Ek baar unhen mila de maula
Posted on: March 27, 2014
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Badalte Huye Saathi (Episode No. 7) (Shyam Kumar sings with Mohd.Rafi)
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Film Industry is truly a Maya Nagari. No one knows how the luck will change the course of one’s career in Film and Music world. Who would have thought that an ill-nourished looking, slim, imple girl, wearing an ordinary cotton saree, with torn kolhapuri chappals-who waited on an empty stomach for whole night for just one song from Ghulam Hyder-would one day become the undisputed QUEEN of playback singing in Indian Films ?….
A struggling simpleton singer Mohd. Rafi had to accept one Rupee from Naushad Ali for Bus travel, to be a part of Chorus singers in Music Director Rafiq Gaznavi and Govindram’s film Laila Majnu-45, where singer Khan Mastana was the Lead Singer. The same Khan Mastana, sick and paralytic was standing in the chorus, when Mohd. Rafi was the Lead singer, in K.Asif’s Laila Majnu a few years later.
Rajkumari, once an undisputed A Grade singer, whom Music Directors chased to get her to sing songs in their films, was found by Naushad standing as a Chorus girl for a song recording for Paakeejah.
Artists who indulged in Racing and gambling and were used to travelling in Rolls Royce in their heydays were later seen standing in bus queue. On the other hand, a car washer and footpath dweller Dharmendra now owns three Bungalows in Juhu today.
The Industry has seen it all-the rise and fall of artistes, the twists of Fate, tales of rags to Riches and from Riches to Rags……Crowds of his fans obstructed the path of the Governor of Bombay forcing him to take a diversion in his path once, but he died in a 10 x 10 dingy room unrecognised….. Everything was possible here !
Our today’s song is from the film Pehle Aap-1944, and here Shyam kumar is singing with Moh.Rafi. At that time Shyam Kumar was an experienced and an in demand singer and Rafi was struggling hard to get songs and a foothold in the industry. At that time the upcoming Shyam kumar must not have even dreamt that he was singing with the future legend of HFM and that he himself would find himself out of reckoning as a playback singer in just a few more years !
I LOVE RAFI….I love his singing and I love Rafi-The man. He was not only a great singer but he was a thorough Gentleman. Cosiderate, understanding, humble,simple and always remembering to keep his feet on the ground. Already so much has been written about Rafi, that to repeat the mundane details of songs sung, the date of birth, the struggle, awards filmography etc would be imposing excesses on the readers.
To understand a famous personality, there is nothing like listening to his nearest relatives like wife, children, siblings or parents. This gives information on a different dimension altogether. Here is what Mohd. Rafi’s wife said about him,in an interview,2 years back…
” Today, when I look back I am grateful for the children we have borne. They have been wonderful sons and daughters, and have been my strength for the last few years, after his passing away. But yet there are moments when I wish I was 13 years old and Rafi saab was 19. There are times when I wish he would come to me like he would nearly every evening, sit beside me and ask me, What is troubling you? Tell me your troubles and they will all go away.
The next day, he sat for rehearsal from 9:30am and was in pain, but he refused to tell us anything till 12:30 in the afternoon. We scolded him about it, but he told us, Those who come to the Rafi residence, should never return empty-handed. These were his last words.
He was in a lot of pain and was sweating profusely. It was also in the month of Ramzan, so he was hungry. His hands and feet were yellow. The doctors asked us to shift him to a hospital, explaining that Rafi saab had suffered a very major heart attack. The end came soon after that.
“Tu kahin aas paas hai dost” (You are some where around, my friend) –
the last song sung by Mohammed Rafi sums up what millions of music lovers feel about the legendary playback singer even 26 years after his death.
The shocking news of Rafi Sahab’s demise was received. The sad news spread like wild fire throughout the country. Songs turned into a dirge. The angels wept in the sky and tears were shed in the form of raindrops over his namaaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer), His funeral procession started amid heavy rain and thunder, people gathered on the top of buildings, trees and in windows to catch a last glimpse of their favourite singer. The procession reached the Juhu graveyard.
A LEGEND IN HIS LIFETIME, THE MASTER WAS NO MORE ”
Very emotional,indeed !
The trio of Mohd Rafi, Naushad, and Shakeel Badayuni, will never be forgotten, their works were always gems to be remembered. Some of the finest songs in Hindi Cinema that can be called classics were done by this trio.
One more interesting fact to be noted here is that all 3 artists Mohd. Rafi (Singer), Naushad (Composer) and Shakeel Badayuni (Lyricist) were all Muslims and yet the trio gave to the world the most unforgettable Bhajan of all times “Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj” which has been sung or played on the instrument in almost all Hindu Temples at least once all over the World.
