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
Ashu, that’s your thinking, which is not correct at all.
Ashu, same stories, nothing new from you too.
Mr. Nair,
Out of 26k songs, how many Rafi’s songs are popular (bear to listen). It would not be more than 40%.
Take Kishore songs, it would be more than 80%
Nothing new from ur side, sheikh. It was expected 🙂
I heard Kishore trying to sing ‘man re tu kahe na…’, he was going off key.
Shahji,
here is reply for ur blog where u said kishore could not established him till 1969. He had very much established himself as an actor, even today i rated him one of the great comedian in indian industry.
MDs were not ready to accept him because they were more influeced by Urdu lyrics and semi classical tune. I have already mentioned in my prev. mail that if they could have tried kishore, he would have done better job than anybody else.
For e.g. listen kishore’s pays tribute to Rafi by singing “MAN RE TU KAHE NA DHEER DHARE”.
He got few semi-classical songs and i hope he proved himself, otherwise he could not have ruled indian idustry for 18 yrs. I hope you remebmebr his classicla/semi-classical songs. He was ahead of his time and so called veteran MDs were not ready to digest it.
Prakash dear:
are you talking about : ali peter john; if yes I will give you
his details soon..
Friends : the exact figure of rafi songs and of lata songs is not
available : its only guesswork ; so dont please fall in to this
discussion.
Kishore Kumar sang some 1900 songs which is a acceptable
fact as records are available…
binu nair
A gujarati writer padmanabh joshi at ahmedabad also fan of rafi and shankar jaikishan had also written somewere that bandini was not first film of gulzaar as a lyrics.
this writer met shankar jaikishan in his heydays and quite impressed by theire style of working and very intresting short stories with duo is mentioned in his book.
Way back in screen a film news paper by indian express there was a writer naming ALI – is any one help me if you have his contact?who met too many film celebrities and unlike devyani he was quite/pure and white coller journalist.
REF>POST 290:-Iknow i know that gulzar is not bengali but he associated with hrishikesh mukherji,bimalda,amiya chakraborty and highly influenced by bengali and bengal culture,go back in 70’s and see his list of movie, all are right from parichay,kinaara,khooshboo,golmaal, naukar,koshish,achanak,angooretc etc,were with RDB.
Basu chatterji had made PRIYATAMA,/ Chhoti chhoti batey/gora/chorni/chakravyuh/khata mitha,?and kk sang the song.Thats true both have rajesh and not rdb.Bhool jaali.
Pramod chakraborty,asit sen,ashok roy(Kora kaagaz fame) – naastik,jyoti,dream girl,maryaada,kasauti,.
I dont(clearly) see any dispute ar ignoring reason that J.om praksh or shakti samanta,or ramanand sagar,chopras,(Navrang studio)walas were not used rafi in theire movie and forgotten him but i think they were being dominated by distributors
and financier,so there were no point i see dat rdb was ignoring rafiji,MDs were puppet of producers and producere were puppet of financer.The one and only one truth is that every one worship sun rise and that was the era of kishoreda.and whats the wrong in it?
Swami,
thanks a lot providing and teaching us how versatile singer mohd.rafi was.
also considering Tumney muje dekha,Badan pey sitaare,tum jo mil gaye ho,etc.
But to be added in your list :Paoon chhoo lene,a song from Raj hath,saaz aur awaaz(title song),kahin be khayal ho key,jaata hoon main,mehfil se uth jaane walo,tum is tarah se mere are some of the rare and ever green expressional songs by rafiji.
Mr. Shah, just wanted to make a few corrections to your post. Gulzar is not a Bengali. Like Guru Dutt, he acts like a Bengali and married one. I am not aware of Basu Bhattacharyya using Kishore Kumar; in most of his films (Teesri Kasam, Aavishkar, Anubhav), the songs were sung by Manna, Mukesh and Geeta (what a voice!). Also, I am not aware if the other Basu (Chatterjee) had any particular affinity for Kishore; in fact in Us Paar, one of SD’s last films, Basu had used Rafi for “Ai mere man main hun magan”. Also, 10 years after Gambler, Basu used Rafi on Dev in Man Pasand. More on Shakti Samanta later. Pramod (Chakki), I think, used Rafi in Pratigya: “main jat yamla pagla diwana”. But you are right that Hrishi-da, like his mentor Bimal Roy, had no particular affinity for Rafi. These two were enamoured by Lata, with Bimal-da having a soft corner for Talat and Mukesh, and Hrishida having a soft corner for Mukesh and to a lesser extent Kishore. They also used Manna and Hemant effectively in some of their films.
