Rafi Saab versus Lataji
Author : Binay Bhushan
Credits : This article was further filtered with the help of Mr. Rajinder Bhatia.
Sometime back I went through some mails that were about the topic that who was the sufferer- Rafi Saab or Lataji due to their rift in 60s . That propelled me to write this article. Here I am going to discuss some of the songs of that dark period of our film music world. As usual, my discussion will be concentrated on Rafi Saab and I will try to justify that it was Rafi saab who was the first choice of almost every music directors for duet songs during that period.
Here I have listed 60 songs. That too when I have excluded the duet songs of two music directors – Ravi and O P Nayyar as I think there is no need for that. Almost every duet songs of these two MDs were sung by Rafi – Asha combination.
Some of the songs may not belong to that period but they surely reflect that when it came to choose between Rafi Saab and Lataji, most of the MDS went for Rafi Saab.
(a) Shanker – Jaikishan
This duo were no doubt at the top during that period. They were least bothered about their duet songs – Rafi Saab was their natural choice for male voice. Look at these songs:
1. Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche…. – Rafi – Suman – Brahmchari
2. Tumne pukara aur ham chale aayee…..- Rafi – Suman – Rajkumar
3. Aajhun na aayee balma sawan beeta….- Rafi – Suman – Saanjh aur Savera
4. Agar teri jalwa numai na hoti……..- Rafi – Suman – Beti – Bete
5. Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe mere…….- Rafi – Suman – Suraj
6. Gori chalo na hans ki chaal……….- Rafi – Asha – Beti – Bete
7. Kaise samjhaun badi naasamajh ho…..- Rafi – Asha – Suraj
8. Jaane chaman shola badan pahlu…….- Rafi – Sharda – Gumnaam
9. Mujh ko apne gale lagaa lo………..- Rafi – Mubarak – Hamrahi
10. Tujhe pyar karte hain karte rahenge…- Rafi – Suman – April Fool
11. Tujhe dekha tujhe chaha………….- Rafi – Suman – Choti Si Mulaqaat
12. Yahi hai o saanjh aur savera……..- Rafi – Asha – Saanjh Aur Savera
13. Raat ke hamsafar thak ke ghar ko….- Rafi – Asha – An Evening In Paris
14. Tan mein agni man mein chubhan……- Rafi – Asha – Laat sahab
15. Aye chaand jara chup ja………….- Rafi – Asha – Laat Sahab
16. Dilruba dil pe tu yeh sitam kiye ja..- Rafi – Asha – Raajkumar
17. Kah do kah do jahan se kah do……..- Rafi – Suman – April Fool
18. Jane wale kabhi nahin aate………..- Rafi – Suman – Dil Ek Mandir
(b) Madan Mohan
Surprised! See, how he preferred Rafi over Lata:
1. Baad muddat ke yeh ghari aayee…- Rafi – Suman – Jahanaara
2. Mujhe yeh fool na de………….- Rafi – Suman – Ghazal
3. Tere paas aake mere waqt guzar…- Rafi – Asha – Neela Aakash
4. Aapko pyar jatane ki buri aadat..- Rafi – Asha – Neela Aakash
5. Kabhi tera daaman na chodenge …- Rafi – Asha – Need hamari khwaab tumhare
(c) Roshan
1. Aakhir to hum insaan hai farishta… – Rafi – Suman – Bheegi Raat
2. Khanake to kahanke qyon khanke…….- Rafi – Asha – Wallah Kya Baat Hai
3. Hun Intazaar karenge……………..- Rafi – Asha – Bahu Begam
4. Chand Takta hai idhar…………….- Rafi – Suman – Dooj Ka Chand
5. Cha gaye badal nil gagan pe……….- Rafi – Asha – Chitralekha
6. Aap jab se kareeb aye hain………..- Rafi – Asha – Noorjahan
(d) Chitragupt
1. Jab se hum tum baharon mein…..- Rafi – Suman – Main Shaadi Karne Chala
2. Bahut haseen hain tumhari aankhe…- Rafi- Suman – Aadhi Raat Ke Baad
3. Ek tum ho ek main hoon……….- Rafi – Suman – Rocket Girl
(e) Khayaam
1. Parwatoon ke peron par shaam ka…..- Rafi – Suman – Shagun
2. Thahariye hosh mein aa loon ……..- Rafi – Suman – Muhhabat Isko Kahte Hain
(f) Naushad
1. Saawan aayee ya na yaaee…………- Rafi – Asha – Dil Diya Dard Liya
2. Dile betaab ko seene se lagana hoga… – Rafi – Suman – Paalki
(g) Kalyanji Anandji
1. Na na karte pyar tumhi se kar…….- Rafi – Suman – Jab Jab Phool Khile
2. Aye jaane tamanna aye jane bahara…- Rafi – Suman – Jee Chahata Hai
(h) Hemant Kumar
1. Saara mora kajra chudaya ..- Rafi – Aarti Mukherji – Do Dil
(i) Salil Chowdhari
Big surprise! But he did prefer Rafi over Lata for this song:
1. Tumhen dil se chaha tumhen dil diya hai… Rafi- Suman – Chand Aur Suraj
(j) O P Nayar
There is no use to list the duet songs of this superb music director. His almost every duet songs were sung by Rafi – Asha.
