I am fond of Mohammad Rafi; indeed, so fond of him that I consider him the best, the most accomplished, and most versatile singer that the world ever produced. A few years ago, when I started to learn singing at a very late stage in my life (I am 72 years old now and I started to learn singing only about three to four years ago), I realised that there is no better singer to learn from than Rafi saheb. Such is the aura of his singing that if an ordinary, amateur, and untrained singer like me can sing at about five percent of his ability, I can start patting myself on the back. Rafi saheb was the A to Z of good singing. When a great contemporary, Manna Dey, was asked to rank Rafi as a singer, Manna Dey’s prompt and thought provoking response was, “I rank Mohammad Rafi as #1 to #10.” By this, he obviously meant that all other singers were and are ten ranks below.
Irrespective of the awards and honours bestowed on other singers, more often than not due to political reasons, many like me feel that Mohammad Rafi was beyond awards including Bharat Ratna.
Therefore, to be able to sing the songs earlier sung by Mohammad Rafi is a blessing and honour. This doesn’t, by any stretch of imagination, mean that anyone of us can match his prowess. It only means that we can take lots of joy and pride in the fact that we lived in the era when he was alive and fondly sing his songs to relive their magic.
A Little About Raag Malkauns
Malkauns or Malkaush is another raag dedicated to Lord Shiva like Bhairav. Indeed, it belongs to Bhairavi Thaat. The name Malkaush is derived from the combination of Mal and Kaushik, which means he who wears a garland of snakes; ie, Shiva. It is believed that the raaga was composed by Lord Shiva’s wife Parvati to calm him down. As a matter of interest all pentatonic raagas belong to Shaivait musical school and so does Malkaush.
Now that we know a little more about the Jati of a raaga, it is of pentatonic scale both in ascending and descending scales; that is Audhav-Audhav. The five notes used are: Sa, komal Ga, shuddh Ma, komal Dha, and komal Ni. The two notes that are totally omitted are: Re (Rishab) and Pa (Pancham).
Malkaush is a late night raaga and is calming, soothing and even intoxicating. One would use such a raaga in deep and serious meditation.
Malkaush Based Songs of Rafi
Song #1
Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj
One of the finest examples of Malkauns in Hindi songs is from the 1952 Vijay Bhatt movie Baiju Bawra that starred Meena Kumari as Gauri and Bharat Bhushan in the title role. The movie got Meena Kumari a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and Naushad Ali his only Filmfare Award for composing the song Tu Ganga ki mauj.
Naushad Ali was one of the greatest music directors in Hindi films. He is one of the three music directors (the other two being Pankaj Mullick and RC Boral) who have been given the highest award in cinema: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has been credited with having introduced Raaga based songs in Hindi movies. Indeed, in the movie Baiju Bawra, each of the 13 songs have been based on some raaga or the other.
As was often the case, the greatest songs of Naushad were penned by my favourite lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni. Also, as was often the case, their songs were sung by the best singer that we ever had: Mohammad Rafi (Please also read: ‘The Best Of Old Hindi Songs – Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad And Dilip Kumar Together’).
This is also one of the best bhajans in Hindi movies ever made and fits well with the description of Raag Malkaush that I have given: serious, meditative, soothing and calming.
Please enjoy: Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj….
मन तड़पत हरि दरसन को आज
मोरे तुम बिन बिगड़े सकल काज
आ, विनती करत, हूँ, रखियो लाज, मन तड़पत…
तुम्हरे द्वार का मैं हूँ जोगी
हमरी ओर नज़र कब होगी
सुन मोरे व्याकुल मन की बात, तड़पत हरी दरसन…
बिन गुरू ज्ञान कहाँ से पाऊँ
दीजो दान हरी गुन गाऊँ
सब गुनी जन पे तुम्हारा राज, तड़पत हरी…
मुरली मनोहर आस न तोड़ो
दुख भंजन मोरे साथ न छोड़ो
मोहे दरसन भिक्षा दे दो आज दे दो आज, …
Song #2
Jaan-e-bahar husn tera bemisaal hai
Here is a song that I sang to Lyn, totally extempore, on 12 Dec 2021 when we were cutting the wedding anniversary cakes.
I recall the lyrics of most of the songs of my favourite poet and lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni. And so is this song. It was composed by Ravi. Shakeel and Ravi mastered songs describing the Husn (Beauty) of a woman. Indeed, Shakeel received two out of his three Filmfare Awards (the only known hat-trick) for such songs with Ravi: Chaudvinh ka chand ho, and Husn waale tera jawab nahin.
