Did Sonu Nigam reach the level of excellence of Rafi?
This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is considered the most powerful playback singer in bollywood films at the moment. The greatest debate that haunts most of the music lovers of the country is that whether Sonu Nigam had reached the level of excellence that Rafi had reached in the 50s and 60s.
The greatest achievement of a singer lies in his acceptability before diverse range of composers and lyricists. As Rafi was classically trained and could adapt any type of song ranging from qawallies to ghazals to soft romantic numbers to westernized rock and roll compositions his demand before the musical community was immense.
He is probably the only singer in the 50s and 60s who had sung with compositions of all the leading composers including Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Salil Choudhury, Ghulam Mohammad, Vasant Desai, C. Ramchandran, S D Burman, LP, KA, RD Burman, and others and lyricists including Shailendra, Shakeel Badayani, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Raja Mehendi Ali Khan, Rajender Krishnan, etc. Excepting Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, no other singer were in close diameter of Rafi in the 50s and 60s, as due to lack of classical orientation some of the singers of specifically composer’s singers.
Talat Aziz, Sonu Nigam at Caravan-E-Ghazal Concert
Sonu Nigam had sung songs composed by AR Rehman, Anu Malik, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Vishal Shekar, Pritam, Shantonu Maitra and many other composers of the present age. In singing difficult and dynamic songs his name had appeared before Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh, or others, including “sathiya sathiya” composed by AR Rehman, “sandese ate hai” composed by Anu Malik, “piyu bole” composed by Shantonu Moitra, “tumko bhula na payega” composed by Sajid Wajid, “ek din kahin” composed by Nusat Fateh Ali Khan, to name a few. But there is strong competition in bollywood music at the moment and Sonu Nigam is not the uncrowned king considering the challenge posed forward by Javed Ali, Atif Aslam and many new singers.
If compared with Rafi, probably the factor where Rafi remains unparallel, were the remote compositions that he had sung with. If Naushad’s “woh duniya ke rakhwale” was pure classically oriented, then SJ’s “aasman se aya farishta” had French background embedded in them, if Roshan’s “jo wada kiya ho” had royal andaz, Madan Mohan’s “tumhari zulfon ki” had ghazal andaz. Besides Rafi had given expression to Salil Choudhury’ s tunes based on east-west blend of music, Jaidev’s urbanized folk songs, SD Burman’s rural folk songs. There is no similarity of “madhuban me radhika nache re” with “aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche” or “dil jo na keh saka”. The list can go on. The other factor where Rafi had an edge includes the standard of Indian film music reached its zenith in the 50s and 60s which is difficult to attain.
Sonu Nigam is big asset for bollywood music at the moment and has a long way to go. But those who understand music will invariably agree Rafi’s empty space had remained absolutely unfilled. Rafi-lovers only try to fulfill their thirst by hearing the singing style of Sonu Nigam which is to a big extent modeled in Rafi’s style. Sonu Nigam himself also agrees that Rafi was unparallel and will always remained the uncrowned king of bollywood music.
Viewers expect the singers of the present age to listen to Rafi’s song and improve their own level of singing to whatever extent they can.
Souvik Chatterji, the author of this article
Dear Souvik,
After reading your article and the subsequent war of words, let me share my thoughts on this.
1. The queswtion of comparing any singer to Rafi does not arise. Hence, the article is redundant and irrelevant.
2. Facing odds does not bring the calibre of a singer down. Yes, Rafi faced odds. But he also came out with flying colours after ‘Laila Majnu’.
3. KK was compared with Rafi during 70s, not because KK was greater than Rafi, but the style of compositions changed and music directors piggy rode on KK after Aradhana.( KK, to me is also a legend).
4.Your reaction to the comments of others leaves a bad taste in the mouth. You don’t have to be vitriolic to respond to people’s views.
5.Awards do not make a man great. Dr.rajkumar of Kannada films and A.Nageshwara Rao of Telugu film industry never won National awards for their acting. Does that make them substandard?
6.You cannot impose your views on others by calling people names.
7. Sonu Nigam might be the first choice singer of today for many composers. But, if Rafi Saab were to be alive, he would be the automatic first choice for even today’s composers.
8. A.RRehman winning an oscar means nothing. If this is the standard of oscars, imagine the number of oscars Naushad, SDB, Madan Mohan, OPN etc. would have won!!!
9. By calling all the people who aired their thoughts, as having no musical things, you have proved one point beyond any doubt, and, that is that you need to have a thorough orientation to film music.
10. Last, but not the least, Rafi Saab was the uncrowned king of Hindi film music then, he is the uncrowned king today and he shall remain the uncrowned king for ever.
When facts were given relating to dominance of KK in the 70s, the readers again started interpreting the value of the dominance as against the indispensability of dynamic singer Rafi. The statements relating to KK’s domination was not appreciated in the comment but ridiculed, if the readers had the sense of understanding it. RD Burman and SD Burman should have been ashamed about themselves to consider KK to have a fit voice for Dharmender or Dev Anand, who got their recognition by singing Rafi’s songs.
In fact I had mentioned in a number of articles that Shankar Jaikishan and OP Nayyar had asked Rafi to sing for KK in a number of films when KK acted as hero in those films. They acknowledged the range, the bass, the classical orientation, the versatality of Rafi for doing so. So the question of KK coming within 5000 miles of Rafi does not arise. It was even a question whether composers like Naushad, Madanmohan, Roshan, Ghulam Mohammad had at all considered KK as a singer.
