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Classical Rafi

This article is written by Mr. H.V.Guru Murthy.

Classical RafiI have a Cassette by name “Anmol Ratan Volume 12 Mohammed Rafi” – “Phir Rafi” released by HMV which I very frequently listen to while I travel. All the songs are classical based and are soothing to ears. Side A contains “Radhike Toone” (BETI BETE) music by SJ, “Manare Tu Kahena” (CHITRALEKHA) by Roshan, “Madhuban Me Radhika” (KOHINOOR) by Naushad, “Saaz Ho Tum” (SAANZ AUR AWAAZ) by Naushad, “Nache Man Mora” (MERI SOORAT TERI AANKHEN) by SDB and “Aaye Bahar Banke” (RAJHATH) by SJ.

Side B contains “Man Tarpat” (BAIJU BAWRA) by Naushad, “Duniya Na Bhaye” (BASANT BAHAR) by SJ, “Kaise Samjhaun” (SOORAJ) with Asha by SJ, “Ajahuna Aaye” (SAANJ AUR SAVERA) with Suman, again by SJ and “Nava Kalpana Nava Roopase” (MRIG TRISHNA) beautifully set to music by Shambu Sen.

All eleven songs are gems. The songs from Saanz Aur Awaaz, Rajhath and Mrig Trishna are comparatively not as popular as the other songs, but these three songs are real class. The Mrig Trishna song was picturised with a dance by Hema Malini which she admitted that she really enjoyed doing the dance for the song.

The “Kohinoor”, “MSTA” and “Baiju Bawra” songs are quite popular songs. Regarding the song from “Chitralekha”, nothing more need be said as it is considered one of the best short solos ever recorded in the history of Indian Film Industry. I read somewhere that some people felt that such a wonderful song should not be so small and they wanted to have one more Antara but finally decided to have just two Antaras, but still what a classic song.

The “Beti Bete” song is another good song. SPB tried the same song in a Kannada movie. The “Saanj Aur Savera” duet was a national award winner and that too picturised on Comedians Mehamood and Shuba Khote and the duet from “Sooraj” was also a hit song with a wonderful dance by Vyjayantimala. The “Basant Bahar” song comes in the climax of the movie and is one of the highlights of the movie, picturised on Bharat Bhushan.

What about other classical film songs sung by Rafiji? Of course, there are plenty of songs based on Indian Raags set to music by Naushad and SJ. Admittedly, Rafi was one of the few good singers who could sing a REAL classical song perfectly others being Mannadey, Lata and to certain extent Asha. This fact has been admitted by all the Music Directors.

Mohd Rafi on Tabla

If any further proof is needed of Rafiji’s caliber for such songs, the fact that Rafi sang “Man Mora Bawara” in RAGINI for even Kishore Kumar, himself a great Singer, should suffice. Apart from the above songs in the cassette, no one can forget songs like “Duniya Ke Rakhawale” (BAIJU BAWRA) especially people who have listened to Rafiji on stage, when Rafi used to raise his voice fourth time while singing “Rakhawale…….” in the end instead of three times as in the regular song. A classical duet with Lata “Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya” (SWARNA SUNDARI) music by Southern Adinarayana Rao clearly showed Rafiji and Lataji’s mastery over even Carnatic music. Another song worth mentioning is a male duet sung by Rafi and Manna, “Tu Hai Mera Prema Devata” in KALPANA. “Panjaniya Chalke Raam” was another song sung by Rafiji in his melodious voice. Similarly the Rafi – Asha duet “Sawan Aaye” from Dil Diya Dard Liya was another classic, so also “Deewana Mastana” (Bambai Ka Babu). And what about “Ankhiyan Sang Ankhiyan Lagi” (BADA AADMI) and “Unke Khayal” (LAAL PATHAR).

Mannada of course was a master of classical music. His songs in films like Basant Bahar (Sur Na Saje and Bhay Bhanjana), Dooj Ka Chand (Phulgendava Na Maro), Dil Hi To Hai (Laga Chunari Me Daag), Jaane Anjane (Cham Cham Bajere Payaliya), Talaash (Tere Naina), Mere Huzoor (Jhanaka Jhanaka), Padosan (Aao, Aao Savanriya and Ek Chatur Naar), Budda Mil Gaya (Aayo Kahan Se Ghanshyam), Boot Polish (Lapak Zhapak), Lal Pathar (Re Mana Surame Ga with Asha), etc. are unforgettable.

