True Voice – Mohd Rafi
The following article was brought to my notice when Sharad posted it on MAS. The article has been trimmed down a bit keeping afloat Rafi details. However, anyone interested can go visit the source at http://tfmpage.com/forum/4980.6302.04.57.19.html
I am Swaminatha Iyer and I am 78 years old. I hail from Tiruchi and I am a part of music associations in Tiruchi, M’as as well as in West Bengal and Maharashtra.
I think it is wrong to condemn music or artists on either side of Vindhyas. Our Indian music is one of the few which has not been cleaned off by the western music though there has always been a influence. It speaks a lot of the richness of our music. Sometime back director of MTV had said that MTV westernized the music wherever it went but in India , MTV had to be Indianized for it to be accepted. A lot of this credit goes to the Indian film music.
I have been fortunate to have close personal association with Rafi, Sirkali, TMS, Dr. BMK, Kishore, SPB & KJY, PS, Mannadey and the one and only Lata Mangeshkar.
Comparisons are bound to come, but almost every artist or I have met considers Lata to be beyond comparison. Her talents are beyond anyone’s reach. Even Sirkazi used to talk of her singing like a die-hard fan as do countless others.
Now coming to the Rafi-SPB discussion. It might be difficult to convince an South Indian to believe Rafi is the better and at the same time Rafi crowd will never believe any other male singer comes anywhere nearer. There is one more mobile crowd, which is well conversant with Hindi and some south Indian language. Majority of them tilt to either Rafi or Kishore.
During one of my stays in M’as I had stayed with SPB. While talking of true voices he said, I don’t feel like half a singer when listening to Rafi. True voice is not a tech term but many in circle use it. Perfect example would be lata, but to understand consider our own PS who within her range is superb. People who do not have such true voices can never do justice to original. They generally underplay many parts of the song or fake it with bass/superficial singing. True voices make people like Sirkazi, Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, Lata… Inimitable. However since Sirkazi and Nusrat did not have the filmy voices their “real” following is limited to their local arena.
In addition to the true voice if the singer has a very good voice then in “most” cases he/she can better songs of others. It is this combination which makes Rafi stand out among the other male singers. There are many here who seem to have mistaken notions on a good bass and also on high pitch.
Bryan Adams does not require a monster bass in “Summer of 69” to sound real manly. It is the punch which gives that feel and that is decided only by the comfort level in most ranges (that is by what your throat can support). This you CAN never disguise with bass. Since people have talked about lack of manly voice viz. a viz. Rafi it was necessary to bring this point out. I have had the fortune of listening to most singers in studio and some times without a mike, practicing with MD’s.When Lata or Rafi do, the level is so high that people hesitate to even hum. It felt silly to sing in their presence (and it feels silly when someone says his voice isn’t manly).
In RD’s tribute when SPB sang “Aaja Aaja mein hoon” or “Chaand mera dil” it sounded only sweet and lacked punch if you compare with Rafi’s original.
Yesu once told me God has been partial to Rafi. He said “god gift term anavasyamaa romba common aa ippo use aardu”.. but idu Rafi kee thaan 100% porundu”. This person could sing “as intricately as a lady without sounding thin”, “cover any mood”, “versatility odey perfect example Rafi”. Yesu said most important is the comfort level over ranges which makes you feel God has been partial to Rafi. (But Of course in Rafi’s early career (1950’s) the voice was relatively feeble).
To people exposed to Rafi’s talent, these or any amount of praise can only seem less. I just wish he was alive and you people could get a live chance to hear him. Probably you can get hold of the DD album for the Geet Gaata Chal series where the first four episodes were dedicated to Rafi. Rafi is on camera singing “O Duniya Ke Rakwaaley” and many other songs. If you see and hear the last part you will realize why SPB said “impossible”. I think particularly those people who have talked about scales w.r.t Rafi should see this album. Its a known fact in industry that Rafi ruled high pitch and there is no male singer better in switching notes so easily. There are artists who can go beyond but then they sound strained or they don’t have pleasant voices when they venture into those territories.
Many singers of today are his compulsive followers. But they end up inheriting only part of his quality. Md. Aziz ended up with a sad voice. Mahendra Kapoor with a thick nasal voice. Anwar with a nasal voice. Sonu Nigam with a feminine voice. Rafi neither had a soft voice nor a heavy (bass) voice he had a good voice. Importantly did not strain at high notes, and voice if at all only became better at higher notes. If you see him singing it will remind you of Janaki. However diff the song is or the note is he will be smiling and singing. It is unthinkable that he cannot sing something.
There seems to be lot of talk about “Shankara Bharanamo” song. SPB has sung many a great numbers and things being said about this song in this forum are rather amusing, particularly b’cos 3 out of 4 people who can be called as singers will be able sing it and at least one out of 10 will sing it with the same effect. There are lot of other songs of SPB where this great singer has played with songs in total control. You will find most south Indian singers who have had a good exposure say that it is beneficial to learn Hindustani as it gives better breath control and improves expression.
Rafi was not only able to glide over a song, the important thing was that he could express each word/sound when singing. It is one thing to hold your breath, start and reach a crescendo (high note), as like in “Shankara”, “Anbey (Yennai kaan villaye)” it is different ballgame if you have to do it from low notes or suddenly switch notes. With practice the former can be done, latter requires a special gift. Rafi had a natural ability to do the latter. In “Tum joh mil gaye ho” there is such a transition in the “karwaan mil gaya” part. I have never seen anyone do justice to most of his songs in my life time. In “parda hai parda” quawaali the similar part is “kar doon to, Akbar mera naam”. In fact most of his songs will have these specialty as it was his natural ability to sing freely in a wide range at the same time giving that extra expression.
Whereas SPB takes us to heavens with “Idu oru pon maali”,”Ilaya nila” “bisiladarenu”(kannada), when he sings Rafi’s song it lacks the punch or expression, though it has the bass. But at least most agree that SPB does some justice to original, whereas most others murder the original.
One trivial point I would like to add is that singing in Hindi is harder. There are more “JHA”,”CHA”,”HA”,”THA”, “KHA”,”JA”,”FA”. These take away the breath faster. The more expressive you are the more air you are using up. Just singing from Nabhi will not help, your throat also needs to do a lot, for singing in Hindi, Bengali etc. SPB makes you fall in love with his south Indian songs but same cannot be said about his Hindi songs. If you just glide through words having these sounds, you will never be expressive. Doing this as well as reaching high notes is not easy. Rafi had this gift and that’s why it is difficult to imagine anyone else in his shoes. Song “Chalkaaye jaam” has so much expression that it is unthinkable how anyone can sing it. When Rafi switches to a high note with “Mitwaa” in the song “Chaahunga mein tughey” you cannot replicate it with bass. Most others will sound as if they are shouting in such cases. That man’s throat had the ability to freely sing at such levels.
