Disappointing Sonu Nigam at London on Rafi songs
This article is written by Mr. K.S. Ramachandran
Sonu Nigam, much to my expectations, sang Rafi songs very normally. In fact, I would rate him much much lower than what he used to sing when he came in about 13years ago through Saregama. His voice has conspicuously deteriorated with his singing all types of medlee/Hindi pop songs and of that sort.
He was always a fast singer and now-a-days with his singing Hindi pop and medlees, he is even faster. His first song Yaad Na Jaaye from Dil Ek Mandir was like traveling in Nilgiri Express, while the original song by Rafi is slow deep expressive and extremely emotional. This was the general pattern in which Sonu has been singing these days with his impatient attitude to sing slow numbers very fast is very painful. “Muje Teri Mohabbat Ka” from Aap Aaye bahar Aaye” was again a deep number with full of rhythm and Sonu sang like a breeze..
Rafi songs are predominantly slow with rhythm and with so much of labour in his singing – be it depth, dard, range, voice modulation, expression, emotion and what have you.
I was however amazed with the orchestral excellence with the british national giving interlude music to the T. The 75 piece orchestra was par excellence and I could not find anything different from the original music by the composers. Indian orchestra bands doing shows should take this as an example to see how well the symphony was directed and delivered. Another wonderful experience – nothing like original and natural instruments – playing with a 30 team violin for the right interlude music was way way ahead of playing the same tunes today on a key board.
I thoroughly enjoyed the orchestra and was really a treat.
dr anjum medhiji. your post 341 . You needn’t have resorted to personal attacks on anyone you do not know – least of all dr aliuddin sahab who has much more knowledge on hindi film music as is evident from his long association with this website. he is a regular at this forum and posts his valuable comments on all the articles. neither he nor anyone else has any grudge against sonu nigam who is a good singer in his own right. we believe that rafi sahab is simply beyond comprehension and reach of mortal singers and that includes sonu nigam too. i can list out atleast 200 songs of rafi sahab which i believe no one can ever repeat in the same class as rafi sahab has rendered. rafi sahab lived in the character of the song, he understood the importance of the lyrics and the storyline, he matched his notes, diction, adayigi, expression, range, depth and everything that possibly his vocal chords permit him to do, with the accompanying music. the ‘bhav’ that rafi sahab presented in his renditions is simply unique to his personality and is notable in almost all his songs. no singer, repeat no singer, before or after rafi sahab has put the exact feelings of the ‘bhav’ (from the haav-bhaav if you like) in their songs as rafi sahab could so easily present. the times have changed and today’s generations does enjoy the songs of the present era and sonu nigam is on top of the present day singers certainly. i would like you and other fans of sonu nigam to send a link of all the comments under this forum to sonu nigam himself and just watch the result. the inner self of sonu nigam would persuade him to reply back asserting that he is far far behind the genius of rafi sahab. else, please give us the website address of dedicated to sonu nigam and we can continue this debate in that forum. please do not misunderstand the fans of rafi sahab and castigate them as persons who do not understand music or that they are against the likes of sonu nigam. we appreciate music of all the singers, just so long as the same is really classic. secondly, sonu nigam chose to sing the songs of rafi sahab and it was his personal decision to do that. he is a great admirer and follower of rafi sahab himself and would not hesitate to distance himself from the comparisons that are being drawn to rate him on par with the legend of legends. sonu could have also opted to sing the songs of other great singers like kl saigal, kishore kumar, manna de, talat mahmood, etc. etc. but restricted himself only to the songs of rafi sahab. this was not because he found them to be easier than the songs of other playback singers. it was his reverence to rafi sahab that he chose to re-present the songs of rafi sahab. rafi sahab’s personality is not just that of a playback singer. he is reverred in the entire film industry and even his mentor naushad ali addressed him as ‘rafi sahab’. the humbleness and modesty of rafi sahab is enough to melt even the adversariers (if there were ever any), leave alone staunch followers and bhakts of rafi sahab like sonu nigam. let us not put words in sonu’s mouth and try to articulate our feelings in a much more mature and balanced manner.
@ Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
“KIDHAR NIZAM ALI KIDHAR PYAZ KI DALIâ€. very rightly said sir!
@ Chandra Sekhar Mani
couldnt agree more sir!
@ Dr. anjum medhi
sir when ppl start comparing gold to filth, how would u react??
no no i dont wanna hurt your feelings, i m a big fan of sonu too, i probably have all the rafi songs sung by sonu, specially SHARDHANJALI album, believe u me sir! sonu is nowhere to rafi, it would be stupid to compare these two singers, sonu is popular mainly because there’s no competition for him, but RAFI SAAHAB, his career spanned almost four decades, his competition..KISHORE DA, MUKESH, MANNA DEYY, HEMANT KUMAR, TALAT SAAHAB.
Just think abt it…
any RAFI SAAHAB’s fan would lose his cool when ppl compared a child to the legend!
i am happy that some of the guys have read my reply on the comment made by the original author depicting sonu as a very bad singer. i am a great fan of rafi myself and thatswhy i am a great fan of sonu also. i am a regular listener of songs of rafi and sonu and also the rafi’s songs sung by sonu, and truly i dont find find any difference between the two( singing talent), of course being 2 different human being their vocal cords will not be alike, so cannot have 100% smae voice textures. by the term rafi being horrible i pointed to some of his live performances and those were really not upto the mark of rafi’s standard. this does not mean that rafi is a bad singer. in fact i love sonu only because i love rafi also. tendulkar also scores duck sometimes. it does not mean he is not competent . similarly you can not comment on sonu based on one single concert. infact of all the modern era live performers, sonu had not gone offtune a single time of many times i have watched him performing live. the modern day indian music is deterioating day by day. in this era of music when the youngkids only listen to the western rock songs . they even do not know who was rafi, kishore,lata etc. thatswhy we have to pay respect to singers like sonu thruough whom we can remember great singer like rafi even today. young generations listen to sonus songs more. and ofcourse when someone ( mr.khaja aliuddin md.) relates rafi and sonu as horse and donkey, either he is so much absorbed in rafi saab that he considers all other singers as donkey or he does not understand music. no one can deny the fact that sonu has his own identity of western classical singing apart from the indian classical base. probably rafi could also sing western classical like sonu sings today, but there is no proof as we can not bring back rafi to today. rafi also has sung some of the songs in my regional language and also bengali songs, in which his diction and pronouciation was very bad, this again does not mean he is a bad singer. but the regional songs sung by sonu, i enjoy a lot because his pronounciation was much upto the task. this again does not mean sonu is better than rafi. please donot compare sonu with rafi . they both are very good singers in their own respect. and please do not forget kishor, lata and asha . they all are the gem of indian music. i love rafi and sonu very much but this does not mean i should be emotional to rate one singer very lower than the other. but reading the different quotes of this website, it is seen that many people are trying to rate sonu down which is far from truth. long live both sonu and rafi.
There is no comparison. Sonu can never reach the caliber of Rafi. But then, this does not mean he is not a good singer. The diction, clarity, feeling which Rafi saab brings into a song , not only Sonu, no one can match.
er im confused hussein ji… i was quoting dr medhi saying sonu was better than rafi and replying to it.. i wasnt saying it myself lol
Dr.anjum medhi saheb, Salam,
There is a very popular saying in Hyderabadi launguage, “KIDHAR NIZAM ALI KIDHAR PYAZ KI DALI”. You don’t know the difference between a horse and a donkey. This website belongs to the lovers of Rafi Sahab not to you. I advise you to restraint yourself. Go and create your own website for Sonu Nigam.
Like Mr. Hussein Sheikh said, it is really a rotten joke of the year.
With regards to all Rafi lovers,
Long live rafi sahab,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
Post 343: Sonu better than Rafi Saheb!!! Rotten joke of the year.
Dr. anjum medhi
“i have a dvd with me in which there are many songs sung by rafi live, and you cannot imagine how horrible he was singing. a truly versatile singer like sonu , who can sing indian classical , western classical, pop everything with equal ease and sincerity is a pride for our nation. you cannot find in this whole world singer like this.”
Rafi? singing horribly?
