It was a day, not very different from other days for Mohammad
Rafi when he walked into the recording studio. The song he was recording was
for a movie called Ballika Vadhu – a coming of age story of a child marriage
where the little boy and girl blossom into youth against the backdrop of the Indian
freedom struggle.
The
lyrics of the song interested him – they were powerful words extolling people
to sacrifice their personal wealth, their own comfort for the cause of the
motherland. He asked the director, Tarun Mazumdar who had written this rousing song.
Tarun Majumdar replied that they were from a poem of a Bengali
writer – a writer who had penned several inspiring works during the
Independence movement. Rafi was intrigued – he wanted to know more.
However since there was a song to be recorded, he kept his
desire to know more on hold and proceeded with learning the song and getting
its nuances right along with R D Burman, the music director of the film. Once his rehearsals of the song were over, it
was now up to the musicians to lay the basic tracks for him to sing on.
As the musicians began arranging their tracks, Mohammad Rafi continued
talking to Tarun Mazumdar about the song. He was amazed to learn that the song
was inspired from a couplet in Bengali by a writer named Mukund Das…and that
the writer was a freedom fighter during India’s struggle for independence.
An extremely sensitive Mohammad Rafi was touched to the core
when he heard about Mukund Das. He immediately went up to the producer of the
film, Shakti Samanta, who was present there and informed him of his decision.
He would not charge a single penny for singing the song. A very perplexed Shakti
Samanta asked him why.
Explaining
the significance of the song to him, Mohammad Rafi said, “We owe our freedom to
the efforts and sacrifices of people like Mukund Das…my refusal of payment for
this song is a small acknowledgment towards what our generation owes the man, it
is my humble tribute to him.”
The song was Yeh Chudiyan Nahin and you can see it by clicking on the link below.
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