#364

        Song:   Teer pe teer khaaye jaa
                Zulm-o-sitam uthaaye jaa
                Ae mere beqaraar dil
                Geet wafa ke gaaye jaa

        Film:   Rooplekha (1949)
        Singer: Mohammed Rafi
        Music:  Sajjad
        Lyrics: Khumar Barabankvi
        *ing:   ?

The last of the July death anniversaries. As of today,  July  31,
18  years  have  passed since the passing of Mohammed Rafi. A few
songs in memory of one of the most versatile singers filmdom  has
seen.

This one is a recent favorite of  mine,  though  I  don't  whole-
heartedly subscribe to some of the sentiments it tries to convey.
But the antaraas do have a reassuring optimism  about  them  that
dilute the misplaced masochism in the mukhdaa. :-) e.g. :

        Khushi ghamon ke andherey ko jagmagaati hai
        Khizaan ke baad hameshaa bahaar aati hai
        Pyaar ke din bhi aayenge, hijr ke din bitaaye jaa
        
Anyway, so much for the lyrics...maybe the situation in the movie 
warrants them.Coming (more relevantly) to the music, what catches 
the ear  most strikingly, I feel, are  the haunting violin pieces 
generously dotting the songscape, starting with  the  prelude ; I 
know not too many  composers  who  could  make  violins  sound as 
evocative as Sajjad could.

Rafi is at his melancholy best  in  this  song,  though  he  does
exercise  his  sovereign  right  to weep (or maybe submits to the
composer's sovereign right to *make*  him  weep).  In  the  lower
notes  ("ae  mere  beqaraar dil...") the slight edge in his voice
lends a rather softly sad touch to the tune, I feel.

Ok, nuff sed. Anyone know who starred in this movie ?



Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit