Guest article by Subodh C Agrawal
(My friend Subodh Agrawal is a great lover of music, he wields a fluent pen, and knows a good deal about classical music. Being among the earliest ones to be a part of SOY journey, he had accepted my request to write a series on film songs based on classical raags. It is difficult to believe that once upon a time he was an active contributor to the Songs Of Yore. For the last few years, he has been in hibernation, his only excuse being he was not feeling like writing anything. His last guest article for SOY was more than four years ago. I am happy that Rafi’s centenary has woken him up from his deep slumber.
For newcomers to the SOY, Subodh is from UP, worked in Punjab and Delhi, and after retirement, is settled at Chandigarh.
Subodh writes on a serious subject with a light touch which you see in his very first sentence. In fact the subject line in his mail mentioned, Kumbhkarn has woken up! The article was too late to be scheduled in the 2024, but it was too good to be left out. Some more Rafi-fans also had sent me their tributes somewhat late, hence I am pleased to extend the Rafi centenary celebrations. Thank you, Subodh for finally giving this pleasant surprise. – AK)
The birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi (December 24, 2024) has pulled me out of my Kumbhkarn like slumber. I don’t even remember when I contributed my last article to this platform. My apologies to those who expected more from me. Hopefully this article will make up for the delay.
When one thinks of classical songs by male singers in Hindi films, Manna Dey’s name automatically springs to mind – and rightly so. He has given us some of the greatest classical based songs: ‘Poochho na kaise maine rain bitaayee’, ‘Laga chunari mein daag’, ‘Jhanak jhanak tori baaje payaliya’ to name just a few. However, the classical songs of Rafi are no less. His name is not so easily identified with classical songs because of his amazingly wide range. The songs in the list below show that he was not lacking in the skill needed to do full justice to classical ragas.
Before I present the list I would like to make a distinction between songs that are quite clearly and obviously based on ragas because they present the alaaps and taans typical of a regular classical piece. There are many other songs, however, which are faithful to a raga, but don’t have the embellishments typical of a classical performance. The list below presents both types of songs.
1. Man tarpat hari darshan to aaj, in Malkauns from Baiju Bawra (1952), music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
Some classical based songs from Hindi films have become iconic examples of their ragas. Teachers of classical music use these songs to explain the structure of the raga to their students. This song has everything one expects from the majestic Malkauns: depth, an aura of tranquility despite expression of inner anguish, prayerful mood. In the days of social media it is often presented as a classic example of our Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb with three Muslims creating an outstanding Hindu prayer.
2. O duniya ke rakhwale, in Darbari from Baiju Bawra (1952), music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
This song is faithful to Darbari, also known as Darbari Kanada. However, I don’t count it among my favourites. I don’t like Darbari being used for this type of wailing and whining. As the name suggests, it is a majestic raga and should be used as such. There are other ragas like Todi for as much wailing as one wants. Rafi, however, has done a great job with this song in both high and low notes.
3. Madhuban mein Radhika naache re, in Hameer from Kohinoor (1960), music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
Another iconic song from the Rafi-Naushad-Shakeel trio. Students of classical music have tuned their ears to Hameer by listening to this song. This has all the embellishments one associates with a full-fledged classical performance. Rafi manages all of them, except the taans filmed on Mukri which, according to Wikipedia, have been sung by Ustad Niaz Ahmad Khan. Some other sources, however, attribute these taans to Ustad Amir Khan, thought that appears unlikely – given the sober style of Ustad Amir Khan. Our expert Sh. KL Pandey confirms that it is Ustad Niaz Ahmad Khan. (In any case, that portion in the total song is so insignificant that I would like to give the entire credit to Rafi for this great song. – AK)
4. Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare, in Yaman from Chitralekha (1964), music by Roshan, lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi
This was rated as the best Hindi film song of all time in a poll conducted by Outlook Magazine a couple of decades back. It is a simple composition without any complicated harkats or murkis but absolutely true to the tranquil and prayerful mood of Yaman – Roshan’s favourite raga (also mine!).
There is a popular post on social media about a dialogue between Sahir Ludhianvi and Pandit Narendra Sharma about Hindi and Urdu. Sahir, apparently, said that Shuddh Hindi was incapable of expressing subtle moods and emotions needed by songs and this was best left to Urdu. Pandit Narendra Sharma charmed him with the lyrics of Jyoti kalash chhalke and Sahir had to concede that Hindi was as suitable for songs as Urdu.
I don’t know whether this anecdote is true or not, but a good story is a good story. Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan was released in 1961. Three years later Sahir demonstrated his remarkable prowess with Shuddh Hindi in the songs of Chitralekha.
5. Nache man mora magan tig da dhigi digi, in Bhairavi from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen (1963), music by SD Burman, lyrics by Shailendra
This song should dispel any doubts one may have about Rafi’s ability to sing songs based on classical ragas. It is from the same film in which Manna Dey gave the all-time classic Poochho na kaise main rain bitayi. Still, SDB chose to give this song to Rafi.
The tabla in this song is played by Pandit Samta Prasad, also known as Gudai Maharaj. I vaguely recall there was an interesting anecdote about how he was persuaded to perform, but I can’t recall the details.