But facts go as they are, and for whatever reasons, RD Burman rose at the top of bollywood music in the early 70s and compelled the producers in digesting KK in films like Jawaani Diwani, Deewar, Sholay, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, etc. With Naushad, Madanmohan, OP Nayyar, etc., not getting scope of providing tunes in significant number of films Rafi had to depend upon Laxmikant Pyarellal and Kalyanji Anandji, for tunes. Nowhere in the article or the comments, it had been mentioned about Rafi’s fault, but the misfortune of producers in gathering petty interests were put forward.
When the comment was made relating to Rafi’s limited scope of in getting songs between 1972 to 1976 was highlighted, it was reiterated about the politics of substandard interests of the producers, the quality of music was nowhere adored.
In fact Rafi’s qawalli in Amar Akbar Anthony in 1977, stood out as one of the last brilliant qawallies sung till early 90s when professional singers from Pakistan came to India to perform qawallies. It gave the clear message that Rafi’s demise in 1980, destroyed the urge of notable composers of creating complex tunes. Even LP’s tunes of the 80s, were inferior if compared with his creations of 60s. He did not find Rafi’s replacement and switched over from Anwar, to Shabbir Kabbir to Mohd. Aziz, and out of frustration started keeping more songs for Lata in films like Prem Rog or Ek Duje Ke Liye, as his tunes created for male singers were considered to be waste of effort.
Sonu Nigam’s comparison came over Udit Narayan, Kumar Shanu, Abhijeet, Shaan, Sukhwinder Singh and others who were in the same industry and sung at the same era.
The article also mentioned that Rafi was the only giant of the 40s, 50s and 60s whose everlasting style fits in the diverse style of music of present age, where the singing styles of many other singers had faded away by passage of time.
Souvik Chatterji
This is in response to the single statement by Souvik Chaterji that KK got 8 filmfare awards
My dear sir, do you know that there was a period ( I dont know the years exactly) when there was no award for the best male playback singer from Filmfare? It was introduced only very late.
I stand corrected if I am wrong.
If I am correct, which I think I am, Rafi Saab would have walked away with another 10more awards !!!!!
Let us not compare kk and Rafi Saab based on the number of filmfare awards they won. Rafi Saab was an ‘Insaan ‘ par excellence, apart from being the most versatile singer we have ever seen on the music front as far as Hindi music is concerned.
And if you are bent upon clinging on the mistakes and errors that you have committed just because you ventured into attempting a comparison between the candle and the sun ( Sonu and Rafi Saab), please dont let your ego come in between. Mistakes do happen and it is human to err
You should not have ventured into this area and it is not our emotions which are speaking out, my dear Sir. Have the dignity and the sense to admit that you would have unnecessary stirred a hornet’s nest by doing this.
I suggest that you withdraw your article and forget about it. If you still want to blow the trumpet for Sonu, KK etc, please do so in serene and peaceful space back at your place, not here, my dear sir.
Sorry for being so blunt with you.
I have seen better articles from you and least expected you to be so unmindful of the vicious reactions you will invite from we Rafi bakhts. We see this site as something where we discuss Rafi Saab and the highlights of his outstanding career. We dont require any comparsions nor are we bent upon filling up a Report Card for other singers.
That is not our job
And as usual, my one line comment to you. Please dont waste your time replying to me, as any further discussion on this subject is just not worth my time
thanks
Saifullah
Dubai
dear souvikji,POST NO 37.
I am really shocked that, you still insist us to accept the unacceptable. I find post no. 40 was rightly put up here by mr,. saifullah that, replying to such mails by you is waste of time and enhanced irritation.
regards;
There is no comparison of Rafi Sahab. When sonu sings a Rafi’s song, u can easily filter the amount of effort he needs to put in the song. I listened many songs from Sonu where he’s struggling to imitate Rafi sahab’s songs, but sorry to say, Rafi sahab’s style and vocals are unmatchable.
