{"id":8033,"date":"2023-09-24T10:52:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T05:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=8033"},"modified":"2023-09-24T16:02:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T10:32:07","slug":"prayag-raaj-the-virtuoso-wordsmith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/prayag-raaj-the-virtuoso-wordsmith\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayag Raaj \u2013 The Virtuoso Wordsmith"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Prayag

Prayag Raaj<\/p><\/div>\n

The curtain came down on one of the most powerful scriptwriters of the Bachchan era, Prayag Raaj, on September 23. Amitabh Bachchan, in a message to this writer, wrote, \u201cVery sad\u2026 such a huge contributor to some of the most outstanding films. Prayers\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is distressing that some of the greatest achievers of our industry have remained unsung in the media \u2013 which has a penchant to put sensationalism above accomplishment. If you ask any cinema analyst to name the scriptwriters behind Amitabh Bachchan\u2019s phenomenal success, the answer, without a blink, would be Salim-Javed. Though this may be partly correct, there have been other writers as well who have cemented Bachchan\u2019s iconic status at the box-office. They have remained in oblivion because they either didn\u2019t seek recognition out of modesty or they weren\u2019t media-savvy. This doesn\u2019t absolve a cinema historian imparting lesser value to them. One such writer, who needs to be discussed, saluted and celebrated is Prayag Raaj.<\/p>\n

Raaj inherited creativity by genes. He is the son of a well-known poet Ram Das \u201cAzad\u201d. Azad belonged to Lahore, worked in the Indian Army, and was posted in Allahabad when his son was born and named after his illustrious birthplace (Allahabad, traditionally called Prayag Raj has now gone back to it original name).<\/p>\n

Azad\u2019s interest in theatre and cinema, and his association with Prithviraj Kapoor and K L Saigal led him to give up his job and migrate to Bombay in 1941 where he wrote plays for Prithvi Theatre and even directed a couple of films. Prayag Raaj entered films as early as 1948 as a child actor with Raj Kapoor\u2019s Aag <\/em>where he played a tramp. Raj Kapoor\u2019s Awara <\/em>(1951) followed, where he had a role as a street urchin.<\/p>\n

In 1961, Shammi Kapoor\u2019s rebellious on-screen \u2018Yahoo<\/em>!\u2019 refrain in Subodh Mukherjee\u2019s Junglee<\/em> was actually Prayag Raaj\u2019s voice, done in the studio while recording the song with Mohd Rafi. This song in Saira Banu\u2019s debut film took the nation\u2019s youth by storm. Raaj\u2019s ability to give a high decibel refrain became a popular add on in several songs but few know that it is Prayag Raaj\u2019s voice crying out \u2018Affoo Khudaa<\/em>\u2019 in Hum ko tum pe pyar aya<\/em> (Jab Jab Phool Khile)<\/em>, \u2018Kuckoo’ <\/em>in Mast baharon ka main aashiq<\/em>\u00a0(Farz)<\/em> and \u2018Allah Rakha\u2019<\/em> in Coolie <\/em>to name a few.<\/p>\n

Yahoo! Chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe<\/strong><\/em> (Junglee<\/em>, 1961) Shankar Jaikishan \/ Hasrat Jaipuri \/ Mohd Rafi<\/span><\/p>\n