(Part 4) Rafi sings for Composers from Bengal

Continuing the series based on Rafi’s association with Bangla Composers, today I am presenting the fourth part.
So far I’ve covered five composers, Anil Biswas, Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar in Part 1, S D Burman in Part 2 and R D Burman in Part 3.

The journey was of course very interesting with so many melodies to listen to. After covering the prominent composers of the golden era, it’s time now to explore the other composers.

I have a list of more than 15 composers who were from Bengal and composed songs for Rafi. For convenience I’m going to divide it in two parts.
Today’s part, the fourth in the series, would focus on a few well known, a few lesser known or forgotten composers from the 40s and the 50s mainly.

I’m aware, barring a few songs, the majority of songs are not popular. In fact I heard many of these songs for the first time or so.
Let’s start the list..

1. R C Boral –
The gentleman needs no introduction. Rai Chand Boral is considered ‘Bhishma pitaamah’, the father of film music in India. In 1978, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award, the highest honour in Indian cinema and Sangeet Natak Akademi award.
Starting his career in the early 30s, he witnessed the silent era of films as well as the talkie films. He was mainly active in the 30s and the 40s in Hindi and Bangla cinema.
He composed for a handful of Hindi films in the 50s and it was then that Rafi got an opportunity to sing for him.
Rafi sang 5 songs for Boral in 3 films including four solos and one duet.
Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu three songs (2 solos 1 duet)
Dard e Dil (1 solo)
Swami Vivekanand (1 solo)

For today’s list, I’ve selected,

Gokul Gaon Kadamb Ki Chhao – Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1953) / R C Boral – Bharat Vyas
A beautiful devotional song full of bhaktiras. The tune and orchestration is as good as the pure Hindi lyrics by Bharat Vyas. Rafi singing with full devotion and dedication touches the soul.

Hum Ne To Dard e Dil Ko – Dard e Dil (1953) / R C Boral – Hasrat Jaipuri
A ghazal like composition. The orchestration and style of presentation sounds like the one of the vintage era, the 40s. But a good song to listen to.

2. Hari Prasanna Das –
Hari Prasanna Das was a well known composer from Bengal, who also composed for Hindi films. He was the one who offered the first Bangla film song to Hemant Kumar, who till then had only private songs to his credit. Manna Dey was his assistant for a few Hindi films in the late 40s. He composed for just a handful of Hindi films between 1935 and 1948.
As far as today’s post is concerned, I could find just a couple of songs by Rafi.
Both the songs are duets for two different films with two different female playback singers. One of the duets was a part of Rafi’s birth Centenary year post. So I was inclined to choose the other duet for today’s list.

Rukhi Sukhi Main Kha Lungi – Insaaf /Justice (1946) with Hameeda Bano & Chorus / H P Das – D N Madhok
This is a new one for me. Though not a great song, it is certainly fun to listen to. A conversation between a couple, perhaps husband working far away from home and his strict and Hitler like senior not permitting leaves. Of course Rafi was still a newcomer then, but has sung it with apt expressions.

3. Ram Ganguly –
Ram Ganguly will always be remembered as the composer of Raj Kapoor’s first film, Aag. Though the songs were popular, Raj Kapoor didn’t choose him for the next venture. And somehow Ram Ganguly couldn’t get much popularity in his later films.
And, for today’s list I had very few options to choose from as there were only 3 songs to consider. Rafi had one duet with Shamshad Begum for Aag (1948) and one solo for the film Paisa (1957) and one duet with Geeta Dutt for the film, 10 o’ Clock (1958).

Solah Baras Ki Bhai Umaria – Aag (1948) with Shamshad Begum / Ram Ganguly – Behzad Lakhnavi
The song has good rhythm and good musical arrangement. Again not a great song and Rafi’s only for the film. I couldn’t recognise the male dancer in the song.

Paisa Hi Rang Roop – Paisa (1957) / Ram Ganguly – Nazeer Akbarabadi, Lalchand Bismil
The song describes the greatness and importance of money.

4. Kamal Mitra –
There’s very little information available about Kamal Mitra. He composed for just a couple of Hindi films, Yahudi Ki Beti and Banarasi Bala. Rafi has only one song with him, a wonderful solo! Let’s listen to it.

Pyar Beqaraar Hai – Yahudi Ki Beti (1956) / Kamal Mitra – Kaifi Azmi
What a delightfully beautiful composition! Reminds me of a Naushad melody.

5. Sailesh Mukherjee –
He was a singer and a composer. He also acted in a few films (under the name Shrikant Gourav). He sang for a number of films, Dekh Chand Ki Ore, from Aag (1948), being his best known song as a playback singer.
The Calcutta born composer came to Bombay (now Mumbai) and soon started singing for films. Finally, as he always wanted to compose, he got a chance in 1953. A film called, Suhag Sindoor, where he composed jointly with Suresh Kumar. He composed for two more Hindi films, Parichay (1954) and Savera (1958).
Three Hindi movies, Suhag Sindur (1953) jointly with Suresh Kumar, Parichay (1954), Savera (1958). He also tried his hands on acting but wasn’t successful. His films as an actor include Miya Biwi Razi (1960) and Pyar Ki Pyas (1961).

