LP and Rafi

Laxmikant Pyarellal's immortal relationship with Mohamand Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji.

Master of Law, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Master of Law, Warwick University,Coventry, UK.

Laxmikant Pyarellal emerged into the Indian film arena at a period when the main stream cinema was flooded with extremely talented music directors, lyricists and filmmakers in the 60s.Already the film industry has created its own unique standard due to the sheer brilliance of Musical Giants like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madanmohan, Roshan, Khayyam, SalilChowdhury and many others and the versatile performance of Mohammad Rafi for over 15 years.

Laxmikant Pyarellar the legendary musical duo included Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar(1937-1998) and Pyarellal Ramprasad Sharma (born in 1940).Laxmikant was quite impressed with Mandolin and learnt to play it by his own. He used to play mandolin in street functions. Pyarellal was the son of renouned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma and his specialisation was violin. Laxmikant and Pyarelal met at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children, run by the Mangeshkar family. After Lata Mangeshkar came to know about their financially poor backgrounds, Lata recommended their names to different music directors in the film industry.

Both of them started their career with the film Parasmani(1963).Two songs of Mohammad Rafi "Woh Jab Yaad Aye, bahut yaad aye" and "Roushantumhi se duniya" brought fame for the musical duo. Laxmikant was fond of the orchestration of Shankar
Jaikishan to such an extent that some of their earlier tunes were similar to a huge number of Shankar's compositions.In the next film Dosti,1964, Laxmikant Pyarellal got inspired by a very extraordinary standard of musical performance by Bengali Music Director Robin Chatterji who composed music for the Bengali film Lalu Bhulu,1958.The story depicted a blind boy and a his friend who did not have one leg. In the bengali film all the
songs were sung by Manobendra Mukherjee who was a genius in hindustani classicals and has rich collection of Bengali modern songs, Kirtan, Nazrulgeeti and Bhaktigeeti.

The notable songs include "Dukkhoamar shesh kore dao probhu", "Jar hiya akasher neel nilimaye", "Ei pranjhorona jaglo". The striking part of the film was that no conventional hero or herione were depicted in the story, as the tragic story of the two handicapped friends was the central attraction. Laxmikant Pyarellal had a huge challenge to match the
music of the bengali film and create the same standard of excellence. Both Laxmikant Pyarellal and Majrooh Sultanpuri sat together to compose the songs. The result was history. Rafi's song "Chahunga mai tujhesaanz sawere", "Mera to joh bhi kadam hai","rahi manwadukh ki chinta kyun satati hai", "janewalonzara" brought tears in the pandemonium hall. Rafi was so impressed with the compositions of Laxmikant Pyarellal that he had taken just one rupee for singing the song because it was the custom of a singer to take something in return for a professional song. The film became a huge success. Laxmikant Pyarellal won the filmfare award in 1964 for composing best music in a year when Shankar Jaikishan has composed songs for Sangam, 1964, Naushad had composed songs for Leader, 1964, Madanmohan had composed songs for Woh Kaun thi, 1964,Roshan had composed songs for Aarti.

From that time onwards Laxmikant Pyarellal never looked back and their everlasting bond with Rafi just grew with time. Their similarity with Shankar-Jaikishan is evident in the composition of the songs "woh haizara khafa khafa" in the film Shagird, 1967 picturised on Joy Mukherjee and "Nazar na lag jaye" in the film Night In London, picturised on Biswajeet, 1967.These compositions had led to Shankar Jaikishan transforming their own style as people started getting mixed up with their composititions. But one factor was unique. The amount of affection Shankar Jaikshan had for Mohammad Rafi, the same passion was carried on by Laxmikant Pyarellal till Rafi's death in 1980 as his last song in the film AasPaas , 1980,was composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal. Dharmender and Jeetender had different story lines in the films of late 1960s and early 70s, but one thing was common. both had some of the extraordinary songs of Mohammad Rafi composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal. Examples can be "Hui sham unka khayal agaya" from the film Mere Humdum Mere Dost, 1968, "Baar BaarDin yun aye" from the film Farz, 1967.

Besides LP pair had provided tunes sungs by Mohammad Rafi in the films of Jeetender namely Jigri Dost, Banphool, Humjoli and the hits of Dharmender namely Aya Sawan Jhumke, Jeevan Mrityu, etc. Lastly after the death of Jaikishan in 1971, Raj Kapoor engaged Laxmikant Pyarellal for his films starting with Bobby in 1973.The song "hum tum ek kamreme bandh hai" had the same effect with the accordion as Shankar Jaikishan used to have in RK films. That led to LP pair ruling the film industry in the 1970s when
most of the legendary music directors died and his only rivals included RD Burman and Kalyanji Anandji. In a very action pact scenario when the films of Amitabh Bacchan, Vinod Khanna had more concentration towards violence, LP pair created soft songs for RishiKapoor. Rafi's songs "Dafli wale", "Ramjiki niklisawari" in the film Sargam, 1978 and"Parda hai Parda", "Shirdiwali Saibaba" in Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977 and "Darde dil" in the film Karz, 1979, had brought filmfare awards for Laxmikant Pyarellal one after the other.

He had tremendous combination with Rishi Kapoor and Mohammad Rafi and balanced romantic songs with the popular taste of film music. As they survived for the longest period of time, substantial number of Rafi's songs are composed by them. So the creations of Laxmikant Pyarellal involving Rafi should be preserved in the Archives where Rafi's other songs are restored.

Laxmikant Pyarellal was a big admirer of Shankar Jaikishan.
It is important to mention the contribution of Shankar Jaikishan in hindi films.

Shankar Jaikishan – The most versatile Musical Giant of the Last Century.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law, case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, ohio, USA.
Master of Law, Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Flat-204, Golden Oak Apartment
D105B, Devi Marg
Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.5109990.
Email: souvik_chatterji2000@yahoo.co.in