6. Radhike tune bansuri churayi in Nayaki Kanhda, Darbari, Pilu, Patdeep from Beti Bete (1964), Music by Shankar-Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra
The song begins with a flute prelude in Pilu followed by a mix of Darbari and Nayaki Kanhda with a glimpse of Patdeep in the second line of the stanza. I could not confirm this with Mr KL Pandey’s magnum opus, as I didn’t find it in the appropriate place between Radhey Radhey (4943) and Radio (4944). I would very much appreciate his valued comments if he reads this. (Radhike tune bansuri churaayi is listed at #4744, and raags mentioned are Darbari Kanhada+Naayaki Kanhda+Kafi+Patdeep. KL Pandey does not mention Pilu, Subodh doesn’t mention Kafi – AK)
7. Koi sagar dil ko behlata nahin, in Kalawati/Jansammohini from Dil Diya Dard Liya (1967), music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
This song would not be considered classical based by most lay listeners, as it lacks the embellishments and flourishes typical of a classical performance. While I am quite familiar with Kalawati, my knowledge of Jansammohini is limited to the classic Haye re wo din kyun na aaye from Anuradha. I would identify it only as Kalawati. I listened carefully to the song twice, but couldn’t place the note ‘re’ or the phrase ‘ga-re-ni-sa.’ I request Mr KL Pandey and Ashwin Bhandarkar to enlighten me by drawing attention to the particular timestamp in the video.
8. Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi in Bhimpalasi from Chandrakanta (1956), Music by Datta Naik, lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi
Bhimpalasi is one of the sweetest ragas. Datta Naik has kept this composition simple, making it popular with amateur singers. Rafi too has presented it in a straightforward manner that goes directly to the listener’s heart.
9. Saaz ho tum aawaz hun main, in Patdeep from Saaz aur Awaaz (1966), music by Naushad, lyrics by Khumar Barabanqvi
We had a glimpse of Patdeep in song no 6. Here is the raga in its full glory. This is another iconic song used by students to get a feel for the raga.
As I mentioned in my article on Bhimpalasi and related ragas, Patdeep is formed by changing the komal ‘ni’ of Bhimpalasi to shudh, just as Chandrakauns is formed by a similar change in Malkauns. This one change completely alters the character of the raga. The feminine softness of Bhimpalasi goes out to be replaced by an aggressive masculinity.
10. Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare chale gaye in Chhayanat from Kala Pani (1958), Music by SD Burman, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri
Chhayanat is eminently suited for ghazals. This song doesn’t meet the strict definition of a ghazal but the mood of expressing one’s feelings from the depth of one’s heart is very much like a ghazal. Majrooh, SDB, and Rafi have joined hands to give us a beautiful composition and Dev Anand has not let them down.
Sorry for the advert in the beginning of the video. All video versions that I could locate had such annoying ads, and I thought something would be lost if one didn’t show Dev Anand.
Thoughts on Gara
I would have sworn that Mohe panghat pe Nandlal chhed gayo re was Pilu. It came as a surprise to know that it was Gara. Gara is a very slippery raga often confused with others.
Deepak Raja wrote a very good piece on the nuances of Gara on his blog swaratala.blogspot.com. The article is no longer on the site hence I can’t add the link here. I reproduce a few excerpts I kept from it, rather than giving my own views:
Gara is a rare raga. But, if you have heard several renditions of it, you could be confused because one Gara often does not sound like others. There is a good reason for this because Gara, is not the exclusive name of a well-defined melodic entity. Gara is, in fact, an independent raga, as well as an additive fragrance to other ragas; and that too, in two variants. If there is confusion about Gara, it is because musicians might announce, simply, Gara, when they decide to perform one of the two variants, each of which has a self-explanatory name.
Gara belongs to a family of ragas, which were apparently derived from folk melodies, and entered art-music in association with the Thumree genre. (Manuel, Peter. Thumree in historical and stylistic perspectives, First edition, 1989, Motilal Barasidass, Delhi). This family includes ragas like Kafi, Pilu, Jangula, Barwa, and Zilla, along with several others. These ragas remained loose, informal melodic entities until the 18th century, after which their grammar was organized by classically trained musicians. However, even today, as Manuel points out (Ibid. 1989), they are performed only infrequently in classical and semi-classical music, and in disparate versions.
Raga Jaijaiwanti bears the closest resemblance to Gara. However, according to some authors (B Subba Rao, Raga Nidhi, 4th edition. 1996, Music Academy, Madras), Gara is a combination of Khamaj, Piloo and Jhinjhoti. The raga belongs to the Kafi parent scale.
This raga is characterized by limited improvisational potential and a zigzag phraseology, both protecting it from the shadow of Jaijaiwanti. But its phrasing strategy exposes it to risk of confusion with other ragas, such as Pilu and Desi in the purvanga, and Barwa (Agra version) in the uttaranga. The most comprehensive risk of confusion for Gara comes, of course, from Jaijaiwanti of either anga (bias) – Desh or Bageshri.
Don’t worry if you can’t make sense of half the words and phrases above. The central message is clear – Gara is not easy to grasp and often gets mixed up with ragas like Jaijaiwanti, Pilu, and Jhinjhoti.
Why this diversion on Gara in an article on Rafi’s classical songs? A search for classical film songs in Gara on Chandrakantha.com brings up seven film songs of which four are Rafi solos, two Rafi duets and only one Mohe panghat pe Nandlal in another voice. The reason is not far to seek. All these songs have a similar feel – of the singer baring his soul to a friend, a beloved, or just to himself in an introspective mood. This is something in which Rafi had no parallel.