Lataji also has given wonderful songs like Kare Badara Bairi Ja, Jyoti Kalash Chalke, Jiya Legayoji Mora Sanvariya from Anpadh, Ghar Aaya from Chote Nawab, etc. Asha also had “Kase Kahoon Man Ki Baat”.

Mohd Rafi

Though Mahendra Kapoor also has sung few of such songs like “Shyamal Shyamal Karan”, “Tum Nacho Ras Barse”, etc., but his effort looked pedestrian and laborious. All other Singers hardly tried anything classical.

If the above songs are observed carefully, it is revealed that most of the classical songs are by either Naushad or SJ followed by SDB. No doubt that classically these three were the best MDs.

Perhaps, Rafiji and Mannada could have even given a full length concert of purely classical music if the numbers of such songs sung by them are considered.

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52 Blog Comments to “Classical Rafi”

  1. H.A.K. Walijah says:

    Dear Rafi Fans,

    Today my greatest feat is I heard today 100 times the classical gem of
    ” NAV KALPANA NAV ROOP SE ” (Mrig Trishna) song. Still my soul feel hunger of listening this song again and again.

    Yah sab Rafi Saab ki gaayki ka jaadu hai.

    Shri Gurumuthy ji thanks a lot for such an article, your efforts are commendable. .

    Regards
    H.A.K. Walijah

  2. MD.RAFI sahab is a greart as well as great human.n i always want to sing like md.rafi but i could not sing like that he is a great singer.nobody can achieve that because that ws god gift.

  3. rohit says:

    gurumurthy ji
    could you send me the video of the song nav kalpana by mohd rafi sahab from the movie mrigtrishna. my e mail id is rohit_215@yahoo.com.
    regards
    rohit pant

  4. BadGirl16 says:

    And all their children, as far as I know. ,

  5. dev says:

    hello all
    i m dev
    i need a song aaj hu na aaye balma sawan bita jaye
    frm Sanj Aur Savera movie
    can any one hav
    n can any one send that song
    plz my mail id is
    zeb.dev@gmail.com
    thanxxxxxxxxx

  6. Vaishaliji,

    Can you please mail the songs of BUDTAMEEZ to my e-mail id hvgurumurthy@yahoo.co.in.

  7. xxx says:

    ref to p :: 38

    here is a link to download “meri aawaz suno” and few other songs of rafi ji as well…

    http://mp3hungama.com/music/index.php?action=album&id=2052

  8. prakash shah says:

    HVG,
    Rafiji voice matched with shammiji,dharmendra,jitendra,rajendra kumar,shashiji,and mehmood most
    I hope that some times in future you serve us with special artical on each star.All the best.
    Remain,
    Prakash Shah.

  9. hvg saab,
    i am also thankful to Hussain bhai to favour me for robinhood,and budtameez songs.i have all the three song of budtameez,kindly sms me on my mobile your mail adress
    Remain,
    Prakash Shah
    09426287666.(Mobile)

  10. Hussein Sheikh says:

    Re. Post # 38: Mr. Patel, let me know your e-mail ID, I will send you a full version of the song “Meri Awaaz Suno…” from “Naunihal” in mp3 version.
    melodiousrafi@yahoo.com

  11. Guru Murthy ji’s article really leads us to the golden era of Indian melodious classical singing and then Rafi sahab and Lataji were paramount!! hi! Today when we have rash western music most of the time, Rafi Sahab’s classical songs are like soothing melody to our ears. “Teri Jami se uthenge to aasma honge, hamare aise log zamane mei phir kahan honge?” Sanjaya Srivastava, IPS, Commandent, PAC, Etawah, U.P.

  12. Dear Prakashji,

    Refer your post 33. Out of the five, I am able to place four of them. Somehow, I am not able to recollect the Budtameez song, which also had two other Rafi solos like “Haseen Ho Tum, Khuda Nahi Ho” and of course the title song.

    Regarding other songs, all four are gems. All four are good examples of Rafiji’s soft songs and I would also say that quite popular songs in those days, especially “Phir Aane Laga Yaad Wahi”. Thanks to Hussein Saab, I got “Mana Mera Hasin Sanam”, which I have loaded on my mobile and enjoy very frequently. In Dil Deke Dekho, all other songs are bit loud but catchy and popular, except “Hum Aur Tum Aur Yeh Sama”, which is a soft romantic song very beautifully pitcurised on Shammi and Asha. Pitcurised on Mehamood, “Yeh Terii Saadagi” is alo a melodious song, especially the three different types of singing “Taubashikan”. This movie incidentally had one more wonderful song “Maine Rakha Hai Mohabbat, Apne Afsane Ka Naam”.

