SAFARNAMA: In Pursuit of Two Iconic Lives

A Journey with Dilip Kumar (11^th December 1922 – 7^th July 2021) and Mohammed Rafi (24^th December 1924 – 31^st July 1980)

Guest article by N Venkataraman in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Rafi with his songs for Dilip Kumar on his 102^nd 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 102^nd 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.

The journey of Yusuf Khan from Peshawar to Bombay

The Frontier Mail chugged out of Peshawar station, the engine hissing and sending out waves of steam. A young Pathan boy, migrating to Bombay along with his family, was on the train. The iron-beast clattered through the natural surroundings, sped past pastures, valleys, unnamed bridges across flowing streams and at times dark mountains. The sound of the engine seemed to mingle with the air, laden with deep earthy scent, bringing with it the taste of mountain moss and wild winds. It was the first train journey of this excited young boy. After an exhaustive long journey, the family alighted at Colaba station in the morning hours. It was sometime in the first half of 1930s. A new chapter was to start in the life of Yusuf Khan.

Mohammad Sarwar Khan, or Aghaji as he was addressed, and Ayesha Begum had six sons and equal number of daughters. Yusuf Khan was their fourth offspring. Aghaji was a well-to-do fruit merchant living with his extended family in Peshawar, the main city in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The signs of war and unrest in his native province, had made Aghaji apprehensive about the future prospect of his business. He had decided to shift to Bombay with his family. He had hired the top floor of a four-storied building at Nagdevi Street near the bustling Crawford Market where he had planned to set up his fruit business on a wholesale basis.

Yusuf Khan, one of the protagonists of this post, was born in Peshawar on a dismally cold day, when a severe snowstorm was raging outside their house, located at Qissa Khawni Bazar. Concurrently, the adjacent Goldsmith Lane was in flames, the fire started in one of the workshops from a piece of burnt coal that got fanned by the sudden gale that swept the locality. The day was Monday, the 11^th December 1922. Not much thought was given to this bizarre incident. But when Yusuf was five years old, the arrival of a fakir and his pronouncement of dangers to him made his grandmother take it upon herself to protect her good-looking grandchild from the evil eyes of the world. Ignoring the pleadings of the family and reasoning of his parents, she periodically shaved off Yusuf’s hair and blackened his face, which made Yusuf the butt of unpleasant remarks in his school. It appears that the pain that he endured as the alienated child surfaced from his sub-consciousness while playing the tragic roles in his early career.

In Peshawar, Yusuf attended a madarsa where he learnt Urdu and Persian. The common language used in Peshawar was Hindko, a mixture of Punjabi and Persian. Yusuf could understand Pushtu (the language of Pathans) but could not read or write the language. He, in his memoirs, reflects with awe and amusement on two storytelling sessions of his childhood that stimulated his imagination. During winter nights the family members would gather around a bonfire lit in the center of the large terrace. Each member of the family would narrate a story or sing a song. And every evening he accompanied his father to the market square to listen to the narratives of one of the Maulanas. On returning home he would try enacting the characters. Who could have foreseen that several years later Yusuf would be participating in story-telling of a different kind under a pseudonym!

In Bombay, Yusuf was enrolled in Anjuman Islamia High School. Soon the family had to shift to Deolali, a hill station 180 Kms from Bombay due to his brother Ayub’s fragile health. Ayub met with an accident while visiting the apple orchards in Kashmir, which resulted in injuries to his spine and kidney. Subsequently he also developed respiratory disorder. Aghaji used to visit them during the weekends. Yusuf was admitted to Barnes School. During his stay here, he became quite proficient in English and he took keen interest in sports, especially soccer. Ayub, who was roughly two years elder, was very close to Yusuf and had tremendous influence on him. Though he was not in the best of health, he never lost his quest for learning, thirst for knowledge and passion for erudition. Yusuf had access to Ayub’s extensive collection of English and Urdu Classics. During the Second World War, Deolali was declared an army station, and all the houses were requisitioned for soldiers. The family returned to Bombay. Once school was over, Yusuf joined Wilson College, where only Anglo-Indian boys were allowed to play football for the college. Soccer had become important for Yusuf since he nurtured the idea of becoming a football player. Therefore, he shifted to Khalsa College. He also excelled in cricket, badminton and athletics. Kite-flying also became his favourite hobby. At Khalsa College he made very few friends. Raj Kapoor, known to Yusuf from his Peshawar days, became a very close pal and Yusuf used to frequent their house at Matunga.

