIA IS PROUD OF .PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW CAN U CRITISISE HER SIR I REALLY RESPECT U BUT LATA DIDNT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH RAFI SAHIB THE PROBLEM WAS ABOUT THE ROYALITY THE SINGERS USED TO GET AT THAT TIME .
HOW CAN YOU SEPERATE SACHIN FROM HIS BAT, LEO TOLOSTY FROM HIS STORIES,EINSTEIN FROM HIS INVENTIONS,HITLER FROM HIS CRUEL INTENTIONS .
SIR RAFI AND LATA WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER AND ARE DIVINE PRESENTATIONS OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD TO MANKIND
February 7th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Ref 18
Yes, Rafi was human. Humans cannot be perfect. I love Rafi Sahab for who & what he was. Perhaps Sonik - Omi worked most with Mohammed Rafi and not as much with Lata & Asha to get fair sampling? In any case, it is not important. Sonik was a very good music arranger & spokesperson under Madan Mohan. After Madan Mohan’s untimely demise, Sonik claimed to have composed most of Madan Mohan’s tunes. A bit disloyal if you ask me. I didn’t mention this because I’m upset with criticism of my favorite singer. I can accept it - everyone is human. The name was brought up, I recently read the incident, found it remarkable and shared it. No other reason.
Why did MDs stop giving songs to Geeta Dutt? A very controversial but interesting question. OP Nayar interviewed that he felt very guilty about not giving songs to Geeta Dutt. In the middle of the night she called him and said something like [Do you not recognize this voice? Have you forgotten? I am Geeta]. OP said that he and Asha were “emotionally involved” and that Asha made him promise to give songs to only her. My guess is this contributed to OP Nayar abandoning Geeta Dutt. Many examples indicate that Asha was no straight shooter. The second matter is Guru Dutt who I don’t hold in much regard as a fan of music & movies. Geeta Dutt’s marital troubles interrupted her work. It caused her to be depressed and give in to the destructive bottle. Lata Mangeshkar’s rise in 50s did take away a lot of work but Geeta still had her unique voice & niche. That niche existed especially under OP Nayar who never used Lata. Geeta was still a successful singer even with Lata around, albeit no longer #1. The most direct reasons are not Lata but the two I mentioned - IMO.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Recently I heard Sonik-omi’s interview on Radio. He mention that except two singers - Lata and Asha, all the singers including RAfi and Kishore used to be be-sure occassionally. I read many articles on net about Lata. She is constantly compared with other singers like Rafi and Geeta dutta. Why all Music directors stopped giving songs to Geeta dutta ? Only on Lata’s request ?
I don’t belive this ! Only truth is Lata’s voice is far superior than any female singers in India. Everyone wants best. Imagine Hemamaline’s face and Geeta dutta’s voice or Kajol’s face and Geeta dutta’s voice. Don’t you think Geeta’s voice has limitations ?
Anuradha Poudwal tried monopoling , did she succeded ? I belive, monopoly can not be done ; it happens because of the best quality in person , and person should not be blamed for that.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Naraazgi Yeh Aapki Hamein Jeene Nahin Degi…, this nice duet is from the film “Unees Bees” (1980) and should be the last duet sung by Rafi Saheb and Suman Kalyanpur. Rafi Saheb’s voice is so sweet in this song. Anybody need this song can mail me. melodiousrafi@yahoo.com
February 6th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Sanjay Ji,
I really enjoyed reading your post no. 11. The following are my clarifications on some of your points.
1. I tend to think that Rafi Saab and Lata had shared a perfectly normal relationship for the major (say, 90%) part of the time. Both too must have had great respect for each other’s singing talents. Hence, no surprise that there were hundreds of divine duets between the two.
2. Secondly, I rate Lata Ji far higher than Suman as a singer.
3. When I implied that Rafi Saab is a superior singer compared to Suman, I was only stating the obvious, for I view him as not just superior to Suman, but as the best of all male and female singers!