(k) Ravi
Once again no need no count duet songs of this brilliant MD too. Rafi – Asha were but his natural choice.
(l) Shardul Khwatra
1. Tumheen ne dil mera chhin ke mujhko…..- Rafi – Suman – Air Mail
(m) C. Arjun
1. In pyaar ki rahoon mein tera hi……- Rafi – Asha – Punarmilan
(n) Laxmikant – Pyarelaal
Yes. They preferred Lata for their duet songs. But their this preference was due to somewhat another reason. Lata at that time was not on good terms with SJ and LP were trying at that time to compete with them.Nevertheless here I list their two duet songs without Lataji, although these two songs ,I think, came around 1969:
1. Dahl Gaya din ho gayee shaam jane do…..- Rafi – Asha – Humjoli
2. Tumse o haseena mujhe mohabbat na karnee thi..- Rafi – Suman – Farz
(o) S D Burman
1. Champa kali dekho jhuk gai re……- Rafi – Asha – Jiddi
2. Kissi ki mohabbat mein sab kuch bhula ke..- Rafi-Asha – Kaise Kahoon
(p) R D Burman
The three songs of Teesri Manzil:
1. Aaja Aaja main hu pyar tera…….. – Rafi – Asha
2. O haseena zulfon wali zaane zahan…- Rafi – Asha
3. O mere sona re sona re…………..- Rafi – Asha
we can exclude these songs because anyway RD would have preferred Asha over Lata for these songs.
(q) Iqbaal Quereshi
1. Ek chameli ke mande tale…………- Rafi – Asha – Cha Cha Cha
2. Mano mano na mujhe tumse pyar ho….- Rafi – Asha – Cha Cha Cha
3. Phir aane laga yaad wahi pyar……- Rafi – Usha Khanna – Yeh Dil Kisko Doon
4. Kitni Haseen Kitni haseen………..- Rafi – Asha – Yeh Dil Kisko Doon
5. Jab tak duniya rahi rahega tera naam…- Rafi – Asha – Yeh Dil Kisko Doon
(r) Lachi Ram
1. Dhalti jaye raat kahle dil ki baat…- Rafi – Asha – Razia Sultaan(old)
2. Tu shokh kali main mast pawan……..- Rafi – Asha – Main Suhagan Hoon
3. Gori tore nain nainwa kajar bin …..- Rafi – Asha – Main Suhagan Hoon
(s) N. Dutta
1. Aankhe hamari hon sapne tumhare hon…- Rafi – Asha – Mere Armaan Mere Sapne
(t) Sardaar Malik
1. Tere ham o sanam tu kahan main kahan…- Rafi – Suman – Bachpan
2. Neeli-neeli ankhiyon mein doobi-doobi..- Rafi – Suman – Naag Mohini
If the duet songs Of the two MDs – Ravi and O P Nayar are also included then the list will definitely cross 100. And mind you, these are the songs which I can recall; all of you can definitely add to the list from your database. So the total count will really be a substantial one. That clearly demonstrates the fact that most of the MDs opted for Rafi Saab (and not Lataji) for their duet
songs when these two legendary singers were not on speaking terms ( Remember that it was Lataji’s decision not to sing with Rafi Saab. Definitely she was the looser which forced her to tie up the relation with Rafi Saab once again).
