PART 3: MOHAMMED RAFI AND THE NINETEEN FORTIES.

A Humble Tribute to the Greatest Playback Singer of all times – by Nasir.

By 1944, lots of things were happening on the filmy scene. Dadasaheb Phalke, the “Father of Indian Cinema” died. Mumbai began to attract the Punjabi musicians. With the exception of Pandit Govind Ram and Pandit Amar Nath, the other musicians of Lahore such as Master Ghulam Haider who left Pancholi Arts, Shyam Sunder, Feroze Nizami, Khurshid Anwar, Hansraj Behl, Rashid Atre , and Pandit Husnlal-Bhagatram who were the younger brothers of Pandit Amar Nath, came over to Mumbai.

Devika Rani selected a youthful peshwari Pathan named Yusuf Khan for a role in Jwar Bhata. Devika Rani who had earlier named Mumtaz as Madhubala, launched him as Dilip Kumar for that was one of the three names selected for Yusuf Khan. This name, Dilip Kumar, was to cast a magical spell of its own for three generations.

The Jwar-Bhata song by Arun Kumar, SANJH KEE BELAA PANCHEE AKELAA, was a hit. Anil Biswas who provided the music also sang a song, and others included Manna Dey, Parul Ghosh, Amirbai, Surendra, and C.Ramchandra.

Some other popular songs were by Raj Kumari in Panna, Amirbai in Bharthari, and Manju in Chaand. Manju’s song in Chaand, DO DILON KO YEH DUNYAA was the first hit of Husnlal-Bhagatram who had also made their debut. With their lilt and rhythm they popularised the Punjabi folk tunes. More on this later. Around this time, Hemant Kumar recorded his debut song in Hindi in Iraada for music director Amarnath.
 Bulo C. Rani made his musical debut in Pagli Duniya. Another great musical hit was Meri Bahen. K.L. Saigal’s DOH NAINA MATWAARE and KYAA MAINE KIYAA HAI among other songs are the more memorable ones. Pankaj Mullick was the music director.

Noor Jahan gave hit songs, including BADNAAM MOHABBAT KAUN KARE under Sajjad Hussain in Dost.  Speaking of which, it may be mentioned here that Sajjad Hussain was one of the most promising music directors of the Indian Screen but for the fact that his eccentricity and to live life on its own term in the environment,  where sycophancy is a norm, did him in so that in his career of 20 years he remained without work most of the time and could do only 14 movies, ending with Rustom Sohrab (1963).  He spared no one.  He called Talat Mehmood as Ghalat Mehmood, Kishore Kumar as Shor Kumar and had a tiff even with Lata Mangeshkar telling her to be careful since his was not just a Naushad's tune.  Some eight years later, he did not bother even about Dilip Kumar during the making of Sangdil (1952) so that they never worked together again - which was clearly to the advantage of Naushad.   D.N. Madhok who was a multi-talented person and who was specially noted as a lyricist who often composed music for his songs and did not mind if  any music director used his tunes,  found himself at the receiving ends at the hands of Sajjad Hussain who told him to stick to his job of a lyricist!  Though the story belongs to the next decade, I cannot but help mentiioning that Sajjad Hussain outrightly accused Madan Mohan of lifting the tune of his YEH HAWAA YEH RAAT YEH CHAANDNI for the latter's TUJHE KYAA SUNAAOON DILRUBA (Rafi's famous song in Aakhri Dao).  I happened to listen to Madan Mohan's composition in Woh Kaun Thi (1963) SHOKH NAZAR KI BIJLIYAAN when I was reminded of Sajjan Hussain's 1946  composition in the movie named, 1857 sung by Surendra and Suraiya:  TERI NAZAR MEIN MAIN RAHOON at least the beginning line.    It appears that Madan Mohan thus did admire the maestro.  That Sajjad Hussain was a genius has never been doubted.  Anil Biswas dubbed him as the most original composer.    Some of the movies in which Mohammed Rafi gave the playback to his compositions are Roop Lekha (1949), Maghroor (1950) in Hulchal,  Saiyyan (both 1951) and Rustom Sohrab (1963).

