The Great Trio of Mohammad Rafi, Dev Anand and S D Burman

Sachin Dev Burman had a great affinity for  Dev Anand; so much so that the former used to say that his middle name Dev was for his favourite star, Dev Anand. Similarly, Dada had a great liking for Rafi. They together gave incredible music to the industry.”As far as the trio together is concerned, some of their memorable songs are from Nau Do Gyarah(1957), Kala Pani (1958),   Bambai Ka Babu, Kala Bazar (1960), Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Guide, Teen Deviyan (1965) and Jewel Thief 1967
Many would recall that Rafi started singing for SD Burman much earlier (1947 movie Do Bhai, for example, with the song: Duniya Mein Mere Aaj Andhera hi Andhera),  for Dev Anand Rafi sang in CID 1955  Aankho Hi Aankhon Mein Ishara ho Gaya. but when this combination came together it created history.
The first time Burman Da gave Mohammad Rafi a chance to give a voice to Dev Anand was Nau Do Gyarah, 1957 (written by Majrooh Sultanpuri), Aaja Panchhi Akela Hai, Soja Nindiya ki Bela Hai. How effortlessly now Rafi becomes the romantic voice of Dev Anand, as if declaring to earlier voices of Talat and Hemant that he had arrived.  
  Remember the songs from Kala Pani " Hum Bekhudi Mein " and "Achha ji main haari chalo maan jao na" ,  the great hits of this trio after that many hilt song were created. Here are a few of these great songs.

Song of Nau Do Gyarah, 1957

Song of Nau Do Gyarah, 1957

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Bambai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Bambai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963)

Song of Tere Guide (1965)

Song of Teen Deviyan (1965)

Song of Jewel Thief (1967)

Song of Gambler (1971)

The story of Badruddin Qazi to Johnny Walker.

He started life in Mumbai as a bus conductor. And he would have continued to be so if the late actor Balraj Sahni had not spotted him entertaining passengers in a bus.
Those days Balraj Sahni was penning the script for “Baazi, he thought that if he brings this character in the script it will give a boost to the film. He asked Badruddin Qazi about working in films.

It was on the sets of “Baazi” that Badruddin Qazi met director Guru Dutt, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Those days it was the practice of changing the names of the actors, this was also done to him. So the new name for him was planned. It is said that the director of the film Guru Dutt was drinking the most popular brand of scotch whisky at that time, the idea came to his mind why not the brand Johny Walker should be given to this new comedian. Everybody sitting with him liked this name. So Badruddin Qazi became Johnny Walker.

“Baazi” gave him a foothold into the industry and the other films, which followed, established him forever. Thereafter he was doing all the films of Guru Dutt. Films like Taxi Driver(1954) CID, Pyaasa, Madhumati, Naya Daur and Mere Mehboob made him a star.

.He was sought after by the best banners and the best directors and was equal to the task of acting with the best of the stars. 

He was offered many films(around 12) as a hero such as JOHNNY WALKER, Mr Cartoon, These, of course, had comic themes but were embellished with wonderful music and did well at the box office. 

His Golden Period was the 50s and 60s when he gave memorable and great performances.
He was a natural comedian, his comedy was never crude or vulgar. But, from 1970 onwards, comedy began to change. Some of the comedians indulged in lewd gestures and relied on double-entendre. Johnny Walker never tried that type of comedy, In an interview, he said that though he acted more than 300 films and the Censor Board never cut even one line of his character. His drawing power at the box office was such that Distributors insisted the Producers and Directors to have at least one song to be done with him.

