Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 27 ENTERTAINMENT August 1, 2025 Mukesh-Rafi-Kishore: The Musical Fortnight That Is July 22 To August 4 T he Vocal Trinity that RULED Hindi cinema for decades—which by no means is to belittle the remaining legends—Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor, Talat Mahmood and Hemant Kumar— seems to have another common point besides their legendary status: this fortnight! Mukesh was born on July 22 and Kishore Kumar on August 4. In-between, Mohammed Rafi passed away on July 31. Never mind if their years are all different. Let us poignantly recall another common point: they all passed away before time, and while Mohammed Rafi at least was conferred the Padma Shri, the other two did not get any such honor. More: while Manna Dey was deservingly awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke trophy, the other two, like many others in filmmusic, never won it. As per the official rule, posthumous Phalke recognition is very rare, but even if it is, these giants were never considered for it. The final common point: Mukesh’s and Kishore’s idol was K.L. Saigal, but it was Rafi who got to sing the por- tion Roohi Roohi Roohi in Shahjehan (1946), with Saigal in his last film. Kishore, in the later decades, refused to sing a cover version of Saigal hits, in case his idol’s sing- ing was unfavorably compared to his! One more crucial aspect: As Shahid Rafi, Mohammed Rafi’s son, put it, “Everyone who knew my father called him a farishta (angel), but in those times, all the male singers were angels by nature.” BEGINNINGS: Mukesh: Nirdosh (1941), in which he was also the hero. The music was by Ashok Ghosh. Mohammed Rafi: Pahele Aap (1944) is considered his first release in Hindi, but his duet with G. M. Durrani, Aji dil ho qaabu mein for Gaon Ki Gori (released only in 1945) was his first Hindi recording under Shyam Sundar. In 1941, a 17 year-old Rafi recorded his first song, a duet with Zeenat Begum, for the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (released in 1944). This was in Lahore and also under the direction of composer, Shyam Sundar. Kishore Kumar: While he started as a chorus singer in S.D. Burman’s Shikari (1946), his debut as a featured singer happened with Khemchand Prakash in Ziddi (1948). STRUGGLES AND BREAKTHROUGHS: Mukesh: Mukesh worshipped K.L. Saigal and would imitate his tenor. His first hit was Dil jalta hai to jalne do from Pehli Nazar (1945) under Anil Biswas. Reportedly, Saigal even wondered when he had recorded the song when he heard it! In that sense, his true breakthrough came with Andaz and Barsaat in 1949, especially the latter, where Shankar-Jaikishan extracted him out of the Saigal shell. Mohammed Rafi: He went from strength to strength with no particular breakthrough, right from the 1940s (Anmol Ghadi, Jugnu, Dulari and more). Rafi was inspired by G.M. Durrani but soon evolved his own style and also became known for singing in the higher octaves. Durrani was an actor-singer then, and his last appearance was lip-synching the Rafi hit Unnke khayal aaye to in the 1972 Lal Patthar. Kishore Kumar: The Eternal Eccentric would charge a full rupee (in times when a middle-class family could survive comfortably on Rs. 20 a month!) for singing a Saigal song for his brother, Ashok Kumar’s friends at par- ties! Always trying to be an actor, he continued to sing for himself while also recording for Dev Anand frequent- ly in the 1950s (and later too) under S.D. Burman. It is said that he really arrived on the scene with Aradhana as late as in 1969, when Rafi was unavailable abroad, and the composer and filmmaker homed in on Kishore to record three of the five songs of the upcoming hero, Rajesh Khanna. MOST FREQUENT ASSOCIATIONS Mukesh: Actors Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar Compos- ers Shankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant- Pyarelal and distinguished collaborations with Salil Chowdhury and Roshan Co-singer: Lata Mangeshkar Mohammed Rafi: Actors Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, JohnnyWalker, Dev Anand, Rajendra Ku- mar, Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Biswa- jeet, Joy Mukerji, Bharat Bhushan, Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Khan and distinguished collaborations with Rishi Ka- poor, Raaj Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. Composers Lax- mikant Pyarelal, Shankar-Jaikishan, Naushad, Kalyanji- Anandji, O.P. Nayyar, Ravi, Chitragupta, Roshan, Usha Khanna, R.D. Burman and distinguished