Any comments? Visit the group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rafi
Author : Binay Bhushan
Credits : This article was further filtered with the help of Mr. Rajinder Bhatia.
mallick, you seems to be big fan of rafi, but i smell bias in your comments. 50 cds for rafi and only 2 for kishore, it has to other way round.
Well there are only two icons in the indian playback history. Rafi and Lata. I am only a layman regarding technicalities of singing, but enjoy good music and make my judgement while listening the songs.
I have a huge collection of songs in numerous CDs of singers like Rafi, Lata, Mukesh, Talat, Kishore, Geeta, Hemat Kumar and few others.
It is astonishiing for some of you that best and most popular songs of some singers like Hemant Kumar, Geeta, Talat, Manna, Mahinder, Surriya, Shamshad consists only one individual CD. 2 Cds for Kishore and Mukesh five CDs for Lata and more than fifty CDs for Rafi. Whenever I think that is the final comes with more hidden treasures of Rafi. Do I say more?
Rafi was a genius, lata not. Rafi might have sung lesser songs than Lata, but the quality and popularity for his songs was much better than Lata. Lata does not have to deal with biased MDs, directors, producers and actors but rafi have to. there may be various reasons for this bias but one is obvious.
Rafi has given moreto the film industry than he has demanded. He has not been conferred with Bharat Ratna till now but Lata has. The reason is obvious. Rafi has to perform in a hostile atmosphere while Lata has the backing of all.
Those who still thinks Lata was better than Rafi then listen to only these three dual version songs among many and make your decision.
–Ehsan Tera hoga Mujh per
–Aaj kal mein Dhal gaya
–Tum mujhe youn
I am not saying Lata was not the good singer, she was the best female singer but between all singers Male and female Rafi was and will be he best.
Awaaz deke humein tum bulao from Professor.
Rafi enters in later half, Lata is left behind trying hard to catch up rafi saab in many songs same story going. lata is good but dont have kindly nature as rafi sahab. lata used to jelous to new comer singer like suman klyanpur.
rafi saab learn many singers like mahendra kapoor, anvar, sonu nigam etc.
at once some one said lata se kinke ghar chalte hai rafi saab ne kitno ki zindgi bana de. but lata also good i m not compare but only tells how rafi saab nature kind, simple and how can i express in words
the simplicity of rafi saab is that he can sing all types of songs even we found that lata are having some problem with high notes but not rafi saab ,in a song tere ghar ke samne rafi saab sing so good then music director said rafi saab aap thoda nicha sur lagao lata ko dikkat hai and rafi saab laugh and said ok sir how simple he is? Rafi saab is great lata also good singer but we dont forgot suman klyanpur she also good .
hi guys,
It is certainly true that Rafi saab was preferred by the music directors for any type of song and rightly so as he was the best of all.I have also read various other articles and came to the conclusion that it was lata and asha who didn’t allow any other female singer to come to limelight.It was as a result of the rift between rafi and lata that suman kalyanpur and other female singers were known to some extent.On the other hand, mohammed rafi never prevented any male singer to flourish and the result everyone knows that there were more male singers as compared to female singers.Rafi saab has made emense contribution to this film industry.
But we must not forget the contributions which other singers also have made to this industry.
The thing is that these comparisons will go on till the Earth is there.
please dont compare legends
well these ppl who give the doctorates are not mad, because no doubt lata ji is gr8. but your comment on ppl liking happy songs more is irrelevant, because I was talking abt ability and rafi far by exceeds lata in that aspect. no doubt she is better in pure classical music than rafi but as far as the domain of playback is concerned, there is noone to beat rafi. In lata’s own words, “Rafi saahab sabse bade playback singer they”. in mukesh’s words “the 3 best singers are rafi,rafi and rafi”… kk has also said that rafi is incomparable, even against lata ji. Yesudas and spb(the latter used to worship another fine artiste by the name of ghantasala). Are THEY mad?
also where is the perfection in lata mangeshkar going shrill in the line “tumne mujhko hasna sikhaaya”..
i am not claiming rafi saahab to be perfect as noone is perfect, but lata being perfect is laughable.