Shakti Samanta’s case is much more complex because his popularity was based on Rafi’s vocals. From Chinatown to An Evening in Paris, Rafi produced hit after hit for Shakti Samanta. Rajesh Khanna’s superstardom with Aradhana and the success of its music changed all the equations of the game. Rajesh wanted a new voice and RD was more than happy to provide him with that; even if Shakti had wanted, there’s no way that the other two would have acquiesced. And after the success of the music of Amar Prem and Kati Patang, it made sense for a commercial film director like Shakti not to buck the trend. And I’ll tell you something that most non-Bengalis are not aware of. Shakti let RD record the music for the Bengali version of Aradhana, and guess who sang “Gunguna rahen hai bhanwre” and “Bagon mein bahar hai” in Bengali? Kishore and Rd, respectively. Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven’t heard any KK-RD fans say that the bengali versions were much better. But that may be coming soon, given that asha has become a full-fledged Bengali housewife and is continuing her propaganda (subtly, though) against Rafi (the favourite target of everyone!).
You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding rd. Most of my fellow Rafians don’t see eye to eye with me on this one, but it’s a fact that RD ruled the 1970-75 period, with Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand and most of the big banners backing him. Sorry to say, however melodious their tunes might have been, LP and KA could not fathom what hit them. If RD wanted Kishore, so be it. RD made Kishore the no. 1 singer in that period. Remember that SD had been producing hits with Kishore since the early 1950s, and even after the phenomenal success of Aradhana, he wouldn’t have eased Rafi out of his recording room. But he like others had to fight for his place, and finally under pressure from producers and actors, he gave up. Please note that he loved Kishore a lot but there was always that special admiration for Rafi. SD created magic mainly with three singers, Rafi, Lata and Kishore, and he was willing to sacrifice one of them to stay in the race. And all this was because of RD. During the 1970-75 time period, in the no. 2 slot, I would select SD, ahead of LP and KA. A similar situation had arisen during the 1955-60 time period, when op had gone ahead of sd, sj and naushad, but I think in rd’s case, the effect was even stronger.
myk, if you are listening, here’s what I think what sd would have done if he were alive after hkkn. Seeing that Rafi has made a comeback with his son’s compositions, he would have immediately summoned Rafi to his recording room. The operative word for sd was “click”; if the serve clicked, he had no qualms about dumping his main singer. Study his career carefully and you’ll discover the following: he makes Geeta his main singer, then dumps her in favour of Lata, fights with Lata and makes Asha his main singer, then patches up with Lata and makes her his main singer, discovers Kishore, makes Rafi his main singer for more than a decade, dumps Rafi and makes Kishore his main singer, and after Rafi proclaims Hum kisise kum nahin… ??? Didn’t want to say such things in the other forum about a person who is arguably the best music director ever, but that’s as close to the truth you can get. kya se kya ho gaya, burman da?
Sayed Zaka, Rafi Saheb himself had said he sang more than 26000 songs, I have an interview of Rafi Saheb saying it.
Husaain saab and asu. I m also a great fan of one and only Rafi Saab. Hussain plz dont say anything if you have no confirmed knowledge Rafi Saab got 6 film fare awards while KK got 8 it happend because in starting for 4 or 5 year there was no award for play back catagory and when it startted from 1959 it had combined category male and female till 1964 So u can feel why there is difference and one thing more whatever u read in magzine or paper it is totally wrong that Rafi saab sang more than 26000 songs. Actually he sang in his entire carrier in all languages not more than 6000 songs while KK sang only 3500 songs
And Mr asu U r an emotional fan so u prefer KK. Rafi Saab started his carrier in 1944 and kk in 1948 there was only 4 ye 4 ars difference and u can imagine the difference of success between them before 1969 why KK was not established because there was only era of clasiical or semi classical music and our music directors were more tallented so it was very difficult to KK to proof himself. KK was helpless to sing for himself or Dev Anand for his starting period, after along time he prooved himself when Rafi Saab was on tour. I think Rafi throughout in his carrier he maintained hs position if u dont ignore his beautiful nunbers between 1969 to 1976 U raised a point Rafi regained his position when KK was banned. For how many days KK was banned do u know ? There was a great hand of Rafi Saab to release him from banned
Mr. haldar,
I repsect you if u r older than me. Here is my answer to ur questions:
1. Nasir hussain did not dump R D after ZKDH, He dumped him after Manzil Manzil and Zabardast. Since his songs and movies were not doing well at box office, all big director started ignoring him, and Nazir Hussain is one of them. The biggest reason behind R D’s failure was KK’s absence. His last hit with KK was “LAVA”
2. Dev Anand did not dump him. He worked with R D in ANAND aur ANAND
3. Someone means who
4. May be true
5. Obviously
Now tell me, How he help so many actors, directors, producers and MD?
