The Rafi-Kishore saga
The following article appeared in The Statesman,Calcutta, on Aug.7 th 2005. It will give more food for thought to the ongoing debate about the Rafi personality and magic - Mohan Flora .
Mohd. Rafi was the greatest playback singer, asserts Ranjan Das Gupta as he pays tribute on the melody kings 25th death anniversary. Rafi was a classically trained singer while Kishore was naturally endowed with excellent resonance. The latter was a versatile genius, singer, music director, actor, writer and director all rolled into one. Both were proficient singers but had separate individual styles.
In the 1950s Rafi literally ruled the roost. He was the most favoured singer for veteran composers like Naushad, S.D. Burman, Shanker Jaikishan, Madan Mohan while Kishore was preferred by S.D. Burman and Salil Choudhury who was playback mainly for Dev Anand and his own films. Rafi on the other hand could balance his melodious voice for diverse stars like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Shammi Kapoor.
It is an astonishing fact that O.P. Nayar used Rafi to sing for Kishore Kumar the unforgettable tune Man Mora Bawra in Ragini in 1957. Shanker Jaikishan also had Rafi to sing Ajab Hai Dastan in Shararat in 1958. Says record museum owner Vinod Santhalia, It is simply amazing. Imagine Mohd. Rafi sang for Kishore Kumar in films Kishore himself acted.
Shanker Jaikishan commented, No doubt Kishore Kumar is a good singer. He sang beautifully for me in Rangoli. But Ajab Hai Dastan was simply not Kishores cup of tea. The mukhdas and antaras required a singer of Rafis range and classical background.
Although Kishore Kumar felt bad about this, he could only marvel at Rafis brilliant rendering of the two songs. Rafi characteristically remarked, No one else except Kishore could sing Dukhi Man Mera in Funtoosh so well.
Salil Choudhury was not favourably inclined towards Rafi at one point of time, but even he was compelled to use Rafi for the unforgettable Tootey Huey Khuabo Nay in Madhumati and Koi Soney Ke Dil Wala in Maya and confess that Rafi was indeed peerless.
It is generally known that Rafi and Kishore went through a bad patch in their relationship. Yet it is also true that both liked and respected each other. S.D. Burman openly admitted to Kishore that the three solos in Guide by Rafi could not be matched by any singer. On Dev Anands special request, he composed the Kishore-Lata super hit duet Gata Rahe Mera Dil for Guide. Similarly, Rafis numbers in Teen Deviyan and the haunting duet with Lata Mangeshkar in Jewel Thief were far superior to the Kishore numbers in these films.
In the late 60s when R.D. Burman composed the melody for Tum Bin Jaaun Kahan in Pyar Ka Mausam, he experimented the same solo with both Rafi and Kishore. True, Kishore sang this number by melodiously incorporating his inimitable yodelling. But in the romantic number, Rafi scored over Kishore in melody.
The 60s was also considered Rafis decade though Kishore matured considerably as a singer during this period. The Jungle Mein Mangal number Woh Din Ke Baat Sharan Karo had both Rafi and Kishore together but is somehow not remembered that well. But Shanker Jaikishans Hanste Gate Jahan Se Guzar in Andaz by Rafi quite eclipsed Kishores entire Zindagi Ek Safar in 1971.
Madan Mohan also used both Rafi and Kishore in the song Yu Na Sharma for Parwana in 1972. Kishore sang the happy rendition for hero Navin Nischal. But there was Rafi again to do full justice to the Are Hansnewale, the melancholic aspect of the same song for Amitabh Bachchan.
In the 1970s the Kishore Kumar wave took the Hindi film music by storm and was backed by R.D. Burman. Some critics felt R.D was partial to Kishore and avoided using Rafi. The Rafi Kishore duet Yaadon Ki Barat from the film with the same title in 1973 turned out to be a superhit. But it cannot be categorised either as an exclusive Rafi or a Kishore gem for both sang in perfect harmony.
Subsequently, R.D. Burman opted for Rafi again after four years as no other singer could have rendered so skillfully Chand Mera Dil and Kya Hua in Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin; that too in a film with many Kishore Kumar superhits like Mil Gaya and Aa Meri Jaan.