Versatility is not just the ability to sing in various styles, more important is how good you are singing in those styles. You have lot of Ghazal singers today but when Rafi sings a Ghazal you will sit up and take notice. You don’t have to be part of the Ghazal listeners crowd. This is one important aspect. Whatever style you sing you should be able to pull the common man to listen and not just a particular crowd. Pick “parda hai parda” or any qawalli and it will stand tall among other qawalli’s.
Variety is amazing :
songs of Guru Dutt’s Khagaz key phool or songs like abhi naa jao chod key, Aaja teri yaad aayi, Aaj kal mein dhal gaya, Aaj kal terey merey pyaar, Aasmaan sey aaya farishta, Dil ney pyaar kiya hai, Deewana mujh saa nahi, Din dhal jaaye, Duniya paagal hai, Jaane walon jara, Dil joh na kaha saka, Dil key jharokon mein, Dil kaa bhavar, Chalkey teri aakkhon sey, Kar chaley hum fida, khilona jaan kar tum, Woh jab yaad aay, Woh hain jara khafa, Vaadian mera daaman, Pathar key sanam, Chaand mera dil, Main zindagi kaa saath, Mainey poocha chaand sey, sun sun jaalima, Koi jab raah na paay, hum to chaley pardes, badan pey sitaarey, laal chadi maidaan, Tum jo mil gaye, O meri shaahey, Sau baar janam lengey, Tum mujhey yoon bhula, Tumney mujhey dekha, Terey merey sapney, Tumny pukaara hum chaley aay
Name a situation/mood and Rafi’s song will be there on the top.
Swami
Post 2397
Ramesh ji,
Nice to read your excellent post. Mention of my name in the post (in the context of maintaining the decorum and decency in the forum) was somewhat flattering. I don’t know if I deserve those kudos. Only thing I would say that I have always tried to maintain respectability levels but sometimes have lost patience with a handful of anti-Rafi bigots of neighboring site. Because expressing one’s preference in a decent way for any other singer is one thing but using terminologies like ‘ordinary singer’, ‘pedestrian rendering (for Kuhu kuhu bole loyaliya…’) etc. for Rafi saab can not ensure continuance of civility from my side. But anyway… won’t write more on it…. as the same has been written a couple of times in my posts.
But there has been one occasion when I had faltered, wrote something ‘not too decent’ for Salil Chowdhary… had written in the spur of the moment when I read that he had equated Rafi’s’s singing to some sort of gimmickry. Actually Salil da had said it in a different context. I still regret my reaction.
Thanks again.
-J.K. Bhagchandani
Dear Music lovers,
The legend Pandit Bhimsen joshi is no more – May god bless his soul.
One of the most accomplished hindusthani vocalists – He was the contemporary of his great carnatic counterpart – M Balamuralikrishna.
Musharraf ji – post 2396
Very sorry for the delayed response, really sorry. I saw the post in the other site – I am a small man, that’s all – thanks a lot for your appreciations. There are some nice people there.
I just wanted to present a article on Ustad bade gulam ali khan for your reading – he was the guru of mohd rafi saheb. Here is the link.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2003/03/02/stories/2003030200330500.htm
Ghantasala was well associated with khan sahab, you can know from the article. In fact, I was given to understood, that ghantasala learnt hindusthani music tips from bade gulam ali khan, when khan sahab stayed in ghantasala’s residence.
my dearest rafi bhakton,
normally an individual writes in the public forum ( like this one ) to be appreciated and also know the views of others.
1) this webiste is dedicated to our avataar late shri.mohd rafi sahab.
2) as far as possible the subject discussed should be directly related to rafi sahab
3) decency and decorum should be maintained at all times with regard to the spoken/written word which is observed to have lost its way quite often.
4) legends are legends – me and you cannot change that. writing about their personal/professional lives in all forms of negativity as if we knew them like the back of our hand has become the order of the day. all the legends have given us treasure troves enough to last till eternity.
5) the moderator / adminstrator is an extremely fine gentleman who is withstanding the test of time – remaining rock solid and is yet to issue a huge notice – which would not be in favour of some of us who are all out to simply create nuissance in the website.
as it has been observed very often two names come to my mind ( there could be many more ) who always have had the presence of mind and tgried very often to say in general to tone down and maintain respectabilitry levels while writing and not be too personal etc.
J.K.BHAGCHANDANI and H.A.K.WALIJAH
there may be many good people whom i have not mentioned – but – you all know that they are all great bhakts of rafi sahab and those who write badly are not.
scoring 10,000 in this thread or even more would be a proud feeling for all of us as music and rafi bhakts, but doing so at the cost of slander, mud slinging and garbage is not worthy.
my sincere PRAYER to all who have added to a lot of negativity in this thread to refrain from doing so as otherwise all of us will be doing a great diservice to the two departerd souls
RAFI SAHAB AND SWAMINATHA IYER SAHAB
once again i pray with folded hands lets stop insulting these above noble souls and lead a life as shown by them.
i have written so much with malice towards none and out of sheer love and respect of rafi sahab and nothing else.
please do not misunderstand, misconstrue, misrread or misinterpret what i have said.
i am only trying to help and bring in some order and along with it peace.
ramesh narain kurpad
rafiaarenkay@gmail.com
Dear Vitthalji,
Please see post 2026 of Kishorefanji and 2028 of myself in the site An endless feud between fans of Mohammed rafi and Kishorekumar.
Regards
Thanks Vitthalji.
This is one of my favorite songs of Rafi. Rafi Saab got an award on account of this song. At the beginning of this movie “Sasural” there is a sweet duet sung by Rafi and Lata “Ek sawal main karoon, ek sawal tum karo”.
Regards
Musharaff ji
Watch out this song of Mohd. rafi ji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbReJSt056U
Dear Raghavanji. Post-2377.
I am in complete agreement with you that the classical music is the purest and the highest level of music and definitely superior to filmy music. As you have narrated it is a fact that playback singers would not be able to perform pure classical renditions performed by classical experts whereas it may be vice versa.Pure classical singers too are not much interested in rendering their voice in the filmy world since they may consider it inferior as you have correctly pointed out. And it is also a fact that it does not require classically versatile singers to sing filmy songs. Rafi, Saigal, manna Dey, Lata and Kishore were not classical singers but all of them had in varying degrees some classical training which enabled them to sing filmy songs quite successfully.So Bollywood did not require presence of pure classical singers on a regular basis. However, Bollywood Music Directors used to utilize the voice of classical pandits for rendering pure classical numbers in the films as and when required. For example ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali was called to sing a “Thumri” in the film “Mughal-e-Azam”, “Jogan ban Jaye”. In the classical duet that took place in the last scene of “Baiju Bawra”, Ustaad Aamir Khan and probably “Usttad Bhimsen josi”(I may be wrong”) was asked to render that song. Also the pure classical number”Jhank jhanak payel baje” of the film “Jhanak Jhanak payel baje” was sang by a pure classical singer the name of whom I do not know.