Here are a few popular songs of Johny Walker

Song from Taxi Driver 1954

Song of Mr & Mrs 55 1955

Song from CID 1956

Song from Chori Chori 1956

Song from Pyaasa 1957

Song from Chaudavin Ka Chand 1960

The song Khoya Khoya Chaand was written on a piece of cigarette pack foil

Every song has a story behind it. On this subject, I have written a blog earlier. In this blog, I take this immortal song from Kala Bazar. The song was written by Shailendra and composed by S.D. Burman.
 This was the first time that Dev Anand, Vijay Anand, Waheeda Rehman, S D Burman and Shailendra came together.
Vijay Anand who was the director of the film, who narrated the situation of the song to Shailendra and asked him to write a romantic song for this situation. Shailendra, probably too busy with his other assignments, was not delivering a song, urgently needed for the film. Shailendra was making all kinds of excuses for not delivering.S D Burman, known for his bad temper, was under tremendous pressure. So one fine day Shailendra was at his residence and asked him to give him the words for his tune for this song. Burman da called his young son, Pancham ( R D Burman ) and told him – ” You will go with Shailendra and DO NOT come home unless he gives you the lyrics ” !!!
This incident was narrated by R D Burman in a radio interview in AIR. As Burman da was very angry on Shailendra he asked RD Burman to come along with him and drove to his home. On the way, they stopped at Shankar  Jaikishan's place to finish some pending work.
It was evening…. Shailendra finished his work with Shanker Jaikishen and with Pancham, got into his car. He instructed the driver to go to National Park. There, Shailendra kept smoking cigarette after cigarette. BUT NO WORDS !!! 
Shailendra then thought of a change of place, he asked his driver to proceed to Juhu Beach
R D Burman was cursing his luck as they got back into the car, it was almost night, what will he tell his father about the song.He was 20 years old that time and was an assistant so he couldn't pressurise Shailendra to give him the song immediately.
The time was 11 in the night and nothing is written. The beach was deserted. Those days people used to return home by 7 orr 8 in the evening. Shailendra was leisurely strolling along with the eager Pancham trying to keep step. Suddenly Shailendra asked Pancham for a matchbox. He sheepishly handed over his matchbox to Shailendra. Shailendra was lost in thought, he lit his cigarette, returned the matchbox and asked Pancham to give him the tune Burman da had composed. Pancham, tapping the matchbox in rhythm, hummed the tune.
It was a full moon night and Shailendra was looking at the sky puffing away on his cigarette
and suddenly started writing on a piece of cigarette pack foil. after a while, he told Pancham – “You can go home, tell Dada, I will be at your place in the morning with the full song..”

He hummed the mukhda

Khoya khoya chand, khula aasmaan,
Aankhon mein saari raat jaayegi,
Tum ko bhi kaise neend aayegi

Pancham smiled, he knew that this song was a winner! He ran, hailed a cab and went home. Pancham  in the next morning handed Dada a crumpled piece of cigarette pack foil with the words of the mukhda scribbled on it!!! Burman Da instantly liked the mukhda and asked Pancham to call Shailendra to complete the song.

As we all know that Burman Da was very particular about the words of his songs and similarly Shailendra too chooses his words very carefully as per the situation. Thus the full song was completed in that sitting. Same day Burman Da called Mohammad Rafi to come for the rehearsal of this song The song was recorded after two days.

We must appreciate Vijay Anand who picturised the song so well that it became the highlight of the film. It topped Annual Binaca Geetmala that year. What Vijay Anand achieves is a feat which is very rare. Most directors shy away from shooting and showing us more than two verses of a song. Here, his shooting, along with Burmanda’s music and Shailendra’s words, is so perfect that we go through FOUR verses of this song just glued to our seats !!!! That is why Vijay Anand is adored by film-goers and film-makers all over India.

Song from Kala Bazar 1960

The earlier Years of Mehmood

Mehmood, son of character actor Mumtaz Ali, who was having a dance troupe "Mumtaz Ali Nites" performed all over India. His career slumped due to his alcoholism, leading Mehmood to work as a child artist and daughter Meenu Mumtaz to work as a dancer in his stage shows and later movies. He had a tough time when starting out in the Hindi film industry.
He did every kind of odd job from becoming a driver for director PL Santoshi.He also assisted him on the sets. If Santoshi sent him out to buy cigarettes or other small things, he would invariably keep the change.  He also got the job of teaching Table Tennis to Meena Kumari.
He also worked as assistant cameraman with Arjun Desai, as an assistant set designer with Kamleshwar Sehgal, as an assistant editor with DN Desai.He also worked with Hemant kumar as office assistant for some time.Hemant Kumar who knew the hardship he was facing once even let him sing in the chorus so that he could make some money.
It was in 1954 when Hemant Kumar was giving music for Nagin,in a song  ‘O Zindagi Ke Denewale’ he took Mehmood as a chorus singer but he was singing so badly that Hemant Kumar’s assistant Ravi asked him to leave. Mehmood begged Ravi to let him stay, but Ravi was adamant. However, Hemant Kumar knew of Mehmood’s dire straits, so he asked to remain and merely lip-sync the song without any sound.
In his childhood Mehmood worked in few films of Bomay Talkies as a child artist(Kismet of Bombay Talkies was his first film as child artist) so he thought of to switch to acting and started going to one producer to another to beg for work.
He was first offered a small role as a murder victim in CID and then acted in films like “Do Bigha Zameen” and “Pyaasa”. He got his first major break in the film Parvarish in 1958. After Paravrish, Mehmood’s comic talent was recognized in the industry.

