The Story Behind the Song "Chaudhavin Ka Chand Ho"

In the 1960 Annual Binaca Geetmala, there was a tough competition for the No 1 song, it was between the song "Chaudhavin Ka Chand Ho" and "Zindagi Bhar Na Bhulegi Barsaat Ki Woh Raat". Both the songs were solo and both the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Both were Title songs.
There was a trend in those days that every film must have a title song. This trend was started by Shailendra from the film Barsaat in 1949. In this case, the Mukhada was the title of the film. The composer of this song was Ravi who was also a lyricist but for this film, Shakeel Badayuni was the lyricist. Composer Ravi made the tune of this song with the title as Mukhada but was not finding the exact words to complete the Mukhada, he then talked to Shakeel Badayuni and asked to complete the Mukhada and the song. This song remains one of the most romantic songs of the Hindi Film Industry.
What sets ‘Chaudhvin ka Chand’ apart? The classical romanticism that the song demanded found expression in the ‘period’ scene-setting and cast. But most importantly, the central character of the sequence is Waheeda. This is where it leaves other ‘very good’ or ‘great’ classical romance song-sequences behind.
Chaudhavin Ka Chand was a comeback film of Guru Dutt after the disastrous box office performance of Kaagaz Ke Phool.  He was not the director of this film, he produced the film and gave direction to Mohammed Sadiq. The film was a super hit and became a classic.
Another interesting fact that though the film was in Black & White but this song was picturized in colour. Waheeda Rehman in an interview told that the Censor Board objected to chaudavii.n kaa chaa.nd ho when Guru Dutt re-released a version of the song shot in color? As the color version was being filmed, Waheeda Rehman’s eyes became irritated from the heat of the high-powered lights used during the shoot. Upon seeing the red color of the heroine’s eyes, the Censor Board claimed that the colored picturization of the song contained suggestive and lustful implications inappropriate for audiences.
This song got two Filmfare awards, one for the Lyrics to Shakeel Badayuni and the other to Mohammad Rafi as a playback singer. This was the first Filmfare Award to Mohammad Rafi after debuting 15 years ago. It is the warmth, passion, and soul in his voice that renders this song a timeless masterpiece.

Song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960

Ravi - His music became a part of our life

One of the most talented but underrated music directors of the Indian film industry was Ravi Shankar Sharma, popularly known as Ravi, who has an immortal, unique and amazing relationship with the personal life of every Indian or lover of Hindi cinema living all over the world.
No Indian wedding is completed without playing these three cult songs.'Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' from the film 'Aadmi Sadak Ka' (1977), 'Babul Ki Duayen Leti Ja' from the film 'Neel Kamal' (1968) and .'Aye Meri Zohrazabin, Tujhe Maloom Nahin' from the film 'Waqt' (1965), A song that is played or sung at every Sangeet ceremony.
In addition, there are many more creations which nine out of ten times come to our mind whenever we try to express the following human emotions through a film song such as 'Chaudhvin Ka Chaand Ho' from the film 'Chaudhvin Ka Chaand' (1961), 'Garibon Ki Suno, Woh Tumhari Sunega' from the movie 'Dus Lakh' (1966) and  'Chanda Mama Door Ke' from film 'Vachan' (1955), the most famous and widely sung Lori (Lullaby) by mothers.
Ravi Shankar Sharma (3 March 1926 – 7 March 2012), often referred to synonymously as Ravi was discovered by Hemant Kumar who hired him to sing backing vocals in Vande Mataram from the film Anand Math. He became his assistant for a few years and became independent composer with the 1955 film Albeli. He became popular with the song " C A T Cat Cat Mane Billi" from Dilli Ka Thug.in 1958.
He gave several hit songs and received Filmfare nominations for these films: Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Do Badan (1966), Hamraaz (1967),Do Kaliyan,  Bharosa,  Ankhen (1968), and Nikaah (1982). He won Filmfare awards for Gharana(1961) and Khandan (1965). His other successful films include Waqt, Neel Kamal and Gumraah.
 After a successful career in Hindi films during the 1950s and 1960s, he took a long break after 1970 till 1982. In 1982, he gave music for the Hindi film Nikaah, and one of the film's songs Dil ke armaan aansooyon main beh gaye sung by Salma Agha won her the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award.
He died on 7 March 2012 in Mumbai at the age of 86.

