AJA RE PARDESI AND RAFI SAHAB

AAJA RE PARDESI

A lover of old Hindi melodies tells me that there is a song that was sought to be dropped out of a film but was retained at the creative stubborn insistence of Lata Mangeshkar. This song went on to be a classic and sends many of us into raptures even now, a full 53 years after the release of the film. The film is MADHUMATI and the song is Aja re pardesi!

AAJA RE PARDESI

This song was one of the highlights of the evening of Rafi songs at Chennai last week. Shruti Johari sang this song with a dulcet vioce though I must say that that the way Lata sings the word Aaja re has not been imitated by anyone else.

Anil Vajpayee started the concert with Ehsaan mere dil ka. Hamod Khan followed it up with Bade door se aaye hain pyaar ka . It was at this juncture that Anil came up with that romantic Rafi number that never fails to set many a heart aflutter—door rahkar na karo baat kareeb aa jaao. Anil brought out the gentleness in Rafi’s voice in this song and bettered it with the next song—Din Dhal jaye from ‘Guide’. Should you close your eyes anytime this song is sung well ,you cannot but recall Dev Saheb with that gentle nod of head ,that puff of hair and that debonair look—all enhanced by Rafi!

As a nod to those who like fast songs Anil and Hamid sang Chalkaye jam and Gulabi aankhen respectively. But what came next was heart warming-aapke hasin rukh mein aaj naya noor hai. Anil seems to revel in Rafi’s romantic numbers.

Just after Hamid’s rukh se zara naqaab came that personal favourite from Shruti RASIK BALMA from ‘CHORI CHORI ‘.I recall that afternoon when I saw this movie at a cinema hall in a small town in Orissa. Several viewers would switch on their radios to keep track of a cricket match at Kolkatta but the minute a song flashed on the screen the game took a back seat! Rasik balma received an applause in the hall that afternoon.

Shruti was not entirely in form but sang Rasik balma competently.

She went on to sing VADIYAN TERA DAMAN and a few other songs in duet but clearly this was not her day.

Her duet with Anil-jeet hi lenge baaji from ‘SHOLA AUR SHABNAM’ however was brilliant.

Anil sang Teri zulfon se and deewana hua pagal [with Shehnaaz, a forgettable performer] sar pe topi lal, kuch kehta hai ye saawan[with Shruti] .

Hamid Khan rendered VAADA KARLE SAJNA melodiously to the accompaniment of a splendid orchestra. Shehnaaz could not measure up to Hamid’s standards,

Rarely does one hear the next song that Hamid sang with Shruti—paon choo lene do from ‘Taj Mahal’. They sang this well and as softly as Rafi did in the original. Many may not know that Roshan the composer insisted that Rafi sing his song in a dulcet tone which Rafi did and left his song for us to treasure.

As the audience sough a fast number Hamid sang Jiya ho jiya ho jiya kuch bol do and this was followed by that sad song by Anil-Yeh duniya yeh mehfil a song that tells us of desperation and disgust. Patthar ke sanam was next and Hamid brought out the ‘Dharmendra’ tone that Rafi lent to the song. Two songs later came the song that the audience had been demanding for long CHAUDAVIN KA CHAND .Composer Ravi remarked that on a recent visit to Colombo he could hear hotels blaring this song a full half century after it was composed –such is the staying power of melody.

After this, to the delight of the audience that thirsted for more melody came that masterpiece Mere mehboob tujhe sung very melodiously by Anil. Unlike any other stage show I have attended the next song was that rarity—zindabad zindabad !As a nod to lovers Anil sang Tere dar pe aaya hoon and got us all into a fun mood with his next song—ye chand sa roshan chehra that got us all rocking to the way he sang TAARIF karoon!

Hamid with JAHAN DAAL DAAL PAR roused strong emotions in me especially when he began evocatively with GURUR BRAHMA , GURUR VISHNU ,GURUR DEVA MAHESHWARA. He sang from the bottom of his heart , Anil then infused a patriotic spirit with Kar chale hum fida from ‘Haqeeqat’ .In contrast he sang LAAL CHADI from ‘Jaanwar’ followed by BADAN PE SITARE

Ironically I read in the internet that Shammi Kapoor is criticaly ill and fighting for his life. Rafi sang many a masterpiece for this great original actor and we pray that he pulls through.

A word about Rafi sahib. My friend Ramachandran-Chennai’s ‘resident’ Rafi—had occasion to meet and sing before Kalyanji the surviving member of that classic duo. This composer shared with Ramachandran something that I had always held to be true. Unlike many other singers Rafi sang from the bottom of his stomach. The musically literate will tell you that this is how great singers sing ,and lesser singers restrict themselves to singing from the neck upwards. Any guesses about who fall into the latter category?

K.R.RAVI

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