Zindagi Tho Bewafa
Hai, Ek Din Tukaraayegi,
Maut Mehebooba Hai Apne Saath Lekar Jaayegi
Three years after
singing this song, Mohd. Rafi passed away on July 31st, 1980.
It has been 15 years
now and till this world exists, there is never going
to be a replacement for Mohd. Rafi. It is unusual that in a
country whose population exceeds 850 million they have, as yet, failed
to find a suitable voice to sing songs the way Rafi sang. They have,
of course, been many imitators but none like the original.
For Rafi, singing was
a passion and something which had to be taken
seriously. He started his singing career way back in 1942 and held sway in
the film industry till his death in 1980 - 38 years with
innumerable variety of songs.
As a human being, he
was extremely humble and religious and surprisingly
so soft spoken, that you had to be very close to him to catch what he was saying -
something in stark contrast to his songs and powerful
voice. He is the only singer who had the unique distinction of
opening out his voice when singing on high scales. Other
singers' voices narrow down as they reach high pitches. If you
listened to the song "chal ud ja re panchi" both by Rafi and Talat, it
will be noticeable.(*)
During his long
career he sang a vast number of songs for all kinds
of characters portrayed on the screen. Be it a hero, a drunkard,
a beggar, a comedian etc., Rafi catered to all and did justice to
the lyricist, the music director, and to the song itself.
Music directors had a choice of many singers but there was always
the thought at the back of their minds, that in the event no other
male singer could do justice to their song, there was always Mohd. Rafi
to sing for them. Even other singers have admitted that to sing a duet with
him was extremely taxing.
Being trained in
classical music, he sang a number of very good classical numbers,
both solos as well as duets. He has also sung a song for Kishore
Kumar in the film Ragini.
Of all music
directors that Rafi sang for, somehow he was never repeated by
Anil Biswas. Anil Biswas always claimed that his soft
music was not suited for Rafi's loud voice - an argument that
can go on forever, but Rafi has sung some very good soft numbers,
such as apni to har aah ik toofan, jaane kya dhoonti
rahti hai, tumse kahoon ik baat, which is proof
enough of the control he had on his voice.
It seemed as though
he could scale any heights of the pitch. The song from Mughal-e-Azam titled zindabad ai mohabbat
is proof enough. His voice carried expressions and gave the listener
an understanding of the scenes and actions without having
actually seen the film. For example, in Barsaat Ki Raat the song zindagi bhar nahi has a poetic line, surkh aanchal ko dabakar
jo nichora usne. And the way Rafi has emphasized the
word nichora, you could almost imagine Madhubala wringing her aanchal. Or
if you listen to the song from Baharein Phir Bhi
Aayengi, phrased aap ke haseen
rukh pe aaj naya noor hai, you can imagine the detailed
facial expressions as expressed in the song.
Naushad-Shakeel-Rafi
was a team that started off way back in the 1940s and produced hits
upon hits till mid 1960s. They seemed to be made for each other and none of
the three let the other down. Who can forget songs
such as is duniya mein si dilwalo
Dillagi, tasveer banata hoon teri Deewana etc.
To write and record
from the 1940s to the 1980s would take up a lot of pages,
so I will end this article by listing out various songs that have been my personal
favourites for a long time and will remain so.
Zindagi
ke safar mein akele the ham - Nartaki - Ravi
Ba hosh-o-hawas mein diwana - Night in London - LP
Mohabbat se dekha khafa ho gaye hain
- Bheegi Raat - Roshan
Raaz-e-dil unse chhupaya na gaya - Apna Banake Dekho - Ravi
Dil mein ek jaan-e-tamanna ne - Benazir - S D Burman
Tu mere saamne hai - Suhagan - Madan Mohan
Pahle mile the sapnon mein aaj saamne
- Zindagi - Shankar-Jaikishan
Dil ki tamanna thi masti mein - Gyarah Hazar Ladkiyaan - N Dutta
Gar tum bhula na doge - Yakeen - Shankar-Jaikishan
Masti mein chhed ke tarana koi dil ka
- Haqeeqat - Madan Mohan
Mujhe le chalo aaj phir us gali mein
- Sharabi - Madan Mohan
Ankhiyan sang ankhiyan laagi aaaj - Bada Admi - Chitragupta
Saaz ho tum awwaz hun mein- Saaz aur Awaaz - Naushad
Maana mere haseen sanam - Adventures of Robin Hood - G S Kohli
Teri zulfen pareshaan - Preet Na Jaane Reet - Kalyanji-Anandji
Paas baitho tabiyat behl jaayegi - Punar Milan - C Arjun
Haaye tabassum tera - Nishan - Usha Khanna
Teri tasveer bhi kuch - Kinare Kinare - Jaidev
Zara sun haseena - Kaun Apna Kaun Paraya - Ravi
Hamne kya pyar kiya - Naag Mohini - Sardar Mallik
Tum Mujhe Yun Bhulaa Na Paaoge,
Haan Tum Mujhe Yun Bhula Na Paaoge,
Jab Kabhi Bhi Sunoge Geet Mere,
Sang Sang Tum bhi Gungunaaoge... |