collaborations with Madan Mohan & C. Ramachandra. Co-singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Kishore Kumar & Manna Dey. Kishore Kumar: Actors Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Kishore himself. Distinguished collaborations with Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Shashi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar in later years. Composers S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri & Rajesh Roshan and distinguished collaborations with Shankar-Jaikishan and O.P. Nayyar. Co-singers Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey. MOONLIGHTING: Mukesh: He produced two films, Malhar and Anurag in the 1950s, scoring music for the latter. He acted in a few films. Mohammed Rafi: He acted as himself in Kala Bazar (1959), but his actual performances came in Laila Majnu and Jugnu in the 1940s. Kishore Kumar: The greatest all-rounder Hindi cinema has known, Kishore was a top star in the 1950s and early 1960s and also composed music for 10 films, nine of which starred himself. He produced, wrote and directed several films and was also a lyricist in many of his own productions. However, in a special case, he wrote a song (along with Anand Dutta) named Jai Kaali Kalkattewali for Shankar-Jaikishan in Joy Mukerji’s Love In Bombay. CAREER: Mukesh: Including other languages and non-film, is said to have recorded around 1300 songs until his death on October 27, 1976, and yet is ranked among the topmost singing legends of Hindi cinema. His last re- cording was Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal for Lax- mikant-Pyarelal’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram. After his death, many songs came out, mostly composed by L-P. However, his last two released songs came under Jaidev in the 1997 TV serial, Chand Grahan. They were record- ed for a film that was shelved. Mohammed Rafi: His tally is said to be around 7000. His last recording was for Shaher mein charcha hai (with Lata) for Aas Paas under L-P. After that duet, he sang the four-liner Tere aane ki aas hai dost for the same film. His last film song (recorded again for a shelved film) came out in 1989 and was filmed on Govinda in Farz Ki Jung. Six songs recorded for an incomplete Chitragupta composed film were however re-mastered and released in 2009 as his last songs. There were also similar solos for Madan Mohan and Naushad released later. Rafi, incidentally, has sung in the maximum number of lan- guages, including six foreign languages! Kishore Kumar: His last recorded song (a few days before his death on October 13, 1987) was Guru guru in Bappi Lahiri’sWaqt Ki Awaz in 1988. Several songs released subsequently until the early 1990s. However, he was heard as late as 2013 in the delayed film, Love In Bombay with music by Shankar-Jaikishan. This was also his last-released film as an actor: he played the lead along with Joy Mukerji. His score is 3000 songs. THE VOICES THEY INSPIRED: Mukesh: His son, Nitin Mukesh, had a natural resem- blance to his father that could not possibly be jettisoned to prevent being called a clone. Just like his father, he had a very high percentage of hits. Manhar, and Pankaj Udhas also had similar vocal tenors. Later, Dr. Kamlesh Awasthi, Babla Mehta and Nalin Dave sang in similar voices as clones. Mohammed Rafi: Anwar was the first to sing in a Rafi- like voice and appeared during Rafi’s lifetime. Shab- bir Kumar, Mohammed Aziz, Sonu Nigam, Debashish Dasgupta, Vipin Sachdeva and Gurcharan. Mahendra Kapoor, Rafi’s student (he had tied the ganddaa) also had a somewhat similar vocal quality. Udit Narayan claimed to follow his style. Roopkumar Rathod’s singing also echoes Rafi’s timber. Kishore Kumar: Son Amit Kumar, who started out in his father’s time, was made to sing in the same mold but always tried to make his own style. Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet and Shaan (to an extent), Sudesh Bhosle (when forced sometimes!), Vinod Rathod and Babul Supriyo also sang like him and Sanu, Rathod and Supriyo had similar voices. And suffice to say that every orchestra and musical group has a ‘Rafi’, ‘Mukesh’ or ‘Kishore’ in it. And these three singers’ oeuvre allow them all to earn a great living. To be cont’d… By RajivVijayakar PHOTOS:PublicityPhoto Mohammed Rafi has sung 7000 songs in his career of 37 years. Mukesh has sung fraction of the number sung by other major male and female singers and is still considered in the same league. Son Amit Kumar records a song for his father, composer-singer Kishore Kumar.