If there is one thing Bollywood actor Dharmendra is known for, it is the beautiful and melodious songs that will make you laugh, cry, smile and also hold on to your emotions.

Rajiv Vijayakar's latest work work – ‘Dharmendra – Not Just a He-Man’ is a biography that chornciles the life of this legend. Vijayakar states that it was a privilege to write on an actor and star legend who has watched many superstars come, dazzle and go, while he remains as loved as ever today. “Apart from my old interviews with him and his family, it was fascinating to talk to and integrate what his friends and associates spoke about him, and attempt a well-rounded book on him that brought to his fans Dharmendra as not just a he-man but a versatile actor and a super human being."

Vijayakar has been an entertainment journalist for the over 26 years and has twice been National Film Award Jury Member. An authority on Indian films, he is the author of the best selling ‘The History of Indian Film Music’.

Musicunplugged prodded him into sharing a chapter of his book with our readers. He chose the music side of Dharmendra, something that brings fond memories. Take a read and go down memory lane.

Here is an extract from the book:

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Melody With Muscle: The Dharmendra Song

A staggering 150 songs of Dharmendra became popular, hits or outright chartbusters. This was an amazing score for someone who did not much enjoy doing songs, or dancing, and yet made them even visually alluring and, in so many cases, iconic.

And above all, this achievement places him right in the forefront of our most musical stars!

Think back to the heydays of Dharmendra and the inevitable first thought will be of musclemen like Dara Singh, people you would not possibly associate with a soft, romantic image, let alone music to match. Think music, on the other hand, and we would inevitably think of all the musical stars, mostly with soft images like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor or Rajesh Khanna.

No one thus would associate the rugged hunk of Phool Aur Patthar or the macho espionage agent of Ankhen to inspire legendary composers to come up with great music for a Jat hero who, at least during most of the fruitful phase of his career, had an action image. Also note the fact that these two films in particular, among many others all through his career, had no lip-synched song by him.

But strangely enough, the music of Dharmendra had immense ‘muscle’—a hefty melodic vigour and lyrics whose intrinsic strength matched tough sinews.

The actor has openly expressed his love for the late Mohammed Rafi, who got the lion’s share of his best songs. Nevertheless, Kishore Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and Mukesh, in probably that order, all had great innings with him.

Go rare, and you will find that Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar had also sang rare terrific gems for this hero.  Go younger, and we had an assortment of voices that went on the actor, from Bhupinder Singh in a small part of ‘Naam Gum Jaayega’(Kinara) down to Sonu Nigam in the title track of Apne a full thirty years later, followed by the ‘Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana’ re-creation in Yamla Pagla Deewana.

Later, Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh and Javed Ali also sang for him in parts for the Yamla Pagla Deewana franchise’s songs, but these were not full-fledged Dharmendra numbers. In fact, the actor himself recited a few lines in one of the YPD 2 songs with Dosanjh, ‘Main Taan Aidaa Hi Nachna’. Like these, there might have been some more anonymous voices too in his smaller and regional films.

The Rafi clones, Anwar, Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz, Kishore’s and Mukesh’s sons Amit Kumar and Nitin Mukesh respectively, Suresh Wadkar, Vinod Rathod, ’90s toppers Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet, South stalwarts P.B. Srinivas, Yesudas and S.P. Balasubramaniam and qawwal Aziz Nazan—have all sung for Dharmendra over the years—of course with varied results, in terms of vocal compatibility and impact. A rare name was Kabban Mirza in Razia Sultan, but despite Kamal Amrohi shortlisting him for Dharmendra’s character of the dark-skinned slave, the visual match simply was not there.

It is an axiom in Hindi cinema that when a new actor makes his appearance, it takes a while for his persona to be understood musically.  The  kind of films and roles he chooses and the successes and branding or image that he gets, vis-à-vis the existing top names in singers and film composers, decide the outcome of his career.

The actor’s first film Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere had music by Kalyanji-Anandji. The duo chose Mukesh as his voice in his duet ‘Yeh Vaada Kare Jahan Bhi Rahe’ (with Lata Mangeshkar singing for Kum kum) as well as the poignant song that remains the actor’s first perennial, ‘Mujhko Iss Raat Ki Tanhai Mein Awaaz Na Do’.

As Anandji of the music duo told me, ‘It was a new experiment. We gave the ghazal—which was how the lyrics of ‘Mujhko Iss Raat Ki Tanhai Mein’ were structured—a twist with the kind of composition we made. Till then, ghazal-based songs had a different feel in our film music.’

Thus, for the record, Mukesh became Dharmendra’s first voice (as was also the case with Raj Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Dharam’s good friends Manoj Kumar and Shashi Kapoor and later Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna and Rishi Kapoor!). Also, Dharam’s first lyrics were written, respectively, by K.L. Pardesi and Shamim Jaipuri.

That Special Voice—Mohammed Rafi

In 1961, the Rafi-Dharmendra association was to begin with the oh-so-soothing ‘Jaane Kya Dhoondti Rehti Hai’from Khayyam’s Shola Aur Shabnam. This was also the first of the few but memorable classics Kaifi Azmi was to write for him, an innings that ended, ironically, with the songs from the actor’s first home production Satyakam in 1969 (‘Zindagi Hai Kya’). Azmi had also penned the remaining two songs of that movie that were filmed on Sharmila Tagore, ‘Do Din Ki Zindagi’ and ‘Abhi Kya Sunoge’.

‘Rafi saab would merge into my character in all films!’ said Dharmendra. Always smiling, incapable of anger, almost a brother, is how Dharmendra remembers Rafi. When he met Rafi for the first time, he said, ‘It was like a dream come true. I later came to know that he was suffering from fever that day, and my first song “Jaane Kya Dhoondti Rehti Hai”, which he recorded in that condition, sounded just like me!’

He admitted that for Sunny’s debut film, he would have loved to have Rafi sing, but as he had passed away, he decided to look for a similar voice and found one in Shabbir Kumar. ‘I was Rafi saab’s fan long before I became an actor,’ he said. ‘As a playback singer, he would initiate me into the mood of the song—not just me, but every actor! I am speaking from the heart, that if I had my say, I would have never taken any other voice for my songs, though I liked and respected all singers!’

‘Dharmendra – Not Just a He-Man’ - A Biography by Rajiv Vijayakar

Publised By: Rupa Publications India

Pages: 288 

Price: Rs. 500.00