4. On there being no ego issues between Rafi and Suman, I wish to add one more example for the consideration of the musically learned. In the duet, “Ajhuna Aaye Baalama, Sawan Beeta Jaaye”, in one of the Antaras there is this line, “Aur Bhi Mora Man Lalchaaye”. Rafi Saab says this line first and Suman repeats it. Rafi Saab says in highly classical mode, “Aur Bhi Mora Mannnnnnnn Lalchaaye” Saying that ‘Mannnnnnnn’ as Rafi Says is very difficult. So, Suman is made to says it as “Manooooooo”, by conveniently breaking the one single sangat Rafi Saab deploys for it! One must listen to it carefully to comprehend what I mean.
Venkat
February 6th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Rafi ji was such a singer that everyone used to feel comfort, ease and peace working with him.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Another gem of Rafi-Suman was “Baad Muddat Se” from Jahanara. Suraj had “Itna Hai Tumse Pyaar Muzhe”. Other good songs were “Bahut Hasin Hai Tumhari Aankhen”, “Tuzhe Dekha Tuzhe Chaha”, “Aisa to Na dekho Bahak Jaye Kahin Hum”. True, Suman sang few songs, but all were quality songs and hits.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
The tiltle song from Dil Ek Mandir (set in Raag Jogiya by SJ) brings out the phenomenal potential of both Rafi Sahab and Sumanji, especailly towards the end when both voices soar to hit the high notes in mellifluous harmony.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Are there any quotes from Suman Kalyanpur about Mohammed Rafi or vice versa? Love to hear. Thanks!
February 5th, 2008 at 10:03 am
as usual - great read from mr venkat. second, i like that your material is usually open to multiple discussions.
can someone explain how rafi & lata produced SOME of the best duets of all time IF they did not get along. perhaps both were very professional and did not let disagreements affect the song - any other suggestions?
film industry is very cruel and you always have to watch your back. so if she was’t always agreeable to everyone in the industry - i don’t blame her. CONSIDER the many people lata got into disagreements with, the personal nature of some disagreements, and the severity of them - and from this angle you’ll see her relations with rafi saab were excellent. if she refused to sing with him, it was NOT personal but to take a professional stand for royalty issues. once again, disagreeing on scale - professional matter - not personal.
my guess is female singers are especially challenged to jump scales because they are operating at an already high scale by default. so the mds should be considerate of this. this is in no way to undervalue rafi sahab’s magical control of scales - i’m not making comparisons or correlations of scaling with male singers and female singers as they can’t be made. i’m talking about female singers only. if lata mangeshkar had an ego (don’t we all?) - i cannot blame her. i’d be pretty arrogant too if i had a voice like that. and in the industry - you had to maintain your self importance & worth else you’d be exploited. when madan mohan was depressed during his last days and came inebriated for laila-maju recordings - she let it slide because she was considerate of her friend and not intolerant as she is painted out to be.
i will also gently say that there is no need to point out rafi was a superior singer to suman kalyanpur. it unintentionally appears negative to suman kalyanpur (what if she was reading this article!). rafi sahab’s amazing voice can assert all that is needed. we should always just look up - given that he is the mount everest of singing. no one ever says that the eiffel tower is like a pencil next to mount everest. it isn’t needed. they just point out how tall everest is! same way - just point out rafi sahab’s greatness without needing to mention anyone else (except the MDs, lyricists, producers, etc that helped him to make the most out of his great career). for these reasons, i don’t appreciate it when mannade puts himself down to assert rafi was superior. it is nice but not needed. manna is manna, rafi is rafi, suman is suman.
finally - on the topic of suman kalyanpur - rafi duets - does anyone believe that the duet rahe na rahe hum from mamta 1964 has been truncated? same with the solo version. in both songs - the tape jumps and cuts quickly several times as the songs play. i’m convinced. thanks for sharing the rare diamonds - i’m glad suman kalyanpur got a big break in the 60s due to the rafi-lata issue. she was an excellent singer. thanks again for the great article - please continue on with the rare diamonds series - you are very knowledgeable and many of us have a lot to learn from you, venkat ji. please forgive me if i appeared didactic - that was not the intention. if anything, these are thoughts i’ve wanted to say to music fans and your excellent article always gets me flowing with words & thoughts! looking forward to your next one.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
hats of to you venkatadriji for bringing few more rare gems of rafisaab, this time with suman kalyanpurji. i personally like “aaj hu na aaye balama” from ’saanj aur savera’ the most amongst all their duets.