Sonu? gem of this world?
First of all i do not want to use bad words to my elders. The fact that you even said those lines shows that you, a doctor are ill yourself.
Rafi is better than quivery sonu, please understand that.
i m a 18 year old guy… and i used to listen to sonu only, but when i heard M.Rafi, i was amazed and shocked! i concluded that sonu copies M.Rafi, that’s it!
M.Rafi is the greatest singer!! No doubt!
That’s it!
Asta la vista!
Sonu is a copycat!
it is amazing ,with the help of web how anybody can criticise one of the greatest singers of this world like sonu nigaam. first learn music, understand the difference between noise and music and listen good musical shows. it was a complete different environment where sonu had to sing the rafi’s songs. the main problem was the scale which was much higher than sonu’s comfort, forget about the small differences he had to adjust in the stage.. even then sonu was singing the songs with same feelings,emotions and he did what ever he could do best with the options left with him. he added some of the murkias by himself which were not in the original songs which is adds to the life in case of a live singing. the small small changes he made was even more unique then before. and please do not bother to compare sonu with rafi as i have listened to all most every song of rafi sung by sonu in lot of sonu’s private albums where sonu and rafi cannot be differentiated at all , except that rafi has a higher range of high scale notes which is quite natural difference between any two singers of this earth. i have a dvd with me in which there are many songs sung by rafi live, and you cannot imagine how horrible he was singing. a truly versatile singer like sonu , who can sing indian classical , western classical, pop everything with equal ease and sincerity is a pride for our nation. you cannot find in this whole world singer like this. please do not criticise a singer like sonu nigaam.
Ref:339
Mr Korti,
I don’t really understand what you are referring to when you say”pseudonyms?” Furthermore, I don’t think you understood the point of my response? It was to illuminate all the points that I believe were overlooked/misunderstood by the writer of this article. Not really a discussion of Rafi and Sonu. As mentioned before, they really cannot be compared. Rafi is one of the greatest ever!
ref post 338
please dont waste your breath and energies, hasan mia. several decades back this is what they said of rafisab. “can there by any competition between the sun and lightworms?”
rafisaab is the shining sun who will provide light to the entire universe while lightworms will twinkle and vanish. let people brag and bask in the deceptive glory of blasting a person called raju korti on some so called social networking site. a horse doesn’t beome a donkey just because people feel so. get my point? and i say this with my original name, not pseudonyms!!
raju korti
You cant really compare Rafi to Sonu Nigam considering the fact the they are from two different eras, which I will discuss.
Firstly, it seems from your discussion of the concert that you perhaps may not have a understanding of composition, styling of compositions and how musicians interpret compositions. The orchestra was obviously well versed in romantic, and modern era of classical music. Bringing that background to the Hindi film music will result in the performance/presentation being more stiff. In my experience of listening to Hindi movie music, the musicians have a certain swing/swagger that helps paint a picture that the singer and composer are displaying. The musicians that were used are not Indian musicians or experienced in Indian music. As a result, will not give you the feel that hindi songs would. I can recall from playing with musicians that are versed in classical and try to play jazz, for example, have difficulty interpreting the notes and rhythm. They tend to be very hardened in their playing.
Consequently, Sonu Nigam’s vocal interpretations a truncated and are limited. Sonu cannot take liberty’s in the way he sings a note, it has to be very precise to how the composition is being played behind him. “…be it depth, dard, range, voice modulation, expression, emotion and what have you…” This is the reason he could not do these things.
But as far as his note choice there were correct to the key and his mood was excellent for the unpliable playing of the orchestra behind him.
As for Sonu Vs. Rafi, is very hard to compare. Sonu is versed in may different types of music. Even when he sings pop songs he does it with better presentation then some other pop singers. Also, Rafi had a different set of composers, music directors, and song writers. Sonu has to deal with sometimes sub par talent. To compare the two is almost impossible. Rafi is one of the greatest, but Sonu has tremendous talent.
iam sorry mr hatim sonu nigam is also a gud singer but u cant compare him with the greatest legend of all time mr muhammad rafi sahab.sonu nigam cant be considered a rafi sahab of today.rafi sahab are beyond of all singer even kishore kumar & mukesh.but i can say kundan lal saigal was the idle of all three leading singer of golden era.
oh just shut da hell up………….sonu is sonu and he is really a true rafi of tofay
Don’t try to compare Sonu with Rafi saab who is incomparable.
