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| Pic: Courtesy: Pinterest/Ravinder Singh Thakur |
When Mohammed
Rafi passed away on 31 July 1980, even the skies wept. The outpouring of grief
that accompanied his funeral cortège was not just because of a legendary
singer’s untimely death, but because the man who died had been, above all, a
good human being. The legacy that Rafi leaves behind is not only his immense
body of work – which continue to enthral us – but also the shared memories,
narrated by those who knew him well.
Over the course
of his career, Rafi has sung thousands of songs – for heroes and character
artistes across disparate genres and different moods.
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| Pic: Courtesy: Saira Banu/Instagram |
And, as Dilip Kumar said,
Rafi was ‘a great actor behind the mike’, his voice not just technically
perfect, but adding the required emotion to the song, whether it was pathos or
laughter, bitterness or ardour. He was also famed for his ability to modulate
his voice not just according to the requirement of the song but to suit the
actor he was singing for. These, and the ability to scale octaves with
ease, cement his legacy as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian
cinema.
Among the
genres of songs that he has sung, his love songs deserve a special mention. Not
just because he sang so many of them. But, because there was a difference in how
he sang each of them. A Times of India article (published 24 July 2010)
stated that “If there are 101 ways of saying “I love you” in a song,
Mohammed Rafi knew them all.”
He certainly
did.
for Lata Mangeshkar earlier, here’s a post of my favourite love songs sung by
my favourite male singer. For, as I wrote in that article, what’s more hopeful
than love? But, as with Lata, I don’t want to focus on the sad parts of love – the
grief, the despair, the heartbreak… I don’t want to be sad celebrating a man who
was always smiling; a man who, from all accounts, was gentle and unassuming and
generally content with his lot. He had seen hardship, and I’m sure that being
human, he had his own share of disappointments and sadness, but whenever I
think of Rafi, the picture that appears before my eyes is that of a kind, good-natured,
and happy human being who bore no ill-will towards anyone.
So, to
celebrate that good man who was also a great singer, here are my selections of
his love songs in the happier (if somewhat poignant) shades of love.
1.Yearning – Mere mehboob mujhe
Mere
Mehboob (1963)
Music:
Naushad
Lyrics:
Shakeel Badayuni
It’s not a
conceit that would work today – of a man falling in love at first sight with a woman
whose face he doesn’t even see. (She’s wearing a burqa and he only
catches a sight of her beautiful eyes through her naqab, and a glimpse
of her hands as she picks up her books.) And so in love is he that he composes
and sings this song for her, in the hope that it will bring her to him.
Like I said,
this would need a suspension of disbelief. But Sadhana’s beauty and her
innocence (and the period in which the film was set) make it seem all too
believable.
Rafi’s voice is
filled with yearning as he sings:
Dhoondta
hoon tujhe har raah mein har mehfil mein
Thhak gaye hain meri majboor tammana ke kadam
Aaj ka din meri ummeed ka hain aakhri din
Kal na jane main kahaan aur kahaan tu ho sanam
Do ghadi
apni nigaahon ka sahara de de
Mere khoya hua
rangeen nazaara de de
Mere mehboob tujhe mere mohobbat ki qasam
2. Wonder – Ae ji dil
par hua aisa jaduu
Mr &
Mrs 55 (1955)
Music: OP
Nayyar
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
This is also a
song about love at first sight. However, unlike Mere mehboob, there is
no hint of yearning in Rafi’s voice (or in the lyrics). Instead, it is filled
with the wonder of what has just happened to him – a glimpse of her, and his
destiny has taken a turn for the better. The joy that fills his voice, the
dreams he’s weaving in his head – Woh ho gayi meri aur use khabar nahin – the
sheer transformation that he’s undergone are all evident in Rafi’s joyous rendition
of:
Milti hai
aahat si pyaare uske paaon ki
Dil mein
chamakti hain bijliyaan adaaon ki
Hoga ujaala
ke ab raat dhal gayi
Sun pyaare, apni to qismat badal gayi…
3. Wooing – Apni toh
har aah ik toofan hai
Kala Bazar (1960)
Music: SD
Burman
Lyrics: Shailendra
Each line in
this song is saturated in the unstated: taken at face value, this lone train
passenger (Dev Anand) is singing a paean to God. But, is he? Alka (Waheeda
Rehman) is not too sure though she tries hard to reassure herself (and her
mother) that he’s not singing to her. Hear the undercurrent of laughter that
infuses the verse:
Sar pe mere
tu jo apna haath hi rakh de
Phir to bhatke rahi ko mil jaayenge raste
Dil ki basti bhi tere veeran hai
Uparwaala jaan kar anjaan hai
Apni to har aah ik toofan hai
The different
ways in which he modulates the line, Uparwala jaankar anjaan hai, at
once giving it an edge of deception as well as the appearance of devotion, is
simply sublime. Also watch this song for Waheeda’s reactive expressions – they are
a joy to behold!
