By Achal Rangaswamy

Mohd Rafi

Allah e Allah kar pyaare bhai Allah e Allah sang the fakir who kept appearing in the movie Pavitra Paapi, a film marked by the appearance of the father-son duo of the great Balraj Sahni and the debutant Parikshit Sahni.  Every time there was a crucial scene in the film it would end with the fakir walking by singing to himself, oblivious of the worldly happenings.

Was this by any chance, the portrayal of the fakir who used to walk the streets of Kotla Sultan Singh as the young Pheeko would follow him  all over the village almost till the border, marveling the voice of the mendicant as he sang Khedande din char ek malk, khedande din char. It may have been, it may not have been. But whenever I think of the song from the film Pavitra Paapi , the image of this young boy running after the fakir comes to my mind. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Mohd Rafi

Remembering Mohammad Rafi on his death anniversary and the challenge of continuing the Rafiana.

The entire world remembers great Mohammad Rafi on his death anniversary, on 31^st July, 2012. It has been more than 30 years after his death that he still remains alive in the minds of numerous music lovers all across the world. (more…)

By Chandan (KS Ramachandran)

Mohd Rafi

Many singers past, present and even future (I can vouch this with certainty) cannot match the singing prowess of Mohammad Rafi Saab, when it comes to playback singing. He is certainly the ultimate to meet the total expectations of the various parameters of playback singing, be it voice, range, feel, depth, nuances, diction, clarity, emotions, mood or what have you!

Many music directors have exploited and taken full advantage of his extremely unreachable heights of his singing qualities and Rafi Saab in turn, has delivered more than what any music director would have expected. Such were his singing abilities and qualities. (more…)

By Gajaanan Sonaawane Kalyan, Mumbai

Mohd Rafi Sahab

32 songs sung by Great Rafisahab for less famous heroes on 32nd Death Anniversary. (more…)

By Achal Rangaswamy

Mohd Rafi Sahab and Rakesh Khanna

A slim, almost impoverished looking young man, albeit with a twinkle in his eye and a charming smile, wooed his lesser known heroine in a low-budget film. The film would go on to be sent to various film festivals, become known as the first film in which Bhupendra sang a solo, but most people would not remember it as the first film in which the winner of a major talent hunt would be playing the hero.

Jatin Khanna, now rechristened as Rajesh Khanna wooed Chand Usmani, who would later go on to play either sister to heroes in B grade films or maybe the mujre wali in B- grade films. But the song that was chosen for this occasion was hauntingly beautiful.  The hero urges the lady to stay on, by singing “ aur kuchh der thaher aur kuchh der na ja….”. The song was rendered flawlessly. (more…)

By Onika Setia

Mohd Rafi

हिंदी    साहित्य   का   कला    के साथ   बहुत   गहरा रिश्ता  है  या यह कहो की दोनों एक   दुसरे के   पूरक हैं .कला   चाहे   जो भी हो ;नृत्य,गायन, अभिनय, लेखन . हिंदी   साहित्य   इनकी आत्मा बन कर   इसमें समाहित   है.  और   हिदी साहित्य    का मूल आधार  है नव रस .

अर्थात  प्रेम-(   संयोग /वियोग)  ,शांत ,रोद्र ,करुण,   भक्ति ,   वीभत्स ,   हास्य, वीर   ,  वात्सल्य   .  हर    कला    इन नवरसों के बीना अधूरी है .मनुष्य  अपनी   भाव अभिव्यक्ति  कला के माध्यम   से करता है  और कला   का स्थान मनुष्य के दिल में है ,आत्मा में   है ,और अपने भावो को व्यक्त करने हेतु उसे   कला का सहारा लेना पड़ता है ,कला   मनुष्य के जीवन    के   साथ साथ  चलती  है  मनुष्य का पूरा वजूद कला के बीना अधुरा  है ,और एक कला ही है   जो मनुष्य को मनुष्य बने रहने के प्रेरणा देती है. (more…)

By Aparna Sridhar

Mohd Rafi

I have wanted to write about this for ages. There is a video of Mohammed Rafi singing O Duniya Ke Rakhwale that I have watched countless number of times and still am not tired of it. In fact I have watched several videos of Rafi singing live, and continue to watch, being a die-hard fan of Rafi. It was a live show on Doordarshan with a complete live orchestra, with Naushad conducting it. It was the most wonderful and enriching 15 minutes of my life. We all know what a lovely, emotion-packed and moving song O Duniya Ke Rakhwale is. And to watch Rafi sing it live is a great experience. (more…)

By Salim K

Mohd Rafi

It is common to see people excel in certain traits, during certain times and under certain conditions but to see someone excel over nearly 4 decades and beyond is rare and unheard of. This rare feat is achieved by Rafi Sahab in the art of playback singing.  From his first assignment in early 40’s to his last in July 1980, one sees a career that remains unmatched and uncompleted to date. Rafi Sahab is not only a singer but an institution – a gharana that is now called the “Rafi Gharana”.

Legend of legends: It was Mukesh, Mana dey, Hemant Da and  Talat in 50’s – but Rafi Sahab made a permanent mark in that era. It was Mukesh , Mana Dey and Mahendra Kapoor in 60’s but Rafi Sahab became an inspiration for these great legends and it was Kishore and Yesudas in the 70’s but Rafi Sahab kept on surprising us and raising the benchmark of singing. Rafi Sahab proved that he was  the uncrowned king of singing, what come may and such was the impression he made in his so called quiet years that the music charts in August and September of 1980 had him with more songs on the top of the charts compared to all other singers, male and female. (more…)

By Ronny Noor

Mohd Rafi

You could never forget me
Yes, you could never forget me
Whenever you listen to my song
You will always hum along.
– Hasrat Jaipuri

There does not seem to be a four-letter word that is dearer to the human heart than love. It is the most potent force that inspires us to action. Lanka was set ablaze for it and the Taj Mahal was built for it. That is why it resonates most from the pens of great poets to the pages of great books. Although it is often confused with lust, true love is not about sensual feelings, as the celluloid diva Mumtaz teaches her screen partner Sanjay Khan in the movie Upasana. (more…)

By: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi and Naushad Ali

Although Mohammad Rafi could sing any type of song, my choice of his best songs are classical based; and though he has sung more hit classical based songs for a few composers like Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, S.D. Burman.  He was the favorite of all illustrious MDs of his time such as Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, S D Burman, C Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar, Roshan and later R D Burman, Kalyanji –Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. In the film ‘Ragini’ O P Nayyar even used Rafi to playback for Kishore Kumar for the song ‘Man mora Bawara’ which was classical based. Naushad used to compose very tough classical based songs which none other than Rafi could sing. (more…)