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
Sandeepshrivastavji, post-2876,
Winning or losing basically and fundamentally depends on the merit of the case and not on the manner or expressions through which a case is presented. And this is not a court where victory is sometimes dependent on the quality of lawyers whose oratory or drafting skills sometimes becomes a decisive factor. The supremacy of Mohammed Rafi in playback singing is a long settled issue and now a historical truth and no amount of posts can alter that. However by this I don’t mean that people should argue illogically or indecently. The singers who have been the subjects of the discussions here are all great and legendary and full respect should be shown to all of them. I personally have maintained this stance and shall continue to hold the same in future.
Music is essentially an art or “Kala”. It can take a person close to God, heal a wounded soul or give strength to people in times of despair and frustration. And I think and believe that all distinguished participants here are music lovers who believe that music is a sacred thing. So I think all of us shall agree with me that congenial atmosphere should be maintained in order to make any discussion relating to music.
I therefore end this post with high hopes that we shall enjoy discussions in future in a healthy and joyful state.
Regards.
To me it took 30 years of struggle for “shorr kumaar” to make his mark in hfm. After acting as a flop clown, & at the same time trying pathetic songs, he emerged once good music was fading rapidly. Even during that period, the quality songs went to rafi, as obvious from the film-fare and national awards in the last decade of his life, i.e. seventies. Although i think these awards had often been the most popular song rather than the best singer award, otherwise rafi sahab should have had all the awards each and every year since he started singing to his last song” shaam phir kiun udaas hey aye dost, too kahin ass pass hey aye dost”.
simply, Kishore Kumar is no match for the most prolific singer of india, mohd. rafi sahab.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE MODERATOR OR ADMIN IS DOING WITH OUR POSTS. HE IS ALLOWING COMMENTS AGAINST RAFI SAHAB BUT IS DELETING COMMENTS AGAINST KISHORE KUMAR & GHANTASALA. IMO, THIS MODERATOR IS ALSO ACTING ANTI-RAFI SAHAB, MY POST WHICH I TOOK LOT OF TIME TO WRITE HAS JUST DISAPPEARED ALL OF A SUDDEN.I DONT KNOW WHAT IS THE ‘SOP’ OF SELECTING THE POSTS, THE POSTS SERVING PURPOSE OF SOME PEOPLE WITH VESTED INTERESTS AGAINST THE GREATEST SINGER OF INDIA RAFI SAHAB, ARE KEPT HERE AND THOSE WHICH HAS PRAISES FOR RAFI SAHAB ARE NOT CONSIDERED. IF PEOPLE SAY SOMETHING AGAINST KK OR SALA SAHAB, THE COMMENTS VANISHES LIKE A SMOKE IN AIR.
musharrafji – 2819
very well said. you have made a perfect analysis of the strengths of both singers. i have read some of your earlier posts where you politely tried to dissuade the ghantasalans from their futile attempt to belittle rafi. till then they continued to praise you because they were being pressed by other rafians. but, now as soon as you have tried to tell them truth they have made an about turn. they have shown that they would do the same to anybody who tries to defend rafi.
i have read comments from about middle of this thread and have found that the 3 octave issue was made an issue because some rafians tried to defend rafi by making count of notes and octaves of rafi songs. that was wrong basically, because as you have rightly said the number of notes and octaves do not make a good song. ghantasalans made this an issue because they know very well that they cant win on the basis of quality of songs, where rafi wins hands down. now they referred to siva sankari as covering 3 octaves. i dont know whether this is true or not, but i pointed out the defect in that song of use of multiple voices to cover up faults in ghantasala voice which they did not answer. they have continued to behave in the same way to rafians’ queries made by you or me or anyone else. what they have to say is fools, foolish comments, false facts etc. without logically replying anybody.
another good point you made is about their 3 octave theory being illogical. now, i have not seen the quality of pure classical experts being judged on the basis of the notes and octaves they reach. humans learned music from nature. music had existed for a long time before idea of notes and octaves came into the mind of man. too much regulation was the reason of demise of sanskrit and that is the sole reason that classical music has taken a back seat, because the various gharanas wanted to control it.
