This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Today is the 33rd death anniversary of Mohammad Rafi. Or Rafi saab, as he is referred to, by many of his fans, including myself.
So what are my thoughts today?
It is already 33 times now that we have had occasion to deal with Rafi saab’s death anniversary. One would think that by now, it would be just another date in the calendar. A date that we might remember as his death anniversary but not think too much about him.
And one would be wrong.
Because with Rafi saab, the connection of many of his fans – and that includes me – goes more than just “oh, it’s his death anniversary today, let’s play some songs of his”. Ok, maybe I shouldn’t speak for others here, but speaking for myself, on the 31st of July every year, I do think a lot about Rafi saab – and not just about his songs. I think about him as a person, about his legacy, about how much love and respect he receives even today. Somehow, thinking about him, makes me feel closer to him.
I’ve written many times about Rafi saab on this blog. Besides, there’s a whole lot of information about him available in the public domain. I will not therefore repeat what’s already out there.
For me, Rafi saab goes beyond just being an outstanding singer. That he was outstanding, not many will dispute. And those who do, will not find me engaging in debate with them. For it would be futile to do so.
But we have been fortunate to have had many outstanding singers. And I do not wish to compare Rafi saab with any of the others. For, to me, they are all legends in their own right and we do them great injustice to them by pitting one against the other.
For me, what Rafi saab stands for is more than just a singer. He stands for a value system, a way of life, a mindset that I wish we see more of, in our lives today. And that I wish I could emulate too.
For all the accolades that came his way, Rafi saab remained a very humble person, right to his last day. He could so easily have been arrogant and had people dancing to his tune. They would have danced – they needed him more than he needed them. Yet, he never acted as if he was superior to anybody.
OP Nayyar, in an interview, spoke of how Rafi saab came to him to patch up a difference they had had. A few years earlier, Rafi saab had been late for a recording. He had got delayed at a Shankar Jaikishen recording. Though he’d apologized to OP, somehow OP got ruffled (OP had quite an ego), and they didn’t work for a while. OP began using Mahendra Kapoor as Rafi saab’s replacement, something that OP admitted that professionally he was not happy about. But his ego prevented him from trying to patch up with Rafi saab.
Finally it was Rafi saab who approached OP to try to patch up things. He need not have – they were both successful in their own ways. But that was Rafi saab – humble as ever, no giant ego.
Yes, we could learn from Rafi saab about humility.
Given how popular he was, Rafi saab could have demanded terms with music directors and producers. They knew that how much having his songs in their movies meant for the movie’s and music’s success chances. Yet, he wasn’t a mercenary or opportunist – he never exploited composers. On the contrary, he helped many a small composer by singing songs for them. He would maybe take a token Re 1 as fee. We are also familiar with his stand on the royalty issue which demonstrates his views quite clearly.
Yes, we could learn from Rafi saab about money not being the be-all and end-all of life. And about being of help to others, if you can.
Rafi saab, inspite of his busy schedule, tried to find time to spend with his family. On basic things like perhaps playing badminton with his children. He tried to have a balance in life – it was not always easy, but he tried. Even now, his children remember him fondly for the personal memories, more than just his songs.
Yes, we could learn from Rafi saab that work is not everything. It is very important, no doubt, but it needs to be balanced with a personal life and caring for those who love, or, depend on you.
Speaking of work, although Rafi saab was very successful, he never compromised on his rigorous riyaaz. For an artiste is as good as his last performance. During the late 60s, when suddenly Rafi saab was overshadowed by Kishore, he himself admitted that he had perhaps, for once, taken his success for granted.
Yes, we could learn from Rafi saab that whatever we take up, we need to have passion and dedication towards it if we wish to be successful at it. And success can be ephemeral – so to remain successful, we need to continue to work hard at it.
Rafi saab was a devout Muslim in terms of practising his faith. And yet he seemed just as comfortable with non-Muslims, celebrating and enjoying all the diversity that India has to offer.
