This article is written by Mr. Biman Baruah, Assam.

Mohd Rafi with Manoj Kumar and Sai Baba

Mohammed Rafi was a universal voice and he was mostly associated with all the stars of his time. Mukesh was considered the soul of Raj Kapoor & Manoj Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor was the other voice for Manoj Kumar. But Rafi Saheb was not an unfamiliar person for Manoj Kumar. The universal voice had a good vocal innings for Mr. Bharat (Bharat is the Sanskrit & Hindi term for INDIA) in the films: Shaheed(1965), Gumnaam(1965), Do Badan(1966), Sawan Ki Ghata(1966), Patther Ke Sanam(1967), Saajan(1969), Amaanat(1977), etc. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. D.P.Bijoor

Mohd Rafi with Dilip Kumar

Today when I look behind I remember those beautiful child-hood days and my mind suddenly flickers down the memory lane and slowly takes me some where around the year period 1965-1966. Those were the first impressions of my child-hood days where I tried to understand & know a little of myself & the small world around me. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji

Mohd Rafi with Rajendra Kumar

Rafi had a dream run in the 60s, mainly in the films of Jubilee Kumar, Rajender Kumar for more than a number of reasons. Firstly Rajender Kumar acted in the production and direction of biggest banners of bollywood in the 60s. Secondly from 1963 to 1966, all his films ended up in silver jubilee showing his immense popularity and strong presence in the box-office. Shankar Jaikishan was equated with God in the early 60s and the main reason of the box-office success of Jubillee Kumar’s films was the superlative music given to him by both SJ and Naushad. 

In the film Ayee Milan Ki Bela, all the songs of SJ, picturised on Rajender Kumar and sung  by Rafi became super hit The immortal songs include “mai pyar ka diwana“, “aha aye Milan ki bela“, “tum khamseen ho“, “to bura maan gaye“, “o sanam tere ho gaye hum“. Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu’s online chemistry in the film helped in the success of the film. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Girish Prahlad

Mohd Rafi

Hindi movies has always had fascinating titles, which, at most times reflected the main essence of the story.  Some titles like “Miss Coca Cola”, “Mr. X”, “Black Cat” “Miss Toofan Mail” were uniquely funny and some like “Pyaasa”, “Do Bigha Zameen” were out right serious and clearly indicated that they were movies with social significance.

However, most movies whether they were commercial entertainers or socially relevant ones, had one thing in common – the presence of a Title Song. Very few movies were made which did not have a title song. The biggest advantage of the title song was the free publicity it fetched the movie along with popularizing it’s other songs. (more…)

A very different review of ‘O Duniya Ke Rakhwale” by Dr. Vasudha Theertharam and Gan Sharma.

This review is the result of collaboration between two fans of the great Rafi saab who met very recently over the Internet. Although this song is perhaps one of Rafi saab’s most reviewed, the reviewers bring a unique perspective to the song. They hope Rafi fans all over the world will enjoy it.

Dr. Vasudha lives in Bangalore, India, and Gan lives in Toronto, Canada

Mohd Rafi

Naushad Ali saab recalls reading in a newspaper that a man, sentenced to be hanged until dead, was asked what his last wish was. We always thought that this last wish was just an over-romanticised element in movies; however, it seems that this incident actually took place. The normal request, under these tragic circumstances, is either for a favourite food or a drink. Occasionally, it may be a request to meet a beloved; but more often, it is a priest that the condemned man asks for. The staunchest atheist, it is said, becomes God-fearing on his deathbed; when the end is near, the desire to bribe the Almighty is at its peak. (more…)

This article is written by Ms. Utthara Kumari B, a member of the Baar Baar Rafi club in Bangalore.