m
all the problems started by these kishore fans because of the
inability of their idol to put infront of rafi saab as his tallents
are limited.then they tried who will be there to defend the
comments of rafi fans.then they could find the innocent
and decent gantsaalaji.it is a big crime they have done and
so many ugly words appeared in this site about the legand
gantasaalaji.the “stick” they have given to rafi fans to hit
them only.kishoreda slapped the man who insulted rafi saab
and that slapping is meant for all these “problem creaters”
in the name of kishore kumar.
kishoreda will be happy if these people go and do something
in kk site instead of playing bad games here since it is an
“empty site”.even there is no article about kk on his birthday.
by listening the songs of talatji “hum se aayaa na gayaa”
kishoreda “chottee se ye duniyaa” mahendra kapoorji “tum
magar saath dene ka” mannadha “tuje sooraj kahoom yah
chandaa” yesudasji “gori teraa gaav badaa pyaara” lataji
“pyaar kiya to darna kya jab” ashaaji ” sayya legayee jiya”
we indians keep our heritage and culture and we rafians do
little further “to here the song – keeping it with our hearts –
keeping the person who sung the songs very near to our
hearts even more than our beloved ones “the one and only
rafi saab”
Dear Adminji,
Would you be kind enough to publish my post written at 2.14 P.M. I see that many posts that were made after it have appeared here.
Notice the extreme pathos in rafi sahab voice, a composition by anil biswas, fil ‘heer’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_7l5P0il9g
Dear fellow Rafians,
Shammi ji left us a few days ago. Please do not get into arguments with fans of other singers. What is there to prove? Who cares about what they say?
Here is Rafi saab’s fan list among singers: Saigal, K. C. Dey, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Yesudas, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Suresh Wadkar, Anup Jalota, Sonu Nigam… the list is endless. Most of these singers not only admire him, but consider him to be the greatest playback singer ever — the ultimate benchmark!
Please read the nightingale’s recent tweet:
Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar remembers late singer Mohammed Rafi on his 31st death anniversary and says there can never be a singer like him again. Both of them sang 414 duets together.
“Today’s the 31st death anniversary of Rafi sahab. He was an honest and a lovely human being. My family and Rafi sahab shared a great relationship together. It’s my honour that I got an opportunity to sing maximum number of songs with him,” Lata posted on her Twitter page.
“We have worked in almost 315 films and have sung 414 duets together. We can never have such a great singer again,” she added.
They have given evergreen hit songs like “Bekhudi mein sanam”, “Haye re haye”, “Chhup gaye saare nazare” among others.
Rafi lent his voice for almost all the leading actors such as Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna.
The singer died of a heart attack in Mumbai July 31, 1981, at the age of 56.
In my unpretentious credence, in the contemporaneous epoch, Himesh Rishamya is the supreme protuberant Music Director, Actor & Singer. He has essentially left behind run-of-the-mill chorales like Kishore Kumar, and owing to his prodigious choral panache, he made populaces to overlook KK. Kishore Kumar was dubbed as “Shor-Kumar”, in the melodic spheres.
rafi resonated for virtually the entire clutch of the prodigious mds, also comprising the esteemed and late anil biswas. he might conceivably not have pronounced corresponding rafi sahab.
as far as salil chaudry is concerned, he on no occasion was categorized as prominent music director amongst the leading mds. madhumati is perhaps the lone flick, branded to his endeavors.
Rafi resonated for virtually the entire clutch the prodigious MDs comprising the esteemed and late Anil Biswas. he might conceivably not have pronounced corresponding rafi sahab.
As far as salil chaudry is concerned, he on no occasion was categorized as prominent music director. somewhere among the leading MDs. Madhumati is perhaps the lone flick, branded to his endeavors.
the figure as regards the posts about the telugu singer is not 2000, it is an over exaggeration, if somebody has a doubt he should start counting following the comments where his name has been narrated. of those posts also, most are those where a comparison has been made with rafi.
the figure as regards the posts about the telugu singer is not 2000, it is an over exaggeration, if somebody has a duet he should start counting following the comments where his name has been narrated. of those posts also, most are those where a comparison has been made with rafi.
