Guest article by Hans Jakhar extending the centenary celebrations of Rafi (b. 24 Dec 1924 – d. 31 July 1980)
(Hans Jakhar, an SOY regular, is an avid Rafi fan and a Master of Data. Therefore, when I decided to celebrate 2024 as Rafi’s centenary year, my thoughts first went to him whether he would like to write a couple of articles on him. When he was more active on SOY he had written some guest articles, some of which were predominantly on Rafi. But of late he has been busy. This article came to me late when I had tightly packed the last months of 2024. My concluding article in Rafi’s centenary celebrations was on his evolution over the years with his duets. To highlight his versatility I had taken one duet a year with the condition that no music director was to be repeated. Even with this restriction I could get 25 gems over 25 years, composed by 25 distinct music directors.
Hans focusses on solos without any filters of a song in a year and a distinct music director. Therefore, you may get gap years and more than one song by a music director. However, with all the data Hans takes you on an interesting journey, and you discover many gems from Rafi’s early career. Some more articles on Rafi came late and I was happy to extend the centenary celebrations to 2025. This is in continuation of the celebrations.
Hans is a retired government official. He spends his post-retired life with his family in Haryana. Thanks a lot Hans for this nice article. – AK)
AK asked me in April last year whether I would like to write for Mohammad Rafi’s Centenary in 2024. Normally he would not have asked but I have been extremely irregular in the past one year. I had, always in mind, this topic about progression of Rafi’s career, his struggles and his evolving as a top singer. Since the start of 2024 I thought it was the right time for presenting my thoughts. So I suggested and he agreed. It would be in two parts, the first part covering the time upto 1955 and the second from then to 1970. The time limit is kept up to 1970, it being the span of SOY’s primary interest. Even if that has not been the case it would have been impossible to cover his whole career in two parts. It is hard to cover it in two parts, but we will have to adhere to some limit.
A lot has been said about the singing ability of Rafi. He was without doubt the best singer among golden era singers. The period under review is upto 1970 and in that period Mohammad Rafi alone sang more songs than the total of six golden era main male singers Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor. It would be a mistake to think that these singers were not capable. They were great singers in their own right and rose to the heights on the strength of their talent. So what was the reason for this utter dominance of Rafi. Versatility, singing as per the actor and situation, bringing the right emotions and modulating his voice may be listed among the attributes. But, according to me the most important of them all was his ability to take the compositions to another level. There were a number of great composers who were vying with each other or even with themselves for reaching great heights and they identified Rafi as a talent to take them to another level. With Rafi they could compose without thinking about any limit and he would in turn enhance the composition which no other singer was able to do. Usha Timothy who had sung a few duets with Rafi, and was with him in many concerts, said in an interview that other singers sang in ‘Sur’ but Rafi sang in ‘Shrutis’. I don’t know anything about Surs or Shrutis, but that is a beautiful way to express singing of Rafi. (There are seven ‘Surs’ or pure Notes. There are 22 Shrutis or micronotes – about 3 or 4 clearly audible different frequencies between two adjacent Notes. Some scholars mention reference to 24 Shrutis in ancient texts. – AK)
PART ONE: 1944-55
We all know that Naushad was the person who introduced Rafi in the 1944 film Pahle Aap with two duets with occasional singer Shyam Kumar and he also had a small contribution in a third duet with Shyam in the same film. We know Naushad was a big influence on Rafi’s career. But he was also a credit grabber. It is said he once said that he used Rafi less in the early part of his career because there was a tinge of Punjabi in his voice which he corrected. I don’t know whether he said this or not, but for quite some time I believed in what Naushad said. But, after listening to Rafi’s early songs on YouTube my views changed. I have selected songs for the first phase of 1944-50 to show how Rafi worked with even the least known composers to create gems and his singing was great even in the earliest period.
But first some data.
