That song of Mohammed Rafi without which the gathering of friends was incomplete...

Many of Mohammad Rafi's songs have crossed the barriers of time and borders and have gained popularity worldwide. Famous film writer Vinod Kumar is telling us about a song sung by Mohammad Rafi which is still on people's lips. Even today, when the wedding procession arrives at the door, the band plays this song and the people in the wedding procession dance a lot. 

Mohammad Rafi sang a song for the film 'Sooraj' released in the year 1966, whose lyrics are - Baharon Phool Barsaao Mera Mehboob Aaya Hai. The voice of Mohammad Rafi who sang this song is so special that even after more than 56 years, the craze for this song has not diminished.

This song is a unique example of the magic of lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri's pen and Shankar Jaikishan's music. In a survey conducted by BBC Radio, this song was declared the most popular and best film song of this century. 

With a huge canvas and grand sets, the film Sooraj was released in theatres on 25 March 1966. It was directed by T Prakash Rao and produced by S Krishnamurthy in collaboration with T Govind Rajan. The film did a business of five crores and made a profit of two and a half crores, thus becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year 1966. According to IBOS.com, if we consider today's inflation, this amount comes to five hundred crores. The film was declared a super hit at the box office. 

The hero of the film was Rajendra Kumar and the heroine was Vyjayanthimala. Apart from the film Suraj, this pair worked together in films like 'Aas Ka Panchhi', 'Sangam' and 'Zindagi'. The film Suraj is one of Rajendra Kumar's last hit films. Mumtaz, Ajit, Johnny Walker, Lalita Pawar, Neetu Singh, etc. also played roles in this film. 

When this film was made, on the one hand, Mohammed Rafi was the star of the singing world and on the other hand, Rajendra Kumar, i.e. Jubilee Kumar was the star of the acting world. It is said that the idea of ​​making Sooraj was Rajendra Kumar's. He gave the idea of ​​making this film to the film's producer S Krishnamurthy during a meeting in Madras in 1961.  

Before the film Sooraj, Rajendra Kumar's films were full of romance and melodrama. Rajendra Kumar told S Krishnamurthy if you want to earn a lot of money, then make a film with me in which there is fighting, sword fighting, a prince, a princess, the prince is in love with the princess. The princess should be such that people just keep watching. It is said that Rajendra Kumar suggested the name of Vaijayanti Mala for the role of Princess Anuradha in Sooraj. According to him, Vaijayanti Mala looked like a princess. 

Rajendra Kumar gave Krishnamurthy another piece of advice and that was that the film should be in color. He said that if you want to earn more money, you will have to spend more. It is said that producer Krishnamurthy agreed to everything Jubilee Kumar said. Work on it began after a few years. S Krishnamurthy produced this film along with T Govind Rajan. This color film made on huge grand sets and a big canvas was released in 1966. 

The music of this film was given by Shankar Jaikishan. The lyricists of the film were Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. While Shailendra penned the songs 'Dekho mera dil machal gaya' and 'Titli udi ud jo chali', Hasrat Jaipuri wrote five songs like 'Kaise samjhu badi namaazhoo ho, itna hai tumse pyaar mujhe, chehre par giree julfen, baharo phool barsao and o ek baar aata hai din aisa'. 

All these songs impressed people a lot and the film was liked a lot. The song Baharo Phool Barsaao from this film got three Filmfare Awards in that era. The first award for the best lyricist was given to Hasrat Jaipuri sahab, the second award for the best music director was given to Shankar Jaikishan and the third award was given to Mohammad Rafi sahab who gave voice to this song. In this way, Sooraj won in every way in terms of music.

Two songs of Lata Mangeshkar were also nominated in the playback singing category in that year's Filmfare Awards. One of those two songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar was Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai from the film Guide and the other was Lo Aa Gayi Unki Yaad from the film Do Badan. But the song Baharon Phool Barsaao sung by Rafi sahab won in every way. 

