By Soni Bedasie

Hello to all you devoted devotees, namaste, hi, buenos dias, ni hao ma, assalam-a-lai kum and all other expressions of greetings.  Well well, it has been a while now that I did not say anything, but over the time, I have noticed some things, I mean a lot of ‘some things’. I want to share with you my keen observations and most of them happened before our very eyes and we really did not pay attention to most of them because they were a bit subtle, but you must know that these existed over the years. I have attempted to do this article before, but I always thought that the fans might not want to read it and kept cancelling it.  Today, I have decided that I shall write and submit it for the fans so that they can be the judge of what I say here.  Now, I stand to be corrected if I am wrong in any part of my contribution. I am a Trinidadian in the west indies and I can only rely on objective observation and subjective recall from memory to express my thoughts of everything about the GREATEST playback singer ever to walk on this planet … MOHD RAFI SAHEB, as compared to if I was a citizen of India.

Many people might disagree with my article here and I do appreciate others expressing their opinions, but what my article explains is FACT and was not derived from emotions and as you already know; opinions come from emotion just as if one is walking on thin ice. I have to mention some names and it is only for references. (These were my personal favourite stars of the Golden era) Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra, Shammi Kapoor Raaj Kumar and some more.

During the times of these box office heroes, there was something.  Whenever a certain voice played back for them , their screen image became enhanced to the extent that you felt as if a sudden burst of energy just came right out at you, This certain voice is that of the legend .. MOHD RAFI SAHAB. These heroes played imaginary characters on the screen and were the recipients of a voice that gave life to the characters they played.

Now,  a lot of these heroes have passed on and so too, maybe, the characters they portrayed , but the voice they lip synced to lives on.  The owner of this voice is MOHD RAFI … [ THE REFERENCE STANDARD – THE BENCHMARK ]  Rafi’s voice IS the bigger actor here. I tell you, this voice still evoke goosebumps on your goosebumps, come on don’t be shy, admit it. Sometimes in certain songs when he sings in the upper scale, or high notes, you feel the hairs stand out on your body as a reaction to the feelings that this part of the song is expressing and if no one is looking, you let your tears flow freely. Isn’t this the truth?

37 years ago, only the physical body exited the earthly existence , but the voice stayed with us.  Someday, even us devoted fans will exit this earthly vacation and yet still this voice will be here, it’s really not going anywhere anytime. Why is this?  (I think, Divinity manifesting in the material plane)

Seeing this name in print or otherwise, “MOHD RAFI”, attracts attention and when his voice sings, the world listens and you live into another experience that becomes a part of you.

A king, A Maharajah, a Nawab, A Prince, A Duke, a President, A Doctor, A Lawyer, A Scientist, A Prime Minister and a great multitude of others who should be mentioned here, carry many prefixes to their names ..eg – Doctor XYZ ..MBBS or Attorney Mr. ABC ..LLB..Phd. A scientist with the prefix: BSc…etc. This is all well and good,  Now I am drawing a reference here to explain what I am getting at. Currently, many of us has to visit a doctor, or some other professional.

We go in to see these people and while we are there, in the reception area awaiting our turn by a number system, we notice hanging on the walls the credentials of the professional person we are about to see and so many as much as a half of the entire alphabet lettering following their names.  I know this is to identify the level of the professional’s learning, but when you walk out his or hers office, do you remember all this?  By the time you gets back to your home you are still trying to remember where you went or what you did.   You see names of all these professionals in bold lettering and it still does’nt hold your attention.   However if you see even in the finest of prints just one simple name, a world of memories and nostalgia comes crashing down to you.  Only one name.

He officially wasn’t A President, A King, A Lawyer, A Doctor, A Maharajah , Sir, or Lord,  A Prime Minister or any other of those with a half of the alphabet lettering following his name.  His name is: MOHD RAFI SAHEB.  Whether you like it or believe it or not, it is not easy as you think to ever forget this name .. except in the situation where one has been diagnosed with amnesia. If this be the case, I recommend that a Rafi’s song be played next to this person’s ears and in 10 seconds the amnesia will take a hike.

Anyway, Isn’t this a 21st century truth as I say that when he sings, he supersedes everyone of the above mentioned professionals with all their “impression” creating letterings after their names.  Me myself a mere mortal, that when I pass on, no one will remember me.  I will not factor in anywhere except for.. maybe 10 people and I am gone forever, maybe you too.  I think that his voice and talent had it’s own curriculum of song and comfort theory to the listener.