First Phase: 1944-50
Year No of films No of songs No of MDs
1944 1 2 (0+2) 1
1945 7 12 (6+6) 6
1946 19 40 (18+22) 15
1947 15 27 (12+15) 15
1948 22 49 (25+24) 19
1949 49 124 (51+73) 28
1950 37 90 (22+68) 20
Total 150 344 (134+210) 62
In these seven years Rafi sang 344 songs which is far more than any other playback singer. Durrani, Mukesh and Khan Mastana have for this decade songs since 1941 and have 180, 161 and 106 songs respectively. Chitalkar and Manna Dey ended up with 89 and 57. Talat Mahmood and SD Batish had 28 each and Kishore had 18 songs. Of the 62 MDs 23 ended their association with Rafi in this period itself and 16 of them had just a single song for him. Songs from 6 of these 23 MDs figure in the list for this period.
Husnlal-Bhagatram topped the list with 46 during the period from 1941 to 50. Hansraj Behl with 36 was another big contributor. Numbers of both of them fell down considerably in the following years. C Ramchandra with 29 and Naushad with 22 were other major contributors. Shyam Sunder and Gobind Ram with 14 each and Ghulam Muhammad and Chitragupta with 10 each added to his tally. Master composers Khemchand Prakash and Ghulam Haider gave him one song each in 3 and 2 films respectively. Four major contributors to Rafi tally in the later years were Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, Roshan and Chitragupta. They debuted in the last two years of this period.
1949 was a special year for Rafi in which he sang 124 songs in 49 of the 157 films. He was there in every major film where a male song was included, except Lahore and Shabnam. Ten other male playback singers had a combined total of 138 songs in this year. The major MDs’ contribution came from HB 20, Naushad 12, Hansraj Behl and C Ramchandra 10 each and Shyam Sunder 9 (8 of them in a single film).
Now the songs.
1. Ae dil-e-nakaam ab jeene ki tamanna chhod de – Hamara Sansar – 1945 – Gobind Ram – Ramesh Gupta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imGpQi1r3RE
Gobind Ram was quite an accomplished composer in the vintage era. He produced a very good song in which Rafi showed his talent. This was his first song for Rafi. Another famous song he composed was a background song ‘Wah re zamane kya rang dikhaye‘ on Dilip Kumar in the film Ghar Ki Izzat. He gave Rafi 21 songs in 12 films. Jeevan is shown at the head of the cast. Was he the hero of the film?
2. Main jab gaaun geet suhana – Amar Raj – 1946 – Firoz Nizami – Pt. Fani.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU95UkXAG0E
This was a Wadia Movietone film with Naseem and Trilok Kapoor in the lead. Firoz Nizami was the composer who composed the famous duet ‘Yahan badla wafa ka‘ in Jugnu. In Main jab gaaun geet suhana Mohammad Rafi shows what an accomplished singer he was even at that time. There was also a duet version of this song with Mohantara Talpade.
3. Karte hain ab wo humse muhabbat ka bahana – Ghunghat – 1946 – Shankar Rao Vyas – Ramesh Gupta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2ARYbB0bv4
As we all know Rafi was the best when it came to slow recitals. He shows this special quality of his in the couplet before the main song. SR Vyas gave 14 songs to Rafi in total.
4. Honthon ki hansi kya hai kya ashq bahana hai – Hawai Khatola – 1946 – Basheer Dehlavi – Qaiser Sabai.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNqfYSC5sIY
Basheer Dehlavi had only this song with Rafi and see how expertly he has rendered it.
5. Rahe to kaise rahe dil pe ikhtiar mujhe – Room No 9 – 1946 – Rasheed Atre – J Nakhshab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7NDYmWRN5s
You do not find any traits of a new singer singing this song. A masterly performance. Rashid Atre was also a composer who has only one song with Rafi.
6. Dus na jayein tujhko zulfein kaaliyan – Malika – 1947 – Alla Rakha Qureshi – Tanveer Naqvi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G17LtTPY_o
This beautiful song is composed in Punjabi tappa style, which is Rafi’s home ground. Nice lyrics fitting the tappa style. AR Qureshi had 26 songs in 14 films for Rafi upto 1970.
7. Ae dil meri aahon mein itna to asar aaye – Actress – 1948 – Shyam Sunder – J Nakhshab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O68dK6g0c4
Shyam Sunder and Rafi produced two gems in the film. The other one was ‘Hum apne dil ka fasana unhein suna na sake‘. Shyam Sunder was the composer who gave Rafi first chance in a Punjabi film Gul Baloch. He gave Rafi 22 songs in 8 films of which Actress, Bazaar and Dholak are well known. His early demise deprived us of good music.
