Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a 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.

Today’s song is the 3^rd song from film Oonchi Haveli-55 to be discussed in the Blog. For the last 6-7 months, I have been discussing songs mostly from the decades of the 1930s and the 1940s. The last song from the 1950s that I discussed was on 3-3-2018, which for me was the 5^th song from the decade of 1950s in this year. Looking back, I find that I had discussed a song from 1994 also in this year. Good songs, to whatever year they belong to, are my favourites. The only regret is that such songs have become few and far between. Good and meaningful Lyrics is another thing which has become scarce.

Today’s song is sung by Rafi. I strongly believe that God had given at least 10 different voices to this divine singer ! His special voice and style changed to suit the lip syncer on the screen and the song situation. His voice for Dilip Kumar was never the same as one he used for Johnny Walker.

Rafi came from a poor and humble background and had to struggle very hard to enter, sustain and reach the heights in Hindi Film Music. We all know that he came from a poor family but how his early life was spent is not known to many.

Punjab must be proud that two of its sons ruled Hindi cinema music for the first 50 years of its existence, which also happened to be its golden era. initially it was Saigal from 1933 to 1947 and then Mohd. Rafi-as if the baton was handed over by one statemate to another. Both started with humble beginnings and struggled hard to win their places in the History. Saigal, however, had less competition, but then the industry was also smaller. In case of Rafi, the competition was greater, but then the industry had also grown manifolds.

Born into a lower middle class Muslim family belonging to a non descript village in Punjab in 1924, Rafi did not have much education. It was confined to reading and writing in Urdu in Persian script. A little bit of multiplication, and his education was over. In leisure time, Rafi would take his and friends’ cattles for grazing- singing songs all the day.

Rafi did not have exposure to Radio until the beginning of Lahore Radio station in 1937. Of course wealthy people had their gramophones and he would listen to Indubala and Kamla Jharia songs coming from the Havelis and in the Bazaar area. Rafi sang many folk songs.

His father decided to shift to Lahore- 50 miles away, for better earning. Like most Amritsaris, he too was an expert in cooking. He opened a Dhaba and soon did well. Later on he called Rafi to Lahore in 1941 Rafi got a job in a Hair cutting saloon. Whole day he would do people’s shaving, while singing songs. His customers were happy. One day, Programme Director of Lahore A.I.R. Mr. Jeewan lal Mattoo was passing by and he heard Rafi’s singing. Impressed with his enchanting voice, sweetness,range and tonal quality, he shocked Rafi with his offer. Rafi gave his audition next day and passed with flying colours. From March 1943, Mohd.Rafi became a Radio singer, at 35 rupees per song. ( six months later Surinder kaur also joined Lahore Radio).

After hearing his voice on Radio, Music Director Shyam sunder called him to sing in his Punjabi film ” Gul Baloch”. Before coming to Lahore, Rafi was married to his cousin, but his Father in law had told him that his wife will join him only after he starts earning decently. Even after that single song in a film, Rafi continued his shaving job in the saloon. Meanwhile Mr. Mattoo helped him to learn classical music. Also Master Inayat Hussain gave him training. Another teacher was Budh Singh Taan. Noorjehan, Umrao Zia and Zeenat begum were seniors to Rafi in Lahore, but they knew each others. He took training from Bhai Samund Singh and Bhai Santa Singh of local Gurudwaras. Rafi was a saintly person and a true Namazi, doing 5 times Namaz daily.

Rafi’s wife came to him after he became a Radio artiste. He had a large friends circle, who used to gather in his house. There were many Hindi and Punjabi films made in Lahore, but none of the composers thought of Rafi as a singer. Pt. Amarnath and Ghulam Hyder liked his voice and knew his talent. While shifting to Bombay, Ghulam Hyder invited Rafi to join him. Even from Bombay he sent him 2 calls. Finally on his second call, Rafi decided to shift to Bombay, lock stock and barrel, in 1945. In Bombay, till Jugnu-47 happened, Rafi sang few songs in films, but he made his living by singing in private Mehfils of wealthy Punjabis of Bombay.

Story of Rafi after Jugnu-47 is known widely. I just wanted to highlight his less known early days, before coming to Bombay. Some of this information is used from an article by H.S.Aujla in Apnaorg.

May be, because of his humble background and a struggle before he succeeded, he always had a soft corner for struggling composers. Unlike some other famous singers, he was always ready to help such composers, even if the money offered was below par. During his peak period also, poor B and C grade composers could approach Rafi with a request to sing their songs and Rafi rarely disappointed them.

