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
Dear Friends,
I think lot of discussions have already taken place on the Rafi/Ghantasala issue. In this respect I have tried in my post 2595 to make a comparative analysis form a neutral angle although I am a die hard Rafi fan.
To be honest and fair, I don’t think there is any playback singer in the whole of India, dead or alive who can match Rafi in terms of both fame and popularity in the domain of playback singing. Rafi’s golden era during the 50s and 60s is the glorious part of the musical renaissance of Indian film music.
However as I have mentioned in post 2595, Ghantasala was a great musical personality who had multiple singing talents and was also a music director as well.He was, from the classical angle unparalleled and matchless among all the playback singers of India.
Actually the two had two different genre and approach towards songs. While Rafi confined himself within playback renditions singing all types of filmy songs without branding himself in a particular type of singer, Ghantasala’s classical approach influenced his playback singing and went beyond to sing “Bhagwat geeta shlokas” and “Padyams” on the strength of his outstanding classical background.
Now if I am to refer to the post of Mr.Hans 2672 regarding his contention of the songs “Kuhu Kuhu” and “Chal ud jare” I think we should be honest to admit that Ghantasala had the edge in the former one(Telegu version) since “Kuhu Kuhu” was basically a typical classical based songs which was mostly dominated by “Taans” and Ghantasala undoubtedly did more justice to that song by his classical expertise.
However in the case of “Chal ud ja re panchchi” I can say with conviction that Rafi excelled over Ghantasala in the Hindi version by his melodious voice. Rafi could generate more melody and pathos in the song.
This is my unbiased view to both the songs.
In the end I would like to say that although both were playback singers each had different types of approach towards singing and both sang in two different ares having different cultures.
So rather that continuing this comparison debate let us enjoy the songs of these two musical luminaries of which India can be genuinely proud of.
And let us not make any remark that undermines any one of them. Both were greats assets and treasures of not only Indian music world but this sub-continent.
Regards
Musharraf
Ghantasala is the greatest Telugu Meerasi that has ever lived, the regional singer in his region is beyond comparison, the stuffs he has renedered are awsome. Only Maratab Eisa sings better then ghantasala, in telugu language whose speciality is karnatic music, if you hear his rag darbari karnatic based song you’ll surely forget this stuff.
2687- Mr. Rathore
What is this post on KK and who is Mr. Ashwani and what connection ghantasala has to do with that (your last line) – please check – this post should perhaps find place in KK site, not here. You have wrongly posted it here.
Mr. Rama Krishna Bharti
The speed with which you have posted clearly confirms the hurry in which you have posted, without even properly reading my post. What wrong I have mentioned in that post ? If you do not want to listen to truth, just forget it then no purpose of arguing, as it will lead to nowhere, but the truth never changes.
Abhishek ji, – just saw your two posts, you are correct and thanks for the support.
contd… mr. Bharti
Mr. Vishal had not told any lies in his post, – In fact his post is decent with respect for musical legends, not biased like you. the facts mentioned therein for both rafi and ghantasala are confirmed in encycopeadia for both these singers, you can refer the wikepedia in this regard. Please do not show your bias and create a bad impression for you.
Post 2694 – Mr. R K Bharti
True, the statement is correct by Manna dey, which he had said it. But that statement is reference only to hindi playback singing, not indian playback singing – this too was said by Manna dey, you can confirm this please.
1. mUHAMMAD rAFI.
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11…. Onwards… All other singers, this was not me but veteran singer mannaday statement.
Mr. Vishal comments clearly shows his partial, biased and rather prejudiced attitude towards The Better Singer Muhammad Rafi, miles ahead of regional singer ghantasala, rather rafi is the Best.
Due to the extreme inferiority complex the fans of ghantasala is uttering false statements, fictitious stories about their singer of choice. We are telling them again and again that they should spare this great site which belongs to shri rafi sahab. If they do not have money to create a site for ghantasala we can donate money for the purpose. Such people are spitting their poison and disregard against the most noble singer of india, rafi sahab. Rafi sahab is, and will ever be ahead of all the singers brought to his comparison. Only repeating false statements again and again does not serve them any purpose and false can not become truth in this way. Rafi is No: 1 , no doubt about it.