For today’s post, only one sing qualifies,

Yeh Kya Hai Zindagi – Parichay (1954) / Sailesh Mukherjee – Keshav Trivedi

6. Kanu Ghosh –
He was Salil Choudhari’s chief assistant. I could find only two films he composed for. Naya zamana (1957) and Pyar Ki Raahen (1959).
In all Rafi sang three songs for him in these two films.
And I’ve chosen,

Aaj Is Nagari Kal Us Nagari – Naya Zamana (1957) with Chorus / Kanu Ghosh – Prem Dhawan
There’s only one solo that Rafi sang for this film. The song sounds like a lawani as the musical arrangement is quite like it. Picturised in a moving train, the song talks about a couple being separated by the train. We can watch Pradeep Kumar riding the train while a disheartened Mala Sinha sobs at home.

Ghar Wale Ghar Nahin – Pyar Ki Raahen (1959) with Geeta Dutt / Kanu Ghosh – Prem Dhawan
Not a particularly great song, but good enough.

7. Mukul Roy –
Mukul Roy was Geeta Dutt’s elder brother. He was born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh). He learnt music from Haren Nandi,the famous classical singer. He came to Mumbai in 1941.
He composed for four Hindi films, Bhed (1949), Do Bahadur (1953), Sailaab (1956) which he produced and Detective (1958).

He composed for a couple of Bangla films, Grihpravesh and Kay Hiner Kahini and one Gujarati film. He again tried his hand in film production in 1980, with the film Patita. But it wasn’t successful. He finally settled in Nashik.
It’s very obvious that nearly all of his female songs were sung by Geeta Dutt, while he also gave a chance to the other younger sister, Laxmi Roy.

Rafi sang for him only in Detective, with One solo 3 duets. The solo and the duet with Sudha Malhotra was picturised on Pradeep Kumar, the other two duets with Geeta Dutt on Johny Walker.

For today’s list I’ve chosen,

Chhodiye Gussa Huzoor – Detective (1958) / Mukul Roy – Shailendra
Quite an enjoyable song! Usual Rafi style song. The song is picturised on Pradeep Kumar and Mala Sinha, traveling in an open car. Wouldn’t it be fun to collect songs picturised in an open car! Anyways, after the train, tonga, bicycle and bullock cart, why not a car! Let me see.

Now I have a composer on my list, whom I couldn’t confirm to belong to Bengal. But he’s definitely Bengali by origin. He is Sushant Bannerjee

8. Sushant Bannerjee –
There’s nothing much available about his personal life. But he was active in Hindi films from the late 40s. His initial films include Kuldeep (1946) and Jungle Ki Pukar (1946) with G Goswami as co-composer. In 1949, he composed for Akhri Paigham (The Last Message) along with Abid Hussain Khan. His other films include, Deewanji, Monica, Piya, Harishchandra (1958), and Ghar Grihasthi (1959) and Matlabi Duniya (1961).

For today’s list, there are a couple of songs from a single film. Both the songs have a touch of Punjabi tadka, making them enjoyable.

Teri Chaal Atpat Naina Natkhat – Ghar Grihasthi (1958) / Sushant Bannerjee – Pandit Madhur
What an energetic song! Rafi is in a full teasing mood. The song is not at all popular, but we can listen to it just for Rafi’s brilliant rendition. He has captured the perfect mood! You will enjoy the song!

Tera Husna Muradabadi – Ghar Grihasthi (1958) with Asha Bhosle & Chorus / Sushant Bannerjee – D N Madhok
Another song from the same film. The style of orchestration makes one think of O P Nayyar. The energetic song compels us to tap our feet.

9. Robin Chatterjee –
He is a forgotten composer, though he was a popular composer in Bangla films. He also composed for a number of Hindi films in the 40s and the 50s. I could find only one film, Chimni Ka Dhuan, where Rafi sang ‘Ae Mere Bhagwan Re’ a duet with Suman Kalyanpur. But I couldn’t get this one on YouTube, though a few other songs from this movie are available. I got Rafi’s duet with Sandhya Mukherjee from a Bhojpuri film.
If anyone has additional information about Rafi’s songs for him, please share.

Would you add a song pertaining to the theme?

The post is based on the book ‘Dhunon Ki Yatra’ by Pankaj Raag and articles by Arunkumar Deshmukh on Atul’s blog (ASAD). I’ll publish the last part of the series later that will discuss Rafi’s songs with the composers from Bengal from the 60s and the 70s.

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 vests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.