the point is not whether rafi sahab faced difficult times or whether he was ignored by sdb and rdb and others too. we all agree that rafi sahab did not get his due from these commercial film bigwigs and music did take a beating because of this. the point in the article’s title is “Did Sonu Nigam reach the level of excellence of Rafi?” is it not ??? answer to this would be unanimous – that it is a forgone conclusion that not just sonu nigam, but the entire flock of playback singers were all “also rans” only. nowhere in the entire article has the author tried to answer the question put forth by him. on the contrary, in the penultimate para of the article, the author himself conveys that the space left by rafi sahab will remain unfilled and that sonu nigam himself accepts this fact. the title of the article therefore is a misnomer in the first place. if in the subsequent comments that followed the article, rafi fans have echoed their strong resentment to any such futile and meaningless comparison, it is only understandable. not long ago on these very pages another article had sparked hundreds of uncalled for comments from the fans of sonu nigam who could not stomach the feelings of rafi fans. time is the best judge and let us see if the songs of sonu nigam are popular in the coming three or four years time when compared to the hundreds and thousands of songs of rafi sahab being on the popular charts even four or five decades after they were recorded. the playback singers of yesteryears viz mukesh, manna de, talat mahmood all score heavily when compared to these new age singers and rafi sahab sits at the very top of the musical pyramid where there is space for only one. it would be interesting if the fans of sonu nigam forward these sentiments to their idol and elicit his own response. surely, sonu nigam himself would underline, once and for all, that he is nowhere in the picture when compared to rafi sahab whom he himself adores and respects. let us be pragmatic and accept the futility in even thinking of any such comparisons. if all the mds and the heroes had chosen kk in the 70s it was purely commercial and no one plays around with their careers. if all of these actors in this sordid drama were above monetary considerations, then they would have chosen rafi sahab over kk, simply because the music would have been divine. money power can change the best of human hearts and these mds and the actors were after all human, unlike rafi sahab. amen
a s murty
rafi foundation,
hyderabad chapter
Dear Souvikji,
What a blunder you did today, have you ever think that sonu is compared with great rafi. rafi can not be compared withe any singers whether they are from rafi era or today’s singres .i do say that even lata can not be compared with rafi saab.listen the song”aaj kal me dhal gaya din hua tamam tu bhi soja” from the movie ‘beti bete’ regarding any aspect of the song, like emotion,depth,melody and pain
.i just want to make a clarification here those who think rafi could not manage his crown in 1970’s and kishore dethroned him.rafi saab had gone for haz in 1970’s and came after two months of period and thus kishore got chance to sing in the movie ‘aaradhana’ and were major hit like ‘mere sapno ki rani ‘and roop tera mastana’.when rafi came back from haz then sd burman recorded two of the songs of this movie. rafi was at the top in 1970’s even kishores songs from aaradhna were hit you can check the record of the 70’s the number of songs sang by rafi was much more than kishore numbers
.after coming from haz most of the maulvies said to rafi that singing in bollywood is a ‘sin’ after doing haz and he decided to take retirement and did not sing for eight months.during this period in absence of rafi kishore got chance to sing most of the numbers as kishore’s song mere ‘sapno ki rani ‘was major hit and there was no scope for other singers like mukesh, manna dey and mahendra kapoor. this period established kishore as a top singer of that time and he surpassed rafi.
after making request of md like naushad ,ravi and madan mohan he came after 1971 for singing but rafi saab was not getting more songs as compared to before 70’s and he was out of comptetion.after 4,5 years rafi came back as a top singer in 1976 when his most of the songs from the movie like”hawas ,hum kisi se kam nahi,am. ak. anthony,bairag,dharmveer,chacha bhatiza,laila majnu “and many more were super hits.and it continued to till his death(1980).even after his death most of the unrealeased film’s songs were coming in early 80’s and were super hit like movie from”naseeb,deshpremee,sargam,dostana,shaan,zamane ko dikhana hai,karj,kranti,aasha,bagawat” and many more.thanks
Here I m going to give some analysis of bollywood singers on the basis of their singing capacity and versatility .please don’t mind it’s my on opinion and I think you people will be agree with me.
1.Mohammad rafi: God of the music 100%
2. Lata mangeskar: suro ki devi 99%
3.Asha bhosle: versatile singer 95%
4.Suman kalyanpur: melody queen 94%
5.Kishore kumar: versatile singer: 94%
6.Mannadey: classical mastreo: 88%
7.Mukesh mathur:Gam ke badshah 85%
8.Alka yagnik: 85%
9.Mohd. Aziz: 80%
10.Mahendra kapoor: 80%
10.Sonu nigam: 78%
11.Udit naryan 75%
12.Shreya ghosal 75%
13.Kumar shanu 75%
14.shabbir kumar: 72%
14.Anwar Hussain 68%
15.Abhijeet: 65%
16.Anuradha podwal: 65%
I agree with both srirang Nawthe and guru Murthy.
In fact, the very fact that sonu Nigam is trying to sing in rafi’s voice it self proves that he is much inferior. He just cannot be compared. the sweetness of voice, the feeling, and the scale of rafi can never be reached by anyone and sonu is included. Listen to the song of rafi – Yeh mehlon, yeh takhton, yeh tajon ki duniya – resung by sonu. from the very beginning the sweetness of voice is missing . But tune and pitch is tolerble till the last line . when he sings “jala do,
jala do,” ………..poora waat laga diya.
RAFI IS JUST INCOMPARABLE, IRREPLACEBLE
You are cent percent right Saifullah, it’s a shameful article by the author. It should be removed immediately.
Awards!!!!!!!!!!!8 awards to KK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!that made him great !!!!!!!!!!!!!??????
who said that awards make you great so what about Lata Ji If am not wrong Asha Ji got more award than Lata Ji but Lata ji is greater than Asha Ji(as I think).