Shankar Jaikishan are probably the most versatile musical giants that hailed the music of Bollywood during the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, the 40s, 50s and 60s.The golden era of Indian film music can be associated with the musical giants of different capabilities and specialisations.The Legends include Roshan- the king of melody, Madanmohan- the shahenzah of ghazals, Naushad- the Genius of Hindustani classical ragas with a blend of Lucknow Gharana, Salil Chowdhury –the Master of Westernised chorus with Eastern folk and poetic excellence, O. P. Nayyar – the Master of Westernised Tunes with Eastern flavour, Jaidev – the Legend of Urbanised Folk and Rural tunes, and many other Classical composers who have become immortal with their everlasting tunes. Shankar Jaikishan emerged in that arena with a range of tunes and compositions which could not be categorised under a single head. There were folk songs like " chalat Musafir" sung by Manna dey in "Teesri Kasam"( 1966) to ghazals like "Chalke Teri Aankhose sharab aur ziada" sung by Mohammad Rafi in "Aarzoo"(1965). There were rock and roll compositions like "aajkal tere mere pyarke charche har jawanpar" in Brahmchari(1967) to pure classical composition like "Sur na saje kya gayun mai" in "Basant Bahar"(1957).
They had composed music in almost 200 films in a tenure of around 22 years. So great was the impact of their creative genius that it had a lasting impact on the music of the Hindi films. Shankar-Jaikishan understood the taste of the masses, were able to cater to them, as well as moulded their tastes. No wonder then that during their tenure as music directors, they were exceedingly popular and 75 per cent of the films for which their scores were everlasting hits - many have celebrated silver jubilees.
They were probably the only musical pair, who have given music to all the leading giants who had glorified the silver screen during the 1940, 1950s, and 1960s.They have given music to Dilip Kumar in Yahudi,1958, Rajender Kumar in Suraj,1966, Bharat Bhushan in Basant Bahar,1957, Balraj Sahani in Seema,1956, Pradeep Kumar in Raat Aur Din,1966, Dev Anand in Asli Nakli,1961,Manoj Kumar in Hariyali Aur Raasta,1962, Shammi Kapoor in Professor,1962, Shashi Kapoor in Kanyadan,1969, Biswajeet in April Fool,1964, Joy Mukherjee in Love in Tokyo,1965, Dharmender in Pyar hi Pyar,1968, Jeetender in Mere Huzur,1967, RajKumar in Lal Patthar,1971.
The team of Shankar Jaikishan consisted of Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal. Shankar (October 15, 1922 - 1987) was born in Punjab and trained under the famous Husnlal Bhagatram. He later settled down in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Jaikishan (1929 - 1971) hails from Panchal, Gujarat, India. Before the duo met, Jaikishan worked as a carpenter. Their career started as music directors for Raj Kapoor's 1949 film Barsaat. Songs like "Jiya beqaraar hai" and "Barsaat mein humse mile tum" became a rage. Barsaat was also the starting point of the pair's long and successful association with the R.K. Banner. Hit music in films like Aah and Awaara followed in the early 1950s. The song "Ghar aaya mera pardesi" went on to become a benchmark for dream-sequence songs. Their music for most R.K. films was considered a huge success, but two films stand out, Shree 420 and Sangam. The songs "Pyaar hua ikraar hua" and "Ramaiyyaa vasta vaiyya" from Shree 420 and "Dost dost na raha" and "Har dil jo pyaar karega" from Sangam were popular favorites.
They were honored with the maximum number (nine) of Filmfare awards in the Indian film industry. In 1968, Shankar Jaikishan released an album, "Raga Jazz Style : Shankar Jaikishan with Rais Khan." Shankar Jaikishan made a great impact on film music from the start. Their tunes range from pure classical Indian themes to more westernised tunes.They had a distinct style, which was adaptable to different stars and films.In the West, they are best known for the song "Jaan Pechan Ho", which originally appeared in the 1965 film Gumnaam. The musical number was replayed in the American film Ghost World and helped to catapult the popularity of Indian film music in America.
However, according to Raj Kapoor, the pair's most notable score came in the film "Mera Naam Joker" in 1970 which has landmark songs like "Jaane kahan gaye woh din", "Jeena yahan marna yahan", and "Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo". Arguably, the background musical scores of "Sangam" and "Mera Naam Joker" are considered to be among the best ever in the history of Hindi film music. Of the two, Shankar's speciality was dance-based compositions, whereas Jaikishan's forte was the background musical score. Both of them preferred Raaga Bhairavi over other strains of classical music.
Shankar Jaikishan created few classical oriented tunes fit for the Golden voice of Mohammad Rafi. In the film " Lal patthar"(1971), Shankar Jaikishan had composed for Rafi " unke khayal aye to ate chaale gaye"in raag gara. There the nostalgic mood of badshah was presented by Rafi. Other quality creations of Shankar Jaikishan included " Aji ruth kar ab kahan jaiyega" in raag desh in Aarzoo(1966) starring Rajenderkumar, " Khudabhi asma se jab zamin par dekhta hoga" in the film 'Dharti," "mujhko apne gale lagalo ai mere humrahi"( Humrahi, 1962) "surahidar gardan koel sihi awaz"in the film " Aman". The lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri.

One of the other shades of the character of the Legendary duo was that they had encouraged a number of singers both male and female, at an era when the other Music Directors preferred only Rafi and Lata. They have composed songs for Subir Sen, " Dil mera ek aas ka panchi" in the film Aas ka panchi,1960, Suman Kalyanpur , "Dil ek mandir hai," in the film Dil Ek Mandir,1963, Manna Dey, "Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi" in the film Chori Chori,1956, Asha Bhosle, "Mur Murke na dekh Mur Mur ke" in the film Shri 420,1955, Sharda, "Titli Uri" in the film Suraj,1966, Mukesh, "Yeh mera diwanapan hai" in the film Yahudi,1958, Talat Mehmood, "Koi nahi mera is duniya mai" in the film Daag,1955, Kishore Kumar, "Zindagi ek safar hai suhana" in the film Andaz,1971. The songs were complimented with brilliant orchestration which had added lights to the composition of the giant.

The other aspect of their creation include blending the Indian flavour with the foreign tunes wherever the films were picturised. Best examples can be the song "Sayonara sayonara" in the film "Love in Tokyo", 1965, had Japanese orchestration, the other being "Raat ke humsafar" in the film "An Evening Paris",1967, had French flavour. Besides their use of few instruments showed the class of their own, Accordion in "Sub kuch sikha Humne na siki hoshiari" in the film Anari,1959, Saxophone in "Ai sanam jis ne tujhe chand sa surat di hai" in the film Diwana, 1967, Synthesized Harmonium played by V. Balsara in "Awara Hoon" in the film Awara, 1951.

One of the reasons why Shankar Jaikishan did not get the acknowledgement of providing immortal tunes in that era is because it could not be identified as which song is composed by Shankar and which song is composed by Jaikishan. Otherwise Naushad was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke for his brilliant contribution to Indian music, Majrooh Sultanpuri also received the same award in the lyricist category, Shankar- Jaikishan was deprived of that honour. The other reason may be that they had worked with Raj Kapoor for the longest period and most of the credit of the unforgettable tunes were taken away by Raj Kapoor himself. An archive should be created for the rich and classical creations of Shankar Jaikishan where the works can be preserved for future generations to take inspiration from.

As the name Manobendra Mukherjee is mentioned it is important to mention his contribution in Bengali modern songs.

Manobendra Mukherjee – the versatile legend of Bengali modern song

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

The 50s, 60s and 70s constitute the period of time when Bengali modern songs reached its peak of excellence and is called the Golden age of Bengali Adhunik Gaan. Bengal had a very unique collection of Basic discs which inspired composers and lyricists to create innumerable treasure of creative music during the age which were independent creations. Bengali modern songs were in fact more popular than film songs composed in the Bengali cinema which also reached it level of excellence in the 50s and 60s.

Manobendra Mukherjee, the most stylish Classical singer immerged in the golden age, when Bengali modern songs were also glorified by outstanding performance of Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, Manna Dey, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh to name a few. Being inspired by uncle Sidheshwar Mukherjee and Ratneswar Mukherjee, Manobendra shocked the listeners with his first basic disc in 1953, titled "Naichondon Lekha Sriradhar chokhe nai nai shemorai." It was based on kirtanango andaz, and Manobendra was trained towards Kirtans, Bhajans and Bhaktigeeti from the very early childhood.

