A Journey with Dilip Kumar (11th December 1922 – 7th July 2021) and Mohammed Rafi (24th December 1924 – 31st July 1980)
Guest article by N Venkataraman in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Rafi with his songs for Dilip Kumar on his 102nd Birth Anniversary
(Dilip Kumar is the undisputed thespian of acting. Rafi is unarguably the most versatile singer. He became identified with the voice of many heroes. No wonder he also became the voice of Dilip Kumar, with Naushad as the admirer of both and the music director in a succession of their films. Surprising, because Naushad came wholesale to Rafi quite late in the day. Dilip Kumar is known to have asked for Talat Mahmood as his voice in some early 50s’ films. Naushad himself used Mukesh as the voice of Dilip Kumar with great success in ‘Mela’ (1948) and ‘Andaaz’ (1949). Mukesh was his voice in some more films under the baton of other music directors.
Thus, if you were on a journey with Dilip Kumar, it was not obvious that Rafi would become identified as his voice, helmed by the great Naushad. Today happens to be the 102nd birth anniversary of Dilip Kumar. Venkataramanji takes us on a fascinating journey of the two maestros in tandem as only he could. Originally from South India, he is based out of Kolkata and is a polymath in the quintessential Bengali bhadralok tradition. Thanks a lot Venkataramanji for this double treat of 102nd birth anniversary tribute to Dilip Kumar and a tribute to Rafi in the series of his centenary celebrations. – AK)
Once upon a time, in the bustling city of Peshawar, there lived a well-bred, energetic, handsome teenager, who was one of the beloved sons of his parents and the light of his family. He was oblivious of where his destiny was leading him to. Roughly 400 kms away, another young boy, a radiant soul, lived in a sleepy village near Amritsar, who possessed a heart of gold, an infectious smile and tenderness. He cherished to conquer the world with his god-gifted melody. Both of them embarked upon a captivating journey, one in pursuit of an unknown destiny and the other in pursuit of his cherished dream, traversing the landscapes of life in the process with grace and determination. This Safarnama unfolds on a prestigious train, echoing their splendid and eventful future. The Frontier Mail is about leave the Peshawar station and let me jump in to make it my Safarnama too. To waltz through the ups and downs of their journey I am inviting everyone to make it a part of OUR journey, with a caveat that it is going to be a long haul and an exhaustive one too.
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We are now coming to the end of the review of the best songs of 1941. After the 
After I had covered the best songs of Kalyanji-Anandji for 
I had written my first post on Kalyanji-Anandji about ten years ago on their best songs for Mukesh and had titled it “
Usha Khanna’s debut score in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) sounded so much OP Nayyar-ish that you may get the impression that she too would exclude Lata Mangeshkar completely and her female singer would be predominantly Asha Bhosle as she was in Dil Deke Dekho. But from her very second film Hum Hindustani (1960), just as she showed great felicity with Mukesh, she also composed a superlative Lata Mangeshkar song in the film, Chori chori tori ayi hai Radha, kadam tale haule haule. Usha Khanna showed remarkable competence for composing for most of the prominent female playback singers, such as Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur and others. My first post was on her best songs for Rafi, and second on Mukesh and other male playback singers. In these two posts I have also included their male-female duets. The third and last post in the series of tributes to Usha Khanna is on her best songs for Lata Mangeshkar and other female singers. Since their duets with male singers are already covered this would be limited to their solos, and female-female duets. 
The last post was on Usha Khanna’s best songs for Rafi on her 83rd birth anniversary (b. 7 October 1941). This was also a tribute to Rafi as a part of his centenary celebrations. How does she do with other playback singers? This is where she presents a big surprise. After her debut with Dil Deke Dekho (1959), her main male playback singer in Hum Hindustani (1960) was Mukesh! She gave many memorable songs for Mukesh subsequently, such as Teri nigahon pe mar mar gaye hum, Gori tere chalne se mera dil kurban, Chaand ko kya maloom chahta hai use koi chakor, Aaj tumse door hokar. Each a quintessential Mukesh-gem. It seems quite a misnomer to include Mukesh among ‘other’ singers. It is as if Usha Khanna was born to compose great songs for Mukesh. Similarly I remember an all-time great song by Manna Dey and one by Mahendra Kapoor composed by Usha Khanna. Her spread of singers for their memorable songs is not very wide, but enough to include her among important music directors of the Golden Era. In this post I present a sample of her versatile talent; I would also include duets of these male singers. 
I have mentioned the special charm of duets for the variety they add to the film music. In the Vintage Era it is more pronounced as we come across many gems by singers whose names we have not heard.