The comments of dr chadrashekar has taken me aback, as so many rafi fans. all of a sudden he makes a u-turn from his previous comments. I have searched a lot regarding the anil biswas statement. he actually said that,”rafi is not my kind of singer at all”. Even the daughter of anil biswas had loads of respect for rafi sahab and has clarified the statement of her father.
imo, the renowned music directors were the kings of music industry, hence they had been rude at times, as there were many examples. md’s all over the world think that it is the composition, not the singer which is responsible for the success & popularity of the song, and perhaps they are right to some extent. this feeling causes them to behave in such a manner that they at times say something about the singers, which they should not. i even will say to an extent that they develop a superiority complex making them insolent on certain occasions.
i can quote lot of examples, such as naushad stopped working with talat mehmood once he saw him smoking inside the music studio. I have even heard with my own ears on youtube that despite the utmost regards for rafi, and showering lots of praises over him, in one of his interviews long after rafi’s death, he said that “we may find a voice better than rafi’s and surely we will”. Then op nayyar after finding rafi to be late on a recording, just stopped making him sing his songs for almost 3 1/2 years, same op nayyar said about lata that she did not suite his compositions and her voice is too thin. Salil chaudry using rafi on very few occasions for his songs. op nayyar also said that mukesh often use to get off- notes in higher pitch songs, and had to do lot of rehearsals to come back to surr., similarly i forgot the name of the m.d. the famous duo, who would just leave the room once mukesh used to be off-track and would tell his assistant to call him back when he is on-track, and op nayyar said that mahendra kapoor would sound very besurra initially in the rehearsals and so on so forth, the exaples are many.
then all of the famous directors had one favorite singer and used to make groups. anil biswas also once told lata that she should work harder as his songs are not naushad’s composition, which is simple to sing. mannaday saying that people in music circles do not consider kishore kumar even a singer, and in these circles, they called him shor-kumar.
hence anil biswas may have said that due to the background i have mentioned above. furthermore, these great md’s although all very great and humble had their egoes and used to be jealous of each other, as eventually they wer human-beings.
himesh rishamya sings himself only to prove the same point that it is the md and his composition that matters not the singer. thats why he sings all his songs himself.
WHILE SERFING NET FOR GREAT PEOPLE COMMENTS ABOUT RAFI SAHAB, I CAME ACROSS ONE OF THE INTERVIEWS OF LEGENDRY ACTOR DILIP KUMAR. I FOUND IT VERY INTERESTING AND IS SHARING THE SAME HERE WITH RAFI SAHAB FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Name of the Article: Who Jab Yaad Aaye
Appeared in: Marathi Daily – Sakal (Published from Pune, Maharashtra)
Date: 28th July 2005
Interview of Dilip Kumar by Mandar Joshi
Introduction:
There is never a day when you do not get to hear Mohammed Rafi’s voice. He was a person with no enemies and he had acquired a lot of friends. Superstar Dilip Kumar was one of them. Dilip Kumar has not been keeping well nowadays. But when he came to know that he will be talking about Mohammed Rafi, he very happily and instantly agreed. He became very emotional while remembering Mohammed Rafi. When the song – “Madhuban mein radhika” was mentioned, before saying anything about it, he hummed that song for a minute!
Full Article:
They say that human memory is very short. But I just do not agree to that and if you ask me a reason for that then I will mention Mohammed Rafi. On the coming 31st July, it will be Rafi’s 25th Death Anniversary. If human memory was indeed short then we should have forgotten him by now. But that has not happened. On the contrary, every single day reminds us of “Woh jab yaad aaye…bahot yaad aaye”. Be it newspaper, radio, TV or any music related program, you just cannot ignore Rafi. You cannot proceed without acknowledging Rafi’s contribution. I could spend some friendly movements with this Emperor of Voice and Melody and I consider myself extremely fortunate for that.