However in conclusion I am in agreement with you that classical music is the mother of all music of which India can be definitely proud.
Regards.
Dear Vitthal ji,
Thank you very much for your admiration.
Dear Vitthal ji, Dear Rahul dixit ji, Dear Musharaff ji
I think in rediff it is a politically motivated article by a critic on rafi – it is clear he has deliberately concentrated more on some negative points than on many positive points. That itself confirms the intention behind such article. Anyhow, nothing is going to happen by virtue of such article as “facts” cannot be changed. There is no harm to fame or popularity of rafi ji, – the saying goes, it is natural for flies to roam around a light – they are naturally attracted towards the light, they can only roam there but cannot come near the light. Anyhow, one need not worry much, as I sincerely hope rafi fans like you are quite capable of putting the things in the right perspective. Good wishes.
regards
chandra sekhar
Vitthal Ji & Musharraf Ji–thanks for your appreciation for post #2385. I posted it only because I found it very ironic that the MD himself Khayyam gave such hugely glowing remarks to Rafi for Jaane Kya song. If the MD himself was so pleased with Rafi, who really is Raju to put Rafi down for the same song, and allege that Rafi needed 21 songs and all that? There is clearly some malice behind Raju’s article in Rediff. Some people are certainly jealous of the stature that Rafi enjoys as arguably the greatest Bollywood singer.
Binu Nair sir — since you have a place of influence as the leader of this Rafi association, could you please approach Rediff/Raju, and send them the direct quote from Khayyam on the Jaane Kya Dhoondti song? They really need to know the facts before publishing these kinds of unconfirmed & baseless stories about all-time legends like Rafi Saheb.
Yesu Das sir speaking about Rafi sahab (in his native tongue):
He calls Rafi sahab his ‘manasik guru’. He says he owes his success to his following of Rafi sahab’s footsteps. He also speaks about Rafi sahab’s philanthropic nature and fondly remembers the rehearsal he had with Rafi sahab for a Ravindra Jain song. His entire family idolise Rafi sahab and it’s the memories and the blessings of Rafi sahab that sustain them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQzEFsIzp7A
Dr.Chandrashekharji,
Thank you very much for your kind remarks. I think that the genuine and objective remarks that have been manifested in your post shall no doubt add to the richness of our perception and knowledge. Hope we shall enjoy more from you in the days ahead.
Regards
Vitthalji, welcome back to the site. I always liked your posts and your way of approach although we had difference of opinion for obvious reasons.
Rahulji, great post. After reading the unforgettable Rafi I could not resist myself to listen to my favorite. So I went to my video archive and started to listen to one of my most favorite numbers of Rafi “Main nigahen tere chehre se hataun kayse” from the film “Aap ki parchhaiyan”. Rafi was singing for Dharmendra. Just feel the amount of emotion and romance that Rafi rendered through his magical voice in this song specially when he says”Touba touba woh nasha hai ke basaun kayse”.
This song and many others of Mohammed Rafi will never get old no matter how long the passage of time continue to go ahead. They will always bliss upon us in all our situations, merry or sad,together or in solitude.
Regards.
Dear Musharaff ji, -2384
Thanks a lot for your kind and genuine remarks. A music lover like me, having equal respect and liking for both rafi and ghantasala was just not able to tolerate some of the firings that were taking place, so just wanted to pen a post hoping for putting up a correct perspective. I am happy you liked the post and thanks for the response (thanks also for your earlier posts in this forum – they were very nice to read). I really appreciate your genuine love for music as well as your analysis of music.
Regards
Chandrasekhar
Dear all nice friends and music lovers, Musharaff ji and all others with a mention to Dr. Chandrasekhar ji & Rahul dixit ji here,
Thanks a lot for your wonderful posts. These were the posts music lovers always look to – the posts are like the soulful and blissful renditions of great legends.
Rahul dixit ji, – great post, that was correct – many such incidents can be found in the great rafi ji’s life. The general tendency of critics is that at a faster pace they catch the negative points and conveniently avoid positive points. This is what exactly happened.
Well, on the comments of very very very (3 music directors ?) few great music directors (with due respect to them) as compared to some of the other great/very great music directors from the golden era of hindi playback singing, there were positive points also from the great 3 music directors as well. The telugu songs by rafi sahab in 1979, were music directed by C ramachandra in akbar salim anarkali film, this event was in the late life period of rafi ji. The preference for rafi by C Ramachandra may be clearly noted even in late career period of rafi ji. R D Burman ji, despite his preferring kishore kumar in some movies, had a great respect for rafi ji – even around the era of aradhana, that was a fact. Coming to salil chowdhury ji, yes, his approach was different and as the situation prevailed, no other singer, except rafi, could have fulfilled his requirements, (might be not according to his satisfaction as he mentions) and among the available singers no other singer could have bettered his renditions except rafi. And numerous songs of rafi and salil prove that. And salil ji himself has not been able to prove otherwise on the songs of rafi in his music direction. That confirms rafi’s greatness in the songs in the music director of salil ji as well.
Good Rahul dixit ji – you had mentioned a great example in 2385
Musharaff ji, – on the posts of Dr. Chandrasekhar and Rahul dixit ji, I would like to share a similar incident for ghantasala (as rahul dixit ji stated for rafi) – in 1972, a song was recorded by ghantasala when he had a very difficult cough, breathing became difficult, he sang the song only once and went away, unable to sing further. The producer of the film subsequently made SPB to sing the song hoping for a better rendition with some numerous takes. At the end, the producer said, the song sung only once by ghantasala even in poor health is simply perfect and cannot be bettered by any one else and retained the song in the film. Dear Musharraff ji, just I wanted to share this example as a continuation of Dr. Chandrasekhar ji’s post and Rahul dixit ji’s example on rafi ji – that was the greatness of the exemplary legends – irreplaceable as Dr. Chandrasekhar ji quotes – great post Dr. ji..
Rafi had to sing the Jaane Kya Dhoondti song running a high fever, yet Raju Bharatan doesn’t mention this fact, and doesn’t provide any direct quotes. One wonders why Raju is motivated to write malicious and uncorroborated/unconfirmed things about the greatest Bollywood singer of all.