I think Rafi fans should demand an apology from Lata.
I do not care if the incident was true or not. It is common civility to avoid slandering dead people because they are incapable of self defence. And the whole episode could have been narrated differently as just a disagreement.
Lata’s interview makes Rafi a villain.
Sudip dat ji – post 41
Ha ha ha,
At last it is proved by statement of lata – I really miss kishore kumar –
that was/is kishore.
Unparalleled mud slinging by Lataji:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/God-wanted-me-to-sing-Lata/articleshow/5063966.cms
As far as versatility is the criteria, Rafi and Asha are much superior to Lata or for that matter any singer. They are the only singers who have sung different genres with equal ease. That’s the hallmark of a great singer. Lata no doubt had a melodious voice (probably the most melodious), but lacked the range of Asha. Same is true for male singers. There were some who had the range but lacked voice quality, and others who had good voice but were found wanting in range. Rafi towers over them all with his superior voice quality as well as range. It is foolish to compare Him with any singer.
Above all He was a great human being. Pyarelal in one of his recent interviews praises Rafi sahab to no end. Even Kishore Kumar had nothing but admiration for Him. Lata and Asha have bad mouthed Rafi sahab at every opportunity. In the 70’s they were part of the coterie that was working against Him. They are still doing so and are spreading lies about Rafi sahab. They still, even after three decades of His passing away have not been able to come to terms with the fact that He decimated them with His singing.
May I know that what was the dispute between rafi and latamangeskar, please tell me.
Hey Guys!!!
dont compare the two legends. We all kno that Rafi saab was indeed the best male playback singer and Lata ji the best female singer ever. They both make an incomparable pair!!!
And coming to the matter… Actually “We the fans are the sufferers bcoz we missed some classic songs that shd have been sung by the awesome twosome”
Even rafi saab and lata ji wud not like these comparisons….
If anybody pose this question “who is best among thm”.
Our ans is as simple as this “Rafi Saab the best male singer, Lata ji the best female singer”.
Chapter close….
Hi SID ,
your comment –
rafi saab and lata sang the male and female version of many songs.. rafi saab excelled in all of them.. lata was always struggling in the high notes
Lata’s versions are always sad versions. People usually prefer happy version .
I really don’t understand why People are so jelous of LATA and her success.
Nobody have that perfection what LATA’s songs have.
Rafi was well versed with urdu whereas LATA learned and reached that level .
She got more than 10 doctarate form varous universities including foregin universities. Are they all mad ?
rafi saab and lata sang the male and female version of many songs.. rafi saab excelled in all of them.. lata was always struggling in the high notes.
those people who have given nasty comments about lata are jealous of lata’s success. they want rafi to be more recognised and famous than lata. but i must say that both rafi and lata are equally good. but if i have to choose between them, i would choose lata ji.
Hi
I am really excited. Keep up the great work. Good resources here.
Bye
I just like to know what was happened between this two legends. Why they stop singing duets together?
I’ve gone through the all above mails and found that how crazy are the listeners about this great great legendry singer. Even I rate him as GOD OF MUSIC and top of the world as far as singing is concerned since music has no language and he was really great, no doubt. I’ve no word to say in his honour as I’m too small in the field of music. I’m really impressed by Mr. Mohanflora, who has tried to show some rare moments of interview of Rafi Saab. A lot of thanks to him. I would be more happy if you send me full volume of Rafi Saab’s interview as well as Live Stage Show/Concert under different music directors.
I’m a regular listeners of Rafi Saab’s songs and always in search of new sites. Kindly tell me few sites name if you can.
hey guyz i need ur help plz ………………….. im finding a song by Janab M.Rafi
Film = Bachpan (Year 1963)
Song=mujhe tumse mohabbat hai .mp3
plz plz i have been searched alot of music stores in Pakistan/LAhore ……..
Contact Info : asif_nice1@hotmail.com / asif_1nice@yahoo.com
No Mohanji Iam no longer seething-Sagarji has not lashed out against my views(yet?!) and so I hope my comments have ‘helped’him-may be not in loving Lata but hopefully not hating her that much! All the singers whether legends or not have conributed a lot and we have gained so much from them.We the listeners only lost out on some more great duets between Rafi and Lata in their unfortunate dispute.