Mohd Rafi with S.D.Burman and Guru Dutt

There is one song of Mohd Rafi which I consider the best among his bests. This is one of those classics where the immortal Rafi sahab, the romantic rebel Sahir Ludhianvi, the song king S D Burman and the brooding genius Guru Dutt combined to make one of the most powerful song sequences in cine history. It is that thought-provoking song from the black-and-white classic Pyaasa. To attempt to review the song is a tall order. I have only poured out my feelings, I wouldn’t dare call it a review. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Anwar-ul-Haque

Mohd Rafi

All the words and terms have different level of significance associated with them. Take any term and you will find that same term has different levels for different things or situations. A man with fever is hot, fire in stove is hot and the sun is also hot. All these things are hot, but level of hotness is different for all of them. This is the reason why we use comparative degrees of words. For our example, it would be hot, hotter and hottest. (more…)

This article has been written by Mr D.P. BIJOOR and shared by Mr A.S. MURTY from Hyderabad. – This small article would not have been completed without the immediate help & cooperation of Mr A S MURTY from Hyderabad. Thank You MURTY SIR.

Mohd Rafi

The fraternity of the Indian Screen especially the Hindi Film Industry over these long years can be considered as truly voluminous and each & every contributor & player involved in each & every field and department of film making was unique.

There have been instances in this very industry where a few of the elite OR choosy ones have indeed grown from rags to riches with fame, publicity & popularity simply lingering at their feet whereas there have also been such other cases where many have lost their hard earned riches and have been dragged almost from riches to rags and their ultimate end being extremely horrible & dreadful. Indeed a great money spinning affair.

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This article is written by Mr Sandeep Nadkarni & shared by Mr Nitin Dhareshwar

Frankly speaking I am not a regular writer nor do I posses any such ability of a writer and hence I have so far restricted myself in submitting very small anecdotes & other comments only in this beautiful site namely mohdrafi.com since the past couple of months. However in these couple of months of my association with this great site I have come across interesting & very beautiful articles from various fans & admirers of our dear Mohammed Rafi Saab.

Mr Venkatadri Brahmandam, Mr G V Murthy, Mr A S Murty, Mr Biman Baruah, Mr D P Bijoor, Mr Narayanan & Mrs Bina from Bangalore, Mr Shashank Chickermane, Mr Haldarjee and many more others have indeed contributed their great thoughts & remembrance truly befitting the everlasting memories of our Beloved King of Melody in this site. (I should be specifically pardoned if I have not spelt all the names of the regular contributors except for the few as enumerated above & probably I will ensure to add the names of the left outs in my next such article)

Further I have also come across & observed several unwanted critics & their comments in a couple of articles especially in the one titled True Voice – Mohammed Rafi which is presently on the verge of crossing the magic figure of almost 2000 comments. I personally feel this is mainly on account of the monger makers & other non interested characters who enjoy creating mischief in such a beautiful & successful site dedicated in the memory of Rafi Saab. Hence I personally feel this should stop forthwith for which the concerned organizers & the administrative committee of this site should initiate remedial measures with immediate effect coupled with equal cooperation from all the fans & admirers of Rafi Saab.

Mohd Rafi

In the annals of my assessment I have always considered Rafi Saab as the greatest magician the Indian Film Industry has ever produced. Indeed he was the most God fearing & a pious human being on Earth par excellence. His greatest quality & strength mainly lied in the virtue of his terrific expressions & his golden sweet voice which in my personal opinion can never ever happen again on this Universe. Rafi Saab was always able to deliver any simple or for that matter of fact difficult rendition very easily mainly since he was very confident of himself and above all he was definitely sure as to only he and only he can deliver these songs with a difference of its class & beauty of its own. Ek aaisa insaan jiske chotese dil mein sara jahan basa kartatha. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. H.V.Guru Murthy

Mohd Rafi with S.D.Burman

Any vocal song whether Western or Indian will always have associated Orchestral / Instrumental music whether it is a filmy song or a classical. Even a classical Indian music concert will have Tambura, Tabla, Violin, Harmonium, Mridanga, etc. as accompanying musical instruments. When it comes to film music it is much more elaborate with pieces like Guitar, Accordian, Saxophone, Drums, Sitar, Piano, Jaltarang, Mouth Organ, etc. added. More the number of pieces, greater the attraction, for example the recent Sonu Nigam show at Royal Albert Hall had 75 piece Orchestra. Of course, with the advent of technology, it has become much more sophisticated but simple. (more…)