However, here is a direct quote from Khayyam, the MD of this song. This is directly from a recent Times of India article:
Music director Khayyam recalls that during the recording of Jaane kya dhoondti hain (film: Shola Aur Shabnam,1961),Rafi was running a 102-degree fever.”But he was worried about the producer’s losses and we went ahead with the recording.Despite the fever,nobody could have sung the number any better.”
Read more of this article: The unforgettable Rafi – The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/news-and-interviews/The-unforgettable-Rafi/articleshow/6209646.cms#ixzz17sJZb9gM
Dear friends,
I think after the very precise and analytical posts of Mr. Alok and Dr.Chandrashekhar respectively there is hardly any scope of further debate. Both Rafi and Ghantasala were legendary singers unique in their respective areas.
We enjoy the artistry of both the singers. So long music will exist, the renditions of these great legends will exist too to fulfill the hearts of the music lovers.
Regards
Mr. Ramesh Narain Kurpad ji, – 2378 and Mr. Alok -2382
A good message in your post. It would have been nice if the discussion was on pure healthy musical lines rather getting into personal conflicts. I agree with your message, rafi was rafi and ghantasala was ghantasala – two different unique poles.
Mr. Binu Nair ji, -2365
Sorry, A post certainly not expected from a respected leader of a reputed body like the rafi foundation. 9400 tributes world wide is certainly great – and sure should be world record. Music lovers, like me, are certainly very happy with such events and never any doubts about the popularity and fame factor of rafi ji and the rememberance of his numerous blissful and soulful songs. Sir, rafi is definitely more popular and famous than all other playback singers (to some extent kishore kumar also should get some credit) due to his larger reach among people, due to his unique shining sheen in the hindi cinema, which has its roots in the national language factor – a clean edge to have a wider reach among a large populace. Never any doubts about the greatness factor of rafi. As Mr. Alok says, rafi ji stands the best ever admired singer in the hindi industry. No doubt about that and nothing can change the fact. And on absolute equal terms, in Andhra, ghantasala too remains equally popular among millions of Andhras. Numerous programmes across Andhra on his birth/death anniversaries stand testimony to that. The all india radio and doordarshan play his songs for hours with special interviews on those days (apart from regular programmes every day). Last year there was a 51 day continuous 24 hour concert in Andhra on his anniversary (this should also be a world record). This should be a sufficient evidence of the popularity factor of ghantasala, which is equally great, and the also the respective greatness factor, if studied on respective ratios of their areas (both the legends). I am not aware of any other playback singer (save rafi & ghantasala) enjoying such kind of appeal after 3 decades of their demise. You had asked, how many people remember ghantasala ji, I think the above should be a point to be noted in this regard. You had mentioned saigal ji has more followers, I disagree with that. To my knowledge, except rafi being the foremost due to the reasons stated above, and also kishore kumar to some extent, no other playback singer has a following similar to ghantasala (after 37 years of his passing away) among millions. One of the glaring example, is the private album of ghantasala – the Bhagavad gita, considered as a incomparable classic rendition by all music stalwarts, is played continuously in many temples (including the famed tirupathi temple) every day. In my view, Saigal ji or any other one has no such following. I agree with ramesh ji, both rafi and ghantasala were two great legends gifted by god, each great on absolute terms depending upon their respective scales – irreplaceable. If anybody wish to measure the greatness of scales, it will be a difficult question for a layman. As you say, yes, no body can come close to rafi, yes, and on absolute equal terms no body can come close to ghantasala as well – absolutely no doubt about it. They were two incomparable and irreplaceable stars in their respective industries. It is a fact that no body can dare to compare any singer with the great rafi and nobody has done that as rafi’s greatness and peerlessness cannot be compensated, but it is also a fact to note that why ghantasala was mentioned in numerous posts – how come ghantasala fans dared to bring him in discussion with rafi (I agree with Mr. Alok that it is not fair to bring a legend of his calibere into comparison). That itself confirms the following and greatness factor for ghantasala as well, on absolute equal terms (again on the ratio of respective scales). Since on absolute terms, ghantasala was so unique and special, he alone was mentioned along with the unique rafi. Moreover, the discussions on some hundreds of posts here stand testimony to that. Otherwise, who else can survive (save ghantasala alone) the wave of a singer as great as rafi. Long back the discussion would have been terminated. However, I strictly think that there is no link between popularity/fame factor with the talents and skills of the legends, which have been proved to their millions of followers – the gems, blissful and soulful renditions rolled out by them continue to inspire millions even after decades of their passing away. That itself confirms their greatness. Only point is a better understanding of the telugu language would have created a clean edge for hindi lovers of music to understand the incomparable greatness of ghantasala and his unique talent more (many rafians have loved and recognized his talent greatly, I am aware of that). I think rafi fans will clearly understand and agree with me that equation wise the love of respective fans of both the legends stands equal in absolute terms and in terms of their greatness. So piercing is the love of rafi fans towards rafi and equally piercing is the admiration of ghantasala fans towards ghantasala. As the wiki encyclopaedia mentions about the “greatness of rafi ji’s voice” – on similar equal terms it mentions the voice of ghantasala “as gifted with the most majestic voice”. No doubt about that.
Regards
Chandra Sekhar
Hello,
Referring to the article in rediff mail recently on the comments of music directors such as salil chowdhury, pancham, C Ramachandra etc. i personally opine that might be rafi sahab has taken a number of takes for some songs in which he wanted to have a greater perfection and also the music director wanted to have a greater outlook for the particular rendition. this does not however lead to conclusion that rafi was a singer who always used to take number of rehearsals for songs. A singer of rafi calibre could sing many songs very easily. The technically indepth songs, sure, rafi might have taken some extra takes for putting up a more perfection. Rafi sahab remains one of the best legends the playback singing industry has ever produced in India and undoubtedly the most admired singer in the hindi film industry – never any doubt about it. And coming to views of music directors such as salil chowdhury, pancham etc. they might be some isolated comments specificallly in reference to some of such renditions as mentioned above and hence cannot be generalised in my view.
Well, some guys have focussed on south – sure, singer on the calibre of ghantasala having excellent technical expertise and very good voice range might have pulled very tough compositions in a single take – that is great. No body can dispute the greatness of a singer on the range of ghantasala who was incidentally an established music director as well. I think it is not fair to compare a singer of the calibre of ghantasala with any other legend, sure he was a telugu playback monarch, undisputed, and moreover was from the highly talented classical herd group – His approach & equation towards a composition hence, will be certainly different. Hence, he is going to have a sure edge in many areas – never any doubts. I sincerely hope fans of ghantasala will note this point.