When Rafi sang Darde Dil for Laxmikant Pyarelal in Karz in1980 based on a single note, he proved melody was indeed God-gifted to him, remembers upcoming singer Sujan Bose. Kishores Ay Mere Umar Ke and Ek Hasina Thi could not touch that level. The same can be said for Rajesh Roshan’s Yarana where Rafi’s Aare Re Aisa Tarana completely surpassed Kishore’s Sara Zamana and Tere Jaisa.
Mohd. Rafi left for his heavenly abode on 31 July, 25 years ago. Remembers author Nabaran Bhattacharya, The photo of a silent, sad and grief-struck Kishore in the newspapers portrayed very well that no one except him understood what an irreparable loss had taken place in Indian film music.
As Kishore himself said when Jagjit Singh criticised the Rafi gharana, How dare these so-called ghazal singers criticise an icon that Manna Dey, Mukesh and I dare not criticise. Rafi was unique.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
here is rajan parrikar’s page:
http://www.sawf.org/bin/tips.dll/gettip?user=Sawf&class=EZine&tipid=10571&pn=Contributors&arch=1
also, prashant, if u really know rajan, pls give me his contact address. i would like to get in touch with him.
also, anmol singh, if u have read his other posts, maybe you could post them here ? i’ve read almost every post of his back in 1996-1997 after which he stopped posting on RMIM/RMIC.
i know enough of him to say he has much more knowledge of music than you. u guys just argue foolishly without any basis for your arguments.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
dear prashant veer and anmol singh,
unlike u, rajan parrikar is not biased. he’s very balanced when he talks about any singer.
also, unlike u he actually met kk, and knows him by person. he also met asha bhonsle personally.
perhaps u would care to look at the photos on this page (including the one with kk), and also listen to the clips.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
dear anmol singh,
i’m disappointed. i thought at least u had some knowledge in classical singing. unfortunately, looks like u don’t. maybe u just claim to have some knowledge so u can argue with other illiterate people like us.
i’ve never mentioned pt. joshi or pt. jasraj in any of my posts.
Also, rajan parrikar is not musically uneducated like you. it was he who made these comments.
why don’t u got to the link that i posted in one of my posts above to see how much knowledge he has of classical music ? he put together a list of the more commonly used raga’s and even has rare clips of many classical singers and film singers.
disappointedly urs, shankar.
July 28th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Hi Shankar,
If your postings are read by people like Pt Bhim Sen Joshi or Pt Jasraj, possibly they might commit suicide.
July 28th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Dear Prashant,
Thanks for the tribute to have written about Rafi Saab’s humble nature. You indeed really feel music. You are really a KK fan, who enjoy’s his melody. Regarding KK classical based number, there is one more song from Sharabi ‘’Log Ketain hai Mein Sharabhi Hun”.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Hi Prashant,
There is no need to be too harsh on this person Rajan P. Parrikar. I have gone through his posts. He doesn’t favour any singer or artist as such. He just gives a diplomatic opinion.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Mr. Shankar,
Please don’t post nasty and meanless analysis on this website. I know this person Rajan P. Parrikar. He molds his statements as per the situation.
The following is the quote he has made about KK’s early days.
“An examination of Kishore’s development as a singer leads one to
interesting observations. Right from his early days, he showed a
proclivity for musical expression that was out of the ordinary. This he
combined with a natural flair for drama. Both Rafi and Mukesh had the
latter but Kishore outshone them in this department even then (today’s
dudes, Sanu et al., have squat of everything). But in the 50s, he was
young, his voice still boyish without the texture and bass that was to
coat it exquisitely in the years to come, and confined mostly to singing
the boomchikaa variety. The 1960s saw his voice come to fruition and
everything fell together quickly. SD Burman immediately recognised the
significance of it all and the rest is history. Notice the quality of
his voice during this time - Door Gagan ki Chaon Mein, Jhumroo, Aradhana and so on. RD Burman also seized on this resource and took it to its logical conclusion with Aandhi being the highlight of the 1970s.”
He says KK is fit to sing only boomchikaa songs in the 50s. Absolute BULLSHIT. Being a KK fan, I am terribly disturbed by this nasty comment.