Sometime in the late 1941, the family went through a crisis. Due to strict war-time restrictions, the supply of fruits from Peshawar, where all their orchards were located, gradually trickled. With the diminishing income, Aghaji was finding it difficult to manage the household expenses of the large family of seventeen and visiting relatives from Peshawar. One day Yusuf, after a disagreement over a trivial matter with Aghaji, left home. He wanted to explore employment opportunities in a place nobody would recognize him and reached Poona. Yusuf’s adeptness in English and Urdu worked to his advantage. The next day he managed to get a job of an assistant to a manager in the army canteen. Soon the officers were impressed by Yusuf’s impeccable dress sense and courteous demeanor. Later, on Yusuf’s request, he was granted permission to set up a sandwich counter at the club in the evenings, which soon turned out to be a blockbuster. With food and lodging provided by the management, and a decent salary to take care of his other needs, Yusuf could save the surplus income generated from his new venture. Ramzan month was coming to a close. Having saved 5000 rupees, which was a substantial amount then, Yusuf returned home a few days before Eid-ul fitr (which was on Monday the 11^th October 1942) to a warm welcome from his family. To Yusuf’s solace, Aghaji met him cordially, and not a word was exchanged on the Poona episode.

From Yusuf Khan to Dilip Kumar

Yusuf’s idea of starting a business of making feather pillows did not take off. After settling a deal in purchase of an orchard in Nainital, to the satisfaction of Aghaji, Yusuf got involved in the fruit business. The idea of doing something on his own still lingered in his mind. One morning, Yusuf was waiting at the Church Gate Station to board a train to Dadar to attend to a prospective business offer. Dr. Masani, a psychologist, who had counselled him for vocational choices at the Wilson College, too was at the station. He asked Yusuf to accompany him to Malad to meet the owners of Bombay Talkies. It seemed, the power of destiny had brought them together to lead Yusuf to a predetermined future. After customary exchange of pleasantries, Dr. Masani broached the purpose of his visit to Devika Rani. Yusuf’s expertise in Urdu and English turned out to be the clincher once again. Devika Rani offered him the role of an actor for a monthly salary of Rs. 1250. Yusuf was surprised since he knew nothing about acting or films. After a bit of motivation by Devika Rani, he did not waste any more time in futile thinking. On returning home, Yusuf confided only to Ayub about his newfound profession. The final contract was signed the next day; the day was Friday and the year was 1942. Although he did not mention the exact date or month in his autobiography, the chronology of events mentioned therein suggests that it was 11^th December 1942.

For the first two months, Devika Rani made sure that Yusuf was present at all the shooting sessions. There were two films on the floor, Hamaari Baat and Kismet, both released in 1943. Yusuf witnessed the shooting of the final portion of Kismet. He met Shashadhar Mukherjee on the sets of this film and developed a reasonable rapport with him and Ashok Kumar. Soon he was made a part of the script writing team to aid the writers, especially from Bengal, who lacked proficiency in Urdu. On the advice of Shashadhar Mukherjee, Yusuf started viewing as many films as he could to observe how different actors performed in front of the camera. The days that followed at the studio were pretty hectic. After the release of Kismet to a great opening response Devika Rani summoned Yusuf to her office and conveyed him that she had decided to launch him as an actor in Bombay Talkies’ next venture Jwar Bhata, to be directed by Amiya Chakraborty, and suggested that he should adopt the screen name, Dileep Kumar. Yusuf was unprepared for the new identity, but after discussing with Shashadhar Mukherjee he decided to go with suggested name. The shooting started in 1943 and Jwar Bhata, in which Dileep Kumar played the second lead, was released on 29th November 1944. Then came Pratima in 1945. Both the films did not do well at the box office and Dileep Kumar did not garner rave reviews for his performance. His third film Milan (1946), based on Rabindranath Tagore’s story Nauka Dubi, directed by Nitin Bose, brought Dileep Kumar recognition. Jugnu, released in 1947, heralded his arrival that eventually ensued a luminous career through determined effort. From this film his name started appearing in the credit titles as Dilip Kumar.