Vijay
It was divine experience lisning rafi saheb songs in voice of sonu nigam.
Orchestra wag amazing like original soundtrack.
no controversy about sonu’singing we visualise rafi sahab voice through this attempt by sonu.
I disagree with author’s comments.
I watched the same show in Birmingham. Nigam sang 16 songs literally without a break LIVE with an eighty piece orchestra. He was humble and generous in his tributes to Rafi saab.
His singing was definitely not below par. After all he was trying to emulate the great Rafi. Many a singer has tried and fallen on his sword, Nigam comes the closest! At least he sings in SUR, unlike the shabbir and Munnas before him.
shrikant
dekh sonu u rokkz everytime insab log ki baaton me mat aana da whol hyderabad waz only vit word sonu on dat day best of luck gud bye agar mujhse koi baat karni hoo to call me @ 9985588623
But for the Orchestra ,the whole performance(of Sonu Nigam ) was very poor.Sonu Nigam did not sing like Sonu Nigam.Seems lack of exposure to do stage performance along with a wonderfully conducted 75 piece orchestra .
its great to see passionate people debating on there view points. its shows nothing but love for both the artists and above all music. anyway if any one wants a dvd of the show rafi resurrected shown on sony tv, i know a company which can courier it too you. they charge of course. the dvd cost plus the courier charge. happy listenning
it is not about comapring a greatness of two legends. it is more like when one legend presents the work of other, then it becomes his moral responsability to present that in exactly the same manner withiout bringing any change in the original notes or rythm. Md. Rafi has been a role modle of many legends and thus this becomes all the more important to those who have been his followers at some point of time of thier career.
Sonu has changed himself for his own good but i think he cannot change those things which has been once created by great Md. Rafi.
Hi fans,
there many who never saw Pele playing football but they say Pela is better than Maradona ,and today there are many who never saw maradona playing but they say Messi is better than maradona,I hope you all understand what I mean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hHhaHSaTlQ&feature=related….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Hi fans,
Please stop to compare……….I want to say what said By Mohd Aziz, mohd Aziz said that me and lata ji doing a programm but Lata ji was not feeling well so they was thinking to cancel the programs but they agree that lata ji will sing only one or two songs and I will sings,As said Mohd Aziz when he finish the song people said once more as the said Mohd Aziz and he sang for 3 hours and Lata Ji said if today we got Mohd rafi with us.
Sonu is great singer today and will be but who try to compare him with Mohd rafi they are mostly so young.
Please don’t compare jest write about the greatness of both as I like to say about Mohd Rafi.Mohd Rafi is history of Bollywood music people like Naushad ali ,madan mohan,OP Nayar who themself are great they feel they are because of mohd Rafi or there music hit because of Mohd rafi..
who can give me one actor name who can say as said Shammi Kapoor if there was no Mohd rafi there was no Shammi Kapoor.as we all know that Shammi Kapoor was one of top actor in his time..
Who is the music director who can say as said by Madan Mohan I should not be pay when Mohd rafi sing for me because it is mohd rafi voice magic which make song hit not my music…..and many more said for mohd Rafi
There is one Sachin Tendulkar in cricket but when ever there a good player he will be compare with Sachin Tendulkar because Sachin Tendulkar is the best and Mohd Rafi will be remember when ever there is good singer and Mohd Rafi and Sachin Tendulkar not to be compare
the guys who have criticized sonu nigam do not know anything about music.who r they to comment on him?they r just kids and sonu is a legend.and he does’nt care of these comments.he just love n admire music.i m a big fan of sonu and rafi saab.i dont compare them.they both r unique.
Absolutely agree with it. Sonu was such a let down, his singing was pedestrian, nowhere near the Legend Rafi Sahab. He should have worked harder for it, of course he could have never been able to attain that level, but then there is something called honest effort, which he clearly seemed to be lacking.
