By Aparna Sridhar

Mohd Rafi

I have wanted to write about this for ages. There is a video of Mohammed Rafi singing O Duniya Ke Rakhwale that I have watched countless number of times and still am not tired of it. In fact I have watched several videos of Rafi singing live, and continue to watch, being a die-hard fan of Rafi. It was a live show on Doordarshan with a complete live orchestra, with Naushad conducting it. It was the most wonderful and enriching 15 minutes of my life. We all know what a lovely, emotion-packed and moving song O Duniya Ke Rakhwale is. And to watch Rafi sing it live is a great experience. (more…)

By Salim K

Mohd Rafi

It is common to see people excel in certain traits, during certain times and under certain conditions but to see someone excel over nearly 4 decades and beyond is rare and unheard of. This rare feat is achieved by Rafi Sahab in the art of playback singing.  From his first assignment in early 40’s to his last in July 1980, one sees a career that remains unmatched and uncompleted to date. Rafi Sahab is not only a singer but an institution – a gharana that is now called the “Rafi Gharana”.

Legend of legends: It was Mukesh, Mana dey, Hemant Da and  Talat in 50’s – but Rafi Sahab made a permanent mark in that era. It was Mukesh , Mana Dey and Mahendra Kapoor in 60’s but Rafi Sahab became an inspiration for these great legends and it was Kishore and Yesudas in the 70’s but Rafi Sahab kept on surprising us and raising the benchmark of singing. Rafi Sahab proved that he was  the uncrowned king of singing, what come may and such was the impression he made in his so called quiet years that the music charts in August and September of 1980 had him with more songs on the top of the charts compared to all other singers, male and female. (more…)

By Ronny Noor

Mohd Rafi

You could never forget me
Yes, you could never forget me
Whenever you listen to my song
You will always hum along.
– Hasrat Jaipuri

There does not seem to be a four-letter word that is dearer to the human heart than love. It is the most potent force that inspires us to action. Lanka was set ablaze for it and the Taj Mahal was built for it. That is why it resonates most from the pens of great poets to the pages of great books. Although it is often confused with lust, true love is not about sensual feelings, as the celluloid diva Mumtaz teaches her screen partner Sanjay Khan in the movie Upasana. (more…)

By: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi and Naushad Ali

Although Mohammad Rafi could sing any type of song, my choice of his best songs are classical based; and though he has sung more hit classical based songs for a few composers like Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, S.D. Burman.  He was the favorite of all illustrious MDs of his time such as Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, S D Burman, C Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar, Roshan and later R D Burman, Kalyanji –Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. In the film ‘Ragini’ O P Nayyar even used Rafi to playback for Kishore Kumar for the song ‘Man mora Bawara’ which was classical based. Naushad used to compose very tough classical based songs which none other than Rafi could sing. (more…)

By Onika Setia

Mohd Rafi

१, दिल    से   भुलाने   की   कोशिश    की   बहुत   मगर ,
तब भी   हटी    तेरी   तस्वीर   मेरी   निगाहों   से.

२, काश   ए    यार  !   तेरे   जैसे    यह   जहानवाले  होते ,
तो  यह ज़मीं    जन्नत   से कम    न होती .

३,हमसे   ना उठाया    जाता था   यह जिंदगी   का बोझ   तक,
तुमने    साथ दिया    तो   होंसला    बढ़ा   हमारा. (more…)

By: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi, Laxmikant, Pyarelal

Praising Rafi Saab, Pyarelal ji once said: “What can I say about a man jo tareef se bahut hi oopar hai, and had countless golden qualities? I am only able to feel my deep regard for him, not to express it. Rafi Saab aisi sargam thi jisse koi bhi raag ban saktaa tha. He could sing in any range or octave. If today’s composers are to flower, the Almighty should create nine Rafis more! Can we find even a single song of his that is badly rendered? Of course, he had a major role in our career, and yet I would single out one song to show his greatness as a human being. Laxmi-Pyare have the honor of composing the maximum number of songs for the King of Melody, Rafi Saab. Their total output for Rafi is closely followed by S-J. Together the LP-Rafi combination gave us many treats and amongst Rafi saab’s best ever sung songs are those composed by L-P.  “Tere pyar ne mujhe gham diya” from Chaila Babu (1967) lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri was LP & Rafi saab’s first song together. It was recorded in 1961 but it got released in 1967. After the song was recorded LP gave Rafi saab 1000 rupees as that is what they could afford. (more…)

