A song for every mood

mid-day remembers the exceptionally talented and versatile Mohammed Rafi on his birth centenary

Back in the early 1970s, during the black n' white Doordarshan era, one often saw actor Bharat Bhushan in the song ‘Man Tadapat’ from the 1952 film ‘Baiju Bawra’. Over time, the other details became familiar—it was sung by Mohammed Rafi to the tune composed in raag Malkauns by Naushad for words written by Shakeel Badayuni.

Those days, another song was popular on the radio. ‘O Haseena Zulfonwali’, also sung by Rafi, but this time for an R D Burman creation written by Majrooh Sultanpuri in the 1966 film ‘Teesri Manzil’, was a complete contrast, with its sheer energy depicted by Shammi Kapoor. Though it was the period Rajesh Khanna was ruling the screen, with most of his hits sung by Kishore Kumar, there were many Rafi songs that ruled the airwaves.

Those melodies are popular even today, as we celebrate the legendary singer's birth centenary. Some 60 or 70 years after they were recorded, the tunes are still part of talent hunt contests, prominent on streaming platform playlists and sung at tribute shows by singers a couple of generations younger. Rafi lives on, and will continue to do so.

The two songs mentioned above are evidence enough to prove the maestro's versatility. Of course, that was one of his main qualities. From a humour-laced song like ‘Sar Jo Tera Chakraye’ from ‘Pyaasa’ (1957) and the drunken slur of ‘Chalka Yeh Jaam’ from ‘Mere Humdum Mere Dost’ (1968) to the filmi Qawwali ‘Parda Hai Parda’ (Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977) and the sheer poetry of Mirza Ghalib's non-film ghazal ‘Yeh Na Thi Hamari Qismat’, his palette was filled with a variety of colours. And there were those numerous duets with Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur, which still fill the ears and hearts of fans with romantic, youth-reminiscing nostalgia.

There were other features that made Rafi unique. Starting from the very basics, there was the very texture of his voice. Divine. A singer's timbre is like his or her autograph, and Rafi had a distinct one. What was equally significant was the way he used that voice to express emotion. Listeners would feel the words, get gooseflesh from the nuances, sing along. Just check four of his songs closely and that connection is obvious—‘Insaaf Ka Mandir Hai Yeh’ (Amar, 1954), ‘Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho’ (Chaudhvin Ka Chand, 1960), ‘Yaad Na Jaaye’ (Dil Ek Mandir, 1963) and ‘Din Dhal Jaaye’ (Guide, 1965).

If one takes only these four songs, one notices two other things besides the voice texture and expression. They have been composed by four different music directors—Naushad, Ravi, Shankar-Jaikishen and S D Burman—and filmed on four different actors—Dilip Kumar, Guru Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Dev Anand. And these were Rafi's other hallmarks. He sang for a variety of music directors, and his voice suited many actors, from Dev Anand, Bharat Bhushan and Shammi Kapoor to Guru Dutt, Joy Mukherjee and Rishi Kapoor.

Even for these actors, he would sing in contrasting styles, depending on the moods they portrayed in the film. Take the 1961 movie ‘Junglee’, for instance, where he sang for Shammi Kapoor under Shankar-Jaikishen's baton. On the one hand, there were the exuberant ‘Chaahe Mujhe Koi Junglee Kahe’ and ‘Karoon Main Kya Suku Suku’, which had listeners screaming ‘Yahoo’ and ‘Ai Yai Ya’ (the latter was inspired by a song by Bolivian singer Tarateno Rojas). In a totally opposite style, he sang ‘Ehsaan Tera Hoga Mujhpar’.

Likewise, there was ‘Pyaasa’, composed by S D Burman. Both ‘Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye’ and the Geeta Dutt duet ‘Hum Aapki Aankhon Mein’ were picturised on Guru Dutt. But see the difference in styles. The first relied on the brilliance of Sahir Ludhianvi's poetry and the other was a melodious romantic tune. In the 1956 film ‘CID’, composed by O P Nayyar, he had one tone for Dev Anand in ‘Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein’ and another for Johnny Walker in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. And there were those actors who were identified largely by Rafi songs—Vijay Arora for ‘Chura Liya’ in ‘Yaadon Ki Baraat’ (1973) and Tariq for ‘Kya Hua Tera Vaada’ in ‘Hum Kisise Kum Naheen’ (1977).

Rafi's other trademark was his use of classical raags. In ‘Baiju Bawra’, besides Malkauns in ‘Man Tadapat’, he rendered a brilliant Darbari in ‘O Duniya Ke Rakhwale’. His rendition of raag Hameer in ‘Madhuban Mein Radhika’ (Kohinoor, 1960) and Shivranjini in ‘Baharon Phool Barsao’ (Suraj, 1966) are exemplary. Music directors of the 1950s and 1960s had a soft corner for Pahadi, and Rafi delivered many hits in this raag—‘Jo Vaada Kiya Who’ (with Lata in Taj Mahal, 1963), ‘Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanjh Savere’ (Dosti, 1964), ‘Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salaami Lelo’ (Ram Aur Shyam, 1967), ‘Chalo Dildar Chalo’ (with Lata in Pakeezah, 1972).

A combination of these factors makes Rafi's songs memorable to this day. Though each fan would have a different set of favourites, time hasn't diluted the impact of these charming melodies. On his birth centenary, it would be appropriate to spend the day in the company of his magical voice. There can be ‘Savere Wali Gaadi’ (Laat Saheb, 1967) in the morning, ‘Din Dhal Jaaye’ in the afternoon, ‘Hui Shaam Unka Khayal Aaya’ (Mere Humdum Mere Dost) in the evening and ‘Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salaami Le Lelo’ at night, with ‘Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanjh Savere’ at any time. There's a Rafi song for every time of the day, every mood, every
occasion.

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