Bengali modern song was on the verge of modernisation at that age, when Manobendra came up with his romantic creation "Emni kore porbe mone baki jiban dhore." The music was composed by Manobendra himself and the lyrics were written by Shyamal Gupta. At the same time Manobendra made a debue in the film arena being the music director for Uttamkumar's film Chapadangar Bou, 1954, where the songs were written by Tara Shankar Banerjee. Manobendra brought in the flavour of Mahadev's Gajon, that are sung in villages in Bengal with the song "shibo he shibo he".

Within short period of time, Manobendra attracted the attention of the leading lyricists and music composers of Bengal , namely Salil Chowdhury, Sudhin Dasgupta, Robin Chatterji, Anol Chatterji, Nochiketa Ghosh, Probir Mojumdar, Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Abhijeet Banerjee, and others. His successful songs include "Ami Parini bijhite parini" composed by Salil Chowdhury, "Mayur Konthi Ratero nile" by Sudhin Dasgupta, "Jodi Amake Dekho Tumi Udashi," by Abhijit Banerjee, "Ei neel neel jal sagore" by Probir Majumdar, " birohini chirobirohini" by Himangshu Dutta, "O amar chandro mallika" by Nochiketa Ghosh, "Tomar Pother Prante Moner monideep jele rekhechi", by Satinath Mukherjee.

In the late 50s, some of Manobendra's own composition "ami eto je tomay bhalo besechi", 1958, "Sei bhalo ei bosonto noy", 1960, "Bhalo lagena tumi na ele" became everlasting hits. Even in Mohishashur Mordini, played in All India Radio, on Mohalaya, every year, Manobendra's song "tobo achinto" created a Godly atmosphere accompanied by Birendra Bhodro's Strotyopath.

In 1958, Robin Chatterji composed music for the film Lalu Bhulu, the story of a blind and a handicapped boy. The film stormed the Bengali silver screen, and Manobendra brought tears in the eyes of the audience with the songs " Jar Hiya akasher nil nilimay", "Dukho amar Shesh kore dao probhu," "Surjo tomar Protom toron kholo", "dukher pothe naali jodi", "Ei pranjharona jaglo". The immortal songs were written by Sailen Ray.

Manobendra had expertise in Toppa, thumri, Hindustani classical, bhajans, shyam sangeet, najrul geeti and other types of songs. It helped him to adorn Bengali modern songs with all these flavour. Besides the lyrics in his songs used to have a dynamic dimention, example "seto naam dhore konodin dakeni amay", "barosha klanto o duti nayan niye". He did sing pure classical numbers like "Kotoje soyechi betha, abhimanini", composed by classical singer Chinmoy Lahiri, "Rimjhim baje monjiro kaar" composed by himself, "Bare Bare ke jeno dake", composed by Sailen Mukherjee.

In the film Nilachole Mahaprobhu, 1958, composer Raichand Boral invited Manobendra to sing kirtans of Lord Chaitanya, the songs "jagannath jagat bandhu" and other songs have made the listeners spellbound. Monbendra also did sing Folk song titled Bhaitayali in Uttamkumar's film Nabojanmo, 1958, where the noted song include "ore mon majhi". Manobendra composed music in a number of Bengali films including Mayamrigo, 1960, Badhu, 1962, Jato Mat Tato Path, Joy Jayanti, 1970, Godhuli Belay, 1965, Sudur niharika, 1978, etc.

In the 1970s, also Manobendra had sung notable songs like "Ei Ganga ei Padda', 1970, "Halka megher palki", "Hajar jonom dhore", "ei moushumi mon shudhu rong bodlai", etc. In the 1980s Manobendra concentrated on Nazrul geeti and Bag bajarer gaan and there also he emerged as one of the greatest singer of all times. Due to Manobendra classical composers showed the courage of composing pure classical numbers in Bengali films like "Rajoni pohale sojoni kothay" by Anil Bagchi in the film Shashibabur Sangsar, 1960, "adhare" by Gyan Prokash Ghosh in the film Basant Bahar, 1958.

It is even difficult to ascertain whether Manobendra was a greater singer or greater music composer as there is hardly Bengali singer who did not sing a song composed by Manobendra, example being "mon bolche aaj sondhay" by Alpona Banerjee, "Gane gane ami je khuji tomay" by Supriti Ghosh, "sonali megher din" by Sandhya Mukherjee, "oi son son geroraj" by Hemanta Mukherjee, "Kemone janabo bolo e pranero bedona" by Shefali Chakraborty, etc.
It is a pity that Manobendra Mukherjee did not go to Bombay like many other Bengali singers and exhibited his versatile class of creativity in the All India arena where musical talents of other giants were exhibited. Manobendra's immortal creations should be preserved in an archive for new generations to learn lessons relating to Hindustani classical music, innovations in terms of rhythm, taal, loy and grammer of kajri, tappa, nazrulgeeti, kirtans, bhajans, folk music and westernised creations.

As it is mentioned that Laxmikant Pyarellal appeared in the film arena at a period when OP Nayyar was also contributing to hindi film music. Reference on OP Nayyar is required in this context.

OP Nayyar's immortal relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Omkar Prasad Nayyar (better known as O.P.Nayyar) is known to be one of the trend-breakers of the traditional music in the Golden Age of Indian film music, in the 50s and 60s. During that period although the Film arena were glorified by Giants of different specialisations, namely Naushad with his Brilliant Ragas, Roshan with the use of Sarengi and providing immortal mujras and qawallis, Madanmohan with his everlasting Ghazals, the general trend of Hindustani classicals and folk songs were used by most of the music directors. Excepting Shankar-Jaikishan who worked on diversified subject matters like Hawaiian flavour in 'Ajeeb Dastaan hai yeh' in Dil Ek Mandir,1963 to European Chorus Background in 'Meherbaa likhoon' in Sangam, 1964, and Salil Chowdhury blending Russian March in Do Bigna Zameen, 1953, to Indian Chorus in 'zindagi kaisi hai paheli' in Anand, 1971, there were not many Music composers who experimented with a blend of Eastern and Western Music.

O.P.Nayyar came with an unique trend of merging Punjabi bhangra with Spanish tunes. The other unique feature of OP Nayyar is his association with Mohammad Rafi, the greatest singer India can ever produce in the world of playback singing. Rafi was a genius by his own standards and the way a person gets mesmerised in a historical monument in respect of admiring any part, the diwan-i-khas in Agra Fort, or diwan-i–aam in the same Fort, the same way experts on music have a very tough time judging the best performance of Rafi, whether his ghazals are the best, or his songs with an intoxicated atmosphere, or whether his pure classical numbers. Rafi had sung probably the maximum number of songs for OP Nayyar who knew the westernised andaz would not have suited anyone else in the same way as Mohammad Rafi.

Born in Lahore in 1926, OP Nayyar was fascinated by music. He was not trained in music, but left home to pursue a career as a composer. He got his first break when he composed the background score for the film Kaneez, 1949. He started his journey with Guru Dutt in the film Baaz and the first successful break he received in Guru Dutt's film AarPaar, 1954. Also he stormed the film world with his outstanding performance in the film CID, 1956, Mr and Mrs 55, 1955.

