#463

      Song:   aaye bahaar ban ke lubhaakar chale gaye
              kya raaz thha jo dil mein chhupakar chale gaye

      Film:   Raj Hath (1956)
      Singer: Mohammed Rafi
      Music:  Shankar Jaikishen
      Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri
      *ing:   Madhubala, Pradeep Kumar

I'd like to pay a combined tribute to Hasrat Jaipuri (who passed away
recently) and Jaikishen (whose 28th death anniversary passed on Sept
12) with one of my alltime favorite Rafi solos, from this histrionic,
Romeo-and-Juliet-esque (of course, with a substantially happier ending)
Minerva release.

This is one of four songs that resplendently stand out on this populous
11-strong soundtrack, amidst a cohort of choral dance numbers - the
other three (in no particular order) being the Lata solos ("mere sapne
mein aana re" and "kahaan se milte moti") and the simple, symmetric and
heartwarmingly romantic Mukesh-Lata duet "ye vaada karo chaand ke
saamne".

"aaye bahaar banke..." easily makes its way into my list of top 5 Rafi
solos. Sung by a smitten Pradeep Kumar as he first sets his eyes on
Madhubala (who, interestingly, has entered his hunting tent with the
noble intention of hacking him to pieces), Rafi's wonderful rendition
captures this 'smitten-ness' admirably. Despite the fact that Pradeep
K's stoneface routine in this song would give Bharat Bhushan a run
for his money. A large part of this song is in higher scales (the
prelude alaapi, the antaraas), and once again, Rafi's triumphant
soaring echoes (literally) the sentiment in the song very well...

    kehne ko wo haseen thhii.n, aa.nkhe.n thhii bewafaa
    aa.nkhe.n thhi bewafaa, haaye
    daaman meri nazar se bachaakar chale gaye...