Naushad and Rafi in the 60s.
Naushad was the one of the greatest musical genius India has produced in the last 60 years. In the 60s he reached his level of excellence where he could compose brilliant songs which could suit the sequences of different films. He used Rafi’s singing skills in the best manner that was possible.
In Ram Aur Shyam, Naushad composed songs for children like “aye hai baharen dekho” sung by Rafi and picturised on Dilip Kumar which amused the audience. The same film had brilliant composition like “aaj ki raat mere” where the lyrics of Shakeel Badayani were as brilliant as the performance of Rafi and Dilip Kumar.
In Mere Mehboob, the title song “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhabat ki kasam” Naushad used the grammer of ghazals and the other songs like “ai husn zara jag” were masterpieces where the lips of Rajender Kumar were as brilliant as the playback of Rafi. In Leader the songs “tere husn ki kya tareef karun”, “ek shahenshah ne banwake hasee tajmahal”, “apni azaadi ko hum hargese mita sakte nahi” had classical ragas, patriotic passion, everything embedded in them. Dilip Kumar and Rafi were brilliant in their individual performances.
In Aadmi, the songs “na aadmi ka koi bharosha”, “aaj purani rahon par” were landmark hits where Rafi was exceptional and Dilip Kumar was sublime. Similarly Naushad gave his best in the film Dil Diya Dard Liya, where the songs “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “sawan aye ya na aye”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi” where classical masterpieces, where Rafi and Dilip Kumar complimented each other.
Naushad composition were equally brilliant in the film Kohinoor, were Rafi’s song “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat”, were exceptional. Even Naushad brought in Bhojpuri flavour in the song “nain lad jaihe” in the film Ganga Jumna, where Rafi used rural accent for Dilip Kumar.
Naushad and Rafi became an institution by themselves and explored in the 60s. Tragedy King Dilip Kumar dominated bollywood films for more than 30 years, so had given adequate expression in the songs of Rafi composed by Naushad. The songs and the films should be preserved for their immense musical value.
