(Part 1) Rafi sings for Composers from Bengal

I have been planning posts on Rafi for a long time. A couple of years ago, I highlighted his association with Chitragupt. I also covered his duets with Suman Kalyanpur and Geeta Dutt in separate posts.
Rafi had a long and successful association with many composers like, Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Ghulam Mohammad, Chitragupt, Ravi etc. But except S D Burman, and R D Burman, his innings with other Bangla composers had been either brief or for a relatively small number of songs. It would be an interesting idea to explore Rafi’s Hindi film songs with the composers from Bengal. When I went through his songs (I would like to thank Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh for sharing the data with me) I decided to go for a series covering his association, in different parts.
At this point I should make it clear that the series is not meant to discuss the possible reasons for the small number of songs in comparison with his songs with other composers. It’s out of scope of the series. It is also not intended to criticize either Rafi or the composers. I won’t be discussing why a particular composer chose another singer for his songs or if and why he offered more songs to other singers.
It’s an overview of Rafi’s association with Bangla Composers.

I thought of starting the series today, on Rafi’s 43rd death anniversary. The future parts would be published in due course.

In the first part, I’m going to cover his association with Anil Biswas, Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar.

The total number of songs Rafi sang for these three composers is around 70, among the total of around 4800+ songs. Still it’s worth noting that Rafi sang a few of his best songs with them. Though the number of songs are less, there are many memorable melodies sung by Rafi. I’ll start the list.

Anil Biswas –
I could find 11 songs sung by Rafi under his baton. He sang four songs each for Paisa Hi Paisa and Heer, one song each for Beqasoor, Abhiman and Sanskar. His songs from Paisa Hi Paisa are not very popular.

1. Leja Uski Duvayen – Heer (1956) / Anil Biswas – Majrooh
The song has a Punjabi folk flavour or so I believe. The film is based on the Heer and Ranjha, a Punjabi folklore. The poignant song is picturised on a disheartened Pradeep Kumar, who weeps in dismay as Nutan goes away in a doli. The heart touching melody is worth listening to. I take it as the best of Rafi under the baton of Anil Biswas. While Rafi had three solos and one duet in Heer, one of the solos, Gham Leke Tere Ishq Ka was perhaps not released on records. So popularly it’s taken that Rafi had 3 songs for Heer.

2. Bhagwan Bhi Khush Khush – Sanskar (1958) / Anil Biswas – Indeevar
While I added a popular song at the first position, I selected a rather lesser heard and lesser known song for this position. The light hearted song is a fun to listen to and Rafi in his typical style mesmerizes the listeners.

Salil Chowdhury –
I could locate 25 songs by Rafi for Salil Chowdhury. The maximum number of songs for a single film was 4, for the film Maaya, followed by 3, for the film Tangewali.
The songs included solos and duets for both main lead as well as supporting characters. For example, in Madhumati, while Rafi sang for Johnny Walker, he also sang for Dilip Kumar. The same scenario is in Maaya, where he sang mainly for Dev Anand, there’s a song for a supporting character as well. Their last film together was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (1966) where Rafi had a couple of songs, one solo and one duet with Hemant Kumar.

I’ll start with their first song,

3. Ajab Tori Duniya – Do Bigha Zameen (1953) with Chorus / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
This is Rafi’s first song for Salil Chowdhury. And of course it was Salil Chowdhury’s first Hindi film. So Rafi was a part of his first Hindi film. The main actor, Balraj Sahni has no songs to lip sync to. This one’s picturised on a supporting character too, but in the first half of the song, we can spot a very young Mehmood behind the singing actor. A philosophical sort of song. And of course Rafi’s only song for the movie.

4. Ainwe Duniya Dewe Duhai – Jagte Raho (1956) with Balbir & Chorus / Salil Chowdhury – Prem Dhawan
Another philosophical song with a touch of bitter reality. In this film as well, Raj Kapoor had no songs to lip sync to. Rafi was a perfect choice for this full fledged Punjabi Bhangra. It’s worth noting that Salil Chowdhury composed the bhangra with perfection, a form which was not his usual type.
The main dancer in the song is Manohar Deepak, who was dancer Madhumati’s husband.

5. Toote Hue Khwabon Ne – Madhumati (1958) / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
While Mukesh was chosen as the voice of Dilip Kumar for the other songs, Salil Chowdhury aptly chose Rafi for this iconic sad song. His voice easily reaches high notes in the verses, while he is comfortable in the low octave mukhda as well. Rafi was a preferred voice for Dilip Kumar right from the early 50s.

