By Ronny Noor, an English professor at the University of Texas, Brownsville

Mohd Rafi

I never saw you in person, nor did you ever lay eyes on me. But, to tell you the truth, I have known you all my life, since the day your mellifluous voice greeted my first breath on earth in the florid blush of a summer morning, drifting from radios, gramophones, and loudspeakers. Your melody traveled hundreds of miles through the air to the heart of Bengal to fill my days, months, and years, wrapping me to hum with you like a veritable confession, “I am so lost without you in this world.” The merit of those words became apparent in my darkest moment when you came to my rescue with:

In the gloomy hours of the night
Do not lose your heart
The daybreak will surely follow
Look forward to the crack of dawn (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Mohd Rafi with Shammi Kapoor, Hasrat, Jaikishan

Renowned poet and lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri was born on 15^th April, 1922 as Iqbal Hussain. In 1940, Hasrat Jaipuri came from Jaipur to Mumbai. Prithiviraj Kapoor heard him in a mushaira and recommended him to Raj Kapoor when he was making the film Barsaat.

The epic combination of Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan started from Barsaat. The first 2 songs written by him became super hit namely “jiya beqarar hai” and “chor gaye balam”. The pen of Hasrat Jaipuri glorified RK Films and other bollywood films for the next 30 years. (more…)

By: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi

“Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Mohabbat Ki Kasam” is a famous and romantic poem of Shakeel Badayuni sung by Rafi Sahab while legendary music director Naushad Saab composed this song based upon Raag Jhinjhoti for the movie “Mere Mehboob” (1963) – a muslim social in the backdrop of nawabi culture. The effect of such slow and romantic song is amazing; magic is in the lyrics plus melody.  It was amazing to watch it yet again and enjoy the velvety voice of Mohd. Rafi Sahab. It is one of the most romantic, melodious and all-time-favorite title songs of Mere Mehboob. Rafi Sahab has poured his soul in this amazing extra long six stanza song which has no break at all in the middle and considered till today the best soft romantic songs for the range of voice and its melody of lyrics with music.  Almost all music directors used Rafi’s voice to give life and a magical quality to their tunes. Rafi Saab used to build concept about the actors for whom the songs were recorded and went to great lengths to change his style to suit the actor and the scene. (more…)

By A S MURTY – rafimurty {at} gmail {dot} com

Mohd Rafi

PROLOGUE :

A Concert is a live performance (typically of music) before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, some then call a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band. Concerts are held in a wide variety and size of settings, from private houses and small clubs, dedicated concert halls, entertainment centers and parks to large multipurpose buildings and auditoria. Regardless of the venue, musicians usually perform on a stage……….

For sometime now, I was thinking of classifying some special songs of Rafi Sahab as these were a step beyond mere playback singing.  Playback singing can be of any song of any genre in any fashion and hfm has had a host of the very best to very poor songs composed and recorded by the playback singers. (more…)

By: Jagat Kant Choudhary

Kishore Kumar and Mohd Rafi

It was inevitable. The Comparison. With two phenomenal singers like Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar dividing the lion’s share of the male playback music industry between themselves, it was only a matter of time before the big question would crop up- who is the better singer?

The huge fan following, bordering on reverence for the two singers coupled with the alleged preferences of certain music directors for one over the other, often triggered this question. However and fortunately so, while the fans swore by their respective idols, and still do, there has never been a clear polarization either in the fan following or the music industry as a whole. (more…)

Written by: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi and Dharamendra

Who could be from the Forties till the late Eighties charmed the film world with his scintillating lyrics in about 200 films and Rafi Saab had sung at least 225 songs out of 1800 recorded songs penned – guess whom I am referring, yes it is Hasrat Jaipuri, “The King of Romance”. Hasrat Jaipuri is one of the best lyricists in Bollywood who have been in the Indian film industry for a long time. The lyricist is now being considered as an iconic figure in the Bollywood music world. The verses which came out of his pen were realistic, rhythmic and touched the soul. He spread the fragrance of his poetry during 50’s & 60’s with his brilliant poetic genius comprising some of the sweetest melodies sung by “The King of Melody”, Mohammad Rafi Sahab – “Teri pyari pyari soorat ko” (Sasural), “Tu kahan yeh bataa” (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne), “Tu mere saamne hai, teri zulfein hai khuli” (Suhagan), “Ehsan tera hoga mujh par” (Junglee), “Teri zulfon se” (Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai) and “Tum mujhe yoon bhula na paaoge” (Pagla Kahin Ka). (more…)

The article is penned down by Mr. Mohan S Murdeshwar and Mr. Nitin D Dhareshwar

Mohd Rafi

Koyee Sagar Dil Ko Behelata Nahee, Bekhudi Mein Bhee Karaar Ata Nahee

Any music buff especially close to old Hindi film songs would have heard many times over and enjoyed the evergreen number “Saawan ke mahine mein ek aag see seene mein lagti hai tho pee leta hoon dho char ghadi jee leta hoon” (from the film “Sharabi” under the music composition of Madan Mohan) so poignantly rendered by the legendary Mohammed Rafi in his mellifluous voice over half a century ago and continues to haunt every troubled soul seeking a desperate liberation from worldly miseries. (more…)

By Deepak Kirpalani

Kotla Sultan Singh

My trip to Punjab last week would have been incomplete without embarking on a pilgrimage of a different nature. To the birthplace of a man whose conduct was as saintly as his singing, divine. In a career that spanned over 36 years, Rafi Sahab sang his heart out in 5000 songs. For a long time I was given to understand that Kotla Sultan Singh was in Pakistan. Fortunately not! It is the fourth village to the east after crossing Majitha, about 24 km north of Amritsar.

The first man we met directed us to Gurbir Singh Samra standing in a group across the road. Gurbir is a teacher at the local primary school where Rafi Sahab studied till class IV. We visited his classroom and the library that displays a chart on the school’s most well-known alumnus. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Rafi Sahab with SJ, Asha, Hasrat, Shailendra

Poet and lyricist Shailendra had glorified the world of bollywood with his romantic words. He had tremendous combination with legendary composer Shankar Jaikishan. Both of them in turn had magical relationship with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi.

The magic combination came together in the film Boot Polish with the song “nanhe munne bacche tere mutthi me kya hai” which had become immortal over the years. In the film Shikast, the combination came together in the song “gham me jal raha hai”. (more…)

By Ahamed Kutty (Member BBR Fan Club, Bangalore)

Mohd Rafi

Eventhough Rafi Saab did not sing a single song in Malayalam Language, he is Kerala’s own singer. It is a wonder how a person born and brought up in an entirely different region and language became a state’s favourite singer without singing a single song in that state’s language. It is a fact that hardly 5% of the population of Kerala familiar with Hindi or Urdu. The reason is they like the voice as well as the wonderful personality of Rafi Saab. (more…)