Continuing the Centenary Celebrations of Rafi with his songs by Usha Khanna (b. 7 October 1941) wishing her Happy 83rd Birth Anniversary
Music direction in our films had been generally a male monopoly. Usha Khanna was the only one in the Golden Era to break the glass ceiling. Long before her, in the Vintage Era that honours belonged to Saraswati Devi of Bombay Talkies who created everlasting songs sung by non-singers like Ashok Kumar, Devika Rani and Leela Chitnis. Though on record Saraswati Devi was preceded by two more female music directors, Jaddan Bai (Talaash-e-Haque, 1935) and Ishrat Sultana aka Bibbo (Adal-e-Jahangir, 1934), it is Saraswati Devi and her songs that are remembered till today. That is about all regarding female music directors. That makes Usha Khanna’s rise to the top very remarkable, and significantly she created a storm with her very first score Dil Deke Dekho (1959).
She got all this fame at a tender age of 18 which means she must have started working on the film at the age of 16-17. Her father Manohar Lal Khanna was an employee in the Gwalior princely state, but he was more of a writer, and his love for films brought him to Bombay where he wrote lyrics for many films. In some films of Usha Khanna he gave lyrics in the name of Javed Anwar.
After matriculation Usha Khanna learnt classical music at Prof Deodhar’s music college; thereafter, she learnt light music from Robin Banerjee. Indivar persuaded her to concentrate on composing music rather than singing. This was a very prudent advice considering the dominance of the Mangeshkar sisters. She sang well though and has sung many film songs.
OP Nayyar introduced her to S Mukherjee of Filmistan who asked her to sing some songs and, upon being told that these were composed by her, offered her to compose music for Dil Deke Dekho. This film also turned out to be the debut film of Asha Parekh as a lead actress (earlier she had debuted as a child actor). This film consolidated Shammi Kapoor’s makeover as a light-hearted, dancing and jumping star. Shami Kapoor-Asha Parekh would go on to appear together in several superhit films.
For this project she composed music in a completely OP Nayyar style with Rafi and Asha Bhosle as the singers, and similar rhythm and orchestration. A talented girl that she was she realised the pitfalls of being branded as a copycat; in her next film Hum Hindustani (1960) she shook off OP Nayyar-tag, and her songs for Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar are in a completely different mould. She composed well-known songs for a variety of singers.
She married producer-director-lyricist Sawan Kumar. The marriage developed serious strains, but they continued to work together professionally. Usha Khanna was the music director of Sawan Kumar’s superhit film Sautan (1983)
It is not surprising that she stormed the music scene with the vocals of Rafi. She continued to compose great songs for Rafi in her career. In a recent comment Hans has mentioned Usha Khanna’s special bonding with Rafi (as also her felicity with Mukesh and other singers). She composed about 115 songs for him including solos and duets. Some of these are among his best songs though they may not be from big banners. Continuing the series on Rafi’s centenary celebrations, I present his best songs by Usha Khanna wishing her a very Happy 83rd Birth Anniversary.
1. Dil deke dekho by Rafi from Dil Deke Dekho (1959), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Usha Khanna
In this club dance song Shammi Kapoor is in his familiar role of a drummer in the band. The song’s appeal has not dimmed in 65 years.
2. Hum aur tum aur ye saman by Rafi and Asha Bhosle from Dil Deke Dekho (1959), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Usha Khanna
Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh have fallen in love. Usha Khanna now changes tack and composes this lovely soft, melodious duet.
3. Yaar chulbula hai haseen dilruba hai by Rafi and Asha Bhosle from Dil Deke Dekho (1959), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Usha Khanna
But Shammi Kapoor has to be wild and crazy, and he has to get into a song and dance with verve. Asha Parekh gives him good company.
4. Jahan tu hai wahan phir chandni ko kaun poochhega by Rafi from Aao Pyar Karein (1964), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Usha Khanna
Rafi was a master of long recital preludes. Usha Khanna composes the recital – Bahaar-e-husn teri, mausam-e-shabab tera/ Kahan se dhoondh ke laye koyi jawab tera/ Ye subah bhi tere rukhsar ki jhalak hi to hai/ Ke naam leke nikalta hai aaftab tera – which smoothly segues into the song.