8. Nigahein milane ko jee chahata hai – Parai Aag – 1948 – Ghulam Mohammad – Tanveer Naqvi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnlit5040T4
Ghulam Mohammad is well-known and highly respected. He opened his account in 1948 and gave him 55 songs in 22 films, including two songs in his last film Shama (1961). Now we know that the mukhada of the famous qawwali Nigaahein milaane ko ji chaahta hai from Dil Hi To Hai (1963) goes back to 1948, written by Tanveer Naqvi.
9. Kismat se koyi kya bole – Rahnuma – 1948 – Dhumi Khan – lyricist not known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6pjazpgydY
Dhumi Khan gave Rafi 4 songs in this only film where he used him. To my knowledge this was the only film in which he gave music independently. He gave music in two other films jointly with other composers in 1949 and 1956.
10. Ae dil tujhi ko neend na aayi tamam raat – Shahnaz – 1948 – Amirbai Karnataki – Akhtar Pilibhiti.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a-wslmY_d8
This was the only film in which Amirbai Karnataki gave music to 12 songs in which she just used Rafi and herself, Rafi getting 6 songs of which 2 were solo.
11. Thukra ke humein chal diye begana samajhkar – Baalam – 1949 – Husnlal-Bhagatram – Qamar Jalalabadi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L62OXrkRkbg
HB were the top composers for Rafi in this period and continued to give him songs till the last. They were composers in many of Suraiya films and both of them were riding a wave. This combo had their first song ‘Ek dil ke tukde hazaar huye’ in 1948 which was the only song in that year. In the next two years they gave Rafi 45 songs in 13 films. The last film for this combo was the 1963 film Shaheed Bhagat Singh in which Rafi sang 4 of the 5 songs. Rafi had 88 songs with them.
12. Lo rukh badal raha hai phir zindagi ka dhara – Banoo – 1949 – Ram Prasad – lyricist not known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTvKQ6Fz3ss
Ram Prasad was the father of Pyarelal of the LP fame. Details of only 4 of the 10 songs of this film are known and Rafi is in 3 of them. Ram Prasad later gave one more song to him in the 1964 film Magic Carpet. This song is sung in the Punjabi Heer style which is difficult to master and Rafi has sung it perfectly.
13. Is wade ka matlab kya samjhoon – Duniya -1949 – C Ramchandra – lyricist not known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv3mIuH_Wlc
CR gave early support to Rafi and had given 29 songs in this period. He gave in all 77 songs to him which was 2nd for male singers after himself. Despite the differences the combo flourished till CR stopped using Rafi after the1960 film Sarhad. Later he recalled Rafi in the 1970 film Rootha Na Karo in which he used him for 3 songs.
14. Ek dil ne kaha ek dil ne suna – Parda – 1949 – Khayyam – Ramanand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE9PdDTUafc
This was the first film for Khayyam as Sharmaji which he did independently. The relationship of these two was special, though Khayyam does not have many songs with Rafi. They had a number of non-film songs together. ‘Akele mein wo ghabrate to honge‘ is famous for this duo, but this song is equally good. Rafi had 4 songs in this film out of which two were based on Heer style.
15. Jin raton mein neend ud jati hai – Raat Ki Rani – 1949 – Hansraj Behl – Aarzoo Lucknavi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzIyeLRYaeQ
Hansraj Behl was one of the main contributors to the Rafi tally during this period. Later in the 50s as Punjabi films gained more popularity after partition he moved to Punjabi films where he was the undisputed no.1 for quite some time. This song shows Rafi’s mastery over slow recital songs. Behl gave 76 songs in 33 films upto 1970.
As can be seen the above list does not contain his most famous songs from this period which are above 20 in number. In addition there were a number of other songs which almost as good as those selected. This is an indicator of the early talent of Rafi.