Time is such a thing that it makes us forget good things while bad things, even if you want to, can never be forgotten. I cannot recollect the first time I met Mohammed Rafi. The meeting most probably might have taken place in Bombay Talkies. As such it is only after constant company that any friendship grows but in case of Rafi my experience was different. It was more like “friendship at first sight”….like they say … “love at first sight”. He used to look very handsome then. His personality was very impressive. As a matter of fact before his voice, it was his eyes that impressed me a lot. One look in his eyes then and I knew that I am going to have a very nice “tuning” with this man. After that I actually heard his voice for the first time and I could instantly get that this is no ordinary singer. He had come into the field of playback singing with complete preparation. It was this combination of his hard work and his natural talent which was there is abundance that gave him an extra edge. I had experienced this number of times in Bombay Talkies. All the emotions in his voice had made his singing ‘complete’ in all respects. Be it a tragic or a sad song, a light peppy song, a classical song or a romantic duet, he sang every kind of song with utmost ease. With Naushad, his singing used to reach even greater heights. Just listen to the song – “Madhuban mein radhika” which was sung by him and picturized on me any time. You would actually come to know what “getting overwhelmed” is all about after listening to that song. It must be around 5 decades now since that song was picturized. But even now every time I listen to that song, my reaction is still the same and I also get overwhelmed like any other music buffs out there. I just unknowingly feel like my voice has got mixed with Rafi’s voice and I have started singing. His voice had tremendous talent in it. But I would still like to say that some people exploited him. Some music composers made him sing some third class songs and Rafi was so simple a person that he could never say ‘No’ to anyone.
He used to work very hard on each and every song that came to him for singing. As such I have done very few movies, but the songs that Rafi sang for me in these movies were all very big hits. Rafi had perfected the art of singing to suit the style of the actor on the screen. But for my dearest friend Johnny Walker, he simply created the magic. He touched the greatest heights of playback singing while singling the songs – “Sar jo tera chakraye” and “Ae Dil hai mushkil jeena yahan” that were picturized on Johnny Walker.
My friendship with Rafi lasted till the last. We used to have lots of “get-togethers” in my bungalow at Pali Hill. Naushad, Anil Biswas, Rafi….lots of such people used to meet. In such ‘get-togethers’, I sometimes used to try to show the ‘magic’ of my voice. But what was special was that in spite of my terrible voice, Rafi used to encourage me by saying ‘wah-wah’. In late 60s and early 70s, people in the industry were gossiping abut how Kishore Kumar has dismantled Rafi”s position. But Rafi was not even slightly affected by it. I myself never liked any sort of comparison between Rafi and Kishore Kumar. But Rafi preferred to remain quiet. He never tried to answer the criticism that was being thrown at him with words. It was always his voice and his songs that used to do all the talking. Rafi is not amongst us today but his voice and his songs are still there with us.
Mr. Sandeep Srivastav (post 2873):
What you have written indirectly vindicates what I all along have been maintaining. These handful of Kishore fans arrive here with a well worked out ‘strategy’. Theirs is the strategy bourn out of intent of deceit, of envy, of jealousy. The strategy is to write something that would definitely infuriate Rafi fans and when loyal and passionate Rafi fans rebuffs such utterances with some bashing, they are singled out as ‘indecent’ etc. Time and again I have highlighted this device employed by Kishore fans. Please understand that posts like 2838 are part of that strategy.
Rafi fans are more spontaneous, emotional and passionate. The greatness of Rafi is so enormous that there is no strategy required to defend him or establish his supremacy over all others. He shines like a sun in the sky.
Can I ask you now if Ghatansala fans also arrive here with a well thought out strategy in mind?
-J.K. Bhagcahndani
Maha Devikaji,
Thank you for the links. “mein yeh sochkar” is a personal favorite of mine. As you described, the song really makes you feel the pain. No wonder the “outlook” jury chose this song as one of the top 20 in HFM; If I remember correctly it shared the #2 spot.
Speaking about Rafi sahab’s sad songs, I would like to observe a few things. One is the variety. He expressed them all- from the pain of broken relationships to disillusionment at the state of society to despair of unrequited love to hopelessness about future. I don’t think anyone else in HFM expressed so many shades of sadness. The variety is not limited to different human emotions. There are the high pitched (often dramatic) ones, there are the more traditional (speaking from a 1940s/Saigal prespective) low-pitched mournful ones.
The second point is about the ‘enactment’ of the song. It wasn’t as easy for Rafi sahab as let’s say Mukeshji to deliver a sad number simply because Rafi sahab had a naturally romantic, sweet, effervescent voice. Mukeshji could sing anything and make it sound sad, his natural vocal texture was so built. Mannada and Kishoreda both had that natural rough-feel in their voice, ideally suited for the brooding, philosophical numbers. Hemantda didn’t have to do anything special for his melancholic ones, his deep voice and deliberate singing style took care of it. Rafi sahab had to really act out a sad song, which is rather obvious as we listen but how brilliantly he did it. Along with superb voice modulation, some times he did it with a sigh here, a little sob there. Then there are the trade mark sarcastic laughs, the pauses, the stretching out of certain words in the lyrics.
