Dharmender and Rafi combination in the 60s.
Dharmender had a grand combination with musical maestro Mohammad Rafi which contributed the most in the major part of his acting career which glorified bollywood films for more than 40 years. Dharmender and Rafi’s combination was unique for a number of reasons. Firstly Dharmender was not attached to any big banner in the early part of his career like Dilip Kumar with Bimal Roy or Shammi Kapoor with Shakti Shamanta. Secondly Dharmender played prominent roles opposite senior actors in many films in the early part of his career like Balraj Sahani in Haqeekat, Rajender Kumar in Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Raj Kumar in Kajal, to name a few. For those reasons, different composers composed music in the films of Dharmender and most of them were sung by great Rafi Sahab.
In the film Shola Aur Shabnam, composer Khayyam’s soft passionate compositions for Rafi were given adequate expression by Dharmender, like “dhunti yeh ankhen mujhme”, “jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum”, “pehle to aankh milna”, “phool ko dhoonde pyaasa bhawra”. The lyrics of Kaifi Azmi touched the hearts of numerous film lovers. In the film Neela Akash, all the songs composed by Madan Mohan for Rafi were brilliant including “aakhri geet muhobbat ka sunalun”, “pyar who shaye hai aye mere yaaron” and “aapko pyaar chupane ki buri aadat hai”.
In the film Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi, Rafi’s ghazal “aap ki haseen rukh” composed by OP Nayyar and picturised on Dharmender was extremely romantic and made the audience spellbound in the early 60s. In the film Yakeen, the title song “yakeen karlo”, “baharon ki baraat aa gayi” and “ghar tum bhula na doge” composed by Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi had all its romantic appeal embedded other than the melodious orchestration.
In the film Mere Humdum Mere Dost, all the songs of Rafi composed by LP for Dharmender including “hui sham unka”, “na jaa kabhi aab na ja” and “chalkaye jam” were masterpieces which became super hit in the mid-60s. All the songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Pyar Hi Pyar for Rafi became super hit including “mai kahin kavi na banjayun”, “abhi salaamat abhi hai zinda”, “dekha hai teri aankhon me”, “tu meri mai teri”, etc. Roshan’s composition for Dharmender in the film Mamta titled “in baharon me akela na phiro” also became super hit.
In the 70s, as RD Burman and SD Burman used other singers for Dharmender, the evergreen combination of Rafi with Dharmender was seen in lesser number of films. But the films and the songs of the hit combination should be preserved.