I request you not to portray KK’s superiorty on Rafi, by giving such stupid and meaning less posts.
July 28th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Hi Avi,
Regarding the devotional song you are mentioning, possibly well LP should have given him a change. But I recall a film Dard-Ka-Rishta in which there are KK songs with Music Director RD Burman. There is one devotional song on Ganpati Visargan which is sung by Hari-Haran. I wonder RDB being KK loyalist didn’t choose him. Similarly LP use Mahendra Kapoor in Avtar for Rajesh Khanna in a devotional number. I think it is the other way round, may be KK is not comfortable with devotional songs.
The patriotic scoure by KK in Akraman in Good. But a patriotic song sung at low pitch doesn’t sound very appealling. This is perhaps Rafi’s and Mehendra’s area, since both can stay at very high range of singing for a longer time.
I have read the article ‘HUMAN PUZZLE’. It is not that people misunderstood him, rather it is KK who is not able to mold himself with time. Generally it is my perosnal experience that we should know what we are. The world doesn’t have time to understand us, rather we have to tell the world what we are and where we can fit our selfess. This was laking in KK. I will give to one example. I was once watching Naushad’s interview, he was mentioning about Rafi. He said that Rafi had no God Father to support him initial when he came to the film industry. He came to me with a recommendation letter of a person known to me…..Here the logic is that though Rafi was a trained singer, it was difficult to built a repo with established music directors at that time. On the contraty Mukesh had backing of Motilal + he was also trained he had Anil Biswas & Salil Choudhary on his side. Dispite both being Bengalis and KK having support of Ashok Kumar, they don’t favour KK at all. Because KK doesn’t fullfill their criteria (seeking proper training). Plus KK wants music directors to make tunes as per his criteria, which I think only SD Burman did in those days. In my opinoin KK’s voice in the 50s is far superior than Mukesh, but not developed.
Coming to Rafi he fullfills the criteria of most music directors of that time. He doesn’t question the Music directors on their compositions. The result of which he is favored by most music directors in 50s & 60s. The logic is though he may not be perfect initally, but by singing without questioning any music director his voice is exploited to the maximum in every possible area + he doesn’t restricte himself to sing only certain type of songs. For example Shammi Kapoor who was called ‘Monkey’ by the media, Rafi fullfills every possible demand he made. Still Rafi gives tribute to Shammi, stating because of Shammi I got work. Because of his humble nature is scoures over every one.
When I listened to KK singing ‘Ap Ke Anorodh Mein’, I was just thrilled. I sat for a moment and thought why KK did not learn classical singing. Then there is another song ‘Salaame Eshk’. KK is too good in this. Most of these Bengali Music Directors never brought the best out of him like LP or Rajesh Roshan or KA or SJ. Even OP Nayyar gave him some nice numbers along with Shamshad Begum & in Ek Baar Muskurado. I am of the opinon that though SD Burman was his mentor, he should have forced KK to sing classical based songs in the 50s & 60s like what Naushad did with Rafi. SD gave all such songs to Rafi and Manna Dey. The result of which KKs true potential remains under utilized till date.
I don’t like RDB though his composition are good, because way have in doordarshan in mid 80s in an interview with Tabassum he made a very nasty and irresposible remark ‘Raag Waag To Mujhe Aate Nahi’. Compared to RD , Bappi Lahiri is just horrible. He composes absolute SHIT. Please forgive me for using such words.
July 28th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Dear Rashid bhai,
Very good very well said. This Avi & Shankar should leave this site. They are citing rubbish examples and idotic song of KK to proof that he is superior to Rafi. No singer is superior than Rafi Saheb.
Rgds
Suhail
July 28th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Hi Avi,
You should take some intelligence from Mr. Prashant Veer. I just can’t understand how to explain you and how to convince you about Rafi superiority over KK. You are just a fanatic fans of KK and nothing else. Why are you coming to Rafi forums you should express your views in Kishore forums. You are just expoiling Rafi Saheb fans image. Why you want us to accept that there are many good singers apart from Rafi. We know that there are many good singer but the fact is that no one is best than Rafi Saheb. Other singer including KK are good but Rafi is better and best. This fact you should also accept. Mear yodelling is not the sign of proficiency. It is like a barking dog. Every time you come with some examples of songs why you need to compare idiotic KK songs with Rafi Saheb. I really tell you that you are not a real KK fan because you don’t know his heart touching number. Some one has said about you that you are teenager I think really you are teenager. You have childish behaviour.