One of the most famous Bhajans to be used in a Hindi movie is the evergreen bhajan Man Tadpat from the movie Baiju Bawra that was released in 1952. This Bhajan was based on Raga Malkauns in its pure form. The music was set to tune by maestro Naushad Ali. All the songs in this film were based on Classical ragas. Man Tadpat was sung by the immortal Mohammed Rafi. Initially, the Urdu-speaking Mohammed Rafi had problems pronouncing some Sanskrit words of this Bhajan. So the music director, Naushad had to invite Sanskrit pundits from Varanasi to train Mohammed Rafi so that he could pronounce the Sanskrit lyrics of the Bhajan correctly. The pundits had to work very hard to improve Mohammed Rafi’s diction. But after a great deal of effort, the pundits finally did succeed in improving Rafi’s pronunciation to the desired extent. After several rehearsals, Naushad gave them his final approval to record this Bhajan. This Bhajan is popular even today. This Bhajan has been sung in most of the temples all over the world. We have heard this Bhajan thousands of times, and we still want to listen to it over and over again. This does not surprise me when I consider all the effort that went into the rehearsals of this great Bhajan before it was recorded. I do not think there is any other composition in Hindi films based on Raga Malkauns that is better than Man Tadpat.
While taking takes after takes of the song Naushadji was not satisfied with the result and always felt some thing missing from the song, that was the feeling. Rafi Sahab then requested the director to get a picture of lord Krishna. Soon a framed picture was brought from the market. Rafi saheb placed the picture right in front of him in the recording room and asked Naushadji to start a fresh take. This take came out really great and all musicians found that Rafi sahab was in tears while giving this recording. Such was the commitment and feelings; no wonder this is one of the best Bhajans in Hindi Film History.
Rafi as a man- Rafi was aware of the fickleness of the industry and when he was eclipsed by the Kishore Kumar euphoria following the Aradhana days in the early 1970s, he did not show his hurt. That was the time when every musical director and star ran after Kishore Kumar. But Rafi was unperturbed and his dedication remained the same. Once while running a high temperature he recorded five songs in a day for Laxmikant-Pyarelal! Recalls Pyarelal, “He would bring thermos jugs filled with special tea spiced with almond, pista and elaichi, and pour out cups for us during recording. I never saw him in a bad mood.”
The gentleman that he was, he conveniently `forgot’ to remind producers for dues when a film did not do well. Rafi did not want his sons to be in the show business because he knew that singing talent cannot be inherited. He must have witnessed the struggles of Nitin Mukesh or Khalid Mahmood, sons of his colleagues Mukesh and Talat Mahmood. He gave his sons a sound education and set them up in business enterprises.
What his daughter Nasreen said: ” A complete family man, dad was a man of few words. After returning from his recordings he always spent time with all his children. Though he never showed his affection openly, he never hid his love for his grandchild Tasneem, my daughter. He celebrated her birthday on July 12 with great pomp and that same month he left for his heavenly abode.
Despite his heavy schedule, he would take time off to take us on picnics to Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar or Matheran. Those were the days filled with fun and laughter. We would all look forward to these small holidays. We had a bungalow in Lonavla with a swimming pool. On the insistence of the kids, he too would jump into the pool, clad in dhoti kurta. With them he would become a child too.
Dad was never strict with us. Even when he was angry about something, he never yelled since he was a very quiet man. But one look was enough for our knees to buckle. We never disobeyed him. It is very strange that we don’t recall him admonishing us for being naughty. He liked khamoshi and thus never liked to see children crying or left hungry. Tasneem never cried as a baby and so he was very fond of her.
For some strange reason, dad saw to it that none of us were associated with the film industry. We were kept away from the limelight and never allowed to meet anyone even if they came home. He was averse to the idea of any of his children getting into the film industry which is why he sent my brothers Mohd Khalid Rafi, Mohd Hamid Rafi and Mohd Saeed Rafi and me to London for education. I was only 12 years old then while my brothers were 16, 12 and 8 respectively. Yasmin and Shahid were too young and were made to stay back. He said it was in the interest of the children that he kept them away from the family. And every time he was on a world tour with his troupe he would always stop over at London to meet all of us. Most of the time our mother accompanied him as it was her chance too to meet us. There were some very rare times when we accompanied him to his rehearsals but we never got to see him at work.
I liked most of his sad numbers and Yasmin prefers the happy, peppy numbers. Even today she switches on the radio in the morning to listen to dad’s songs. But the impact of his greatness hit me when I accompanied him to a Shankar-Jaikishan Nite in 1969 in Mumbai. I was pleasantly surprised to see my father in a very different mood. He was so chulbula on stage, he whistled to the song Thoda ruk jaayegi to and Badan pe sitare lapete huye. It was a breathtaking experience for me to see the love and adulation that my father was showered upon. I felt very proud that day that I was his daughter.
Of his hobbies, he loved flying kites and we kids enjoyed holding the manjha for him. He was very good at the game and whenever he found time, he would take us to the terrace of our house. When there was a black kite flying in the sky, everyone in the vicinity knew that Rafi saab was flying kites on his terrace. Strangely he wanted only black kites.
My older siblings settled in London after their education and worked for some airlines company till they passed away some time back. Their families are now based in London. Our eldest sister Parveen lives with her doctor-husband in London. Shahid, Yasmin and I have settled in Mumbai.