One striking feature in the songs of the film CID, 1956, is that the female voice used by OP Nayyar varied according to the requirement of the film. The main playback singers included Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle, the noted songs being " kahin pe nigahen, kahin pe nishana," " puch mera kya nao re". Yet the male playback was provided by Mohammad Rafi for all the characters of the film. It included Johnny Walker in the song 'Ai dil mushkil jeena yahaan, zara hatke zara bhachke yeh hai bombai meir jaan', further Dev Anand in the song 'Ankhon hi ankhon me ishara ho gaya'. It is even amazing that there was a street song being sung by a road peddler in the film titled 'Leke pehela pehela pyaar' which could have been sung by any playback singer, OP Nayyar even engaged Rafi to sing it. There were other hits in Mr and Mrs 55, 1955, like 'Muhobbat karlo, aji karlo', 'jane kahan mera jigar gaya ji' and 'Dilpe hua aisa jadoo".

If the 50s were characterized by the fast numbers of OP Nayyar, the 60s provided him the honour of being rated as one of the most elegant music directors with the same esteem at which Roshan, Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, Madanmohan used to be rated. The two films Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, 1962, and Phir Wohi dil Laya Hoon, 1963, stands out as the films where OP Nayyar had experimented the most. There was a duet of Rafi and Asha titled "aap yuhin agar humse milte rahe, dekhie ek din pyar ho jayega". The dance sequence on actress Sadhna impersonated the way a peacock welcomes the monsoon. The effects produced by OP Nayyar was so outstanding that the background, the picturisation and the voice of Rafi and Asha synchronised together. The other two songs of Rafi "Mujhe dekhkar aapka muskurana" and "Mai pyar ka rahin hoon" had absolute western tunes with odd chords. Rafi had left the audience speechless with his performance in a slightly classical andaz in the songs "Phir tere shahar me" and "Humko tumhare isq ne kya kya bana diya, jab kuch na ban sake to tamasha bana diya." The lyrics of OP Nayyar's songs were mostly written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and S.H.Bihari who had brought out their most romantic passion while composing the lyrics which could very well be categorised as Shayeris.

In the film Phir Wohi dil Laya Hoon,1963, picturised on Joy Mukherjee, OP Nayyar had made a very stylish endeavour towards the traditional blend of the western and eastern music. Rafi's song "Nazni bara Rangeen hai wada tera" starts off with the traditional folk sequence with Punjabi where as the antara has "humdum mere naam na janu" which has the effect of Guitar. In the other song "Aji kibla, mohe tarma, kabhi shola, kabhi nagma" has the same blend of Punjabi Folk with Guitar effect. In the song "zulf ke chaome chehere ka ujala lekar" OP Nayyar had made Rafi and Asha answer each other in almost a contest of Shayeri, the way urdu writers used to face each other through their poetic verses. Besides OP Nayyar's beat oriented composition having effect of the tanga (Cart-pulled by horses) titled "Banda parwar, thamlo jigar, banke pyar phir aya hoon" in the film was equally melodious as "Maang ke saath tumkara" in the film Naya Daur, picturised on Dilipkumar, "Yuh to humne laakh hasin dekhe hain" in the film Tumsa Nahin Dekha, 1957, "Kisi na kisi se kabhi na kabhi kahin na kahin dil lagana parega", in the film Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964.

Besides Rafi's western romantic mood is utilized by OP Nayyar in a very stylish way in the songs "Diwana hua badal, sawan ki ghata chayi" and "Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehera" in the film Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964 picturised on Shammi Kapoor and "Humne to dilko aap ke kadmome rakh diya, is dil ka kya karenge yeh ab aap sochiye" in the film Mere Sanam, 1965 and "Phir Miloge Kabhi is baat ka wada karlo, humse ek aur mulakat ka wada karlo" in the film Yeh Raat Phir Na Ayegi, picturised on Biswajeet. In all these songs the sarengi and santoor had played a very pivotal role accompanied by the intoxicating appeal of Rafi's voice.

Besides OP Nayyar had a reputation for stubborn individuality all along his career. Many remember him as being aloof and imperious, but always generous with struggling new-comers and those marginalized in the industry. The press and electronic media frequently referred to him as a rebel composer, as did many columnists labelling him a maverick. During the fifties the state-controlled All India Radio found OP Nayyar too trendy and had put in place a ban on most of his very famous tunes from being broadcast.This ban was in force for quite some time. Reports suggest that he was unfazed by this rigid government order and went on to create more of such tunes most of which were national hits. The far away Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation of the then Radio Ceylon was the only source from which his new hits could be listened in.

Although lack of compromise resulted in OP Nayyar fading away from the film arena in 1970s, whenever anybody has to choose some of the most stylish andaz of Rafi, they have to reflect back on OP Nayyar for the unique compositions which have not been obsolete with the fading time.The Archive of Mohammad Rafi should equally restore the compositions of OP Nayyar as well.

In this context reference should be given to the contribution of Madanmohan in Indian film music.

Rafi's pleasant memories with Madanmohan.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Address: Golden Oak Apartment, Flat-204,
D105B, Devi Marg, Bani park,
Jaipur-302016.
Email: souvik_chatterji2000@yahoo.co.in


If any composer had utilised the ghazal andaz of Mohammad Rafi to the best of his potentiality it is Madanmohan whose name appears in the minds of the lovers of music across the nation. Madanmohan's father Rai Bahadur chunnilal send his son to Dehradun to join the army. Instead he left the army and joined All India Radio in Lucknow. He came in contact with Ustad Faizz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and carried on their legacy in the compositions he made for 30 years which can be classified as masterpieces.

As Madanmohan was not associated with the Big Banners like RK or Navketan, he was not categorised with any star of bollywood during 50s, 60s, 70s. Further he never wanted to balance the popular test of music and excellent class of classical compositions he created. But the compositions were so rich in lyrics and tunes that the musical pandits had no way but to admire them.

The golden age of bollywood music was categorised with the excellence of Mohammad Rafi and as such if any composer neglected Rafi and tried to reach the summit of popularity they have invited their own downfall. Madanmohan did not make such a mistake. He started his career with the film Ankhen in 1950. He also composed music for Raj Kapoor's film Ashiana in 1952. His notable songs for Rafi in the film Railway Platform, 1956, include "basti basti parbat parbat". In Gateway of India, 1957, Madanmohan used Mohammad Rafi for the song "do ghari woh jo pass aa baithe" picturised on Bharatbhushan. It was very successful and strengthened the everlasting bond of Rafi with Madanmohan. Rafi's intoxicating appeal in the song "kabhi na khabhi kahin na kahin koi na koi toi ayega" in the film Sharabi, 1964, composed by Madanmohan can be classified one of the best songs in sombre mood.