Dilip Kumar never looked back after his initial success in 1947. Between 1947 and 1950, he acted in 11 films and nine of them became blockbusters. Jugnu, his only film in 1947, became the highest grossing film for the year. With five releases, 1948 turned out to be a windfall year in his career and three of them ended up among the top ten films in the box office chart, Shaheed – No.1, Mela – No. 4 and Nadiya Ke Paar – No.6. The other two films were Anokha Pyar and Ghar Ki Izzat. Both his films of 1949, Andaz and Shabnam, eventually finished second and fifth in the box office chart. Initially, Andaz was at top of the chart, subsequently overtaken by Barsat. The success continued in 1950 too, with all his three films finding a place in the box office chart, Babul at No. 2, Jogan at No. 4 and Arzoo at No. 9.

Mohammad Rafi’s journey from Kota Sultan Singh to Lahore 

Let us backtrack to the other protagonist of this post. Born on 24^th December 1924 at Kotla Sultan Singh, Pheeko was the seventh offspring of Haji Ali Mohammed and Allah Rakhi and was named Mohammed Rafi on the seventh day after his birth. The couple had two daughters and six sons. Haji Ali was an expert chef and the only bread earner of the family. Kotla Sultan Singh was a small village, approximately 15 Kms. from Amritsar, and had roughly 90 families, the majority being Sunni Muslims. Haji Ali was at his wits’ end to sustain a family of 10 with the limited scope and source of income. In 1926, when Pheeko was two years old, Haji Ali accompanied only by his elder son Mohammad Deen, decided to leave for Lahore, the capital of undivided Punjab, roughly 65 kms from his village. His relatives there helped him set up a street corner eatery (Dhaba) and Mohammad Deen set up a barber shop at Noor Mohalla, which later became well-known for his “garam hamaam”. Haji Ali used to visit his family during Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. A decade had passed since Haji Ali had moved to Lahore, the small dhaba was now thronged by people from neighbourhood and adjacent localities. With a stable income, Haji Ali shifted his family from Kotla Sultan Singh to Billal Gunj in Lahore in mid-30s. This was around the time when Yusuf’s family was migrating from Peshawar to Bombay.

Pheeko had his elementary schooling in Urdu medium at Kotla Sultan Singh. The school prayers in Punjabi, sung under a banyan tree was his favourite part of the day, reminisces his school friends Kundan Singh and Bakshish Singh. It gave him a sense of joy to graze cattle in the fields and the freedom to hum folk songs, he had picked up. He also loved to imitate the sounds of animals and birds to the amusement of his friends. His school days were full of fun and frolic, with long sessions of traditional rustic games like Pithu, Kokla-Chapaki, Gilli-danda, Chhupan-Chhupaai (hide & seek), Khedo Kundi (similar to hockey) and also kite flying.

At Lahore, Pheeko never went back to school. Although, he was being trained to become a barber, music was in his soul and his love for music grew day by day. Even while doing his work, he used to sing Punjabi folk songs and young Pheeko rejoiced in the admiration of the customers. Fascinated by the singing of a fakir who frequented their locality, he followed him and picked up a Punjabi Naat ‘Khedan de din chaar’, rendered by the fakir and earned his blessings. Seeing the boy’s determination to be a musician, his elder brother Deen and his friend Hameed decided that Pheeko should get some formal training. I have come across several names but I have heard him mentioning two names in one of his interviews, the names of Barkat Ali Khan of the Patiala Gharana and Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana Gharana. Soon Pheeko started singing in mehfils and melas. Once, the legendary KL Saigal had come for a concert in Lahore. During the programme the electricity went off, making the mike silent and the audience grew restive. A young Pheeko took the stage, and an unknown youngster became the man of the moment.

Sometime in 1943, Jiwan Lal Mattoo, the programme executive of AIR, Lahore, was passing by Deen’s barber shop, he heard Pheeko singing Waris Shah’s Heer. Jiwan Lal Mattoo was attracted to the voice of the boy and he invited him for an audition. The young boy cleared the audition in one go. Music director Shyam Sundar too, impressed by Pheeko’s singing, offered him a duet with Zeenat Begum, ‘Sohniye nee, heeriye nee’, in his forthcoming Punjabi film Gul Baloch. Both the incidents were definite steps towards the making of Mohammad Rafi. Deen and his friend Hameed, who believed in Rafi’s talent, were convinced that there was limited scope in Lahore and it was time to move to Bombay. They managed to prevail upon the orthodox Haji Ali to relent to their proposal. Deen entrusted the responsibility of Rafi to Hameed. Travelling by the Frontier Mail, Rafi arrived in Bombay to eke out a career in the celluloid world.