Second Phase: 1951-55
Year No of films No of songs No of MDs
1951 35 69 (25+44) 20
1952 32 77 (29+48) 21
1953 33 77 (26+51) 22
1954 32 89 (36+53) 27
1955 66 161 (65+96) 35
Total 198 473 (181+292) 62
As will be seen 1955 was a special year when Rafi’s songs had a big jump. This increase was not sudden; it was the impact of the performance in the first four years. The two most important MDs in this period were Naushad and Chitragupta. Chitragupta had 50 songs with Rafi with two highly successful films Tulsidas and Shiv Bhakta. Naushad decided to minimise the number of films. He gave music in 12 films in the decade 1951-60, out of which 8 came in this period. Though he had just 29 songs for Rafi in this period, yet they had such an impact that Rafi reached new heights. The other composers who gave more than 20 songs were Ghulam Mohammad – 34, CR – 28, HB – 25, Vinod – 22 and Madan Mohan – 20.
Mukesh was the major singer with 161 songs in the previous period. But in this period he had just 55 songs. As he was trying to be a hero, he made the mistake of stopping singing. The main singer besides Rafi during this period was Talat Mehmood. He had 246 songs with 152 solos. When we see that he sang about 430 film songs this number means he sang more than half of his songs in this period. We know Talat Mahmood was also trying to be a hero but he continued singing and reaped a rich harvest.
Now I proceed with the songs. They will contain a mixture of some special songs showing singing attributes of Rafi and also some with lesser known MDs.
16. Aseer-e-panja-e….Hue hum jinke liye barbaad – Deedar – 1951 – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD6bC-w5_FI
This song starts with a couplet in slow recital which is the first ‘sher’ of a ghazal written by Muztar Khairabadi who was the father of Jan Nisar Akhtar. Rest of the song is written by Shakeel Badayuni. Here is the couplet:
‘Aseer-e-panja-e-ahad-e-shabaab kar ke mujhe,
Kahan gaya mera bachpan kharaab kar ke mujhe‘
The meaning of the first line is ‘after making me captive (aseer) in the grip (panja) of commitment (ahad) to the beauty (shabaab)’ followed by the second line which means ‘where has my childhood gone after ruining me’. This couplet is the essence of the story of Deedar. Rafi takes about 40 seconds for completing this couplet, weaving one word with the other in a string in his inimitable style.
17. Poochhiye na haal ji, palle nahin maal ji – Mukhda – 1951 – Vinod – Azeez Kashmiri.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyYhymR500c
Vinod was sort of a specialist in composing comic songs. He started with Rafi by giving him 5 duets in Ek Thi Ladki and ended up giving him 36 songs in 12 films, ending with two duets in Ek Ladki Saat Ladke. What a coincidence in similarity of the title in the two films.
18. Dum todte hain armaan – Shagan – 1951 – Husanlal-Bhagatram – Mulkraj Bhakhri.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCkR4v5btiY
HB continued to give memorable songs in the 50s upto Shama Parwana after which success eluded them. Other notable films for them in this period were Afsana, Sanam, Rajput, Stage and Aansoo.
19. Takra gaya tumse dil hi to hai – Aan – 1952 – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AObKlsYMad4
This song also has an alaap at the start which is slightly shorter than the Deedar song, but Rafi takes about the same time weaving magic again. This film had five solos, one duet and two alaaps for Rafi. This was a once in life time film for Nadira.
20. Hari om….Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj – Baiju Bawra – 1952 – Naushad – Shakeel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c9yzRB5pPc
Although ‘O duniya ke rakhwale’ is more famous, I consider this song better. At the start Rafi chants ‘Hari om’ four times in 30 seconds, each time pronouncing ‘Hari’ and ‘Om’ differently. This type of rendition is can only be done by the singer and this type of modulation is where he beat all other singers. Then he starts weaving the mukhda in a rosary and this time the weaving is different than the Deedar song because now the words are in chaste Hindi. This song is a super marvel in all three facets.
21. Ye duniya paglon ka bazaar – Chacha Choudhary – 1953 – Madan Mohan – Rajendra Krishna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HARooqWk_fw
This is an absolute gem which tells us why Rafi is so special. In this song of more than 3 and a half minute, Rafi sings only the mukhda in different styles. There is only one antara for about 35 seconds. I think there is hardly any need to say anything about this combo. This type of songs are essentially singers’ as no amount of composition can cover each twist and turn. MM started with Rafi in his first film and had given 132 songs in 40 films upto 1970, which gives a very high average of 3.3 songs per film, considering the predominance of female songs.