Song from Parvarish (1958)

His first breakthrough film as a comedian was Chhoti Behen in 1959. The movie also created one of the most successful comedy pairings of the sixties – Mehmood and Shubha Khote.Their next film was Sasural in 1961 which was hit and thus Jodi became super hit for years to come.
Here are some of the great songs of Mehmood and Shubha Khote

Song from Chhoti Bahen (1959).

Song from Sasural 1961

Song from Sasural 1961

Song from Grahasti (1963)

Song from Hamraahi 1963

Song from Ziddi (1964)

Song from Saanjh aur Sawera (1964),

Song from Beti Bete.1964

Song from Love In Tokyo (1966)

Song from Tumse Achha Kaun Hai (1969)

Mukesh-who wanted to be like K L Saigal

. 

 Similar to the story of Eklavya, Mukesh initiated in music.He started learning music indirectly  from his sister’s Guruji . He would listen from the next room and keep practicing until the day.Those days K L Saigal was the star singer actor.Like every body
KL Saigal was Mukesh’s idol.He wanted to be like him. Mukesh had good looks and his nature was very industrious, thus trying his luck at acting was natural for him.It was the actor Motilal who was his relative attended the marriage of Mukesh's sister at Delhi where he heard Mukesh singing a song.He liked his singing and advised him to come to Bombay and try his luck in films.
After few months Mukesh saw an advertisement in a News Paper from Ranjit Movitone for requirement of Actor cum Singer.He applied for this and was called to Bombay for an interview.It was Chandulal Shah of Ranjit Movietone who selected him and gave him the job.
He got his first project as an actor-singer in a film named Nirdosh in 1941 which has his first song ‘Dil hi ho bujha hua to’.His second film was Adab Arz in 1943.He acted as a hero in the film Mashooka in 1953, opposite Suraiya. During these period he sang and acted in few films but his career was not rising.It was in 1945 when Moti Lal asked Anil Biswas to take Mukesh as his playback singer for the film Pehli Nazar.The song he sang for the film was "Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne De".This song became so popular which opened the door of success for Mukesh.
Mukesh was such a fan of singer K. L. Saigal that in his early years of playback singing he used to imitate his idol. In fact, it is said that when K. L. Saigal first heard the song "Dil Jalta Hai...", he remarked, "That's strange, I don't recall singing that song"
It was  music director Naushad Ali, who helped Mukesh to come out of his Saigal style and create his own style. Naushad gave him songs for the film Andaz. Initially Mukesh was the ghost voice of Dilip Kumar in this movie and Mohammed Rafi sang for Raj Kapoor. He delivered many Hits for Naushad in films like: Anokhi Ada (1948), Mela (1948), Andaz (1949). Other composers who used Mukesh voice for great Dilip Kumar in hit songs like "Jeevan Sapna toot gaya" were Anil Biswas in Anokha Pyar, Ye Mera Diwanapan hai, Shankar-Jaikishan in Yahudi and Suhana Safar and Dil Tadap Tadap ke, Salil Choudhary in Madhumati. However, later Dilip Kumar choose Rafi as his ghost voice and Mukesh became the ghost voice of Raj Kapoor. Mukesh recorded highest number of songs for Shankar Jaikishan ie 133 songs followed by kalyanji Anandji ie 99 songs. Out of 4 Filmfare awards, Mukesh won 3 awards for Shankar Jaikishan songs.