About “AN EVENING IN LONDON”
1. With regrets i want to say that the night in memory of RAFI SAHEB was not upto the level expected by the millions of fans of Rafi saheb.
2. Singing of HONB’LE SONU NIGAM & Gunjan was not from the bottom of their heart.
3. Singers forgot that they are performing in a tribute program of RAFI SAHEB. they performed like an ordinary orchestra singers.
4. the glimpse of rafi saheb picture was even not available for us.
5. I respect SONU NIGAM for his singing and doesn’t have any doubt on his capabilities of singing but on that auspicious day singing was at the bottom of its level.
6. Voice and music was very different from the original ones therefore were not able to create that feel in the hearts of fans.
7. Nothing was told about RAFI SAHEB by any of the personalities on stage therefore this program was not looking like a tribute to rafi saheb and was looking like a personal show of SONU NIGAM.
-SANJEEV DIXIT
LUCKNOW(UP)
Mehboob Chavan, who is he? he is not even 1 percent of sonu. Forget comparing him to Rafi!! Sonu is today’s legend….Rafi is God….
post 321 : Please write with your address to my e.mail id. binus2000@hotmail.com
binu nair
Where can I buy the live DVD of Sonu Nigam that he gave in London.
Sent your anser to the above mentioned address.
Thankx.
I don’t understand……wat these…people r talking…..singing 20 songs of rafi live on stage….in some another country is not easy……!
according to me all songs were awesome…!!!
No one has ever done or given tribute to someone like this….Mohammad Rafi is Sonu’s “Musical Father”…..he has grown up by listening & singing his songs….!
Hello Ramachandran, what makes you think that Rafi’s songs are slow? Rafi and Lata are the only two singers who have been able to give correct meaning to fast songs in hindi film industry. The transisions used by these two singers is unique and phenomenal (Actually Begam Akthar should also be credited as the style used by Rafi / Lata for note transitions and fast pace is probably derived from hers, knowingly or unknowingly)
E.g. Ramiya Vasta Vaiya, Vande Mataram, chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe, kanton se kheench ke ye aanchal … and many many more.
Sonu better than Rafi ??????????????????????/
I am shocked to see one of the previous comments say that Sonu is far better than Rafi……..come on , you may have a different opinion, but this is really insulting to Rafi’s talent and the legacy he has left for us…how can one say that Sonu is better than rafi…Ananda has said that Rafi was popular when there was no competition….well there were many..kishore , mukesh , hemant kumar , mahendra kapoor , talat mahmood etc….dont you think that this is competition…..
Sonu also became popular at the time when ppl were gettig bored with Kumar Sanu and were looking for a fresh voice..there was no competition form him except Udit…when the new singers like Shann , KK , and others emerged , Sonu is sliding down already
To Mr D Khanna:
This Mehboob Chohan guy is not versatile. In fact, the singer that comes closest to Mohd. Rafi’s versatility today is Sonu Nigam. If you don’t believe me, check out his songs.
Even if Mehboob was promoted more, I don’t think he will go very far because he’s stuck in one genre of singing whereas the contestants on today’s talent shows are so diverse in their abilities. They will sing everything from classical to sufi, arabic and western fusion, pop, romance.. sonu can sing all these types of songs and even more. in fact, he’s prob the only singer that can pull off indi rock!! Yeh bekhudi, Yeh dil and Deewana tera are a few of his good rock-type songs. So I hope you see how Sonu is unique and built his own place in the industry other than being a copy of someone else.
When it comes down to the basics:
Mohd. Rafi Saab >>> Sonu Niigaam >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Mehboob Chohan
(The number of ‘>’ indicates where they fall on the scale)
I hope you realize that ek genre mein gaa ke career nahin banta. Sonu is where he is today because of his versatility, just as Mohd. Rafi was the legend (and still is!) because of versatility. The selection of songs that Mehboob chose to sing didn’t reflect versatility. Good day to you sir.
TO HAROLD: Please do not lose your temper. You have the right to admire Rafi and I have the right to consider Sonu as far better than Rafi (though I also love Rafi’s songs and his voice) but I maintain that Rafi would not be able to sing Sonu’s songs as well as Sonu. You may disagree with me, but you need to keep your temper and stop barking.
