The association of King of Romance with King of Melody: A musical tribute to Yash Raj Chopra and Mohammed Rafi
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.
He was born on 27th September, 1932 in Lahore, British India to a Punjabi family and he was the youngest of eight children. He was mostly brought up in Lahore house of his second brother, B.R. Chopra who was a film journalist then. Young Yash Chopra initially supposed to pursue an engineering degree, but his passion for film-making move him to Bombay. He started his career as an assistant to I. S. Johar and his brother B. R. Chopra. He worked as assistant director in notable films like EK HI RASTA (1956), NAYA DAUR (1957) and SADHNA (1958).
In 1950s, 1960s and even 1970s, a Hindi Film and its music were incomplete without dazzling voice of Mohammed Rafi. His voice was starting, storytelling and concluding force in most of the films. As a royal human being Rafi Sahab had also no constraint for a big or small film. Money was never a factor for his singing assignments and he sang more than 100 songs free of cost. Mohammed Rafi was the playback voice of some classic songs in the initial films directed by Yash Raj Chopra produced under banner of B.R. Films, like DHOOL KA PHOOL (1959), DHARMPUTRA (1961), WAQT (1965) and AADMI AUR INSAAN (1969). The first two films in Black & White, music composed by N. DUTTA and last two films in Colour, music composed by RAVI in the lyrics of SAHIR LUDHIANVI. A brief description of films as follows:-
DHOOL KA PHOOL:
It was the first film directed by Yash Chopra based on Nehruvian secularism starring Mala Sinha, Rajendra Kumar, Nanda, Ashok Kumar and Manmohan Krishna. The story of the film revolves bringing up of an illicit Hindu child wholeheartedly by a Muslim called Abdul Rasheed played by Manmohan Krishna. The story written by Mukhram Sharma was fully supported by classic song, “Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalman Banega, Insaan Ki Aullad Hai, Insaan Banega” expressively sung by Mohammed Rafi picturised on Manmohan Krishna. Manmohan Krishna became the very popular character artist for this Rafi gem from then and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in the film. Another Rafi gem, “Hum Pyar Mein Dhooka Kha Bethe, Daman Mein Daag Laga Bethe” played in the background of film when hero Rajendra Kumar married to Nanda betraying her pregnant lady love Mala Sinha in the family pressure. The popular romantic duet from the film, “Tere Pyar Ki Aashra Sahata Hoon, Wafa Kar Raha Hoon Wafa Sahata Hoon” was sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle. The film became the fourth highest grosser of the year.
DHARMPUTRA:
The story of film based on novel by the same name written by Acharya Chatursen which was the first Hindi film depicting the partition of INDIA and Hindu fundamentalism. It dealt with the issues of religious bias, perseverance and communalism in the backdrop of the partition. Chopra reverse the topic in this film where an illegitimate Muslim child adopted by a Hindu family. The film starts with the patriotic song, “Sare Jahan Se Accha, Hindustha Hamara” sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle starring Mala Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Indrani Mukherjee, Tabassum, Rehman, Manmohan Krishna, Deven Verma, Nirupa Roy, Leela Chitnis and Ashok Kumar. It was the first film of Rafi Hero Shashi Kapoor playing the central role of Hindu fundamentalist. Another Rafi Hero, Rajendra Kumar made a special appearance in the film for a song, “Jo Yeh Dil Deewana Machal Gaya” sung by Mohammed Rafi. Though this film was awarded as Best Feature Film in Hindi at the 9th National Film Award, it was flopped at the box office due to riot-like situations at theatres. After this film, Yash Chopra never made a political film again, switched over to love stories for decades and came back to the topic of religious harmony with VEER-ZAARA in 2004.