Today you accept one fact that had Rafi Saheb been alived for two more years KK would have been eliminated entirely. It is a great tragedy that Rafi Saheb parted in 1980.
July 28th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
From
Pranab Das
Hi Dear Shankar & Avi
My Dear Friends
we cannot tolerate you’ll anymore
Please you both quit from this site
As you all know let KK do any thing yoodle or anything
He cannot be compare with Rafi sahab,
if Kk will reborn again then also he cannot become Rafi sahab
why are you both Avi & Shankar simply fighting for your KK , beacuse whole world knows who is better for e.g.
Now recently there was Bollywood Music award and there 20 Hit songs in the list ,
among them 7 songs are of Rafi Sahab and hardly 1 or 2 of KK
and the juyr were Sonu Nigam , Himesh , Javed akhtar , Abhijieet.. etc….
On the First Position the Sonng was of Rafi sahab
1. Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare
2. Tere Mere sapne ab ek rang hai
and many more
If you don’t beleive Please go and take the Outlook Magazine for the month of June 06
So my dear friend Avi and Shankar , your both are simply fighting
So Please if you want to do comment for Kk , you go on Kk’s sight and do whatever you want
Please Quit from this site
You both know in this fight you are both going to loose
Regards
Pranab das
Rafi Sahab;s Fans
July 28th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
good show Shankar..
But i am sorry, Rafians will not understand it and they will come up with something irrelavant.
July 28th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Here’s what the same Rajan P. Parrikar had to say in reply to a kk critic (which many of you here do as well):
>KK was a very good singer though only for light songs, fun-n-frolic variety
>or those requiring simple musical exposition and little vocal gymnastics.
>To his credit he sang with emotion and there was something about the timbre of
>his voice that made his songs find their way to our hearts. However, musically
>speaking none of his songs are such that they are not reproducible. I mean
>in the strictly technical sense. They may not have the same effect when sung
>by someone else but by no means were any of his songs difficult to sing.
Exactly the same could be said of any of the other film singers. To wit,
their songs are not very difficult to reproduce in the “strictly technical
sense”, on a note-for-note basis. Any reasonably-trained singer should be
able to accomplish this with a few iterations. The distinction of course is
in the delivery, in the originality and nuance of musical expression with
all that it entails. Seen in this light, Kishore Kumar is very hard to
replicate. For the spontaneity that lit his rendition cannot be acquired
through formal education or technical mastery. It has to be part of one’s
inherent personality. Furthermore, complexity in music is only one factor
and is neither necessary nor sufficient for it to be beautiful and/or
everlasting. The number of men who are really adept at something is very
small indeed. The number who are original is a very tiny minority. It is
primarily the latter attribute that recommends Kishore Kumar.
July 28th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Hi all,
i’ve more technical stuff. For those of you who dismiss kk’s yodelling and think rafi can duplicate it easily are mostly speaking based on half-knowledge. Here’s what one guy on RMIM had to say on yodelling:
The yodel.
Now, it’s one thing to just make your voice crack all over the place,
which many people do and call it yodelling. Kishore Kumar, on the other
hand, had this absolutely UNCANNY ability to yodel with wonderful
precision - listen to (so many of his songs, but especially in) Jhumroo,
or his antara in “Chala Jaata Hoon…”
You know how people talk about basketball players and their ability to
“turn on a dime” referring to their ability to maneuver and suddenly come
to a stop without losing control - that’s what I think of when I listen to
that. We talk about KK not having a classical base, but one of its most
important parts, knowledge of and mastery over “sur”, KK had. If you’re
going to yodel, you still need to do it in tune, without the pitch
spraying all over the place. The fact is that the songs he was given to
sing by and large do NOT generally reflect any necessity of classical
training.
When you yodel, you basically are crossing registers, from full voice to
falsetto. For this yodel to really have the “popping” effect, you need a
particular type of voice, with a decent amount of separation between
registers. Kishore as a baritone was (extremely) successful with this; my
guess is that Rafi as a tenor, had a smoother “break” between registers
and would not be as successful.