I was 29 when dad passed away. That fateful day, some producers from Kolkata were in Mumbai to meet him to record for a Durga Pooja album in Bengali. Though he was not keeping too well, dad went ahead with the recording stating that the people had come all the way from Kolkata for his services. He decided to oblige them. No one was aware that he was in pain during the rehearsals. Later when he returned home, he was in a lot of pain and was sweating profusely. It was the month of Ramzan and he was fasting. He was sitting on the sofa when my mother noticed that his nails had turned blue and called the doctor who decided to shift him to hospital. He called us to his side and kissed us on our foreheads and said, “Mere liye dua karna.” Though in severe pain, dad walked down the stairs to his car. Just as the car started, he looked up and waved to us. He had suffered a very major heart attack and the end came soon after that.
When his funeral procession was on its way, all the roads of Bandra were blocked. The entire film industry had come to pay their last respects to a great singer. Only his favourite Shammi Kapoor could not make it as he was out of town. While last respects were being paid at the Mahim dargah, Raj Kapoor had priests performing a pooja outside the dargah for my dad. ”
Film Pehle Aap-1944 was a Kardar production, produced and directed by A R Kardar. The music was by Naushad Ali. All the 11 songs of the film were written by Naushad’d benefactor initially and a friend later- Dinanath Madhok. Mohd. Rafi had sung first time in a chorus song of this film. Later he was given two duets with Shyamkumar. This social film had the cast as Shameem, Wasti, Jeevan, Anwar, Dixit, Vidya,Laila, Anwaribai etc.
The relationship of Kardar-the businessman to the last bone- and Naushad was very strange. Naushad was under contract with Kardar for a long period, but he was allowed to take outside films when Kardar was not producing any film. Slowly, when Naushad became extremely popular and was in great demand, Kardar established a new company in his partnership, in order to encash the popularity of Naushad-The Musical Pictures Ltd. Musical pictures produced 5 films,namely Dastan-50, Jaadu-51, Jeevan Jyoti-53, Gawaiya-54 and Yasmin-55. After Kardar left for Pakistan, their contract came to an end. Naushad, however,always accepted the kind support Kardar gave him when he was new.
In our next episode, let us see Rafi’s choice for singing. Meanwhile,let us enjoy this duet of Shyam kumar and Rafi.
Song-Ek baar unhen mila de maula (Pehle Aap)(1944)] Singers-Shyam Kumar, Rafi, Lyrics-D N Madhok, MD-Naushad
Lyrics(Provided by Nitin Shah)
ek baar unhen mila de
ek baar unhen mila de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba aa
ab to lagi bujhaa de
aji dil ki lagi bujha de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba
kunwaaron ki bala se bijli chamke
ya ghata chhaaye
gadha boley kahin ya kaan mein
koyal ki kook aaye
wo kya jaane papeeha aa
kis liye pihu ki dhun gaaye
zara joru ki furkat mein
tadapton ki suno haaye
kya
ek baar unhen mila de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba aa
ab to lagi bujhaa de
aji dil ki lagi bujha de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba
aaaaa
har ek lab ke
ae ae ae ae
daaman mein hain mere naade(?)
qasam hamaari jo gaayen na joruon waale
kya
ek baar unhen mila de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba aa
ab to lagi bujhaa de
aji dil ki lagi bujha de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba
tum hardum neend mein hum
aur jagaana tera
raat ko loriyaan de de ke
sulaana tera
yaad aata hai to dil l l
ro ke yahi kehta hai
kya
mujhko bhaaya nahin ghar baap ke jaana tera
aur phir
ik baar unhen mila de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba aa
ab to lagi bujha de
aji dil ki lagi bujha de
phir meri tauba maula
phir meri tauba
7 Responses to "Ek baar unhen mila de maula"
March 27, 2014 at 9:30 pm
Arun Sir,
A very minor correction in the post.( I maybe wrong )
Naushad spotted RajKumari amongst chorus singers in Pakeezah and not Mughal E Azam. The two films had more than a decade difference in getting released.
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March 27, 2014 at 9:44 pm
Mahesh ji,
thanks for bringing this lapse to my notice. You are right. the film,indeed,was paakeeza.
-AD
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March 28, 2014 at 8:15 am
As usual you are at your best.
A minor correction.. …
It is more than 33 years now of his demise but it has been stated “even 26 years after his death.”
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March 28, 2014 at 11:12 am
These are the words of Rafi’s wife uttered in her interview taken few years back and published 2 years back. The entire conversation is in ” “. Please check again.
-AD
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March 28, 2014 at 9:12 am
Kindly help me in identifying
(a) artists who indulged in racing and gambling and travelling in Rolls-Royce and (b) crowds of whose fans obstructed the path of Governor of Bombay.
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March 28, 2014 at 11:15 am
a) Sardar chandulal Shah, Motilal,Chandramohan,Master Bhagwan etc.
b) Master Nissar.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 27, 2014 at 6:03 pm
Anyone looking for information on Rafi Saab need not go very far. Kamaal kar diya Arun saab, apne!! I bow my head.
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