Not only this, in the category of music composers, Shankar Jaikishan, the music composer of Sooraj, was in competition with SD Burman, the music composer of Guide, and Ravi, the music composer of Do Badan, but Shankar Jaikishan won the award. In the category of lyricists, Hasrat Jaipuri, the lyricist of Sooraj, was in competition with Shakeel Badauni, the music composer of Do Badan, and Shailendra, the lyricist of Teesri Kasam. But Hasrat Jaipuri was given the Filmfare Award for the best lyricist for Baharon Phool Barsaao. It is worth mentioning that Shailendra was also among the lyricists of Sooraj.

In 2013, BBC Radio compiled a survey based on the 100 best songs in Hindi film history and this song of Sooraj was placed at number one in the list. This song is played in every wedding ever since it was released. 

Later, an English song was also composed based on the tune of the song Baharon Phool Barsao which was sung by Mohammad Rafi himself. The lyrics of this song are 'Also we hail from different lands'. Mohammad Rafi surprised people by singing this English song. Because Mohammad Rafi did not know English.

It is even said that Rafi sahab used to smile and refuse requests for autographs because he did not know how to sign beautifully in English. But Rafi sahab sang two songs in English. The second song is 'The She I Love' which was made on the lines of the famous 'Hum Kale Hain To Kya Hua' from the film 'Gumnaam' (1965). Both these songs were composed by the music composer duo Shankar-Jaikishan. The film Sooraj was one of the last successful films of Shankar Jaikishan. In this film, Shankar gave a chance to a new singer Sharda. It is said that Sharda's songs, especially the song 'Titli Udi Ud Jo Chali', created such a stir that the throne of established singers like Swar Kokila Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle was shaken. 

The song Baharon Phool Barsao was played in every town, city, and metropolis of India and it was played a lot. It was played for a long time on Radio Binaca Mala and remained in the top spot that year. This song got embedded in the hearts and minds of the people. The popularity of this song is proof of the fact that the singers of this song did not sing but lived the words. Their songs were a medium of expression of the heartbeat of the youth, and their feelings. It is their magic that such songs speak loudly to all of us even after so many years.

List of songs that topped the BBC Radio 2 poll from number 1 to number 20

1. 'bahaaron phuul barasaao' - suuraj
2. 'aavaaraa huun' - aavaaraa
3. 'tujhe dekhaa to' - dilavaale dulhaniyaa le jaaenge
4. 'ajiib daastaan hai ye' - dil apanaa owr priit paraaii
5. 'kabhii kabhii mere dila' main' - kabhii-kabhii
6. 'tere lie' - viir-jaaraa
7. 'ye dostii' - whole
8. 'pyaar kiyaa to ḍaranaa kyaa' - mugal-e-aajam
9. 'chhaiyaa chhaiyaa' - dil see..
10. 'chalate chalate' - paakiizaa
11. 'kal ho naa ho' - kal ho naa ho
12. 'aaj phir jiine kii tamannaa' - gaaiḍ
13. 'kuchh kuchh hotaa hai' - kuchh kuchh hotaa hai
14. 'mowjaa hii mowjaa' - jab vii meṭ
15. 'ai mere hamasaphara' - kayaamat se kayaamat take
16. 'chowdahaviin kaa chaand ho' - chowdahaviin kaa chaand
17. 'aajaa sanama' - chorii chorii
18. 'pahalaa nashaa' - jo jiitaa vahii sikandar
19. 'dhiire-dhiire se' - aashikii
20. 'churaa liyaa hai tumane jo dil ko' - yaadon kii baaraata

About the Author:

Vinod Kumar is a famous film writer and journalist who has written many books on many celebrities in the cinema world. These books include ʺMeri Aawaz Sunoʺ, ʺCinema Ke 150 Sitareʺ, and ʺRafi Ki Duniyaʺ, apart from biographies of Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, and Raj Kapoor.

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