July 28th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
hi all,
well, well, looks like the debate has no signs of subsiding. i’ve been going through similar debates on RMIM, and it’s disappointing to see people with no knowledge of music actually arguing foolishly without any basis to back-up their statements.
This is an excellent post written by Rajan Parrikar, who is very knowledgeable in Hindustani Classical Music and who actually accompanied Ali Akbar Khan to many concerts. You can see his excellent music page here:
http://www.sawf.org/bin/tips.dll/getcontributions?user=Sawf&contributor=Rajan+P.+Parrikar&class=EZine&subclass=EZine&pn=Contributors
Here’s what he had to say about playback singing and KK:
The essence of a good rendition of a film song, over and above technique
(by which I mean a strong adherence to the principles of swara or shruti) is the delineation of the
emotional content.
There is here an interplay of both verse/lyrics and music, the latter
serving to aggravate the idea and feeling contained in the former. A bare
tune can be likened to a bare path running through a nature park. You can
drive through it in and out plainly, which is the equivalent of what most
singers, even technically accomplished ones, typically do. A great artiste,
on the other hand, treats it like an adventure and has you share in the drama,
stopping about to take in the panaroma, pointing to the great peaks, the verdant
valleys, the cascades and other quaint sights. This latter approach is what we mean by
ornamentation and nuance in music. They have elements such as inflection of
the voice, change in its texture, punctuation which involves proper placement
of gaps in adjacent words, tailing off of the tone and so on. The best men
of music display all these skills to a very high degree, so much so that
their mere speech can assume a musical temper. Men like K.L. Saigal and
Kishore Kumar were abundantly blessed with these gifts by which they could
elevate even the most pedestrian of tunes and lyrics to the status of high
art. The simple was made extraordinary by their natural ingenuity.
It is not just “light” musicians that have use for such ornamentation and
it is worthwhile to mention Ali Akbar Khan in this context. Anyone who
has heard him speak recognises that his voice sounds like that of a frog
with a sore throat. But if you have the opportunity to hear that same
voice demonstrate a bandish without the aid of any accompaniment and you are
not moved to a state of wonder, you have no soul. One sees in a great master
such as this, the wholeness of music. All the elements listed above flow and
converge most effortlessly. It looks deceptively easy, but reproduction is
hard (as even a phenomenal talent like Asha Bhonsle, for instance,
quickly found out). When Ali Akbar Khan
vocalises, one gets the feeling that this is not just a great way to treat
the bandish but that it is the ONLY way to do it. One comes to see
beyond mere technique here, to experience the non-measurable in music. I do
not mean to suggest that only the naturally gifted possess these skills. Most
of the accomplished masters are not as naturally gifted but acquire it
through keen observation and hard work.
The above detours were taken to outline what it is that separates a good playback singer
from the high priests. In a word, it is the delivery. The bare tune has
to emerge embodied and enriched from the hands of an artiste, embossed with
an original personality. The artiste has to add to the skeletal tune and pass
on more than what was received from the composer. Mere technique can never
substitute for it. One has to supply a lot of musical imagination.
Most singers rarely raised a tune beyond its basic datum
level. Many singers stick pretty well to the basic swara and are decent enough in their taans, but
they lack or they don’t have enough of the aesthetic quality. Even in the classical realm, we have
a respectable number of musicians today who display great technical power
on the instrument or with their voice but who lack or are indifferent to the
essential aesthetic spirit.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Dear Prashant Veer,
First, Let me congratulate u on ur research. Its good though i am not 100% agree but it is nice.
I think Kishore would have done more justice to devotional song in Manchali “Tan Mann Dhan Sab hai tera”..
He was misundrstood by many people. There is article onhim “HUMAn PUZZLE”, pls. read it.
Earlier people used to say KK could not sing in Saptak. I have already mentioned few songs where he sang brilliantly.
I am sure he could have done more justice to devotional songs if it would have given to him. I don’t have doubt.
Prashant, Personally i like his song in AAKRAMAN, “Dekho veer jawano apne khoon pe iljaam na aaye”. Though it was not very famous but it is fantastic.