22. Jal jal ke shama ki tarah fariyad na karna – Fariyad – 1953 – BN Bali – Muzaffar Orkazai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37rbCOTofMQ
BN Bali was a small time composer who made his debut in 1949. He has 15 songs from 6 films out of which he gave 5 songs to Rafi in 1955 film Mastani, one of which was a comic song ‘Ameeron ke bhagwan gareebon ko sataya na karo, pudine ki chatni se rotiyan khilaya na karo‘.
23. Sulag rahi hai husn ki sigdi….de pachhad dham dham. – Madmast – 1953 – V Balsara – Madhuraj.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGk2XnbnfWo
V Balsara featured in the series of Sculptors on SOY. As per details there he composed 12 Hindi films and many Bengali films. This one is a very good comic song in which Balsara used some special manoeuvres which were executed well by Rafi.
24. Tera kaam hai jalna parwane – Paapi – 1953 – S Mohinder – Rajendra Krishna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91xBh_O5g8
S Mohinder started his career in 1949 and had 58 songs in 22 films with Rafi until 1970. So he was a regular with Rafi. This song was a super hit. Some of the antics used by Raj Kapoor in the song were copied by some of his family in later years.
25. Kismat fati hui thi taanke laga rhea hain/Allah tere bande daulat kama rahe hain….Fati hui kismat ki chaadar siye ja siye ja – Alibaba Aur 40 Chor – 1954 – SN Tripathi & Chitragupta – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcB0cwMqtpk
Obviously the song was created for the situation when Alibaba gets the body parts of his brother sewed up. The song was filmed on the tailor who would appear in just one or two scenes. Could this be thought possible in later films? The song situation did not deter Rafi from rendering a gem of a song and for this he duly studied the voice and visualised the actions of the minor actor and modulated his voice accordingly.
26. Aaj achanak rooth ke mujhse chale gaye bhagwan … Bolo he zameen bolo aasman – Chakradhari – 1954 – Avinash Vyas – Pradeep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvmiaQGPwkA
This song is a testimony that Avinas Vyas was a very capable composer. The alaap is the life of this song written greatly by Pradeep and perfectly tuned and extra-ordinarily rendered. Rafi executed these alaaps so differently from each other that one wonders whether there was some invisible computer in his head which remembered everything. After the alaap the song suddenly changes tempo. Vyas worked with Rafi in only 1951-60 and had 26 songs in 13 films.
27. Ab wo karam karein ke sitam – Marine Drive – 1955 – N Dutta – Sahir Ludhianvi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73IKQBG1pRU
N Datta debuted in 1955 and straightaway gave good songs to Rafi in Milaap and Marine Drive. He was a Rafi loyalist and a great supporter of Asha. He had a total of 91 songs with Rafi upto 1970. Ajit on whom the song is filmed is in low spirits and Rafi comes up with a soft tone song to fit the situation. This song is one of the iconic songs of Rafi.
28. Meri duniya lut rahi thi aur main khamosh tha – Mr Mrs 55 – 1955 – OP Nayyar – Majrooh Sultanpuri.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBCp5tjhOk
OPN was a powerhouse for Rafi. Though he had less number of solos than duets with him. This song is a surrogate song depicting the situation of Guru Dutt and lip-synced by a minor actor. Rafi’s grip on qawwalis is manifested in the most appropriate lyrics written by Majrooh for the situation. This song was eclipsed by the popularity of other songs in the film.
29. Ye duniya gham ka mela…Humein bhi de do sahara – Seema – 1955 – Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31jASRr4qUk
This song filmed on Mumtaz Ali has a great alaap followed by as great a song. You can listen that Rafi again sings the alaap differently from his other alaaps. This film is known for ‘Kahan ja raha hai tu ae jane wale’ and ‘Tu pyar ka saagar hai’.
30. Maya ki uljhanon ko….Humko to tera naam lene se hai vasta – Shiv Bhakta – 1955 – Chitragupta – GS Nepali.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLGKO6lH6hQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDFvYRA-fXU
Chitragupta had a special relationship with Rafi. He had more songs with Rafi than even Lata Mangeshkar who was his favourite after she entered his recording room from this film after the huge success of Tulsidas. Shiv Bhakta was essentially a Rafi film in which he had 4 solos and 2 duets because Shahu Modak was playing the Shiv Bhakta. I have given two links for the song. The first one is for the video and the second one is link from the record. Unless you watch the video song you cannot fathom the impact of the song because it contains a longer alaap which has been curtailed in the audio version.
