Written by: H.A.K. Walijah

Mohd Rafi

Rafi saab had sung plenty of meaningful and philosophical songs, “ yeh zindagi ke mele”  is one of the gems out of those multitude of songs.  A song from “Mela” (1948) lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni and music by: Naushad.  The beauty of this song is simply superb. The vocals of Rafi Sahab  projected in this immortal song  is simply adroit and artful. The exuberance and freshness of his voice  is immaculate.

Three giant stalwarts  (Naushad, Shakeel and Rafi) of Hindi Film Music were joined hands together to create this masterpiece.  Well this song belongs to the early period of Rafi Saab’s career as playback singer. The voice looks so fresh and vibrant, the high and low musical scales are beautifully maintained and balanced, the rendition was marvelous & amazing. Even the musical instruments used in this song were kept to minimum.  Almost all of the songs rendered by Rafi Saab had been tremendous meaningful lyrics and profound gravity to human facets. A talented bunch of poets were alive and written most beautiful lyrics what  we termed that period – Golden Era of HFM,  that era had been definitely belonged to Rafi Saab. (more…)

By Binu Nair

Mohd Rafi

On July 31st hundreds of MOHD RAFI lovers and admirers will be arriving at Mumbai’s Juhu Mosque to pay homage to the volcano of talent and powerhouse of amazing versality IMMORTAL MOHD RAFI.

July 31 will never be the same for Mohd Rafi’s innumerable fans the world over. For on this day in 1980 Rafi Saab as he was fondly called, left for ever, succumbing to a massive heart attack at age 55.

Three days earlier, Rafi had recorded his last song for friend Dharmendra : “to kahin aas paas hai dost” from the movie Aas Paas. (more…)

By Achal Rangaswamy

Mohd Rafi

On Rafi Saab’s last death anniversary I mourned the passing away of a legend and the fact that we all miss him terribly. This time I want to say that I don’t miss him at all. Because Rafi Saab is always with us. In each and every moment that we turn on the radio or listen to young singers on reality shows on Television. I also don’t miss Rafi Saab any more because he accompanies me in the form of CDs in my car, my iPod when I travel long distance, and my computer at my workplace. Not just that, I have been blessed to have been seeing him in my dreams for months on end. His ever-smiling face and his soft spoken voice tell me that he will never be forgotten.

I celebrate the fact that we all were born in the same era as the Voice of the Millenium. And the fact that we bask in the glow of Rafi Saab’s great songs and his memorable persona. (more…)

By K.S. Ramachandran

Mohd Rafi

30 years have passed by and we still remember this great singing legend on this fateful day the 31st July, when Rafi Saab bid “Alvidaa” to all of us. Utmost dedication, devotion, sincerity, godliness, spiritual, are, in my opinion, some of the many attributes Rafi Sahab demonstrated in his singing and that too, so naturally! Rafi Sahab, by far, is the only singer who had that original and natural voice.

When Rafi Sahab sings, I honestly see nature in many forms – the smooth flow of a river or a waterfall, gentle swaying of leaves of a tree, the musical sounds of the birds, the blue sky and the gentle drizzling showers and so many other natural happenings that we see every day… (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji

Dr. K.K.Aggarwal being given the Mohd. Rafi Award For Excellence for the year 2008

The nation remembers Mohammad Rafi on his death anniversary on 31^st july, 2010. It was a very painful experience for most of the music lovers of India and abroad to recollect the experience of 31^st July, 1980. 30 years had passed since his death and yet time could not heal the wound inflicted in the hearts of numerous music lovers of the country.

He is still alive in the hearts of millions of Indians with his 26000 songs. He had given expression to almost all the leading stars of bollywood and also the poets and composers of the golden age. He had created such an invaluable treasure of songs most of which can be termed as masterpieces, that the listeners can cherish his work for ever. (more…)

By D.P.Bijoor

Mohd Rafi

31^st July 2010 will mark the 30^th anniversary of our Beloved King of Melody Late Mohammed Rafi Sahab. 30 long and patient years have since elapsed from the day Rafi Sahab was snatched away by the most cruel hands of fate; leaving behind him the legacy of his innumerable, unforgettable and classic Melodies for all of us to cherish for centuries & centuries to come. (more…)

By Anoop Singh

We all know that Indian Cinema has provided us many jewels in its long journey of more than a century. We have been blessed with great actors, directors, singers etc who were able to move the whole nation with their extraordinary talent. Mohd Rafi Saheb is one of those rare jewels who was not only a great singer but also a great human being which is rare to find out in the glamour world. (more…)

By Souvik Chatterji.

Mohd Rafi and Manna Dey

Music of bollywood films reached its zenith during the 50s and 60s. Composers, lyricists and singers of diversified cultures and came together and produced masterpieces. During that period the classical rendition of orthodox songs sung by Rafi and Manna Dey had made the listeners spellbound and still remain immortal more than 50 years after their creation.

Qawallies were composed in style during that period. In the film Barsaat Ki Raat in 1960, composer Roshan’s qawalli “na to karwan ki talash hai” started by Manna Dey and continued by Rafi with the lyrics “yeh ishq ishq hai ishq ishq”, was the major attraction in the film. Both Rafi and Manna Dey sang the qawalli in their own style and with their own harkats. Barsaat Ki Raat had other brilliant songs including the title song, but the qawalli stood as one of the superlative creations. (more…)

By Mr. Biman Baruah, Sivasgar, Assam

Rafi Sahab with Usha Khanna and Kishore Kumar

After Saraswati Devi who composed music for Bombay Talkies Film during 1930s & 1940s, Usha Khanna is a lone established female Music Director in the Indian Film Industry who was active for 3 decades from 1960s to 1980s. She was born in Gwalior in 1942 and her father, Manohar Khanna was a lyricist and singer. But she had no formal training in music, often take inspiration from Arabic Music. Popular music director O.P. Nayyar introduced Usha Khanna to Sashadhar Mukherjee initially who assigned her to compose two songs per day for one year. Later on Mukherjee hired her to composed music for his films like DIL DEKE DEKHO (1959) and HUM HINDUSTANI (1961). She started her career as a composer at the age of 17. (more…)

By Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Dixit and Gurbeer Singh from Lucknow.

Rafi Sahab Ko Bharat Ratna Kyon Nahin?

I have posted the letter requesting Bharat Ratna on 1st July 2010 to our respected PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Ramvilas Paswan and Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu. Navjot ji is a MP (BJP) from Amritsar which is the land of birth of our beloved Rafi Sahab,therefore requested Sidhu ji to please put our demand in parliament as well as in media. This letter also has been published in the article form in a magazine “Avijit” of lucknow and I am trying to publish in news papers also. (more…)