So, without further ado I post links to the songs of Rafi in Gara:
11. Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain from Guide (1965), music by SD Burman, lyrics by Shailendra
12. Kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona aaya from Hum Dono (1961), music by Jaidev, lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi
13. Aise to na dekho from Teen Deviyan (1965), music by SD Burman, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri
14. Deewana kah ke aaj mujhe phir pukariye from Mulzim (1963), music by Ravi, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
15. Humsafar saath apna chhod chale with Asha Bhosle from Aakhri Daao (1953), music by Madan Mohan, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri
16. Jeevan mein piya tera saath rahe with Lata Mangeshkar from Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), music by Vasant Desai, lyrics by Bharat Vyas
This one is different from the other five with its peppy rhythm.
Songs 1 to 10 relate to ragas that have featured earlier on SoY and these songs have also been presented. Hence, I am not adding clips of classical music in these ragas. However, as Gara is featuring for the first time, I add a few pieces for the enjoyment of learned readers of this blog.
Ustad Vilayat Khan: https://youtu.be/wITfom4rqu8?si=2uzFxMYwermKSfBj
Rajan and Sajan Mishra: https://youtu.be/rchjc0Sb1tM?si=VgtfNafLT3NMLc00
Kaushiki Chakraborty: https://youtu.be/Gjh_SskKvPQ?si=IoiSZdJMDiZaWLgy
Before leaving let me say that after listening to songs 11 to 15 I had thought the songs Aap aaye to khayal-e dil-e nashad aaya and Jaag dil-e diwana were also in Gara. The first is listed as Gara on one YouTube channel, but Shri K L Pandey’s book doesn’t list either of them as Gara. I defer to his superior knowledge. (KL Pandey identifies Aap aaye to khayal-e-dil-e-nashad yaad aya as Bageshree+Malgunji; and Jaag dil-e-deewana rut jaagi as Bhairavi.)
With this I take leave and go back to my slumber; for how long, I know not!
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
The song links have been have been embedded only for listening pleasure of music lovers. Neither the author nor the blog have any commercial interest and claim no copyright over these songs which vests with the respective rights owners.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Subodh ji,
Long time no see! Good to see again.
Zero classical music knowledge. But, can’t resist adding a few beautiful songs.
Duniya na bhaye mujhe…
BASANT BAHAAR
Na kisi ke aankh ka noor hoon..
LAL QUILA
Meri awaaz suno…
NAUNIHAL
Kuhoo kuhoo bole koyaliya
SWARN SUNDARI
( LAata )
Kaise samjhaye…
SURAJ
Nav Kalpana…
MRIG TRISHNA)
And,
The icing on the cake…
Rafi singing for Kishore Kumar.
Man mora bawra…
RAGINI, 1958.
Rafi sang 7 songs ( 4 solos, 3 duets ) for Kishore in 5 movies:
BHAGAM BHAG, 1956
To
PYAR DEEWANA, 1972.
In one of the 2 duets in BB, Rafi songs for Kishore and Bhagwan. ( Asha Bhosle songs for Shashikala and Smriti Biswas. )
.
….sings for
Subodhji,
Indeed, it was a pleasant surprise. Your posts are always classical and nothing less, and this one being no exception. To get the real feel of your post and the song posted therein, contemplation is needed. Offhand, without bothering to get into the finer nuances, we can listen and very much enjoy the songs. But I feel, if possible, one has to make an honest attempt to do justice to the author. But then, I am bound by my limitations.
Although the first ten songs have been posted by you in your earlier posts, it does not diminish the listening pleasure of these songs. These are evergreen songs and rendered by Rafi. Rafi takes Malkauns to a level rarely achieved in film melodies. And I agree with you that Rafi had done a great job in Duniya ke Rakhwale, but could not achieve the subtlety of Man tarpath Hari darshan ko aaj. Madhuban mein radhika remains the epitome of the classical song, without which a compilation of classical film songs remains incomplete. Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare illuminates our soul. I can go on. There cannot be enough of Rafi, especially the classical numbers.
As regards the anecdote in which you have referred Pt. Samta Prasad’s name, I too have read a story about making of this song Nache mora manwa.
‘The songs had its roots in Pt. Brindadin Maharaj, the famous Kathak artist, who used the bol ‘Tikda dhigi dhigi’ while teaching his nephew Achchan Maharaj, who was friendly with S D Burman. On hearing this bol SDB got hooked to it and gave Shailendra the song idea that my heart was dancing (like a peacock) with joy. He came up with Nache mora manwa to which SDB added ‘Tikda dhigi dhigi’ and then developed the rhythm and tune of the song. Pt. Samta Prasad was sort of unwilling to play tabla for this one, but he was pursued and even a very high fee was actually quoted by him to so that the request may be turned down, but it was agreed to and he had to say yes, and thus the nice song got born. It is believed that S D Burman waited for Pt. Samta Prasad to record the song and he was specially flown in from Benaras for the recording.’
Posting another song in Malkauns, Akhiyan sang akhiyaan laage, film Bada Aadmi (1961), lyrics Prem Dhawan, music Chitragupt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdb_JAvmHK4
I will listen to the Gara part later and revert back.
Subodh Ji
Nice article…well researched and for a layman like me , not knowing much about classical ragas, it is wonderful to know the base for these great songs.