WAQT:
It was the first colour film directed by Yash Chopra with assembly of large number of stars, Balraj Sahani, Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhana, Sharmila Tagore, Achala Sachdev, Rehman and Madan Puri. The film break new ground the perception of multi stars and “lost and found principle” in the Hindi Cinema. The film became very popular for songs and dialogues by actor Raaj Kumar. The songs of the film sung by Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle. The title and theme song of the film splendidly sung by Rafi Sahib matching the situation which was played in the background after the hasty earthquake ruins the town and destroyed the house & family of Lala Kedarnath played by Balraj Sahani. The poetry of the song is as follows:
Kaal Yahan Basti Thi Khusiya , Aaj Hai Matam Yahan
Waqt Laya Tha Bahar, Waqt Layaa Hai Fiza
Waqt Se Din Aur Raat, Waqt Se Aaj Aur Kaal
The other popular solos, “Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen” sung by Manna Dey & “Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu” by Asha Bhosle and duets “Din Hai Bahar Ke” & “Hum Jab Simat Ke Aap Ke Bahoon Mein Aa Gaye” sung by Mahendra Kapoor & Asha Bhosle. Yash Chopra won his 1st Filmfare Best Director Award for this film.
AADMI AUR INSAAN:
This was the story of two friends, a rich Jai Kishan played by Feroz Khan and a middle class Munish Mehra played by Dharmendra, both falls in love with Meena Khanna played by Saira Banu which was Yash Chopra’s single film with actor Dharmendra. The starting theme song of film, “Jaage Ga Insaan Zamana Dekhega” was sung by Mahendra Kapoor which was more suitable for Rafi Sahab’s voice. However, Rafi Sahab sung a solo “Bacha Le Ae Maula Ae Ram” for actor Jhoney Walker in the film. Feroz Khan got the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for this film in 1970. It was the last joint collaboration of three brothers, Baldev Raj Chopra as Producer, Yash Raj Chopra as Director and Dharam Chopra as Cinematographer who gifted some landmark films to Hindi Film Industry and Hindi Film viewers.
After Aadmi Aur Insaan, Chopra directed a suspense thriller ITTEFAQ which was based on a Gujrati play depicting one night event. It was the second song less talkie film in Hindi after KANOON (1960) directed by B.R. Chopra. In 1973, Yash Chopra ended his creative teamwork with his brother B.R. Chopra, formed Yash Raj Films and autonomously produced DAAG with Rajesh Khanna which was a huge hit. He also directed three action films, Joshila, Deewar and Trishul produced under outside banner, Trimurti Films and a romantic drama Kabhie Kabhie under his own banner from 1973 to 1978. There are not single Mohammed Rafi songs in these films. Music of Daag, Joshila and Deewar dominated by R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar combinations. Khayyam composed music for Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul who also not remembered his early association with Rafi Sahab.
Normally, music directors decided which song is to be sung by which singer in the film, however, film’s director and actor has some command over singer selection. Yash Chopra and his wife Pamela Chopra are very fond of music. Yash Chopra is best known for his musical hit films, he used to hum songs while travelling and Pamela Chopra sang in films like Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Chandni, Lamhe, etc. Although, they kept a distance from voice of melody king Mohammed Rafi for a decade. Finally, Rafi Sahab had sung again in a film, Kaala Patthar (1979) directed by Yash Chopra which was produced under his own banner Yash Raj Films. A brief description of the film and songs as follows:-
KAALA PATTHAR:
It was the last film of this singer-director association, the story of which based on a coal mine at Dhanbad, Bihar written by Salim-Javed. The film was produced and directed by Yash Chopra and it was his fourth teamwork with Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor after hugely blooming DEEWAR (1975), KABHIE KABHIE (1976) and TRISHUL (1978). This film’s music was composed by Rajesh Roshan for lyrics penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and background score was done by Salil Chowdhary. Mohammed Rafi sung two duets and a multi singer song in the film. The duet with Lata Mangeshkar, “Bahoon Mein Teri Masti Ghere” and duet with Usha Mangeshkar “Mujhe Pyar Ka Tohfa Dekar” are become very popular in late 1970s. The multi-singer song from the film, “Dhoom Mache Dhoom” sung by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mahendra Kapoor and S.K. Mohan also became a rage which leads to title of three more films, DHOOM (2004), DHOOM 2 (2006) and DHOOM 3 (2013) made under banner of Yash Raj Films.