I link two of my favorite sad numbers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t3IQx5U_A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ4WEQPl8cM
Sandeepshrivastava
Ghantasalans have big “KHUJLI” they instigate rafians and in turn they will get the fitting replies from rafians. We do not feel pleasure in discussing ghantasala. what we have been doing is just to give the proper replies to their egoistic posts.
Hope you understood now
Zaheendanish
Then what you have been doing all these days – discussing only about ghantasala – just forget his name, why are you after him ?
Sandeep Shrivastava,
first of all you learn that this site created in the memory of Rafi Sahab not for ghantasala. there ends the matter. your comments are illogical and meaningless. why should at all we discuss about ghantasala?????
your views are one sided, biased and full of ego-laden for which any simple minded rafian will be convinced. you better learn this before you write.
contd…
Bhagchandani ji,
We should appreciate that kishore fans had no role here earlier and they have now come and had condemned some wrong and false posts of rafi fans and which I have supported as I felt that was correct for what they have done. Hope you agree with me.
Regarding rafi and kishore, I think there could be a discussion if both parties agree to do that, and I consider both of them to be great singers of bollywood and that was a fact.
Bhagchandani ji
To be honest, I also diasgree with use of wrong language even by kishore fans – that should not be the case. Mr. Abhishek has requested them to be gentle and I hope they are capable enough to do that.
Dear J K Bhagchandani ji
I am sorry to be honest if I have hurt you. My view was only with respect to so called “foolish posts by some foolish rafians” and not otherwise please. Hope you understand my feelings.
Zaheendanish
Whover visits this site (any music lover other than a hardcore biased rafi fan) will find fault only with such biased rafi fans’ comments which appears to be large in number – almost all comments of ghantasala fans are decent and logical (around 2000 posts) and it should be noted that it will be rafi fans who will be pointed at. Strictly in a way ghantasalans have won the game – and to be honest such rafi fans have made them won – You did not have the proper strategy to project rafi in a proper way due to the veil of ego of rafi’s superiority coming in your way which made you make all ill conceived comments in a hurry against the balanced comments of ghantasala fans, similar style made against kishore fans earlier. Just see kishore kumar site – there had been a lot of discussion about ghantasala – it is a foremost illustration how respect is given to a legend and how decent discussion is made – you people have still not learnt that kind of discussion, this is only due to your false pride and ego factor, which makes the mind to run in a wrong way.
Mr. Raj,
First of all make up your mind whether you want to attribute the statement “rafi is no singer at all” to Salil Chowdhary or Anil Biswas. You are thoroughly confused as many ignorant Kishore fans are. As was expected your responses are evasive of many points that I raised. Please reply why do you lap up the statements (that too imagined statements) of Anil Biswas or Salil Chawdhary (whoever you decide to pick) and choose to ignore the opinions of other music directors? Why do such isolated statements (of Salil Chawdhary/ Anil Biswas) sound music to your ears? Are you not a fit case of a person having wretched anti-Rafi psyche overflowing with envy? Manna Dey has umpteen number of times said that Rafi was the best male playback singer the film industry has seen. He has gone on record to say that it was rafi from no. 1 to 10. Whom are you trying to fool? If he has also said that he can sing all types of songs, it is also a truth. Both stands do not contradict each other.
Kishorefan:
If you choose to ignore the fact that in 1979 and in 1980 Rafi saab had the maximum number of hit songs, the problem is entirely with your understanding abilities (or rather lack of it). Please seek some psychiatric intervention. For other points please refer to above portion of this post addressed to one Mr. Raj, all is applicable to you also.
Mr. Chandershekhar,
What is so great about the posts of Mr. Raj’s and Mr. Kishore fan? Or is it that virus of anti-Rafiism has entered in your thought process also? A person brings out some isolated statements of 1 or 2 music directors, quotes them out of context on a site dedicated to Rafi saab under the garb of ‘musical discussion’ (with the sole intention of instigating Rafi fans) and you call them ‘great posts’? And this fellow Kishore fan, has the audacity to write Rafi as ordinary singer/ OK singer… and you call them great posts? It is spreading canard under the wraps of sophistication.
