Rafi ‘s songs for “not the top heroes”

Continuing Rafi’s centenary celebrations, guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai on his songs picturised on not-so-famous actors

(Songs Of Yore has been celebrating Rafi’s centenary year 2024 with a series of articles, some by guest authors. Sivanandam Palamdai, who is one of Rafi’s prominent fans in blogosphere, now writes on his songs for not-so-famous actors. We selected this topic after some mutual back and forth discussion which he describes in some detail in the beginning of his article. But he has modestly not mentioned one development which as the host I must, that shows his utmost dedication and sincerity. After we had settled on this topic, he suffered some serious medical condition requiring hospitalisation. I had no inkling of this until I pinged him after a couple of months how he was doing. Despite my requesting him to forget the article and concentrate on his health, he came up with this brilliant piece as soon as his physical condition permitted.

Mr Palamdai has been a marketing professional, now based out of Pune for about 28 years in semi-retirement by choice. I convey my thanks to him on behalf of all the readers for the painstaking efforts he has taken to write this excellent article. – AK)

Almost two years back, I had written my first  blog for SOY on the theme of Rafi’s songs for unrecognised composers. In this birth centenary year of the legend Mohammad Rafi, AK Ji and myself were discussing on something similar and it was AK Ji who came out with the brilliant idea of focusing on his songs for those actors who were not the top heroes. Writing for SOY is always a privilege and I thank AK Ji for providing me an opportunity to continue my blogs here.

The initial idea was to select one song for all the top heroes, but we felt that would be a huge list and selecting one song would be a difficult task. Hence we decided to rather focus on those actors who were not among the top heroes. I had initially titled this article as Rafi’s songs for lesser-known and obscure actors, but that may lead to some debate as some of the actors cannot be categorized as lesser-known. You will understand once you got through the article. That is the reason I changed this to “Not the top heroes”! The language may appear not so elegant but would describe the category perfectly.

It is well known that Rafi had literally shaped the career of many of the top heroes’ careers by his superb singing,  emoting the songs so well that the actors themselves had to put in lesser effort on screen. However, in addition to that he had made many songs immortal by singing for the other category of actors, with some of them  even more popular than what he sang for the established heroes. For Rafi the banner, actor, music composer, remuneration etc. never mattered. He just sang and gave his best always!

Just to exactly describe the category of actors chosen for this article, if I had titled this as “lesser-known and obscure” one may object to inclusion of Premnath, Ajit, David, Balraj Sahni, Parikshit Sahni or Jagdeep etc. They are well-known but would not be among the “top heroes”.  Hope I have tried to make this point clear. I have, of course, excluded actors like Johnny Walker, Mehmood for whom he had sung quite a good number of popular songs.

As I had already contributed two blogs for SOY (one I mentioned above, and the other  one was few months back that had 35 songs for the 35 years of his career), I have taken care not to repeat any of the songs covered earlier. With that caveat and also the usual one that it is impossible to cover all his best songs in a single blog, I am making a humble attempt to list out just 25 songs. These songs will provide a glimpse of how even for a relatively lesser known or obscure actor, Rafi always sang with equal passion and sincerity that he did for the top heroes. I am sure the connoisseurs of SOY will add many songs that I might have left out, in their comments. Since the aim is to showcase the actors also on whom the song was picturised I had to sacrifice good audio quality clips for the ones that had the visuals. Also, I had to intentionally skip some songs as I could not get them in the video format from You Tube. (Though the author has tried to avoid duplication with his earlier articles, in over 14 years of its existence, this blog has several articles on Rafi and his songs also figure in many other combinations. Therefore, avoiding absolute duplication is not feasible, nor is it prudent to be obsessed with this aim. – AK)

I am listing the 25 songs in chronological order of the year in which the film was made and giving the song title, (in case of duets, co-singer’s name), film, year, music composer, lyricist, and the actor on whom picturised.

1. Ye zindgi ke mele – Mela – 1948 – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni – Rafeeque Arabi

A classic example of how Rafi could elevate a song to immortality. The film Mela had some excellent songs by Mukesh and Shamshad Begum and this was the only one Rafi had among some 10 or 11 songs. I am not very sure about the actor on whom this was picturized and I am going by the Excel file that AK ji had kindly shared with me – seems Rafeeque Arabi was one among Naushad’s musicians as per some comment in YouTube link that I have provided. Note those parts where Rafi does those subtle  alaaps and also at the age of 24 what a maturity in his singing!

The song must have featured at different situations in the film and hence I have provided the links to both the parts.