another few of their duets i remember are:
“thahariye hons me aa lu to chale jaiyega” a khayaam composition from ‘muhobbat isko kahete hain’, “kahe do kahe do jahan se kahe do” from ‘april fool’ “din ho ya raat” from raat” from ‘miss bombay’ (composed by hansraj bahel - another lesser known but talented md). the list will go on….
btw ‘april fool’ also had rafsaab-lataji duet “tuje pyaar karte hai karte rahenge”
i wish sumanji reponds to binuji’s efforts and we come to know more about her. incidentally when ’sa re ga ma’ on zee television used to bring old timers like o.p.nayyarsaab, raviji and others, i had written to them to bring sumanji in one of the episodes but it did not happen.
regards
ashok parekh
February 4th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Thank you , Friends, for all the nice comments. The songs mentioned by Dr. Aliuddin Ji and Shashank Ji are indeed very nice ones, too.
Binu Ji, I will go ecstatic indeed, if you can really make Suman Kalyanpur ji come to this forum and offer her comment on this or share some experience of hers w.r.t. Rafi Saab!
More comments from me later.
Venkat
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I believe that Rafi saheb was the only singer, who could bring the best in his co-singers, either male or female, because they knew that they were singing with the best singer & the competition was intense, so indirectly Rafi saheb had benifitted other singers as well.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
please provide me this song on my email. i earnestly request for this
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
excellent song. I can not think any singer has such a divine voice
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Nice article as usual, Rafi Saheb and Sumanji sang less duets (compared to others female singers…), but when they sang together, their songs were on everyone’s lips. Sumanji has very sweet voice. Songs mentioned in this article are so nice and enjoyable. Keep it up Mr. Venkatadri.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
thank u for great & marvellous article to mr.venkatadriji. Yes. actually suman kalyanpur sang less songs, but all her songs are hit like many songs i will tell u.
1. Na Jane Kaise- Badlte riste - rafi, kishore, suman
2. Dil ne fir yaad kiya - rafi, mukesh, suman
3. Aajhuna aaye baalama - rafi, suman
4. Aaj kal tere mere pyar - rafi, suman
5. Parbato ke ped pe - rafi, suman
this songs are marvellous and soft songs also she sang. rafisahab was a great singer which he gave chance to her career without lata on that time. another song she sang with rafisahab was “Aayare kilonawala khel” sang with Sulakshana Pandit, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. I feel we listen 1st song very less then other songs.
shashank_72@rediffmail.com
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 am
good one as usual.. mr.venkatadri…..
i remember that i was trying to get in touch with suman ji but
every time she was ” unavailable “.
she lives in Mumbai ’s suburb in Khar area. then, i realized that
what i read was true - she is ” incommunendo ”
she does not want to come in to the ‘limelight’…
but, i will contact her again and leave a message to her to read
this article in the website….
binu nair… the rafi foundation…////mumbai// binus2000@hotmail.com
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 am
Venkatadri Anna, Adab Araz Hai,
I am 100 % agree with you, “Both singers seem to be completelt at ease with each other, for Suman Kalyanpur always knew and accepted that she was singing with adistinctly superior male singer. The above mentioned duets are superb. Hum to aapkp maanliye.
I want to include few beautiful duets of Rafi Saheb and Suman ji for Rafi fans and I want you to put some light over these gesms.
Agar teri jalwa numaayi na hoti - Beti Bet - MD Shankar Jaikishan
Chand takta hai idhar Aao kahin chup jayen- Dooj ka chand -MD Roshan
Bahut haseen hain tumhari aankhen- Aadhi Raath ke Baad- MD Chitragupt
Main is masoom Chere ko- Baghi Shahzada- MD B.Dutta
Ajahun na aaye Balama saavan beetha jaaye- Sanjh Aur Savera- MD Shankar Jaikshan
With regards,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin,
Chicago, illinois, USA
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 am
great article great song selection again iam enjoying the songs you have posted in all your article thanks venkatadriji keep it up