Rafi’s journey into destiny: From Lahore to Bombay 

Hameed managed to rent a small affordable flat opposite Nawab Masjid, Bhendi Bazar, from Sirajuddin Ahmed Bari, who resided with his family on the top floor of the building. Hamid decided to try the tested route they had traversed in Lahore. After ferreting around for information about the mehfils in the city, one evening they arrived at a venue where a mehfil was in progress, Hameed approached the organizer and pleaded passionately to allow Rafi to sing just one song. As the saying goes – When someone earnestly yearns for something, the entire universe conspires in helping him to achieve it. Having got the opportunity that he was eagerly waiting for, Md. Rafi, to the surprise of the connoisseurs and audience present, began with a short Alaap followed by a classical number set to Jhaptaal. Rafi’s performance earned him immense appreciation and blessings from the audience.

Soon the word spread and reached the ears of Shyam Sunder, who too had shifted to Bombay by then. Rafi met him at the Ranjit Movietone Studios at Dadar where the shooting of the film Gaon Ki Gori was going on. Rafi, this time got an opportunity to sing a duet ‘Jab dil ho kaabu mein to dildar ki aisi taisi’ with G M Durrani. Rafi’s landlord Sirajuddin’s eldest son-in-law, Ahmed Hasan of Lucknow, happened to be the neighbour of Wahid Ali, father of Naushad. Hameed, who played a major role in promoting Rafi’s initial career, managed to procure a recommendation letter from Naushad’s father. Armed with the letter thus obtained, Rafi and Hameed went to Kardar Studios at Lower Parel to meet Naushad. After hearing Rafi, Naushad gave him a chance to sing a few lines in a chorus song, ‘Hindustan ke hum hain, Hindustaan hamara hai’ for the film Pahle Aap. As per Naushad (from an interview on YT), Rafi’s co-singers were Allaudin, G M Durrani and Motiram. Pahle Aap was released in 1944, before Gaon Ki Gori (1945), and, thus, Hindustan ke hum hain from Pahle Aap was tagged as the first Hindi film song sung by Rafi. He also rendered two more duets in this film, both with Shyam Kumar. Thus the year 1944 marked the debut of both Rafi and Dilip Kumar. But it would take another three years for their career paths to converge.

Rafi’s first marriage, when he was around thirteen or fourteen years old, with Basheera Begum, did not work out and they got divorced after a few years of their marriage. Rafi’s eldest son Saeed was born out of this marriage. As Rafi’s career started taking shape, things were happening in his personal life too. Rafi got married to Bilquis Banu, Sirajuddin’s daughter by his fourth and only surviving wife Talimunnisa. Earlier Hameed too had got married to Mehrunnisa, Sirajuddin’s daughter by his first wife. Hameed moved to Bangalore with his family in 1950 and thereupon, the responsibility of managing Rafi’s professional affairs was taken over by Zaheer, Bilquis’s brother.

After his debut in 1944, in the next two years Rafi had started warming up under different music directors. Needless to mention that he was quite different from the male singers who were already in the fray. If we listen to the songs, it would be clear that most of the music directors were exploring Rafi’s range and prowess. Rafi’s desire to render a song with Saigal was fulfilled when Naushad offered him the opportunity to sing a line in the song ‘Mere sapnon ki rani, Ruhi, meri Ruhi Ruhi’. Rafi got to sing for roughly 10 seconds towards the end of the song, yet it was a momentous occasion for him. The same year Naushad gave Rafi another opportunity in the film Anmol Ghadi (1946), produced and directed by Mehboob Khan. The background song, ‘Tera khilona toota balak’ became very popular. Among the pre-1947 Rafi songs that impressed me, I would like to mention a few here: ‘Ae dil e nakaam ab jeene ki tamanna chhod de” (Hamaara Sansaar, 1945, Pt. Gobind Ram, Ramesh Gupta), ‘Hai re duniya kitni dil aa’zar hai duniya (Zeenat, 1945, Hafeez Khan, Naqshab Jarchavi), ‘Daata ji tera bhed na paya” (Sona Chandi, 1946, Taufail Farooqi, Shamim Jaipuri), ‘Ab wo hamaare ho gaye’ and ‘Kahke bhi na aaye tum” (the last two from Safar, 1946, C Ramchandra, Gopal Singh Nepali). The songs must have surely impressed the music lovers of that era.