Sorry, anil Cherian Ji – post 2295 of yours I mean in my previous post, an error in posting.
Dear Ramesh Narain Kurpad ji,
Your points are well taken. There was no wrong intention on my part. Just I was making a point on Sri Haldar ji’s views regarding rafi ji’s popularity in south and not with a intention to show north in a dim light please. I hope you understand what I mean.
Ramesh ji, please refer post 2208 by Mr. Viswanathan for your further queries in your post 2379 – I am extremely sorry to state that as I understand from the post 2208, Mr Swaminathan Iyer is no more.
2205 By Mr. Anil Cherian – I loved your post, thanks for it. Few funny posts like you referred to in your post will be there at times, nothing to bother about them. Thanks again for such post.
adaab rafi bhakton,
i have great regard and even greater respect for Mr.Swaminatha Iyer and his article is a flawless marvel showcasing MUSIC in its most divine form.
he and his views are apt and true like the ” true voice ” but some of the comments / opinions generating and being voiced could have found place elsewhere and not in this thread.
i wish mr.swaminatha iyer – makes a statement – and puts things back in the right perspective, putting all minds to rest and usher in peace and a semblance of order.
i remain – with very high regards to Swaminatha Iyer Sahab,
ramesh narain kurpad.
rafiaarenkay@gmail.com
rameshkurpad@gmail.com
adaab rafi bhakton,
oops this thread has reached a score of 2377 which includes raghavanji replying to haldarji ( 2377 ).
music being discussed and thrashed out threadbare as it were ??????????
am i right – the great south and the not so great north
some names like rafi sahab, ghantasala and other legends are freely tossed around and discussed in gay abandon – nice to see that.
raghavanji has opinionated as ” JUDGE and JURY ” – open and shut.
i can write a few pages and join in – but – i feel none are qualified to pass statements about legends who gave us so much so loosely.
binuji, aap bhee inkey njhaansey mein aagayaa. mai soch rahaa thaa yah kaunsaa topic hai joh kee 2377 – pentqangular cricket style score of two teams playing ” play to finish ” for days together like in the 1930’s –
dekhaa toh yahaan bhee ” KK ” camp jaisaa baatein horahee hai. !!!!!!!!!!
rafi sahab is rafi sahab and ghantasaalaa is ghantasaalaa.
they are legends and they have given us treasure troves for generations to feast on
why are we decimating – like ” deaf – defiant – deliberate ” and proving nothing – as these legends still remain the same.
ultimastely what has the score of 2377 achieved in so far as agreeing with someone if they tow your line and disagree if they differ.
beats me – binuji. – aapbhee aisee debate mein vyarth apnaa amulyaa waqt barbaad karr rahein hain.
this is just my opinion.
by the way i was just evasdropping to see how you all achieved to score 2377 and i have no doubts at this rate ten thousand is not far away and
rafi sahab and ghantasaalaa will neither increase or descrease in size.
QED ( we used to write this after solving a rider based on a theorem in geometry )
ramesh narain kurpad
2342 – Haldar ji
Yes, rafi is more popular in the south than in the north – correct observation. The south has more liking for music as compared to north both in terms of exemplary talents as well as musical knowledge, that is why rafi is admired in all the southern states as well. Even in many programmes, rafi’s names crops up – absolutely true, but i feel the respect of the southern people towards music and music legends should not be grossly mistaken as creating a kingly wave for rafi. Not only programmmes on film playback singing, even classical concerts have got a very great importance in the south as compared to the north. Many accomplished musical families in the south, are such that music continues as a hereditary gift. Children are taught music from age as good as 4-6 years. Such is the love for music and certainly when people with such musical taste are rolled out, it is natural for them to give their respects to various musical legends. So in that line, rafi is definitely remembered on musical lines by many (in playback singing area of hindi films only ) and specially when the topic is on filmy playback singing, not classical concerts, which is totally a exemplay area and which of course is the mother of playback singing. Reputed classical musicians do not care much about filmy playback singers, as many of them regard classical music as the purest form of music and playback singing is considered inferior when compared to classical music in its highest form. One can clearly note SPB and other playback legends just keeping their mouth shut when reputed classical musicians come as judges for filmy playback song programmes. SPB and other playback singers just know what those classical musicians are : those musicians can easily play with playback singing on musical lines, but not vice versa. Of course, SPB etc. give a lot of advise to various singers in programmes, when these classical musicians are not present as judges – see the difference. That is one of the reasons why ghantasala continues to win admiration even among classical musicians (apart from playback singers equally) in such programmes, because he was a part & parcel of the pure classical musicians group as well. Certainly when filmy songs discussions crop up with regard to hindi songs, – SPB puts up some hindi songs also to be sung by singers in his various programmes – rafi ji’s name definitely crops up. So, as a whole the essence is rafi definitely stands popular in the south than more in the north – mainly due to the large music sense prevailing in the south among various people as compared to north. And I am also of the view that perhaps if a rafi or kishore kumar or manna dey or saigal or lata were not there as filmy singers, virtually music in north would not have reached heights of popularity as is so. the conclusion is that the musical wave in the south is more dictated in equal terms and recognised by way of playback singing and classical singing whereas in the north it generally is recognised to a large extent by playback singing only (though there are reputed hindusthani classical musicians in the north). This is the main reason for rafi to be popular in the south than in the north.
Hi,
Hi,
Appears to be lot of funny dudes here, discussing about people who left more than 30 years back. Good, some golden melodies have been rolled in those days, agreed, but please learn to appreciate current trend of music as well. Even current singers, are very talented. These days one can find even people with very lesser age singing songs exceptionally well. what does that imply ? The musical brains have improved a lot, thanks to the technology advancement.
Hi,
Mohd rafi was (not i s ) irreplaceable in mid- 50’s and upto mid 60’s, so was ghantashala in the south in his entire career, – I repeat they w e r e (not a r e ) irreplaceable in their eras, not all time. Thus, their importance is confined to that era wherein times were different. Today, even they could not have withstood the wave of various competing talents, wherein such single dominated rule for long is not possible, each film has different singers today. Moreover, the technology of making films has become such that many people never care who the singer is while listening to today’s film songs – only the song and music (thanks to technologicla advancement) are appreciated and the film becomes hit – nothing much to do about singers in today’s filmy environment. Listen to A R Rehman’s songs in southern films – it hardly matters who sings, only the music composition gets more importance. One can observe so many singers and music directors in all languages these days.
