Sanjeev Rambhadran's first claim to fame was when he became the winner of the famous Saregama competition on Zee TV in the mid-90s. The program then was hosted by a young Sonu Nigam and the judge for the finals was none other than the doyen of Hindi film music- Anil Biswas.

Born and brought up in the US, Sanjee is now an acclaimed and much sought-after singer in the US program circuit. He is also a multi-instrumentalist. In this special series to commemorate Mohammed Rafi's 40th death anniversary, Sanjeev brings out various facets of Rafi's gaayaki through his songs with 40 different music directors. He also brilliantly pens his thoughts on these musical gems. Here is fifteenth one from the series.Over to Sanjeev Rambhadran for a musical treat!

DAY 15: Many listeners will recall Lata Mangeshkar's "Haaye Jiya Roye" or the Lata-Mukesh tandem "Nain Dwaar Se" of the late 1950s. Recalling the name of the richly talented Hansraj Behl, however, may be a bit more of a challenge.

From the 40s into the 50s and 60s, filmmaking, compositional and orchestrational trends changed conspicuously, and accordingly Mohd. Rafi's vocalism evolved. This phenomenon is eminently observable in his collaboration with Hansraj Behl. The Mohd. Rafi of "Jahan Daal-Daal Par" (Sikandar-e-Azam, 1965) sounds worlds apart from "Mohabbat Zinda Rehti Hai" (Changez Khan, 1956). Both of these are, in turn, far removed from the lugubrious, mournful "Sab Kuchh Lutaaya Hamne" (Chunariya, 1948, which also featured Asha Bhosle for the first time in Hindi Films).

As the aforementioned songs attest, Hansraj Behl too was quick to catch on to the dramatic possibilities of Mohd. Rafi's vocalism and reach into the upper registers. However, I've gone with another melody that was a milestone on Mohd. Rafi's career graph in what can still be considered his formative years. His guileless, dignified rendition of Arzoo Lakhnavi's gazal, with minimal instrumental accompaniment, has him showcasing a rich lower and middle register that was, in my view, unique to this phase of his career.

As some viewers/listeners have asked about the tabla accompaniment found in some of the tracks - I've played it myself (after-the-fact) for songs where I thought it would create a better effect. Today, my 14-year old Rikhav Sanjeev felt the urge to get reacquainted with the tablas after a decent-sized gap, so I gave him a shot (in "real-time") at the light accompaniment for this song.

 #RememberingMohdRafi #40Years_40Songs_40Days_40Composers #Day15