Mohammad Rafi’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

A tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his 97th Birth Anniversary (b. December 24, 1924 – d. July 31, 1980) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav and wishing Merry Christmas to all

(Ashok M Vaishnav is a solid Rafi fan, without wearing it as a medallion, and without picking up a sword to slay anyone at the slightest suspicion that he might be slighting Rafi. His love for Rafi is evident in this article on his non-film geets and ghazals. This does not cover his non-film bhajans and naats. Therefore, there is a possibility that at some opportune time Ashokji might have plans for covering that too.

Ashokji is a retired engineer, now a freelance management trainer, based out of Ahmedabad. He has written a number of guest articles on SOY. He anchored the mega series on Multiple Version Songs. Thank you Ashokji for this impressive tribute to Rafi on his 97th Birth anniversary, which would be befittingly the last post of the year. This is also to wish Merry Christmas to all the readers and their families. – AK)

In the 1930s and 40s, it was a normal practice for the recording companies to contract singers with exclusive rights. That would require other companies to launch non-film songs with other singers to make their presence felt in the market. That probably laid the foundation of the practice of publishing the records of non-film songs. By the turn of the 1940s, the singers turned freelancers, hence the major recording companies took up to buying the rights of the entire album of the films. That again led the smaller players to approach the singers for recording non-film songs. In the 1950s, 60s and thereafter, the market forces kept changing the rules, but non-film songs had created such a niche for themselves that the genre has survived and thrived. (A contra view: Jagmohan, Juthika Roy, etc. emerged primarily as NFS singers. It is difficult to accept that they became NFS singers because leftovers came their way. –AK)

Even when considered to be playing second fiddle to the film-songs, non-film songs have been pursued quite sincerely by almost all the playback singers. For many of the frontline singers of film-songs of the 50s, the changing pattern of film compositions from the mid-60s created a situation where the film songs ceased to yield inner satisfaction. In that situation, it was non-film songs that helped them to satisfy their creative urge. Many such songs remain enshrined as iconic renditions in the overall portfolio of a singer.

Mohammad Rafi was one such singer. He has rendered over 4,500 songs during his active career spanning almost four decades. The estimate of his non-film songs varies from as low as around 300 to as high as over 700. Muveen’s (e-mail: muveen123@yahoo.com) well-documented spreadsheet database of Mohammad Rafi’s songs has around 238 Hindi NFSes and around 105+ additional NFSes in other languages, in all types of NFS genres.We also often get to read in well-publicised articles that around 70 to at best 100 of his non-film songs are available easily. I do not have any authentic basis to verify these numbers. But these statements did set me to search, the most easily accessible source today, the internet, seriously.

I began my search in real earnest. The initial results were quite encouraging to spur me to search for the Rafi’s NFSes that I had heard less during my radio or records/cassettes/CDs listening days. I had now a fairly large catch of the songs to choose from to piece together my first article on Mohammad Rafi’s NFSes that could be drawn from the combinations of different music directors and lyricists. Even though I am no expert on the technical merits of song composition, The songs that I have selected here attempts to present a fairly comprehensive range of moods and corresponding styles that Mohammad Rafi could have deployed to do justice to theses moods.

So, here is my tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his 97^th birth anniversary on December 24.

I have narrowed down the scope of the present article to cover only his non-film geets and ghazals. In other words, Rafi’s non-film devotional songs – bhajans and naats – or for that matter patriotic songs are excluded for the present.

I seriously started listening to the (Hindi) film music in the second half of the 1960s. Radio Ceylon, Vividh Bharati and a few programmes on the local AIR stations were the only sources to whet that newfound interest. That pursuit took more serious roots when I had purchased a basic (HMV) record player and four records from my first salary in July 1973. Not before long, I was to land upon the then fast-selling, for more than a decade, vinyl LP, record ‘This is Mohammad Rafi’ that contained his non-film geets and ghazals on one side and devotional songs on the other side. Each song was composed by Khayyam with his exquisite magic touch. It is said that, in the melee of fast-paced run-of-the-mill songs at the advent of 60s, Mohammad Rafi was seriously concerned that he was losing the natural melody in his voice. He approached Khayyam to help him overcome his cause of concern. The joint efforts of the two resulted in this LP album. It was this LP that opened my ears to the genre of non-film songs in real earnest. I had purchased a few more of Khayyam-Rafi non-film songs records and cassettes as well as those of Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, Suman Kalyanpur etc. Of course, I did not pursue the matter of collecting the records of Mohammad Rafi’s non-film songs as a serious curator. But that was my inertia as an amateur fan, and hence my loss. That inertia may also be reflected in the selection of the songs in the present article.