Coming back, the year 1944 clearly belonged to Naushad for his trend-setting musical compositions in Rattan, starring Swarnlata and Karan Dewan, which was directed by M. Sadiq. The songs penned by D.N. Madhok and sung by Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnatki, Manju, Karan Dewan, and Shyam Kumar, were highly popular. Just hear the beats in MILKE BICHHAD GAYEE ANKHIYAN (Amirbai)!
The superhit duet, O JAANEWAALE BAALAMWAA (Amirbai and Karan Dewan) is parodied in the 1965 flick Padosan where the hero who is a non-singer finally settles down to sing this number to win the heart of his beloved, Saira Banu. Old timers surely remember that ANKHIYAA.N MILAA KE, JIYAA BHARMAA KE of Zohrabai, where the beloved tries to prevent her lover from leaving. The movie as a whole, had such an impact on young girls of impressionable age that many of them were emboldened to elope with their young lovers. The signs of Life imitating Art had begun for the better or worse. No more the puritan standards of the Thirties, not withstanding the smouldering smooch of Devika Rani and Himansu Rai in Karma (1933)! Rattan was a box-office hit across the nation, with everyone humming or singing its song. S.D. Burman was to find his formula for success when he heard his servant singing a Rattan’s number, JAB TUM HI CHALE PARDES LAGAAKAR THESS... Though annoyed at first, he soon realised that it’s the simplicity of the song that makes it popular. Thereafter, he would hum his tunes to his servants and obtain their feedback. This struggler was thus able to obtain a firm foothold in Mumbai thereafter with a thundering success for decades to come.

In April that year, two heavy explosions occurred, one after the other, when a ship, SS Stikine,  carrying wartime munitions such as torpedoes, shells, mines and 1,395 tons of explosives along with inflammable material, such as cotton, barrels of oil, and timber along with  and gold bullions worth 890,000 Pounds Sterling, caught fire. The explosions rocked the Victoria Harbour of the Bombay Docks, killing 800 people and scattering the debris around.  Since World War II was ongoing, people thought it was the work of sabotage or that Japan had bombarded Mumbai. But the explosions were accidental around which many tales have been woven. Many firemen who rushed to the scene after the first explosion had pay with their lives when the second explosion took place after some time. Eye-witnesses tell us that the impact was such that those who were on the scene of the incident had their heads severed by the impact.  Eye-witnesses who came later even chanced to see the bodies of headless firemen running around in the line of duty. Owing to the explosions, many other ships were destroyed. Gold bullions from the ship flew all around, either sinking in the waters or falling in the homes of the nearby residents. A 28-lb gold bullion was found a mile away from the accident site.

The above incident fanned the fear that the Japanese would be coming to the Mumbai shore. The Japanese did not come but the fear resulted in a mass exodus of people from Mumbai. Ghulam Haider’s musicians too made their exits to Lahore and no amount of coaxing, salary advance or double-salary, and secured shelter could hold them back.   It was also reported the explosion wiped out the home and belongings of Baby Mumtaz (Madhubala, then aged 11 but was already into the films) and she and her family luckily escaped the death or injuries,  as all the members of the family were away at a cinema-hall at that time. 

This incident left an impact on Naushad Saab, so that two decades later he explored it as the theme for his 1967 movie, Palki, where the hero is given up for dead in the explosions. In passing, it may be mentioned here that the incident was predicted three days in advance by a naked faqir known as Nange Shah Baba. This faqir who had never spoken before suddenly began shouting, “Bhaago Bhaago” as a warning to the residents around. The faqir lies buried in the Chhota Sonapur Qabrastan of Mumbai.