On the 31st Death Anniversary of the Greatest Playback Singer of All-Times of India, the Singer of the Millennium, the Singing Sensation, Indeed ””””The first & last word in singing, the legendary,most melodious mesmerizing divine voiced Muhammad Rafi Sahab.
I am today again very sad that why Bhagwan has taken away this magical voice so early as rafiji died at the age of 53. Had he been still alive, I would have met him personally, took his hands in mines and kissed them, i would have asked him to sing for me just one-line with his Honey Voice. I don’t know how much love and regard, i have for him, but no praise can be any praise in order to praise rafiji.
Once when i was very small, i heard Talat Mehmood’s voice & thought that it was the voice which was sweeter than Rafiji, but as time passed and i heard more and more songs of them, especially the 3 gems where they have sung together, i realized that in fact rafi voice was indeed much more melodious and sweeter and rather flawless, i fell in love with that voice.
Rafiji Art was that he would change a mediocre or ordinary song into an extraordinary song with the expressions and voice modulations , the Rafi-magic, his greatest power.
Other people sing songs, but rafiji put his heart and soul in each of theses songs.
One example is the song chalkaye jaam where rafi sahab has rendered the word ‘jaam’ each one different from the other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXC_47SXqg
Rafi sahab had the ability to give the word in each of his song its meaning.
i was listening to the song for the first time, a duet of rafiji and surayya ‘ beqrar he koi’ and i was taken awake that except the first alaap of the song rafi sahab is taking breath in between while surayya was not. i was surprised but on analyzing all the allaps i came to know that rafiji intentinally did that. as in his alaaps there was a peculiar sweetness at the end of each alaap rendered by him as compared to the female co singer. He completed the first alaap without taking breath, this shows that it was not his shortcoming but he purposely did that in order to beautify more the very last part of the allap, this was the rafi-magic, his genius , his brilliance clearly lacking in his co-singers. The way he expressed the words in the songs were his genius and no one came near him in that regard.
He was infact the greatest playback singer of india and was peerless.
No singer has the class of rafi sahab, this is my firm believe.
Mr.Bharti – post 2687
This kind of arguments without knowing the truths is simply futile, moreso making comments without knowing fully an artist – how far it is feasible and rational ? Ghantasala was a colossus king of music in the south – unopposed in his entire life, no competition due to his sheer musical skills and great voice in terms of range, melody and strength, even after his passing away the vaccum has not been filled till today. There has been no playback singer in India who had ruled unopposed without any competition for 3 decades in any industry and until his death, save telugu/ghantasala. He is the amara gayaka of the telugu film industry – ever green even today.
Rafi was a almost similar figure in hindi cinema in the 50’s and 60’s though there were others along with him like manna dey, talat etc. but rafi had great role and opportunities which made him foremost, and the hindi film singing was never similar after rafi passed away. He is the amara gayaka of the hindi film industry – evergreen.
Both were incomparable in my view. Both were equally well matched in almost all areas of singing with an exception of 2-3 genres like classical, padyams, sanskrit slokas, where ghantasala was superior (due to his rigorous practise of the genres mixed with specialised classical skills) , though rafi too had attempted the genres in his own style and range.
The kind of arguments which some rafi fans are making does not make any sense and cannot change the facts of greatness of the legends. Hope things are properly understood.
I don’t know about music but I think mohd rafi voice sweetest voice ever born on this earth and as human being we can’t think better voice than mohd rafi, I think all of you saw programs on mohd rafi and what said about him that never said about any other singer even some said god voice…..
By the way, isn’t sala me to sahab bun gaya is kk song or has ghantasala sung it in telugu as well. The voice quality and melody of Rafi Sahab Voice is more beautiful than the tewlugu version, telugu song singers lack the depth and expressions and range in their voice, in my humble opinion.