Yes, we could learn from Rafi saab about what being part of a pluralistic society really means.
We could learn all of this – and much more from Rafi saab.
That is why for me, Rafi saab was far more than just an outstanding singer. He was a rare embodiment of virtue – that also explains to some extent why he was so loved. And still is.
Sometime in 2009, on a whim, I sent an e-mail to Shammi Kapoor. Amongst other things, I said “I never got a chance to interact with Rafi saab, I hope I get a reply from you”. I got a reply within a few minutes. A short reply – but I was very happy to get a reply. I think this line might have clinched it. Shammi Kapoor had huge respect for Rafi saab – so maybe this line struck a chord. I still have the e-mail in my inbox.
In many ways, remembering Rafi saab on his death anniversary is so much more than just remembering his songs. It is an occasion for us to reflect on the person he was.
Ok, now onto the song for the occasion.
This time, I’ve picked a song that I heard for the first time only a few days ago. I was searching the net for Rafi saab songs – and came across a song from a film “Niyaaz aur Namaaz” (1977).
That was a qawwali – which I quite liked. I initially wanted to post that song here since it’s not been posted. In fact, no song of this film has been posted yet, so the film is making a debut on this blog today.
I usually like to see the film for which I’m doing a song write-up. It helps me to put some context to the song. So I decided to watch this film, which was available on youtube.
And I discovered another Rafi saab song – which I also liked a lot. Of the two, I decided to go with this second song now. It is a devotional song “Aye mominon”, which talks about the importance and process of niyaaz.
I must confess that this was new to me – and if I have made any mistake in either the lyrics, or in understanding the concept, I apologize. I might be a bit out of my depth here, please feel free to correct me.
First, a little bit about the film. I’d never heard of the film before – and started watching it with zero expectations. I guessed it would be a religious Muslim film, the title itself being pretty obvious about this.
The cast of the film told me, the film starred Parikshat Sahni and Zaheera – that, to be honest, was not particularly encouraging. And I’m anyway not very much a “religious film” watcher.
But the two songs I’d listened to impressed me a lot, so I did want to see the movie. So I pressed on.
And I am glad I did. In a nutshell, I was very pleasantly surprised.
Ok, so my expectations were anyway zero but this film had a lot in terms of storyline – far more than I expected. (Storyline to me is very important – far more than star cast).
The essence of the story is to show how, if you work hard and have faith in God, then even if you go through difficult times sometimes, eventually it will all work out and you will be rewarded for your hard work and belief in God.
Atheists may not agree with this message – but it is a film and I do not want to make this a discussion about religion.
The film also stars a lot of character actors – Roopesh Kumar is the villain, Keshto Mukherjee his henchman. Then we have Manmohan Krishna, Jeevan, Lalita Pawar, Leela Mishra, Asit Sen, Sapru, Rajan Haksar, Sonia Sahni, Naaz, Padma Khanna – so quite an assortment of well-known character actors.
And there was a fair spattering of Urdu – and oh, how I love this language! I can watch any show for Urdu alone – so while the storyline itself kept me interested, the Urdu was certainly the icing on the cake.
Or maybe that icing was Zaheera. I was pleasantly surprised to see her look really good in this movie. And her acting too, was much better than I’ve seen in some other Zaheera movies.
All in all, a fairly enjoyable movie – with good songs. I discovered a couple of other songs also which I liked.
The song for today comes in two parts.
The first part is when Zaheera (Razia) is doing niyaaz for the well-being of her husband, Parikshat Sahni (Salim). They are extremely poor – Salim has therefore gone to a foreign land to try to earn some money there. Back at home, Razia is being harassed by one and all, especially Roopesh Kumar, who has his evil eye on her.
Somebody has suggested to Razia that she should do niyaaz for the well-being and early return of her husband. So she does so. And of course, things turn for the better for Salim in the foreign land. He comes into great wealth and returns rich, much to Razia’s happiness.
There’s much more to the story than this – there’s a throne-usurping conspiracy as well (these are always fun, aren’t they?).