Yash Chopra worked with large number of actors, i.e. Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol and Shashrukh Khan in career of five decades. He directed 22 films from DHOOL KA PHOOL (1959) to JAB TAK HAI JAAN (2012) in 53 years, out which five films made under banner of B.R. Films produced by B.R. Chopra, three films made under banner of Trimurti Films produced by Gulshan Rai, one film made under banner of A. G. Films produced by Firoz A. Naididwala and thirteen films made under his own banner of Yash Raj Films. Yash Chopra produced total 53 films under his own banner Yash Raj Films from DAAG (1973) to EK THA TIGER (2012).
Many people’s initial career growth in Hindi Film Industry shore up by golden voice of Mohammed Rafi, either he is an actor, producer or director, music director or lyricist, etc. Out of which very few people are extremely loyalist to Rafi Sahab till end of their career, most of people fail to remember him after two or three hit films. Mohammed Rafi had least work with Yash Chopra may be the reasons that Rafi Sahab had some undisclosed misinterpretation with his elder brother, producer-director B. R. Chopra and B.R. Chopra’s jovial professional relationship with singer Mahendra Kappor. Therefore, Mahendra Kapoor was the major playback singer in all films made under the banner of B. R. Films. However, the songs from initial three films directed by Yash Chopra will always be remembered as best social songs in Indian sub-continents sung by “King of Melody”, Mohammed Rafi.
Yash Chopra won six National Awards, four Filmfare Best Director Awards (Waqt, Ittefaq, Daag, Deewar ) and four Filmfare Best Movie Awards for his films in addition to Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2005. He was called “King of Romance” for depicting passionate romance in his films like DAAG, KABHI KABHIE, SILSILA, CHANDNI, LAMHEE, DIL TO PAGAL HAI and VEER-ZAARA. But in my opinion, he will also be remembered as king of social dramas for films like DHOOL KA PHOOL, DHARAMPUTRA , WAQT etc. and king of actions for films like DEEWAR, TRISHUL, KAALA PATHAR, VIJAY etc.
List of Films directed by Yash Raj Chopra
|
Year |
Film |
Banner |
Artists |
| 1959 | Dhool Ka Phool |
B.R. Films |
Mala Sinha, Rajendra Kumar, Nanda, Ashok Kumar. |
| 1961 | Dharmputra |
B.R. Films |
Mala Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Rehman, Ashok Kumar. |
| 1965 | Waqt |
B.R. Films |
Balraj Sahani, Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhana, Sharmila Tagore, Rehman, Achala Sachdev. |
| 1969 | Aadmi Aur Insaan |
B.R. Films |
Dharmendra, Saira Banu, Feroz Khan, Mumtaz, Ajit, Jhoney Walker. |
| 1969 | Ittefaq |
B.R. Films |
Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Bindu, Madan Puri, Iftekhar. |
| 1973 | Daag |
Yash Raj Films |
Rajesh Khanna, Rakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Prem Chopra. |
| 1973 | Joshila |
Trimurthi Films |
Dev Anand, Rakhee, Hema Malini, Bindu, Pran. |
| 1975 | Deewar |
Trimurthi Films |
Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor, Parveen Babi, Netu Singh,Nirupa Roy. |
| 1976 | Kabhi Kabhie |
Yash Raj Films |
Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rakhee, Netu Singh. |
| 1978 | Trishul |
Trimurthi Films |
Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Waheeda Rahman, Hema Malini, Rakhee, Sachin, Poonam Dhiloon, Prem Chopra. |
| 1979 | Kaala Patthar |
Yash Raj Films |
Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Raakhee, Parveen Babi, Netu Singh, Poonam Dhillon, Prem Chopra. |
| 1981 | Silsila |
Yash Raj Films |
Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor, Jaya Bhaduri, Rekha, Sanjeev Kumar. |
| 1984 | Mashaal |
Yash Raj Films |
Dilip Kumar, Waheeda Rahman, Anil Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri. |
| 1985 | Faasle |
Yash Raj Films |
Sunil Dutt, Rekha, Rohan Kapoor, Farha, Farooq Shaikh, Deepti |
| 1988 | Vijay |
Yash Raj Films |
Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Meenakshi, Sonam, Anupam Kher. |
| 1989 | Chandni |
Yash Raj Films |
Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, Waheeda Rehman. |
| 1991 | Lamhe |
Yash Raj Films |
Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher. |
| 1992 | Parampara | A.G.Films | Sunil Dutt, Vinod Khanna, Amir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Raveena Tandon, Divya Bharati. |
| 1993 | Darr |
Yash Raj Films |
Sunny Deol, Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla. |
| 1997 | Dil To Pagal Hai |
Yash Raj Films |
Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri, Karishma Kapoor, Akhsay Kumar. |
| 2004 | Veer-Zara |
Yash Raj Films |
Shashrukh Khan, Prety Zinta, Rani Mukherjee. |
| 2012 | Jab Tak Hai Jaan |
Yash Raj Films |
Shashrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma. |
Biman Baruah
Hi there.