Nissar Baazmi later went to Pakistan and became a big composer. Even Noorjehan and Mehdi Hassan considered it an honour to sing for him in Pakistan. As long as Nissar Baazmi was in India, he somehow remained a C-grade composer. And at the time he did Khoj, he was a nobody.

It was as a nobody in HFM that Baazmi approached Rafi to sing for the rendition of a composition for “Khoj”. He could only afford to pay Rs 50 to Rafi. Rafi charged Baazmi just the token Re 1. The result- Chanda ka dil toot gaya roney lage hain sitaare Just the shot in the arm that a struggling music director, as well as the lyricist (Raja Mehdi ali Khan) could have dreamed of !

Pandit Shivram was a small time composer as well. He too had only Rs 50 to offer Rafi for singing a song. In return, Rafi offered him as well as the music lovers this priceless song Daulat ke jhoothhe nashe mein ho choor (Oonchi Haweli)(1955) .

Rafi left his mark even in movies where Talat Mehmood was the main singer and Rafi got to sing sung one song. Take for instance Ghulam Mohammad composition Hai bas ki har ek unke ishare mein nishaan aur (Mirza Ghalib), S D Burman’s Manzil ki chaah mein (Devdas).

How Rafi could hold his own for a composer where other singers had given their best for him is tellingly illustrated in case of songs composed by Baabul. Manna Dey had sung two superb duets in in Reshmi Roomal, viz. Zulfon ki ghataa lekar saawan ki pari aayi (with Asha Bhonsle) and Aankh mein shokhi lab pe tabassum (with Suman Kalyanpur) . This movie also boasted the Talat Mehmood timeless classic Jab chaaye kabhi saawan ki ghata(Reshmi Roomaal)(1961). Mukesh too added his mite Reshmi Roomal through Gardish mein hon taare na ghabraanaa pyaare (Reshmi Roomaal) .

Next movie that Baabul got was “Naqli Nawaab” where the same hero Majoj Kumar was to lip sync the songs. Despite recording such awesome male playback songs in his previous movie, Babul switched to Rafi in “Naqli Nawaab”. Rafi was paid Rs 200 for this movie. The timeless classics that Rafi came up with were- Tum poochhte ho ishq balaa hai ke nahin hai (Naqli Nawaab) and Chheda jo dil ka fasaanaa( Naqli Nawaab) .

If Rafi’s created gems for Babul did the same for Babul’s erstwhile partner Bipin as well ! For Bipin Datta, Rafi sang Ye Bombay shahar ka badaa naam hai (Kya ye Bombay hai ?)

If music director Dulaal Sen is remembered today, then it is thanks to one “Black Prince”(1960) Rafi solo song viz. Nigaahein na phero chaley jaayenge ham (Black prince) .

C Arjun much later, told that he felt very proud that he had at least created a ghazal that could come somewhere near a Madan Mohan composition. I wanted special attention to this my coveted ghazal from my singer but all good singers available were bigger than the film for which I had composed it! revealed Arjun. It was with great hesitation, therefore, that I approached Rafi Saab to render my ghazal, so feelingly written by Indivar. And Rafi Saab, without bothering about the small payment we were in a position to make, said it was one of the best ghazals that had fallen to his lot and he would give it everything that he had.not ready to sing for a small time music director in a B grade movie. Rafi had no such qualms. He obliged C Arjun and came up with a rendition that ensured that this ghazal even till date in bracketed among the best ghazals of Hindi movies. This ghazal with Madan Mohanesque quality was Paas baitho tabeeyat bahal jaayegi (Punar Milan) .

Lala-Asad-Sattar three instrumentalists turned struggling music directors could get Rafi to sing for them and Rafi did what he always did- provided A grade song in a B grade movie-Main to tere haseen khayaalon mein kho gayaa (Sangram) .

Sapan Jagmohan made their debut as a music director duo with “Begaana”(1962). A good blueprint that the music director duo had created was converted into a memorable masterpiece by Rafi-Phir wo bhooli si yaad aayi hai(Begaana)(1963).

We have had many A grade compositions in B and C grade movies. A good number of such compositions are in Rafi’s voice and they came about because Rafi would put art before commerce and would sing for pittance no matter how “small” a movie or its music directors were. That is how we got Iqbal Quraishi’s composition Subah na aayi shaam na aayi(Cha Cha Cha) and Sonik-Omi offering Dono ne kiya tha pyaar magar(Mahua)(1969).

