Naushad and Rafi in the 60s.
Naushad was the one of the greatest musical genius India has produced in the last 60 years. In the 60s he reached his level of excellence where he could compose brilliant songs which could suit the sequences of different films. He used Rafi’s singing skills in the best manner that was possible.
In Ram Aur Shyam, Naushad composed songs for children like “aye hai baharen dekho” sung by Rafi and picturised on Dilip Kumar which amused the audience. The same film had brilliant composition like “aaj ki raat mere” where the lyrics of Shakeel Badayani were as brilliant as the performance of Rafi and Dilip Kumar.
In Mere Mehboob, the title song “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhabat ki kasam” Naushad used the grammer of ghazals and the other songs like “ai husn zara jag” were masterpieces where the lips of Rajender Kumar were as brilliant as the playback of Rafi. In Leader the songs “tere husn ki kya tareef karun”, “ek shahenshah ne banwake hasee tajmahal”, “apni azaadi ko hum hargese mita sakte nahi” had classical ragas, patriotic passion, everything embedded in them. Dilip Kumar and Rafi were brilliant in their individual performances.
In Aadmi, the songs “na aadmi ka koi bharosha”, “aaj purani rahon par” were landmark hits where Rafi was exceptional and Dilip Kumar was sublime. Similarly Naushad gave his best in the film Dil Diya Dard Liya, where the songs “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “sawan aye ya na aye”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi” where classical masterpieces, where Rafi and Dilip Kumar complimented each other.
Naushad composition were equally brilliant in the film Kohinoor, were Rafi’s song “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat”, were exceptional. Even Naushad brought in Bhojpuri flavour in the song “nain lad jaihe” in the film Ganga Jumna, where Rafi used rural accent for Dilip Kumar.
Naushad and Rafi became an institution by themselves and explored in the 60s. Tragedy King Dilip Kumar dominated bollywood films for more than 30 years, so had given adequate expression in the songs of Rafi composed by Naushad. The songs and the films should be preserved for their immense musical value.
Dilip Kumar, Naushad and Rafi Sahab is a very exceptional and unique trio combination, and also very effective and unbeatable. Hundreds of the best compositions ever in Hindi film music came from this formidable group. Naushad, the master composer exploited Rafi Sahab's capabilities to the hilt, which no other music director could do in equal measure. Both Naushad Sahab and Rafi Sahab knew exactly what was required in the song, particularly those featuring Dilip Kumar. Every naunce in the composition was a brilliant example of dedication and excellence. The author has posted some of the most haunting and memorable songs of this duo. But there are other songs, equally and perhaps even better composed which require special attention of not just music lovers, but by the very knowledgeable music pundits. These gems require full-scale research. For e.g. in the film AADMI, two songs area already mentioned in the article. There is this third song - MAIN TOOTI HUYI IK NAIYYA HOON and also a male duet song - KAISI HASEEN AAJ BAHARON KI RAAT HAI. Composition wise the latter of the two had the typical Naushad flavour. But just consider the first named song and this gives me quivers to this day. What a unique composition and what a divine rendition. Simply out of this world. No other song can be comparable to the total dedication of this "grand stand combo" of Naushad and Rafi Sahab. This song unfortunately is not the favourite of most music lovers. But let music students study it and practice the song for ages. They will not be able to reach even one tenth of the efforts that both the music director and the singer had put in. It is human tendency to term something unreachable as this as 'sour grapes" and that is the reason why this song went into the cupboards and many mediocre songs of Rafi Sahab are on every one's lips. That is because they are easy to sing and understand in the first place.
ReplyDeleteRam Aur Shyam had two other duets, besides the two songs mentioned in the article. Rafi Sahab sang one duet each with Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar. For the song with Ashaji - O Balam tere pyar ki thandi aag mein jalte jalte, Rafi Sahab used a somewhat rustic voice when compared to the song with Lataji where he used a more sophisticated modulation - exactly fitting to the picturisation.
"Sangharsh" produced two magical numbers by Rafi Sahab - again Naushad's trade mark compositions. The song " Jab Dil Se Dil Takrata Hai" is an exceptionally crafty romantic and poetic number compared to the naughtier "Mere Pairon Mein Ghungru Bandhade".
Souvikji, thanks for writing these beautiful pieces every now and then on such great artistes that we can be proud of. You are doing a yeoman's job. Please make your articles lengthier, atleast those concerning the golden musical period of the 1950s to 1970s. I could have gone on and on airing my comments on your lovely article, but then, it would be bigger than the article itself. Hence I have to restrain my self to small comments, but once again congratulations to you for your flair in presenting the best of articles on your blog.
Mr. Murty must be thanked by all the readers of the forum, as he had highlighted the greatness of Naushad as one of most gifted composer of all times. I dont want to enter into the controversy with the respect to the fact whether Naushad was the best or not, because it is not possible to compare the use of Sarengi by Roshan, with the use of Sexaphone and Acordian by Shankar Jaikishan, or the ghazals of Madanmohan cannot be compared with the westernised tunes of Salil Choudhury. But I truly agree with Mr. Murty, that Naushad had made the best use of Rafi keeping in mind the classical potential of the great singer. For example songs like "sawan aye yah na aye" in Dil Diya Dard Liya, "ek shahehshah ne banwake haseen taj mahal" in Leader, "tere husn ki kya tareef karun" in Leader had shown that Rafi's touch can give separate dimension to romantic songs. At the same time the rich lyrics of Shakeel Badayani should also be credited to who had the capacity of rights bhajans like "madhuban me radhika nachere" to ghazals like "mere mehboob tujhe mere muhobat ki kasam".
ReplyDeleteNaushad was a genius of all times and all his compositions are rich assets for the country.