Manoj Kumar was sublime in horror thriller Gumnaam.

Manoj Kumar, Nanda in Gumnaam The film Gumnaam was the eighth biggest blockbuster of bollywood films of 1965. The film was directed by Raja Nawathe. The music of the film was composed by Shankar Jaikishan and the music created havoc. Manoj Kumar and Nanda were excellent in their roles. The film was based on the horror story of Agatha Christie titled “And then there were none”. In the film Tarun Bose was a criminal who called up seven persons to an unknown island in a chartered flight to take revenge on the act of the uncle of Nanda. He cheated Tarun Bose, send him in prison and did not give him his share of smuggled money. It was not possible for anyone of the them to swim across the sea to reach Mumbai back. Tarun Bose killed Madan Puri, Manmohan, Dhumaal, Helen, Pran one after the other. At the end of the film Manoj Kumar, the CID inspector arrested Tarun Bose after he disclosed the truth relating to each and every murder. Mehmood and his sister Chand Usmani came to the island by boat. Mehmood played the role of a butler and did a great job. All the artists Tarun Bose, Helen, Pran, Dhumaal did an excellent job. The music of Shankar Jaikishan made everyone mad. The first song of Mohammad Rafi “jaan pehchaan ho” was used by Hollywood film Ghost World. All the songs in the film created magic. Rafi’s solo “ek ladki hai jisne jeena mushkil kar diya”, “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” created magic. The duet song of Rafi and Sharda “jaane chaman shola badan” had intoxicating effect. Lata’s songs “gumnaam hai koi”, “is duniya me jeena hai to” became smash hit. Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar’s song “peeke hum tum” became big hit. Manoj Kumar excelled in crime thrillers like Wo Kaun Thi. Gumnaam was one of his greatest hits in his illustrious career. Shankar Jaikishan always had created magic. Gumnaam was no exception. Viewers should see the film.

Rafi, Sharda and Shankar Jaikishan.

Rafi, Sharda and Shankar Jaikishan.

Rafi had sung many duets with all the leading female singers in the country during the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. He had sung around 440 duets with Lata Mangeshkar, who dominated bollywood music during the 50s, 60s and 70s. He sang duet songs with Shamshad Begum, Mubarak Begum, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur and others. During that period he sang many duets with Sharda as well, mainly in films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Sharda won a number of filmfare awards for best singer for her performance in mainly the films of Shankar Jaikishan. Sharda is still alive and also has received the Rafi Memorial Award in 2007, from the Rafi Lovers Circle, Calcutta.

Most of those songs sung by Rafi and Sharda during the 60s and 70s did good business along with the success of the films. In Seema the song “jab yeh dil udaas hota hai” became super hit. The duet song of Rafi and Sharda was appreciated by the viewers. In the film Gumnaam, the song “jaane chaman shola badan, pehelu me ajao”, became superhit. Rafi’s seductive andaz for Manoj Kumar thrilled the audience along with Sharda’s voice for Nanda. Sharda had a different type of voice in comparison to other singers, so her combination with Rafi was very unique.

Shankar Jaikishan gave the song “sun sun sun re balam, dil tujhko pukare” in the film Pyar Muhobbat. The main song was sung was by Sharda, while Rafi finished it with the last line. The song was picturised on Dev Anand and Saira Banu, with one singing the song for the other over telephone. It created a very romantic andaz which was enjoyed by the viewers. There was a song in the film Shatranj, titled “bakamma bakamma” sung by Rafi and Sharda, having comedy andaz. Although the film did average business, the song did well.

Some of the other duets of Rafi and Sharda included “aap ki ray mere bare me”, “aya kaisa zamana o baba”, “pyar ka kar uran khatola”, etc. Besides Sharda sang many hit duets with Mukesh as well including “chale jana zarah thehero” in the film Around The World, picturised on Raj Kapoor and Rajashree, “duniya ki sair kar lo”, etc., as Mukesh sang many songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Probably Rafi’s capability to adjust himself with any female singer including Lata, Geeta Dutt, Sharda, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum, etc., showed the level of adaptability and effortlessness of the giant singer. Shankar Jaikishan always banked their resources on Rafi and for those reasons even the duets composed for Rafi and Sharda were melodious and evergreen. The songs should be preserved.