5. Tum akele to kabhi baag mein jaya na karo by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar from Aao Pyar Karein (1964), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Usha Khanna
A delightful duet in which the hero and heroine each forewarn the other like a ‘Parent’ from going to the garden alone.
6. Maine rakha hai mohabbat apne afsane ka naam by Rafi from Shbanam (1964), lyrics Javed Anwar, music Usha Khanna
Mehmood got to sing some nice hero songs too, Even if he is not convincing as a hero, the Rafi song is.
7. Ye teri sadgi ye tera baankpan by Rafi from Shabnam (1964), lyrics Javed Awar, music Usha Khanna
From the same nondescript film here is a superb song by Rafi for Mehmood.
8. Hum tum se juda hoke mar jayeinge ro ro ke by Rafi from Ek Sapera Ek Lutera (1965), lyrics Asad Bhopali, music Usha Khanna
Is there any doubt that this song counts among Rafi’s best? Usha Khanna was a talented composer and Rafi didn’t care for the banner and hero.
9. Haye tabssum tera dhoop khil gayi raat mein by Rafi from Nishan (1965), lyrics Javed Anwar, music Usha Khanna
Sanjeev Kumar debuted in a lead role (he had appeared in some small roles) in Nishan, which seems to be a B-grade fantasy film. He gets a superb Rafi song composed by Usha Khanna.
10. Haseen wadiyon fizaon se kah do by Rafi from Lal Bangla (1966), lyrics Gulshan Bawra, music Usha Khanna
Now Usha Khanna composes for another B-grade film, and Rafi does an equally competent job for an unknown actor.
11. Teri galiyon mein na rakhenge kadam by Rafi from Hawas (1974), lyrics Sawan Kumar, music Usha Khanna
A very popular song picturised on Anil Dhawan. The producer of the movie-cum-lyricist was also the husband of Usha Khanna.
12. Tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein shamil hai by Rafi from Aap To Aise Na The (1980), lyrics Nida Fazli, music Usha Khanna
A nice ghazal by the well-known shair Nida Fazli, composed brilliantly by Usha Khanna. Deepak Parasher is not the best emoter on the screen, but Rafi’s singing is excellent even in his last years. In a clear B1-B2-G love triangle Raj Babbar shows silent anger at the other guy gallivanting with Ranjeeta.
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog has no commercial interests and does not claim or suggest any copyright over these songs which vests with the respective copyright owners.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
AK Ji,
A long overdue blog on the lone female crusader!! Excellent song selection-all are top songs of UK -Rafi team. I have heard in one of Usha Khanna’s interviews that initially she used to be a bit apprehensive in explaining the nuances of a song to Rafi sahab as he was so senior to her, and had requested his co-singers like Lata /Asha to convey to him. Rafi , being the gentle soul he was , when he came to know about this , told her not to have any such apprehensions -‘ as a music director you have full freedom to convey to me directly how the song has to be sung’!!
Rafi seems to have sung 111 songs for Usha Khanna in 59 movies from 1959 to 1983.
DDD had an unprecedented 10 Rafi songs, almost all of them evergreen. The last released film from this combination was SALAM E MOHABBAT, 1983.
MAIN WOHI HOON, 1966.
Bahut haseen ho, bahut jawan ho…
EK RAAT, 1967
Sau baar bana kar Malik ne…
HONEY MOON, 1973.
Din hai ye bahar ke
Phool chun le pyar ke…
BIN PHERE HUM TERE.
Dost ban ke aaye ho
Dost ban ke rehna…
DADA.
Gaddi jandiye chalanga maar di…
SAJAN KI SAHELI.
Jiske liye sab ko choda
Ussi ne mere dil ko toda…
Sivanandamji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. And also for the nugget of information which again shows the soft and helpful side of Rafi.
Dr Shetty,
Thanks a lot for adding so many songs from your memory. I am happy that your statistic matches with my ballpark figure.