Mr Bachchan got only 3 awards and also not for his best films and other they got more so that made them better than Mr Bachchan!!!!!?????(Dilip Kummar 8 awards)
Look the greatness of mohd Rafi the actor he liked was Mr Bachchan who used his voice only for 16 songs and the Film he liked more(Sholay)he doesn’t sang on that film…………………………………………
@ sandeep:
noone is emotional here..
it is a known fact that kk’s real reign of total dominance started in 1971 and lasted till 1976/77 after which there was relatively the same amt of control in the industry… many ppl used to revolt against rafi’s reduced output in the mid 70’s though.
post no 29
Padmanabhan NRji,
I am very much glad to read your point to point reply. You have made things pretty clear.Somehow, people started comparing the Extraordinary ones with ordinary ones. Quite shocking and can not be accepted.
regards;
Dear Souvikji and Viewers,
It is mandatory that Sunu is great follower of Rafi Sahib, he is assets for bollywood industry but cannot compare with ledgend of ledgends. No one have rewarded the such worlds given by Syed Naushad Sahib (MD) dedicated to Rafi Sahib in his RUBAEES specially in the event of Rafi Sahib’s death. I agreed with Janab Shrirang Nawathe’s comments. Sunu Nigam’s London live programme have extra ordinatry beautiful specially orchestra’s designing/emphasising is amazing, and selection of songs are so beautiful.
Specially thanks to Souvik Chitterji and Viewers for their valued comments.
Regards.
Ghulam Mujtaba / Old Rafi Town, Lahore.
The reaction of most of the readers of the Forum was such that it had shown that whenever Rafi’s stardom was affected they showed their reactions. Very significantly this same readers must have been sleeping when SD Burman completely ignored Rafi out of the Navketan Banner in the 70s, inspite of Rafi’s contribution in films like Kala Pani, Kala Bazar, Guide, etc.
SD Burman went to the extent of asking Kishore Kumar to sing Dilip Kumar’s song “salah mai to sahab ban gaya” in Sagina, inspite of Rafi being the automatic choice of any composer to sing for Dilip Kumar.
The same group of readers were either sleeping or stopped listening to bollywood music or seeing bollywood films.
SD Burman and RD Burman went forward to continue with Kishore Kumar to sing songs for heroes like Dharmender who started his career by singing Rafi’s songs. SD Burman’s Jugnu, and RD Burman’s Sholay had Rafi featuring nowhere in the scenario.
The same group of readers were not having any reaction, still thinking that Rafi was dominating the silver screen.
RD Burman went forward to give all the songs of film Amar Prem, Aap Ki Kasam, etc., to Kishore Kumar, inspite of Rajesh Khanna also starting his career with Rafi songs in films like Raaz, Akhri Khat, etc.
Whether the standard of those songs had any quality or not was another issue, but the Rafi fans behaviour resupposed that Rafi was never at pressure at any point of his career, while statistics show, excepting Laxmikant Pyarellal, Madan Mohan and Kalyanji Anandji, Rafi could hardly composers who were loyal to him between 72 to 76.
Where were all these readers at that time?
When Rafi had been compared with Kishore by 70% of the population who grew up during the 70s listening to songs of films of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan, the same readers digested that.
When it came to Sonu Nigam who had spend most of his time in praising Rafi and singling him out in the lot of other singers, the same group of readers became violent.
Besides some of the readers started thinking themselves to understand music more than eminent composers like AR Rehman, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, etc., who considered Sonu Nigam the best singer of present age.
AR Rehman had got Oscar out of his compositions, and if few readers of this Forum consider him to create noise, I will urge the readers, instead of hurling abusive words go and compose some innovative music, if they are understanding music to that extent.
Suresh Watkar in recent interview before TV had declared Sonu Nigam to be the best singer of the present period. The readers of the Forum, I suppose understand music more than Suresh Watkar, then go and open a Music Institute like him rather than demeaning artists of the present age.
If any singer of the new age spends time in singing Rafi’s songs, it neither insults Rafi nor demeans him. It just adds the populairty which had not got shaken up even 29 years after his death.
Souvik Chatterji.
I am glad the comments here have all been made by sensible people, Very the above is 1000% right even crores of Sonu cannot make one Rafi Saheb.
Regards.
yea of course i do Agree there is no comparison wit Md Rafi saheb,sonu nigam also a good singer but there is no any thing can Reach Md Rafi Saheb he is the king of voice
Md Rafi’s Fan 4ever :
AKRAM BAIG
bangalore
nrp sahab,
you have put the last nail. !!! nothing can be more brillaint in expression. its a lesson to all – not to venture into a vague thought – which remotely may not stand the test of time.
the eleven points discussed by you could have been better used to write an indepth review of rafi sahab’s mastery of any thing close to melody.
we had to iterally waste this valuable space created by Mohd rafi sahab for us to write something valuable and which becomes part of history, to, burn away waste from floating around.
i sincerely hope – from now on all rafi bhakts realise the importance responsible value base writing which would be win international acclaim.
let better sense prevail.
my sincere and humble thanks to nrp sahab to put things in the right perspective.
adaab rafi,
ramesh narain kurpad – bangalore.
THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT HOLD THE CREDINTIALS AT ALL TO BE PUBLISHED I DONT KNWO UNDER WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PUBLISHED .COMPARING THE ONE AND ONLY RAFI SHAIB WITH A GUY LIKE SONU IS LIKE COMPARING. THE SUNLIGHT WITH THE LIGHT IF CANDLE OR COMPARING THE GREAT DALIP KUMAR WITH THE STAR OF 1-2 HITS BEHIND HIS NAME . I REQUEST THE ADMINS TO DELETE THIS ARTICLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Post 21 – Souvik Chatterjee,
I agree with your analysis. Rafi was numero one in 50’s & 60’s and he had to face many odds. I remember when I stayed in 70’s in Mumbai, kishore had a great following, similar to the following enjoyed by rafi in 50’s and 60’s. And as you said, it was cent percent true that kishore’s domination was more. It is generally a fact that whenever somebody points a finger at rafi, many rafi fans rather than trying to analyse the facts properly, start getting emotional or rising, as can be seen from many of the messages here. True, rafi was most preferred in 50’s and 60’s but other singers manna, mukesh, mahendra all too had their own contribution.