The duo of Raj Kapoor and Mukesh had hell lots of songs among which the most remembered and played is ‘Awara Hoon’. This song has lived almost 65 years yet kids know this song and the song is so stuck in everyone’s mind. Other famous songs were Mera Joota hai Japani, Jeena yahan marna yahan, Dost dost na raha, Jaane kaha gaye vo din, Kisiki muskurahaton pe, Ichak Daana beechak Daana, Sajan re jhoot mat bolo, Ramaiya vastavaiya, Dum Dum Diga Diga, Vo subah kabhi to aayegi, Kehta hai Joker saara jamana, Begaani shaadi me Abdullah deewana.The first song Mukesh sang for Raj kapoor was ‘Zinda hoon is tarah’ in 1948 film Aag, the lifelong partnership started from this song.
Like Talat, Mukesh also had an inherent sadness in his voice. So songs like ‘Woh tere pyar ka gham’, ‘Saranga teri yaad mein’ or ‘Baharon ne mera chaman lootkar’ sounded even more soulful in his voice. But unlike Talat, he could even belt out light numbers with gay abandon. Songs like ‘Ruk jaa o jaanewali ruk jaa’, ‘Aasman pe hai khuda aur zameen pe hum’ or ‘Bina badra ke bijuriya kaise chamke’ confirmed this time and again.
Many critics derided him as an imperfect singer who had a nasal twang and who would often miss a note or a beat and many a time they had a valid point. His limited vocal range also made high-pitched songs difficult for him. Mukesh proved them wrong 
After Shankar Jaikishan Mukesh sang lot of songs for Kalyanji Anandji  "Naina hai jadoo bhare..." Bedard Zamana Kya Jane (1958) composed by Kalyanji alone as Kalyanji Virji Shah, and "Main hoon mast madari..." Madari (1959) as the first Kalyanji-Anandji-Mukesh combo, to "Chahe aaj mujhe napasand karo" Darinda/ 1977, the K-A, Mukesh combination gave numerous popular songs like "Chhalia mera naam...", "Mere toote hue dil se...", "Dum dum diga diga" Chalia(1959), "Mujhko iss raat ki tanhai mein..." Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere(1960), "Hum chhod chale hain mehfil ko..." (Ji Chahta Hai), "Humne tumko pyar kiya hai jitna..." (Dulha Dulhan), "Chal mere dil lehraake chal..." Ishara and "Dheere se chalo..." Johar Mehmood in Goa,"Main to ek khwab hoon..." and "Chand si mehbooba ho..." Himalay Ki Godmein(1965), "Waqt kartaa jo wafaa..." Dil Ne Pukara,"Deewanon se yeh mat poocho..." Upkar, "Khush raho har khushi hai..." Suhaag Raat and "Humsafar ab yeh safar kat jaayega..." Juari, "Chandi ki deewaar..." and "Le chal le chal mere jeevan saathi..." Vishwas (1969), "Koi jab tumhara hriday tod de..." Purab Aur Paschim, "Darpan ko dekha..." Upaasna, "Jo tumko ho pasand..." Safar and "Mujhe nahin poochni tumse beeti baatein..." Anjaan Raahein (1970).
Mukesh died of a heart attack on 27 August 1976 in Detroit, Michigan, US, where he had gone to perform in a concert. That morning, he got up early and went to take a shower. He came out panting and complaining of chest pains. He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead. The rest of the concert was completed by Lata Mangeshkar and surprisingly his son Nitin Mukesh . His body was flown to India by Lata Mangeshkar, where a grand funeral ceremony was held in the presence of several actors, with personalities of the Indian film industry and fans paying tribute. 
Mukesh had the voice that could paint a thousand shades of melancholy. The way he sang, with the perfect tone and diction, he was considered as second to none. The pain that he had in his voice could not be imitated by anyone else.