Nair ji could not have put it better-thank you!
I shall share anecdotes here in my subsequent mails about the playback world.The bottomline is there was and still is a lot of politics there.Thanks to the media one gets wind of today’s politics.I shall however share some of the yesteryears.
A numerical yardstick is too weak stuff to judge both legends. When rendition is by Rafi and Lata, the heavenly world of music materializes on earth. My personal favourite is “Nagma Hamaara Gaayega Yeh Zamaana†from Bundal Baaz. Just listen the song friends; they are singing about them…….for the world. Can a duet be this beautiful?
Hi Meera,
Would you please inform me how to get to the”mein gwaalon rakhwalon maiyya” track in Yahoo Music. Thanks.
Dear Namita,
Your points are taken! Your anger should have subsided by now on Sagar’s comments. I think you should not take them deeply to the heart. Just like you and me and so many others on this forum(God bless them!), he is a music enthusiast. Whoever loves Rafi will no doubt like Lata and all other singers but in their own way we all have favorites. They differ, human to human, personality to personality. He has just expressed his views. Don’t seethe but move on to better things. It would be helpful to lovers of music if you give an insight into the trials and tribulations of being a singer in the film industry. I don’t want you to go deep but at least, your comments can help new enthusiasts to learn more!
Sagarji if I remember correctly I had read 30-35 years ago that Lata had suffered a serious respiratory infection(much before that info was published) that had affected her voice-the extreme softness disppeared and unfortunately a slight shrill creeped in at the high notes..but I won’t call it a’ torn drum ‘as you do!..:)
namita
Dear Binay
Now coming to your article where you have tried to prove(beyond your doubts as you are his ardent fan!)that Rafi was the preferred one over Lata.As mentioned in my previous mail O.P.Nayyar has in a TV interview(within the last year) said that he did not use Lata’s voice as it was too thin for his kind of songs.Duets with Suman Kalyanpur only go on to prove the MDs wanted Lata but much to their chagrin they had to make do with Suman’s voice as she was a clone of Lata those days(she sounds a bit different today if you have heard her CD carefully with the new male singers).Personally I like Suman’s voice too.The MDs would have used Meena Mangeshkar who sounded exactly like Lata (it was hard to tell the difference between them) but I guess Meena would not have agreed.Anyways she had given up singing and had turned to music direction as we all know.(Asha sounded like Lata too but thanks to her illness her voice changed (to her advantage).)Now coming to who sang more duets in that span,you were able to list just 60 songs..wait till an ardent fan of Lata’s reads this article and lists all her duets outnumbering Rafi’s duets in the dispute period!!May be you know them already!
Needless to add I like Rafi and Lata both and fortunately do not suffer from this bias that you have and therefore able to enjoy all their songs to the max.I also take this opportunity to thank Sonu Nigam for popularising Rafi esp after his death.
namita
Agreed Mohanji…I guess we have similar tastes and thoughts!…and I hope Sagarji will change his opinion on Lataji being a fraud and will not be so angry over her!
I had posted a comment earlier which appeared and got deleted(my comments land up in the spam filter of this blog! and I have to request the administrator to have them posted!)-it was directed to the author of this article… some music directors and actors chose their singers according to some whim of their own…will not name them and won’t specify how..a great singer Manna Dey was affected by it and got very few great songs to sing like,Hanse ki chaah ne and Phir kahin koyi phool khila..a very underutilised male singer indeed who ended up with singing comic songs for Mehmood!
Namita.
No doubt what you have said holds true!.It was Lata who took care of the family in the early forties and uptill the time her siblings were on their feet and beyond. She has gone thru sacrifices and this could be one of the reasons that she did not marry. Sab manzoor hai! But what I want to highlight is the fact that Asha has shown more versatility in her scope of work-give her any kind of song she does justice to it, very much similar to Rafi. If you go thru, the whole list of Lata’s songs they were more bent on one type-serious, lost-in-love, forlorn kind of stuff. Asha did also show the same range but had a more teasing, sexy, happy-go-lucky style. Of course, a lot depended on the story-line, actresses and moods that the playbacks had to respond to.Lata was the sound of the sweet innocent and the All Indian woman kind and it sounded/looked good on the sari clad and bindis of the 50,s and the 60’s( Oh ! how I wish those days were back) but Asha has transformed her sounds to the everchanging modern girl/woman and in doing so increased her range and body of work. She has experimented along the way whereas Lataji, even being such a stalwart of melody and music, stuck to remain in her own field. Maybe, she did not want to experiment and tried to maintain the purity of indian music. However, it is nice listening to the two sisters and music listening becomes more of a pleasure when they are in the company of our favorite Rafisaab.