It was not expected of you.
-J.K. Bhagchandani
Zaheen danish
“there are so many senior rafians are here who can give you fitting replies to your illogical remarks”
I know how senior genuine rafians behave with utmost respect in line with great rafi ji’s qualities, they are not like you who write all nonsense against legends admired by millions even after decades of their passing away from this earth. So you need not tell me such illogical things.
This is a beautiful rafi song in telugu by c ramachandra, composed in his hindi style (which was sung in 1979 I think)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y87Hyjyw-eM
Rafi had rendered nicely the song. Rafi was asked to sing the song in telugu, as after ghantasala’s passing away in 1974, there was literally a vacuum in the telugu industry for so many years, SPB clicked in 1980 through sankarabharanam film.
Mahadevika and others
Rafi sahab is unparalleled. These kishore fans are only talking about kishore kumar songs in 70’s – agreed kishore had done great in bollywood, but I do not think that has got any comparison with the great rafi in 50’s and 60’s. Regarding ghantasala, there should not be any discussion as he was the greatest singer & legend of telugu industry and has no connection with hindi industry, and i do not agree with mr. hans for what he has stated in one of his posts on ghantasala, which are not at all correct. Well, that is a different topic and I do not want to talk on that.
Mahadevika ji, not only the songs you have given link to , there are many other songs of rafi where in he creates a very attractive effect – really in slow songs like mere mehboob, yeh mera prem patra rafi was rafi and no body can challenge that.
Dear J K Bhagchandani ji,
Whenever people think about bollywood playback singers, kishore name is definitely remembered might be along with rafi, this should be known – the influence which has been cast by kishore kumar in hindi film stands unparalleled and rafi too is no match for that. Due to political issues for kishore kumar’s straightforwardness rafi could get some songs but rafi could never surpass kishore kumar after 1969, which year was the last year for rafi’s crown.
Regarding ahamed kutty who always talks about national awards – rafi did not get any national award for any of this so called great songs of 50’s and 60’s – somebody should correct me if I state that national award was not there in 50’s and 60’s, so how can he expect ghantasala to get a national award. Claiming k j yesudas bagging national award in 70’s and 80’s – good, but does that has any relevance here to be discussed. Telugu singer p suseela got the first national award in 1976 (ghantasala passed away in 1974 itself) – I do not know how Mr. ahamed kutty wants to link this national award issue. Rafi got some best playback singer awards, in his industry whereas ghantasala got the same award in his industry for his entire career of 30 years. National award has got no relevance here.
Dr. Chandrasekhar saab – thanks sir for your comments. We support genuine views and we had faced a lot of such things earlier in this forum, so wanted to give a stern response .
Maha Devika Ji,
All those songs you hinted above are enough proof of Rafi Sahab greatness. No body can match his singing prowess. He is above all singers and a unique singer created by the Almighty whose honey-soaked voice produces honey and sweetness, nothing else. I want to write volumes about rafi sahab, I feel it is an honour to praise such wonderful human being and a singer of par excellence.
Have a nice day rafians..
tHANKS ZAHEENDANISH BHAYYA! YOU AND ALL OTHER RAFI FANS, THE VOICE OF RAFI IS WHAT I AM LIVING FOR, MOST OF MY DAY IS SPENT LISTENING TO RAFI SAHAB AND LEARNING CLASSICAL SINGING, BESIDE COMPLETING MY EDUCATION. BY THE WAY I AM DOING O-LEVELS, AND INTEND TO DO PHD ON RAFI SAHAB, IF POSSIBLE. I HAVE ALSO STARTED RIGHTING THESIS OVER RAFI SAHAB VOICE, ONCE IT IS PUBLISHED IN SOME INTERNATIONAL ARTICLE, I’LL BE PROVIDING ALL OF RAFIANS THE LINK OR ORIGINAL COPIES, ONCE SPECIALLY REQUESTED FOR, WE ALL LOVE “THE VOICE”
SORRY THE SONG PST 2865 REFERS TO “MAIN YE SOCH KUR USKE DAR SE UTHA THA”
“ek janib shamme mehfil”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo6X0j6cn7w&feature=related
Low notes are superb.
notice the extreme”pathos” in rafi sahab voice, what magic it creates, listener start crying after listening to this one of the most sad songs rendered beautifully.