Gul Baloch the Punjabi movie, which had featured the first filmy song of Rafi with Zeenat Begum was released in 1944. Now with the bulk of musical talent having shifted to Mumbai, it was time for Mohammed Rafi too to follow suit. When Mohammed Rafi migrated to Mumbai sometime in July 1944, little did he himself realize that his immigration from Lahore to Mumbai was to catapult him in future as not only the best playback singer but also the most revered one of the sub-continent.

NASIR

Continued...4

MOHAMMED RAFI AND THE NINETEEN FORTIES - PART 1.

A Humble Tribute to the Greatest Playback Singer of all times – by Nasir.

In order to appreciate the genius of the Indian Legendary Singer, Mohammed Rafi, a very brief survey of the Indian Cinema during the Nineteen Forties becomes imperative. Regional cinema is out of the purview.

Dada Saheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra (1913) was the first silent movie in India, with no synchronised sounds or dialogues. Some of the well-known actors of the time were Patience Cooper, Ruby Myers (Sulochna), and Renee Smith (Sita Devi), Zubeida, Fatima Begum, Master Vithal, Master Nisar, and Prithviraj Kapoor. Improvements in technology and the synchronisation of the sound with the pictures, heralded the end of the silent-movie era. Alam Ara, the first “talkie” film in India, was released in Mumbai’s Majestic Cinema in 1931. Its producer, Ardeshir M. Irani is therefore considered to be the father of the “talkie” film. Zubeida was the leading lady. It had the first song of the Indian cinema, DE DE KHUDA KE NAAM PAR, by W.M. Khan who acted as a faqir. It was recorded live, accompanied with a Tabla and a Harmonium. The arrival of sound had serious implications for the entire generation of film-makers, technicians and artists who could not adapt themselves to the new system. Many studios closed down. Now only those actors or actresses could be employed in films who, besides their acting talent, could also deliver dialogues and sing many songs. The Anglo-Indians were the worst hit as they could not speak fluent Urdu or Hindi. Many actors of the silent era lost their job since they could not sing.



There was no playback system. Direct recording meant that the actors had to act as well as sing. The many retakes would leave them dead tired to do either the singing or the acting as desired, with the mircrophones being hidden with great imagination from the camera. Not to speak of the perspiration and the repeated dabbing of the make-up on the singing artiste who had to even sing louder to reach the overhead mike without being able to hear the orchestra fully. At times, the microphone, the instrumentalists and the camera had to follow the walking singer.

During the silvern age of the Nineteen Thirties, the Bombay Talkies, Prabhat, Wadia Movietone, and New Theatres ruled supreme. These Houses employed the artistes mainly on a monthly salary. Some of the reputed names of the talkie-films were Devika Rani, Shobhana Samarth, Leela Chitnis, Durga Khote, Shanta Apte, Sadhna Bose, Padma Devi and Kananbala, as well as Ashok Kumar, P.C. Barua, Prithviraj Kapoor and others. It was also the era of the “Fearless” Nadia who performed daring stunts in Homi Wadia’s movie. Her name became synonymous with her role in Hunterwali which is remembered to this day.

With the dawn of Saigal era (1932-1947) new techniques evolved that could allow the actors to just mimic the off-camera song that had already been recorded in the voice of the playback singer. Even here, the songs used to be played on the loudspeakers for the actors to mimic the songs. These songs could also be broadcast on the radio and also made into flat discs called “records” whose production, by 1931, was in the hands of a a single record company, EMI.