Nice article.
Re – “mujhe pyar Ka tohfa dekhe” Rafi and Usha duet, this is one of my favourite childhood songs.
I had never known it to be from Kaala Patthar until recently as I have never seen it picturised.
Any idea if the video of the song was ever filmed? Perhaps it got shelved/cut from the movie – if so, will wonder who it was picturised on?
I am guessing Shatru/Neetu or Shashi/Praveen?
Cheers
With all respect to all Rafi Lovers, we should always be positive as a Rafi Lovers. The films like NAYA DAUR (1957) and SADHNA (1958) produced and directed by B.R. Chopra were musical hits with the golden voice of Mohd. Rafi where Yash Chopra was a assistent director. Singer Mohendra Kapoor was a great admier of Rafi Sahab and they decided in initial stage not to compete with each other. B.R. Chopra wanted a duet is to be recorded for a film in the voice of Mohammed Rafi and Mahendra Kapoor for which Rafi Sahab was not agreed. May be this was the reason of misunderstanding between Rafi Sahab and B R Chopra, consequently absence of Rafi Sahab in films produced or directed by B R Chopra for a while.
with best wishes & regards
Biman
the article has many factual errors, which is usually the case with the writer and also far-fetched unrelated ideas. he tells us that the name of the film dhoom was based on the song dhoom machi dhoom. this must be a joke. film dhoom was made 25 years after kaala pathhar and by then that song had already been forgotten by the common masses. dhoom is a very frequently used word in song lyrics of hfm and you cannot link the name of film dhoom with this song.
the most glaring error is in his description of film dharmputra, where he says that the song ‘jo ye dil deewana machal gaya’ was picturised on rajendra kumar. the fact is that this song which starts as ‘mere dilbar mujh par khafa na ho’ was a qawwali picturised on some little known actor. another song ‘ye kiska lahoo hai kaun mara’ was the one picturised on rajendra kumar. the female singer in the song ‘tere pyar ka aasra chahata hoon’ of film ‘dhool ka phool’ is lata and not asha as told by the writer.
santosh has rightly objected to rafi being linked with yash raj chopra. he used or let use rafi just in one film of yash raj films ‘kala pathhar’. the other films mentioned by the writer are films of br chopra. it may be that this yash raj sowed the seeds of discontent in the mind of br chopra about rafi (insiders like binuji or haldarji might be knowing better and throw some light). because prior to yash raj becoming director in br films rafi was being used quite frequently and rafi was used in ‘dastaan’ and ‘the burning train’ after yash raj broke away from br films.
this article is just a magnified eulogy of yash raj and rafi is associated for only justifying its presence on the site. i dont know how this yash raj is a king of romance. is it because shah rukh and the likes say so. what has he given in the field of romance. perhaps artificial stories based on artificial situations and full of artificial dialogues. there were so many producers and directors who gave memorable romantic films during the golden period of 50s and 60s with great romantic songs. how yash raj is the king among them. i can bet that nobody can sit through the whole of his purely romantic films.
Good day to all of the Rafi Age.
I wish everyone a merry Xmas and a happy new year 2013. Thank you and remember:
“The destination should not be the objective, but instead; the experience of the journey”
“The goal in life must not be to prove – but to achieve”
Soni
This is my first time writing to you. I think I first came across this website on 31 July, 2012. I eagerly wait for emails from you and even if there aren’t any (much to my disappointment), I visit this website almost everyday and read the comments.
I have a request. Please do a write-up on the living heroes who had Mohammad Rafi Sahib’s songs picturised on them. It would be great if you could interview them as well.