Enjoy!!!
Maha Devika Ji,
Thanks for your comments and the soft corner you have for our Rafi Sahab. Your posts are really amazing. Please keep posting such nice posts now and then.
Thank you again, God bless you.
“So baar janum lenge”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrYx5Q4fFAk&feature=related
Soft song, sweet, melodious, enthralling, amiable, euphonious, absorbing, mesmerizing, spellbinding, compulsive song by “the greatest indian singer, Rafi sahab
Ghantasalans,
Tell me frankly why Rafians should listen to your ego-laden verbal arguments, why? A big question mark???????
In fact, you have your own site, go there and applaud your singer; we do not have any objection to that. Why you people sneaking this site and using this as a ground for the telecast of your idol worthiness. why???? Why, you idol site is not enough for that??????
This site fully dedicated to the legend of legends, Mohd. Rafi Sahab, whoever visits this site will be enthralled to read the colorful articles / write-ups and listen his evergreen songs.
We do not have any ill-will against your idol. Therefore it clearly shows that you have burning jealousy in your hearts against this site which is evergreen and flourishing article after articles which are simply proclaiming the greatness of Rafi Sahab.
It is time now you all leave this site and make your idol site like rafi site; you make this as your mission from now on if you love truly your idol, Ghantasala instead of spending your time in arguments and in turn angry rafians abusing your idol. Even if you argue one hundred years you will be at the same place where you are now. Because Rafi is a legend and legends will not fade away from the memories with masses with false comments and arguments.
Long live Rafi Sahab………………….
The real story behind the song, ” aye muhabbat zindabaad”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-CgxwaMN0k
Naushad Sahab has narrated a lot of anecdotes about this movie in his interviews. My favorite is that K.Asif Sahab wanted the present world Tansen to sing the Tansen song. Naushad Sahab’s view was that Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was the present day tansen, but he would not agree to sing in a commercial movie. Nevertheless, K.Asif and Naushad Sahab approached Badu Ghulam Ali Khan sahab for a meeting. Bade Ghulam Ali Sahab, refused and finally out of deceny and to wriggle out of the situation, proposed an exorbitant amount (around Rs 50000/- if my memory serves me right for the song). K. Asif sahab took a deep drag from his cigarette, and with a chutki, tapped out the Ashes, and said : Sahab Aap Ki Kimat is se kahin zyada hai, diya! (Sir your value is much more than this, done). And thus Bade Ghulam Ali Sahab sang two numbers, Shub Din Aayo and Prem Jogan Ban Ke (I think the only one in Hindi films) for the movie! His most reputed disciple, Md Rafi Sahab sang this wonderful number
Dr. Chandrasekhar.
You are one more hypocrite, a hiding fox and a cunning smart “behrupiya” see his language and the way he writes his comments, it shows only his firing jealousy in his heart. Why these people have so much jealousy against Mohd. Rafi. It is a million dollar question. Any rafian can volumes of articles on this issue.
Our mission should be only to throw away all these unworthy stuff from this site. This is the pledge, I should fulfill this mission. It is very important to clean this site from garbage (ghantasalans) without any further delay.
Dheere Dheere Chal Chand Gagan Mein.
http://www.google.com.pk/search?sourceid=ie7&q=&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7SNNT_en-GBPK438PK438
Even lata is not able to face rafi sahab here, rafi simply excels and mesmerizes with the well-known,:”The rafi-magic”
Just notice the expressions rafi voice is conveying through his melodious voice, which is so much lacking in the co-singer’s voice
the way rafi sahab say”chall” “kattari”,”pilladi”, is just killing,
‘kafir song’ by legendry rafi sahab
cAN ANY BODY SING IN LOW NOTES BETTER THAN RAFI SAHAB.