But sonu I think cannot be nearer to rafi. Rafi was special as compared to sonu.
anniversary of rafi saheb according to muslim calendar….27th ramzaa not 17th and on 27th ramzaa last year also we lost M Kapoor the Mohd Rafi real clone.
who said there was people like Naushand,SJ,SD Burman but why you forgot unknow music directors and how you forgot that Anil Biswas was the top music director in 1940″s but nwhere in 1950″s..when they asked music director Ram Laxman why you are use lata Ji voice?the answer was Ram Laxman said I am not using only Lata Ji voice I used all singers but when the name of Mohd Rafi came he said I will never forget that the great mohd Rafi sang for me also and I feel so praud.
who said that RD Burman replace Mohd Rafi to KK in 1970″s and you should know that the same RD Burman replace KK to Mohd Rafi from 1977 to 1980 because RD used Mohd rafi more than any other male singer from 1977 to 1980.
I don’t know anything about music but I think it is not fair we compare Mohd Rafi with his clone and it will be better to compare Sonu with Mohd Aziz
There be other Taj Mahal in india but not other mohd Rafi.
Very strange article… even crores of Sonu cannot make one Rafi Saheb. So what if Kishore got 8 filmfare awards? Remember, KK had only 4 filmfare awards till 1980.
dear Chatterji saab,
Your article does not merit a critical appraisal but your subsequent mail does. Sonu is yet to establish himself as the best singer of today. And you are comparing him to the legend ! I can hold my emotions back when analysing something and therefore am writing in as cold a manner as possible, serially.
2. What do you want to convey ? Rafi sahab failed, Don Bradman is not the greatest but Sonu will be the greatest for all times to come ? You believe that ?
3. RD and SDB undermined him…. Again you are confused. you admit with a sense of guilt that others failed to rate him properly. What is Rafi Sahab’s fault ?
4. A big section……legendary composers etc…..can you elaborate ? I am unable to understand whether it is for or against Rafi sahab.
5. All the same…….Which Rafi fan is complaining ? All of us are well aware of the heavy odds he faced from time to time and in fact we also know that he overcame those odds to become our hero.
6. but the point is……that you do not have a point at all. Can you make any of us understand this point ?
7. Those singers……..so what ? Did you want Shabbir Kumar etc. to become natural heirs to Rafi Sahab without deserving ? Commanding the same respect ?
8 Sonu Nigam…….who made him the automatic choice ? Do you want us to believe your autocratic choice is binding on us automatically ? And are you sure that Sonu, unlike others, will not fail and always remain on top henceforth ?
9. there is nothing……Huzoor, who is getting irritated here ? It is to the credit of budding singers that they acknowledge Rafi Sahab as the king of melody. There is nothing wrong in their emulating his singing style. Chatterji sahab, is it a matter of concern ?
10. Instead of…..Here you could have minded your language. Besides being a singer par excellence, Rafi Sahab was a humanist par excellence. This forum while deriving pleasure from his songs also extols his modesty and humility. Please prepare a list of deserving people who never won the so-called awards and yet are the heartthrobs of millions. Rafi sahab would be in all those lists, smiling as always !
11. So the listeners…….which listener, where ? Why are you imagining things ? All of us here admit that he became our dearest despite the odds and not because of bias or prejudice ?
Let us give time to singers to establish themselves first, Chatterji sahab. Let all of them emulate Rafisahab or Kishore or Mukesh or whoever. Let them be tested by time. Sooner than later, they will understand – you too – that unique means one only. It can not have even a close second.
Padmanabhan NR, member,
rafi foundation, hyderabad Chapter.
post 8 – nasreen behen,
wah kitnee acchhi tarah aapney saral shabdon mey ( mere muh kee baat cheenlee ) apnaa nek vichaar pragat kiyaa hai.
yahi toh mai kehnaa chahtaa thaa. lekin keh nahi paayaa. yah article dil aur mann dono ko ek ajeeb kisam kaa peedaa mey dhakel diyaa hai.
even after reading what you have written – if people continue this kind of writing – its time the forum has a closer look before allowing such matter for print.
ramesh narain kurpad.