Mohanji we all have read and heard from Ashaji herself about the sour relatonship between the two sisters and, therefore ,unfortunately we all (yours truly included!)have a soft corner for her and have been showering her with compliments…but till date I have never heard or read Lataji talking about it in public,or defending herself, or lashing out at Ashaji..can you imagine the trauma Lataji must have gone through when her 13 year old sister eloped and that too with a man who cheated her,leave alone tortured her?She was doing all to make ends meet for her family after her father’s death…That must have been such a blow,isn’t it?Iam sure you agree with me.
Thank you Mohanji! Strangely for some reason all my comments got wiped out from here!
namita
Dear Namita,
Sorry the link showed an error! You have to type the following in the Search- mohd.rafi in ALL in ALL. I had written to one of the readers Meera
in this section and she seems to have found her songs. Please browse on the comments section of this article and you can get thru.
Mohan
Dear Namita,
Regarging the two songs you mentioned above, I can email you the song from Chotisi Mulaqat. You can browse thru the link I am providing below.There are options to hear hundreds of other Rafi songs by pressing “See More”, as provided in the link.
Just click on the following link and enjoy. I hope you find the other song.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/s
Sagarji Iam a relative of one of the greatest playback singers who has known her(will not name,but not Lataji herself!) and have information which I shall not make public,keeping the singer’s confidence in view..based on that all that i can say is it is unfair to say such awful stuff about her.
Talat Mehmood,Khursheed,Sudha Malhotra,Rajkumari,Meena Kapoor and Hariharan are some i forgot to mention..
btw does ‘Jat yamla pagla deewana o rabba’stir your soul?..:)
cheers,stay happy..!
namita
D/Mohanfloraji & Sagar ji
Read your rejoinder,Mohanji,with interest and glad to note some of your comments.It is true that singers differ-e.g in their versatility,voice…and also temper! Lata has confessed in a TV interview ,and I appreciate her for that, that she was bad tempered and we can perhaps understand why she lost out on some songs as you have pointed out ,over other female singers.O.P.Nayyar has said that he did not use her voice as it was too thin for his kind of songs..
Sagarji,on reading your mails I gather you are somewhat confused yourself on her!Anyways we are all entilted to our opinions(-you say that Rafi is the best…you advise us only to listen to him,….therefore I can also express my anguish over calling her a fraud!)… but calling her a fraud(wonder why you say that?) is stretching it too far…then you say she is unprofessional…in case you are referring to allegations made by Anuradha Paudwal or Sulakshna Pandit who said she and Asha did not let them enter the playback world….the former did and is nowhere today on the scene..the latter’s brothers are famous music directors today..why is she not singing today?I do not think they spew so much venom against her!All that I know is she sacrificed for her family,she adopted villages…there could be more which we do not know.But all that I understand is God has been kind to all these singers and has blessed them..and I enjoy listening to them all-I forgot to mention Pankaj Mullick,R.C.Boral,C.H.Atma,Shamshad Begum,Suman Kalyanpur, Mahendra Kapoor and Bhupinder in my list…they too have sung some wonderful songs ..each singer touches you in a different way…today’s singers are fabulous too..Shaan,KK,Babul Supriyo,Udit Narayan,Alka Yagnik,Kavita Krishnamurthy,Shreya Ghoshal..the list is endless!Anyways I end my argument here…enjoy the music around you… and Sagarji am glad we atleast have one thing in common,we are all music lovers!..btw i am a singer too!..not of their stature tho!..:)
ciao
namita
P.S.Mohanji can you tell me where I can get the song ‘Sason mein kabhi, dil mein kahin, nazaron mein raha karna’sung by Rafi and Asha(I think the movie is ‘Parchhaiyyan’…and also ‘Tujhe dekha tujhe chaha tujhe pooja maine’ from”Chhoti si Mulaqaat’ sung by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur.