    Thanks Prakashji, for reminding us about these songs. Though these sings were so good and we have heard them so many times still when somebody reminds about such songs, you start appreciating those songs as if we are hearing for the first time and also the songs remain with us for some time, that is, “gun gunate rahte hain”.

  13. krupesh patel says:

    I am looking for song Meri Awaz Suno Film Naunihal, Music by Madanmohan
    How i can download or please tell me website, I try at youtube.com but not available.

  14. A S MURTY says:

    Dear Gurumurthy Sahab, I have received the mail from shri s. chandarji today and i have also replied back to him giving him all the details. i must thank you in the first instance for having introduced to us such an ardent fan of rafi sahab. i will be in regular touch with him through phones and personal meetings. i give my email ids for your future reference too : asmurty2@rediffmail.com, rafimurty@gmail.com and my mobile number is 9391267272 (Hyderabad). please forward to us names of any of your other friends who may be in hyderabad. thanks for introducing s chandarji.

  15. vikas sharma says:

    can anybody please tell me from where i can download rafi sahib’s punjabi songs free.Please tell me any useful website from which the punjabi songs of rafi sahib are available i m desperately looking for them

    MY EMAIL ID IS – VIXMAX@REDIFFMAIL.COM

  16. xxx says:

    haldar ji,

    yes indeed there is abcd of raags in gurumurthy ji’s this article as they are classical based songs, my fav is “malkauns” bhajan set in a “jhap taal” by great naushad, i also like that link you have provided to “adana” set in “teen taal” although i don’t know much about s.d. batish…….
    and here is a masterpiece composition by jaikishan in “kirwani”::
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=vJYWAOdIaAc

    now regarding writing of articles- i don’t think iam the right person to do so, neither do i have a great knowledge of hfm like you, nor i have a great writing skills like you..

    mr.haldar, you are the appropriate person to do so, as you have lived that era, attended so many rafi ji’s stage shows, and you have a vast knowledge of not only composers but of musicians as well, so please share your thoughts through your articles, it would be great pleasure for all of us.. also i am eagerly waiting for your take on naushad, madan mohan and roshan….

    thank you..

  17. Ref. to post 32 ,i can only says that this songs and others by rafiji are marvellous but are not popular at their time but they are evergreen songs have largeclassic value than more popular like naache man mora,or man re tu kahena dhir dhare,and radhike tu ne bansiya,etc etc were more popular at their time and many many people had already written praise abt.each one from the singer,musician,or lyrics its value but If u listen robinhood Md by Iqbql qureshi,or Usha khanna’s first film dil deke dekho hum aur tum etc and mentioned other and such a list of rafiji are uniq list with mr.shah and he always fond of this kind of song than more popular.

  18. prakash shah says:

    HVG.Kindly listen rafis following songs and comment ;
    1.Hum aur tum or ye shama…Dil Deke Dekho
    2.Fir aane laga pyaar …………Ye dil kisko doo
    3.maana mere haseen………..Adventure of robinhood
    4.ye teri saadgi—————–shabnam
    5.dil ko na mere tadpao………Budtameez

  19. DEAR SHRI. ASN MURTHYGARU & SHRI. RAMAKRISHNAGARU,

    ONE OF MY FRIEND IN HYDERABAD, WHO IS ALSO A RAFI FAN IS INTERESTED IN GETTING IN TOUCH WITH FELLOW RAFI FANS IN HYDERABAD. CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE YOUR E-MAIL ID AND MOBILE NUMBER SO THAT I CAN PASS ON THE SAME TO HIM.

  20. vinod viplav says:

    A blog has been created in memories of our great legends. Please visit this blog.
    http://suhaniyaden.blogspot.com/

    share your memories of your golden past on this blog.
    you are requested to send articles/experiences/memories and comment in Hindi or English..
    Thank you.
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    09868793203

  21. P. Haldar says:

    ref post 28:

    pal do pal ka saath hamara, and you want me to attack someone? No way, xxx. Jokes apart, why don’t you do a micro-analysis of the songs that gurumurthy ji has mentioned in his article? They are the a to y of music. a for adana and y for yaman. Don’t waste your time writing comments. Write a series of articles starting with a(dana), where you can discuss the gem that you have commented on, and then proceed to b(hairavi), c(hhayanat)….