I was comparing Rafi only to male singers (and not Lata) and also explaining that it is much more difficult to face competition which is fierce as many more indians have the possibility to make themselves famous today through the media and nobody today can any longer prevent new talented singers in India to express themselves and compete…
May be you believe that you are an expert, but that’s your right too and you can buy the old CDs of Rafi but I hope that they would change your mood as up to now you do not seem to have not been successful.
Rafi saab is just the best thats it, when i watched sonu’s tribute to rafi on sony tv it was like he was in a hurry, it was nothing like a tribute to the greatest singer of bollywood, the likes of udit narayan, shabbir kumar could have done this tribute also.
i saw another tribute to mohd rafi concert with the cbso but on youtube, it was performed by Mehboob Chohan it was absolutely wonderfull & after visting his youtube channel page and personal website i found out that he is the student of Mohd Rafi & SJ and i was absolutely delighted to see many rare photographs of my idol Mohd Rafi in his site. Mehboob has sung in bollywood and lollywood, i must say his voice is the closest to rafi saab i have ever come across, i cant beleive i’m saying this but its true. This mehboob chohan needs to be promoted more as he has very good talent and he is a very lucky person to have been taught by the one and only mohd rafi.
Ananda wrote: Sonu is a far better singer than Rafi
I ask Ananda, are you crazy??? Sonu better than Rafi? I think even Sonu will disagree with you on this.
Ananda wrote: Rafi was popular in the days where there was almost no competition among indian singers whereas Sonu can wisthstand all the other indian singers and still be praised by many many of us.
I almost fell down from my chair reading this stupid argument.
No competition? Do I have to remind you of Lata, Mukesh, KK, Manna Dey and Talat etc etc etc???
Whats Sonu’s competition? Kailash Kher? Shaan? Shankar Mahadevan? Do you want to compare them with the legends I already named?
When I read that people are so disappointed, I finally come to the conclusion that Sonu really brings passion and that many of us would have wished to have his melodious voice.
Though I do not believe that Sonu should have sung with the European Symphony (which, as I mentioned previously, is fantastic for European Classical music), he has been brilliant. Sonu is a far better singer than Rafi and I am not sure that Rafi could have sung Sonu’s songs as well as Sonu. So we should not expect Sonu to provide the same interpretation as Rafi. Rafi is Rafi and Sonu is Sonu. Rafi was popular in the days where there was almost no competition among indian singers whereas Sonu can wisthstand all the other indian singers and still be praised by many many of us.
Those nostalgic people who still wish to hear only Rafi can buy his old CDs in Southall.
Okay, this mehboob chohan guy is NOT that great. only his voice is kinda nice.. he runs out of breath and has to breathe at inappropriate times of the lyrics.. plus he’s inaudible at times. If he’s so good, why don’t you hear him singing any original compositions..only the one Mohd. Rafi tribute concert. Don’t compare to Sonu who is so versatile and has hundreds of his own original songs under his belt. Let’s try to imagine this Mehboob guy sing tera jadoo chal gaya, mera rang de, satrangi re, phir milenge chalte chalte..I bet you he couldn’t sing mera rang de basanti – he would prob be out of breath but watch sonu sing it live on youtube. that is called TALENT.
So you can go on and on about how mehboob’s voice was closer to Rafi’s but Sonu has his own voice and ten times more talent than Mehboob. Let’s think about it realistically – if AR Rahman had approached Mehboob Chohan to sing Satrangi Re? :S LOL!!
I thought I’d also mention that it’s much easier to copy songs than conceptualize your own melodies so singing the original is always the most difficult and kudos to Mohd. Rafi for his legendary contribution to the world of music.. I think Mehboob lacks the creative ability to come up with his own melodies so he hasn’t had a big break in his career – otherwise you’d think he would be better known?? This is the first time I’m hearing about him..
i saw sonu nigham on youtube and agree with Jay it was not what I expected
I also saw a Mohd rafi tribute concert with cbso on youtube with singer mehboob chohan it was absolutely beautiful. Rafi saab yaad agaye.