The most majestic ghazals of Rafi composed by Madanmohan include "kisiki yaad me apnako hai bhulaye huye" and "baad muddat ke yeh ghari ayi" from the film Jahan ara, 1964, picturised on Bharat Bhushan. Talat Mehmood's song in the same film "phir wohi sham wohi gham wohi tanhai hai" was also based on ghazal andaz. The classic lyrics were written by Rajinder Kishan. The film titled Ghazal, in 1964, was based on ghazals and Rafi was outstanding by every standard in the song "rang aur noor ki baraat kise pesh karun." In the same year Rafi's patriotic flavour was bolstered in the song "kar chale hum fida jan-o-tan sathiyon" in the film Haqeeqat, where Rafi's ghazal titled "hoke majboor usne bulaya hoga" shared with Bhupinder Singh, Manna Dey and Talat Mehmood was sensational. The majestic lyrics were written by Kaifi Azmi. In the film Neela Akash, 1965, picturised on Dharmender, Rafi's song "akhri geet muhobbat ka sunayun to chalun" showed the tragic note of Madanmohan. In the film Need Hamari Khwab Tumkhari, all the songs were sung by Rafi including "husn ne jab isq se takraya tha".

Returning back to ghazals, Rafi's song "aap ke pehlu me akar" in the film Mera Saya, 1966, was as outstanding as Lata's title song "tu jahan jahan chalega mera saya saath hoga". The lyrics were written by Raja Mehendi Ali Kahan. Raj Khosla's crime thriller ended up becoming a musical blockbuster just like Woh Kaun Thi, in 1964, where Madanmohan's composition "naina barse," "lagja gale", etc. for Lata Mangeshkar was probably the most immortal creation in the history of film music, with Sadhna giving life time performances in ghostly characters in both these films.

The landmark ghazal "tumhari zulf ke saye me sham karlunga" in the film Naunihal, in 1967, is probably one of the five best ghazals Rafi did sing in his life. Experts in music realise that ages will pass, but no second singer can provide blood and flesh in the superlative ghazal of Madanmohan the way Rafi had done in this song. Kaifi Azmi has written sensational lyrics for the abovementioned song. People started thinking that Rafi and Madanmohan were made for each other. The belief was put to action in the next film Dulhan Ek raat ki, in 1967, picturised on Dharmender in the song "ek haseen sham ko dil mera kho gaya. In the film Chirag, 1969, "teri aakhon ke siwa duniya me rakkha kya hai" Madanmohan combined ghazal with light orchestration to try to inspire the common listeners in understanding these type of songs.

In the film Heer Ranjha, 1971, picturised on Rajkumar, Rafi's song "yeh duniya yeh mehfil" was well acclaimed by music lovers. Rafi was outstanding by every standard in the song "tum jo mil gaye ho" in the film Hanste Zakhm, 1973, where Madanmohan synchronised lightning with his own orchestration. Madanmohan also gave a tremendous break to Bhupinder Singh in the song "dil dhoonta hai, phir wohi, fursat ke raat din" written by Gulzar in Sanjeev Kumar's Mausam in 1975. Rafi had the song "chari re chari kaise gale me pari."

Madanmohan's last performance with Jaidev brought out Rafi's Himalayan range in the film Laila Majnu in 1977. Rafi's songs "tere dar pe aya hoon," "barbad muhobat ka duya saath liye ja", picturised on Rishi Kapoor showed his master spirit of adapting to tunes of middle east which was the geographical location where the story was based. Madanmohan died in 1975, without even seeing the success of Laila Majnu, it appeared like out of seven sur in every octave one sur had gone, because, the majestic combination of Madanmohan with Rafi cannot be forgotten through ages. Rafi's archive should restore Madanmohan's combination to let the next generation know about the high esteem with which Madanmohan addressed Mohammad Rafi during the golden age of film music.

In this context the contribution of Jaidev and Khayyam in hindi film music has to be mentioned.

Khayyam and Jaidev's relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

When we visualise the golden era of music in Indian cinema we primarily think about the giant music directors like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, etc., or lyricists like Shakeel Badayani, Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri or singers like Rafi, Lata who made major contribution to the music of that age. Among the legendary giants there were other composers who composed music for less number of films but created their identity and everlasting appeal even with the less number of compositions. Jaidev and Khayyam are two composers who received numerous awards for their classic performance and still remain few of the offbeat composers without whom the firmament of music would be colourless.

Jaidev who came to Bombay initially from Ludhiyana to become an actor learnt music from K. Jaokar and Janardan Jaokar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and after ashort span of stay in his home town Ludhiyana, returned to Bombay with his immense command of folk and classical music. As he initially worked with Navketan Banner, he got a scope of working with SD Burman also. His debue with Chetan Anand's film Joru Ka Bhai, 1955, gave him opportunity to compose independant music but he got recognition with the film Humdono in 1961.

Humdono was also the starting point of Jaidev's relationship with the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi. The unique style of Jaidev included his tunes which appeared not to end with the antara or the sanchari and uniting them with the mukhra unlike other composers. Rafi's voice had the effect of sedative which doctor's prescribe for patients who cant sleep in the song "Abhi na jao chor kar, ki dil abhi bhara nahi" in Hum Dono. The way Rafi pronounced adhuri yaas, hardly any playback singer can think even today. The emotions of the character were kept intact and the musical value of the song was enhanced by Rafi in a tremendous way in Humdono. The ghazal in the film "kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona aya" can be categorised as one of the ten best ghazals Rafi did sing in his life. At the same time the other song "main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya" which showed the carefree attitude of Dev Anand, who got admitted in military in the film, had the effect of santoor and the prelude and interlude followed the main song of Rafi that music lovers even memorised them as a song itself. Lata Mangeshkar's performance in the song "Allah tero naam" in raag gara was probably one of her best performances ever. Jaidev's return path of the sanchari was again evident in the classical bhajan which is still sung sometimes as prayer song at other times in temples and places of worship. The other film he composed music for include Mujhe Jeene Do, 1963, where Lata's song "Nadi nare na jao sham" became hit. As it was female oriented film with Wahida Rehman providing the lead performance there were hardly sequences for male songs.

In the other film Kinare Kinare, in 1963, Jaidev asked Rafi to sing duet song with Usha Mangeshkar titled "maya anchal jale kaya ka abhiman". His other notable songs for Rafi include "aaj ki raat hai bus jalwa dikhane ke liye" and "roop ki dhoop to dhalke rahegi" from the film Jiyo Aur Jeene Do, in 1969. Both were successful with Jaidev's folk effect in the respective songs.

In the 1970s, Jaidev shifted towards Ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh for most of his songs, with "Do Diwane Shahar Me" and "Ek Akela is shahar me" from the film Gharonda, 1977, directed by Gulzar with Amol Palekar in the lead role. Runa Laila's song "tumke hona ho mukhko to itna yakeen hai" looked like it was never going to end with the brilliant lyrics of gulzar. The violin was played so brilliantly in the song "Ek akela is shahar me" depicting urbanised folk songs, that it identified the pathos of Jaidev who was a loner in life. The other successful film of Jaidev included Dooriyan, 1979, acted by Uttamkumar and Sharmila Tagore. There Bhupinder Sing's song "Zindagi zindagi o mere ghar ana ana zindagi" and "zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the" showed Jaidev's unconventional movement in the rise and fall of the antara and sanchari. Jaidev along with Madanmohan had composed music for Rishi Kapoor's film Laila Majnu, 1977, where Rafi's songs "barbad muhobbat ki dua saath liye ja", "is reshmi pazeeb ki jhankar ke sadpe", "likhkar tera naam zameen par" were superhits and marked Rafi's tremendous combination with Rishi Kapoor.