A large number of gems have been left out. No duet has been given here, because the focus was on showing the singing ability of Rafi which is on display more in solos. But there is no bar on SOY-ers in posting duets which include multiple singer songs.
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
The song links have been given/embedded only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog or the author has no commercial interest, and claim no copyright over the songs which vests with the original copyright owners.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
At the outset I would like to make things clear. I had sent this article to AK on 19th November. As the preparation of article for posting takes some time, it could not have been done immediately. On 20th KA 2.0 appeared. As the final wrap up was pending it came next. The remaining two slots were for Venkataramanji’s Safarnama and AK’s article. So there was no scope for this to be posted in 2024. AK kindly extended the Centenary celebrations which shows his respect for Rafi. He deserves a lot of thanks from Rafi fans.
Also, I had originally intended to finish the series in two parts. As the celebrations have been extended, we have decided that now there will be two more parts, one covering the period from 1956 to 65 and the last from then till the end.
Hans Ji
Exceptional article on an exceptional singer! I have only glanced through now and thought of sharing my immediate comments. Will have to savour each and every statistic, nuances of Rafi’s singing that your scholarly blog has brought forth and also relish each song that you have listed , like a delicacy !!. I may be listening to many of these songs for the first time!
Will come back once again after reading and listening thoroughly.
Special thanks to AK ji for the continued tributes to Rafi…..
Sivanandamji,
You are welcome. That also means the window has opened for other Rafi-experts too..
Hans
I wish I were a politician and confer on you honorary degree – Master of Statistics. The way you introduce numbers is astounding to me. I know how tough it is to compose meaningful statistics and the labour involved in accumulating them.
You have portrayed songs of many variety to bring out the unbounded genius of Mohammad Rafi. It is such a heavy post, I have covered just 15 songs only.
Song No. 9 – Lyricist Habib Sarhadi. Dhumi Khan wrote lyrics for two songs also.
In those days it was customary for films to have many lyricists writing songs and at this juncture it is difficult to identify a given song with a lyricist. Song No. 12 with two lyricists and No. 13 with four lyricists belong to this category and even a writer of your calibre is unable to identify lyricist with the songs.
Song No. 14 has a close resemblance to a song from Bari Behan (1949) –
Jo bil mein kushi bhankar aayi by Lata Mangeshkar and others
https://youtu.be/DwvShDnQRTQ?t=159
Sivanandam,
Thanks for the kind words. You speak like a true Rafian. As I said I kept the list limited to mostly his lesser known songs, particularly in the case of the 40s songs. His work with lesser known MDs shows his special abilities even in those early times. Some of the songs of 40s are common with Vaishnavji’s list, which I was not aware when I selected these.You should listen to the unknown as well as others which may come your way. My trick when I listen to the unknown is that I open the song in a separate you tube window instead of clicking the link. This way I can find some other songs of that type.
Happy listening.
Rafi started in the forties but came into prominence during the fifties and became the most dominant singer in the sixties when he was the voice of every star big or small and was the preferred choice of all composers. Even during the seventies her was indeed there when he sang several duets with every male and female singer and quite a few solos also. The selection of songs here is great but it would have been even better if his songs of only lesser known composers were selected !
DP Rangan,
I would be happy with a few words of appreciation from a friend rather than the awards or rewards from a politician. I dont want to lose a friend to politics. 😉
Some persons dont give much importance to statistics, but statistics are very important to me. Munshi Premchand once said something to the effect that fiction is based on imagination but can be at times better than history which is said to be based on reality. Statistics also tell a story. Take for example the songs given here which were the only songs given by the MD to Rafi. What they tell. They may tell that this MD had a lot of talent and/or it may tell Rafi was a great talent who did so well with almost unknown composers. This fact may also suggest that there was a lot of competition in those times. So you see there are so many things you can derive from statistics.