In all spects of music Rafi sahab rules, others are just kidds in front of him, might that be regional singer or global one. Rafi is the legendry singer who has taught’all-others’ how to sing. He was No 1 and others are 0 or 2 or 3
hi ashwani,
till now, i used to be amused at you, but now i feel pity for you because you are such a loser!! firstly, you destroyed the sanctity of a rafi forum by being the first person in this entire thread to call rafi as the second-best when all the rafi fans and a lot of other people too know fully well that he is the greatest ever. you must be really stupid even to think that you will be able to sway a rafi fan who knows music and understands the musical notes to ever believe that your kk is the best. i never go to your kk forums and write a post calling him the second-best because i have more class and etiquette than people like you. i know to respect people’s boundaries and spaces. if you want to encroach into my space, of course i will defend my space and shoo you away. i guess you are not even mature enough to understand that.
your lack of any kind of class, cheapness, and lack of education is glaringly evident even in the way that you write. i haven’t mentioned it so far but your writing style and written communication skills are pathetic to say the very least, and it reflects on the kind of person you are and your lack of education and class. we all commit typographical errors especially when writing on informal forums like these, but it’s evident from your writing that your mistakes are not typos, but are just a sign of your lack of education. you can’t even spell “balloon” correctly, and i know it’s not a typo because you have used the word more than once and that you haven’t got it right even once!! plus, what the hell is “etiquetteless”????? there isn’t a word like that…..you are such a fool!! poor you….i can only pity and despise a despicable person like you. plus, you are shameless and cheap to keep arguing with me that your kk is the best singer. again, please don’t do it in a rafi forum. i am just pushing back on you because this is a rafi forum, and not the best place to fight for the supremacy of some other singer. and if i have to get a li’l personal in defending a forum dedicated to the greatest singer of our country, so be it!! plus, i have no qualms in getting a bit personal. i have nothing to hide or be ashamed about since i am not illiterate, cheap, incorrigible, despicable like you. again, i have absolutely nothing personal against you, but you are forcing me to expose your personality by being shamelessly persistent and argumentative.
Ghanta sala was an ok singer, though.
Ghanta Sala is, was and will ever remain a great,””regional- singer””’
It seems obvious that his fans will keep on tagging to mere 3 songs, as all the other songs sung by him are just rubbish. Ghantasala will evr be a bogus 3rd rated singer who has no class indeed. Maratab Ali is miles ahead of sala sahab.
Oh, rafi ji,
Even on your anniversary day, these people are fighting here instead of discussing regarding you. I do not know why these so called disguised rafi fans continue to dig up the same thing again and again i.e foolish arguments, when there were no such discussions in the recent past.
No body is knowing (mainly some so called disguised rafi fans) that no amount of comment can increase or decrease rafi and ghantasala or their achievements in any way, their comments are not going to have any effect on the legends. This simple point they are not able to understand, How can they understand rafi and ghantasala ?
post 2679
“Rafi would have literally killed both lata and ghantasala” if the lines of ghantasala were given to him – what is this foolish comment ? The kuhu kuhu song ghantasala’s part is sung by rafi in hindi (excepting few taans) = what happened there Mr. Rathore ji ? One should have unbaised views and be bold to accept that the song was a very great composition and ghantasala was just marvellous than both rafi and lata. This is truth and any amount of shouting cannot change this, even if you do not like it, the truth cannot be changed. Please do not feel jealous of this fact. Please do not be smart and project wrong points. You have your own liking, but many others have their own likings – just know that.
Cheers.
Sorry, a mistake in previous post.
The third line in last para may please be read as ” despite his huge respect for ghantasala” –
Rafifan1 – 2678
First of all, remembering the great rafi on this july 31st on which the playback singing world had lost a gem physically, but who continues to shine in the hearts of scores of music lovers even after 3 decades.
I have appreciations for your post and your favouritism to rafi is well known – nothing to worry about other posts who are mis-understanding you. Never mind, even sachin tendulkar has critics so not a surprise upon such posts.
Nevertheless, based upon by classical knowledge of music, what you have stated is not fully correct. Mimimum classical knowledge is must for singing padyams, though expertise is not required. Padyams require great skills, as their style is totally different and as you said ghantasala was foremost in rendering them with beauty – only to some extent P B Srinivas, another singer of the south, could render padyams to certain extent with attraction and no other singer from the south had any say in those genres. Sadly, PB Srinivas did not have the strength and voice range of ghantasala, as such he could not rule the industry, though he too has sung good number of songs.