Since my source for the songs presented herein is presently limited to only YT and few other songs sites, I have not been able to ascertain the year of release of these songs. As such, it would be apt for to begin with one representative song from the LP record ‘This is Mohammad Rafi’:-

1. Poochh na mujhse dil ke fasane, ishq ki baatein ishq hi jaane – Lyrics; Jan Nissar Akhtar – Music: Khayyam

With such easy-to-understand, and yet thoroughly literary lyrics and the matching soothing composition, Mohammad Rafi soulfully renders the feelings of someone who has totally been immersed into the ocean of love.

No wonder, this record not only remained on the top-selling list for almost a decade of its release, but it also reset the pride of place to the non-film songs genre in what was considered to be the decade of growth of new generation listeners who had marked preference for easy, fast-paced film songs.

Before we explore more of different lyricist-music director combinations who have also recorded equally absorbing non-film songs with Mohammad Rafi, a few more of representative non-film compositions by Khayyam would be in order:

2. Zikr us pariwash ka aur phir bayaan apna, ban gaya woh raqib aakhir tha jo raazadaan apana – Lyrics: Mirza Ghalib – Music: Khayyam

Khayyam and Mohammad Rafi team up to create a perfect rendering of the ghazal, drawing the listener into the depth of the mood that Ghalib would have imagined when he would have conceived this ghazal, even if the chaste Urdu lyrics remains incomprehensible to the average listener. In fact, more ear-friendly composition of the difficult Urdu/Persian poetry went on to become the norm in the later years.

3. Tum aao rumjhum karati payal ki jhankar liye, nain bichhaye baitha koi phulo bhari bahar liye – Lyrics: Madhukar Rajasthani – Music: Khayyam

Here Mohammad Rafi creates that intimate romantic touch to this Madhukar Rajasthani’s sentimental geet. (An observation: Its antara ‘Tera wo angadaai lena’ seems to me similar to the antara of  ‘Chal ud ja re panchhi’ – AK)

I am not able to resist temptation to add one more of Khayyam-Madhukar Rajasthani compositions –

4. Mere geeton ka singar ho tum, jeevan ka pehla pyar ho tum – Lyrics: Madhukar Rajasthani – Music: Khayyam

The poem is about the heart-felt exposition of the first (ever) love in one’s life, which has injected a new-found passion in the poetic expressions of the protagonist. Khayyam has set the tune to reflect the exuberance of that mood, which Rafi incarnates so lively.

One interesting feature of Mohammad Rafi’s non-film songs is that most of the compositions have come from what can at best be classified as unknown-to-average-listener music directors. These songs may have either been drawn from the published works of known ghazal and poetry writers or from the unknown-to-average-listener poets. Taj Ahmed Khan and his Mohammad Rafi’s non-film songs fall in this category. Even as one can find many Taj Ahmed Khan’s composition on internet, next-to-no information is available about this music director.

5. Haye mehaman kahan ye gham-e-jana hoga, khaana-e-dil to koi roz mein viraan hoga – Lyrics: Dagh Dehlvi – Music: Taj Ahmed Khan

This one is a typical Taj Ahmed Khan composition – soft, sweet, with minimum orchestration. Mohammad Rafi is in his natural flow, with clear diction and throw that fully expresses the feelings embedded in the lyrics.

6. Dil ki baat kahi nahi jaati…. chupke rahena thana hai, haal agar hai aisa hi to … ji se jana jana hai – Lyrics: Mir Taqi Mir – Music: Taj Ahmed Khan

Here we have a ghazal from an 18^th century Urdu poet, Mir Taqi Mir, who commands respect almost equal to Mirza Ghalib.