Regarding names of lyricists, I mostly go by HFGK. They give names in accordance with info based on records or the pamphlets issued at the time of release of the film. If someone has given it in the description on you tube, I also accept it. If you are sure about song no 9, I would accept that which is probable too because two songs have been attributed to Dhumi Khan.
In my view the tune of song no 14 is not similar to the Badi Bahen song you posted. Both these films came in the same year.
KB,
It is evident from the perfect summary you have given of Rafi’s career that you have meticulously studied his career.
Your suggestion about selection of songs is good. As this was a post on evolution of his career I had to strike a balance between the lesser known composers and those composers who gave a number of songs to him and helped in making his career. It would have been unfair to the famous composers to ignore their contribution. But you would have noticed that in the first part, I have just selected only a few of the well known composers and even in their case only comparatively lesser known songs have been given. The second part was about showing special attributes of Rafi which were mostly exploited by great MDs. Still a few songs from lesser known MDs have been included.
Hans Ji,
Outstanding post containing a plethora of information. Your study of Rafi songs is truly commendable. Though many of songs are not heard very often, but as you have mentioned your intention is to highlight Rafi’s singing talent in each of those songs. And you have accomplished it very well. Looking forward to your 2nd part.
Kelkar Ji,
Thanks for your appreciation which is dear to me coming from an expert. I try to be factual on all but Rafi is naturally special to me. His famous songs have been posted on SOY in a number of blogs. So in this one it has to be a mixture because of the special objective. I am happy you liked my reasoning and presentation. Next parts would come in due course.
Hans ji,
Collating statistics assiduously is not everyone’s cup of tea. This analysis of yours will surely help bloggers like me. Thanks a lot for this backbreaking endeavour!
Anita
Hans ji,
Painstaking compilation. Very useful and informative.
Well written, as always.
Hans Ji
After going through the entire blog and hearing all the songs, I am speechless. Speechless due to the legend Rafi ‘s extraordinary singing and sheer variety of his repertoire and also due to the efforts put in by you in picking these unheard gems ( unheard for me at least-please see my pathetic ‘statistics’ given below!).
Hearing for the first time: 22 songs out of 30 – 73%
Heard only very few times : 3 out of 30-10%
Regarding the song Lo Rukh Badal Raha Hai ( # 12 in your list) , I did some google search and this is what I found-do not know if this is true: Lyricist -Kamal Rashid & Sagar Nizami.
An interesting fact about the song from Alibaba Aur 40 Chor ( # 25) , I have heard the same song in its Tamil version, which was a remake two years later that starred the most famous actor & former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu -Late M.G Ramachandran. The Tamil version of this song was sung by another legend from South-Ghantasala Venkateshwara Rao (he had sung the Telugu and Tamil version of the famous Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koayaliya in Swarn Sundari) . Providing the link to the Tamil version of Alibaba song here.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4vfyzrqVIA-Ghantasala-
I am also hearing these music directors’ name for the first time-Basheer Dehlavi, Rasheed Atre, Dhumi Khan, Ram Prasad ( though I am aware he is Pyarelal’s father, never heard any of his compositions), & B.N Bali.
To sum up a long comment-truly an eye-opening blog for me and I now understand I must have seen a tiny drop from the vast ocean called the golden era of film music!
Anita,
Thanks for the kind words. I am happy you found the stats useful. Collecting stats is my hobby and I have found means which makes the work easy and I enjoy it like playing a favourite video game. I also like to share them.
Dr Shetty,
Thanks for your appreciation. I know you yourself collect lot of statistics which you present in your comments. We have some common hobbies.
I have always looked forward to Hansji’s use of statistics – rich as source of data and very effective to enhance the value of the point under discussion as well as the clarity.
As a writer of his own article, he has used his freedom so well to present the songs missed out under previous articles in Rafi birth centenary celebrations SoY with telling effect.
If the other articles in the Rafi birth centenary celebrations series @ SoY present Rafi’s diverse range of subjects, the present one adds a new dimension – that of Rafi’s capability of singing in shrutis.
Looking forward to the next articles .. with bated breath.
Sivanandam,
As the radio became popular in the sixties, the songs of sixties were mostly heard in those days. Older songs were broadcast mostly on Radio Ceylon and in some programs. So the older songs lagged behind. You will find later songs more familiar. But now almost all songs are found on youtube and can be enjoyed.