  22. Azad Ilahibaks says:

    Dear rafifans,

    If somebody has mp3 of Tumhe Hushna Deke Khudane sung by Rafi,MannadeyVS Lata,Asha. Will you send at me please? My adress is: ailahibaks@gmail.com

  23. xxx says:

    haldar ji,

    possibly your next attack on pancham, may be you are pointing out that pancham’s tbt(1980) quawwali mukhda is composed in same tune, daataram going with pace and pancham moving bit slowly and emphasizing those notes just before reaching taar saptak….. pardon me if im wrong…

  24. Binuji,

    I fully agree “its full stop”. In fact, I stopped my regular listening of Hindi Film Music after 1980. I admit I can hardly count on my fingertips the songs I know after 1980, but prior to that perhaps, mukhda, antara everything I remember not only of Rafi’s songs but even others. In fact, one of the reasons I was regular movie-goer was to enjoy the songs and after 1980, I have hardly gone to theatres to see movies.

  25. xxx says:

    ref to p 24:

    haldar ji,

    its a nice quawwali & listened 3 times but still get nothing special, plz elaborate your question or tell me what do you expected….

    thank you….

  26. binus2000 says:

    yesudas, manna dey, suresh wadkar and many others are the
    jewels of the music land but rafi ji leads all of them – by far.
    rafi ji’s assets of melody, diction, soft vocals strechable like an
    elastic for any song situation, voice modulation, emotions,(mirth,
    romance , sorrow etc…) are unsarpassable.

    music companies survive on the royalties of rafi ji voice and
    recently there was news about music companies “closing shop” as
    there are no buyers for the “created noises” of today which “they”
    call music.

    rafi saaheb is the gandharva, a person who sings for the gods.
    the gods took this great gandarva away from us and its debatable
    whether another gandharva will come yet “again”.

    for me, its full stop. no we cant get another rafi ji. we can only
    enjoy his ” 40 year output “.

    the sad part is that even this will take atleast a few life spans for
    a music lover…….

    binu nair…rafi foundation, binus2000@hotmail.com mumbai, 9833 250 701….

  27. P. Haldar says:

    Here’s manna da on shammi and rafi saab on the younger shashi in a qawaali composed by dattaram, sj’s famous assistant. xxx, please listen to the mukhda carefully and tell me what you think.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=QzdhavGs4UA

  28. Siva says:

    Thanks Mr Murty for informing about another song from Lal quila; I am yet to hear that and shall try to get it soon. One singer who had very good classical training but unfortunately did not continue much in Hindi film world is Mr K.J.Jesudoss(Yesudas-in HFM). Examples of his good classical based songs:
    Tu jo mere sur mein, Jab deep jale aana, Ka karoon sajini aaye na balam, Koi gaata mein so jaata, Kahan se aaye badra, Kaali godi dwar kahdi etc.. Mostly they were Ravindra Jain’s compositions; few by Rajesh Roshan, Rajkamal etc. Please do not think that I am comparing Rafi sahab with Yesudas;i myself am a die-hard Rafi fan first and I am writing this in this post as this was about Classical based songs. Although many would say that his south indian accent was not suitable for Hindi film music but we can definitely rank Yesudoss as one good classical singer; in fact he himself is a great fan of Rafi Sahab and had acknowledged Rafi sahab as his guru in playback singing.

  29. A S MURTY says:

    ref post 2 by mr siva sir. there is yet another song from the film lal quila apart from the na kisi ki aankh ka noor hun and that song is also bahadur shah zafar’s poetry – lagta nahin hai dil mera ujade dayar mein. this song again has the very minimal music as noted by you. i fully agree with manish bajaj sahab when he says that ‘rafi sahab is a god who can do anything with music”.. a great comment comes only from a great rafi-fan like you manish bhai. thanks.