The Rafi touch could turn any disc into gold! The above information is based partly on an article written by Raju Bharatan for The Illustrated Weekly of India, Aug 93.

The music Director for film Oonchi Haveli-55 was Shivram or Pt. Shivram Krishna. He was one of those composers who could not get very famous, though he composed very well. Pt. Shivram Krishna was born at Jodhpur on March 22, 1927. He started learning music at the age of 8 under the tutelage of his father Master Tulsidas, who worked with Marwar Record Company, Jodhpur from 1934 onwards. He was later employed in the court of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umed Singh as a singer/musician. It was the name and fame of Khemchand Prakash that inspired him to try his luck in films. At the age of 16, he went to Lahore where he worked under Pandit Amarnath and Master Ghulam Haider for around three years, only to return to Jodhpur at the time of partition. From the year 1948 till 1950 he worked as a music director with His Masters Voice in Lucknow, and then made his way to Mumbai in 1951.

At Mumbai, Pt. Shivram was given his first break by V. Shantaram, who signed him for two of his films – Teen Batti Chaar Raasta (1953) and Surang (1953). The music of both the films was appreciated and the films became silver jubilee hits. Besides these, V. Shantaram gave him two more films in 1960 – ‘Phool Aur Kaliyan’ and ‘Kaale Gore’, the first winning the National Award for Best Children film, while the second remained unreleased. He used the voices of V. Shantaram’s daughters Charusheela and Madhura in children’s films.

Following the success of his initial films, Pt. Shivram caught the attention of Dhirubhai Desai and Nakhshab Jarchavi, who signed him for their next films, Oonchi Haveli (1955) and Raftaar (1955) respectively. The songs of these two films were also quite successful. Then came Sati Ansuya (1956), another film by Dhirubhai Desai that started the trend and literally sealed his fate as a composer of mythological films. Barring Naya Kadam (1958), a social drama, and Rangeela Raja (1960), a stunt film, and the two children films by V. Shantaram, all the films he got after Sati Ansuya were religious/ mythological films. In all, out of the 23 films he composed for, as many as 14 were religious/ mythological films.

Despite composing some good songs for these films, the success he got with his initial films could not be repeated given the limited popularity of such films and similarity in the genre of songs. Barring a few songs from Shravan Kuman (1960), Kan Kan Mein Bhagwan (1963) and Sati Naari (1965), most of the songs are all but forgotten. ‘Tum Naacho Ras Barse’ by Mahendra Kapoor in Sati Naari fetched Pt. Shivram the Swami Haridas Award in 1966.

The last two Hindi films of Pt. Shivram were Sampoorna Teerth Yatra (1970) and Mahapavan Teerth Yatra (1975), both of which have the unique distinction of featuring what could be the longest Hindi film songs, running 45 and 70 minutes respectively. Both these songs were about the various places of pilgrimage in India and were almost similar in tune and structure. Interestingly, he had also composed two more songs on similar lines in Durga Pooja (1962) and Kan Kan Mein Bhagwan (1963).

Pandit Shivram gave music for various regional languages such as Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Haryanvi, etc. He was the default composer for Rajasthani films all through the 1960s, starting with the first Rajasthani film Babasa Ri Ladli (1961). He also composed for several Marwari and classical music non-film albums. As a proficient Harmonium player, he teamed with table-nawaaz Ustaad Nizamuddin Khan to produce a classical album. Pandit Shivram was as good a vocal artist as he was a harmonium player. He sang in films like Oonchi Haveli, Rangeela Raja, Sati Ansuya, Badrinath Yatra, etc.

The lyricists Pt. Shivram worked with, were more or less decided by the films he worked in. While he worked with the likes of Asad Bhopali, Shevan Rizvi, Pyare Lal Santoshi, Nakhshab Jarchavi, etc. in his non-mythological films, predominantly ‘Hindi’ writers like Bharat Vyas, Kavi Pradeep, Neeraj, Madan Bharti and Pt. Indra wrote for his mythological films. Pt. Indra and Bharat Vyas were his prime contributors for Rajasthani films.

Pandit Shivram died in February 1980 leaving behind a family of musicians. His daughter Jayshree Shivram is a singer. Two of his sons, Jugal Kishore and Tilak Raj jointly composed for a few Hindi films, debuting with Bheegi Palkein (1983). His third son, Naveen Shivram had started his musical career with giving music for the serial Apnapan in 1999 and went to compose for a few small time Hindi films and some Rajasthani film and non-film albums as well. Another son, Mukesh, was also a composer and is no more. ( Information on Shivram, based on urgetofly.com and my notes.)