Chanced upon this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0B7J4Jrz40&feature=related
What a voice! (despite the poor quality of the clip). No doubt he was coming back to his best when he was taken away from our midst.
Here’s SPB speaking about his idol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCaPrzBYukk&feature=related
And here’s some translations:
http://groups.google.co.in/group/rec.music.indian.misc/browse_thread/thread/f3b1b4b884dce080/d337d16cd8a94545?hl=en&q=rec.music.indian.misc+rafi+spb+interview#d337d16cd8a94545
I’ve been searching for 3 mp3 song for long time, 1. bhula hua fasana humko na tha sunana 2. aaye bahar ban ki lobhakar chale gaye 3. main apne aap se ghabra gaya hoon . can anyone help me in this regard !
“this is going to be my last post. thank you and good bye to all of you.”
good riddance! i believe in tolerance and different opinions but this fella went beyond and just wanted to bicker.
This true voice article also finds place in other site, but only with few comments.
zakaas4u.multiply.com/reviews/item/11
dear music lovers,
now i request and advise all the fans of both the legends to withdraw from this site and let those so-called rafi blind fans to blow their own trumpets on rafi as usual.
binu nair – your post 2365
great post and you have written on expected lines. you can continue your lunacy further and further. all the best.
this is going to be my last post. thank you and good bye to all of you.
A request to the moderator:
Please make necessary adjustment in your software set-up so that sentences are properly punctuated. For instance, starting the sentences with capital letters or capitalizing the proper nouns. It will make the reading so much easier. Your sister site has it.
Thank you.
RE: POst 2362
“if i say that kishore kumar is the best in hindi films it does not mean other singers like rafi are inferior.”
Yes – it certainly does. Unless we are redefining the word “best”! When we say something (someone) is the best. It means that it (he) is better than everything (everyone) else. Wiith the above statement one is saying that kk is better than rafi, lata, manna, mukesh, sehgal and everyone else who has done the background singing in hindi film.
Some other statements in the post are also full of holes in their logic.
Dear friends,
Today I want to share with you my exclusive personal experience that I had in ” Rafi Mansion” in Bandra, Mumbai in October 2008. I don’t recall the exact date but it was immediately after the Eid-ul-Azha Festival I visited Mumbai with my wife. My main goal was to visit Rafi saab’s house and to meet his sons and daughters who were available. It is indeed a tragedy that I did not have an opportunity to see my idol during his lifetime. When Rafi saab passed away in 1980 I was in Germany studying in the university of Muenster. The news of his death reached me much later.
However in one afternoon we left Dhaka by Air-India Express and landed in Mumbai shortly after dusk. We took a taxi and went straight to our hotel which was not very far from Mumbai Central Station. The next day we took a train from Mumbai central and got down in Bandra. It may be mentioned that it was our first visit to Mumbai. On our arrival in Bandra we found lot of Green colored auto- rickshaws standing outside the station. We had collected the address of Rafi Mansion before we started for Mumbai but we had problems in identifying the house because the drivers could not find the house on the basis of house number and road number. Finding no alternative I rang up, from a pco-booth, Binu Nairji, president of Rafi foundation, whose cell number I had collected from website. Binuji was extremely helpful and told me that the house was located near the hotel Tava. I thanked Binuji and hung up and this time the driver had no problem taking us to our destination. My sincere apologies to Binu NairjiI because I could not meet him before coming back to Dhaka due to time constraints but I look forward to see him.
Rafi Mansion is a multi-storied building which was previously a single storied ban-glow during the life time of Mohammed rafi.The ground floor is now being used as masjid and the upper floors occupied by heirs of Mohammed rafi. Our first visit brought no luck to us because no one was available in the house. The caretaker told that whole family was busy in paying visits to friends and relatives due to Eid-ul-Azha. Still we waited long and then I left my card with him and told him that we would try the next day in the evening.
We were lucky the next day. Immediade on our arrival my wife and me were showed to the flat where Yasmin Rafi and her husband Parvez saab were staying. While ascending the stairs we also met a smiling Effan Rafi, the son of Yasmin Rafi, his wife and their little kid. We exchanged a few words and then we entered the flat. Parvez saab and Yasmin rafi cordially welcomed us and took us in their living room. They entertained us with tea and snacks while we talked. Yasmin rafi had resemblance of rafi saab in the appearance of her face as I observed. During our hour long conversation we came to learn a lot about rafi from them. Mohammed rafi was a hundred percent family man, very soft spoken and humble said Yasmin rafi. He gave lot of time to his family whenever he could. He played carom with them. He was a very regular man in his habits. I asked them what Rafi Saab did if he ever became angry. Yasmin Rafi answered if Mohammed rafi disapproved anything he never shouted or rebuked anyone but he remained silent. That silence conveyed the message that he did not like the matter. When asked about his favorite food they told that Rafi saab liked biriyani and coke, and Rafi saab if I recollect was also a diabetic patient.I am not a doctor but with my limited knowledge in health matters I think Rafi saab was a simple man and not very health conscious and in those days there was not much awareness among people about blood cholesterol that contributed to premature deaths due to heart attacks. At one stage of our conversation Parvez Bhai led us upstairs where there was a small museum containing memories of Mohammed rafi. I was thrilled to see the innumerable prizes, awards, crests and gifts that this greatest talent had received during his nonparallel career. That included the “Padmasri” that Mohammed rafi received signed by the head of the state although I strongly believe that Mohammed Rafi deserved no less than “Bharat Ratna”.
Standing in the museum I suddenly had the feeling that Rafi saab was everywhere around me and was watching me with his loving eyes. I can not express the intensity of my feelings but that was one of the greatest moments of my life that I remember.
Thereafter, we bade farewell to Parvez Bhai and yasmin Rafi after thanking them for the time and trouble they took for us. While coming back from Rafi Mansion the the lines of the legendary song of Mohammed rafi was ringing in my ears: ” Ek din padega jana
Kya waqt kya zamana
Jayenge ham akele
Yeh zindaki ke mele
Duniyan me kam na honge
Afsos ham na honge”
Regards.
mr murthy : 2010 , post 2362….
i think the world regards mohd rafi as the best singer on the indian scene. mohd rafi believed that “god” has given him the voice and the power by which he delivered in his songs.
innumerable persons believe it to be true.
even after thirty years, in any channel or any assembly u would find that mohd rafi is eugolised. mohd rafi songs are fresh as the morning dew and no singer has come anywhere near the legendary singer.
there were 9400 tribute programmes in the month of july 2010 which should be a world record, murthy ji. dont get jealous by this huge volume of respect mohd rafi commands. its difficult, i understand to be otherwise – for you.
