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Raj Kapoor (14.12.1924-02.06.1988) |
December
2024 marks the birth centenary of two of Hindi cinema’s finest luminaries – Raj
Kapoor (born 14 December 1924) and Mohammed Rafi (born 24 December 1924). I’d been very remiss in celebrating Talat
Mahmood’s centenary earlier this year. So I decided that come what may, I had
to celebrate both men this month.
We
are so used to Mukesh being ‘Raj Kapoor’s voice’. Indeed, the late singer has
sung almost 90% of the songs picturized on the actor since RK’s first film, Aag
(Zinda hoon is tarah and the duet, Raat ko jee chamke taare). But
Aag’s second male-female duet, Solah baras ki, featured the voices
of Mohammed Rafi and Shamshad Begum. Using Rafi’s voice was not an anomaly.
While Mukesh was Raj Kapoor’s preferred voice, what is interesting is that
outside RK films, Rafi has sung over thirty songs for Raj Kapoor.
So,
to kickstart the centenary celebrations, here’s a sampling of Rafi’s songs,
both solos and duets, that Raj Kapoor lip-synced to on screen.
Yun to aapas mein bigadte hain (with Lata Mangeshkar)
Andaz
(1949)
Music:
Naushad
Lyrics:
Shakeel Badayuni
This
was perhaps the first ever Rafi song to be lip-synced by Raj Kapoor. At this
time, Mukesh had not cemented his position as Raj’s voice; that would happen
later that year with Barsaat. Naushad used Mukesh in four solos – all picturized
on Dilip Kumar – and this one duet that was picturized on Raj and Nargis. (There
was another Rafi-Lata duet, Sun lo dil ka afsana picturised on the same
pair that was unfortunately deleted from the film.)
Main zindagi mein hardam rota hi rahoonga
Barsaat (1949)
Music:
Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics:
Hasrat Jaipuri
This
is perhaps the only song that Rafi sang in an RK film that was picturized on
Raj Kapoor. However, Raj doesn’t lip-sync to this song at all. The song plays
in the background. Music lore has it that this was the first song to be
recorded for Barsaat, and the first song that Rafi sang for debutant music
directors Shankar and Jaikishan.
Tara ri ara ri (with Suraiya)
Dastan
(1950)
Music:
Naushad
Lyrics:
Shakeel Badayuni
Naushad’s
collaboration with Rafi continued in Dastan, where he used Rafi
for all three duets that were picturised on Raj and Suraiya. In this lilting
melody, Raj waltzes with a lot of grace (even with his trouser-legs rolled up).
Naushad wasn’t yet the ‘classical composer’, an image he was trapped into after
the immense success of Baiju Bawra. In earlier films, Naushad had experimented
with various genres of music, including folk and western.
Baap bhala na bhaiya sabse bada rupaiya (with Chitalkar and Lata Mangeshkar)
Sargam
(1950)
Music:
C Ramchandra
Lyrics:
PL Santoshi
PL
Santoshi wore many hats in this film; he was writer, lyricist and
director. But like many of his movies that I have watched, the story is
convoluted, there are far too many characters, and the plot waves good-bye
somewhere in between. What is lovely about the film, though, is the bouquet of
songs composed by C Ramchandra, and Raj’s light-hearted character. He gets to
showcase his aptitude for humour, and his affinity towards music and dance as
well. C Ramchandra as Chitalkar sang the male solos in this film, but for this
duet, Chitalkar lent his voice to Mumtaz Ali (?) while Rafi stepped in as Raj’s
voice.
Hum tum ye bahar (with Lata Mangeshkar)
Ambar
(1952)
Music:
Ghulam Mohammed
Lyrics:
Shakeel Badayuni
Nargis
and Raj Kapoor acted in 16 films together, six of them RK productions. In
this raja-rani film, one of their early collaborations, Raj got to play
a swashbuckling hero to Nargis’s tragic princess. Ghulam Mohammed composed
several lovely melodies for this film, and this duet is a personal favourite.
Tera kaam hai jalna parwaane
Papi
(1953)
Music:
S Mohinder
Lyrics:
Rajinder Krishan
Papi was a watchable film with an interesting
concept. Raj plays a double role – as Raju, a petty criminal who’s an atheist,
and as Swami Satyanand, a religious teacher. When circumstances force him to
take the latter’s identity, his initial impulse is to make as much money as he
can from his followers.
Tera
kaam hai jalna parwaane is
a lovely song by underrated music composer S Mohinder. The music composer had
initially composed a couple of songs for Anarkali, which did not meet
with the producers’ approval. So the composer used them in this film.
Worli ka naka
Do Ustad
(1959)
Music:
OP Nayyar
Lyrics:
Qamar Jalalabadi
Raj
Kapoor reunites with the heroine of his debut film (and others). He also gets
to cut loose and have fun in a rollicking tale of separated brothers, a runaway
heiress and jewellery heists. OP Nayyar’s score for this film ranged from folk
to bhangra to rock-n-roll – like in this song, here. Rafi has a fine
time as well, almost rapping towards the end of the song.
Baazi kisi ne pyaar ki jeeti ya haar di
Nazrana (1961)
Music:
Ravi
Lyrics:
Rajinder Krishan
Add
Nazrana to the list of contrived tragedies that were imported from South
India. This is the first of two films in which Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala acted
together (the other is Sangam). A melodrama with an unbelievable ‘plot’,
the film had Raj at his restrained best (Vyjayanthimala, unfortunately, gives a
more stylised performance than is her wont) and some pleasant songs by Ravi.
Tum hi tum ho mere jeevan mein (with Lata Mangeshkar)
Ek Dil Sau Afsaane (1963)
Music:
Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics:
Shailendra
It
is interesting that Shankar-Jaikishan would use Rafi as Raj’s voice in this
duet, especially when all the other male solos in the film were sung by Mukesh.
However, it turns out that Mukesh wasn’t available on the day of the recording,
and SJ called Rafi to do a dubbed version which they could later overdub with
Mukesh’s voice. However, Raj Kapoor was so happy with the way Rafi had sung
this song that he suggested they retain it in the film.
Ek
Dil Sau Afsane was a film
that was to have starred Madhubala alongside Raj. Unfortunately, she fell
seriously ill during the shooting and the film was left incomplete. Her
portions were completely reshot with Waheeda Rehman.
Sadqe Heer tujh pe hum fakeer sadqe
Mera Nam Joker
(1970)
Music:
Shankar Jaikishan
Lyrics:
Prem Dhawan
Shailendra’s
untimely death had left Raj bereft; Lata, still angry about having to sing Sangam’s
Main kaa karuun Ram mujhe budhha mil gaya would refuse to sing for Joker;
by now, Shankar and Jaikishan had fallen out though both maintained
a dignified silence. Despite all this, however, Mera Naam Joker had a
great musical score – each song was a gem. This solo, the film’s least known
number, is Rafi’s only song in the film, though still picturised on Raj. In
fact, SJ would use three singers for Raj in this film – while Mukesh had the
bulk of the songs – four solos and two duets, SJ signed Manna Dey for Ae
bhai zara dekh ke chalo and Rafi for this number, which is almost a ‘Heer’,
penned by Prem Dhawan. Rafi’s voice holds centrestage in this minimally orchestrated melody.
Mera
Naam Joker was Raj Kapoor’s
magnum opus – a film in three parts, with two intervals (his second film after Sangam
to have that).
These, then, are the songs I picked. What would you choose?