For me and maybe many like me, O duniya ke rakhwale will be one of the great songs of HFM. Though it is can be one’s personal dislike or like, but I feel the use of words like wailing & whining looks to be strong words . That would belittle most of the sad / pathos songs in films, which to me are mostly the best ones. Without naming the singer , I can say there are songs that required much feelings but were rendered in a breezy manner spoiling the entire emotion. I am not an expert on raagas but I checked the famous site ” chandrakantha,” and find not only Naushad , but many other music directors have composed sad songs in Darbari.
* though it can be
Dr Pradeep K Shetty @1: Thank you for your appreciation. There is no limit to Rafi’s versatility – he is ahead of all other male singers in the sheer range of songs. You have chosen some very good examples. ‘Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya,’ is a classic with the mukhda and the first antara in Sohni. Subsequently it goes into Jaunpuri and Yaman.
I am surprised that I never noticed ‘Nav kalpana’ earlier, despite the fact that it is an excellent example of my favourite raga Yaman. Thanks.
N Venkataraman@3: Thanks for your appreciation, and also for the details on Pt Samta Prasad. There is a similar story about how Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was persuaded to sing for Mughal-e Azam. He too quoted a ridiculously high price to deter K Asif, but he accepted it immediately.
Thanks for adding another song in Malkauns by Rafi. But I think you will agree that no other song in Malkauns by Rafi or any other singer comes even close to ‘Man tarpat…’
Sivanandan @4: Thanks for your appreciation. ‘Wailing and whining’ are indeed strong words, but I am not too happy with the way composers of Hindi film music have used the majestic Darbari. Unlike ‘Man tarpat…’ which does full justice to Malkauns, there is really no song in the HFM repertoire which captures the true aura of Darbari. The closest would be ‘Ud ja bhanwar maya kamal…’ from Rani Rupmati and ‘Mitwa laut aaye ri’ from Sangeet Samrat Tansen. One has to listen to real classical pieces to experience Darbari.
These are a very good collection of classical songs rendered by Rafi for different actors. Congratulations !
Thanks KB
Subodh Ji
Like Pradeep ji, I also have zero knowledge of classical music. In fact, the very first article I read seriously classical music was written by you on SOY on Bhimpalashi.
One has to just go through the titles of the recent articles on SOY to understand Rafi’s greatness. It is difficult to beat the Naushad – Rafi duo when it comes to classical songs in Hindi films.
Here are my favorites
1 Man ki been matwari – Shabab – Shakeel Badayuni – Naushad – Rafi and Lata
https://youtu.be/lpjXTXBa1ek?si=knl9_CZiWneAJ4ZD
2 Unke khayal aaye to – Lal Patthar- Hasarat-SJ – Rafi
https://youtu.be/YcvssR8B70M?si=vmgLLCWnYP9VU6XI
Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli @11: Thank you. ‘Unke khayal aaye to’ sounds so similar to ‘Diwana kah ke aaj mujhe.’ Wikipedia lists it in Gara. So one more for Rafi. Interesting thought: did SJ copy Ravi?
‘Man ki bin Marwari’: the mukhda is Bahar, but othe ragas appear later.
Subodhji,
Thanks for posting the write-up on the nuances on the Raaga by Deepak Raja. I am not sure as to how far the article has enhanced my knowledge on Raaga Gaara, but it made an interesting reading and at the same time raised some interesting questions too. Sharing my thoughts.
According to him there are two variants of the Raaga, but does not mention what are the two variants. Should we assume that the variants are based on ‘Thats’, Khamaj and Kafi? Or is it on the basis of scale i.e Pancham se Gaara and Madhyam se Gaara. I doubt it, because if you include the type ‘with Sa as the base’ ,then that makes it three. So he must be referring to the variants based on ‘That’. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong.
Excerpts from Deepak Raja’s article,
‘Raga Jaijaiwanti bears the closest resemblance to Gara. However, according to some authors (B Subba Rao, Raga Nidhi, 4th edition. 1996, Music Academy, Madras), Gara is a combination of Khamaj, Piloo and Jhinjhoti. The raga belongs to the Kafi parent scale.’
But in the same book, Raga Nidhi of Subba Rao, mentions Raaga Gaara belongs to Khamaj That. K L Pandey too holds the same view. I think since Gaara has komal ga and kolmal ni, Deepak Raja is of the view that it belongs to ‘Kafi That’. Then why ‘Khamaj That’ according to others? Since my knowledge is limited, I am only asking this just for my understanding, I am not saying that they (Pandeyji and Raoji) are wrong. I hope, one thing I can assume is that whatever be the variant Gaara will have shades of many other Raagas.
BTW Pandeyji does not include the songs ‘ Aise na dekho” and ‘Jeevan mein piya tera saath rahe’ in his list of Hindi film songs on Gaara. Nevertheless, I certainly enjoyed listening to the six Hindi film songs and one classical instrumental number and two vocal performances in Raaga Gaara, posted by you. Thank You Subodhji for the treat.
Rahulji has posted another nice song ‘Unkhe khayal aaye to aate chale gaye’. Another wonderful rendition of Gaara by Rafi.
Posting a song which appears to be based on Gaara. With a wonderful saxophone accompaniment.