Dear Namita,
Who are you judge that the comments abt LATA were nasty ?
If u check out some duets in early years u will realize that LATA’s had a good voice but tat was only for 10-12 yrs after that her voice sounded like a TORN DRUM and its shows in many duets with Rafi Sahab, and if u take the example of Dil Jo Na Keh Saka…. then I am sorry to say that if u say LATA has given more justice to tht song than Rafi Sahab then u are absolutely wrong , may be her voice is sweet in that song but that doesnt mean tat her singing stirs the soul like RAFI SAHAB did in that song…….
So FINAL verdict RAFI SAHAB is best of the best of the best……..no LATA , KATA , ATA , BATA , etc…………they all can be compared with KK and stuff not with people like TALAT,RAFI SAHEB ……
D/Namita,
We do enjoy music as being spiritual. But while enjoying it , we as listeners, are the receptors. Where does it hit you? Heart or mind ? That depends on the moods/whims/place of the receptor etc etc. etc. The song you have mentioned above,” Dil jo na keh saka ho.”the performance of the artistes is coming from your view/aspect. I respect your views about Lata. I do enjoy listening to Rafi-Lata duets. But in my view ( I am a zero!)
I find that the body of work done by Asha Bhonsle is much more versatile than Lata’s. Asha has done songs which Lata can sing, but has Lata come out of her regular mould to sing songs that Asha has sung! Even between Sisters , I find that Asha is a more successfull/versatile singer than Lata.
In the same vein, it has always been the case where Rafisaab has always scored over Lata- sentiments aside.I respect your your feelings, but I cannot say about the world!
‘Dil jo na keh saka’ from ‘Bheegi Raat’ was rendered by both Rafi and Lata separately.Undoubtedly Lata’s version is superior here. Talking about singers of the era goneby,I am a fan of both Rafi and Lata (besides Kishore Kumar,Hemant Kumar,Asha Bhosle,Mukesh,Geeta Dutt and many singers of the yesteryears era like Suraiya,Kanan Devi ,Amirbai Karnataki and above all K.L.Sehgal)and am pained to read such nasty comments on the great legend,Lata.Music is spiritual.Enjoy it and pl do not try to belittle the artists.
Rafisaab Live Interview – some rare moments! Click on the following links!
1. http://www.musicnmovies.info/index.php/category/legends/
Rafi Live in Concert accompanied by Shanker-Jaikishen.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3uxSYskdiA&search=Mohammed%20rafi%20live
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLEBww7W82M&search=mohammed%20rafi%20
Hi Mohanflora,
Thank you so much. Meanwhile, on Yahoo Music I found a rare Rafi song, “Mein gwaalon rakhwaalon maiyya” in the legend’s unmistakable, bemisaal style!! ONLY Rafi Saab can render a song in that heavenly way, wherein the listener’s heart seems to yern to sing along with him!! His voice is immortal, truly!!
“Zulfon ko aap yoon na sawara karo, ishq warna kisi din behak jayega,
Nazaron se aap yoon na ishaara karo, husn warna kisi din behak jayega”
The above classic Rafi-Asha duet had both heavyweights of melody flirting with their vocal ranges and even though Asha was at her”teasingly” best ,it was Rafi who came out with flying colours and had the damsel!
Dear Music Lovers,
The songs of Rafi Sahab are marvellous and simply breathtaking inspite of the absence of Lata di. No doubt that particular period(dispute) was a big n recognisable for talented Suman Kalyanpur.
Another observation of mine is that if u compare the same songs sung by Rafi n Lata separately then Rafi came out with flying colours in the songs listed below:
Ehsann tera hoga ….. from Junglee
Oh mera shahe khuba… oh meri jane…. from Love in Tokyo
Tum mujhe yoon bhula na …… from Pagla kahin ka
Aghar tum bhula na doge ….. from Yakeen
All the above are masterly but Rafi Sirs voice and singing were fabulous compared to his colleague may be because SJ s tunes were suited for the male pitch.