4. Exuberant – Chahe koi
mujhe junglee kahe
Junglee (1961)
Music:
Shankar Jaikishan
Lyrics: Shailendra
Ah, the excitement
of first love! Such happiness as you’d never imagined; it makes you want to
jump and dance and shout. And Shammi Kapoor’s Chandrasekhar (‘Sekhar’) does all three. Sekhar has just
learnt what it is like to be in love. So far, brought up in a rigidly
disciplined household where laughter was forbidden, Sekhar had been immune to
life’s tenderer emotions. But Rajkumari, who has swept into his life like the
snowstorm they have just survived, has unknowingly melted the ice that encased
his heart. Sekhar, wholly head-over-heels in love with this beautiful,
independent-minded woman, is so happy he doesn’t know how to show it.
Mere seene
mein bhi dil hai, hai mere bhi kuchh armaan
Mujhe
patthar toh na samjho, main hoon aakhir ik insaan
5. Wistful – Hum aur tum aur ye sama
Dil Deke
Dekho (1959)
Music: Usha
Khanna
Lyrics:
Majrooh Sultanpuri
exquisitely beautiful composition this is! Rafi’s voice, all warm and gentle and
mellow, ebbs and swells with the emotion expressed so beautifully in Majrooh’s
words. Add a dashing Shammi Kapoor, a tremulously beautiful Asha Parekh, the
evening mists swirling around the couple and you have the stage set for
romance. And though Neeta loves Roop/Raja, circumstances restrain her from
fully accepting that she loves him. And so, Roop, serenading her, is rather
wistful:
Beqaraar se
ho kyun
Hum ko paas aane bhi do
Gir pada jo haath se
Woh roomaal uthhaane bhi do
Bante kyun ho jaane bhi do
After all, the ambience is
so beautiful!
6. Eager – Tu kahaan
ye bata
Tere Ghar
ke Samne (1963)
Music: SD
Burman
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri
What’s a man to
do when his beloved has been sent far away? Well, miss her so much he begins to
see her everywhere, even inside his glass of whiskey, for one. Then, decide that
he’s had enough of this forced separation and impulsively set off to Shimla to
meet her, without taking her address with him. All he knows is that his ‘Sulekh’s’
(Nutan) family owns a house on Mall Road. A humorous passer-by tells him to
keep enquiring as he goes on. And so begins Rakesh’s (Dev Anand) musical quest
to find his beloved.
happy, infectious melody and Rafi imbues it with all the joie de vivre that he
can. You can’t help but smile at Rakesh’s eagerness to find his beloved. And
Sulekha? Well, her smile lights up the night!
7. Seductive – Aaja re
aa zara
Love in
Tokyo (1966)
Music:
Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics: Hasrat
Jaipuri
If seduction could
be distilled into an essence, then this song is it! The passion in Rafi’s voice,
the romance that is underlined by sensuality, how can any woman not
melt? I love the way Rafi’s voice caresses the notes, almost whispering the
words in places.
Apna sulagna
kisko dikhaaoon
Saans ke
toofaan kaise chhupaaun
Aankhen kya kya dekh rahi hain
Dil pe guzre kaise bataaun
Aaja re aa zara aa
Lahraake aa zara aa
Aankhon se dil me samaa
The vibrato is wonderful. Goosebumps!
Joy Mukherjee does an excellent job of emoting on screen, complemented by a
lovely Asha Parekh.
8. Pleading – Na jaa
kahin ab na jaa
Mere Humdam
Mere Dost (1968)
Music:
Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Lyrics:
Majrooh Sultanpuri
I love
everything about this song – the lyrics, the music, Rafi’s voice, his singing…
and watching Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore on screen. In the film, the couple
have spent the whole day together, and now, she bids goodbye. He can’t bear to
see her go… Na jaa, he begs her, kahin ab na jaa… dil ke siwa. If she would
only stay, if she would only realise that his heart is where her home ought to
be… he shows her vistas of what her life would be.
Be-sabab udegi
har su
Tere pairahan ki khushboo
Idhar to aa sanwaar doon
Khule khule yeh gesu
Wafaa deti hai sadaa
Na jaa kahin ab na jaa
Dil ke siwa
9. Adoring – Ab kya
misaal doon
Aarti (1962)
Music:
Roshan
Lyrics:
Majrooh Sultanpuri
How can I
compare thee? He asks, and then proceeds to do so quite well indeed. She’s the
personification of the moon’s rays, he says. Her face gleams with the gentle glow
of moonlight; her eyes reflect the intoxicating darkness of the night. And her
neck bends like a rose bush drooping under the weight of its blossoms… and so
much more, besides.