Part 1

Part 2

2. Tasveer banata hun teri khoon-e-jigar se – Deewana – 1952 – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni – Suresh (Naseem Ahmed)

One more gem from the great team of Rafi-Naushad-Shakeel, picturised on Suresh (Naseem Ahmed) who had acted mostly in 40’s & 50’s.

3. Hum laaye hain toofan se kashti nikaal ke – Jagriti – 1954 – Hemant Kumar – Kavi Pradeep – Abhi Bhattacharya

Abhi Bhattacharya  was a prolific actor in Bengali films and in some Hindi films. Also, it is quite rare to hear Rafi in Hemant da’s music. Among the numerous patriotic songs that Rafi had sung, this one is a hidden gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMAkXuPjcbk

4. Nanhe munhe bachche teri mutthi mein kya hai – duet with Asha Bhosle – Boot Polish – 1954 – Shankar-Jaikishan – Shailendra – David

One of the most talented character actors of Hindi films, David had a superb “Lapak jhapak” by Manna da in Boot Polish. When it comes to songs for children, Rafi almost becomes child-like and this is a quite popular song in that category.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ixbYGtuM4

5. Bhula nahin dena ji bhula nahin dena – with Lata Mangeshkar – Baradari -1955 – Nashaad – Khumar Barabanqvi – Ajit

In many places and even sometimes in good old  Vividh Bharati, Nashaad (Shaukat Ali Hashmi) is confused with his more famous peer Naushad. Baradari was one of his most famous musical scores and this one picturised on Ajit is a nice, lilting duet. Before he became famous with dialogues like “Mona Darling”, “Ise liquid oxygen mein daal do” etc, Ajit had acted as hero in many films.

6. Parwardigaar-e-Alam tera hi hai sahara – Hatim Tai – 1956 – S N Tripathi – Akhtar Romani – Jairaj

Only while writing this blog, I realised Paidi Jairaj was even honoured with a Dadasaheb Phalke award! Even then many would not be aware of him and hence I have included him in this category. One of Rafi’s popular devotional songs, composed by SN Tripathi who had mastered this genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rad2gbRFY8w

7. Chali chali re patang meri chali re – duet with Lata Mangeshkar – Bhabhi – 1957 – Chitragupta – Rajendra Krishna – Jagdeep

I had mentioned in some earlier posts of SOY as to how I am more of an “audio” guy than a “visual” guy. For many years I had enjoyed listening to this great Chitragupta’s tune sung excellently well by Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar without knowing that it was picturised on Jagdeep! While writing this, I realise AK Ji has chosen a wrong person to write on this theme!

8. Chhun chhun karti aayi chidiya – Ab Dilli Door Nahin – 1957 – Dattaram – Hasrat Jaipuri – Yaqub

Similar to the song from Boot Polish, this is one more Rafi’s evergreen song for children. He becomes a child while singing this – just note those voice modulations  at “Bandar bhi aaya”, “Teri dulhaniya laaunga” and the overall tone of the song which he renders in a relatively flat manner as required for the situation. Yaqub Khan acted in comic and negative roles and had acted in around 100 films.

9. Mohabbat zinda rahti hai – Changez Khan – 1957 – Hansraj Behl – Qamar Jalalabadi – Premnath

I have not seen this film and so I did not know on which character this romantic song was picturised. Obviously it could not have been the ruthless Mongol king Genghis Khan! Forget all that history and just get immersed in the intense singing of the master …he just makes such difficult songs so easy by his superb rendition. One of Hansraj Behl’s best compositions, picturised on Premnath, who was more known for his negative and character roles.

10. Raat bhar ka hai mehmaan andhera – duet with Asha Bhosle – Sone Ki Chidiya – 1958 – O P Nayyar – Sahir Ludhianvi – Balraj Sahni

The film Sone Ki Chidiya was the last film for Talat Mehmood as an actor. O P Nayyar had composed some sober tunes in contrast to his typical foot-tapping Punjabi beats. Pyar par bas to nahin hai is a superb melody. But this intense Rafi-Sahir-OPN combination, with terrific acting by Nutan really stirs your soul. Sahir’s lines are as always oozing with poetry. Picturised on Balraj Sahni who plays a poet’s role in the film.