Jaidev received national award for the brilliant composition of music in the films Reshma Aur Shera, Gaman and Ankahi, most of which included Rajasthani folk music. Jaidev never got the recognition which he deserved. It is a pity that Jaidev got a scope of composing music for female oriented films where he made the best use of Lata Mangeshkar, because Rafi could have made enormous contribution to Jaidev's remote style of music composition. Even then the combination of Rafi and Jaidev carry enormous musical value for music lovers across the country.

Khayyam better known as Mohammad Zahur Khaiyyam is the other music composer, who had such an immortal appeal in his compositions, yet had not received the recognition he deserved. He was born in Jullundher, Punjab in 1927, and learnt music from Pandit Amarnath and Hunslal Bhagatram. Khayyam initially used Tala Mehmood in the song "Sham-e-gham ki kasam" in Dilip Kumar's Footpath, 1954, where he made his debue and Mukesh in the songs "Woh subah kabhi to ayegi" and "phir na kije meri gustaq nigaho ka gila" in Raj kapoor's Phir Subah Hogi, 1958. Although Rafi had one song "jo bor kare yar ko us yaar se touba" in Phir Subah Hogi, 1958 where it was a duet with Mukesh singing for Raj Kapoor and Rafi singing for Rehman.

But Khayyam acknowledged the golden voice of Rafi in the film Shola Aur Shabnam, 1961, where most of the lyrics were written by Kaifi Azmi and Rafi's songs "dhunti rehti yeh ankhe mujhme", "jeet hi lenge bazzi hum tum", "pehle to aankh milna", "phool ko dhoonde pyaasa bhawra" had a soft, passionate flavour of the soil of mountains. The songs were picturised on Dharmender. In the film Shagun, 1964, the song "parbaton ke paron par sham ka basera hai" sung by Rafi carried the intoxicating appeal of Khayyam. The next film Mohabbat is ko kahte hai, 1965, picturised on Shashi Kapoor had a fantastic duet song of Rafi and Lata titled "thehriye hosh me alun to chale jaiyega" which was a form of a poetry where each of the poets answered one another. In Akhri Khat, in 1966, Rafi's song "aur thori der theher" had the same folk effect of Khayyam. Lata Mangeshkar was brilliant with her performance of "baharo mera jeevan bhi sawaaro" and "mere chanda mere nanhe" in the same film.

In the 1970s, Khaiyyam composed music in lesser films but again came up with creative music and received the filmfare award for composing music for the film Kabhi Kabhi, 1975, where the title song written by Sahir Ludhianvi and sung by Mukesh and Lata were well acclaimed by music lovers of India. His composition in Umrao Jaan, 1981, brought him the second filmfare award and amazed the musical pandits with classical mujra, which became extinct from bollywood music at that time. His songs in the film Bazaar, 1982, picturised on Nasiruddin Shah, titled "karoge yaad to" had ghazal andaz and Bhupinder Singh was sublime with his performance.

As Khayyam, like Jaidev, composed music in mostly offbeat films their presence was felt whenever the directors came up with thoughtful stories, powerful direction and rich lyrics. Although they have provided less number of songs for Rafi but the creations of the combination should be restored for the epic value of the folk and classical effects in the songs.

In this context the contribution of RD Burman has to be mentioned.

Rahul Dev Burman's immense respect for Mohammad Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Rahul Dev Burman, the son of eminent singer and composer Sachin Dev Burman, is one of the most popular composers of the last decade whose tunes are used by many modern composers in their own compositions. Being the son of the legendary Music Director, SD Burman, RD had a great challenge to match the sheer brilliance of his father. It happens with the son or daughter of all the famous personalities.

RD Burman started his journey with Chote Nawab in 1962 with the help of the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi. Major songs in the film was sung by Rafi and RD Burman commanded respect in the musical community of that period, who were still mesmerised with the classical compositions of Naushad, folk songs of SD Burman, western effects of Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Salil Chowdhury, Ghazals of Roshan, Madanmohan. RD Burman had other skills like playing the mouth organ, tabla and other related instruments and he showed his skill while playing the mouth organ for Laxmikant Pyarellal in the film Dosti, 1964 where Rafi had galvanised the silver screen with his tragic andaz.

The bigger challenge of RD Burman was to create a gharana which was different from SD Burman, which was very difficult. He created western composition in "Ayo Twist Karen" for Manna Dey in Bhoot Bangla. But he received the maximum appreciation from music lovers with his compositions in the film Teesri Manzil, 1966. All the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. All the songs were superhits, including "O haseena zulfonwali", "Aja aja", "Dewaana tujhsa nahin", " janeman janeja, tumne muhhe dekha hoker meherba", "O mere sona re sona re sona re." The rock and roll flavour of Shammi Kapoor, which was started by Shankar Jaikishan in films like Junglee, 1961, songs like "Asman se aya farishta" in An Evening in Paris, 1967, "Aj kal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawan par" in Brahmchari, 1967, was matched by RD Burman in Teesri Manzil, 1966, and he gave the message to the Indian audience that he had arrived in the musical arena and was going to be a leading composer in future.

The relationship of RD Burman with Rafi continued in films like Pyar ka Mausam, 1969, where the songs like "Tum bin jayun kahan", "Ni sultana re pyar ka mausam aya" were major hits. RD Burman developed a beat of his own which marked his identity in the 1970s. The biggest success came in 1970, with the film Karwa, where the songs " kitna pyara wada" "are ho goriyan kahan tera desh re" were superhits, and Rafi's voice balanced the choreographic skills of Jeetender for whom the maximum number of songs were sung by Rafi. For a short period RD Burman composed songs for Kishorekumar in films like Amar prem, Kari Patang, but that was due to the fact it matched with the voice of Rajesh Khanna.

Whenever RD Burman reverted back to Rafi, the songs were successful as ever, like "Yaadon ki Baarat," "Chura liya hai tumne jo dilko", in the film Yaadon ki Baarat, 1973, "Yeh ladka hai alla kaisa hai diwana", in Hum kisi se kum nahi, 1977. In fact Rafi's outstanding combination with Rishi Kapoor compelled RD Burman to provide the successful qawalli "Hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi ghan nahi", in Hum Kisi se kum Nahi, which Rafi only could sing. The same film provided Rafi with the National award in 1977 with the song "Kya hua tera wada". Further the musical competition in the film had Rafi and Kishore singing songs, including "chand mera dil", etc.

The combination of RD Burman with Rafi continued in Rishi Kapoor's film, "Zamane ko dikhana hai" where "Sochenge pyar kya hua" with Asha Bhosle, was a major hit. Further in the film Burning Train, 1980, the biggest hit was the qawalli sung by Rafi and Asha, titled "pal do pal ka saath hamaara". The action of Dharmender and Vinod Khanna was balanced by the excellent choreography of Jeetender in the song "Pal do Pal", and superlative performance of Rafi.

