By Mr. Biman Baruah

Mohd Rafi with B.R.Chopra and Naushad

Veteran producer-director Yash Raj Chopra passed way on 21st October, 2012 at around 05:30 PM at Lilavati Hospital, Bandra (West), Mumbai due to multi-organ failure who was admitted there on 13th October, 2012 for make a diagnosis with Dengue fever. He was survived by his wife Pamela Singh and two sons Aditya Chopra and Uday Chopra. (more…)

By Vineet Kumar Bhatia

Mohd Rafi with Muhammad Ali

Accent: The diction of Rafi Sahab was so pure & clear that even a well versed person, having the command of his own language & words, would find it difficult to pronounce as efficiently & clear as  Rafi Sahab used to do. The Xenolalia of Rafi Sahab was so impressive & perfect that his every song in different languages were sung with such a grammatical perfection that it appears as if all these songs are sung in his own mother tongue. (more…)

Written by Bhupesh Singh Dhundele. Submitted by : J.K. Bhagchandani. Author introduction written by J.K. Bhagchandani, is published after the article.

Rafi Sahab’s Signature

Hand writing is mind writing, it is your soul on the paper, it is your pen picture, it is your holistic personal graph on the paper. Black line on white paper reveals your personality. The way lines in ECG tells about performance of your heart. Same way your writing is your mental ECG or personality graph on the paper. A graphologist is able to read the major personality traits / attributes and fine details of your personality/ reflexes/response… (more…)

By Padmanabhan NR

Mohd Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar and Jaikishan

Padmashri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna Lataji,

There are some people who are born great, some acquire greatness and there are still others on whom greatness is thrust. You appear to belong to the third category. Fifty three years after the so-called rift with Rafi Saahab, thirty three years after his death and eighty three years of your own life time, if this is the issue that is pestering you most, you are really great. I don’t know whether it was your own inner voice only or coaxing by your ‘advisers’ that prompted you to talk like this and that too, in such a brazen manner. Whatever it may be Lataji, it is abundantly clear that with a coterie of friends like these – and with liberal inputs from your own self – you don’t require any enemies. They are available in-house. Aplenty. (more…)

By Nadeem Sundoo

Mohd Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar, Shankar Jaikishan and others

There’s a lot of talk around the net about who is the best singer; Rafi, Lata, Asha or Kishore. And most of the articles are very subjective, the bias to one or another artist is clearly seen, be it pro-Rafi, pro-Lata, pro-Asha or pro-Kishore.

Ignoring the subjective articles there’s also a lot of objective articles comparing the various aspects of singing such as voice modulation, expression, power, sweetness and feelings just to name a few. These articles give a very clear indication about who, objectively seen, is the best singer India has ever produced – if ever there was any doubt. Some articles also talk about Mohammad Rafi’s impact and contribution to the music industry, but I have never encountered any article about the impact of his death on the music industry. And thinking about it I realized that it maybe holds the strongest argument for his superiority over all other Indian singers. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi Sahab

Shankar Jaikishan were the musical duo who ruled bollywood films between the 1950s and 1960s. During 1963, a spat occurred between Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar over royalty. When the spat took place between Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar over the issue of royalty, between 1963 to 1967, both of them did not sing any duet songs. Lata contended that singer should receive royalty for their entire life for songs sung in films. Rafi contended that if singers don’t share the losses suffered by the film industry, they should not also share the profits. (more…)

By Salim K

Mohd Rafi

Mohammed Rafi is a name that takes a few seconds to pronounce but the unmatched talent, achievement, success and grace of the man is so large, diverse and unique that it would take a lifetime to appreciate the miracle of God. Yes Mohammed Rafi is nothing less than a miracle and miracles are rare and do not come cheap, nor they are a daily affair and nor they have any limitations. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Mohd Rafi and Dharamendra

The combination of Mohammad Rafi, Laxmikant Pyarellal and Dharmender stormed bollywood films of 1960s and 1970s. When LP emerged in the musical arena with Parasmani and Dosti, bollywood music was being dominated by Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad Ali, Roshanlal Nagrath, OP Nayyar, Madanmohan Kohli and other big composers who created history. The stars of the golden age were associated with the big composers, for example Raj Kapoor was associated with Shankar Jaikishan, Dilip Kumar with Naushad Ali, to name a few. So Laxmikant Pyarellal required an upcoming star with whom they could create partnership. Dharmender was one of those stars. (more…)

By Manish Chhabra

Mohd Rafi

His was the voice which suited every hero of his era, yet, his was the voice which was so different that we are still looking for one, 32 years since his untimely death.

Rafi ruled the Hindi Film Music’s golden period of 1950s and 1960s.In fact, it won’t be an overstatement that Mohammad Rafi’s golden period was Hindi film music’s golden period.

Rafi was so popular during the 1950s and 1960s, that literally, no Hindi film worth its name was complete without his songs in it. There were singers who suited and suited very well on a particular style of compositions/heroes but Rafi was a fit-all singer. (more…)

By J.K. Bhagchandani

Two eternal lovers meet at dawn in a secluded place. These moments of love, of passion are stolen, yet sweet; short yet rich. The lovers are apprehensive yet ecstatic; they are silent yet communicative, conveying the inner most feelings; they are restless, yet tranquil. The atmosphere has elements of charming sensuality. The song ‘Meri duniya mein tum aayee….’  (Heer Ranjha) conveys this wonderful set-up through its lyrics, its composition and most importantly through the way Rafi and Lata have rendered, almost like whispering in each others’ ears. (more…)