It was a trip down memory lane for several music lovers in the Capital city as they remembered legendary Bollywood singer Mohammad Rafi on the eve of his 85th birth anniversary. On this occassion a biography of Madhubala, who is known as venus of Indian cinema was also released.

By Mr. Vinod Viplav.

Mohammad Rafi

Decades have passed since the death of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi, but his memories are still fresh in the mind of millions of his fans. On the eve of his 85^th birthday a number of his fans and music lovers gathered to remember their favourite singer at Film Division Auditorium.

On this occasion a short film on the life of and songs of legendary singer was screened. This film, titled Rafi-Tum Bahut Yaad Aaye, has been produced by the Films Division.

The biography on the life of yesteryears’ Bollywood beauty and Mohammad Rafi’s contemporary Madhubala (Madhubala : Dard ka Safar) (link – http://biographyofmadhubala.blogspot.com/ ) was also released on the occasion by Shree Rashid Alvi (MP). This is the first biography of Madhubala in Hindi and is written by prestigious Bhartendu Harishchandra Award winner Mrs. Sushila Kumari. This book is published by Sachi Prakashan. “Madhubala is generally remembered for her matchless beauty and seductive smile, but very few people know that her life was full of pain and struggle, said Mrs. Sushila Kumari.

On this occassion Mr. Kuldeep Sinha, the Producer and Director of the Film  said that making of a film on Mohammad Rafi is like an old dream come true. He had been thinking about making a film on Rafi Sahab, since the death of Mohammad Rafi in 1980. He had actually discussed with Great Music Director Naushad about his dream project and he had promised to give full cooperation but due to some unavoidable reasons he could not make this film at that time.

Mukesh Garg, Sushila Kumari, Sharad Dutt, Kuldeep Sinha

Author Sushila Kumari being welcomed

A seminar on the songs and different aspects of the singer’s life was also organised. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Amarjit Singh Kohli, Chairman of Sakha and Yaadgar- E- Rafi, said that Rafi due to his versatility has the greatest fan following amongst young upcoming singers. The possibility of training young singers through a course of Rafi’s songs (classical, light & other shades)selected by music researchers, could be seriously explored. Former Director of Doordarshan Sharad Dutt said that genius of Rafi can be gauged from the fact that Shanker Jaikishan used Rafi’s voice in song “Ajab Hai Dastaan Teri Ai Zindgi” (film Shararat) which was picturised on singing hero Kishore Kumar. Music Expert Dr. Mukesh Garg said that Rafi’s popularity is increasing with time & he has defied age. Singer Priyamvada Vashisht, daughter of music director Husan Lal (of Husan Lal-Bhagat Ram fame) said that Rafi’s range was matchless. She said Rafi’s song “Suno suno ai duniya walo, bapu ji ki amar kahani” composed by her father Husan Lal after the death of Mahatma Gandhi, had become a rage in those times. Sh Manpreet Singh Badal, finance minister, Punjab, in a message to Society said “I am a great fan of Rafi Sahib for he epitomized the human excellence in the field of music blended with finest qualities of man”.

Writer and Journalist, Vinod Viplav, author of the first biography of Mohammad Rafi Meri Awaz Suno (link-http://biographyofmohammadraf.blogspot.com/) said that the contributions of Mohammad Rafi have been neglected on various levels. People usually remember him as the best singer or the best man while he is more than that – he is the symbol of communal harmony, secularism and national integration.

Vinod Viplav (left) welcomes Mukesh Garg

Release of Sushila Kumari's (Centre) book Madhubala Dard Ka Safar

Rafi, whose career spanned four decades, sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati and Telugu. He also recorded English and Persian songs.

His first public performance came at the age of 13, when he was allowed to sing at a concert featuring legendary singer K L Saigal. The singer is still famous for songs like ‘Ae gulbadan ae gulbadan‘ (‘Professor‘), ‘Chhoo lene do nazuk hothon ko‘ (‘Kaajal‘), ‘Pardah hai pardah‘ (‘Amar Akbar Anthony‘) and ‘Dard-e-dil dard-e-jigar‘ (‘Karz‘), among others, and is a source of inspiration for upcoming singers.

To watch coverage of the programme by Television channels, click following links

http://www.youtube.com/user/screenindia#p/a/u/1/_pVUTKu_5dA
http://www.youtube.com/user/screenindia#p/a/u/0/QuRGr_quZNo
http://www.youtube.com/user/screenindia#p/u/13/EPSbMSicOL8

This blog was published on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 6:20 am and Last modified on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 10:52 am and is filed under Events. 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.