“Mohhabbat ke haseen din , jawani ke haseeen raaatein” — from film maryada for raaj kumar – my poser is can any “maa ke laal” sing like melody king mohd rafi saaheb. music is by kalyanji anandji which is a very great composition. tragedy and melody – go hand in hand and listening to it is a great treat for lovers of vintage hindi songs.
i was listening to this gem on digital radio yesterday presented by manek premchand on world space radio which goest to more than 160 countries.
please send me the song if someone has at : binus2000@hotmail.com
binu nair, mumbai rafi foundation.
post 21
post no.4 & 16 are literally eye openers and it is a humble request not to drag and flog rafi sahab into comparisons even during the 30th year of his passing away.
rafi sahab – you are immortal. jai ho jai ho jai ho – rafi sahab – tussi great ho.
ramesh narain kurpad
post 21
not at all convincing. it still questions the veracity of the subject matter which is extremely weak in its very existance from scratch.
cannot be defended – will attract brick bats only.
ramesh narain kurpad
One top music director once told me that You can listen to 100 songs of Rafi at a stretch for 6 hours and all the 100 songs will sound as 100 different singers have rendered. This qualty is exclusively only for Raf sab, and no body can match. Rafi can sing high notes as well as low notes. Sonu can”t sing low notes, and he is not even 1% of Rafi compairing him with Rafi is not even imaginable.After you listen two songs of Sonu, third on will irritate. Just to start a debate this issue might have been brought. Today, we don’t have dedicated lyricist, Music director, singers, script, and directors to create lasting musical magic.
Souvikji,
I admit your daring to compare an average singer (from singing point of view..not emotionally) to a legendary figure like Rafi sb but,your comparison is not apple to apple comaprison as such there is no sense in this.Moreover, even on reasoning grounds how can one digest your comparison of Sonu Nigam with Rafi sahab?
First of all comparing today’s noise with the yesteryears’ melodies itself is foolishness and it is not out of emotions but out of reasoning…If you consider today’s noise as melody and comparing the king of noise to king of melodies, it is just unacceptable.Let Sonu rule today’s world of noise.Please keep him away from the king of Melodies.
regards;
shrirang nawathe
my dear rafiians,
today is death anniversary of rafi saheb according to muslim calendar….17th ramzaan…let us all pray for him so that his soul rests in peace.
huseni.
Most of the answers in the Forum had come out of emotions rather than reasonings.
Rafi was the uncrowned king of bollywood industry in the 50s and 60s and will remain an uncrowned king for ever. But that never shows the fact the rulers or kings had never faced odds. It had happened with Sir Don Bradman who had average of 100 runs and scored a duck in his last innings.
The readers of the Forum had very well forgotten a period in the early 70s when RD Burman and SD Burman their best to undermine Rafi and thereafter some other composers followed them. Rafi too had his odds inspite of being matchless, uncomparable and unparallel.
A big section of listeners grew up in that age who still compare Kishore Kumar with Rafi considering the success of the 70s with Rajesh Khanna and Big B. I understand myself that the legendary composers of that period did not participate with composing tunes for films with the frequency of 50s, otherwise the comparison of Rafi with non-classical voices like Kishore Kumar would never had arisen.
All the same listeners who are mentioning that Rafi never had odds, forgot that Kishore Kumar bagged 8 filmfare awards at the cost of King of Kings Rafi, whether that was due to politics or other issues is another question.
But the point is, nobody could prevent his domination at the cost of other singers.
Those singers who imitated Rafi in the 80s after Rafi’s demise like Anwar, Shabbir Kumar, Mohd. Aziz and other were rejected by the audience after hearing them for maximum 5 to 6 years.
Sonu Nigam was classically oriented and was not a clone of Rafi and evolved his own style. The name comes as the automatic choice of the leading composers of today.
There is nothing to get irritated about comparison of any name with a legend like Rafi. In fact for the listeners of the new generation it is even more positive that as Rafi is no more, at least the singing style is still adopted by big group of new singers who were born during an age of pop, rock, disco, rap, and Rafi’s everlasting style is still followed by them.
Instead of hurling abusive words towards other singers, the same writers should concentrate on knocking the doors of the Government of India to give the honours that Rafi had deserved in his lifetime.He did not get Dadasahab Falke Award, Bharat Ratna, which were received by Lata.
So the listeners of the Forum never try to show the fact Rafi did not face odds. That is hipocracy to the power infinity. Rafi had a number of co-singers including Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood, Kishore and others who had a fair share of songs during the lifetime of Rafi. The difference lied in the versatility of Rafi in creating gold out of any composition and for those reasons he is considered ruler of rulers.
Souvik Chatterji.
All my dear friends…
I had seen a comment on youtube that Sonu Nigam is a better singer than Rafi Saheb.. I felt like slapping the guy who had written that line.. If we see today’s times, Sonu is dong very well and has adopted to the so called music which is being composed today. While Rafi saheb’s voice range, melody and pain was unmatched, Sonu has also learnt to play between the high pitch and low pitch.
And we must remember one thing.. the credit should also go to the composers who composed such beautiful songs in the golden era of bollywood. Rafi Saheb could not have sung so many lovely songs if there were no Naushad, SK, KA, S D Burman, O P Nayyer, Salil Chaudhary etc.