  30. A S MURTY says:

    Yes indeed, Rafi Sahab can be considered as one the best in classical singing too. I had always felt that his classical songs were just as good as those by peers like Manna De etc., sometimes even better. That is because of the very lovely voice that Rafi Sahab was bestowed with. His singing apart, his voice also is unique – smooth as silky – and Rafi Sahab scored over all the other singers with perfect diction and clarity. Whatever type of song, – classical or non-classical – Rafi Sahab scored over the others because of his unique virtues. If some of the classical songs of Rafi Sahab were not chartbusters the reasons could be many. His non-classical songs scored over his classical renditions. Manna De was more known for his classical songs because he sang too many of them and some of them went on to become all-time hits. I also believe firmly that if such songs were given to Rafi Sahab, he would have done equally well or may have even surpassed the other singers. However that may not be true for a vice-versa. Good article Mr. Gurumurthy Sahab. Please keep it up. Rajdeep Malhotra sahab, I just went to the link provided in your post 16. there are three tracks (two of pop) and I chose the third one thinking it to be a song from Rafi Sahab. alas, it was not to be so. in fact, only continuous rythmic music is playing and there is no voice. could it be karaoke ?? rafimurty@gmail.com

  31. xxx says:

    “naache mann mora magan”…. great jugalbandi by pandit samta prasad and ustaad mohd rafi……

  32. xxx says:

    mohd rafi ji was best in the classical genre among the various great singers, manna da was also great in this genre but somehow he never surpassed rafi in this genre, probably manna’s most famous classical song is roshan’s classic “laga chunri mein daag” but compare this 1963 gem with the gem by the rafi ji from the same year under dada’s baton, yes “naache mann mora magan”, both are based on bhairivi raaga but somehow rafi’s great taans totally outshining manna, although taraana of the “laga chunri mein daag” was superbly sung by manna , but don’t forget that rafi also had a great taraana in his bag on raag haamir, yes from the kohinoor of year 1960…

    only singers who challenged rafi were kishore(on comic genre) and talat(on gazals).. talat was superb on gazals with his vibrating silky voice, but rafi added his classical silken touch to the gazals, and today rafi’s gazals are in the class of their own where no one will ever reach…

  33. unknow says:

    when we speak abount classical songs mostly people compare Mohd rafi with Manna Day!!!!!!!?????Manna Day said that Mohd rafi is from 1 to 10 and after that we are.Manna Day was great in all tape of songs not only in classical as I think Manna Day is the best male singer ever born in bollywood abount Mohd Rafi can’t be compare with any singer in the world.
    If I am not wrong Naushand Ali,Madan mohan and O P N are from 5 best music director in bollywood,naushad said mohd rafi is 50% of his Music,Madan Mohan said he should not be pay when mohd rafi singed for him,o p N said that if there was no Mohd rafi there was no OpN and many more story,how we compare a man with other when people like Naushad Madan Mohan and O P N said that.
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????

  34. Thank you very much Mr. Haldarji, Man Khush ho gaya Kaise Kahun Ka Gana ” Manamohan Manme” sunkar. This beautiful song some how used to escape from my memory.

  35. http://www.betarecords.com/rajdeep is my contact site……. u will see me from25th april 08 on sonytv in vaarparivaar show……

  36. hello everyone, i’m an artist as a singer…. worked with many stars….recently….. but Rafisahab has been guru of all the indian singers…. great humanbeing too…. 9425063458 is my cell…….

  37. P. Haldar says:

    Here’s another beautiful classical composition by s. d. burman in kaise kahoon, sung by rafi saab with s. d. batish and suman kalyanpur :

    manmohana man mein ho tumhi
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=xoNltq3VHO0

  38. ashish kapoor says:

    hi all rafi lovers and fans,refer post 10,shahbaz bhai,i also have that cassette in which naushad sahab says”kehta hai koi dil gaya, dilbar chala gaya;sahil pukarta hai,samunder chala gaya;lekin jo baat sach hai,voh kehta nahin koi; duniya sae moshiki ka payambar chala gaya”. in the begining of this cassette naushad says”ek din ek naujawan gayak mujhko aayaa nazar;roshan kar diye jisne sangeet kae shyam-o-sehar;waqt kae fankaron mein alag thaa uska mukaam;zikrr kar rahan huan jis ka main,rafi tha uska naam”.naushad always held rafi saab in high esteem.in the same cassette there is a song “jis raat kae khwaab aaye,woh khqabon ki raat aayi;nazron sae mili nazrein,hothon pae woh baat aayi “.now ,there was a programme on one of the fm channels which was by naushad sahab and in this programme he mentioned this very song,it is from an un-released movie named “habba-khatun” the poetry is by ali sardar zafri,after the recording was over, maushad asked rafi saab about money,rafi saab said “mujhe is ki keemat mil gayi,aisa gaana aapne mujhse gawayaa kae tabiyat khush ho gayi”.rafi saab said that it was adream song for him.now i might have not written the exact words because i had heard this programme in 2004 but it was something similar.i have another cassette of rafi saab,it’s called as rare hits of rafi saab, i will write about it next time.ashish kapoor,;ashkpr@hotmail.com;tel -09212587414,09810087414