Yes what you said abt Lata and Madan Mohan relationship, its 100% true.
If you take Lata’s 10 best songs then Madan Mohan conmposition will be on top. She has done remarkable work for him. She has same relationship with Mukesh also.
July 27th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Hi Sagar,
What you have written about Lata, may not be very true I believe. She has hassles with SD Burman for many years. Lata was the most close to Madan Mohan more then any Music director. Madan Mohan has exploited Lata the Best apart Naushad. I read one article written by his son, Sanjeev Kohli that after their’s father’s death in 1975, she took the responsiblity of their family. Rather she took care of them like her own children. Lata regarded Madan Mohan as brother. During the recording of the songs for Veer Jaara she indeed become very emotional while singing. Veer Jaara songs are unreleased tunes of Madan Mohan. Full marks to Yash Chopra for maintaining melody to todays time.
July 27th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Hi Avi,
I have not mentioned that Mahendra Kapoor is a better singer than KK. The question is whether KK is fit to sing devotional songs or not? The answers is NO. There is another film Manchalli, in which is KK is remarkable under LP. But for one devotional song they choose Mukesh…..Tann Mann Dhann Sab Hai Teraa
Milan indeed was a favour to Mukesh….this was stated by Pyaarel in one interview. Mukesh was in financial crises at that time. Rafi indeed would sing it much better than Mukesh…but Mukesh was also good. Full marks to LP.
July 27th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Hello Avi,
I think Prashant has explained every thing quiet well. I like his analysis of KK’s early years.
Thanks Prashant for providing me information of Mukesh’s Gurus.
Kudrat was released in 1981 and was a silver jubliee at that time. Apart from that ‘Thodi Se Bewafai’ in 1980 was also a silver jubliee. KK gets an award for ‘Hazaar Rahen’.
For filmfare award nominatons the films success is also taken into account. ‘Agar Tum Na Hote’ if I recall it did average business but was not a flop at all.
July 27th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Hi Sagar,
KK is himself responsible for the early set back in his career. Being a KK fan I have carried out a lot a research on his career profile. He was OK till late 40s singing under Khemchand Prakash as a K L Saigal clone. Possibly at this juncture he should have undergone thorough training under renouned Ustads & Pandits, which most singers did. But instead of that he molds himself into westernized style of singing ‘Yoodeling’, plus doing all sorts of comical things. By doing all this he allows himself to be taken for granded by renouned music composers like Naushad, Madan Mohan, Salil Chaudhury, Ravi, C Ramchander, etc. Plus SD Burman who has been KKs mentor gives him songs as per the image he built for himself. But the best songs he kept for Rafi. Possibly he was justified in doing so. Why a music director will risk his career for a singer who doesn’t take himself seriously.
I went through Mukesh’s profile on how he became a singer. He was a relative of Actor Motilal, who brought him to Bombay. The first thing he did was to get him trained under Pt. Jaganath Pasad. This helped Mukesh in building a repo with music directors like Anil Biswas & Salil Chaudhury. Later with Naushad he could gain his original style. Comparitive to Mukesh, KK was a far superior singer but chooses the other was round. Later getting involved with Madhubala he puts himself in bigger mess. The result of which misses the prime years of melody i.e. 50s & 60s.
In 70s when he gets his due it is the last phase of melody i.e. the Rajesh Khanna era. Later with Amitabh’s success films like Deewar, Sholay come into limelight. Dailoges like ‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’, ‘Kitne Aadme The’, ‘Tera Kya Hogaa Kalia’ superseeding music, saw the gradually down fall of music. The reason is voilence and melody cannot go together. This was the era in which KK prospered i.e. 70s and 80s, for which most fans feel proud. In the 70s and 80s KK did sing very good numbers but majority substandard songs, for which KK himself is responsible for not undergoing proper training. During the 70s for good numbers music directors opted for Rafi, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor & the then new comer Yesudas. Most of these singers sang few songs compared to KK, but sang sensible ones only.
RD Burman as a music director is highly over rated, plus had a lot of backing from his father SD Burman. More commonly known as Pancham by the media. An award in his name by film fair is a disgrade to music. It should be SJ or Naushad or SD Burman or Madan Mohan.