I remember having sung this to Lyn on our wedding night too.
The song is from the 1963 BS Ranga movie Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya starring Shammi Kapoor and B Saroja Devi; a guy from the North and a lady from the South, exactly like me and Lyn.
Here are the most beautiful lyrics:
जान-ए-बहार हुस्न तेरा बेमिसाल है
वल्लाह कमाल है, अरे वल्लाह कमाल है
आई है मेरे पास तू इस आन-बान से
उतरी हो जैसे कोई परी आस्मान से
मैं क्या कहूँ खुशी से अजब मेरा हाल है
हाय ये तेरी मस्त अदाएं ये बाकपन -२
किरणों को भी मैं छूने न दूँगा ये गोरा तन
तुझसे नज़र मिलाए ये किसकी मजाल है
मैं खुशनसीब हूँ के तुझे मैंने पा लिया -२
तूने करम किया मुझे अपना बना लिया
ऐसे मिले हैं हम के बिछड़ना मुहाल है
Please enjoy my rendition of: Jaan-e-bahar husn tera bemisaal hai…
I am so impressed with the song, that I sang this again to Lyn on her birthday, 11th Jul 2025, ie, last year. Indeed, this was my 400th post on YouTube:
Song #3
Akhiyan sang akhiyan laage aaj
This song was penned by Prem Dhawan and composed by Chitragupt in Raag Malkauns, Tintal and Kaherava.
Chitragupt was born on 16 Nov 1917 in village Sawreji of Gopalganj district of Bihar. His full name was Chitragupt Shrivastava. Anand and Milind, his sons are also composers in Hindi movies.
He started his career in the Hindi movies as a composer with the 1946 movie Fighting Hero. His last movie for which he gave the soundtrack was the 1998 movie Chandaal. Some of his most popular songs are: Chal udh jaa re panchhi in Raag Pahadi, Laagi chhute na, and Jaag dil-e-deewana in Raag Bhairavi. All these were sung by Rafi sahib.
Prem Dhawan, the lyricist of this song, was born on 13 Jun 1923 in Ambala, that time in Punjab. His first movie as a lyricist was the 1949 movie Jeet. Of course, he was also a composer and choreographer. His first movie as a composer was Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar.
Some of his most popular songs are from the 1965 Manoj Kumar movie Shaheed: Mera rang de basanti chola, Jogi ham to lut gaye tere pyar mein, Aye watan aye watan hamko teri kasam, and Sarfroshi ki tamanna. Some of his other popular songs are: Aye mere pyare watan, Teri duniya se door chale hoke majboor, and gareebon ki suno woh tumhaari sunega.
The 1961 movie Bada Aadmi was a Raj Kaushal movie starring Sheikh Mukhtar and Vijaya Choudhary both of whom act in the song, too.
Here are the lyrics:
#म्म्म# …
तरनान तन आ आ …
ओ ओ …
अखियन संग अखियाँ लागे आज -२
झूमे बार बार मेरे मन में प्यार
नित ऐस तो मौसम आये न
अखियन संग अखियाँ लागे आज
अखियन संग
आ आ …
इक प्यारि छबि मेरे मन में बसे
दिन रैन मेरे नैनन में हंसे
नया सपना मिला कोई अपन मिल
फिर ऐसे क्यों मेर मन गाये न
अखियन संग अखियाँ लागे आज
अखियन संग
सा सा ध सा सा नी सा सा ध सा सा नी सा सा
सा नी नी ध ग म ग म
मधुमति पवन इखलके चली
जैसे नार कोई शर्मके चली
कभि रुकति हुई कभि झुकति हुई
अब आके ये सावन जाये न
अखियन संग अखियाँ लागे आज
अखियन संग अखियाँ
म म म म ग म ग म ग म सा
म ध म
म ध नी सा नी सा ध नी सा नी सा ध
ध नी सा ग सा ग नी सा ग सा ग नी
सा ग म म ग म
ध नी सा सा नी सा
ग म ग
सा ग सा
सा ग सा नी सा नी ध नी ध म ध म
म ग म ग म ग सा
नी ध नी ध नी ध म
ध नी सा नी ध नी सा
आ आ …
अखियन संग
अखियन संग
अखियन संग अखियाँ लागे
Please enjoy: Akhiyan sang akhiyan laage aaj….
I hope you enjoyed Raag Malkauns based songs of Mohammad Rafi sung by me. Please remain tuned for more Raag based songs of Rafi sahib.