Huyi sham unka khayaal aa gaya, Mere Humdum Mere Dost (1968), lyrics, Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Lakshmikant-Pyarelal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKUNVSCMyIU
One more song based on Gaara,
Jo baat tujh mein hai, teri tasveer mein nahi, Taj Mahal (1963, lyrics Sahir Ludhyanvi, music Roshan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-LpErDQEps
#4-Subodh Ji
I checked the distionary meaning of ” whining”-it says:
“to complain in an annoying, crying voice”
“to make a long, high, unpleasant sound because you are in pain or unhappy”
Though I understand your grouse is against the usage of Darbari raag for pathos, unwittingly you have implied something not palatable on Rafi’s voice , and at the same time saying he did a great job!
Anyhow, if someone had said this to Rafi ,in his usual style , the great man would have smiled at this comment also and pointed to the Almighty above for this also.
#12-If composers create songs based on same raag, does that imply ” copying”? If that is so , it would be an endless list!!
Subodh ji,
I have also seen you in action perhaps for the first time since I started visiting SoY. I have however had the good fortune of meeting you in person.
I have learnt the basics of Carnatic music and thus, my endeavours are mostly limited to finding the Hindustani equivalent of a Carnatic Raaga. This of course is not always possible. The problem gets compounded because one association between a raaga and song needs reinforcement before you learn another. If you hear classical raaga-based songs set to different raags consecutively, the end result is a big mess in the top storey. Having said that one must have stock go-to songs for each raaga which will help.
Here are two songs which are perhaps based on Raag Gara
Chehre Se Apne Aaj To – Palki
Main Nigaahein Tere Chehre Se – Aap Ki Parchaaiyan
To end on a lighter (non-musical) note, we will perhaps have to wait for a centenary celebration of another doyen for more musical offerings from you!
Anita
Sivanandamji,
Subodh has been consistent on his views about his disappointment that the mood the great songs like O duniya ke rakhwaale and also Dil jalta hai to jalne de, Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin represent does not do full justice to Raag Darbari, which has a royal aura about it. I am quoting his words from his post on Raag Darbari he wrote on 21.1.2014:
“Darbari – along with Bhairavi, Yaman and Pahadi – is one of the most commonly used ragas for film music. Having written about Yaman and Pahadi earlier and having enjoyed the experience, I was looking forward to doing this post on Darbari, but my enthusiasm waned considerably after I compiled a list of songs in Darbari in preparation for this article. The songs are good, some of them are great, but few of them really do justice to Darbari. Let me cite just three examples: O duniya ke rakhwale from Baiju Bawra, Dil jalta hai to jalne de from Pehli Nazar and Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin from Baawre Nain – all three are very good songs but the mood they depict is not what Darbari is meant for. As the name suggests, Darbari has a royal aura about it. There has to be a certain gravitas about it. In my humble opinion it is not meant for the kind of wailing and whining these three songs represent. Composers would be better off using a raga like Todi for such songs.”
Coincidentally, while we were discussing Darbari, a friend sent me Gangubai Hangal’s rendering in Raag Darbari. She had a pronounced masculine voice, that should make her Darbari royal. Over to Subodh. But his comment did not cast aspersion on Rafi or Mukesh.
https://youtu.be/Jk7VGadZNYs?si=Oi1Czz9B1w1AFt1i
AK ji/ Subodh Ji
In that case wouldn’t it be better to skip that type of pathos song? Why list it in this blog if it did not do any justice to the raag at all?
Anyhow I am a layman and never understood these classical nuances. For me anything that moves me either with joy or sorrow and connects to soul is good music. Life is simpler sometimes if we don’t get into too many complexities!
I will stop with this and will not comment further on this topic.
Subodh,
When you posted a comment a few days ago, I thought about asking you to comment regularly. I was not aware that you would soon come up with such an article. If an expert like you says Rafi was no less than Manna Dey as a classical singer, it means a lot. The songs posted are all great, but we would have expected details about some of the nuances of singing or composition, which a layman does not understand. Par shayad neend ka khumaar abhi poora utra nahin hai. 😉
Sivanandam has raised the question about the words used by you. I would not comment on this any more than that oxford dictionary says whine is a ‘long high pitched complaining cry, esp. made by a dog or child’. Though AK has defended it, but if it was not meant for the singer then was it meant for composer or for director who made the situation of the song. I personally would not have made this one an issue except hoping that I was also allowed ten percent of the liberty given to you.
I would like to raise another point here in this regard. I have always been of the opinion that music came first and then rules of making music in the form of Raags were made. I had met KL Pandey and AK’s meeting and interacted with him for more than one hour. He is a person without an iota of ego despite his fame and achievements and he agreed with what I said and he has also written that in his book.
You said composers should use Todi for such wailing and whining which is a Raag for this purpose. I dont think there is any agreement between any two masters on even a single Raag. In his Sur Sanvadini, KL Pandey tells us that the special features of both Darbaari and Todi are ‘serious in nature’. So there is no clear mandate which differentiates between the two Raags. I have read on some website that this Raag was called by different names at different times and Darbaari was added in Mughal times. I dont know whether this is true or not. If adding Darbaari would mean every song composed under this should be majestic, is hardly acceptable.