Just to get an idea of how different music directors extracted best of Mohammad Rafi for the non-film songs genre, we should listen to another famous rendering of this ghazal by Begum Akhtar.

https://youtu.be/8sk_IOKoWM0

Please note this not an exercise of comparison between the two renderings but is simply an illustration of how differently Mohammad Rafi NFS have been carved out.

We will take one more instance of Taj Ahmed Khan composition – a Ghalib ghazal.

7. Diya ye dil agar usko bashar hai kya kahiye, hua raqeeb to ho naamabar hai kya kahiye – Lyrics: Mirza Ghalib – Music: Taj Ahmed Khan

The composition is relatively in higher octave scale, more in tune with the tone of the lyrics which is in the form of a complaint after once having fallen in love.

The internet is replete with Taj Ahmed Khan’s NFS – with different singers – that opens up a separate subject of study and listening pleasure. However, it is time for us to change the tracks.

Before we dwell deeper into lyricist-music director combinations, it would be opportune to take note of extremely rare example of a non-film song wherein all the creative stakeholders – the lyricist, the music director, and the singer – are well known names of Hindi films.

8. Is dil se teri yaad bhulai nahni jaati, ye pyar ki daulat hai lutai nahin jaati – Lyrics: Raendra Krishna – Music: Hansraj Behl

Hansraj Behl – Mohammad Rafi have given us some of the most memorable Hindi film songs. They team up with Rajendra Krishna here to come up with this NFS gem. Rafi plays with ‘yaad’ in the mukhada and ascends-descends the scales in each stanza in what is now his familiar style to us. His ‘taan’ at ‘Ye pyar ki dualat hai’ can also be categorised as his oft-used vocal ‘harkat’. However, and in spite of these, the song retains the charm of an NFS.

The song is also a very typical instance of the nature of documentation available for the NFSes as a genre. In so far as the present song is concerned, the opinions of knowledgeable fellow bloggers remain sharply divided on Hansraj Behl being the music director of the song. As such, till proven otherwise, I have Hansraj Behl as the music director of the song on the basis of the song being so credited on SaReGaMa as a song on its album Sham-e-Ghazal : Mouhammad Rafi.

We will now take up Mohammad Rafi’s NFS created by less (or practically not) known lyricist or music director or both. Here, too, there are enough songs available on internet to enable a separate study or listening pleasure. I have picked representative songs for the purpose of present article.

9. Hansa beech gagan roye, komal pankhon par ye murakh dekho parbat dhoye – Lyrics: Shyam Sharma – Music: Shyam Sharma

Shyam Sharma was the regular employee of HMV. HMV and some of the older record companies then headquartered in Calcutta had very strong music departments of their own. This in-house resource also has contributed to a score of non-film song records.

https://youtu.be/oDaUqktdUII

10. Keh ke bhi na aaye mulaqaat ko, chaand taare hanse khoob kal raat ko – Lyrics: Laxman Shahabadi – Music: Shyam Sharma

Mohammad Rafi begins the opening lyrics of mukhada with extra soft touch before settling into the mood the composition.

11. Ji na sakegi preet kunwari meri saari raat … andekhe dukh ki chhaya mein gheri saari raat – Lyrics: Madhukar Rajasthani – Sunil Kumar

The special accent lent to Ji na sakegi… at the very opening of the mukhada rightly raises our inquisitiveness to a higher scale. Of course, the way song proceeds, our heightened appetite is more than satisfied at every stage.

12. Shaam ke dipak jale man ka diya bujhne laga, chaandni to aa gayi… madhuban mera jalne laga – Lyrics: Madhukar Rajasthani – Music: Vinod Chatterji

Pick up any Mohammad Rafi NFS and you will feel a certain minimum level of musical quality, irrespective of the lyricist or the music director.

Here is a pensively pathos mood song, composed by almost not known music director. Does it really matter?