If Naushad and Shyam Sundar gave him the much-needed break, it was Firoz Nizami who groomed him and played a significant role in furthering Rafi’s career in his formative years. Firoz Nizami was also from Lahore and he too was the shagird of Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana Gharana. In 1945, he offered Rafi three songs for his film Sharbati Aankhen and followed it up with three more songs for his next film Amar Raj (1946). At least one song from this film deserves mention here, ‘Main jab chehedoon prem taraana………mein jab gaaun geet suhana”, a duet with Mohantara. Firoz Nizami’s efforts paid off. Next he gave Rafi a dream opportunity to sing a duet with Noorjehan, that took his career to new heights. Much before Jugnu was released in 1947, the duet ‘Yahan badla wafa ka, bewafai ke siva kya hai’, had become a super hit. C Ramchandra, too, played an important role in Rafi’s early career. He had used Rafi’s voice in three songs earlier. It is said that Ashok Kumar could not reach the recording studios due to riots, and C Ramchandra decided to record the solo and duet version of the song, ‘Hum ko tumhara hi aasra’ (Saajan 1947) in Rafi’s Voice. Pleased with the outcome, CR recorded four more songs in Rafi’s voice. Both the solo and duet version of the song ‘Hum ko tumhara hi aasra’, became quite popular. Thus, Rafi became the voice of Ashok Kumar too. After 1947, Rafi became the most sought after male playback singer. ‘Watan ke rah mein watan ke naujawan shaheed ho’, composed by Ghulam Haider, made Rafi a household name. Among the music directors of the yore, the name of Husnlal-Bhagatram also deserves to be mentioned here. In the initial years, they along with other music directors, especially from Punjab, had their share in transforming a raw uncut diamond into a Kohinoor.

In 1944 Rafi had 4 songs, in 1945 he rendered 10 songs, followed by 34 songs in 1946, 28 songs in 1947 and 50 songs in 1948. And in 1949 and 1950 Rafi’s recorded songs skyrocketed to 129 and 108 respectively. Another interesting observation I would like to highlight here. In 1945, the films Zeenat and Gaon Ki Gori, for which Rafi rendered a song each, finished right at the top of the ten top box office hits of the year. There was a repetition in 1946, Anmol Ghadi and Shahjehan finished 1st and 2nd at the box office. Again in 1947, the three films, Jugnu, Do Bhai and Saajan finished 1^st, 2nd and 8th respectively. In 1948, four films in which Rafi lent his voice finished 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th at the box office. The films were Shaheed, Pyar Ki Jeet, Mela and Nadiya Ke Paar. I am not saying that Rafi’s songs directly contributed to the success of all these films, certainly not in 1945 and 1946. But, the trend continued in 1949 and 1950 too. Andaaz (2nd), Dillagi (4th), Bari Behan (6th), Patanga (7th) and Dulari (8th) were among the top ten grossers of 1949. Similarly, in 1950 Babul (2nd), Dastaan (3rd), Beqasoor (7th), Sargam (8th) and Aankhen (10th) were among the top ten blockbusters. The growing numbers and his presence in the top grossers, without doubt were positive signs of Rafi’s growing confidence and popularity, and his demand and acceptance with top-notch music directors.

Dilip Kumar’s and Rafi’s paths intersect

Till now, in my humble effort to pay my tributes to two of the greatest icons of Indian film industry, namely Dilip Kumar and Mohammed Rafi, on the occasion of their 102nd and 100th birth anniversary respectively, I have attempted to trace their journey right from their birth till 1950. Both of them became the trendsetters in their respective fields and set the benchmark for the future generations. From here on, I will be focusing predominantly on the songs in which Dilip Kumar and Mohammad Rafi came together. Everybody knows that among other qualities, one of the reasons for Rafi’s universal appeal was his voice modulation. Dilip Kumar acted or appeared in 62 films in his career spanning from 1944 to 1998. Md Rafi. was associated in only 28 of the films. Like many, I too was under the notion during the pre-internet era that with set equation like Naushad, Rafi and Dilip Kumar, the thespian would be among the biggest beneficiaries. Rafi who started with Dilip Kumar in Jugnu (1947) until Bairaag (1976) had roughly 80 songs out of which there were only 35 solos. But it is just statistics, at times misleading too. Both of them gelled well, since their personalities and skills fitted to the T. Rafi understood the essence of how Dilip Kumar would emote. One never realised the difference even when Rafi was singing a romantic or a melancholic piece or a rollicking number. Dilip Kumar-Rafi-Naushad troika worked in 50% of the 28 films involving 65% of the 80 songs and the other 10 music directors combined with Dilip Kumar and Rafi in the remaining 50% of the films involving 35% of the total songs. Every song is a Rafi song and here comes the difficulty in elimination. Following the saying to each his own, let me go with my selection of songs. I will first post some songs composed by music directors other than Naushad.