SONGS THAT WON HIM FILMFARE

• Sab Kuch Seekha Humne(Anari)
• Sabse Bada Naadan(Pehchan)
• Jai Bolo Beimaan Ki(Be-imaan)
• Kabhie kabhie mere dil me(Kabhie Kabhie)
• .SONG THAT WON HIM NATIONAL FILM AWARD
• Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai(Rajnigandha)

Song from Pehli Nazar 1945

Song from Anokha Pyar, 1948

Song from Aag 1948

Song from Mela 1948

Song from Andaz 1949

Song from Awaara 1951

Song from Parvarish 1958

Song from Anari 1959

Song from Kala Aadmi, 1960

Song from Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere(1960)

Song from Bandini, 1963

Song from Sangam (1964)

Song from Himalay Ki Godmein(1965)

Song from Teesri Kasam 1965

Song from Milan 1967

ong from Mera Naam Joker 1970

Song from Safar, 1970

Song from Kabhie Kabhie 1976

• 
  
• 
  

Anand Bakshi - The Juggler of Words

Over 3500 songs in  638 films in his career over five decades, he was the most vibrant lyricist that the industry has witnessed. The beauty of Bakshi’s mesmerising lyrics was that it retained its currency till he lived in the first decade of the new millennium.He was a master wordsmith.His contribution to the rhythmic songs of the golden era of Hindi cinema, which began in the 1950s and lasted till the mid-1970s will be noticed among the dozen odd top lyricists.
He 6.was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930 He  was fond of writing poetry since his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. He worked in the Army for many years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.Took voluntary discharge from the Army, E.M.E.  on 27-8-1956, at Lucknow.Arrived in Bombay to find work in films as a singer and or lyricist in Oct. 1956.
He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan film titled Bhalaa Aadmi (1958), acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote four songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956.he first found success in 1962 with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath, which was produced by (LimeLight), Music by Kalyanji & Anandji,  He got his real big breakthroughs in 1965 with Himalay Ki God Mein, and a huge breakthrough again in 1965 with the super-hit film Jab Jab Phool Khile, starring Shashi Kapoor;and in 1967 film Milan
He found great popularity with films like Amar Prem, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Ek Duuje Ke Liye and many more through the ’70s. He went on to work with renowned directors like Dev Anand,Raj Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and Yash Chopra and wrote the lyrics for Hare Rama Hare Krishna,Bobby, Taal, Yaadein and Dil Toh Paagal Hai among others. Mention must be made about Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ, 1995).
Sahir Ludhianvi taught him how to weave poetry into lyrics. He even introduced him to producers. Once he even asked Yashji (Chopra) to try him as a lyricist. But he wrote for Yashji’s Chandni (1989) only after Sahir saab passed away. 
He was associated with music composers such as Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand-Milind, and his songs have been sung by all the top singers as well as other singers such as Shamshad Begum, Ila Arun, Khursheed Bawra, Amirbai Karnataki, Sudha Malhotra and more. He is known to have worked with more than one generation of music composers.He wrote the first recorded songs of many first time male and female leads who went on to become stars, and also of singers such as Shailendra Singh, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy etc
His jodi with Laxmikant Pyarelal was very popular They worked together in more than 220 films.First time he was associated with L P was in 1964 film Mr X In Bombay,the song Mere Mehboob Qyamat Hogi sung by Kishore kumar became very popular.The next film worked together was Lootera in 1965.

After  L P,the other composer was R D Burman with whom he did maximum films.Their first film was Teesra Kaun in 1965.
Anand Bakshi wrote for five decades, watching the windmill of time roll over and over. New actors replaced old ones, his close buddies like Kishore Kumar, Pancham and Laxmikant left for the heavens even as he watched helplessly. But Anand Bakshi’s gallery of fame kept gathering up successes like Hum, Darr, Lamhe, Mohra, DDLJ and Dil to Pagal Hai, as he kept adjusting his stance with the changing time.He stayed young and kept his screen heroes and heroines even younger. 
Late in his life, he suffered from heart and lung disease as a consequence of lifelong smoking. In March 2002, he caught a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He finally died of multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, 8:00 PM at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital, at the age of 72. The last released movie with lyrics by Anand Bakshi (after his death) was Mehbooba.

Song from Phool Bane Angaare (1963)

Song from Mr. X in Bombay (1964)

Song from Himalay Ki God Mein (1965)

Song from Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965)

Song from Milan (1966)

Song from Taqdeer (1967)

Song from Raja Aur Rank (1968)

Song from Aradhana (1969)

Song from Jeene Ki Raah (1969)

Song from Do Raaste (1970)

Song from Kati Patang (1971)

Song from Amar Prem (1972)

Song from Bobby (1973)

Song from Sholay (1975)

Song from Julie (1975)

Song from Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981)

Song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)