Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey Songs- Part 1
Songs sung together by Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey
One day I was browsing through YouTube and came across songs of Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1962). And one of them was a duet of Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey- “Sudh Bisar Gayi”. Listening to that and other songs of the movie, two thoughts crossed my mind. First one being that why did the Music Director use four different voices for Taansen. I mean, he was a musical genius, but surely he must have sang in one voice. Anyways. The other thought that popped was just how many songs have Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey sung together?
Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey:
So often one comes across the songs that these legends sang together. And these are not just qawwalis. Indeed, I recollected about 6-7 duets immediately. And thus came an idea for this songs post.
It is ever such a delight to listen to the two together. The joy, the energy in the voices is unmistakable. The harmony, synchronisation, especially when they sing in unison is superb. They seem to understand each other so well. The respect that they had for the other is also well known. Manna Dey has praised Mohd. Rafi in so many interviews on T.V. Mohd. Rafi on the other hand has also been quoted saying that- “while everybody listens to my songs, I myself listen to Manna Dey.”
On a guess the two probably sang the most number of male duets ever. It’s just a guess. I have not researched into any data to support it. You can correct me if I am wrong
More Songs:
But would 6-7 songs I recalled, or even 10 for the matter would suffice for the post. Not for me.
So, I took the task to find out just how many songs there were. Till now the list has reached around 60 above songs. Some pure duets, some with other singers and/ or a chorus. How possibly could that much range be compiled in a single list? SO..
Divide & Post:
So…I decided to divide this songs list into two parts. The first part will consist of songs which have other lead signers or chorus singing along with Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey. That will of course cover qawwalis. I guess most qawwalis (if not all) had these two signers as staple. There are also some songs of other genre. The second part will be of songs that features only the voices of these two legends. That is pure duets of Manna Dey & Mohd. Rafi.
To include the range and variety of songs I have selected some known songs and some which were new to me. You may therefore find that many obvious ones are conspicuously absent.
In case the playback of videos on other sites is disabled, the YouTube links have been provided below them.
Songs with chorus or other lead singer(s):
1. Phir tumhari yaad aayi: Rustam Sohrab (1963), MD: Sajjad Hussain, Lyrics:Qamar Jalalabadi, Other Singer(s): Saadat Khan.
This is one of the first songs of the two singers I ever heard. We had a cassette collection “Yadon Ki Barat” by HMV, that had many rare songs. This was in it and I have loved it ever since.
2. Waqif hun khoob ishq ke & Dhoond ke laun kahan se: Bahu Begam (1967), MD: Roshan, Lyrics: Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Other Singer(s): Chorus.
The two qawwalis are part of one. What I liked particularly about the song is the enactment of it (by the qawwals I mean).
3. Tumhe husn deke khuda ne: Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai (1963); MD: Dattaram Wadkar, Lyrics: Anand Bakshi, Other Singer(s): Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus.
I won’t say much about this. One can just go on about the song, the lyrics, the music, and of course the actors.
4. Haseenon ke jalwe pareshan: Baabar (1960); MD: Roshan, Lyrics: Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Other Singer(s): Asha Bhosle, Sudha Malhotra & Chorus.
This one is same in tone and meaning as the above, and one I listened to fully for the first time.
5. Jinhe rukh se parda uthana na aaya: Haqdaar (1964); MD: Bulo C Rani, Lyrics: ? Other Singer(s): Geeta Dutt, Nirmala & Chorus. Three lyricists are listed for the movie- Bharat Vyas, S.T.Hussaini & Prem Warbartani. Who actually penned this particular song, I could not find out.
6. Dildaar milenge kahin na kahin: Vatan Se Door (1968); MD: Lala Sattar, Lyrics: Farooq Qaiser, Other Singer(s): Chorus.
A new one for me. Call them B-grade, costume dramas, low budgets. But its a well known fact that all these movies had exceptionally good music. In my opinion the producers may have had a low budget, but had an excellent ear for good music. And the stories of the movies possibly provided more scope for varying the range- devotional, classical, Arabic, fantasy.
7. Allah meri jholi mein: Shabnam (1963); MD: Usha Khanna, Lyrics: Javed Anwar, Other Singer(s): Usha Khanna & Chorus.
This delightful qawwali is all about the value and importance of money. And I completely agree.
