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It was a perfect blend of melody and romance of Indian movies. The duo of the Bollywood entertainment, Mohammed Rafi and Dharmendra, contributed greatly to the reflection of the Indian culture and values through their association. Mohammed Rafi was the flavor of the Indian music for four decades, from 1944 to 1980 till he breathed his last after singing for the last movie ‘Aas Paas’. Dharmendra, who reined Bollywood romantic movies of the later half of the 20 th century, was identified as the perfect blend for the music of Mohammed Rafi. The duo’s songs together reflected the wonderful harmony of the melody of the Indian music and the eternity of the ardent love.

The great association of Rafi and Dharmendra started with Khayyam’s song, Jaane kya dhoondti hai from Shola Aur Shabnam. The movie was released in 1961. Another hit of the duo was the song from the movie Mera Karam Mera Dharm directed by Dulal Guha’ and was released in 1987, seven years after the death of Mohammed Rafi.

The creators of Indian music were fond of the Rafi-Dharmendra pair. Many of them achieved the culmination of their music by introducing the R-D pair in their music. A few examples to cite the dedication of the famous directors to the R and D pair are Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pataa na tha from Chitragupta, Aap ke haseen rukh from O.P Nayyar, Inn baharon mein akele na phiro from Roshan, and the famous Kaliyon ne ghunghat khole and Main suraj hoon tu meri kiran. These music directors felt that Rafi is made for Dharmendra. They utilized the typical Punjabi tone of Rafi to suit the rhythmic songs of the movies that heralded the tone of the Indian music for decades. The symbiosis of Rafi’s voice with Dharmendra’s action and expression created a unique identity to their songs.

However, music directors such as R.D.Burman did not try Rafi’s voice in his famous Dharmendra songs, and to an extent, missed the effect of the R and D harmony. Though Burman created a large number of songs for Dharmendra in the later period of his career, only a few not-so-popular songs were given the Rafi voice. R D Burman’s movies, Chandan Ka Palna and Phandebaaz, were noted for their playful numbers made from the R-D combination. And the same was the case with Pyar se dil bhar de from Kab? Kyoon? Aur Kahan? and Rehne do from Rakhwala.

The wonderful association of the two was reaching the culmination when Rafi sang Shaher mein charcha hai with Lata Mangeshkar for Aas Paas in which Dharmedra and Hema Malini co-acted. During recording, Laxmikant and Pyarelal requested Mohd. Rafi to stay back a little while to sing the last few lines of the song Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost, he agreed and stayed back. While leaving, he took the permission of the L-P asking, ‘Shall I leave?’, and L-P did not take his words so deeply until they heard that Rafi left them all forever a little after he had taken the permission from the composing room.

Rafi shared a strong bond with Laxmikant – Pyarelal, and their combination was clear from many L-P songs. Their association had started with the J. Om Prakash film, Aye Din Bahaar Ke. All the songs, including Meri dushman, tu meri dosti ko tarse, and Phoolon se mukhde wali were hits of the time. Another L-P highlight was Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke with Om Prakash, followed by the famous Yeh shama to jali, O maajhi chal and Bura mat suno from Bakshi.

One of the unforgettable romantic movies of Dharmendra –Rafi combination was Mere Hamdam Mere Dost in which he was shot with Sharmila Tagore. The songs Na jaa kahin ab na jaa, Chhalkaye jaam and Hui shaam unka khayaal aa gaya were dedicated for the loving souls of the century.

The continued association of the R and D with L-P added new dimensions to the Bollywood panorama. Jhilmil sitaron ka aangan hoga from Jeevan Mrityu and Kuch kehta hai yeh saawan from Mera Gaon Mera Desh were followed by the famous solos Aaj mausam beimaan hai bada from Loafer, Main jat yamla pagla diwana from Pratiggya, and O meri mehbooba and Arey maine tujhko chahaa from Dharam-Veer. The truly emotional numbers from Pocketmaar, such as the Banda parvar main kahaan, yeh aapki mehfil kahaan added more feathers in the crowns of the duo.

The intensity of the bond between Rafi and Dharam was most felt after Rafi’s death. Dharmendra could not make any noteworthy numbers after Rafi left him from the world of Indian cinema. After the death of Rafi, it was the noteworthy efforts of the Shanker-Jaikishan that resulted in about half-a-dozen solos for Dhramendra in the memory of Rafi. Tumhare pyar mein hum beqaraar hoke chale and Main kahin kavi na ban jaoon are a few ever-loving numbers that were recollected for the memory of Rafi.

Now it is the turn of the young generation of Dharmendra and Rafi. The association between Dharmendra’s son Sunny Deol and Rafi-clone Sonu Nigam was first seen in the movie Border. Though it is a surprise that it took 37 years to identify the Deol-Nigam duo in a movie, it shows the significance of the association of the original D-R pair.

The forthcoming Apne is going to add another record in the history of Indian movies with father Dharmendra acting a role against his two sons, Bobby Deol and Sunny Deol. The movie has its leading female roles being played by Shilpa Shetty and Katrina Kaif. With a large frame of super stars, the movie is expected to be in theatres with a big hit.

Though Rafi left us with an early melancholy note, his melodious voice is still reflected in the hearts of scores of Indian movie fans.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.