13. Kya yaad tumhein hum aayenge itni si baat batayenge – Lyrics: Madhukar Rajashthani – Music: Vinod Chatterji

The song also begins with precise strokes of sitar in the prelude to pave the way for Mohammad Rafi to come up with a very brief alaap picking up the initial lyrics ‘Kya yaad tumhein hum’ . Harkats of very fondly playing with ‘yaad’ and then ‘aayenge’ are the simple master strokes of the composition. As the song proceeds we get several such glimpses on the way, with an extended ‘s…..ab….’ @2.25 as an icing on the cake! Music director and singer have done great justice to the lyrics of the song.

This is one of those Mohammad Rafi NFS you yearn to listen again and again.

Note: I had sought the help of several knowledgeable SOY friends to conclusively locate the names of the lyricist and the music director of this song. Shri Arun Kumar Deshmukhji has provided this information with the help of his friend Shri Dipak Chaudhari, who has the record (#N88276) of this song in his possession (WOW!!). My most sincere thanks to both.

14. Kash khwabon mein hi aa jao, bahut tanha hun – Lyrics: Saba Afghani – Music: Iqbal

How earnestly Mohammad Rafi puts through the request to the beloved to appear in the dreams and break the spell of loneliness! With extra soft beginning of the first line of the stanza, where the feelings are more intense, the entire song is rendered more as a soliloquy with one’s own self!

15. Jab tere pyar ka afasana likha hai maine, har jagah apne ko diwana likha hai maine – Lyrics: Asih Kanwal – Music: Maqbool / Iqbal Hussain

Mohammad Rafi deftly handles quite a difficult composition.

I have a habit of always doing some work when I listen to songs. However, whenever I get to listen to this song, by the time song enters the first stanza, I get so engrossed into the mood of the song that I leave everything that I may be doing!

https://youtu.be/6fEVJDrbc9o

16. Kisi ki yaad mein payi hai jab kami hamne….to aansuon se jalaai hai zindagi humne – Lyrics: Naqh Lyallpuri – Music: Maqbool / Iqbal Hussain

Naqsh Lyallpuri’s songs normally have difficult lyrics to set to a composition. Here the music director has weaved these lyrics in fully pleasing composition, rendered so smoothly by Mohammad Rafi. As a result, the song remains so easy on ears. Mohammad Rafi’s very unique tone in the song is another feather in the cap of this song.

17. Jeene ka raaz maine muhabbat mein pa liya, jiska bhi gham hua use apna bana liya – Lyrics: Muzaffar Shahjahanpuri – Music: Iqbal Quershi

Deep alaap and soft rendering of ‘Jeene ka raaz maine’ sets the tone for pensive mood of the song.

18. Main to rahon mein pada patthar hun sab mujhe chupchap raund ke chale jaate hain – Lyrics: ? – Music: Kamal Rajasthani

Right from the first note, we find a very close resemblance to the song Main tooti hui ek naiya hun (Aadmi, 1968; Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni- Music: Naushad). Of course, I have no authentic information of the year of publication of the present non-film song, so would not hazard any guess whether either one is the inspired version.

Be that as it may, the song is composed to Mohammad Rafi’s deep tonal chords, except in the last stanza when the lyrics take the shape of sharp pain. Mohammad Rafi raises his scale to the top, before coming down to the original scale.

With a candid the disclaimer that sequencing of the following song is not intended after the above song, I conclude the present article, in full concurrence to what Naushad has to say for Mohammad Rafi before the start of the song in the following clip.

19. Beete dino ki yaad satati hai aaj bhi.. kya zamane wapas kabhi na aayenge, kya hum tamaam umra yoon hi roye jaayenge – Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni – Music: Naushad

Mohammad Rafi does not sound loud even when he sings at a high scale all through the song.

As I look forward to the knowledgeable fraternity of SOY for their ever-enlightening participation to add to the collection of non-film geets and ghazals of Mohamamad Rafi, I am sanguine that the discussions will lay the foundation for the follow-up post in future on his non-films bhajans and naats.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. The author or this blog do not claim any copyright over these songs which vests with the respective owner of the rights.