  39. Dr. Khaja Aliuddin says:

    Gurumurthy Ji,
    Excellant writing. I would like to mention one classical Ghazal of Rafi Saheb from movie ” Teen Devian “, beautiful lyrics by Majrooh and music by S.D.Burman.
    Kahin bekhayal hokar, yun hi chu liya kisine, kayi khwab—-
    Gurumurthy ji or anybody , could you please tell me about this Ghazal based on which classical Raag? I don’t think any other singer can sing this Ghazal, except Rafi Saheb.
    Gurumurthy ji, please tell me more and more about this Rafi/Majrooh/SD Burman creation.
    With regards to all Rafi lovers,
    Dr. Khaja Aliuddin

  40. Hussein Sheikh says:

    Re. Post # 10: Agreed 100% that Rafi Saheb is the biggest and best singer in the world. No one can touch him.

  41. shahbaz says:

    What a nice and devoting column. But i would like to quote some words from Manna Day and Naushad Sahib.

    Music Director Naushad had said when he released 4 songs which were not released before, i would quote only the last line of the poetry bu Naushad sahib.
    the words are: Lakin jo sach hai baat Voh kehta nahin koyie, dunia se mosiqui ka peyambar chala geya.
    and Manna Day has said that he has learned alot of things from Rafi Sahib’s singing.
    Now it can be easily judged that Muhammad Rafi is the Biggest Star Singer of Indian Film Cinema. If i say that Muhammad Rafi is the Biggest Singer of the World, it will not also be wrong.

  42. A S MURTY says:

    सागरजी नमस्कार। आपका यहाँ पर हार्दिक स्वागत है। सागर नाहर जी का अपना खुद्का वेबसाइट “दस्तक” बोहत ही मशहूर है और मेरी यह खुशकिस्मती है की मैंने इनसे हाल ही मी फ़ोन पर बात की है। सागरजी हैदराबाद शहर से ही है और हिन्दी भाषा में बोहुत कुशल लेख लिघ्ते हैं। इनको रफी साहब और अन्य गायकों के सभी गीत अच्छे लगते हैं और खासकर पुराने गणों में इनकी दिलचस्पी ज़्यादा है। में इनसे सहमत हूँ की कोहिनूर फ़िल्म का यह गाना मधुबन में राधिका नाचे रे एक बोहत ही खास गाना है और रफी साहब ने इसमे भी अपने हुनर को पेश किया है। धन्यवाद सागरजी. rafimurty@gmail.com

  43. Anmol Singh says:

    Every song rendered by Rafi is a classic, possibly I am looking for the MP3 file for the song “Nav Kalpana Nav Rup Se”. If any one having it can forward it to my mail ID anmol_india@hotmail.com

  44. K.J.Ravi says:

    One of Rafi Sahab’s outstanding classical songs is ‘Duniya na bhaaye mohe, ab to bulale, charon mein…’ from the 1956 film Basant Bahar (lyrics by Shailendra and music by Shankar jaikihan). Rafi Sahab transports the listener to an altogether different world through his pathos-filled rendition, especially when he lets his voice soar during the higher notes.

  45. Manish Bajaj says:

    Rafisaab could sing any song with ease and added his charm to every song.
    Manna dey who is considered to be best classical playback singer and I regard him very highly as well mentioned in a saregama programme that once mentioned that “Rafisaab was not a singer he was a playback institution” what else to add Manna da is elder to Rafisaab but still he always gives him respect by calling rafisaab.
    Op nayyar had mentioned in an interview when he asked Rafisaab to sing a classical song of manna dey during a rehersal,Rafisaab replied “Jo gaana Manna ne gaa diya woh phir koi aur nahi gaa sakta”
    Rafisaab has many classical songs and each one is a gem..I have woken up in early mornings during my college years ” Naache man mora”, I have romanced through song “Tere bina soone nain hamare”, I have tried to calm myself “Man re tu kahe naa ”
    Rafisaab is a god who can do anything with Music………
    Long live rafisaab and god bless all rafi lovers

  46. रफी साहब के गाये कोहिनूर फिल्म के गाने मधुबन में राधिका की एक बहुत खास बात है। यह गाना रफी साहब ने बहुत ही खूबसूरती से गाया परन्तु दिलिप कुमार ने उतनी ही खूबसूरती से पर्दे पर निभाया।
    सबसे खास बात जो है वह है..