Now there is drought in Bollywood and I wish these guys were alive and working today.. so we could have some more wonderful songs…
Sumit Nagpal
friends,
excuse me for typographical errors like
it is only and not onely
we are exposed and not we exposed.
thanks,
ramesh narain kurpad
mr.chatterjee,
the onely thing to be appreciated with you is – your power of a review.
it would have been better if you had – meditated – for a long long time – before even allowing this thought in your mind – an inner voice would have prompted you against it.
untill now, the music lovers have generously praised in appreciation of some soulful writing and now we exposed to a new – nadir.
anybody on this planet who attempts to sing a rafi song – be it any platform – knows that he is playing with fire – hence – comparison – oh god – why ?????
rebuttal comes into play – when one can successfully refute general perception/thought/belief. rest is history as the world knows.
with great respect to your write up – i have humbly placed my personal feelings most candidly and it wont be out of place if i go ahead and feel i have echoed a popular sentiment.
if this response of mine is allowed after moderation, i shall wait for your email.
adaab rafi,
ramesh narain kurpad,
rameshkurpad@gmail.com
No comparison. Clones can at best be clones. Rafi’s voice was divine.
dear all rafi fans,
please for gods sake do not compare rafisaab’s voice with any other singer’s.
pl. listen to the no. from fim kabuliwala, ‘o yaa qurbaan –dil tadptaa hai tere deedarko’. rafisaabs caliber is unmatched.
a rafi fan.
Hi fans
Sonu is great singer of today only but mohd rafi is the greatest singer for ever and the word of greasest looked so small for mohd rafi.
PLEASE THINK UNLIMITED TIMES BEFORE EVEN MENTIONING THE NAME OF ANY SINGER ALONGSIDE WITH RAFI SAHIB LET ALONE THE DREADFULL DEED OF COMPARING THE GOD OF SINGING WITH NORMAL HUMANBEINGS LIKE SONU.BEWARE OF THESE SORT OF REDICULOUS AND MINDLESS COMPARISONS EVEN IF U ARE ASKING FOR THE OPINIONS OF THE FANS
It is very true that sonu nigam is a very good singer. But no body on this earch can replace Rafi. In my view he the representitive of goddess saraswati.
Venkatesh, Stage Singer
Mysore
EVEN HAVING THE THOUGHT THAT A SINGER OF LIMITED CAPABILITIES HAVE THE LIMIT TO BE COMPARED WITH THE KING RAFI SAHIB IS INSANE.THIS IS NOT A GOOD ARTICLE AT ALL AS U SHUD HAVE THOUGHT 100 TIMES BEFORE MENTIONING THE NAME OF SONU NIGAM ALONGSIDE WITH THE PHENOMENON RAFI SHAIB .HOWEVER I KNOW THAT U ARE A GREAT RAFI SAHIB FAN AND U WRITE ARTICLES REGULARLY STILL TO GIVE THE HEADING LIKE THIS “Did Sonu Nigam reach the level of excellence of Rafi? IS IN ITSELF A BIG CRIME AND I ADVISE U TO PLEASE RESTRAIN URSELF FROM DOING THESE SORT OF MEANINGLESS COMPARISONS.
SOMEBODY HAS RIGHTLY WRITTEN THAT COMPARING SONU NIGAM WITH RAFI SAAB I JUST LIKE SHOWING CANDLE TO THE SUN. RAFI SAAB HAD NO PARALLEL ,HAS NO PARALLEL AND WILL NEVER HAVE ANY PARALLEL. HE IS THE UNCROWNED KING, HE IS WHAT ISWHAT CAN BE DECRIBED THE BEST MELODY TO ANYBODY”S EARS. THE RANGE HE HAD, THE DEPTH, THE EMOTIONS, THE VERISTILITY IS UNPARALLELED. LEAVE ASIDE SONU NIGAM, EVEN KISHORE,LATA,MUKESH, WHO ARE GOOD SINGERS IN YHEIR OWN RIGHT PUT TOGETHER ARE NO MATCH FOR RAFI SAAB. JUST LISTEN TO RAFI SAAB” EHSAAN TERA HOGA AND LATA”S REDENTION OF THE SAME SONG AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN. ONLY RAFI SAAB CAN SING BABUL KI DUAYEEN LETI JAA AND MOVE YOU TO TEARS, ONLY RAFI SAAB CAN WHIP UP THE EMOTIONAL PATRIOTIC FRENZY BY SINGING KAR CHALE HUM FIDA JAANO TAN, ONLY RAFI SAAB CAN IGNITE THE ROMANTIC CANDLE IN YOUR HEART WITH HIS “AAP KE HASEEN MUKH PE AAJ NAYA NOOR HAI. RAFI SAAB WAS WHAT YOU CAN DESCRIBE AS MELODY”S OWN SON,WHO CAN NEVER BE RECREATED. JUST REMEMBER RANG AUR NOOR, DOOR REH KAR NA KARO BAAT OR MAIN GAYOON TUM SOU JAO. THERE ARE THOUSANDS ,WHAT TO NAME AND WHAT TO LEAVE. SO THE QUESTION OF COMPARING ANYBODY WITH RAFI SAAB IS A SACRILIGE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. ANYWAY SONU NIGAM IS AT BEST WHAT U MAY CALL, “ANDHON MAIN KAANA RAJA” IN TODAYS BREED OF SINGERS.
Rafi is Rafi….thats it.. there can be nothing like him ..Allah has blessed him with a voice that is beyond comparison…The peace that one attains on listening his songs is so divine..Am not underestimating sonu,, he is ok in his own way …but the legend is and InshAllah will be the heart throb of his millions fans….Let Allah rests him in peace..Amin(pls pray for him as this is ramzan …minimum we could do to him…)
I am glad the comments here have all been made by sensible ppl 🙂
Hi – I thought we already had a long and bitter exchange of arguments, thoughts, reactions etc. on this subject not so long ago on this site. Why has it started again?