how many people remember ghantasala ji ? he was a vidwaan. never any doubts. but sorry to say that saighal saab could have more followers than your favourite singer .
please do not drag ghantasala’s name whom we respect, over here and make a “big fool” of yourself mr murthy ji….
dont also become the frogs of the telangana pond . i say this since mohd rafi saab has a big, big – reach in every state and across every border. no other singer wil ever come anywhere near mohd rafi and the blind fans of ghantasala must not pollute waters herein.
i reiterate again – that these blind men must lock themselves up with their favourites cds, collections, in closed rooms and listen to their favourite singer – therein without disturbing other music lovers.
and they must never carry a “radio” or the outdated transistor to their music sessions – since all the radio stations mainly play mohd rafi songs even today – innumerable times – through days and nights.
mr comparator,
did you mean you want to submit a photo to this website? i believe you can mail it to legend@mohdrafi.com
To all the telenga frogs of Andhra well
This is a site of the rafians for the rafians by the rafians
Not meant for the telenga ruffians; neither a forum to decide the greatest singing talent of this country. That place is reserved for Rafi sahib only. Will some body please tell the telenga joker that we do not care whether he is a retired IAS or current army chief. All are here equal and dwarf before the great legend. More over he is yet to disclose his motive behind his ‘revelation of truth’ or the source other than his over heated imagination. May be the old retired scum is getting Alzheimer’s and he needs our pity.
Sir, I want to place a photo of the programme “Biswajeet’s tribute to Mohammad Rafi” will someone please guide me?
dear music lovers,
i am really thrilled and amused at the helplessness, desperation and reaction of those so-called rafi blind fans who have finally resorted to hard language against me and others after finding no more substance in their arguments to counter mine and the like. if they choose to lose their humility, temper and cool and react that way to fans like me, then let them continue with that and i have no problem. so far in my posts on this site, i have drawn comparison between the singing talents of rafi and ghantasala and i have expressed my points as to who sings better and how and once again i declare that i have been a fan of both the legends for the last four decades and i enjoy immensely their songs. my views have been well supported by some musicians also who posted their comments on this site. when we are fond of various film singers it is quite natural that we try to assess who sings better and whose voice is more musical to our ears and we express our opinion accordingly. there is nothing wrong with that. if i say that kishore kumar is the best in hindi films it does not mean other singers like rafi are inferior. for instance, if lata mangeshkar was awarded bharat ratna, does it mean that other female singers are inferior and they donot deserve? certainly not. this is what those so-called rafi blind fans have not understood.
binu nair – your post 2357
i am sorry i am not able to find a suitable word in dictionary to precisely describe the state of your mind. you better understand that as long as you fail to imprison the mindsets of fans like me and others who do not support your views on rafi, it is no use for you to put all of us under a locked room. still if you want to do that we are ready but please do not forget to provide us a computer system so that we all will be able to post our views on this site as usual. all the best. regards.
i speak only for me. i have not heard ghantasala fans insult rafi. so i don’t take offense. if they feel ghantasala is better – that’s different – i don’t consider that an insult. i know rafi is the greatest. when i thought someone was discreding rafi i expressed my strong disagreement. i personally don’t support the use of “telengana”. i have never heard that term before but i assume it’s something someone may take personally. that’s not my intent. this website is great because it has a lot of people…people with different viewpoints. as a rafi fan i am very proud and confident in my idol. no one can shake away that pride and happiness. the last thing i want to say is that though is the rafi site, i welcome different opinions and different fans. of course, these are only my thoughts. i don’t care for any authority to them. we have these discussions because it brings out different ideas and viewpoints. however, the ultimate goal is to be happy and have fun..not to get in bitter feuds. happy listening! 🙂
THESE few TELANGANA RACISTS ARE GETTING BOLDER. (POST 2358).
do they dont find supporters for GHANTASALA ji in his site that they have to come to mohdrafi.com and exhibit their racists and zealous views.
haldar saab – pls give them the ‘right and fitting medicine’.
it will be welcomed by mohd rafi saab fans.
Post 2358 & Mr. lateef mohiduddin khan,
The statement of spb which is mentioned might have been repeated some hundreds of times and it is a age old statement. These days in tv programmes he equally mentions about both rafi and ghantasala, But in his paaduta teeyaga programme, he has much praise for ghantasala, might be since it is a exclusive telugu programme.
dear mr lateef mohiuddin khan,
your post 2331. so far many music lovers have posted their views about and against spb on this site and i advise you to go through them before believing and getting carried away by the comments of spb on rafi. we, the telugu people, know much better than rafi fans like you about spb. he was once one of the greatest fans of ghantasala but now he talks about and praises only rafi and conveniently avoids ghantasala. if you can read between the lines you can understand. regards.
THE GHANTASALA PHOBIA RIDDEN MR MURTHY NEEDS SOME urgent LESSONS IN ETIQUETTE ‘s .
he and his two friends ‘needs’ to be put in a locked room with his favourite singers songs for a few months.
and, his comparisons with singers must be put in the ‘jokes & entertainment secion ‘.
halder saaheb : these cronies will understand only the hard language and not the musical melodies.
Dear Haldarda,
Onek Dhonnobad apnake. I look forward to see your writings. At the moment I am in a visit to Dhaka and supposed to go back to USA on March 06, 2011. Can I have your contact number? My e-mail number is syed525musharraf@gmail.com.
In one of my oncoming posts I would like to share with you all my experience in “Rafi Mansion” in Mumbai in 2008.
Thanks for sharing with us the two incidents relating to Mohammed Rafi.
Regards
post 2354:
Musharraf saheb,
This is indeed a very moving account. Let me share with you two other anecdotes that I got to hear from a Deputy Commissioner of Police. Rafi saab had gone to a town in W. Bengal, possibly in Midnapore, just after that place was ravaged by floods. He donated the entire proceeds from that show to the people of that area. Another time, also in another W. Bengal town, the day his show was supposed to be held, the organizer’s mother passed away. He asked the organizer to postpone the show to the following day, stayed in that place for an extra day to perform for the show. That was Rofi!
Apnar baba ama’r khub’i priyo lekhok. I’ll write about him, probably around the end of the month.
Regards,
P. Haldar
Dear Friends,
I would like to share with you an interesting discovery that I came to my knowledge very recently. On the morning of 24th September I was watching from Michigan, USA, not really concentrating, news that was being broadcasted from a Bangladeshi TV channel when suddenly the News Reader conveyed the remarkable part of history. She told ” On this day 39 years back during our liberation war, the Military President General Yahya Khan Banned Mohammed Rafi’s songs in both the Pakistans(East and West) because he visited the bengali refugee camps in In India and showed sympathy towards them. On hearing the news of embargo that was made on his songs Rafi told that he was not unhappy about it since he did not believe in distinction between men on the basis of religion or cast, creed or color etc. The channel simultaneously showed a family picture of Mohammed Rafi and was broadcasting the following of the lines of the immortal song of Rafi from the film Dhul ka phool.:
” Nafrat jo sikhaye woh dharam tera nahin hai
Insaan ko jo rownde woh Qadam rea nahin hai”.