    एम कांई दिलिप कुमार बनातु नथी… http://mahaphil.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post.html

  47. xxx says:

    raadhike tune bansuri churayi is another great song… by the way who among this genius duo composed this song?? shankar or jaikishan?? if any one is aware than plz let me know…

  48. xxx says:

    Gurumurthy ji,

    nice article, regarding mann re tu kaahe na dheer dhare im agree wd u that its a best short solo ever recorded, infact this song shows the class of another great composer roshan, although i can’t include him into rafi loyalists but i’ll include at least 10 songs if not more, in the list of top 50 songs of rafi sahab..

    i have heard many well trained classical singers delivering this song but no one can touch the “Mithaas” of rafi ji, and wat a scale chosen by roshan to exploit rafi’s strength, great song.

    roshan was great composer and revolutionary too, he brings the revolution of quawwalis from barsaat ki raat, and i simply love what he did with rafi sahab in 60s,

    if iam not wrong, rafi & roshan first teamed up in 1950 for the movie” baawre nain”, and song was “mohabbat ke maaro ka haal” duet with asha, then he employed mukesh for “hum log” and “malhaar” and talat for “anhonee”.. next time he used rafi for “chandni chowk”, song was “zameen bh wahi, aasmaan bhi wahi”…

    but this partnership got the golden charm with revolutionary “barsaat ki raat”
    here are four magical solos and one great quawwali from this movie..
    1. zindagi bhar na bhoolegi
    2. maine shayad tumhe pehle bhi kahin dekha hai
    3. mayoos to hun vaade se tere
    4. kya gam jo andheri hain raahen
    5. yeh ishq ishq hai

    and then came legendary aarti, chitralekha, tajmahal, dooj ka chand,

    bedaag(1965)- having two great rafi solos::
    1. zindagi k mod par jo koi raasta mila
    2. saanchi tumhari preet ho raam.
    than further in all great albums by roshan nai umar ki nai fasal, dadi maa, devar, mamta, , rafi ji spreads his magic

    and finally roshans carvan ends with “anokhi raat”…

    now im ending up wd two great songs , first one is rafi solo from “anokhi raat”, another is great rafi duet from tajmahal ::

    1. mile na phool to kaaton se dosti karli
    2. jo vaada kiya wo nibhana padega

    i consider roshan ji as a singer neutral music director but no doubt his best also came up wd great mohd rafi ji…

  49. Siva says:

    Guru Murthy sir
    Excellent article!!. Few more gems by Rafi based on classical raagas-Madhuban mein radhika naache re(Naushad);Nache man mora magan(SDBurman);Sukh ke sab saathi, dukh me na koi( more of a bhajan, but still on classical base–music by the most under-rated music director pair-Kalyanji Anandji-even in this forum I find very rare mention about this pair–just listen to Chale the saath milke chalenge saath milkar tumhe rukna padega meri awwaz sunkar by Rafi sahab and also kahin raat din hum door the-duet by Rafi sahab & Lata–sorry–I am deviating from the main topic).
    In fact Rafi sahab had the unique quality to raise an ordinarly song to a classical level, which no else had.
    In my humble personal opinion only Rafi sahab has sung few SONGS THAT HAD ABSOLUTELY NO MUSIC OR VERY MINIMAL MUSIC like Na kisi ki ankh ka noor hoon( from Lal quila-music by S.N.Tripathi–the sher was by last Mughal emporer-Bahadur Shah Zafar) and Ye kuche ye nilam ghar dil kashi ke..ye lut the hue caarvan zindagi ke(Pyasa–SDB)

  50. Hussein Sheikh says:

    Interesting article, Rafi Saheb was superb in classical songs as well. The song ‘Tu Hi Mera Prem Devta…” sung by both Rafi Saheb and Manna da is really enjoyable. There’s another classical number “Sudh Bisar Gaee Aaj…” from the film “Sangeet Samrat Tansen” again sung so effortlessly by Rafi Saheb with Manna da is very pleasing to hear, this song is not mentioned in this article. Anybody need it can mail me.
    melodiousrafi@yahoo.com

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