Patthar Ke Sanam was directed by Raja Nawathe.
While deciding on the singer for its title song, the film’s music composer duo Laxmikant Pyarelal had Mohammed Rafi in mind.
Emotional songs in films, which depict the feeling of pain, often have a separate fan base. Many such songs were written in the past , which are evergreen and hummed by people even today. Today, we’ll talk about an incident where a film’s protagonist and music composer had a tiff while choosing a singer. Wondering which film and personalities we are talking about? Let us reveal. Mohammed Rafi was one of the legendary singers of Bollywood. He delivered some unforgettable songs. Due to his versatility, he was the choice of every musician and composer. He was known to modify his voice as per the requirements in the movie and his voice always sounded pleasing to the ears of the audience. In 1967, producer-director Raja Nawathe released a movie titled Patthar Ke Sanam, which found itself amidst much debate and discussion regarding its title song of the same name.
The movie starred Manoj Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaz, Pran and Mehmood in prominent roles. The lyricist of the movie was Majrooh Sultanpuri, while the music composition was handled by the famous musical duo, Laxmikant Pyarelal. While deciding on the singer for its title song, the composer duo had Mohammed Rafi in mind. At that time, the majority of the hit songs of Manoj Kumar were sung by Mukesh Chand Mathur, aka, Mukesh. Manoj Kumar wanted to rope in Mukesh, instead of Mohammed Rafi for the song.
Laxmikant Pyarelal intervened and explained to Manoj Kumar that only Mohammed Rafi would be able to do justice to the song due to the pitch required. Manoj Kumar did not accept it and said that only Mukesh’s voice suits him. After much debate, a discussion was held with Raja Nawathe and Producer AA Nadiadwala. Both refused to interfere in the music department. Under these circumstances, Manoj Kumar gave in and accepted Mohammad Rafi to lend his voice to him. When the song was finally released, it became immensely popular and was a hit. Everyone was singing or humming as it resonated with the audience. Finally, Manoj Kumar also accepted that no one except Mohammed Rafi could have sung this song better.