(Author's Note : Please CLICK above PLAY button to LISTEN to "MAN TADPAT" Bhajan from the Film : Baiju Bawara of 1952 which I have played on my Base Flute (or Long Flute) with Deep Meditative Sound which will put you in TRANCE. I have also used Electronic Tanpura so as to support the Tune. Please give me your feedback through your valuable comment to my Blog. Thanks). 

One of the most famous Bhajans to be used in a Hindi movie is the evergreen bhajan Man Tadpat from the movie Baiju Bawra that was released in 1952. This Bhajan was based on Raga Malkauns in pure form.The music was set to tune by maestro Naushad Ali. All the songs in this film were based on Classical ragas. Man Tadpat was sung by the immortal Mohammed Rafi. Initially, the Urdu-speaking Mohammed Rafi had problems pronouncing some Sanskrit words of this Bhajan. So the music director, Naushad had to invite Sanskrit pundits from Varanasi to train Mohammed Rafi so that he could pronounce the Sanskrit lyrics of the Bhajan correctly. The pundits had to work very hard to improve Mohammed Rafi's diction. But after a great deal of effort, the pundits finally did succeed in improving Rafi's pronunciation to the desired extent. After several rehearsals, Naushad gave them his final approval to record this Bhajan. This Bhajan is popular even today. This Bhajan has been sung in most of the temples all over the world. We have heard this Bhajan thousands of times, and we still want to listen to it over and over again. This does not surprise me when I consider all the effort that went into the rehearsals of this great Bhajan before it was recorded. I do not think there is any another composition in Hindi films based on Raga Malkauns that is better than Man Tadpat. This is just my view. 

One more interesting fact to be noted here is that all 3 artists Mohd. Rafi (Singer), Naushad (Composer) and Shakeel Badayuni (Lyricist) were all Muslims and yet the trio gave to the world the most unforgettable Bhajan of all times "Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj" which has been sung or played on the instrument in almost all Hindu Templs at least once all over the World.

One of my Sulekha friends Dileep Naik who is also a very Talented musician himself has added following event attached with recording of "Man Tadpat" Bhajan in 1952. 

"While taking takes after takes of the song Naushadji was not satisfied with the result and always felt some thing missing from the song, that was the feeling. Rafi Sahab then requested the director to get a picture of lord Krishna. Soon a framed picture was brought from the market. Rafi saheb placed the picture right in front of him in the recording room and asked Naushadji to start a fresh take. This take came out really great and all musicians found that Rafi sahab was in tears while giving this recording.Such was the commitment & feelings; no wonder this is one of the best Bhajans in Hindi Film History."

For reading details on Raga Malkauns please CLICK below Sulekha Link on my previous article on Raga Malkauns:

http://dr-narasinha-kamath.sulekha.com/blog/post/2002/07/flute-raga-malkauns.htm


Regards,

Dr. Kamath