In the second volume of KLP’s book there is a list of number of songs under various Raags found in the book. Todi has just 50 songs listed and Gurjari Todi just 58. If as per you Todi was the Raag fit for such songs then the number of songs under Todi should have been in thousands, because our films have such songs in very large numbers. But, no composer is agreeing to your arguments. Anil Biswas, Roshan and Naushad are all great MDs. I think they knew what they are doing. I have seen other MDs too made such songs in our films, though the number of songs in Raag Darbaari is very low as against your claim that it was very commonly used in our films. The KLP book says the total number of songs under Darbaari and Darbaari Kanhada is just 278 out of more than 20000 songs reviewed by them. The golden era number of songs under this Raag would be less than 200.
You yourself have written that the song ‘o duniya ke rakhwale’ is faithful to the raag. Then what is the problem. If you can not enjoy such a great universally acclaimed song because it was composed under a wrong Raag, then I can only say ‘too much knowledge is bad and ignorance is bliss’. 😉 We ignorant people are enjoying the song because we do not know which Raag is applied where.
I would come back again for other comments.
N Venkataraman @13: Thank you. All appreciation feels good, but appreciation of a true connoisseur feels better.
As for your points on Deepak Raja, I really have no answer. I can’t claim to have understood what he meant by all he said. I used this quote to illustrated the difficulty with appreciation of the raga.
Whatever be the that, or other fine points, I think you will agree that all the Rafi songs listed in the article and ‘Unke khayal aaye to’ and ‘Hui shaam unka khayal aa gaya’ have a very similar mood that one doesn’t find elsewhere. Rafi lends them a quality only he could. I can’t imagine these songs in other voices. I don’t find that mood in ‘Jo baat tujhmen hai,’ although technically it could be Gara.
Sivanandan@14 and 17, Hans@18: I get the point. My apology for using ‘wailing and whining’ not once, but twice – the first time as quoted by AK in his comment number 16.
Skillful composers can use almost any raga for any mood. Still, there are some moods that suit some ragas better. Pathos is not a mood I associate with Darbari and it disappoints me that so many composers have used this raga for this purpose. As quoted in AK’s comment, I consider all these songs good, even great. Hence I don’t think I have committed any impropriety in using one of them here.
Talking of composers’ skill, Yaman is associated with tranquility, prayer, and a gentle kind of romance. But it has been used for many songs of pathos, including one of my favourites ‘Saranga teri yaad mein.’ But there are so many other songs in Yaman that suit its proper mood, so I can admire the exceptions without any disappointment.
Sivanandan@14: Composing songs on the same raga is definitely not copying. However, I see an uncanny similarity between ‘Deewana kah ke aaj mujhe’ and ‘Unke khayal aaye to’ which goes beyond being in the same raga, hence my question.
Anita@15: Thank you.
Mr Venkataraman says ‘I am not sure as to how far the article has enhanced my knowledge on Raaga Gaara.’ Frankly, I can’t claim any enhancement in my own understanding of this raga after writing this article. That’s why I have tried to save myself by labelling this part as ‘thoughts on raga Gara!’
The best I can say is that ‘Tere mere sapne’ ‘Kabhi khud pe’ ‘Aise to na dekho’ ‘Deewana kah ke aaj mujhe’ ‘Humsafar saath’ ‘Aap aaye to khayal-e dile nashad’ ‘Unke khayal aaye to aate chale gaye’ and ‘Hui shaam unka khayal’ have a similar mood and feel. Many of them are clearly identified as Gara with difference of opinion on others. Let us enjoy these songs for this mood and avoid getting into too many niceties about the raga.
I can’t say if the two songs mentioned by you are in Gara or not, but they don’t appear to have the mood and feel common to the songs listed above. Since this is something intuitive rather than objective, different people are bound to have different opinions.
Hans@18: ‘Par shayad need ka khumar abhi poora utra nahin hai.’ Thank you. I have always felt my legs are short in proportion to my torso, and pulling them will do me good!’
Subodh Ji
Thanks for the understanding. That was the only slight issue that kept bothering in an otherwise brilliant article.
Subodh,
I have said earlier in some other blog that I dont like apologies among friends. I had also made it clear that I would not have raised the point and for me it was enough you wrote ‘I get the point’. I think Sivanandam also meant that.
Your saying @19 &20 that mood is important more than Raag has gladdened hearts of those like me who dont know anything about Raags and still enjoy them. Though people like me may pretend to know the Raag used in songs on the basis of KLP’s book HCRE, you will remain the expert in this field for SOY for us. Of the regulars here Venkataramanji is the only man who knows a lot on the subject.
I have read most of your articles on Raags for just song descriptions. On ‘maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi’ you mentioned some friend who used to sing it. There was a colleague in our school cricket team who used to be our entertainer on tours. He used to sing Mukesh songs with perfection but Rafi songs he was lacking in copying. (This colleague was pocket dynamite like Ramakant Desai – even shorter than him – and generated unbelievable pace from a short run up despite his small frame). When someone asked him about this he said ‘I am not Rafi’. The other one asked but you are not Mukesh too, to which he had no answer. About ‘maine chand aur sitaron ki’ you said it was a simple composition sung by Rafi in a straightforward manner.
SSW on one occasion wrote about ‘toote hue khwabon ne’ the following comment:
“The beauty of it is the way Rafi sings ‘dil ne jise paya tha’. Between ‘dil’ and ‘ne’ there is exactly one octave but Rafi sings it so smoothly that as the pitch rises you really dont hear an effort.”