I saw the concert on DVD and it was not what I expected. Nigam’s voice was no way near Rafi. I do not think anyone can copy his voice. Rafi was a legend. Only he can copy his own voice.
The comparison between Sonu and Rafi Saheb is meaningless. There is in fact No comparison as far as singing is concerned.
The World has yet to find some one who is close enough to Rafi Saheb’s unique and Godly voice for a comparison.
Sonu Nigam is good and an exciting singer. It is unfair that he is criticised for NOT a very good performance despite a 75 piece orchestra. It would have been more enjoyable if the Orchestra and Sonu had performed seperately.
Sohail Butt
Singing in Recording room is different than singing in concert .
Recording is done in pieces whereas in concert singer has to sing whole song
with performance adjusting speed of the orcherstra.
That’s why we get disappointment.
I would say not to compare Sonu and Rafi, Both are good. And neither Sonu can sing like Rafi and Rafi can sing like Sonu. By all means Rafi is simply a legend and I don’t think Sonu can be put in that rank. But Sonu has a good voice. The intrumental quality, sound engineering is not that good in Rafi’s time as of now.
Nothing is comparable, and each one has its quality. The scale depends on one’s view, experience and feeling.
the songs in original are slower, more melodious
sonu has technically good voice but not slow and melodious as in original
it doesnt flow, its too abrupt
too much 1234
english can never have the intracacies in the fingers as indian musicians.
take it from a good singer, i know what im talking about
the depth and richness in orginal slow songs with difficult notes of indian orchestra can never be the same with goras
sorry
they dont have it in their blood
baharon phul barsao is slower in original and slow is always harder to sing
the dadra rhythm was missing here
english food and culture and love is not as rich as indian
and that goes for the music too
the first rafi concert in birmingham in 2006 was much better, less boring
with the variety of singers
shin (DCS), silinder pardesi, sameera singh (voice of Lata), and meheboob chauhaan
a shame the orchestra didnt allow that to be filmed
I’m not asking Sonu to sing like Rafi. All I wanted was *TONAL QUALITY* and expression of emotions that doesn’t appear so artificial.
I consider Sonu Nigam as one of the best singers for non-classical songs. I was disappointed by the concert not because of his voice but because of the British Orchestra, which though really excellent, is not suitable for Indian music. I love European Orchestra for Mozart, Bethoven, Brahms etc. but Sonu should have simply been accompanied by harmonium, tabla, sitar…He would then have had the appropriate pace, depth, melody and emotion that are required to sing Rafi’s song.
I believe that the comments on Sonu’s voice are unfair and that we should not expect him to sing Rafi like Rafi as he is Sonu and can have his own interpretation of these songs with his melodious voice. The fiasco is due to the mixture of indian music with european orchestra (East is East and West is West…). I would like to see Sonu again in London but this time accompanied by Indian musicians.
There has been an unnecessary hue & cry and eventually it has almost led to be an unending issue of Sonu Nigam performing live at the Albert Hall – Resurrecting Rafi
In this respect I personally feel that Mr Sonu Nigam by virtue of his smart & lovely voice has indeed made an all round effort in presenting the show to the best of his ability & caliber. No where it was ever felt that Sonu Nigam had any intensions of copying the legendary voice of Mohammed Rafi
In fact it was an earnest effort on the part of Sonu Nigam to present a floral bouquet in the everlasting memory of our beloved King of Melody – Mohammed Rafi
Comparison & criticism of any nature especially when it is connected with the Pure Art of Music should at all levels should be condemned & avoided by one & all of us who are indeed the true admirers & lovers of Music
The music industry by & large has given us several greats in the form of K L Saigal, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor, the Mangeshkar sisters, Geeta Dutt in the yester years and presently singers like Suresh Wadkar, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet, Kher, Sonu Nigam and all other contemporary male & female singers who have over the years proved their class, versatility & quality. The overall range & voice structure of all these greats has definitely varied from person to personality but one common factor in all these greats was & will be their immense hard work & contribution to the world of music which can never ever be forgotten
As an ardent admirer of the greatest Mohammed Rafi I personally feel that any comparison between & amongst the singers/performers at the overall cost of MUSIC should never be entertained & encouraged amongst any level and at any point of time
Lastly this is an earnest appeal & request to all the innumerable fans & admirers of Mohammed Rafi & Sonu Nigam to please stop & put an end to this issue and to be united mainly since we all belong to a common country where such GREATS are born!!!