Tasveer ho
tum mere jannat ki
Jannat ke
khwaab ki
Ab kya misaal
doon
Main tumhaare
shabab ki
Rafi’s voice is
like liquid gold, a warm caress, an enveloping hug as on-screen, Pradeep Kumar
sings paeans to Meena Kumari’s beauty.
10. Erotic – Tumse kahoon ik baat
Dastak (1970)
Music: Madan
Mohan
Lyrics: Majrooh
Sultanpuri
A mature theme
deserves mature music, and composer Madan Mohan rose to the occasion with four
fantastic melodies. The score won him his first and only National Award for
Best Music. This song, the only male solo in the film, is a much more explicit
song than my other pick (Aur kuchh der thahar/Aakhri Khat), in
both lyrics and picturisation. Madan Mohan keeps the music subtle, quiet, and
yes, sensuous, complementing Rafi, who’s at his sensuous best. It’s a
fabulous melody, and Majrooh’s lyrics complement the context – the love (and
lust) of a married couple.
Hain bheega
sa jism tumhara in haathon mein
Baahar neend
bhara panchhi bheegi shaakhon mein
Aur barkha
ki boond badan se dhalki dhalki
Tumse kahoon
ik baat paron se halki halki
11. Grateful – Tumne
mujha dekha hokar meherbaan
Teesri
Manzil (1966)
Music: RD
Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Gratitude is so
much a part of being in love – gratitude for the fact that someone loves you, not
in a ‘You’re worthy of my love’ way, but just being thankful for that person’s
presence in your life. Here, of course, Rocky/Anil (Shammi Kapoor) has another reason
to feel grateful – he had written to Sunita (Asha Parekh) telling her who he
really is, and everything that had happened before her sister’s death. He had
ended by hoping that she would be able to forgive him for misleading her, and
that if she still came to the club that evening, it would mean that she loved
him and had forgiven him. And now, of course, he’s here. And Anil can’t help
but feel overwhelmed by it all.
So he begins by
saying how thankful he is to her for even noticing him, how his life has been
transformed from pain to joy because she’s in it, how every road she’s
travelled on leads only to his heart…
O, lekar ye
haseen jalwe, tum bhi na kahaan pahunche
Aakhir ko mere dil tak, kadmon ke nishaan pahunche
Khatm se ho gaye raaste sab yahaan
Jaan-e-man, jaan-e-jaan
Tum ne mujhe dekhaa, ho kar meharbaan
Rafi proves
that his collaboration with Shammi could also be tender and mellow; there’s
such an ache in his voice, a plea for understanding, underlined by the deep
love that Shammi’s character feels for his beloved. Simply amazing!
12. Romantic – Ye mera
prem patr padhkar
Sangam (1964)
Music:
Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics:
Hasrat Jaipuri
This song is, as Dustedoff remarked about another song in her comment on my previous post, a ‘loving’ song.
Not flirtatious, not teasing, not wooing. Madhu’s description fits this song
perfectly – “…something much more fervent and deep.” There is no doubt or
confusion here – Gopal (Rajendra Kumar) loves Radha (Vyjayanthimala) deeply ( a
love that’s returned) and is writing her a love letter. But he doesn’t know
what to write – can he address her as ‘Meharbaan’ (the benevolent one) or ‘Haseena’
(the beautiful one) or ‘Dilruba’ (the one who pleases his heart)? Can he
describe her as the moon (no, it has a blemish) or the sun (no, it’s flaming)?
What can he write,
except that he loves her? Finally, however, he confesses:
Tujhe Ganga
main samjhoonga
Tujhe Jamuna
main samjhoonga
Tu dil ke
paas hai itni
Tujhe apna
main samjhoonga
Agar mar
jaaun rooh bhatkegi
Tere intezaar
mein, intezaar mein…
It is a letter
that will cost both of them much grief, but right now, it is one that gladdens Radha’s
heart. Rafi really exemplifies ‘mohabbat’ as ‘ibaadat’ here. There is just pure
love here, a promise to love her until the end of time.
This song was
originally a love letter that Hasrat wrote to another Radha, his neighbour.
With this post and filled with gratitude for their continued presence in my life, I come to the end of my tribute to both Raj Kapoor and Mohammed Rafi. However, both of them will undoubtedly appear on future reviews/song lists. Until then, however, let’s bid farewell to the old year and welcome in the new. In the hope that it will be a kinder, more compassionate year than the ones in the recent past.
I wish all my readers a very Happy New Year, filled with peace and happiness, health and prosperity. Let’s meet again in 2025!