I also think that his songs create a sixth sense in the well focused listener that invokes a feeling of a higher consciousness.

Dear devotees and followers of this VERY GREAT SINGER.. MR. MOHD RAFI SAHAB , I have a extra large size problem here now.

Many of the actors who were non-entities and were really having beans at getting attention for years on end without recognition just so happened that one day out of the blue and black, a fairy whomever, waved the “strike it rich” wand and abracadabra, this unknown aspirant was thrown in front the camera to lip sync a song by the biggest of all voices in cinema, and presto, he became an overnight star and success.  Suddenly , he ranked in the top 3 actors profile and he became an overnight sensation.  The truth is he acted in some movies and was given songs to lip sync on the screen but he never really hit it big time. He was still insignificant to the audience. His unlucky streak was that he was given songs which is all well and good, but he wasn’t given the VOICE.  Eventually, he got the voice that was like a multi million dollar lottery to him and he never looked back … not even to see the footprints he left behind on his journey on the way to the top.

Now, this is one of many of similar incidents that are real and did happen and is one of the “Riches to Rags” stories in the movie business.  A lot of actors made it big time to the top and they all had it just fine.

Now, this is where my problem comes in.  I am wondering, if these people ever learned in school the meaning of the words: SOLIDARITY and RECIPROCATE .

These words means a huge lot in many situations. Over the years, many times I wonder, Why these people involved in this business did not stand up for Rafi Sahab and apply the second word into the first word. (2nd word: reciprocate ..1st word: solidarity)

In the western side of the world most no one paid attention to the lame duck singers of the time, it was truly boring to see on screen youthful actors lip syncing to voices that sounded like “Old aged Pensioners”.  Then suddenly, the movie “Junglee” with Shammi Kapoor came and we heard the songs on the radio and there was no turning back for me until the time where this part of my contribution is about. Junglees songs was a huge blast of teenaged youthfulness that was suddenly thrust upon us like a giant tsunami. I mention this today because this is a fact.  Since Junglee, I became hooked to movies with this voice, to this day.

People who do not look back to where they came from or the trail they left behind is a sorry state.  Even dogs remember the hand that fed them, except the one that grounded me for two weeks in December last year. You might not know this but in my area here, people who behave like this are labelled as: “Namakharam” “Ingrates” “Ungrateful”. How can some ” People” be like this?  You know, I shouldn’t ask this question as I already know that it is not everything that walks on two legs , has two arms, two eyes etc.. is to be considered a ‘Human Being’, when they only LOOK like a human being.

Recently, I noticed a lot of yesteryear actors paying their ‘crocodile tears’ type of tribute to MOHD RAFI on the internet. I really must weigh in on these publicity seekers whose only intention is to draw some kind of attention to themselves. Some of them even has videos of themselves speaking about MOHD RAFI for 15, 20 and even 30 minutes at a time. Can you believe this ? Are these ‘people’ for real ?  After all he did for them to get into the big times, practically all of them turned their backs when he needed them. These same people could have helped to preserve the true natural course of playback singing history in the film world.  Then again, how can you trust them, when they only ‘LOOK’ like human.  These very front runners top box office draw actors at the time did not have the guts (as if they ever had any in the first place) to exclaim to the movie people concerned that the great voice of Rafi helped put them where they are and if Rafi’s voice is not playing back for their screen image, then they will not be in the picture from then on.  These top rated actors could have done this and my friends, this is what solidarity is about.  I must add, the very same people his voice catapulted into the big time limelight are the very same people that backed and supported the perversion of the natural course of playback singing history. Remember, whenever anyone renders good, good follows.

Before I punch my card out for this evening, I really must admit that I have never heard any singer who rendered songs in so many different styles and variations.

I have listened to many western singers and I talk about the really big guns in the USA.  They even sing in the movies in Hollywood and up to now, they ALL sound : ONE WAY, one style, even all those pop icons they blah blah blah about repeatedly as if they want to brainwash you, sound ‘one way’.  I have proof of what I claim here that the only true versatile vocalist of a multitude of styles and variations IS MOHD RAFI.

Thanks very much for allowing me to contribute to this platform.  One more thing… there are some references that I have made and is pointing to many big actors in bollywood, because this is where it happened, then again, my references cannot point to let’s say Russia or France or Switzerland, because it did not happen there.

This blog was published on Monday, July 31st, 2017 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.