Unfortunately for Usha khanna , she was mostly relegated to “B” movies or low budget films. Nevertheless, she gave many hits for movies like Shabnam, Nishan, Lal Bangla, Insaf, Badal, etc. As a singer she had a very sweet voice. One of my favorites is Ae Jaane Wafa Maine Dil Rakh Diya from Nishan.
A song from the film Yeh Dil Kisko Dun – Phir Aane Laga Yaad Wohi Pyar Ka Aalam is essentially a Rafi solo, but she had a small part and even there I love how she delivered her single repeated line “Pyar ka aalam”.
Talking of hits from “B” movies, I would like to suggest a new topic for your future article: “A” Songs From “B” movies.
Sameer,
Welcome to SOY. Many music directors gave music soaring over their films. ‘A’ songs from ‘B’ movies is a nice thought. The problem is there is no arbiter and a well-accepted list of ‘A’ and ‘B’. At margins there would be problem. Parasmani was a ‘B’ grade movie. When Laxmikant-Pyarelal debuted with this movie they were themselves ‘B’ grade music directors. But the music turned out to be ‘A’ plus, and soon LP were masters of all they surveyed.
A similar section to your suggestion is “Forgotten composers, unforgotten melodies”.
AKji,
You have presented their best collaborations.
My personal favourite from Dil deke dekho is Hum aur tum aur ye sama
Never knew Javed Anwar was actually Manohar Khanna.
Thank you for this lovely post.
Anup
🙂
Anup,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. That Javed Anwar was the same person as Manohar Khanna was new to me too.
Usha Khanna was the lone female stalwart in the male dominated HFM industry and managed to stay on for over three decades (late fifties to eighties ) ! Coming to her songs only one example of Lata Mangeshkar song from the film EK SAPERA EK LUTURA for Kum Kum is sufficient to describe the quality. However, she also brought out great songs from several male singers of the time (mainly Rafi and Mukesh earlier and KK and Mahendra Kapoor later ) . A much awaited write up, indeed!
KB,
Thanks a lot. As the sole female composer in the Golden Era of any significance Usha Khanna occupies an important place in the history of film music. Thanks a lot for your comments.
AK ji
After KA-Rafi one expected LP-Rafi post, but this a pleasant surprise .
Debuting in 1959, Usha Khanna remained active till 2003 which is a stupendous feat. But invariably she got to compose for second rung movies.
Shivanandam ji has mentioned Rafi’s humble attitude while singing for Usha Khanna. Here is an article by Ajay ManKotia in which She narrated the incidence. It also contains a short clip showing Usha Khanna singing Madhuban khushboo deta hai.
Kotiyan also mentions OPN influence and suggests that lack of signature style as the main reason for Usha not breaking into the top league (which is debatable).
https://www.readomania.com/blog/usha-khanna
A relatively less heard Rafi number from Ek sapera ek lootera
Tera bhi kisi pe – Asad Bhopali
One can discern shades of yaha koi nahi mera tere siwa from Dil ek Mandir here.
https://www.readomania.com/blog/usha-khanna
Mr Muli,
LP are the biggest by any measure of data. They deserve a similar series of year round tribute and it would come at an appropriate time. Chronologically, Usha Khanna comes after KA, and she is big enough for such attention.
Thanks a lot for the link of the article on her. Inadvertently you have given the same link for the song too.
Ak ji
Forgive me for the mistake, here is the correct link
https://youtu.be/8f6sMz6aNSc?si=kcNBObIGRGB0v9xI
Mr Muli,
Nice song.
A highly deserving combination for Rafi’s birth centenary.
Also all ‘great’ songs also well covered.
Ashokji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
AK,
A very beautiful and prompt response to the suggestion made by Ashok Vaishnav, when I posted that bunch of songs in the ‘hidden gems’ article. The songs highlight her great music sense throughout her career. In some songs she reached the sublime level of Roshan. ‘Haye tabassum tera’ and ‘hum aur tum aur ye sama’ (which is a Rafi solo) are two of such songs.