I appreciate KK for the songs which he has sung under LP. It brings out the Indianess in his voice. Plus LP exploied KK’s true potential as comperad to RD. Seeing the Indianess in his voice I believe he should have never adopted westernized singing style in 50s. One can’t say who guided him to do so.
If he could have followed the same path what other singers did, he could have certainly been a better singer then Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Hemant Kumar in the 50s & 60s. But certaily he could have never reached the level of Rafi. Rafi is too accurate, no wonder Naushad gave him most of the songs. I remember Yesudas once said ‘God has been too partial with Rafi’. I am also of the same opition, since he sings every thing with real perfection. Therefore it makes no sense in comparing KK with Rafi.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Dear Suhail,
Rafians langoor fans ( for u Suhail Ahmed Ansari, ) think Rafi is only great which is not at all true as there are many greats in indian music world.
I always replied after Rafians comments who says Rafi is only great and others are nowhere.
Dear Prashant veer, You gave example of ‘Kanyia’ where Mahendra Kapoor sang all songs, indirectly you wanted to say Mahendra kapoor was better than Kishore.
I am laughing, i would be happy if you could have seen it.
Boss, Why Mukesh sang in “Dharti kahe Pukar Ke” and “Milan”. I feel all songs in both movie suits Rafi’s voice. Does it mean Rafi is inferior to Mukesh?
Boss, Whatever i have written abt Mukesh is not my word, it is uttered by Mr. rajiv who has written a book on Mukesh.
Dear Anmol, Everyone knows that Amitabh is not musical here, for your information, except Rajendra Kumar and somextent Shammi Kapoor noone known as musical hero. Rajesh Khanna was known as romantic hero.
Nodoubt “Dekha Na hai Re” did not establish Amitabh as actor but he become more and more famous because of the same song. He got Zanzeer because Pran asked Prakash Mehra to watch him in the same movie.
Of course Rajesh Khanna had few hits in 80’s but 75 to 80, he was flopped but Kishore’s songs was still there on the top.
Kudrat released in 76-77 and it was flopped but known for Kishore’s songs.
Agar tum na hote was also flopped but RDB and KISHORE made this film immortal. Yes “Soutan” and “Avtaar” was hit.
Rajesh Khanna had many flopped in 80’s.
There is film names “Nazraana” super duper flopped but kishore’s song is still rememered. “ISS SE PEHLE KE AAJ Tu AAYE…MERI AANKHO ME PHIR LAHOO AAYE”..
dear Anmol, Pls. listen if you have a time.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Dear friends,
The following clip is from: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/10/15/stories/2003101500620200.htm
IN THE 1960s, when legendary Bollywood singer Mohd. Rafi crooned Ramaiah vastavayya as the refrain for a Hindi song, the Telugus said Yeh dil maange more. So, he rendered a song for them — Naa madi ninnu pilichindi gaanamai venugaanamai… (Aaradhana). The impact was simply great. Nobody cared for the lyrics. Nor the accent. And then, he sang Haseena O Haseena (Anarkali) — that was it.
July 25th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
In the song RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA when Mukesh enters the speed of the song had be lowered, since Mukesh was not good at fast songs. Plus Mukesh sings the sad part for Raj Kapoor, where as Rafi/Lata sing for unknown artists.
July 24th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Dear KK Fans,
Several reasons why KK was preferred:
1.) RDB : Didn’t wanted to get overshadowed by a singers VOICE best
example is that TEESRI MANZIL was rendered by RAFI SAHAB
and later was realized as RDB’s Music. RDB realised this
and then he caught held of KK. We can check out RDB’S worst
decision in this song ” AAP KE KAMRE MEIN KOI RAHTA HAIN ”
TARIQ = KK Voice and after some ZEENAT = ASHA and after few
minutes VIJAY AURORA = Again KK voice ????? what nonsense
was that both actors removing same voice from their throat.
This shows RDB’s mentality and foolishness.
2.) Madan Mohan : Preferred KK only in film ADA that too for a funky
song , As we all know Madan Mohan was involved
only in HEART TOUCHING music , whenever he made
such funky numbers he used ” D ” grade singers like
KK. One more example Madan Mohan composed music
for film HAQEQAT we have a song HOKE MAJBOOR by
3 singers , KK is not there ??? now If KK fans call he is
the best then why didnt MADAN MOHAN preferred KK
instead of Bhupinder ?????