I think it is Rafi who makes such songs simple by his effortless singing and that is why people find it difficult to sing the simple looking songs like Rafi. Sonu Nigam is a good singer and is the one who has come the closest to Rafi in singing his songs, but you listen to his renditions of ‘toote hue khabon ne’ or the simple looking ‘maine chand aur sitaron ki’ and you would feel the difference.
I want to ask something. In your article on Raag Desh you presented the Rafi-Asha song ‘gori tore nain kajar bin kare’ and said:
“Both Rafi and Asha display their classical virtuosity, though one must admit that Asha has an edge over Rafi in this song.”
I am posting that song again here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN4AmWzgZEY
In the situation Kewal Kumar is teaching singing to his pupil Nishi and he seems to be leading the singing. Can you tell us where and how Asha had the edge. You said Rafi was no less than Manna Dey. This would also mean Asha was even better classical singer than Manna Dey.
Hans@25: Thanks for your understanding.
Good point about Rafi effortlessly scaling an octave. He does the same in ‘Jawaniyan yeh mast mast bin piye.’ The second line ‘Jalaati chal rahi hain raah mein diye,’ goes really high but Rafi makes it sound so easy. I realised the change in pitch when I tried to hum the song myself!
As for Asha besting Rafi in ‘Gori tere nainwa’ the (dis)credit goes entirely to the composer who gave more intricate taans to her from 4 minutes onward in the song. It does not make her a better classical singer than Rafi. As for Rafi and Manna Dey, I have only said Rafi was no less.
Subodhji,
I do have some rudimentary knowledge of hindustani classic music and enjoy it in all its forms. Exposition of raag in drupad used to enamour me. Film songs with a classical bent were the apple of the eye and I hear them again and again and have compiled a big library of the same. I did contemplate a post on this aspect of Rafi, but held back when I realised my ineptitude. After seeing yours which I rate as chef doeuvre, I was right in abandoning it and leaving it to an expert like you.
It is really peach of a post coming after a long interregnum. I would dare to say you awoke after a Rip Van Winklian slumber. I have heard all the songs you posted. Let me offer my humble contribution.
Aaye na balam wada karke – Shabad (1954), Shakeel Badauni/Naushad
– Raag – Soor Malhar + Gaud Malhar (Source: Dr. Pandey)
https://youtu.be/M_gnYTDrIOI?t=211
Jaan Saketho ja – Ustad (1957), Jan Nisar Akhtar/O P Nayyar
Raag – Asaveri + Darbari (source : Ibid)
https://youtu.be/SK-NwcuR6X8?t=62
Subodh,
You said
“I have only said Rafi was no less.”
I said
“You said Rafi was no less than Manna Dey.”
I think both lines mean the same. But, may be either my English or interpretation is wrong. If so, can you elaborate.
About the song you said the composer gave more intricate taans to Asha 4 minutes onward. The song stops at 4.20. What was so special about those 20 seconds that it obliterated all the effect of the 4 minutes which included about 30 seconds of Rafi’s alaap at the start in which Asha had no role. Will it be correct if I say Rafi is better because he had alaap by himself. In duets the singers are given their role as per the situation in the song. Rafi had more of the song because he was singing for the teacher.
Look at the two Geeta-Manna duets in Devdas. Geeta is leading the song and doing most of the singing. Would you say Geeta bested Manna in the song. And in ‘ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya’ Rafi sings the mukhda and Geeta sings the antara. Can Geeta and Rafi fans start a fight for supremacy based on this fact.
I think experts like you have more responsibility on their shoulders than us, because people believe them. The comment of SSW which I quoted is an example of this. I had listened to ‘toote hue khabon ne’ so many times before that comment and listened it a number of times after that, but I could not locate the thing which he said because I do not have that expertise and due to that I remembered that quote.
Subodh,
Another point I would like to discuss is the anecdote about Sahir Ludhianvi and Narendra Sharma.
I am always sceptical about such anecdotes. Since you are not sure of the truth of this and have posted it as a good story, I will not ask you when this dialogue happened. I am sure whoever concocted this story will not be able to answer this question. Sahir was in fact a very progressive thinker who would never say this even if he had not the command which he had on lyrics with Urdu or Hindi or other dialects of Hindi.
According to this anecdote, the first shudh hindi song written was ‘jyoti kalash chhalke’ in the year 1961. If so, what was Bharat Vyas doing till then. Kavi Pradeep too wrote a number of songs in Hindi and Narendra Sharma himself was a very efficient Hindi song writer in our films and was active since 1943. Sahir’s association with SDB is well known. After Baazi, he wrote a number of songs with shudh Hindi for him. I would skip them and come to 1954 film Radha Krishan in which Narendra Sharma was associated with SDB. He wrote 5 of the 9 songs in the film. Of the remaining 4, two each were written by Sahir and Satyendra Athaiya. All the songs were written in shudh Hindi due to the subject matter of the film. Sahir wrote the famous song which starts with the choicest Hindi gaalis ‘dheeth langar natkhat harjai’ and another song. So at least from 1954 both Narendra Sharma and Sahir knew they can both write shudh Hindi songs.