11. Tu Hindu banega na musalman banega – Dhool Ka Phool – 1959 – N Dutta – Sahir Ludhianvi – Manmohan Krishna

The team of N Dutta and Sahir gave some of the best songs of Hindi film music. This one, an epitome of tolerance and communal harmony is a true masterpiece and each and every word of Sahir is brought to life by Rafi. Manmohan Krishna was mostly relegated to playing the role of father of lead actors and had few opportunities to have songs picturised on him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGrXizYFEjI

12. Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hun – Lal Quila – 1960 – S N Tripathi – Bahadur Shah Zafar (?) – M Kumar

There was some controversy as to who actually wrote this song; I will not go into that. For me it remains one of the best songs that does not have any orchestration – only the voice of Rafi all along. I could not find any detail about the actor on whom this was picturized – it is credited to one M Kumar.

(1. The controversy about the authorship of this ghazal is quite well-known in Urdu literary circles. There is now a strong view among some scholars that the actual writer of this ghazal was Muztar Khairabadi, who was the father of Jan Nisar Akhtar and the grandfather of Javed Akhtar. The serious research and debate started when Javed Akhtar claimed that he discovered this ghazal while browsing old papers of his grandfather in a trunk at his ancestral home. 2. Actor M Kumar had a memorable role in Mughal-e-Azam as the statue maker. Cinemazzi.com has substantial material on his personal life and professional career. – AK)

13. Lagi mast nazar ki kataar – Sehra – 1963 – Ramlal – Hasrat Jaipuri – Prashant

Sehra was one of  Ramlal’s best musical scores, there may be questions as to why I chose this rarely heard song as compared to Taqdeer ka fasana or Tum to pyar ho sajini. I like the sheer energy of this song – what an effortless singing by Rafi and some brilliant acrobatics on the camel. An unconventional song I can say! Also, this could be one rare V Shantaram film that had Rafi singing. It is said the music director Ramlal played a great role in bringing Rafi to sing for this film and the gentle soul that Rafi was, he had taken a fraction of his usual fees on the request of Ramlal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNU7sWzD1Xs

14. Parbaton ke pedon par – duet with Suman Kalyanpur – Shagun – 1964 – Khaiyyam – Sahir Ludhianvi – Kamaljeet

Kamaljeet had acted in very few films and he is known more as Waheeda Rehman’s husband. Khaiyyam’s subtle melody, Sahir’s exquisite poetry and Rafi-Suman’s soft rendition make this an immortal song.

15. Tu shokh kali main mast pawan – solo/duet with Asha Bhosle – Main Suhagan Hoon – 1964 – Lachhi Ram – Kaifi Azmi – Kewal Kumar (solo version); Ajit (duet version)

I was surprised to note that this song has two versions – a solo and a duet with Asha Bhosle. Composed by Lacchiram Tomar, this is one of the most famous songs of this relatively unknown music director. The solo version is picturised on Kewal Kumar, who I understand had also produced a few films and directed them. The duet version is picturised on Ajit and so this song is a rarest of the rare – the song is quite famous, at least among the connoisseurs, but the actors are relatively lesser-known.

Solo version

Duet version

16. Janewalo zara mud ke dekho mujhe – Dosti – 1964 – Laxmikant-Pyarelal – Majrooh Sultanpuri – Sudhir Kumar

All the songs from Dosti are simply out of the world, with Rafi giving one of his best ever performances for the newcomers Laxmikant-Pyarelal. The film had lesser-known Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar as the main lead actors and went on to fetch many Filmfare awards, including for music. Rafi had five excellent solos that are popular to this day.

17. Main ye soch kar uske dar se utha tha – Haqeeqat – 1964 – Madan Mohan – Kaifi Azmi – Sudhir

Except for the name Sudhir, I could not get any details about the actor on whom this great song was picturised. Composed by Madan Mohan, ably supported by  the soulful strains of Pyarelal’s violin, this is a song that is very close to my heart. What a restrained singing by Rafi at the beginning and then slowly raising the voice and pitch from the lines “Magar usne roka na usne manaya” and then at the end that intoxicating “Juda ho gaya mein” repeated three times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L11wd9zVEU

18. Wo hum na the wo tum na the – Cha Cha Cha – 1964 – Iqbal Qureshi – Neeraj – Chandrashekhar

Chandrasekhar Vaidya was a film producer and actor and had played lead roles in several films. However, he later on moved to playing supporting roles in many films. The film Cha Cha Cha was also directed by him and was one of the very few films that had Helen in a lead role. Iqbal Qureshi’s music was highlight of this movie, with Rafi having many hit solos and the immortal duet Ek chameli ke mandve tale with Asha Bhosle. The song I had listed here has  all those typical Rafi’s trademark touches.

19. Aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai – Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal – 1965 – Roshan – Neeraj – Rajeev

The film was known for bringing to limelight the great poet Gopaldas Neeraj, with his poem that he had already written,  Swapn jhare phool Se ….Caravan guzar gaya  gubaar dekhte rahe. I have chosen a lesser-known song since I felt Carvan guzar gaya is a masterpiece  and I may not be able to do justice to that in a short blog.  I could not get much information about the actor Rajeev who had acted in this movie. With almost bare minimum orchestration, Roshan comes out with a superb melody that Rafi in his own style makes it immortal. Just listen to the last line “Aisi rangeen, ho… aisi rangeen ghazal raat na phir gayegi“ that is literally soaked in honey.

20. Jidhar bhi main dekhun – Tu Hai Meri Zindagi – 1965 – Runo Dev Mukherjee – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan – Dev Mukherjee

One can question me how I included this song as it has around 80% Asha Bhosle and only 20% Rafi! But that is the charm of Rafi! He makes a grand entry with that Maria…Maria…Mariiiiiiyaaaa and that one line is enough to qualify this song! The person who has uploaded the You Tube clip must be a crazy Rafi fan like me. Right at that moment when Rafi makes his entry, there is a caption that says “voice from heaven”. Dev Mukherjee, son of the famous producer Sashadhar Mukherjee of Filmalaya Studios and also the brother of Joy Mukherjee had a brief career as an actor. A great tune composed by a lesser-known Rono Mukherjee, who incidentally is the other sibling of Dev and Joy.

21. Haseen wadiyon fizaaon se kah do – Lal Bangla – 1966 – Usha Khanna – Gulshan Bawra – Sujit Kumar

Sujit Kumar was known for his supporting roles in Hindi films and in lead roles in many Bhojpuri films. One of his most famous screen appearances was with Rajesh Khanna in the song Mere sapnon ki rani kab ayegi tu from Aradhana, playing the harmonica. Usha Khanna, the lone female crusader in the later years of Golden era, composed some excellent songs and Rafi had sung many of them.

22. Ek tera sath humko do jahan se pyara hai – Wapas – 1969 – Laxmikant-Pyarelal – Majrooh Sultanpuri – Ajay

To be honest, till the time I started working on this blog, I used to think this famous  song was picturised on  some top hero like Dharmendra. I have never been much of a movie watcher and have very limited knowledge on the actors. It really came as a surprise to know this was for an obscure actor called Ajay!

23. Donon ne kiya tha pyar magar – Mahua – 1969 – Sonik Omi – Qamar Jalalabadi – Shiv Kumar

There are many such so-called B or C grade movies that were forgotten easily but some of the songs became evergreen. Known as Sonik-Omi’s best ever song, the actors, picturisation does not matter at all. It is just Rafi all the way to carry through the emotions through his passionate singing.

24. Jab bhi ye dil udaas hota hai – duet with Sharda – Seema – 1971 – Shankar-Jaikishan – Gulzar – Kabir Bedi

I had to check twice if I got the actor correct – a beardless Kabir Bedi in his early days! The song is one of my personal favourites and may not be liked by many due to the co-singer being Sharda. But note how Shankar had used her vocals in a very subdued manner with gradual ‘promotion’, from just humming at the end of first antara to just one line in the second and the full mukhda towards the end. The tune is mesmerising. I know many music critics dismiss Shankar’s individual tunes but I have found many such hidden gems even in his latter days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18dpAV2m2is

25. Deewane hain deewanon ko na ghar chahiye – duet with Lata Mangeshkar – Zanjeer – 1973 – Kalyanji-Anandji – Gulshan Bawra – Gulshan Bawra

There is an interesting story about this song , narrated by the lyricist Gulshan Bawra himself, which I heard many decades ago in Vividh Bharati. The song was recorded during Ramzan month and Rafi was observing Roza. He was not well. There were already two or three takes and the composers were asking for a final take. He was reluctant due to his fatigue and wanted to postpone but when Gulshan Bawara mentioned to Rafi that the song was to be picturised on him, the great man said, “Oh why did you not tell this before” and completed the final take. Can anyone believe, after listening to this song that he was not well! What a passionate singing.

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
1. My sincere thanks to AK Ji for providing the Excel file that contains Rafi’s songs with details of on whom it was picturised apart from the basic data that enabled me to narrow down on the songs. (The said Excel file has been prepared by one Muveen and is in circulation for quite some time. The thanks are due to him. – AK)

2. The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.