It was R.C. Boral (d.1981), a stalwart of the New Theatres at Calcutta, who had introduced the first playback singing for a movie called Dhoop Chhaaon (Bhagyachakra in Bengali version) in 1935. Punkaj Mallick, his colleague and an all-round figure, had earlier made his debut as Music Director in Yahudi ki Ladki (1933) and introduced the use of western instruments such as piano and accordion in songs and also introduced the background musical score to enhance the action, the mood and the tempo of the film scenes, just as Naushad was to mix the clarinet, the flute and other musical instruments and improve the background music. The Thirties could boast of many fine movies that included Shantaram’s Amrit Manthan (1934), Bombay Talkies’ Achhut Kanya (1936), Mehboob Khan’s Ek Hi Rasta and Aurat (1939), and Minerva Movietone’s Pukar (1939). It was also the time when there were many gramophone stars. A 1938-movie was even named Gramophone Singer (Music Anil Biswas) which had K.L. Saigal.

By 1940, many gramophone stars who could not make it to the film music as playback singers soon lost their standing in the music world. In the Forties, some memorable films were made such as Shantaram’s Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani, K.A. Abbas’s Dharti Ke Lal, Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar, Uday Shankar’s Kalpana, Mehboob Khan’s Roti, Wadia’s Court Dancer, Sohrab Modi’s Sikandar and Prithvi Vallabh, Raj Kapoor’s Aag and Barsaat, and Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya and Bharat Milap.

Mumbai had the lineup of highly professional music directors such as Shyam Sunder, Khemchand Prakash, Timir Baran, R.C. Boral, Datta Kogaonkar, Husnlal-Bhagatram, Sajjad, Naushad, Ghulam Haider, Hansraj Behl, Khursheed Anwar, Vinod and Anil Biswas. It was usual for the orchestras to be on the exclusive payroll of the individual music director. Mumbai had replaced Calcutta as the leading film city of India and had become the base of composite culture where a new amalgam of music was born.

Naushad Ali of Lucknow, who had made his debut in Prem Nagar in 1940, brought the fusion of Hindustani music and the classical ragas and introduced many innovations in his musical compositions and system of recording. If Ghulam Haider had the opportunity of introducing Baby Noor Jahan in Gul-e-Bakavli a Punjabi movie of 1939, as Baby Noor Jahan, and later in 1941 as a playback singer in Pancholi Art Pictures’ super-hit, Khanzanchi, Naushad too, made the 13-year old Suraiya playback in his second movie, Sharda, for the heroine Mehtab. Pandit Amarnath had discovered Zeenat Begum of the Gul Baloch fame (S.Mohinder). Around this time, Mukesh and Habib Tabani (Habib Wali Mohammed) won the audition test meant for aspiring singers. It was for Meena Kumari to appreciate the Ghazals of Habib and play them on Radio Ceylon, thus making Habib a celebrity in the mid-forties. Around 1941, Ghulam Haider “changed the complexion of the Indian film music” especially with the stretching and breaking of the lyrics to enhance the beauty and the weight of the rhythm and giving peculiar charm to his musical compositions. He introduced the Dholak and other instruments in films. Ghulam Haider employed ‘Taals’ (beats) very prominently in his films, including Khazanchi (1941), Khandan (1942), Zameendar (1942) and Poonji (1943).

The playback singing in the movies gained ground and by the mid-forties it became predominant. According to Naushad, initially, in the early forties, a single mike was meant to be used by singers as well as the musicians who used to take turn coming to the mike and doing their bits. Besides, the mike called “Fedler Tone” needed the heat of the fire before it could function. No sound-proof recording studios existed. Recordings were done in the parks at the dead of night so that there was no disturbance or echo.

As before, music, songs and dance, became an integral part of Indian films, as they also pushed the film-story ahead and could portray the inmost emotions of the performers who could now not be bothered about singing their songs on-screen. The songs could either make or break a movie. The genres of romantic songs, patriotic numbers, the sad songs or laments, devotional songs, the ghazals and the qawwalis were recorded, once the scenes were finalised in most of the cases. The fragrance of folk songs came from the soils of Rajasthan, Bombay Province (i.e. Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kutch, and Maharashtra), and the United Province (U.P.). All this and the Rabindra Sangeet of Bengal, found their way to the home of the common man through films and gramophone records and through the radio stations as and when they came to be established. New technology also made it possible to have the songs released before the movies, which in fact worked as an ad. New talents in the fields of music, singing, acting, and producing and directing movies came to the fore, impacting on the socio-culture of the indigenous population that extended from the Hindukush mountains to the Brahmaputra river and beyond so that a time came when the heroine could sing, MERE PIYA GAYE RANGOON WAHAAN SE KIYA HAI TELEPHOON... Yes, Rangoon, where Indians formed half of the city’s population.