Anyway, all ends well – and the second part is right at the end, where everybody celebrates.
I will now leave you with the song. I thought it was appropriate for multiple reasons.
One, it is the holy month of Ramzan right now.
Two, I wanted this movie to also make its debut on this blog.
Three, I think Rafi saab’s voice is just so good here. He was outstanding in all sorts of songs but I think when it came to devotional songs, he outdid himself. He seems to have immersed himself completely in the devotional process and the result is there for all to see.
Mind you, this was 1977 – so the fag end of his career. He was making his comeback of sorts, after a somewhat lean eight years. This song, like some of his other songs in his comeback phase, only make us feel he had so much more to offer us even in this phase. It was just so sad that he was snatched away from us at a relatively young age of 56.
Anyway, I will now leave you with this song. I like it a lot and I think you will like it too.
Singers: Mohammad Rafi & chorus
Lyricist: Anjum Jaipuri
Music: Shamji Ghanshyamji
Part-1
Part-2
Song-Ae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki (Niyaaz Aur Namaaz)(1977) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Anjum Jaipuri, Md-Shamji Ghanshamji
Chorus
Lyrics
——————————–
(Part-1)
———————————
Baeesvin Rajab ki ghadi rehmaton ki hai
Koondon ki ye niyaaz badi barkaton ki hai
ae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
ae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
ae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Hasnain ke wo laadle ae ae
Hasnain ke wo laadle,
Jaafar hai unka naam
Jaafar hai unka naam
Sadiq Laqab hai aate hain duniya mein sab ke kaam
Aate hain sabke kaam
Zahra ke aur Ali ke dulaare wohi to hain
Pyare Nabi ki aankh ke tare wohi to hain
Taare wohi to hain
Unse hi aabroo hai ae ae ae
Unse hi aabroo hai,
khuda ke kalaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
eae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Milti hai is niyaaz se ae ae ae
milti hai is niyaaz se,
har ik ko raahatein
har ik ko raahatein
hoti hain door fazl-e-khuda se museebatein
Gham aur museebatein
jo ye niyaaz dil se adab se dilaayega
ho jaayega nihaal muraadein wo paayega
muraadein wo paayega
tadbeer is se banti hai ae ae ae
tadbeer is se banti hai har bigde kaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Aye mominon niyaaz dilao imaam ki
jab ye niyaaz ghar mein ae ae
jab ye niyaaz ghar mein,
dilaaye koi bashar
dilaaye koi bashar
do paak saaf koondein wo laaye khareed kar
wo laaye khareed kar
bhar de wo kheer ek mein, aur ik mein pooriyaan
phir panjhetan ke laal ka dil se kare bayaan
dil se karen bayaan
barkat hai unke naam mein ae ae
barkat hai unke naam mein,
Maula ke naam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Ali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Ali makaam ki
ae mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Vaada kiya hai hazrat-e ae ae
Vaada kiya hai hazrat-e-Jaafar ne mominon
Jaafar ne mominon
Koondon ki ye niyaaaz dilaata rahega jo
Dilaata rahega jo
Poori na ho sakey agar uski muraad to
Daaman ho mera hashr mein aur uska haath ho
Aur uska haath ho
Allah laaj rakhega aa aa aa
Allah laaj rakhega mere makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Ali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Ali makaam ki
Aye mominon niyaaz dilao imaam ki
—————————————–
(Part-2)
—————————————–
Saadiq agar miley to o o
Saadiq agar miley to,
shah-e-karbala miley
Shah-e-karbala miley
Hassnain mil gaye hain, to mushkil kusha miley
Mushkil kusha miley
Jisko Ali miley hain, ussey Mustafa miley
Salwaat padh na beet ke, tujhko khuda miley
Tujh ko khuda miley
Anjum yahi ghadi ha
Anjum yahi ghadi hai darood-o-salaam ki
Baqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Aye mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Aye mominon niyaaz dilaao imaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
Baaqar ke laal sahib-e-Aali makaam ki