1. Wah re zamane kya rang dikhaye from Ghar Ki Izzat (1948), lyrics Ishwar Chandra Kapoor, music Pt. Gobind Ram

Ghar Ki Izzat, produced and directed by Ram Daryani under the Murli Movietone banner, was a moderate success. It was a middle class family melodrama co-starring Mumtaz Shanti. Perhaps, this was the only Dilip Kumar film for which Pt. Gobind Ram composed music. Rafi roughly sang 23 songs for Pt. Gobind Ram. Though Pt. Gobind Ram belonged to the Punjab gharana like G A Chisti, Ghulam Hyder, Pt. Amarnath, Husnlal-Bhagatram, Shyam Sundar and others, he had a distinct style and created many unforgettable compositions. The song that I am posting is a background melancholic song, picturized on Dilip Kumar.

2. Preet jata ke meet bana ke bhul na jana with Lata Mangeshkar from Hulchul (1951), lyrics Khumar Barabanqvi, music Mohammad Shafi

This is a lovely romantic duet picturised on Dilip Kumar and Nargis. I believe, HMV had included this duet in their list of all-time great hits of the fifties. This film, produced by K Asif and directed by S K Ojha, had 9 songs. After Sajjad Hussein left in a huff, Md. Shafi was roped in. Md. Shafi, initially a sitarist of the Etawah Gharana and married to Ustad Vilayat Khan’s sister, became the music arranger in New Theatres and later joined Naushad as his assistant. Md. Shafi composed 12 songs in all for Rafi. He composed 6 songs for this film and three of them were duets rendered by Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar. Incidentally, K Asif’s fourth and last wife was Dilip Kumar’s younger sister, Akhtar. They got acquainted during the making of Mughal-e-Azam.

3. Aasha ke jab deep bhuje….apni chhaya mein bhagvan bitha le mujhe from Insaniyat (1955), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music C Ramachandra

If I am not mistaken there are only three songs composed by C Ramchandra and rendered by Rafi for Dilip Kumar. I would prefer to post this heart rending solo, over the two duets from Nadiya Ke Paar (1948) and Paigham (1959). In 1955, Dilip Kumar acted in four films, Azaad, Uran Khatola, Insaniyat and Devdas. Insaniyat was the only film to feature Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand together. But this film was not even a patch on other good films produced by Gemini Productions. But its redeeming feature was this song by Rafi on Dilip Kumar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm14JF59Qdc

Naya Daur, spiced up with several absorbing intricacies, might not have exactly raised the topic of eternal class struggle, but the humanist issue it addresses remains timeless. Produced and directed by B R Chopra, with Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the lead roles, Naya Daur not only became the second highest grosser of the year, but also the second highest grosser of the decade, finishing behind Mother India on both the counts. Dilip Kumar came out with another brilliant performance and won his fourth Filmfare Award and his third in a row. O P Nayyar, another Lahorian composer, provided the right magic with nine wizardly compositions which won him his only Filmfare Award.

4. Saathi haath badhana with Asha Bhosle from Naya Daur (1957), lyrics Sahir Ludhianvi, music O P Nayyar

It was unfortunate that O P Nayyar composed music for only one film in which Dilip Kumar acted. The names of the films like Aan and Aazaad crop up while discussing the topic on Dilip Kumar’s course correction in his role selection. But Naya Daur was the film where we could see the real rollicking and boisterous Dilip Kumar for the first time and, of course, in Gunga Jamna later. And O P Nayyar’s compositions to a great extent provided the right magic to enhance this aspect of Dilip Kumar to his fans. And who else other than Rafi could have complimented them in those six songs which provided great variety. Two of the songs ‘Udein jab jab zulfein teri’ and ‘Ye desh hai veer jawanon ka’ along with the all-female duet ‘Reshmi kurta salwar jaali ka’, brings in the typical energetic flavour of Punjabi folk. The background song ‘Aana hai to aa, raah mein kuchh pher nahin hai’, and the romantic duet ‘Maang ke saath tumhara’ with the typical horse hoof beats and the two songs of mass awakening and friendship provides the variety. For now, I am posting this song as an ode to the struggle of human spirit.