Teri ankhon ka siva duniya mein rakha kya hai…. both Rafi n Lata are made for each other .
Can we get anymore songs where Rafi sab has sung separately n the female singer the same separately but where many find that Rafi sabs genious is profound n the trademark melody is seen clearly?
Padmanabhan
The compilations section is after the Telegu section. There is another section marked Hindi in a red band. Don’t go there! Go only to the compilations section(also red band) and you will find all the songs you are looking for on/after pg. 21 even though other great songs also pass by in the previous 20 pages. Just follow my instructions and you will get there.Happy listening!
Hi Meera,
You will definitely find all the songs you mentioned above in http://www.musicindiaonline.com . I cross-checked and heard them myself today. After opening the web-site- in the top search section enter mohd. rafi category ALL in ALL.Click on the search button and a page opens out giving Rafisaabs songs. Start scrolling down from the patriotic song sections down to the compilations section with the red band.(not anywhere else). The songs you are looking for are in this compilations section. You have to go to page 21 to hear all the above songs from the album-Mohd. Rafi-Rare Gems. TRY AGAIN!
GUYS ,
RAFI SAAB VS LATA has no meaning , because LATA was a fraud her voice was good for some 10-15 years , but she also realized that RAFI SAAB WAS a heavenly voice so she teamed up with KISHORE and I hope we all have the proof.
Agreed that we have some fabulous duets beetween RAFI – LATA but , we can’t use them to prove the difference , hence we can’t compare them.
RAFI SAHAB WAS ROYAL , LATA did some cheap work unprofessionaly which proves that she was not loyal to her MUSIC and PROFESSION so whats the use if VOICE is good.As a HUMAN you behave like ANIMAL then that ANIMAL can’t be termed as a HUMAN it will be PHYSICALLY treated as HUMAN but by characteristically and by mentality will be treated as ANIMAL only.
So my dear RAFIANS there is no match for RAFI SAAB , if you want to hear duets please do listen but don’t compare RAFI SAHAB with other singers, because if comparision is to MUSIC , then MUSIC is soul and SOUL is HUMANITY which I think only RAFI SAHAB had this quality and no other singer.
This not to offend anyone but a opinion .
And the bottom line again : Listen to RAFI SAHAB my fellow RAFIANS.
ENJOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!!!!
Sagar
Thanks, I searched on that website. Because none of these above mentioned songs are there, I asked for suggestions as to where else I might search.
I even searched for these in music stores in India!
I’m still hoping I’ll get them someday!!
Some of the above songs can be found on www,musicindiaonline.com. Browse for mohd. rafi songs!
Great article, thank you. Rafi Sahab could pack emotion, romance and melody into any song he sang in his wonderful voice in the most unique way. This great legend will forever be an inspiration to aspiring singers.
I have searched for his “Kitni haseen ho tum”, “Bahut haseen hain tumhari aankhen”, “Jan e bahaar husn tera”, “Mujhe tumse mohabbat hai magar mein keh naheen sakta”, “Jahaan tu hai vahaan phir chandini ko kaun poochega”, “Maana mere haseen sanam”. Can you please suggest where I might find these beautiful songs?
hi,
Very nice article which explained the popularity of Rafi sab with the MDs in the 60s. Hats off to SJ to have maintained the trend till Andaz where he took Asha with Rafisab.
The other song which I remember is the Ram aur Shyam duet of Rafisab with Asha under Naushad.
Only duets which Rafi sab would have lost during the dispute was perhaps from Milan and the only duet from Guide.
My sincere thanks to this informative article n hats off to Rafi sab to make these duets superhits without the natural co-singer shows the dedication,melody,timbre and tone of the magical voice.
We all Rafians are proud of our legend to give us wholesome entertainment and make our heart sing.
Rajan Iyer
Hi Binay,
Can you explain why SJ chose Mahendra Kapoor (with Mukesh and Lata) in Sangam for “har dil jo pyaar karega” and not Rafi for Ranjinder Kumar when he could have taken aasha or suman for vyjayanti! This is an enigma for me and have no answer! Mahender has done a good job for that song but I would have preferred to hear it from Rafi saab which would have made that song a real classic!
Great article. I am just sad I dont know how to reply properly, though, since I want to show my appreciation like many other.