“husn waley teraa jawaab nahin”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Mn3yAlDe8
“Ay Taza Gul ”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGzQNU1OD8U&feature=related
Abhishekh,
The hell has created by ghantasalans on this site; otherwise this is a peaceful place like a paradise. You bunch of jokers ever since come to this site, you made this place of Ashanti. You are such a menace here that your steps should not be on this site. You people are so inauspicious, “Panauti” for rafians. Your idol might be cursing you for defaming his name here at this site. You people will be all in hellfire who are plotting against a saint like singer Mohd. Rafi. A person who has a musical ears will tell you the truth who is mellifluous, Rafi Sahab or ghatasala. What a bunch of jokers invaded this site; these stupid lot must be removed from here ASAP. Otherwise there will be no shanti (peace) here. This ego-laden lot is really a Panauti for us.
“Dil ki mehfil sajji he challey ayyeye”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXshon1NXJs&feature=related
Another classical gem for rafi fans to enjoy. Love your voice rafi sahab.
“saaz ho tum, awaz hun main”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbHCTNFNK5k&feature=related
One of the best romantic song of rafi sahab is, “o sathi, o sathi hooo, o sathi, o saathi ho”, the way he uses word “sathi” is so sweet as one is telling his beloved that you are the dearest thing, to me in this whole world. this is the magic, rafi sahab is able to generate, only listening to the audio one can visualize the scene happening on cinema, even one can make out the hero he is giving the play-back for. i have never seen this in any singer, male or female, he was just gifted with extra-ordinary endowment by almighty. words must be feeling proud when sung by greatest rafi sahab. rafi sahab, why have you left us so soon, our thirst for your melodious songs will never quench. we all love you so much and respect you and regard you as the greatest singer of india, and all indian are proud to have you. rafiji, why these people are fighting, you had been such a sweet, noble and down to earth personality and these people are rediculing you, what they are getting out of it, it is only hurting the feelings of your true admirers like me, and my heart is shedding tears while my eyes are full of blood. god!please tell them to stop all this, and this is happening in the country of gandhiji who taught us to love not only our country-people but the whole mankind. To me, rafi sahab was above the religious demarcations. to me he is the most melodious singer, india has ever produce, if i say this whats wrong in this, why can’t such people tolerate, my likings, my love. o god! plz do something to stop them, or i’ll have to leave this great site with lotas and lots of tears and with a broken heart, the loss then will not be anybody’s excepting me as i have been reading great comments from some great commentators, letting me learn more about my singer, rafi sahab.
Ghantasala da spee bachayee, der murdor, muzukke key, ghulle shey cheest, mityazey key, rareydulla, randayee sarayee daa, o, kk kho ghundey key ghat randayee da, de spee bachaee, nurr shuzz, ramund, ghulle na duck duwarey.
“shor-kumar”, “g.sala”. Quacker!, quacker!, Quacker!
I really want to appreciate Mr. Kishore fan, Mr. Raj and others sandeep shrivastav ji etc. for their posts. Their posts are like a sunlight specially at a time darkness was appearing to be setting here. Really truth protects the truthful people in some form or other and in this case it has come in the form of genuine music lovers. I have full appreciations for your posts dear friends.
Dear friends
Sorry, very busy these days. Could not respond ?
Musharaff ji – Can’t a rafi fan be a ghantasala fan and a ghantasala fan be a rafi fan ? I am surprised by your latest post – you have totally twisted the story giving a question mark on your status as a “impartial music lover”
Just see Mr. Raj’s post – 2844 – and compare with Mr. Hans post.
You might have seen my earlier posts wherein I clearly mentioned i am not a telugu man, but settled in hyderabad for vocational purpose and knew ghantasala only from 2003, whereas I knew rafi from 70’s – and i need not prove my liking for rafi as my posts for the past 5 years in this col. speak for that and I do not want to repeat that. My comments on ghantasala were only in response to some wrong comments and lies being propogated by some rafi fans – hope the message is understood without any misunderstanding.
Next, I have clearly warned earlier, this kind of situation will arise – condemnation by outsiders and as I have said it happened. Why I have said this because, earlier same thing happened (2-3 years back) with kishore kumar fans too and that thread was closed due to over bickering (If i remember the thread was did r d burman prefer kishore kumar over rafi etc. in those lines) and just could foresee the consequences.
Binu nair ji
You have asked who is popular ghantasala or yesudas. The answer lies in your own analysis, and to say to your liking The who popular.com which is admired by you, makes ghantasala more popular than yesudas – after 37 years of death of ghantasala. You cannot disagree with that site, I know that.