Song of Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

Song of Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan (1959)

Song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960)

Song of Ghunghat (1960)

Song of Gharana (1961)

Song of China Town (1962)

Song of Gumrah (1963)

Song of Bharosa (1963)

Song of Khandan (1965)

Song of Waqt (1965)

Song of Dus Lakh (1966)

Song of Hamraaz (1967)

Song of Neel Kamal' (1968)

Song of Aadmi Sadak Ka' (1977)

Song of Nikaah (1982)

Remembering Music Director RAVI on his 91st Birth Anniversary

The well Known Music Director Ravi was born on 3rd March 1926 in Delhi.His full name was Ravi Shankar Sharma,had no formal training in classical music but wanted to become a singer. In 1950 he decided to shift to Bombay and become a professional singer but had to strugle for 2 years.
In 1952, Ravi was discovered by Hemant Kumar who hired him to sing backing vocals in Vande Mataram from the film Anand Math.He later became assistant to Hemant Kumar played the tabla for him. 
He played the been for the iconic number ‘Man dole mere tan dole' from ‘Nagin.'  Soon, he started composing as well as writing lyrics. Slowly, he got more work. His song Chandamama Door Ke became a hit. he composed music for several films. Then Hemant Kumar told him to become an independent composer. During that time he got a chance to compose for Vachan (1955) and the other offers followed.
In 1958 his film Dilli Ka Thug released,the songs of this film were instantly hit,Kishore Kumar was the hero of that film and the song C A T  Cat Mane Billi","Hum To Mohabbat Karega"and "Yeh Raaten Yeh Mausam" became immortal.That year his 4 films released,the music of all his movies was apreciated.In 1960 Chaudhvin Ka Chand released,the film became a mega hit ,its music was the highlight,the song Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho was super hit,In fact mohmmad Rafi got Filmfare award for this song.
In 1961 his film GHARANA was released,the film as well as its music was super hit, He won Filmfare awards for Gharana (1961) and latter on for Khandan (1965). His other successful films include Waqt, Neel Kamal,Do Badan , Gumraah,Aankhen,Hamraaz and Nikaah (1982). His songs Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai, Babul ki duyaen leti ja, Doli chadh ke dulhan sasural chali and Mere Yaar Bana Ke Dulha became very popular in wedding celebrations.
Ravi was one of the music directors who shaped the career of Asha Bhosle with songs like Tora man darpan and Sun le Pukar Aai. He was also instrumental in making Mahendra Kapoor a popular singer in bollywood.
Besides hindi films he gave music for Gujarati films and Malyali films,He was the rage in Malayalam cinema. As he had worked his magic in Bollywood, he soon had music buffs in Kerala enshrining him as one of the best in the music industry. Evergreen compositions from his baton adorned films such as ‘Vyshali,' ‘Parinayam,' ‘Oru Vadakkan Veergatha,' ‘Sargam,' ‘Sukrutham,' ‘Ghazal,' and ‘Mayookham.'
Ravi's wife, whom he married in 1946, died in 1986. He had two daughters Veena and Chhaya and a son Ajay. His estranged son Ajay is married to Varsha Usgaonkar who is a Marathi and Hindi film actress.
He died on 7 March 2012 in Mumbai at the age of 86.

Chanda mama Door ke from Vachan 1955

Song from Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

Song from Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

Song from Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan (1959)

Song from Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960

Song from Ghunghat 1960

Song from Gharana1961

Song from China Town 1962

Song from Gumrah 1963

Song from Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963)

Song from Bharosa (1963)

Song from Grahsthi (1963)

Song from Door Ki Awaaz  (1964)

Song from Shehnai   (1964)

Song from Kaajal (1965)

Song from Waqt (1965)

Song from Do Badan (1966)

Song from Dus Lakh (1966)

Song from Hamraaz (1967)

Song from Neel Kamal   (1968)

Song from  Aadmi Sadak Ka (1977)

Song from  Nikaah (1982)