At least till 1942 the singing actors held on to their own since there was a dearth of the playback singers. Ashok Kumar used to sing his own songs with heroines such as Devika Rani, Leela Chitnis, etc., in early career. Some of his famous songs are: MAI.N BAN KI CHI.DIYA sung along with Devika Rani(Achut Kanya -1936), CHAL CHAL RE NAUJAWAAN (Bandhan – 1940), NAA JAANE KIDHAR AAJ MEREE NAAV CHALI RE (Jhoola – 1941), and his songs with Leela Chitnis in the same movie; BOLO HAR HAR MAHADEV ALLAHO AKBAR (Chal Chal Re Naujawan – 1941) to name just a few. Many times there used to be different versions of the same song: one in the film by the actor, and on the record it used to be the playback singer as happened in the case of Ashok Kumar in Kismet when Anil Biswas made Arun Kumar playback for him.

Some of the singers of the decade between the Nineteen Thirties to the ‘Forties were: K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, R.C. Boral, Pahadi Sanyal, Ashok Kumar, K.C. Dey (Manna Dey’s uncle), Mumtaz Ali (Mehmood’s father), Arun Kumar, Ahmed Dilawar, Bashir Qawwaal, Master Parshuram, S.N. Tripathy, Balwant Singh, Minu the Mystic, R.C Pal, Vishnupant Pagnis, Kantilal, Master Suresh, Govindrao Tembe, Akbar Khan Peshawari, Eruch Tarapore, Utpal Sen, Rafiq Ghaznavi who was also a composer, Ashraf Khan the actor-singer, Pradeep who continued to sing and write lyrics for at least three decades thereafter. Some other singers were: Kamla Jharia, Indubala, Shanta Apte, Gauhar Sultana, Umrao Zia Begum, Saraswati Rane, Hameeda Banu, Kaushalya, Rehmat Banu, Zeenat Begum, Bina Chowdhary and Munawwar Sultana. Filmy ghazals were popularised by Ameerbai Karnataki, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Kajjan, Jaddanbai, Goharbai and K.L. Saigal. Non-filmi ghazals were rendered by Akhtaribai Faizabadi (Begum Akhtar), Jankibai, Kamla Jharia and Malika Pukhraj.

Some other singers who were mainly in the Forties and whose songs were commonly heard in the Fifties were G.M.Durrani, Surendra, Shyam Kumar, Jagmohan, Khan Mastana, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnatki, Noor Jahan, Suraiya, Raj Kumari, Shamshad Begum, Shanta Apte, Meena Kapoor, S.D. Batish, Lalita Dewulkar, and Surinder Kaur.

Coming to the contemporaries of Mohammed Rafi, we have Talat Mehmood, who had popularised light ghazals and was known for his “velvety or silken voice.” Manna Dey was known for his “manly” voice and great classical background and the ability to take down the musical notations. Mukesh who belonged to the Saigal School was excellent in low tones; Kishore Kumar was an actor who could sing. C. Ramchandra was the music director who could sing. Hemant Kumar, who had been singing since 1937 in Bengal, was known for his heavy-moulded and sonorous voice. He too was a musician. C.H. Atma who had deep voice like Saigal’s made his debut in 1945. These were the stiffest male competition that Mohammed Rafi had to face and overcome. The others who would keep him company would be Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Geeta Dutt, Sudha Malhotra, Suman Kalyanpur, and a few others.

NASIR
Continued:2.