I do agree with Syed. Sonu is a great singer and I love the way he sang. Also I can admit this statement that no one else can sings rafi sahebs songs as best as the sonu sings.
Hello All,
I saw so many comments about this whole concert and I feel we all talking something but not coming to the point. Before I go back to my comments I previously made I want to make few things very clear.
1. Right now Sonu Nigham is the best singer around .
2. Aziz, Udit Narayan or anybody else would have performed in their own way and also they might not have some important touches which were required to make it a concert according to the attribution.
3. Sonu Nigham was the best choice to do it. because he has the kind of voice suited to The Legend Mohammad Rafi’s singing.
I think I have made it quite clear that Sonu Nigham is actually the best singer around with all kind of voice weapons to conquer any singing peak. He understands singing too much well and have a very kind of in depth base to bring out all kind of emotions to express lyrics in a balanced voice.
Sonu doesnt need to prove his love and respect for Mohammad Rafi because it is well recognized fact. And nobody is objecting it.
He has been performing lively all over the world and he never forgets to sing Rafi song anywhere. So he is not like us to prepare song for two months and then sing. Yes its a quite a big job to sing so many songs in a one go. but one should understand he is on that level where he has done this thing many times..
Nobody expects him to be Rafi because all have their own identity and their own reputation. He sings Rafi songs doesnt make him to be carbon copy of Rafi even he somehow sings exactly in the same voice .. because he has already his own identity .. His many songs are the proof of his elegance and very unique style in singing.
When we say there can not be any Rafi then it is actually meant the same but it doesnt mean that we expect somebody to be Rafi as nobody can be. Just as nobody can be Sonu Nigham.
But I feel this thing too much naive and too much lack of understanding of music and singing when somebody says that Mohammad Rafi would not have been able to sing the songs sung by somebody else . I just want to state this much right from 1940 till 1987 (including period after his death) is there anybody who actually could maintain his elite class and stardom like Rafi. The answer is no. we can pick any kind of style , any kind of emotion, any kind of music, we can not find even one who has this kind of perfection and handsomeness in singing. I would say yes definitely he would not have sung like them but would have sung better because of the kind of voice he had would have made it much better. He was the only singer in india who kept on singing for such a long time and remained in the front line.
I certainly believe that now everybody knows that we are no making comparison between Rafi and any other Singer and we don’t expect anybody to be Rafi .
Now in the previous comments I said all the time Sonu Nigham is much better singer than what he has performed in the concert. There are so many concerts in which he has performed lively all over the world but the standard of his performance in this particular concert was not up to the mark as he was supposed to perform better because HE IS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS GREAT LOVE AND RESPECT FOR MOHAMMAD RAFI. Who says that we expect him to sing like Rafi or be a Rafi.. No never .. We only expected him to sing the same way as he normally sang his songs before , not once , not twice rather he sang them unlimited times ..
My conclusion is Sonu Nigham is master of singing and have much better knowledge than whatever we are discussing here. We being the spectators are making many comments which are making this discussion as comparison between them which is wrong..Sonu Nigham is the King of the Kingdom of Singing which is part of the empire whose emperor is Mohammad Rafi. and we are spectators in this empire of singing. I love them both. but one last sentence Sonu Nigham needs to maintain his Kingdom intact and I know he will do it as he knows better what he did in the concert. I remember nobody said anything before this concert anything about Sonu Nigham as all were satisfied that he is the only choice to perform this level of singing. and He always proved it and never got any critical comment specially on singing Mohd Rafi songs.
Why we expect him to sing better because we love his singing. This is not cricket by chance . Its singing .
Thank you
Syed Mohsin Mahmood
Shenzhen China
smmhussain@hotmail.com
smohsin.mahmood@gmail.com