By Deepak Deshmukh

Mohd. Rafi was a versatile & talented singer of the world.He lent his voice to many popular heroes like Dilip kumar, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, Rajendra kumar, Dharmendra. Shammi kapoor, Shashi kapoor, Johny walker, Mehmood, Rajesh khanna, Raj kapoor, Joy Mukerjee, Manoj Kumar, Raj kumar, Rishi kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Feroz khan, Sanjay, Sanjeev kumar, Balraj Sahni etc.

He was a favorite singer of music directors like Naushad, Shankar Jaikishen, O.P.Nayyar, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, Ravi, S.D. Burman, R.D.Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Bhagatram, Khayyam,Jaidev, Shyam Sunder, Ghulam Muhammad etc He has many duets with lady singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman kalyanpur, Suraiya, Noor Jehan, S.Begum, Usha Mangeshkar, Sulakshana Pandit, Usha khanna, Krishna kalley etc

He used to twist his voice to different heroes, a property which is, in general , very impossible. Dev’s favorite singer was kk, but Mohd. Rafi has lent his voice to Dev in more songs than kk, emerging as more attractive & romantic. Shammi kapoor, Rajendra kumar, Dharmendra & so many started their career with Raf’s voice.

Mahendra kapoor excelled in patriotic songs but Rafi’s Watan ki rah me watan ke naujawan, Kar chale hum fida,  Watan pe jo fida hoga, Ab koi gulshan, Hum laye toofan se kashti, Suno suno duniyawalon Bapuji Ki etc songs tell his supremacy. Devotional songs, Classical songs are Manna Dey’s field but O duniya ke rakhwale, Man tarpat, Badi der bhayi, Sukh Ke sab saathi, Kahan ja raha tu ai janewale, Badi der bhayi nandlala, Charanome charanome tere, Radhike tune bansari, Madhuban me radhika, Shodhisi manava, Tere bharose nandlal, Do Sitaron Ka Zamin Par, Nache Man Mora, Man Mora Bawra, Tu hai mera prem devta, Vrindavan Ka krishna kanhaiya, etc songs tell the facts . Rafi also excelled in quawali type songs e.g. Parda hai, Hai agar dushman, Aaj kyon humse parda, Ye ishq ishq hai, Iran humne dekha, Mere dildar ka bankpan, etc qawwali songs were very popular. Rafi was the only singer who has sung the, songs with Saira Banu, Nanda , Dharmendra, Sadhna, Mehmud, Johnny walker, Amitabh Bachchan,etc

Rafi had sung uncountable songs in Punjabi, Marathi, Gujrathi, English, Udiya, Urdu languages. Rafi was a GIFT of THE NATURE to us. He was a versatile singer with mulayam-silky voice.No other singer could reach his voice to Rafi’s height. In all his duets & do pehlu songs with other singers, Rafi has outshone the other singers. In 99% songs Even Lata Mangeshkar is found to be struggling & even limping before him

This blog was published on Thursday, July 31st, 2014 at 9:17 am and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.