5. Udein jab jab zulfein teri with Asha Bhosle from Naya Daur (1957), lyrics Sahir Ludhianvi, music O P Nayyar

Rafi rendered a little more than 200 songs in roughly 60 films for O P Nayyar, and for Naushad less than 200 songs in 55 films. When it comes to number of films, Rafi must have rendered songs in 80% of the films of Naushad and the percentage would be more or less the same for O P Nayyar too. But that is just statistics. And I am not trying to indulge in any comparative analysis., since AKji, nine years ago, had eloquently and eruditely expressed his views on the matter in fewer words in his article OP Nayyar’s quintessential Rafi. Neither economy of words nor erudition is my forte. I would like to post one more song from this film, an out and out Punjabi package – B R Chopra, O P Nayyar, Rafi, (and I forgot ….Ludhiana too is in Punjab)  and Sahir too. I can understand a Pathan fitting into the scheme of things, but how did a Tamilian do so well to fit in here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md7YX_SYNFM

6. Toote hue khwabon ne humko ye sikhaya hai from Madhumati (1958), lyrics Shailendra, music Salil Chowdhury

Bimal Roy was in dire straits after his two earlier films Naukri (1954) and Devdas (1955) met with commercial failure. When Riwik Ghatak, a talented film maker and script writer, came up with the idea of making a film on reincarnation, Bimal Roy readily agreed. Dilip Kumar had developed an excellent working relationship with Bimal Roy after Devdas, and when he was approached by Bimal Roy and Ritwik Ghatak, he had no hesitation in accepting the offer. The film went over the budget due to extensive shoots and outdoor reshoots. To meet the shortfall Dilip Kumar personally contributed Rs.70000 and convinced the distributors to follow suit. The film went on to become the highest grosser for the year, winning 9 Filmfare Awards out of the 12 categories for which it was nominated and more than recovered everyone’s investment. Initially, the distributors and Dilip Kumar were not in favour of Bimal Roy’s choice of Salil Chowdhury for the film’s music direction, but Bimal Roy prevailed upon them to acquiesce. Eventually, Salil Chowdhury won his first Filmfare Award. Rafi rendered 26 songs for Salil Choudhury in his entire career and the song I am posting is the only song where Rafi, Dilip Kumar and Salil Chowdhury collaborated.

7. Sukh ke sab saathi, dukh mein na koye from Gopi (1970), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Kalyanji-Anandji

Rafi’s association with Kalyanji-Anandji goes back to their first film Samrat Chandragupta (1958). Rafi must have rendered around 190 songs for this duo. They got the opportunity to score music in three films, Gopi (1970), Bairaag (1976) and Vidhata (1982) in which Dilip Kumar acted, the last one after Rafi’s demise. In Gopi (1976) Mahendra Kapoor was their first preference for Dilip Kumar, but it seems Mahendra Kapoor was not at his best in negotiating the soft bhajan, ‘Sukh ke sab sathi, dukh mein na koye’. They had to fall back upon Rafi. It is very much evident that both Rafi and Dilip Kumar retained their magic in this song.

8. Na tu zameen ke liyehai na aasman key liye from Daastaan (1972), lyrics Sahir Ludhianvi, music Laxmikant-Pyarelal

Very often, the background score plays a critical factor in films and helps in carrying forward the narration of the story, adds depth to the characters and situations and helps in conveying emotions. On this score, Rafi’s role requires special mention. In the beginning I have posted one such song picturised on Dlip Kumar in his initial career and now I am posting another one composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed approximately 400 songs for Rafi, but could compose only two songs in the voice of Rafi for Dilip Kumar.

That brings me to the last part of my journey. Like in any journey, especially in a long train journey, you get to meet people and as the journey progresses you get to know some of them too. And a few among them tend to remain with us longer, if not forever. I started my journey with a teenager Yusuf and his family and later joined by a young Pheeko and his family. I will be ending my journey with the formidable four.

Dilip Kumar-Rafi-Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni

Dilip Kumar first met Naushad (also Mehboob Khan) at the Brabourne Stadium when he went to watch a cricket match sometime in the second half of 1940s. Naushad had a story in hand and wanted Dilip Kumar to meet him the next week at S U Sunny’s office. The story was ultimately scripted for the film Mela and thus began a lifelong association of the three stalwarts, namely Naushad Ali, Dilip Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. In fact, if you add Shakeel Badayuni, who penned the lyrics in all their films, it becomes a formidable combination of four. Often, we tend to miss out the song writer. After omitting those films where Dilip Kumar was not present in the frame of those songs composed by Naushad and rendered by Rafi, we are left with 14 films, from Mela (1948) to Sunghursh (1968). This combination remains the best ever in terms of popularity and durability. I am not going into the box office hits, awards and accolades won by them. Like statistics these too are befuddling, and peripheral points which are only incidental to the story. But I cannot resist the temptation of sharing an interesting trivia. Barring Shakeel Badayuni the rest were born in the month of December, Naushad on 26^th December 1919, Dilip Kumar on 11^th December 1922, and Rafi on 24^th December 1924. Thus this post is also a tribute to the trinity of Hindi film music.  Incidentally, Raj Kapoor was born on 14^th December 1924 at Qissa Khwani Bazar, Peshawar. Without any more frills, I present six songs of the formidable four. It could have been any other six songs, but at the end they are all Rafi’s songs and my present choice.

