Tuesday 18 August 2009

Kalyanji Anandji: Rafoo Chakkar (1974)

Rafoo Chakkar

Here's a good one. 'Rafoo Chakkar' is primarily sought after for its funky instrumental, on which Kalyanji Anandji took Henri Mancini's theme from 'The Thief Who Came To Dinner' and fused it with the sound of Isaac Hayes' 'Theme from Shaft'. The result is a Bollywood classic.

I once received an email from a guy wondering about the rest of the soundtrack. He'd downloaded it via iTunes and wasn't sure he'd received the correct album - the remaining tracks sounding decidedly different. And non-funky. Which goes to show that the difference between the instrumentals that turn up on compilations (in the West) and what constitues the majority of these scores really is designed to baffle first time listeners.

Not that the songs are bad; in fact there are more good ones here than on most albums. 'Dil De Na' and 'Chhup Chhup' are 60s-tinged beat numbers; and 'Ae Zamane' and 'Kisi Pe Dil' are the same only with singing that sounds more traditional. All are great. Just not funky. Except for 'Chhup Chhup' where bits of it actually is, kind of. So either way, it's a winner.

Track listing:
1. Usha Mangeshkar & Kanchan: Dil De Na
2. Aziz Nazan, Kanchan & Chorus: Bhajan Bina
3. Kanchan: Ae Zamane
4. Shailendra Singh & Asha Bhosle: Kisi Pe Dil
5. Shailendra Singh & Kanchan: Tum Ko Mere Dil Ne
6. Asha Bhosle, Kanchan & Mahesh Kumar: Chhup Chhup
7. Music

6 comments:

  1. Awesome a new post!! Whohoo! Look forward to checking this out...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great write-up, PC! Really looking forward to this one! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Classic stuff thanks again PC

    For anyone who wishes to make comparison Henry Mancini's Thief who came to Dinner can be found on my friends blog here [also a classic]

    http://orgyinrhythm.blogspot.com/2007/03/henry-mancini-thief-who-came-to-dinner.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another excellent composition by Kalyanji-Anandji. The theme, I never knew, was taken from Mancini's composition. Woah ! The movie was excellent and the songs do match the situations :)
    Definitely not a Funk factor from the Funk brothers but still a great one.
    Thanks a lot for the post PC :)

    Harshi

    ReplyDelete
  5. One time reup
    http://lix.in/-153f373

    ReplyDelete