People have a wrong conception of the fact that RD Burman underestimated Rafi, which is not true. He had tremendous respect for the man with the golden voice. The only lacuna was that RD Burman had a lot of inherent classical skill which he did not get any scope of showing due to the demand of popular music except in the films of Gulzar. In Kinara, 1977, "Naam Gum Jayega", "Meethe Bol Bole" sung by Bhupinder Singh, shows RD Burman's gharana. Had Rafi survived for a longer period of time and had RD Burman got more opportunities to blend eastern and western music, the combination could have provided everlasting creations for future generations to cherish. Rafi's archive should also contain the compositions of RD Burman which are admired by the modern generation and should be restored for music lovers of different ages.

In this context the contribution of Salil Chodhury has to be mentioned.

Salil Chowdhury's relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Salil Chowdhury, noted poet, musician, lyricist, thinker is one of the most renowned intellectuals who had glorified the Silver Screen (both Bollywood and Bengali Cinema) with his stories, poetry, lyrics, dynamic musical compositions in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He was a member of the IPTA, an organisation which has been an instrument of public awareness during the pre-independence and post-independence period. Salil Chowdhury's story was picturised under the title Do Bigha Zameen, in 1953, depicting the struggle of a farmer of a village in coming to urbanised city of Kolkata and earning his livelihood as a rickshaw-puller, which had brought national and international awards for the story, direction of Bimal Roy and other categories.

The poetic and literary skills of Salil Chowdhury had synchronised with his east-west blend of music in most of his creations. Best example can be "Ujjal Ek Jhak Paira" sung by Classical Bengali singer, Sandhya Mukherjee. It was written by Bengali poet, describing the flight of pigeons and Salil Chowdhury composed the upward and downward movement of the song in the same lines as the pigeons fly in air. The literary society in Bengal were flabbergasted with the composition of Salil Chowdhury with the translation of famous poetry titled "Runner" (postman) written by Sukanta Bhattacharya, the way the movement in music changed with the moods of the postman delivering mails on road. Other landmark musical creations of Salil Chowdhury include "Palkir Gaan" written by famous Bengali poet Satyendranath Dutta and sung by Hemanta Mukherjee.

While bringing in revolution with words and music in Bengali modern songs Salil Chowdhury went to Bombay with his treasure of knowledge. Very interestingly the song "apni kahani" in Do Bigha Zameen, 1953, sung by Manna Dey had been based on Russian processions. While using Mukesh in a number of songs in Raj Kapoor's Jagte Raho, 1956 and DilipKumar's Madhumati, 1958, Salil Chowdhury acknowledged the versatile talent of Mohammad Rafi, the man with the golden voice. Salil Chowdhury created a Choir Group in Bombay, where Rafi, Lata were all members.

Probably Madhumati, showed the range of music composition of Salil Chowdhury, where he got an opportunity to blend the flavour of music in the hilly regions. The songs for Rafi included "Jangal Me mor Nacha kisi ne na dekha" for Johnny Walker. But Salil Chowdhury reserved the best song in the tragic andaz for Rafi titled "tute hue khwabon ne". The pathos in the role of Dilip Kumar was depicted by the serene performance of Rafi.

Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the film Maya. The song "Tasvir teri dilme" which was a duet song with Lata Mangeshkar was very big hit. The other song of Mohammad Rafi included "Koi sone ka dilwala" which was also successful. Rafi was used in the film Musafir, 1957, where his songs along with Dilipkumar's own song "lagi naahi chute rama, chahe jiya jae" showed the tragedy of Dilipkumar who had provided his immortal performance as a poor wretched violin player, who could not marry Usha Kiran, but played the violin for a handicapped child, not knowing his son, and dying at the end of the film. It was the beginning of journey in film direction of Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the song "insaan ki zindagi hai" from the film Jhoola, 1962. There was also a chorus song of Rafi and Lata, "aag pani me lagi". There was a song "dil tarpe tarpe" for Rafi in the film Poonam ki raat, 1965, and "tumhe dilse chaha" in the film Chand Aur Suraj, 1965. Besides Rafi was given an Afghani song "ho ya qurban" in the film Kabuliwala, 1961, in which Manna Dey's song "ai mere pyare watan" was also a big hit.

In the 1970s, Salil Chowdhury reduced composition of film music in hindi films, as he was busy with Bengali films and Bengali modern songs. Even then Manna Dey's song "Zindagi kasi hai paheli" in the film Anand, 1970 shows his class in composing chorus songs. Even Mukesh's song "Kahi Door Jab din dhal Jaye" was well acclaimed by musical pandits in India.

At the same time Salil Chowdhury had encouraged new talents in Bombay and allowed noted Bengali singers to flourish in the all India arena, examples include Shyamal Mitra in the song "Ek aye ek jaye" in the film Musafir, 1957. He also composed songs for Dijen Mukherjee, Subir Sen and other singers for Bollywood films. In Bengali films like Ganga, 1960, Kinugoalar Goli, 1964, Lal Pathor, 1964, Marjina Abdulla, 1976, Salil Chowdhury's music amazed the listeners with folk songs and westernised tunes. Besides his basic compositions for Monobendra Mukherjee, "Ami parini bujhite parini", Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, "Jhanana Jhanana Baje", Krishna Ganguly's "Dakhina Batashe Mono keno Kande", Sandhya Mukherjee's "Srabon Ajhor jhore", shows his control over Hindustani classical compositions.

It is difficult to highlight the contribution of Salil Chowdhury in a short article, because he had created immense number of immortal poetry, prose, songs, music in Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam films in a span of 50 years. But his admiration for Rafi is evident in the rich compositions. So Rafi's archive should be adorned with Salil Chowdhury's compositions to mark their fair relationship.

In this context the contribution of Ravi has to be mentioned.

Ravi's memorable combination with Rafi.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Ravi, better known as Ravi Shankar Sharma, emerged in the film arena in the 1950s when success of most of the movies were dependant on strong story base and everlasting music composed for those films. Even more significantly the composers like Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Naushad, Madanmohan and lyricists like Shakeel Badayani, Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Hasrat Jaipuri, never compromised with the producers in respect of compositions. Further Directors like Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, had tried to built in realistic approach in respect of picturisation of song sequences.

It was difficult for any new composer to create his identity in that scenario. Ravi began his journey by composing music in the film Wachan in 1955, but got acclamation of music lovers with his landmark composition in the film Chaudavi ka Chand in 1960. Mohammad Rafi, the man with the golden voice, had galvanized the destiny of many composers, lyricists and instrumentalists. The Title song "Chaudavi ka Chand ho, ya aftab ho, job bhi ho tum khuda ki kasam, lajawab ho," picturised on Guru Dutt became the greatest hit in a year when Roshan had composed "Zindagi bhar Nahi Bhulenge woh barsaat ki raat" in the film Barsaat ki Raat, 1960, and Naushad had composed "Do sitaron ka zami par hai Milan aaj ki raat", Kohinoor, 1960. Only the song in the film had a coloured picturisation. It was a challenge of Mohammad Rafi excelling himself in one song or the other.

In the next year, Ravi had been successful to create his identity with the film Gharana, 1961. Most of the songs were picturised on Rajender Kumar, prominent among them being "Jab se tumhe dekha hai". The best song was "Husnwale tera jawab nahi". Ravi concentrated on the sweetness of melody, and the softness of his use of instruments had created an intoxicating appeal for the listeners. Rafi was probably at the peak of his career, and the sweetness of his voice added colour in the black and white classic.