DP Rangan also raised the point about lyricists. There were two lyricists in the film Banoo and no song has been identified with any of them. I posted two songs from Kamil Rashid from film Mehndi in the ‘where is mukhda gone’ article.
I saw the ‘Alibaba’ song you posted. I cant understand the lyrics but from its grand picturisation it appears it is filmed on some famous actor and not a minor actor like the Hindi version and it appears the subject matter of lyrics is also different from that.
Vaishnavji,
I am grateful for such appreciation from a person who is himself such a music connoisseur. Your kind words would encourage me to further improve my efforts in the future articles. I am happy you liked my presentation of stats.
Hans Ji – # 17
Thanks for your comments. I have been listening to Vividh Bharati for ages but of late it has become horrible-too much of talking with same set of songs repeated daily! I do not know who decides the songs to be played there…
Regarding the sctor in the Tamil version of Alibaba song ( Siye Jaa Siye Jaa) , it is a famous comedian called K.A Thangavelu. MGR was the hero who played Alibaba’s role.
Just for the sake of curiosity , I am posting the link for one more famous song from the same film-Hindi version was Ae Saba Unse Keh Zara ( Rafi & Asha) –Tamil version was more popular and sung by A.M Raja which was a singer & music director ( not for this movie) and P Bhanumathi-one of the last actress-singers like Suraiyya, Noorjehan etc, picturised on MGR & Bhanumati.
Trivia-Since A.M Raja was already a senior artist in the Tamil film industry, when another Raja entered the industry and created a huge tsunami , he was named Ilayaraja -ilaya in Tamil means ‘younger’…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXlbchdLI2U
Sorry for some digression , but I hope those who reading this will enjoy
Sivanandamji,
Thanks a lot for the Tamil version of the song, and the trivia about Ilayaraja. We are now more informed thanks to your comment.
About Vividh Bharati, their archive comprises mostly well-known songs whereas Hans dredges deep and wide. YouTube has become a huge source for rare songs we were not even aware that they existed.
Thanks AKji.
I dont know how such horrible spelling & grammatical mistakes crept in my last comment.
Pl read as actor and AM Raja who…I
should check more carefully before posting!!
Sivanandam,
Thanks for the second link, which is a grand picturisation of the climax scene. The song and dance is also great. I think a lot of people like regional songs. On SOY there was a series on ‘multiple version songs’ and Venkataramanji posted some articles on Hindi-Tamil version songs.
On Vividh Bharati AK has rightly said that they have most of the times broadcast run of the mill songs. Besides Radio Ceylon, there were other AIR channels which gave good programs. There used to be a program at 10 p.m. on AIR’s Urdu program which would give old songs for one hour. There was also a program on another channel which used to be repeated in the afternoon. I have stopped listening to Radio long ago. Now it is a combination of HFGK and Youtube.
Thanks for the trivia about Ilayaraja which I did not know.
Thank you Hans ji for this enlightening post on the premier phase of Rafi Sahab’s career.
As a student of the natural sciences, I am always elated by your use of statistics and the interpretation of said statistics to paint a comprehensive picture of the subject at hand.
I noticed something interesting in your statistics for the various singers between 1950-55. Although Rafi sang alot more songs than Talat overall, the gap between the number of solos is far less pronounced with Rafi having sung only 29 more solos than Talat.
If we combine this with the fact that the most famous Talat solos are the ones from this period and Rafi’s solos although musically rich weren’t really that popular, I get a feeling that Talat was considered the more esteemed singer in the first half of the the 50s.
Out of all the elite music composers at this time, I think only Naushad used him as his first choice singer. Even SD Burman and SJ were trying out other singers and hadn’t really settled on Rafi.
For me Rafi doesn’t truly reach the zenith until OP Nayyar and SD Burman start using him as their main singer. I consider the period from 1955-57 to be the time where Rafi zooms ahead of all competition and becomes the numero uno of playback singing.
I have always considered Naushad, OPN and SDB to be the “big three” when it comes to composers for Rafi. I have always held the “controversial opinion” that SJ are more of a Mukesh composer than Rafi composer much to the chagrin of some of my elders.