Rafi's everlasting songs paved the way for success of Joy Mukherjee.

There were many bollywood actors who acted in more than 200 films out of which 40 to 50 films were musical in nature. In case of Joy Mukherjee out of his 38 films in a career spreading over 15 years, almost all the films were musical and his everlasting combination with Mohammad Rafi only produced gems after gems. Joy Mukherjee started his career with the film Love in Simla in 1960.It was directed by RK Nayyar. Iqbal Qureshi composed the music of the film. Rafi’s songs “love ka matlab hai pyar”, “dil tham chale”, “ae baby idhar aao” were fresh and peppy in nature. From that time the everlasting combination of Joy Mukherjee with Mohammad Rafi stormed bollywood music for the next 10 years. In Hum Hindustani, Joy Mukherjee’s next film Sunil Dutt was the lead star so most of the songs were picturized on him. In the film Umeed in 1962, Rafi’s song “mujhe ishq hai tumhi se” became big hit. From 1960 to 1967, Joy Mukherjee had the rare record of giving hit films in such a way that his films used to rank among the first 5 hit films of all the years. One of the main reasons for the success of the films included the evergreen music of the films. In 1962 his film Ek Musafir Ek Haseena created storms. It ranked in the first 4 biggest hits of the year. The songs “bahut shukhriya bari meherbani”, “aap yuhi agar humse milte rahe”, “phir tere shahar me mitne ko chala aya hoon”, “humko tumhare ishqne kya kya bana diya”, “Mai pyar ka rahi hoon”, “mujhe dekhkar aapka muskurana” made the listeners enchanted. The Joy Mukherjee, OP Nayyar and Rafi magic continued in the film Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon in 1963. It was produced and directed by Nasir Hussain. Again the songs were masterpieces including “zulf ke chayon me chehereka ujala lekar”, “nazneen bara rangeen hai wada tera”, “banda parwar thamlo jigar”, “lakhon hai nigahon me”, “anchal me saja lena kaliyan”, “aji kibla mohe tarma”, to name a few. It was par excellence. Probably OP Nayyar and Rafi combination was at the zenith. The film ended up being the third biggest hit film of 1963. In 1964, Joy Mukherjee’s film Ziddi did great business. This time it was directed by Pramod Chakravarty. The music was composed by SD Burman. Rafi’s songs “janu kya mera dil ab kahan kho gaya”, “teri surat se nahi milti kisi ki surat”, “pyar ki manzil mast haseen” were all melodious songs and became superhit. In 1964 film Ji Chahta Hai, Rafi Joy Mukherjee combination again created gems. Kalyanji Anandji composed the songs. Rafi’s songs “kya kehne mashallah”, “ae jane tamanna jane bahar”, “rang rangilla mousam leke” created sensation. Rafi Joy Mukherjee continued in the films Ishaara, Door Ki Awaaz and Ayo Pyar Karen. Kalyanji Anandji composed the music of film Ishaara. Rafi’s songs “dil bekarar sa hai”, “he Abdulla naginwala” were very impressive. Naushad Ali composed the music of Joy Mukherjee’s film Door Ki Awaaz. All the songs of Rafi were classically oriented and touchy namely “dil mera aaj kho gaya”, “ek musafir ko”, “husn se chand bhi”, “kya yunhi rooth ke”, to name a few. Usha Khanna composed the music of the film Ayon Pyar Karen in 1964. Rafi’s songs “dil ke aine me tasveer teri”, “jinke liye mai diwana bana”, “tum akele to kabhi bag me” caught the attention of listeners a lot. In 1965, Rafi sang excellent songs in Joy Mukherjee’s film Bahu Beti. Ravi Shankar Sharma composed the music of the film. Rafi’s songs like “jiyo to aise jiyo”, “meri jaan na sata tu”, were very sweet. Joy Mukherjee again stormed bollywood in the film Love in Tokyo. Shankar Jaikishan’s composition of music in the film rocked bollywood. Lata’s songs “sayonara sayonara”, “hume tum mil gaye humdum” was as popular as Rafi’s “Japan, love in Tokyo”, “aaja re aa zara aa”, “o mere shahekhuba”, and Manna Dey’s “mai tere pyar me bimar hun kya arz karun”. The westernized andaz of Rafi mesmerized the audience along with Japan’s exotic locations. Joy Mukherjee and Rafi combination did well in the film Saaz Aur Awaaz. Naushad Ali composed the music of the film. Rafi’s songs “dil ki mehfil saji hai”, “saaz ho tum awaaz hun mai”, “kisne mujhe sada di” showed the class and dignity of Naushad Ali’s creations. Joy Mukherjee and Rafi again created magic in the film Shagird in 1967. This time Laxmikant Pyarellal stormed bollywood. Rafi’s songs “o bare miya diwane”, “o hai zara khafa khafa”, “duniya paagal hai” all created magic. Joy Mukherjee’s online chemistry with Saira Banu attracted the viewers. From Humsaya in 1968, gradually Joy Mukherjee’s box office popularity declined. OP Nayyar composed the music of the film and Rafi’s song “dil ki awaaz na sun” again became hit, but the film did not do great business. From that time onwards Joy Mukherjee gradually faded out of the industry. His later films like Ek Kali Muskai, Dil Aur Muhabbat, Dupatta, Ek Baar Muskurado did very ordinary business. Rafi sang notable songs in some of these films, but neither the compositions nor the songs did touch the souls of the audience in the same way, the way it did in Love in Tokyo. Joy Mukherjee had given lips in more than 200 songs of Mohammad Rafi. His songs and the films should be restored to remember the great combination of evergreen Mohammad Rafi with the romantic actor. As long as melodious music will survive, Joy Mukherjee’s films will remain immortal.