It continued til it came to the mukhda
“Tu hindu banega na miusalmaan banega
Insaan ka auwlaad ho insaan banega”.
Those few lines of the magical voice of Rafi Saab again made me spellbound as it always does when I listen to this song. But the most important thing was that it was another picture of the human Mohammed Rafi who shared the agony of the oppressed people.
Regards
2343 – Mr Comparator
“Is not it a great affront to Rafi sahib?? ”
Well, mr. comparator, I could guess you have aimed your post at me. I request you to please carefully go through the earlier post of ours. Never at any place, myself or any other person has mentioned about mohd rafi. The mention related only to the concerned ministry, awards, their opinions on the awards etc. etc. Where Mohd. rafi has been dragged in the post ? Kindly do not try to put up false facts and try to act as a rafi fan. Well, in my long career I have seen scores of people like you, who generally are not able to tolerate the success of individuals, true facts etc. Of course, that least matters, I never want to comment against you, rather i wanted to clarify the position which I think I have done it.
Dear friends,
The url for this site is mohdrafi.com, not xyz.com. There is a reason for that; this site is for discussing rafi saab, not for discussing x genre of a y song sung by a z singer. Look at the caption for the site: Rafians’ Tribute to a Maestro: Mohd Rafi. If you don’t know what the charter for this site is, ask Pradeep ji. He will tell you that the articles and posts have to have some relevance to Rafi saab. We ourselves break the rules once in a while for fun, but those should be exceptions rather than the rule. And we never write anything that shows Rafi saab in poor light, especially when it comes to his character.
Rafians feel secure in their own house. They know he is the ultimate; there’s no one who can come within miles of him. Insecure are those visitors who feel the need to come here, enjoy the hospitality and stab the host in the back. They don’t realise that they have overstayed their welcome and bore us with details of Telugu music, which has nothing to do with Rafi saab. I’m afraid this has been abetted, perhaps unwittingly, by some newly-admitted folks from the north pole-south pole club. But we understand why these outsiders visit this site; they know that this site has the maximum reach among all singers’ sites and they enjoy publishing their fantasies here.
I also used to enjoy their comedy, but things became a little unbearable at the end. Their agenda was very clear to me right from the very beginning, but I still did not react in deference to the sensitivities of some of my Telugu friends on this forum. In short, I was being politically correct. But the gloves have come off now; one more insult and they will get it back from me. If someone thinks this is mudslinging, he is wrong; I’m only playing holi with my pichkari.
I’ve read every single article that has been published in this site over the last six years and I can’t remember seeing the mention of Ghantasala even once. Frankly, Rafi’s and Ghantasala’s orbits don’t intersect. So why this sudden flurry of activity trying to showcase Ghantasala’s superiority over Rafi? It is possible that “true music lovers” want to know about both Rafi and Ghantasala. No problems: visit this site and visit Ghantasala’s site. If you’ve trouble finding Ghantasala’s site, let us know and we’ll google it for you. Incidentally, I have never been to his site; I don’t feel the need to.
Also, the “true music lovers” who want to have lofty musical discussions can do so offline. Or they can use technologies such as Facebook, chat rooms, skype, etc. I hope these experts (who often take false North Indian names) don’t bore us anymore with their in-depth knowledge; such experts are found dime a dozen in the back alleys of Kolkata. Good riddance of bad rubbish!
Some of friends, whom I call the true Rafians, may have misunderstood the intent of my earlier posts. But fortunately, the group that I targeted understood it quite well. They are an extremely cunning and devious lot.
Regards,
P. Haldar
Rafifan1 ji, I can feel a sense of belonging by reading your words. This can happen only when I can sense same divine voice of our beloved Rafi sahab in ur heart too.
NOw, the point is, does Rafi sahab is a typed singer? Can anyone in entire universe tag him only with one genre not other. Rafi sahab was embodiment of versality. Then why webiste of Rafi sahab be not a open space for singers/topics of all genre. Rafi sahab`s reach is beyond any limit,called south,west,north east,rich, poor, hindu muslim, sikh-Isai,christain parsee etc.
Even if one singer who is most popular outside India should be named It would Rafi sahab on top slot. A Man of such a range!!! So, everyone is most welcome here…no matter if they r even fan of some chorus singer. this is not my wish but wish of Rafi sahab. If it were not Rafi sahab how could he had sing with 75 music directors and had helped so many singers and other normal people. we have clear vision in shahid Rafi ji`s remembrance that how much our farista had for everyone else. This link of shahid Rafi ji talking of Rafi sahab that Rafi sahab used to praise others(not externally but internally),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRemoqT5xw&feature=related
BUT most of the time, unfortunately, the name of other singer is used to show Rafi sahab an inferior than the singer of that person choice. It is the point where we appeal to stop comparision.
For example, one article, I read on mohdrafi dot com linked by some one about mahendra kapoor ji,”The man who kept Rafi on his toes”.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/oct/01kapoor.htm
http://www.rediff.com/messageboard/comments/movies2008oct01kapoor/1
Rafi sahab would surly love if other singers r praised here
but this is not presence for their name r used to show Rafi sahab a substandard.
Can we ever appriciate such a attempt as done in this article to create difference between the follower of a genuine guru sishya(that Rafi sahab and kapoor ji was) . THese r attempts to create rivalary and difference in the language of hatred and, mean comparision.
=====================
Rafi sahab used to say, Rafi ke ghar se koi bhi khali haanth wapas nahi jaa sakta, and whatever Rafi sahab could do, he used to do to serve that person with all love. Such a shy person he was, but he used to be very happy if someone used to come his home.
Whatever a person used to ask Rafi sahab( no matter if the guest is a beggar or most glamourous film personality) Rafi sahab could never say no, and used to give service without counting . This was Rafi sahab`s hospitality towrads every guest. This website is our Rafi home, how can we ever dare to show anyone the exit window? But should we “not” react if someone come Rafi mansion only to throw stones???
While, again, in Rafi`s home every one is most welcome, this is the wish of Rafi sahab. and all the heat that has arised these days in our website is only because of some misunderstandings, plz lets not use eachothers name, we all love same master(as Rafi),
if not then same divinity in name of music!