I could not go beyond the first para of this article. “The greatest debate that haunts most music lovers in this country?” Really ?? Far from being the greatest debate, it is not even a debate. Souvik Chatterji, I found myself irritated by your words which seemed insolent and impudent. I found myself thinking “how dare you?” You may be a Rafi fan if you say so, but to talk about whether Sonu Nigam reached the level of excellence of Rafi Sahab, you obviously have a flawed understanding of Rafi Sahab’s greatness. If you do have to compare him with anyone at all, please don’t do it with singers of today. Try singers from the era of Rafi Sahab, like maybe Manna Dey, Mukesh, Kishore, Mahendra Kapoor, Talat and Hemant Kumar. And even then we all know the answer which is : no, none of them reached that level of excellence . Rafi Sahab did not have a level of excellence, he was beyond excellence. And you dare to mention his name in an article where you put Sonu Nigam’s and your own picture which I find to be an act of self-importance and another irritating and unpleasing facet of your articles. Especially when you consider that you are using Rafi Sahab’s site to do this. Maybe it did not strike you before – do have a think about this. And please listen to what I say next.
Rafi Sahab’s voice was the voice of a power beyond our understanding. There are no words to describe exactly what he was. And if you must use words to write articles where his name is mentioned, please please think very carefully before you do it lest you use the wrong ones.
I am sorry, i cannot relate sonu to rafi. I also differ to the views that fans of rafi listen sonu. sonu is not even remotely close to what rafi was. all in all i can say that sonu is a more than average singer, because he doesn’t have the range. he tries, but fails miserably. also it seems success has gone into his head, as the way he talks. he has developed lot of superiority complex. rafi was a down to earth person even when the whole world loved him. i am sorry this comparision of sonu to rafi is just pointless.
Souvik ji,
Sonu nigam has, is and always will be an overrated singer. He quivers, cries and his voice is nothing like rafisaab’s(as opposed to what he thinks- same voice i believe were his words!) He lacks the sophistication and class for singing rafi songs. And his range is really nothing to write home about as he goes both shrill and nasal in high pitch. He has sur, but is that all we got from Rafisaab?
So my answer to the title topic is n-o = no!
Thanks,
Sid
souvik,
While sonu is a good singer and one of the best, comparing him to the God Sent legend is not at all arises.
I think you wanted to stir the hornets nest? Never try even closer to do the comparison of incomparable!
Zameen Aasman ka farak hey!
Sonu Nigam is good. But Rafi was God. No doubt, Sonu is a great fan of Rafi and never misses an opportunity to sing Rafi songs. But his voice is thin and hence, he cannot raise his voice beyond a range like Rafi used to do in so many songs. Also, he cannot put feelings into words and lines, like Rafiji used to do. Of course, with the standard of music and lyrics having fallen considerably, his scope is limited, but still Rafi was Rafi and no body can match him.
dear souvik,
Rafi saheb woh hasti hai jinkie kisi gaane ka pahla shabad yaa line to easily copy ki jaa sakti hai lekin gaane ke dusre shabad yaa dusri line ko pakadana easy nahi hai. Aaj se lagbhaf 30 saal pahle in the year 1978-78 mein Railway ki ek team aayee thi hits of naushaad saheb bhusawal (Central railway) perform karne ko. usme ek singer sh Farukh Qadiri saheb bhi the jinho ne rafi saheb ke item perform kiye the. aur i was restless ki yeh singer lip sing to nahin kar raha. phir i landed to mumbai than i was looking to find him and develop a dosti with him . souvik aap ki photo se lag raha hai ki aap ko kabhi rafi saheb ko live sunne ko nahin mila. mere dost i am naseeb wala ki mujhe jindgi mein ek n-chance mila tha ., roshan nite ka prograame tha 1967 mein, just prior to demise of roshan saheb , usme maine apni 12 saal ki umar mein dekha tha . uper maine farukh bhai ka jikar kiya hai due to his kind ness i was able to pay my first tribute to legend rafi saheb on his death annversary on 31 st july 09.
us mahan legend ke saath kisi ko bhi compare nahin kiya ja sakta chahe woh shabbir, munna ,anwar yaa phir sonu kyon naa ho.
god bless all
#4 and #6
dear vikasji,
i fully agree with you. In fact having similar voice does not make any singer even closer to Rafi sahab.
dear Sauvikji,
nice article and attempt.But I feel there is no comparison between two singers of extremely different backgrounds and style.Sonu nigam has a similar voice to that of Rafi sahab;s voice. More than that there is nothing which can be compared for Sonu Nigam with Rafi sahab.
1)Rafi sahab’s range is unmatched.
2)Rafi sahab’s voice modiulations are uncpmarable.
3)Rafi sahab’s sweetness of voice is beyond comprison.
4)There is no comparison for the maximum types of songs sung by Rafi sahab.
5)Verstality of Rafi sahab is unquestionable and can not be compared.
6)The understanding of the situations, pronunciation of words by Rafi sahab made him a class apart. The expressions by him are matchless.
7) I hope you have heard Sonu Nigam live in UK. He was too ordinary in the song TUM JO MIL GAYE HO….just for example.
8)It is better not to compare the singers because it is like showing CANDLE TO THE SUN….
These are my views, you may differ.
regards;