The Rockstar and his ‘avaaz'

It was the discovery of a sepia-tone cassette in the house that blew open my world to Indian cinema's original rockstar Shammi Kapoor and his avaaz (voice), legendary singer Mohammed Rafi. My discovery was way after the silver-screen had adoringly captured the enchanting hero — his chocolate-box looks and daring ability to carry off with elan, even a sack-like outfit that looked like it had been stitched from a blanket!

Rafi's brilliance

And taking the Shammi experience to heady and electrifying heights were his songs — where Rafi's musical brilliance matched ever so perfectly the actor's irrepressible pagalpan (madness). No romantic could miss the tease in the rendering of taarif karoon kya uski , where Shammi pursues the young Sharmila Tagore and claps his way off the boat he is in and falls into the lake! Or as he dangles from a helicopter, in a bath suit, singing Aasman se aya farishta . There was intensity in Dil ke jharoke mein tujko chipa kar, madness in Sooku sooku or the iconic Chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe ” and sheer melody in “ Deewana hua badal among several others – all rendered by Rafi. The unputdownable aaja aaja, mei hoon pyar tera may be an undisputed retro dance number, but it is said Asha Bhonsle took over a week to get the gushing western number right. The male counterpart, Rafi again, sang with made-to-order perfection, portrayed with head-banging passion by Shammi.

Did someone actually choreograph Shammi's uninhibited dance or the tumble down mountains of snow? Did the actor and his avaaz discuss the romance they brought into the songs? Shammi is quoted saying that he used to be present at the recording of his songs and discuss how the scene would be enacted. In fact, reports have Shammi saying he was “incomplete” without Rafi. The inextricable relationship between the actor, his music and the singer who sang for him, is something that dominates blogs and youtube tributes to Shammi and Rafi, both no more. .

Magical moments

But the magical moments they created transcend their generation and continue to entertain fans, exposed to their brilliance, well after many of these movies and songs were created in the first place. On his movies, Shammi candidly admitted in a television interview that he was not an actor of the calibre of Dilip Kumar or Raj Kapoor. In fact, there is no message too, he says, adding that his movies just made the viewer happy and comfortable — he could leave “with a tune in your heart”. And that certainly is what the Shammi-Rafi magical duo do — leave you with a spring in your step and a song on your lips, never-mind if you heard it from an old-world cassette or watched it on the Net through youtube.

COMMENT NOW