Rafi – 1947 – Mehfil Mein Meri
Continuing yearly review of Rafi’s Hindi film songs, today I’m presenting the year 1947. When I went through the stats, I was taken aback a little! In comparison to 1946, Rafi had fewer songs. 28 in 1947 to 36 in 1946.The songs included 13 solos, 12 duets and 3 trios.
So in all, 16 films and 28 songs.But still the year had a few highlights as well.– He sang his first song with S D Burman and in the 50s the association was to bloom with a lot of memorable melodies– Rafi continued his association with C Ramchandra and was the main singer for the Ashok Kumar, Rehana starrer Saajan– He had an opportunity to sing with Noor Jahan, however it was his only duet with her for Hindi films– His first song for Dilip Kumar was also from Jugnu and later he became the preferred voice for Dilip Kumar– He also sang with Khurshid, who was a popular singer actress of the time– He sang for Dev Anand for the first time in 1947 for the film Aage Badho under the baton of Sudhir Phadke– He sang his first duet with Rajkumari in the year and later had 4 more songs in the forthcoming years.– He also had his 2nd screen performance in Jugnu– And last but not the least,He sang his first duet with Lata Mangeshkar. Though the song wasn’t great or popular, its historical importance can’t be overemphasized
Again, as with last year, this year also had a few unknown songs. At least I heard a few for the first time. I have selected 10 songs to highlight the year.
1. Yahan Badla Wafa Ka – Jugnu (1947) with Noorjahan / Firoz Nizami – Tanveer NaqviThe Dilip Kumar, Noorjahan starrer Jugnu was one of the major hits of the year and was Dilip Kumar’s first successful Hindi film. Rafi got an opportunity to sing a duet with Mallika e Tarannum. The film was released post partition and Rafi never got to sing with her again as she migrated to Pakistan. Rafi had this duet and a chorus based song to his credit in the film. As I said already it was the beginning of a long association of Rafi’s playback for Dilip Kumar.
The film Jugnu faced a lot of controversy as the elite class criticized it as being vulgar and portraying the youth of independent India in a wrong way. The film lost 28 minutes after it and still it proved to be the highest grosser of the year. After appearing in a cameo role in Laila Majnu in 1945, Rafi was again seen in a cameo in Jugnu and it was his last appearance on the silver screen. The list would have been incomplete without the song. It’s a delight to watch a young and smiling Rafi on the screen.
2. Woh Apni Yaad Dilane Ko – Jugnu (1947) with Chorus / Firoz Nizami – Asgar SarhadiThere are a lot of singers in the chorus who also get to sing a line or two independently. Rafi sings for himself, Dilip Kumar and a few more. It’s fun to watch a typical boy’s hostel or rather a dormitory! Rafi looks very young and the smile on his face is really worth watching.
3. Meri Aankhon Ke Taare – Aap Ki Seva Mein (1947) / Datta Davjekar – MahipalThe film is always remembered as Lata Mangeshkar’s playback debut in Hindi films with 3 solos to her credit. The film had 3 songs by Rafi including a solo and a couple of duets. He however had no duet with Lata Mangeshkar in the film. For today’s list I’ve chosen Rafi’s beautiful romantic solo. It’s not very popular, but has a good tune and melodious rendition by Rafi.
As I said, Rafi had no duet with Lata Mangeshkar in Aap Ki Seva Mein. But the same year saw them recording their first ever duet that marked the beginning of an era where they would sing more than 400 duets for Hindi films. Here’s their first duet from a not so well known film, Shadi Se Pehle.
4. Chalo Ho Gayi Taiyar – Shadi Se Pehle (1947) with Lata Mangeshkar / Paingankar & Karnad – Mukhram SharmaA delight to listen to this fun song! The man urges the lady to be ready while the latter has her own demands like chappals, a silk saree, and also a bicycle. The man is ready to offer sandals from Delhi, a gown from Paris and a motorcycle or even a car. The way Rafi sings ‘Khatt khatt khad Khatt khatt’ or ‘Furr furr furr’ is something that we won’t generally expect from him.A word about the composer duo, Paingankar-Karnad. Ramakant Paingankar was a musician in C Ramchandra’s team, who got associated with Karnad to compose for a few Hindi films. Most of the films were B grade.
C Ramchandra composed for Ashok Kumar and Rehana starrer ‘Saajan’ and Rafi had 6 songs to his credit including a couple of solos, a couple of duets with Lalita Deulkar and a couple of trios. It was the highest number of songs he had for a single film in that year. All the songs had a magical touch of C Ramchandra and for today’s list, let me add
5. Humko Tumhara Hi Aasra – Saajan (1947) / C Ramchandra – B A MotiI must confess that I had no idea about this song being a tandem song with Rafi’s solo and his popular duet with Lalita Deulkar. When I heard the solo version, I fell in love with it as it’s so in complete contrast to the duet version. This romantic solo was a completely refreshing experience for me.
6. Das Na Jaye Tujhko Zulfein – Malika (1947) / A R Qureshi – Tanveer NaqviWhile I was about to add one more song from Saajan, I finally settled for this solo from Malika. Rafi had already sung for A R Qureshi in the previous years as well. The song has a captivating rhythm and the aroma of romance lingers around it throughout.
7. Sawan Ki Ghataon – Aage Badho (1947) with Khurshid / Sudhir Phadke – Amar VermaAs I mentioned in the highlights section of the post, this was most probably Rafi’s first song for Dev Anand. His debut film ‘Hum Ek Hain’ had no songs by Rafi and out of his two releases in 1947, no information about the songs is available at present for the film Mohan.A cute romantic song picturised on Khurshid and Dev Anand. So this is most likely Rafi’s only song with Khurshid.
Coming to Rafi’s first song with S D Burman. The song is overshadowed by Geeta Dutt’s popular solos and perhaps that’s why not well known. But of course it was a must on today’s list keeping in mind its historical importance.
8. Duniya Mein Meri Aaj – Do Bhai (1947) / S D Burman – Raja Mehdi Ali KhanThe song is good actually, but couldn’t outshine the solos by Geeta Dutt. A lover reminiscing about his good old days and wishing for a better tomorrow alongwith a fear of what’s coming next! Rafi gives full justice to the song. Incidentally it was the only male solo of the movie. I couldn’t recognise the actor who lip syncs to Rafi’s voice. I think Rajan Haksar was opposite Kamini Kaushal and he has one duet picturised on him sung by G M Durrani.
After his debut in 1944, Rafi sang many duets with Shamshad Begum, Amirbai Karnataki, Mohantara Talpade. But this year saw him singing for the first time with Rajkumari. Rajkumari was one of the most popular singers of the 40s. But in the late 40s, unfortunately she couldn’t survive the Lata Mangeshkar tsunami.
9. Nainon Se Nain Lada Le – Shahkar (1947) with Rajkumari / K Datta – Aarzoo LakhanaviA cute romantic duet that is pleasant to listen to. Rafi, though still a newcomer, blends well with her singing.
Coming to the last song on today’s list. It’s composed by Naresh Bhattacharya, a lesser known name in Hindi films. I found that he composed for the film Daak Bangla as a sole composer, while Meera (1947) and Bihari (1948) also credit him as a co-composer. The popular songs of Meera (1947) were however credited to S Venkatraman. B R Chopra’s Shole (1953) also had a beautiful solo sung by Hemant Kumar which is credited to Bhattacharya. He also composed non film Hindi bhajans by Mukesh, which I believe are more popular than his Hindi film songs. Any additional information about him is most welcome.
10. Jab Baithe Baithe Dil Bhar Aaye – Daak Bangla (1947) / Naresh Bhattacharya – D N MadhokThe song talks about the signs and symptoms of falling in love. Very catchy tune and good orchestration. Rafi has nailed the song with perfect expressions.
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