She was certainly a Rafi loyalist, who kept to Rafi even in the 70s. She was also not much fond of Kishore Kumar, whom she gave just 3 solos and 1 duet upto 1970. Two of these solos came in his own film as hero in which she recorded Manna Dey as playback for Kishore for one solo and one duet. Even in the 70s she gave just 16 songs to him and instead preferred other singers like Shailendra Singh, Yesudas and Suresh Wadkar when she was not using Rafi.
You have listed some female composers. Amirbai Karnataki composed for a single film Shahnaz in 1948. Also Sharda composed music in 9 films to my knowledge. She also gave at least one song to Rafi in all of her films and composed ‘achha hi hua dil toot gaya’ for which he was nominated for FF award. Meena Mangeshkar also composed for one film.
Regarding her style in Dil Deke Dekho being like OPN, I have a different opinion. In most of the duets she looked like him, but I would attribute it to her being a Panjabi. In solos she has mostly kept her own identity. In fact, I saw an interview where she was asked this question and she said her aim was to be a composer like Shankar Jaikishan. In at least one aspect she emulated SJ. She did what SJ did a decade ago by becoming famous overnight with her first film. SJ had done that predominantly with Lata’s vocals and she did it with Rafi.
Now some songs.
The first one is from Dil Deke Dekho. ‘Megha re bole ghanan ghanan’ is a very sweet short song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNqayICJg9U
Hum jab chalen to – Hum Hindustani – Sahir. After using Majrooh in her first film, she used 5 lyricists. This one was the only song for Sahir as well as Rafi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQuwhdUVUK8
‘Ye jhuki jhuki nigahen teri’ from Aao Pyar Karen is one of her best compositions and though I have posted it earlier too, but I would again give here to show her great music sense. Shashdhar Mukherjee returned to her after giving her the first two films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyfJhlCtOBk
Mera ban jaye koi ye meri taqdeer nahin written by Asad Bhopali for Ek Sapera Ek Lutera is one of 3 gems composed by UK, one of which you posted and the other was given by Rahul Muli.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asL77Cwe63s
Main buddha hoon to kya hua – Night in Calcutta – 1970 – Asad Bhopali. This one is in a different style and bringing hope for all old buddies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fLmnRgYsEE
Now some duets.
Bade hain dil ke kale – Asha Bhosle – Dil Deke Dekho. A very nice duet with shades of OPN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwLHQmaldiI
Kaun ye aaya mehfil mein…dilruba meri neeta – Usha Khanna – Dil Deke Dekho. For about 2 and a half minutes it is a Rafi solo and then UK repeats some words after Rafi, showing her singing prowess. Nobody can call it OPN style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2TYFKiVsS8
Sapna dekha raat ki jaise tu hai mere sath – Suman Kalyanpur – Raat Andheri Thi – Akhtar Romani.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCxG-VY5yOA
Jab se main ho gayi young – Usha Khanna – Haye Mera Dil – PL Santoshi. This song is reverse of the DDD song above. Here UK leads the song with less space to Rafi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMAwqUUuCs
Pajama tang hai kurta dheela – Krishna Kalle – Simla Road – Asad Bhopali. One of the top bhangra songs ever made in Hindi films. She shows her Panjabi roots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z69yOGYRVsI
Hans @17,
Thanks for addition of some hidden gems. About female composers, you are right about Amirbai Karnataki. Sharda I didn’t know, was any of songs composed by her in circulation. In any case she must have come at least a decade later. Usha Khanna is a worthy composer to come to notice.
@18,
There was a period of overlap between OPN and SJ who competed for Shammi Kapoor films. You are right Kaun Ye aya mehfil mein is not in OPN style. It is more in SJ style, if you will. Thanks a lot for adding some more unknown songs.
Hans Ji-nice songs added by you.
Talking about her style of composition, I remember she acknowledging in one of those programs in Vividh Bharati that she used to get influenced by many other music directors and one can observe this in her songs. Some songs appear to have OPN style, some S-J , some even K-A. Many-a-times, when I try to guess the composer of a song ( at least 90% of the time I get it right) , Ushal Khanna is the only one where I usually fail!