The combination of Ravi and Rafi continued in the films that followed after that period of time. In films like China Town, 1962, Ravi produced the rock and roll andaz of Shammi Kapoor in the song Baar Baar Dekho. Even better songs were composed in Guru Dutt's film Bharosa, 1963, with songs like "aaj ki mulakat bus itni," where all the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Ravi also composed songs for Mukesh in the film Nazrana, 1961, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, as it was picturised on Raj Kapoor, as his voice suited him the most.

The following films in that period include Ravi's compositions with tunes relating hills of India, where some of the songs of Rafi like "yeh hawa yeh hawa" becoming big hits. There were successful compositions for Mahendra Kapoor also in the films Gumrah, 1963, Waqt, 1965, Humraaz, 1967. But some of Ravi's best Ghazals were composed in the film Kaajal, 1965 where Rafi's song "Chulene do nazuk hoto ko" and "yeh zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye to accha ho" picturised on Raj Kumar was outstanding by every musical standard. The use of Sarengi in those songs were simply brilliant. Other than Roshan, no other composer had used Sarengi the way it was used in the film Kaajal.

Ravi composed very impressive songs in the film Shehnai, 1964, picturised on Biswajeet where most of the songs were sung by Rafi. Songs like "na jhatko zulfse pani" were big hits. Also the songs in Biswajeet's film Do Kaliyan, 1968, like "yeh sama yeh rut yeh nazare", "tumhari nazar kyon khafa ho gayi", were successful. Within all types of creations of Ravi, the songs with tragic notes identify his class. The best examples include "Bhari Duniya me akhir dil ko samjhana kahan jaye" written by Shakeel Badayani and picturised on Manoj Kumar in the film Do Badan, 1966, and "Aaja Tujhko pukare mera pyar" written by Sahir Ludhianvi and picturised on Raj Kumar in the film Neel Kamal, 1968. Rafi was brilliant in all these songs where the pathos of the characters were displayed through his voice. Rafi received the National Award for the best singer in 1968 with the song "Babul ki duwayen leti ja" in the film Neel Kamal, composed by Ravi.

Due to strong dominance of Shankar Jaikishan in the 50s, 60s and early 70s, Ravi did not get the recognition which he deserved as some of his tunes even had similarity with them, specially in films of Raj Kapoor, Rajender Kumar, Raj Kumar and Shammi Kapoor who were identified with SJ tunes. In the 70s Ravi composed music for lesser number of films but again came into limelight with his classic composition of music in the film Nikah, 1982. Ravi's creations should adorn the archive of Mohammad Rafi to remember their relationship and the soft compositions and hilly tunes composed by the legendary composer.

In this context the contribution of Sudhin Dasgupta has to be mentioned.

Sudhin Dasgupta – A creative genius of Golden age of Bengali Modern songs.

By: Souvik Chatterji
Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry,UK
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, during the Golden age of Bengali Modern songs, it was very difficult to create a distinct identity in terms of compositions as it was a transition period between use of classical music with westernised effects and incorporation of folk and other rural tunes in the urbanised music base. On one hand the classical legacy created by Legends like Viswadev Chatterji, Ghyanendra Prosad Goswami, Tarapodo Chakraborty were carried forward by Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh and others. Although the noted singers did use pure classical only in certain songs but the classical touch was evident in all their performances. On the other hand the folk singers like SD Burman, Nirmalendu Choudhury inspired Shyamal Mitra and others to maintain the colour, flora, fauna of Bengal's romantic landscape.

In the golden age, music composers and lyricists in Bengal had reached the zenith of creative compositions. Noted lyricists included Gouriprasanna Mojumdar, Shaymal Gupta, Pronob Roy, Sailen Roy and others. Music composers included Robin Chatterji, Pabitra Chatterji, Anol Chatterji, Anupam Ghatak, Anil Bagchi, Gyanprokash Ghosh, Salil Chowdhury, Nochiketa Ghosh and others. In the same age Sudhin Dasgupta, came up with his westernised compositions and contributed to Bengali modern songs, both with his lyrics and memorable music composition.
He had showed his skills in playing the Piano and with the expertise in a number of musical instruments, his compositions had an identity of his own in an age when every music composer galvanised the horizon of Bengali Modern song with their unique style.

Notable compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta include "Moyurkonthi rater nile" for Manobendra Mukherjee, "Ei Jhirjhirjhir batashe" for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, "Akash eto meghla" for Satinath Mukherjee, "keno tumi phire ele" for Shyamal Mitra, etc. The big challenge of Sudhin Dasgupta was to face Robin Chatterji, who was dominating the Bengali film music, and modern song with his versatile creations. Robin Chatterji had introduced Portugese folk song in the film Deeper naam tiya rong, "o amar sat rajari dhon" and "phiriti bosakor kure gi dise" sung by Shyamal Mitra and Bhaisnav angik bhajan "O mon kokhon shuru kokhon je shesh ke jane"in Uttamkumar's film Kamallata, 1969. Besides he composed prayer song to kirtan to classical song in Lalubhulu, 1958, for Manobendra Mukherjee.

Sudhin Dasgupta changed the horizon of Bengali film song by asking Manna Dey to sing for Uttamkumar whose major songs were previously sung by Hemanta Mukherjee whose voice suited him the most. Sudhin Dasgupta went to Bombay where Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar were busy in the recording of songs of film Pakizaa with Gulam Mohammad and Naushad. When Sudhin Dasgupta recorded the song for Uttamkumar's film Shonkhobela, 1966, titled "Dekechi ke age ke diyeche sara" as a duet song for Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, Naushad said the words could not be understood as it was composed in Bengali, for the tune was excellent.

The film Shonkhobela was a superhit film and Sudhin Dasgupta's composition for Manna Dey "Ami agantuk" and for Lata Mangeshkar "Aj mon cheche ami hariye jabo" was well acclaimed by music lovers across the nation. Sudhin Dasgupta shaped the career of Legendary singer Manna Dey who was busy in Bombay singing different types of songs under the patronage of Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Salil Chowdhury and others. After Shonkobela, Manna Dey formed an immortal combination in playback singing with Uttamkumar, providing sensational performance in films like Antony firingi, 1967, Nishipadda,1970, Stri, 1971, Sanyasi Raja, 1975, and winning national awards and Bengal Film Journalist Association (BFJA) awards one after the other.

Notable Bengali films where Sudhin Dasgupta composed music include Dakharkora, 1958, Shonkhobela, 1966, Choddhobeshi, 1971, Har Mana Har, 1972, Teen Bhubaner Pare, etc. He has used bayul ( a type of folk song in rural Bengal) in "ogo tomar shesh bicharer asay" for Manna Dey, South Indian tune in "bachao ke acho" in Chaddabeshi, rural touch in "rangila ranga dehe bhab jegeche" for Manobendra Mukherjee, Westernised chorus effect in "aro dure cholo jai" for Asha Bhosle. His lyrics were also very colourful like his compositions. He even taught music to established singer like Bonoshri Sengupta.

An archive should be created where Sudhin Dasgupta's compositions are restored and preserved for future generations to get inspiration from creative music in the Golden age of Bengali modern songs.