Thank you
Innumerable Celebrations for the King of Melody Mohammed Rafi Saaheb – around the world on his 88th Birth anniversary is taking place.
The singing emperor rafi saaheb’s songs will ‘echo’ in more than, 12000 musical events and gatherings around the globe .
its celebration time for music lovers with rafi saaheb’s birthday falling on dec.24 and his guru and mentor naushad ji’s birthday falling on dec.25.
god has been indeed very kind to all of us for giving us such towering musical personalities.
the rafi foundation will hold two musicals with anil bajpai – by far the closest rafi saaheb singer back to back on dec 24th at mumbai bandra’s rangsharada auditorium and at dadar’s 900 seater Yashwant Natya griha.
glad to mention that rafi saaheb lovers are coming in from ahmedabad, kerala and london – to celebrate the occassion.
long live our musical heritage and the emperor of singing – mohd rafi saaheb.
Innumerable Celebrations for the King of Melody Mohammed Rafi Saaheb – around the world on his 88th Birth anniversary.
The singing emperor rafi saaheb’s songs will ‘echo’ in more than, 12000 musical events and gatherings around the globe .
its celebration time for music lovers with rafi saaheb’s birthday falling on dec.24 and his guru and mentor naushad ji’s birthday falling on dec.25.
god has been indeed very kind to all of us for giving us such towering musical personalities.
the rafi foundation will hold two musicals with anil bajpai – by far the closest rafi saaheb singer back to back on dec 24th at mumbai bandra’s rangsharada auditorium and at dadar’s 900 seater Yashwant Natya griha.
glad to mention that rafi saaheb lovers are coming in from ahmedabad, kerala and london – to celebrate the occassion.
long live our musical heritage and the emperor of singing – mohd rafi saaheb.
ref post 4
what rafian santoshji expressed his views are 100% correct.
why we entertain such personalities in this site?
ref post 7
rafian hassanji,
you know once i have purchased a book containing hindi
film songs sung by rafi saab which printed in malayalam
language from a book shop in trissur (kerala)!
one more thing.in small towns of kerala we can see
rafi saab’s mp3 and mp4 cds in music shops.
last week one of my friends called me from kerala (i am
settled in Bangalore) who was attending a marriage party
in a remote place only to hear me the song “bahaaro phool
barsaao” which was plying there!
Dear Mr Barua,
It is a detailed work on Yash Chopra which you have so elaborately expressed. But the link with Mohd Rafi is very thin. In fact it was Mahendra Kapoor in earlier films and later on it was with other singers.
I totally agree with Mr. Madan Gopal ji that Rafi Saab is the only singer who could put soul in the song of the film Shankar hussain, kahin ek masoom nazuk so ladki. i enjoyed and enjoyed listening to this song atleast 100 times and my thirst to hear the song is still the same when i heard it first time.
my rich regards to Mr. Madan Gopal ji
post 4… Madan gopal ji..
the song from shankar hussain was recorded by a famous singer down south but kamal amrohi rejected it and mohd rafi rendered the song so beautifully.
before this in pakeezah lata wanted to start the song but kamal saaheb again vetoed it and rafi saab sang the opening lines.
both the points were mentioned by my late friend shandar amrohi who passed away last year.
Binuji,
Dhool Ka phool- tere pyaar ka aasra chahta hoon- mahendra kapoor & lata.
Though khayyam didnot use rafi in kabhi kabhi, he had to call him to sing for the film- shankar hussain- kahin ek masoom nazuk si ladki. Khayyam knew that only this voice could convey the romance of this song, that only rafi could sing about a girl in love.