9. Insaaf ka mandir hai ye, bhagavaan ka ghar hai, a background song from Amar (1954)

10. Mohabbat ki raahon mein chalna sambhalke from Uran Khatola (1955)

11. Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat with Lata Mangeshkar from Kohinoor (1960)

12. Nain lad jainhe to manavaa mein kasak hoibe kari from Gunga Jumna (1961)

13. Koi sagar dil ko bahlata nahi from Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966)

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

14. Ishq deewana husn bhi gayal from Sungharsh (1968)

This journey ends, but the voyage continues……….

As I disembark, I would like to share a few departing thoughts.

1. Naushad once said “Rafi and I were one. Since he passed away, only 50% of me has remained. I will pray to Allah to send Rafi for an hour to create my best composition.”

2. Sharing a borrowed thought – “Would Dilip Kumar have been as hugely successful, if Rafi were not to sing for him? This can be extended to other successful heroes too. Isn’t Rafi the hero behind all the heroes?” May be borrowed, but an interesting poser to ponder over.

3. Sharing one of my two experiences. Recently, I was travelling by Uber and the song ‘O Balam tere pyar ki thandi aag me jalte jalte’ was playing in the FM radio. I started a conversation with driver and came to know that his name was Shakeel Ahmed. He was a Rafi’s fan, and he knew about Naushad, but was not aware that the song he was listening to was composed by him. And when I told him about his namesake, Shakeel Badayuni, he confessed that he was hearing the name for the first time.

4. And finally my second experience: A young lady, most likely in her late twenties, visits our locality everyday early in the morning to sweep and clean the streets and footpaths, and also the passages and courtyards of a few houses in the vicinity. I did not notice her till sometime in last December, when I started hearing Rafi’s songs at the same time every morning. I saw a playing device (not a radio) neatly packed in a plastic cover and tied to her hands. One day as she was passing in front of the window of my ground floor house, I could hear the song ‘Preet jata ke meet bana ke bhul na jana’. Instinctively, I went out and asked her about the song. Prompt came the reply “Bauji, mujhe kya pata, mein sirf ye jaanati hoon ki ye Rafi ka gaana hai’.

Acknowledgements & References:

1.Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow – an autobiography (as narrated by Dilip Kumar to Udayatara Nayar) Hay House India, 2014

2. The Thespian: Life and Films of Dilip Kumar by Urmila Lanba, Vision Books Pvt.Ltd.

3. Dilip Kumar ki Yaadgaar Filmein (in Hindi) by Javed Hameed, Atulya Publications, New Delhi, 2021

4. Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen by Sujata Dev (authorised by Shahid Rafi), Om Books International, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 2015

5. Mohammed Rafi: God’s Own Voice by Raju Korti and Dhirendra Jain, Niyogi Books, New Delhi, 2016

6. Mohammed Rafi: My Abba – A Memoir by Yasmin Khalid Rafi (translated from Hindi by Rupa Srikumar and A K Srikumar), Tranquebar Press, Chennai, 2012

Disclaimer:

1. All the information in this post is entirely from the books mentioned above. If the readers find this article/post worthy of appreciation, the credit in every respect goes to the authors of these books altogether. Only a fraction of what has been written by these authors in these books is utilised for the purpose of this article. I would request the interested readers to get a copy of the books for further reading, which no doubt will be interesting. I hold myself totally responsible for any shortcoming or non-conformance.

2. My sincere apologies to those sources which/ whom I might have inadvertently missed to acknowledge.

3. Neither the blog nor the author has any commercial interest whatsoever. The song links from the YouTube have been embedded only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. The blog or the author claims no copyright over these songs which vests with the respective copyright owners.

4. The thumbnail picture is taken from the internet, duly recognising the full copyrights for the same to the either original creator or the site where they were originally displayed.