8. Kahne wale tu bhi kahle: Qawwali Ki Raat (1964); MD: Iqbal Qureshi, Lyrics: Shewan Rizvi, Other Singer(s): Asha Bhosle & Chorus.
As the name suggests, the film is all about qawwalis. While listening to this I came across another one from the same film, “Husn wale husn ka anjam de”.Though it’s not a Rafi- Manna Dey song, it’s unique as the picturization is on a very young Deven Verma & Mumtaz.
9. Maujon mein chhupa saahil: Arabian Nights (1967); MD: Lala Sattar, Lyrics: Madhukar Rajasthani Other Singer(s): Chorus.
A haunting song and again new to me.
10. Tu hai ya nahin bhagwan: Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957), MD: S. N. Tripathi, Lyrics: Bharat Vyas, Other Singer(s): Lata Mangeshkar.
The movie’s other song “Zara saamne to aa o chhaliye”, is quite well known. This one was new to me.
11. Kaise Bijli chamak gayi: Do Gunde (1959), MD: Ghulam Mohammad, Lyrics: MAjrooh Sultanpuri, Other Singer(s): Asha Bhosle, Chaand Kumari & Chorus.
A song of this movie was included in post on Ghulam Mohammed by Anupji. Some new songs lately have used folk tunes. But they all sound the same frankly, lacking the spirit and soul of old ones. But that is something I say for most new songs.
12. Dukh bhire din beete: Mother India (1957), MD: Naushad, Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni, Other Singer (s): Shamshad Begum, Asha Bhosle.
No need to elaborate on this song. There are many thoughts, apart from musical quality, that spring up after listening to it. But that is for some other time.
13. Sarfaroshi ki tamanna: Shaheed (1965), MD: Prem Dhawa, Lyrics: Ramprasad Bismil, Other Singer(s): Rajendra Mehta.
A well known song. And, I really think Prem Chopra should have been given nice roles, once in a while, at least.
14. Is jahan ka pyar jhuta: Amardeep (1958); MD: C Ramchandra, Lyrics: Rajinder Krishan, Other Singer(s): Asha Bhosle.
A street dance number, it came to the list because of Dev Anand’s dance moves. They are kind of cute. Just a way a non-dancer would dance.
15. Besharmi se sharm na kar: Teen Chor (1973); MD: Sonik Omi, Lyrics: Rajinder Krishan, Other Singer(s): Mukesh.
A typical reminder of 1970’s films and songs. Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey are accompanied by Mukesh, and it feels that the singers had a blast. It’s so full of fun and energy.
Next one:
Tomorrow, I will take the duets of Manna Dey & Mohd. Rafi.
The range and variety of the songs they have sung together is simply great. There are patriotic songs, qawwalis of course, philosophical, fun, daaru songs. There are hardly any sad duets of the two. You know like one happy on his gain and the other sad on his loss type. I don’t mind it. But in case there are such songs, please do tell. I haven’t found them as yet.
What are your choices of Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey songs?
DISCLAIMER: The videos/ songs linked/ embedded herein above from YouTube are only for the purpose of entertainment and pleasure of viewers/ readers. The copyright over the songs/ videos/ films rests with the owners/ producers of the respective movies.
6 response to "Mohd. Rafi & Manna Dey Songs- Part 1"
Comments are closed.
Some really nice songs here, and some which I hadn’t heard before. I especially like the very first song – lovely one.
Hello
Good post,
Oh my God!
After three unsuccessful attempts, finally my comment was posted. So here’s the original comment
A good post, a good idea to cover such songs. I got to know a few new songs. I enjoyed some of the songs, that I knew already.
Tumhe Husna deke Khuda ne is my favourite, so are the ones from Rustam sohrab, Mother India, Shaheed, Amardeep and Bahu begum.
And
A correction, the fourth singer in the song ‘Tumhe Husna deke’ is Lata Mangeshkar and not Suman Kalyanpur.
All the best. And waiting for the next part.
Anup
Hi,
Must have been a temporary glitch. But I will still see to it.
Glad you liked this post.
As for “Tumhe husn deke”- different some sites list Lata Mangeshkar while other do Suman Kalyanpur. I was confused, so I went by Atul’s song a day. But thanks for the correction.
Hope you like the next pat.
Glad you enjoyed it. Hope you like the choices in next one too.