Dil ke tukde , tukde karke by Yesudas-appears deceptively similar to a OPN song-that dholak and harmonium!
Even shades of L-P in Teri Galiyon Mein Na rakhenge kadam-those powerful drum beats are typical of L-P.
Haye tabassum Tera sounds similar to the meandering melody of Ravi!
Though not exactly in line with this blog thread, I just thought of sharing a very unique Tamil song-composed by Usha Khanna ( however it is just a recreation of her song Zindagi Pyaar Ki Geet Hai from Souten)-and sung by two legendary female playback singers of South-P Susheela and S Janaki. Three female artists together- dont know if in Hindi we had something like that by UK…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxzs7NgAkA4
AK,
Sharda was no where near Usha Khanna in quality or quantity. I remember only one significant song of her which I mentioned in my comment.
“It is more in SJ style, if you will.”
You once said that our minds get tuned to the songs sung by a particular singer and may not like the song if it is sung by some other singer. I have always agreed to that and apply the same theory in the matter of styles of composers. We tend to remember the styles of those composers whose songs we have listened most. So in the case of other composers we try to look them in one or the other style of other composers. Every composer creates or would like to create different type of songs. But, only we by ourselves or by the propaganda of the critics compartmentalise them. You once wrote the article titled ‘the other Madan Mohan’. I think that article indicated the same thing. If we look at various films and careers of various MDs, they have given different type of songs and even there styles have changed at different times. I would here mention the songs of Mr and Mrs 55. If you look at various songs like ‘ae ji dil par hua aisa jadoo’ (Rafi), ‘jane kahan mera jigar gaya ji'(Rafi, Geeta), ‘meri duniya lut rahi thi’ (Rafi) and ‘preetam aan milo’ (Geeta), they are all different. The same would the case with SJ or any other MD.
Hans,
Just one thought. Not everyone had “The other..”. For Madan Mohan it made sense, because he is most famous for his Lata Mangeshkar’s and Talat Mahmood’s ghazals. The he has equally good Kishore Kumar’s wild songs and peppy songs of Asha Bhosle.
On the other hand, there was no “The other Naushad”.
Sivanandamji,
On styles of MDs, I have given my views in my comment above in reply to AK. I think when UK hit the ceiling with DDD, the critics went to work in searching for a style and because at that time it was OPN who was ruling, they immediately found OPN in her style. Most of us also try to find something on the basis of our tunings to the prevailing things around us. I mostly look at lyrics first in a song. Composing the tune for the lyrics is the first job of an MD. Orchestra is also important, but what SJ achieve with hundreds of musicians can be achieved by OPN or SDB with a handful. I am not a specialist in guessing styles of composers, but I can with some success guess the lyricist.
As to the query in your second para there is a song from film Nateeja-1969 sung by four female singers, Shamshad Begum, Kamal Barot, Usha Timothy and Usha Khanna. Vinod Khanna and Bindu were lead actors in the film and the situation seems to be like ‘mera naam hai chameli’ of distracting the guard to free Vinod Khanna. The song mukhda is ‘aye sapnon ke raja’. I will give link below. The song posted by you looks great to me though I dont understand the lyrics. The singers Susheela and Janaki were very good and I wish they would have been allowed to sing in Hindi films by the two Mangeshkar maharanis. There was an AVM film Main Bhi Ladki Hoon from 1964 with music by Chitragupta. As Lata was not singing duets with Rafi then, she was paired with PB Sriniwas for a duet, but the producers did not find courage to pair Rafi with some south female singer and Asha was paired with him in another duet.
# 23-Hans Ji,
Thanks for the information about the song sung by four female singers-will check it out in Youtube. Although Susheela & Janaki could have posed a threat , but still their accent might have been a slight disadvantage. But both are perfectionists and could have picked up the right accent if given a chance & training. However they were too busy in South and sung in all the four languages-Tamil, Telugu , Kannada & Malayalam and got excellent recognition there.