Now, here is a fun song from this film, sung by Rafi and chorus. Though Asha Bhosle’s name is also credited, I did not find any female voice in the song.
PS-Now Sadanand Kamath Jee has pointed out that this song is a two part song and Asha Bhonsle’s voice does appear in the second part of the song. So this song is a Rafi-Asha Bhonsle duet, after all.

Lyrics

baap gaaye thumri aur garba gaaye maiyya
jab aangna mein raas rachaenge ye rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhaiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya
bhabhi gaaye bhim palaasi drupad gaaye bhaiya
jab aangana mein raas rachaenge rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhaiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya

gol gol ye nagad narayan hove jiske paas
wo saare aalam ka baalam sab jan uske saath
ki duniya naak ragadti
ke duniya kaan pakadti
ki duniya jhuk jhuk kare salaam
baabuji parnaam
saahab ji salaam
seth ji raam raam raam raam raam
dekh ke saari duniya naache ta ta ta ta thhaiya
jab aangana mein raas rachaenge ye rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya

naram naram duniya laage jab garam garam ho jeb
rupaiye ki jhankaar mein bhaiya chhup jaate sab aeb
achcha
haha
zara dekh lo
ek hai saabat ek hai gaayab
ek khuli hai ek hoon hoon hoon
jaane saara gaam inko jaane saara gaam
par laxmi ki kirpa se inka kamalnayan hai naam
arre inka kamalnaian hai naam
ghuti hui hai khopadi
ghuti hui hai khopadi
par paas hai inke rokadi
safaachat sab baal uden
ye ganju ji ganjan hain
paisa inki aankh ka anjan
daanton ka manjan hai
par jeb kare jham jham to
inka naam keshranjan hai
ae bhaiyya inka naam keshranjan hai
ye kaaghji jawaan seena taan ke khade hue
ye laxmi ki duniya mein heere moti se jade huye
aa aa aa aa aa
dehradun ke cartoon
ye mahlon mein rahte
unchi haweli mein rahte
isiliye sab basti waale hastimal kahte
arre inko hastimal kahte
ke moorakh kahlaaye gyaani
ke phoohad kahlaaye raani
ki cheeku kahlaaye daani
ki ye sab rupye ki maaya
arey bhai waah waah waah waah waah
hoy besuri lugaayi bhi kahlaati hai suraiya
jab aangna mein raas rachaenge ye rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhaiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya

o jee o jee
aji aao jee
main teri nayi naweli naar
tu mera albela bhataar
kiya sab tere liye singaar
aji aa jee
ho ho ho ho
kaho meri kaisi ankhadiyaan
ke jaise gulaab ki pankhadiyaan
daant ki kaisi jyoti hai
seep mein jaise moti hain
seep mein jaise moti hain
aur mere sar ke kaise baal
aji in ne to kiya kamaal
ke jaise saawan ke baadal
ke jaise bhanwron ka ho dal
ke jaise nainon ka kaajal
haay re wai wai wai wai wai
meethe meethhe lagte hon jo panchhi se baraiyya
kab
jab aangna mein raas rachaaye re rupaiyya
ye chaandi ka kanhiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya
baap gaaye thumri aur garba gaaye maiyya
jab aangna mein raas rachaenge ye rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhaiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya

aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
maine laakhon ke bol sahe
chaandi ke chanda
haay re baandi ke banda
haaye re phaansi ke phanda
tere liye ae
maine laakhon ke bol sahe

saajan aaya hey sakhi
ee ee ee ee ee
waah waah waah
haan
kai manuhaar karo
thhal bhara gaz motiyaan aan
aur ooper nain dhara aa aa aa aa aa aa
ho chaandi ke chanda
haaye re baandi ke banda
haaye re phaansi ka phanda
tere liye ae
maine laakhon ke bol sahe

ikanni duwanni
chawanni athhanni
ikanni duwanni
chawanni athhanni
chhote mote maap hain
ki chhote mote maap hainhe
ye hain baal bachche iske
rupaiyya inka baap hai
rupaiyya inka baap hai
is kaljug ki duniya mein paar laage tab hi naiyya
jab aangna mein raas rachaenge ye rupaiya
ye chaandi ka kanhaiya ho chhan chhan chhan rupaiya