Music lovers,
Mr. Roy – posting as rafifan 1 is a bengali person with zero knowledge of telugu, and going by his previous posts is a top corporate executive settled in Hyderabad since 2003 I do not think it is prudent to blame him with wrong notions.
Readers can also refer one post of Mr. Viswanathan, a close friend of Mr. Swaminathan iyer, author of this article, wherein he clarifies why Mr. Swaminathan, despite his huge respect of rafi in this article, purposefully avoided ghantasala in this article, (when he mentions all other southern singers) – Mr. Swaminathan himself was a great musician trained in carnatic music and was a great favourite of ghantasala going by that post. I hope the things should be clear and misunderstandings cleaned up.
Dear Rafians & all contributors to this forum,
Lets come together on this Anniversary & pray for Rafi sahabs soul. Let every singer & artist find their glory under the sun called Rafi sahab. Lets stop the fruitless debate & contribute +vely to this forum musically. Take care.
Rafi is miles ahead of ‘regional singer g)
I think Rafifan 1 always try to degrade the legendry Rafi Sahab. He actually disguises himself in the mask of a rafi fan which indeed he is not. If one waste time in going through his posts he is alwas miser in praising the greatest playback singer of India, Muhammad Rafi Sahab. He says rafi was a good singer and a good soul, and he uses words like best and most for the singer of his choice(i purposely omit the name all knows, as i am afraid that my post will be deleted due to partial attitude of moderator, sorry to say).
Why cant we say that the singer of these people choice was a mere ‘local,regional’ singer who was such a patriot that he never sung in the national language, hindi ever. the fact is he was afraid to sing in hindi as he would have been well exposed as an ordinary singer. Attaullah Eisa Khelvi, Another regional singer sings much better than this particular singer.
Today is the 31st Death-Anniversary of the Greatest Play-Back Singer of the Sub-Continent, the Legend among Legends, the University of singing, the institute of music, the most melodious, honey-voiced, charismatic, marvelous, Muhammed Rafi Sahab.
I am always surprised when people try to compare the most sureela singer, Rafi Sahab with these minnows, ‘TOM’S, DICK’S & Harry’s”. They only do this in order to get their singers some recognition, as Mehdi Hasan sang, ‘Abb tera naam bhee ayega mere naam kesaath’.
I have been listening to various types of music for the last 35 years in every language, but I am telling the truth that I had never heard this name, ghantasala before. After this futile discussion, I realised that there was some telugu singer who has sung so many songs but the way his fans try to glorify him, it seems that he actually has sung only 3 songs.
First of all about the song ‘Siva Sankari’. Ghantasala fans says this is indeed his best song, rather this is the best song in telugu language. If you ask some music gurus, and classical singers about this song they will say, ‘THIS IS JUST AN ORDINARY SEMI CLASSICAL SONG, WITH NOTHINS SPECIAL IN IT’. I also believe in this. What is so special in this song. neither is it a difficult song, nor it has anything special in it. Any singer with some knowledge can sing it much better than ghantaji. People on youtube has sung this song much better than this particular singer.
They try to compare Kishore Kumar with Rafi Sahab, who according to Mannaday was not considered even a singer.