6. Chalte Hi Jana – Usne Kaha Tha (1960) with Manna Dey & Chorus / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
Rafi had two duets in the film. One was a peppy song with a Punjabi folk base and the other was a song with Tonga beats. I’ve added the second one. As such I guess, both the songs are not very popular. This song has a fast pace and it pumps adrenaline in your body. Rafi primarily sings for Sunil Dutt and Manna Dey for Rajendra Nath, though the coachman also gets their playback.

7. Tasveer Teri Dil Mein – Maya (1961) with Lata Mangeshkar / Salil Chowdhury – Majrooh
This song has been very popular and it still continues to be.
It is said that during the recording of this song, Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar had differences and the incident had reverberations in the royalty issues that took place in the early 60s.
Rafi sang a couple of solos and one duet for Dev Anand, while the third solo was picturised as a club song on Agha.

8. Tumhe Dil Se Chaha – Chand Aur Suraj (1965) with Suman Kalyanpur / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
It’s Rafi’s only song for the movie and it’s one of my most favourite duets by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur. Fir me it stands out prominently as one of the best songs of the movie. It’s so cheerful and energetic and the singers have poured the emotions so intensely!

9. Dil Tadpe Tadpaye – Poonam Ki Raat (1965) / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
And I’ll end the section with this beautiful song. It’s again the only song of Rafi for this movie and the fact speaks for itself. A typical Salil Chowdhury melody with his signature interlude music. For me it’s one of Rafi’s best Hindi film songs.

Hemant Kumar –
I could find 30+ songs by Rafi under the baton of Hemant Kumar. Again not a very big number, though a few of memorable songs in this section as well. The maximum number of songs for a single film are 4 songs for a couple of films, Miss Mary and Do Dil. For most of the initial films, his contribution was limited to a single song per film. And his songs are a mixture of solos and duets, sung for the main lead or supporting characters. Their last film was most likely Love in Canada (1979) where Rafi had a couple of songs, including this solo.

I’ll start with Rafi’s first song for Hemant Kumar.

10. Hum Laye Hain Toofan Se – Jagriti (1954) Rafi / Hemant Kumar – Kavi Pradeep
The song is picturised on Abhi Bhattacharya, the teacher and the school boys. It’s a farewell song it seems, where the students are rather teary eyed and the teacher is emotionally singing as he departs. He tries to explain the responsibility on their young shoulders. The song is still very popular.

11. O Raat Ke Musafir – Miss Mary (1957) with Lata Mangeshkar / Hemant Kumar – Rajendra Krishan
Out of the four songs of Rafi, three were picturised on Gemini Ganesan and the fourth song, a solo was picturised on Om Prakash. All the songs are very popular. The added one portrays a mini battle between the two. Both of them put forth their arguments in front of the moon, who is supposed to give a verdict. Meena Kumari’s cute expressions are a delight to watch. Both the singers have done a full justice to the song.

12. Phoolon Se Dosti Hai – Duniya Jhukti Hai (1960) with Chorus / Hemant Kumar – Rajendra Krishan
Rafi sings for Sunil Dutt in the movie and this song is a song picturised on a tonga and has a tonga rhythm as well. The song portrays the philosophy of the character, that of a Gunda, played by Sunil Dutt. There’s a small portion of the song at the end of each verse where the chorus joins Rafi. In addition to this song, there is one wonderful qawwali by Rafi and Balbir.

13. Mareez e Ishq Hoon – Bin Baadal Barsaat (1963) / Hemant Kumar – Shakeel Badayuni
In this film, Rafi was chosen for Mehmood and sang one solo and one duet. Mehmood was cast opposite Padma Chavan, who later became a popular actress in Marathi plays and cinema. The song has a touch of humour, though Mehmood pulls a serious face throughout. Rafi excels at the task.

14. Tera Husna Rahe Mera Ishq Rahe – Do Dil (1965) / Hemant Kumar – Kaifi Azmi
An eternal love song! I think this song is mandatory on the list. It’s beautifully sung. Rafi is the main voice of Biswajit and sings a couple of solos and one duet for him. Rafi’s fourth song is a solo picturised on Mehmood. And interestingly enough, Biswajit lip syncs to Manna Dey for the Holi song.

15. Jane Kahaan Dekha Hai – Biwi Aur Makaan (1966) / Hemant Kumar – Gulzar
And to end today’s list, I’ve a wonderful song! It may not be very popular, but so beautifully sung! It’s the only song Rafi sang for the movie. There’s a longer audio version, which is also available.

I’ll cover Rafi’s association with other composers from Bengal in the future parts of the series.
Please add your favourites to the list, keeping in mind today’s theme.

Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.