Regarding the other topic, on style of music composers, it is a vast subject and maybe one day we can discuss it !! I agree one cannot have a generalization on their styles. It is my humble, personal opinion that most of the legendary composers , had distinctive styles in , say 70-80 % of their compositions ( this is an off-hand % age with no statistical backing-I am very poor in music statistics) , no doubt with exceptions in the balance 20-30% . Perceptions will vary as music taste is highly personalised. And more importantly , it was beacuse of those distinctive styles that the golden era music is so rich and diverse and we neither tire listening to them nor writing about them!!!
AK, @ 22
Naushad also has a lot of variety. I would let you know the other Naushad if you tell me under what label he functioned, like you mentioned MM for ghazals. I would say that our critics have the habit of labelling individuals either of their own will or under influence of some high profile people. Mukesh and Manna Dey were the biggest sufferers of this labelling business. Mukesh sang all type of songs under SJ initially and they also used Manna Dey for romantic songs. But later both of them suffered due to the labelling.
I would also register my protest here on non-inclusion of Rafi in the singers for whom MM composed ghazals. It is more unfortunate because your comment comes is the centenary year started by you yourself. It is true that MM was fond of composing ghazals. He used Talat for just 24 songs of which 14 were solos. Of these there were just 8 ghazals of which 5 were pure ghazals and 3 were ghazals where there were three lines in the antara. Of these 5 pure ghazals one in Ada and two in Khubsoorat nobody remembers. This leaves just two ‘meri yaad mein tum na ansoo bahana’ and ‘main teri nazar ka suroor hoon’. As against this Rafi had 150 songs by MM of which 76 were solos. There are more than twenty ghazals MM composed for Rafi. I had a cursory look and there are at least 8 pure ghazals by Rafi for MM and all are well known. I am not listing them here, but can do so if you ask.
Sivanandamji,
You are right that there would have been problems of accent, but they were there in the case of Lata too and many others. The main point here is that opportunity should have been given. Due to this opportunity on the male side their were singers like Yesudas, Balasubramanium and Hariharan. Hans Raj Behl was the undisputed number one in Panjabi films, but his name is widely known because he also made a name in Hindi films.
AKji,
An excellent much-awaited post on the most successful female composer who managed to create her own position amidst the male composers.
You have provided a nice bouquet of her best songs with Rafi.
Though I must admit that I prefer the softer romantic version of Tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein by Manhar.
In line with Dr. Shetty@2, as I know, UK and Rafi did 111 songs together in 59 films'(58 released and 1 unreleased/incomplete) – 66 solos, 38 duets and 7 multiple singers. There, of course, would be some missing ones.
Rafi’s 70s solos hit list is incomplete without Teri galiyon mein na rakhenge kadam.
In 1976, the duo gave another tuneful song which was fairly popular those days, heard regularly on radio.
Jhoomta sawan dekho aaya – Do Khiladi (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu-L95bejJA
Three more lesser heard solos (or hidden gems) from Sawan Kumar films. All picturized on Vinod Mehra
Kaise jeet lete hain log dil kisi ka – Sajan Bina Suhagan.
This one was overshadowed by Madhuban khushboo deta hai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9KONTqQxaQ
Two from Sajan Ki Saheli. The duet jis ke liye sabko chhoda was more known and popular.
Boondein nahin sitare tapke hain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o88mEB8Jxjs
Aise na the hum jaisi humari ki rusvai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs4qk7vrR3U
Dr Deshpande @27,
Tu is tarah se eri zindagi mein shamil hai: I agree with you on Manhar version. I have to use the word ‘niche’. In the earlier era Talat Mahmood and Mukesh were niche singers.
Jhoomta sawan dekho aya: You might have followed the earlier discussion about our tendency to associate a nice composition to one of the top composers. Does this song remind you too of Laxmikant-PYarelal’s style n the early 70s?
Dr Deshpande @28,
I must admit all the songs were new for me.
AKji @29
Yes, jhoomta sawan dekho aaya does sound like an LP composition.
And I agree, niche describes Mukesh or Manhar well.
One more Rafi-UK song. This is from Sabak (1973).
Here again Mukesh’s Barkha rani zara jamke barso is more well-known and popular.