By Onika Setia

Mohd Rafi

मेरी जिंदगी में रफ़ी साहब का स्थान बहुत अहम् है. संघर्षों से भरी हुई इस जिंदगी में पल भर का भी ठहराव नहीं होता, हर क़दम पर हर नई समस्या जन्म लेती है, रोज़ नया इम्तेहान, दर्द, टीस, तड़प, संताप, ओह! मतलबी लोगो से भरी हुई इस दुनिया में जहाँ सच्चा और निस्वार्थ प्रेम ढूढने से नहीं मिलता , ऐसी सुखी से बेरंग जिंदगी में रफ़ी साहब बहार बनके आये. ना-ना वोह खुद नहीं आये उनकी मधुर ,रंगभरी ,जादूभरी और जिवंत आवाज़ ऐसी शम्मा बनके आई जिससे मेरी जिंदगी के सारे ग़मों के अँधेरे दूर हो गए. मैंने जब से उनका दामन थामा मेरे परिवार वाले कहते है की मैंने अपना जीवन बर्बाद कर दिया अपना carrier चौपट कर दिया ,इसीलिए वोह हमेशां इस चाहत के विरोधी रहे . नादान है वोह ,! खुद तो किसी को ठीक तरह से राह नहीं देखा सकते ,कोई मुश्किल में हो तो बजाय निकलने के कोसने लगते हैं , सही रास्ता दिखने के बजाय भटका देते है . (more…)

By Mahesh Prasad Rijal

Mohd Rafi

Mohammad Rafi was a tremendously blessed singer and truly a good human being (as far as I have seen him in his videos and interviews). I never got my biggest opportunity to meet my most adorable person actually in real life as I don’t live in India nor Pakistan but in Nepal, a country that is close to where he had been coming and going during his lifetime, unfortunately I didn’t got my chance to get near the appraised one, but I have kept him very close to my heart. He has given me a sense of love towards his country and I feel that I too belong to the same group below him and following him, living on his songs and admiring his voice every-time I hear them.

I believe that although everybody can give birth to children, but as a child he was someone who could not be limited to a normal child but blessed from the day of his birth, his internal ability flourished later but as it did his voice was recognized to be one of the greatest that would plough an evergreen tree into the sands of music and give millions a chance to enjoy its fruits for generations to come. (more…)

This article is written by: Zaheen Danish

Rafi Sahab with RD Burman

When we talk about the combination of Rafi Sahab and R.D. Burman and about their partnership,  some of the finest songs that were composed by RDB trying to resurface on the thin layer of memory instantly  such as – “Tum bin jaoun kahan”, “Ni sultana re pyar ka mausam aya”  “ kitna pyara wada” , “Arrey ho goriyan kahan tera desh re”,  “Chura liya hai tumne jo dilko”, “Yeh ladka hai alla kaisa hai diwana”,  “Hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi”, “Kya hua tera wada”,  “Chand mera dil”, “Pal do pal ka saath hamaara” and Maine poocha chand se. RD Burman started his journey with Chote Nawab in 1962 with the help of the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi.

Major songs in the film was sung by Rafi and RD Burman commanded respect in the musical community of that period, who were still mesmerised with the classical compositions of Naushad, folk songs of SD Burman, western effects of Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Salil Chowdhury, Ghazals of Roshan, Madan mohan. RD Burman had other skills like playing the mouth organ, tabla and other related instruments and he showed his skill while playing the mouth organ for Laxmikant Pyarellal in the film Dosti, 1964 where Rafi had galvanised the silver screen with his tragic andaz. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Mohd Rafi with Madan Mohan

It is known to the entire film world that Madanmohan Kohli was very close to both Mohammad Rafi and also Lata Mangeshkar.  When the spat took place between Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar over the issue of royalty, between 1963 to 1967, both of them did not sing any duet songs. Lata contended that singer should receive royalty for their entire life for songs sung in films. Rafi contended that if singers don’t share the losses suffered by the film industry, they should not also share the profits.

Composers in bollywood industry had to decide either to choose Rafi or Lata in respect of duet songs. It was a very difficult decision. Ghazal Ka Shezada Madanmohan Kohli handled the situation in his own royal style. He concentrated more of the solo songs where he could devote them to both Rafisahab and Lataji. In respect of duet songs, where the song required the treatment of female singer he asked Manna Dey or Talat Mehmood to sing the duet with Lata. When the song required the treatment of male singer he asked Suman Kalyanpur or Asha Bhosle to sing with Mohammad Rafi. (more…)