As the songs of this film are not too frequently heard, let us move to Devdas which came next year. Of the 10 songs in the film, Sahir wrote 5 in shudh Hindi. The Devdas-Paro childhood song ‘o albele panchhi tera door thikana hai’, two duets by Geeta-Manna ‘aan milo aan milo shyam sanwre’ and ‘saajan ki ho gayi gori’, the Rafi background song ‘manzil ki chaah mein’ and the Talat gem ‘mitwa laagi ye kaisi anbujh aag’. The two duets contained a number of local dialect words.
Here goes the anecdote. But is this a good story. My answer is no, because a false story is never a good story and if that story promotes conflict between languages, then it is a bad story.
Subodh,
Most of the songs in Dr Shetty’s list were fit to be included in the post. Rahul Muli, Venkataramanji and DP Rangan also posted some great songs. In your original Darbaari post there was no Rafi song, because the three you did not find fit to be included. I post here three songs from Darbaari and in DP Rangan’s words source is HCRE of KL Pandey.
Basti basti parbat parbat – Railway Platform – Sahir – Madan Mohan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec4V8REAT5I
Gujre hain aaj ishq mein – Dil Diya Dard Liya – Shakeel – Naushad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf2iVFWUCQ0
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna (with Manna Dey and Rajendra Mehta) – Prem Dhawan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1KBGhqMU00
Subodh Ji
Posting here a song based on khamaj
Dhal chuki sham-e-gam – Kohinoor- Shakeel- Naushad
https://youtu.be/xLG5rU2xOEQ?si=DW8VcSe9OSwLj28A
Rafi has expressed the joy, optimism and expectancy of ek nayi subaha so brilliantly that one forgets about the technical aspects of the song.
While searching for the raag on which the song was based, I found a number of songs composed by different composers and the tunes are so different.
The list includes
Hum apna unhe bana na sake- Bhawara – Khemchand Prakash
O sajana barkha bahar aayi – Parakh – Salil Choudhury
Piya tose Naina – Guide- S D Burman
Kuch to log kahenge – Amar Prem – R D Burman
For a person who has no knowledge of raagas, it is hard to believe that all these songs are based on the same raag.
However in case of Diwana karke and Unke khayal the tunes are so similar that one can easily conclude that they are based on same raag ( I will not use the C word).
Kindly note,I have not been receiving mails.
On the similarity or ” alleged” copy of Unke khayal aaye to and Deewana kehke aaj mujhe , as a layman who doesn’t know anything about the underlying swar structure, I could only observe the first lines are similar. Haazir hoon koi teere nazar dil pe maariye in Ravi ‘ song and Deewana zindagi ko bana ke chale gaye in SJ’ s song seem to be different completely . So are the antaras…
However one more similarity is there…exquisite singing by Rafi
Rbv,
Welcome to SOY and thanks a lot for your interest. Please try to register again. You would get a mail from “follow it” for confirmation. Once you do that you should start getting notifications. It seems others are getting it. I also get notifications of new posts on SOY as well as other sites.
Thank yo so much Subodhji for bring up such a rich treat on one page.
Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli@31: Khamaj is one of those ragas that evade my grasp. I can’t hear anything in common between ‘Vaishnava jan to tene kahiye,’ ‘Piya tose naina lage re,’ and ‘O sajna barkha bahar aayee.’ That makes two of us!
Ashok M Vaishnav@35: Thank you.
What I understand from this post is that a classical song follows a raag and so this post is not for a layman. All the songs selected are popular and I have heard them several times as a commoner . Rafi and so many other greats of the golden era of HFM … each of them unique , had crores of fans and so not fair to compare or rank them for their singing. Rafi was the pick of the great MDs for a vast variety of songs . My guess is that 99.99 % of Rafi’s fans were/are music illiterates. And a common man cannot go wrong about songs that are going to be popular .
In my search for a clear definition of Classical songs , here is what I gathered from the net …
*Classical songs* are a type of music that are considered to be the highest quality of their kind over a long period of time. They are also known as “serious music” because they follow a strict set of principles.
*A classic song* is a song that has qualities that are expected of a classic song, such as a familiar refrain or being a nationwide hit.
Dr. K L Pandey as I understand , has established that every song is raag based ( some based on more than one raag) . So even a music literate may differ on which raag based songs can be called classical .As a layman , I should not attempt to identify classical songs .
Do not know if there has been a post on classic HFM songs at SOY . Though there are no statistics available on popularity of these songs , I post some Rafi songs that I consider classic ( could be classical also) .
1) ‘Tu Hindu banega na….’
https://youtu.be/FGrXizYFEjI?si=JLXbiDGYa4169vMC
2) ‘ Mil mil ke gaayenge do dil…’
https://youtu.be/zeHQMZ5DhnM?si=nzTrUEGT4vo7TO2P
3) ‘ Sar jo tera chakraye …’
https://youtu.be/PCaT6-W_C_o?si=pCVhv_QsWL28fWGf
4) Govinda aala re…
https://youtu.be/Z60TE_JDsJE?si=EXMtvlFC1aErs7K_
Mr S Joseph,
The difference between ‘classic’ and ‘classical’ you have mentioned is spot on. My assessment is that only 15-20% of the songs achieved some popularity. Some portion of that became everlasting. So we are talking about such songs which have instant recall. On my blog, most of the songs are of that type with some newly discovered gems included.
‘Classical’ has a technical connotation of some rules of grammar and songs that generally follow those rules. Film songs take liberty with grammar as there emotions dominate.
S Joseph@38: AK has already said everything I could have said in response to your comment.