Then ghantasala fans bring some lies in their arguments, nowhere ever has Rafi said that he could not sing like ghantasala. My reply is in the evidence bring the record in the favor in this false statement, why would rafi say that. He was a much much better singer than this regional stuff, he sang much better than ghantasala. Ghantasala had actually no variety in his songs, neither had he had anything special in his voice. his voice was not expressive. He chose easy songs for him as he has sung most of his own compositions, and he had intentionally hide his limitations being the music director of his own songs. I doubt in the statement, but if he ruled telugu music for 30 odd years than it means that he never allowed other singers to flourish and made a monopoly. His songs are not that great. I am also astronished that why his so called fans start crying and start requesting the moderator to come to their help and delete those facts brought out by people who have good sense of music. Why can’t they stand the truth, they can not digest the facts if they are against their self-praised guruji. Everybody has the right in this forum. If people truely admit that ghantasala is not a good singer than they start shouting and crying in disgust. They should have open minds to accept critism as well against their singer as well. It happens all over the world, and media knows that what is wrong and what is not. People degrade Rafi Sahab due to relegious, regional, ethical bias. I CHALLENGE THEM TO BRING SONG IN THEIR FAVOR against The much more melodious songs of rafi sahab. Many renowned classical singers say that these people are liars and their was no flaws in Rafi’s rendering kuhu kuhu, md was biased in purposely glorifying lataji in that particular song by giving saregama lines to her, rafi would have literally killed her and ghantsala both, had he been given those lines in that particular song. In all the duets with Lata, rafi sahab has always overshadowed and subdued her with his greatest skills and expressive voice. The fact is the people think rafi was strugling is their biased attitude, they failed to understand that these were the changes called ‘the rafi magic’ which rafi used in all his songs, he would always add something extraordinary in all his songs. MD admit that in Rafi’s duets with mannaday especially the classical numbers, in each of these songs he wins over mannaday .ghantasala, lata and kishore kumar are miles behond the’class’ of rafi sahab, and the facts can never be digested by these people who know nothing about music.
Musharaff ji and others,
Remembering a good soul – the most popular hindi playback singer of india – rafi ji on his anniversary – after 31 years – a remarkable thing indeed. Reciprocations for the post.
Hans ji,
Today july 31st, I do not want to reply to your post, which is not pure as your name is – hans a very pure name, I think you have completely misunderstood my earlier post, which does not mention any of your points. We will discuss later when time permits.
Siva ji, -2674
Telugu is one of the great languages, I acknowledge that, it has got its own unique features – I was told padyams are not found in any language except telugu and which cannot be rendered easily by even trained classical experts and ghantasala was extraordinarily special in them ( I was told that padyams have nothing to do with classical talent) – My respects to your post on this rememberance day of our great playback singer – rafi ji, a good & respected soul and who had immense respect for all great musicians india has produced.
Mohammed Rafisaab I salute you in God’s Heaven and wish that your immortality grows as it has been this last 31 years. The world misses people like you for the kind of human being you were. I will always love you. M.R.
To all Rafi lovers, Salaam,
I concurr Br. Musharraf, Pleas all of you remember Rafi sahab in your prayers for his “Maghfira”. Amen.
With regards,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
Dear Rafi lovers,
Tomorrow the 31st July will be marked as the 31st death anniversary of Mohammed Rafi sahab. Let us pray for him that God may grant him eternal peace and permanent abode in Heaven.
Best regards
Musharraf
I don’t understand why people are trying to judge their greatness.
Tell me which language is sweeter HINDI or TELUGU?
They both are sweet, so as both the singers.
Rafi is popular nationwide at the sametime had his competitors like Kishorekumar. But there is no such thing in Telugu. Ghantasala ruled the arena without a shadow of doubt.
So plz dont underrate great people.
Hope you people stop arguing and let them rest in peace.
my above post is addressed to rafifan 1 in reply to his post 2645.
where have i said that kishore fans are commenting on sonu vs rafi. and who is running the sonu vs rafi campaign.
thanks for warning me. but, i would, on my part, like you to be careful in defending the so called civilised true music lovers. this trimurti is vomitting rotten garbage manufactured in their vitiated minds and indulging in demeaning rafi in his own site. on the other hand are the true rafi fans like swami and neel, of whom you are making fun. they have only used rough language, which is the best way they can deal with such people on the net, otherwise this trimurti deserves a few real punches in real life.
this frustrated trimurti is busy in belittling rafi in the garb of civilised debate. they have not only tried to show rafi inferior to ghantasala, but they have also claimed that he is inferior to every south singer. they say he is inferior to p.susheela in telugu duets and they also say he is inferior to lata in ‘kuhu kuhu’. so are they rooting for ghantasala or defaming rafi. they use words like fools and nuts for rafi fans with aplomb, but when rafi fans say something they come crying and get the support of people like you, who are in return called balanced rafi fans. they also say categorically that south music is better than hindi music.