Bachcho suno kehta hoon main tumse meri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6oSBX4vUew
Dr Deshpande @27,
I wanted to mention one more special feature of the song Tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein. Now I find there is a Hemlata version of the song too. This is the first time I am coming across a solo song sung by each of the three sides of a love triangle at different stages in the film. Do you remember any song of the type? I have not seen the movie. My interest is who does Ranjeeta go with – Deepak Prasher or Raj Babbar.
There is indeed a triad song in Sangam (1964) – Har dil jo pyar karega wo gana gayega – in which Raj Kapoor, Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar each sing a stanza to express their feelings. There are female duets composed by Naushad in which one sings a sad tune because her love is not recognised and the other is chirpy. There is a song in Shama (1961) in which Suraiya sings both for herself and Nimmi – one chirpy and the other morose.
AKji @32,
Yes, I have heard and seen the Hemlata version a few times.
It is in the same slower rhythm as the Manhar one. Only the Rafi version is fast paced.
Her version is less impressive than the two male ones.
There is one more Rafi version – a brief and slow one, the movie ends with it. Couldn’t locate the video but here’s the audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TNJLbM6VJc
And to answer your query on the film – Ranjeeta and Raj Babbar get together in the end. And, luckily, Deepak Parashar doesn’t die. he only gets a bullet on the arm. Ranjeeta had been pressurized by her uncle to pretend to love Deepak, to swindle him off his welath.
AK ji,
This is a wonderful post covering the association of two great personalities.
While I love the music of Usha Khanna, I somehow find the movies that her estranged husband made rather irritating – especially the titles of the movies.
Here is a rare song from the film Murder in Circus – another nondescript movie. The song is good though – tumko pasand ho to tumhe dilruba kahun.
https://youtu.be/hBALYjKwrhs
Dr Deshpande @33,
Thanks a lot for the information. Some music directors have prescience that a particular song would become a superhit. That explains multiple versions.
I had guessed so only because Raj Babbar sang the melancholic version.
Anita @34,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
Why blame the title? The films might have been bad. Murder In Circus has possibilities in crime thrillers. I remember in Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train the final climax takes place under a carousel in a carnival. It could be a ferry-wheel in a circus.
AK,
Confession first, I am absent from SOY for a long time.
Had tried to comment many times, but wanted to comment in detail, due to time constraint was kept on back burner, though I am quite updated on what is going on.
I have a question.
Is the opinion, that Manhar ‘s version is better than Rafi’s is of commenter AK or blogger AK?
Blogger AK has described Rafi’s singing as “excellent”, singing, while commenter AK’s opinion is that Manhar is better. Now logically does commenter AK means that Manhar’s singing is beyond Rafi’s excellence.
Any better explanation?
Mumbaikar8,
Welcome back to SOY. The explanation is simple. It has nothing to do with blogger-commentator dichotomy. They are one person. One is about the singer as a whole, the other is about two versions of a particular song. Both statements are correct as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if it satisfies you.
Many times I have pleaded guilty even when I was not a fault, to buy peace with a ferocious lady. This time I would not. 🙂
AK,
Sorry for the delay to the prompt response.
You said
“One is about the singer as a whole, the other is about two versions of a particular song. Both statements are correct as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if it satisfies you.
@song #12 from aap to aise na the you write
“A nice ghazal by the well-known shair Nida Fazli, composed brilliantly by Usha Khanna. Deepak Parasher is not the best emoter on the screen, but Rafi’s singing is excellent even in his last years”
Aren’t you talking about the singing of this song?
If yes, can the simple explanation be acceptable?
If no, then simple explanation make sense.
Now to
“Many times I have pleaded guilty even when I was not a fault, to buy peace with a ferocious lady. This time I would not.“
Why do you take my questioning anything as an accusation particularly if I am not satisfied by your answer. My sticking to my view is no accusation, it can be my stubbornness or my confidence .
You want to make it dramatic by taking it as accusation and pleading guilty or not guilty. It does not make any difference to me.
If you were pleading guilty to buy peace with me? Are calling names to buy war with me?
You know, in past too I have been called names many times, I have never complained or brooded over it and will never do.
.