Dear Biman Baruaji,
Thank you for giving us an interesting article on our great singer rafi saheb and veteran film maker yashraj ji. it is the real fact that in the earlier years singers were selected on the basis of their voice quality as well as their popularity. because a number of films were hit in the box office due to only the songs sung by these famous singers. among this, rafi saheb was the topper. later, some directors, music directors and actors introduced new singers and used them only for their films. it is very pleasure to note that even today a major portion of music lovers are still like to listen/enjoy the songs of rafi saheb. in the last week i had visited a music store in the city, where i saw that a young boy about 15-17 yrs old asking for video songs sung by rafi saheb for the films of shammi kapoor. from this, we can note that popularity of our rafi saheb is not going down instead, it is growing day by day even 32 years after the demise of our beloved singer rafi saheb.
with regards
Dear All,
Rafi Sahabs contribution & the way He mesmerizes the masses the world over is unparalled. Pl add the names of far more passionate fans & admirers of rafi sahab fm the film industry-Man Mohan Desai(Who dedicated all his films to rafi sahab), S D Burman, Actors Biswajeet, Shammi Kapoor, Jacky dada, Rishi Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar(In her good days), Kishor Kumar, Mannay Dey, Mukesh, ….. the list is endless. And a sea of fans fm all over the world. If anyone has any doubt of his genius, humbleness, divinity, then this person is insane & not worth wasting time, whatever his/her achievements may be in this mortal world.
Dilip Kumar must have been jealous at Rafi sahabs popularity & must have felt insecure at the rousing masses at rafi sahabs songs. In musical pgmes-its the singers/artists who perform on stg steel the show. And thats where lise the reason!!!
Bimanji nice article on yash chopra and rafi saheb. surprising indeed that yash chopra did not use rafi sahab effectively. I presonally feel that Rafi saab could have done wonders to yash raj compositions in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
Regarding acknowledging the genius of Rafi sahab, we should be proud that Naushad Ali, Madan Mohan, Bombay Ravi, Laxmikant Pyarelal, O P Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishen always acknowledged rafi saab’s superiority in singing. Therefore a Dilip Kumar, asha bhonsle or yash chopra’s opinion is immaterial.
Listening to Rafi saab’s singing capabilities in songs like “Hai Duniya usiki Zamana usika / diwana hua badal is enough to silence any critic in this universe. Also for the sake of Rafi fans 2 rare songs are really great they are Tumko pasand ho/filmMurder in circus AND Tu bemisaal hai teri tarif kya karu
With all respects to u biman ji, i find this article irrelevant to say the least.What one has to comprehend from this article as far as rafi saab is concerned is a big questionmark.This website is dedicated to rafi saab, so any article posted on this site should be in the context of rafi saab and no one else.Yash raj etc gang , I feel have no understanding of music.If it were not so then why was rafi saab ignored.Atleast you could have linked these two in ur article.So with all respects , I feel this article is no use to us rafi saab bhakts.
You have done a great job for Rafi Sahib. Naushad, OP Nayar, SJ, Ravi, Madan Mohan etc are popular due to rafi sur. Medium tune become hat due to rafi voice.
Dear Biman Baruah ji
First of all my heartiest thanks for sharing knowledge. It is established fact that there is no one whether male or female singer who is as tall as Mohd. Rafi Saab in the singing-world/field. He has the largets number of fans and his voice is unique.
Some people are jealous of his fame and this won’t help them at all. Rafi Saab is immortal and his songs wud always be heard till there is Sun, Moon, Earth and Sky in the universe. He was soft-spoken, gentle and cultured person. I wont hesitate to say that he was an angel.
Thanks once again.
r l arora
Biman ji……..
its a good research on a producer director who was ‘not’ inclined to our rafi saaheb – inspite of some great hits during their initial film innings with rafi saaheb.
yash chopra and b r chopra went mostly without rafi saaheb even though the latter was the singing sensation of their times.
in films like dastaan and waqt we have mohd rafi numbers but that was due to composers insisting on rafi saaheb.
another hero who in latter years praised a lady singer was dilip saaheb. never did he praise mohd rafi saaheb as a great singer its said and naushad saaheb who was very close to dilip kumar resented this.
matters came to a worse between them and rafi saaheb declared ‘that’ he won’t again sing for dilip saaheb after a tiff prior to a musical charity show down south.
all this is bound to happen when egoistic men have bigger egos than their talents.
this was again seen when during the music release of naya daur in colour, b r chopra and asha bhosle few years back – failed to mention two names who made naya daur the hit it became. O P NAYYAR & MOHAMMED RAFI…..
it has been great to see – even without their patronage mohd rafi songs are heard the most in radio stations and music channels.
and this record will not be equalled by anyone else in bollywood its well known.