and what mighty arguments they have in their support. they give examples of three songs. read the article of swaminath which triggered this dialogue. in the third last para he says that hindi songs are harder to sing because of ‘h’ factor, which is missing in south languages. he was a south indian and admitted the truth. listen to ‘shiv shankari’ song and you will find that ghantasala sings ‘siv sankari and sivanand’. in the same song to conceal the faults in singing of ghantasala, use has been made of multiple voices cleverly. now in the telugu versions of other two songs ‘chal ud ja re panchhi’ and ‘kuhu kuhu’ lyrics are not the same so how ghantasala and rafi versions are being compared. ghantasala’s songs have easier telugu lyrics without ‘h’ factor. if he had sung the hindi version he would have huffed and puffed midway through the song if he had sung that in hindi way. what would have happened to ‘chal ud ja re panchhi’ if ghantasala was allowed to sing in his own way. for example take the antara ‘barish men teree bheegee paankhen dhoop men garmi khaaee’. ghantasala would have sung it as ‘baris men teri beegee paanken doop men garmi kaaee’.
ghantasala is just monotonous in his songs he has hardly any variety. after so many years of singing he could not get rid of his telugu style, which was the reason he did not dare to enter hfm, where his limitations would have surfaced. he is far from a classical singer because a classical singer by constant practice loses this regional flavour.
this trimurti has never put forward his variety of songs in reply to the gems referred by rafi fans. they are circling around these 3 songs and specifically shiv shankari for his use of i dont know how many notes in how many octaves. we are not concerned with octaves and notes, what we care about is the output by these singers.
and what is the big deal in sonu fans comparing him with ghantasala. if ghantasala can be compared with rafi then why not sonu with ghantasala. all this talk of not being born is bullshit. tendulkar is being compared and declared better than numerous legends whose grandsons were born much earlier than him.
@Musharaf! Thanks for thanking. You seems to be one more die-hard fan of Muhammad Rafi Sahab. I have been listening to his voice ever since i started listening songs. I have listened to all types of songs for so long, but ‘Jo baat Rafi sahab ki awaaz or gaane ke andaaz me he, wo aur kissi me naheen”, I truely believe in that, my likings for his divine voice has not happened all of a sudden, I have been listening to each and every word rendered by him very closely, the magic he is able to produce is just awsome. I am also a great admirer of Lataji, Talat Mehmood, Mehdi Hassan, and few more but i am a firm believer and its a fact that even singer as great as lata can never sing as good as rafi sahab. he has actually change the concept of singing and gave it a new trend never, ever before him, could any body do that. All famous singers with good voice sings, but they are appreciated as they sing good compositions with a god-gifted voice, but as far as rafi is concerned, he has the ability to change his voice so much that in few songs, even i could not affirm that it is rafi, who is singing. Rafi put his heart and soul in each of his song, in such an intenese way that one feels that it was the only song which he was able to sing in his entire life. Rafi when sings with other singers always subdue others with his greatest voice quality, and poor co-singers sound so flat while singing with rafi sahab. This fact was admitted by asha bhosle in one of her interviews, and she added that when she and lata had to sing with rafi, they would always be very nervous and used to do extra riaz to comne closer to his genius. Rafi was a simple soul but his genius for singing was marvelous.I can go on and on and on praising rafi but i’ll feel tired at the end but his praise will still be too smal. Rafi is actually no:1 singer and rest of all could be zero or 2, 3, 4etc as mentioned by mr.ali. I love Rafi Sahab melodious, honey dipped voice. No body can match him as his voice is divine in true sense. He could sing anything with utmost ease even the most difficult songs. the other singers being compared to him is because he is taken as the real trade-mark of singing. Rafiji, we all love you.
Thank you Visheshji for the links to two very beautiful songs of rafi saab vide your posts 2664 & 2665. Actually these are the types of songs of Mohd. rafi that I like most. If i am not wrong the song “Nache man mora magan” is from the film “Meri surat teri ankhen”. there is yet another super hit song of rafi saab that he sang with Lataji in the same film “Tere bine soone nayan hamari” Unfortunately since i am not very proficient in computer i am not able to provide the links of the song here.