3.) LATA ” NIGHT TINGLING ” :- She had some bad habbits and she
had some stunts with RAFI SAHAB so she used KK as
a ” C*****M ” , RDB was also in that team.
4.) Why LATA preferred KK : Lata usually looked for scope in a song
which she hardly got any with RAFI
SAHAB.So again fear of getting
overshadowed she teamed up BENGALIS.
5.) Wise BENGALIS : Now FOOLISH BENGALIS preferred KK, but wise men
like S.D.Burman PREFERRED RAFI SAHAB at right
time and with right time shot ” TERI BINDIYA RE ”
song NOT given to KK , S.D. knew his capacity.
3.) BAPPI LAHIRI : Niece of KK obviously made use of KK because this
ELEPHANT was just BIG in shape he got all western
shit in INDIA and thus spoiled the classical atmosphere
KK supported him very well and then a long list of
MEDIOCRE,MEANINGLESS,SHIT,GARBAGE songs came
out of that ELEPHANT’S ASSS.
4.) RDB’S LOSS : When BAPPI came he use to give music for films using
same technique which RDB used and that too at low
cost …. What happened then RDB’S downfall
started then..again he had to come to the MAESTRO
to gain his lost position …MAESTRO means RAFI SAHAB
Total 80’s was a big loss to RDB due to BAPPI.
5.) LATA AGAIN : Well LATA was a shrewed lady, she didnt had any
compition she removed SUMAN TAI KALYANPUR long
ago so she was safe but then in 80′S she was leading
with KK in some MEDIOCRE SHIT SONGS for example :
” ANGREZI MAA BOLE TANE PREM KARU CHOOO. ”
6.) KK Unstable : KK AND RDB started giving MOODY songs to people.
But people never forgot ” DOSTI ” songs which were
meaningful songs ???????????
Can anyone explain me what the hell CHINGARI KOI BHADKE has speciality in it………The lyricist tried using RAJINDER KRISHAN’s style of
writing songs using reverse style but it was a big mess, that song when heard for 2-3 times feels boring..but listen to ” WOH BHULI DAASTAN ” by LATA ?????? RDB copied the style of music over there …..
7.) RDB blessed by S.D. : Till S.D. was alive RDB was in full flow may be
he must have used some back up tunes by
his father ??? who knows, because in his
career RDB has copied and inspired for all of
his songs ?? so was RDB like ANU MALIK in
yester years and just like ANU MALIK used
KUMAR SANU,BABUL SUPRIYO,ABHIJEET…
RDB used KK ( 4 IN 1 ) COMBO PACKAGE.
8.) KK great ??? : If KK fans say he is great then why did he sing only
1 damm song of patriotism?? he had LATA in his pocket
RDB in his buttocks he easily wud have forced them to
compose a good bhajan or patriotic song but why didnt
he do that ??????????????? KK was commercial it
proves.
9.) MUKESH better than RAFI SAHAB : Who is the FAGGOT here who says
this ????? Come front please… MUKESH had a trademark
on his voice and that was “SAD ” / HALF SAD / FULL MAD
and SAD….There are many songs of MUKESH which are
really good but out of way MUKESH was and had many
limitations.
RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA this song is taken up by RAFI
SAHAB very well but afterwards check it out this NASAL
MUKESH has spoiled by making it dull …please relisten
it again. Remember film ANAND Mukesh was preferred
because RAJESH was extra sad in that film , then why
KK didnt got chance he had RISHIKESH MUKHERJEE
again a BENGALI directing that movie ………..KK surely
have done yodelling in that FILM ANAND….
There are many song which I can list here and ask KK fan to analyse and imagine whether KK, MUKESH can sing or not.But I also know that KK fans have DOG’S TAIL which will TURN AGAIN.
So KK fans stop barking and listen to any RAFI SAHAB’S NUMBER
Regards
Sagar
July 24th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Hi all,
Bhagao, Bhagao, Bhagoa Avi langoor ko Bhagao.