Regards
God made one earth one sun and one mohd rafi……..
Listen how he utters the word ‘piyaar’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRCEjkhWTo8
If you want to have a feel that how mesmerizing and enchanting was Muhammad Rafi voice, then plz hear this great rendition by the ultimate singer of india, the legend of the legends, Rafiji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BicQKfs2sfQ&playnext=1&list=PL415C7912699319A1
@aLI , WELL SAID ALI, NICE PRAISE BY rAFI SAHAB’S FAN
hERE IS ANOTHER GEM FROM THE LEGEND AMONG LEGENDS, THE ULTIMATE, AWAAZ KA FARISHTA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7iWBtLl8kY&feature=related
People trying to compare the legendry Rafi Sahab with other, ‘minors’ must listen to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvCjQiMX4Os&feature=related
Thanks Rafifanji(Post 2660)for your kind words.
You are absolutely right. Never any issues with you.
Actually you and I are fundamentally the fans of the great legend whose songs continue to remain alive and charm the listeners so long music will exist.
Regards.
When sonu ji asked Naushad ji on zee tv about mohd rafi the answer was there can be 18 and 20 but not 19, I like to say mohd rafi is number one, before one it is zero and after one it is two so when you compare mohd rafi with other singer the answer is only two or zero…
I asked one of my Pakistani friend that do you have singer like mohd rafi in Pakistan and the answer was even not in the world.
2658
Rafifan ji has requested people to stop discussing about ghantasala here and his post has been misinterpreted by mr. neel here, who appears to be little confused in his posts. He writes something when the other points out something. There is no link at all for his posts with other posts. Rafi fan had never mentioned for comparison with ghantasala Mr. Neel, it was I who mentioned that comparison with him is not possible. You have unnecessarily made a comment against rafi fan for which hope you rectify yourself as I had already mentioned you appear to be confused and out of frustration and hurry are writing wrong posts aiming at wrong persons. Please be balanced and respond after reading posts carefully. My request to you is please do not take the names of singers, whose spellings also you are not able to write properly – this clearly shows you do not even know the singers whom names who have mentioned there.
Dear Musharaff ji – 2659
Never any issues with you and your great posts, keep continuing musharaff ji. Actually, I was hitting at so called fake posts by people who were never visible in this site earlier.
Dear Rafifanji, Post 2657,
The other day I went to my friend’s house who knew that Rafi Saab is my idol. He turned on the CD player which started to play some unforgettable gems of Rafi. One of those was the everlasting ‘Tu hindu banega na musalmaan banega, insaan ki aulaad ho insaan banega” from the film “Dhool ka phool”. One gets mesmerized when he listens to this song. It is a combination of love, protest, message and revolution. And Rafi with his God gifted magical voice made a legend of the song. Actually when I listen to Rafi the only conclusion that I come into is that as far as playback singing is concerned he is simply incomparable and undoubtedly the greatest of all playback singers.
Regards.
rightly said, the ghantasala fans again exposed in disguise of rafi fans. Beside abhishek, here is another one, by the name of rafifan1. He is right, ghantasala can never be compared to these singers, as ghantasala does not have the worth of being compared to the greats. He is just an ordinary, ””’REGIONAL Singer””, who is worthless and incomparable as he is a not a great singer by any means. lata, mukesh, mannadey, rafi, kishore are all much greater and miles ahead of ghantasala. Even yesudas and spbalasubramunium are greater than telugu minor, ghantasala.
Glorifying ghantasala by fans of other singers, mostly hindi people, I am noticing this for the past few posts – Why it is going on ? If we carefully read the posts in past 2 pages, ghantasala fans have stopped mentioning him on their own(except in reply to some irritating comments), but new comers as being observed in this site are keeping the discussion alive by repeatedly mentioning ghantasala,
Beware, i doubt who this Mr. Neel and his friends are – in disguise keeping alive the discussion on ghantasala in some or other way – by way of praise or criticism, whatever it may be – why are they so interested in keeping discussion on ghantasala alive continuously, despite cessation of discussion long back by ghantasala fans themselves – I believe this is the work of some doubting people – certainly not ghantasala fans as their posts can be easily known by the way they present highly for ghantasala.
Is this mohd rafi site or what ? all sorts of nonsense is cropping out rather discussing music.
Now lata mangeshkar – ghantasala comparison – is this a joke ? 2655 – what is the rationale beyond that ? Certainly some hidden agenda – watch out music lovers.
It is fans of other singers who are comparing their icons with ghantasala – for reasons best known to them. No ghantasala fan has ever compared ghantasala to any singer, as ghantasala is incomparable, there is no need to compare him with others. The replies from ghantasala fans come only when the issue is raised by fans of other singers. Why they are comparing all theiir icons with ghantasala is a big question ?
Actually the discussion was only between rafi and ghantasala – why other names have come up now is a mysterious question.
Mr. Neel has now started comparing lata mangeshkar to ghantasala, a new comparison – when ghantasala fans have never raised any such issue.
There cannot be any comparison for ghantasala, as that is not possible, whatever one may think or believe, it is upto them and nobody can change their belief and one does not want even to agree with the points. the only discussion between rafi and ghantasala happened and was possible, because, there were common songs between both these singers in their respective languages – so discussion between both rafi and ghantasala makes some sense.
It does not serve any sense to bring any other singer in discussion with rafi and ghantasala.
I sincerely hope ghantasala fans will not respond to any of the above posts as they are irrelevant for discussion/comparison with ghantasala.
I can not see any reason that why ghantasala fans can not digest the praise of another singer over their regional singer. they must show bigger hearts. Ghantasala had never been such a big star, it is the futile efforts of his fans who have lost their temper in wrongfully trying to make the singer any icon. Ghantasala is not known well in india, only south indians (few fans), know him. Lata Mangeshkar has sung so many beautiful songs which were far better than ghantasala’s telugu songs. Lata’s songs are better in all aspects. the highest octaves which she was able to reach could not be reached by ghantasala in any of his songs. His voice was good, but never been the best. Ghantasala use to copy sehgal, mannay dey, talat mehmood and mukesh in his voice, but mostly he sounded like mannadey, singing in telugu. Just by praising somebody a lot does not mean that the singer has achieved a status as high as lata, talat, spbala, rafi sahab. Ghantasala will always remain inferior to these singers.
Why can’t i express my views in secular india where there is a freedom of expression.
Ghantasala only made pathetic songs for himself.
kk yudliz out every one including ghantasala.
ghantasala telugu songs are the best, but those could not make an influence over masses in india, as the language is not familiar to them, bur masses love kishore kumar and muhammad rafi as they understand the language in which both of these singers sung.
any attempt of glorification by ghantasala fans to their icon, can never make him a well-recognized singer in masses of hindustan, guruji was a regional singer, the best though but in a particular region where people understand his knowledge.
‘Sala me to sahab bun gaya-Attention”,
This is indeed the best ever song of kk, not gsala. tHIS SONG PROVES THAT KK IS A MUCH BIGGER STAR THAN GHANTA, AS HIS FANS ARE TRYING THEIR BEST TO ATTRIBUTE THIS FAMOUS SONG OF KK TO GS.
Revered music lovers
It is agreed that sonu nigam has no comparison with peerless legends – rafi of hindi and ghantasala of south who were the founding fathers of playback singing in their respective areas – their accomplishments cannot be matched by any legend existing after those great singers.
It is not correct for sonu fans to compare sonu with yesteryear legends as somebody says here – sonu was not even born when rafi and ghantasala were ruling their industries – secondly orbits of sonu with those greats never intersect. Sonu belongs to a entirely difference era of music and hence cannot be compared to past legends. Nevertheless, I hope revered music lovers here agree that sonu is a great singer in his era and had a range of contribution which enabled the bollwood industry to boast of in the current days.
I strongly condemn the use of language of Mr. neel, who in the guise of a sonu fan is using – this should not be tolerated – regrets.