Don’t tell me following things:
1. Shammi become superstar because of him
2. O P Nayyar become famous because of him
This is all rubbish.
Let me reply you on ur tap and paper comment.
Everybody has their own style. For e.g few people try to put diagram on Paper, and few directly put it into Tool. For me, there is no difference.
I hope i answer ur question.
Be happy
Refer to post 284 : to add one more dumped that his(R.D) god father Mehmood had also left him in kunwara baap and introduce us rajesh roshan.
Also one more reason why kk started no.1 position is mentioned in my earlier post that after aradhana success all producers were behind sd,rd,and kk and one more reason that on same era mainly hrisida,gulzar,pramod chakraborty,shakti samant,basu chatterji/bhattacharya (were bengali )and they dominate hindi film industries for more than 7yrs (69 to 76)and utilised kk (a bengali)fully, but i think that whatever happen so happen but we cinegoers are fortunate to listen kk’s some of the most beautiful songs today.
Ashu :
Sorry: nafrat ki duniya song was sung by rafi saab as L.P. rightly
felt Kishore would not be able to sing it….
Kishore was upset by this : and rafi strode ahead of Kishore :
by a solitary song in Haathi Mere Saathi over Kishores 4 songs in
the movie..
We rafi- ians like the works of Kishore and also of R.D. BURMAN
but we do not follow them blindly……rafi- ians are balanced sort
of people and also moderate……
This does not mean we cannot be extremist – we restrain on most
occassions…
binu nair
Dear Ashu,
Since you are much younger than me, I am taking the liberty of saying a few things to you. I have always maintained that Kishore was a great singer; I really enjoy listening to songs like “Phoolon ke rang se” and “Yeh jo mohabbat hai” composed by senior and junior Burman, respectively. It is perfectly legitimate for you to like Kishore and Mukesh more than Rafi. But never cross the “lakshman rekha”, of coming to this forum and repeating one untruth after another. We can also hit below the belt but we don’t do so in the memory of someone who never spoke ill of anyone. But, for a change, let me ask you how you’d feel if we say things like the following about rd:
1. heard that nasir hussain dumped him after zkdh because he couldn’t deliver the goods.
2. heard that even dev anand dumped him in favour of rajesh roshan.
3. heard that someone called Bappi lahiri took away his market.
4. heard that he had a series of 26 flops.
5. heard that he hit the bottle because he couldn’t stand failure anymore.
Feels bad, right? All the things I’ve stated are actually true but that doesn’t detract from his phenomenal talent. It doesn’t make Bappi a greater MD. RD came like a comet and vanished like one. So what? When we judge him, we’ll have to look at his best work, the incredible music he created in the 1970s. So please do not follow that same line of reasoning for Rafi. You’ll have to remember that Rafi never flopped. In the 70s, the number of songs he sang was marginally less than Kishore’s. But in terms of quality, he didn’t get the type of songs he was so used to getting in the 50s and the 60s. Post-1976 he started getting a large number of big-banner songs (Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai, B. R. Chopra, …) and if he had survived, we would have known for sure who was more popular with the younger crowd.
You have referred to Rajesh Roshan; here’s what he had to say about Rafi:
“I really miss him. People complain that present-day music is not up to the mark, but then where are the singers who could, like Rafisaab did, enhance a song four-fold?You can listen to Rafisaab throughout the day and get tremendous peace of mind.I remember he never took a song back on tape to learn it, but remembered it completely by heart, even if the recording was a week later, as happened with ‘Chal kahin door nikal jaaye…’ (Doosara Aadmi). He would just write out the words on a piece of paper and would be perfect in all the small detailing on the day of the recording. When I went for rehearsals to his house, he would lift the harmonium himself from its place and refuse to let me or anyone else do it for him. When you entered his house, it was like entering a temple. To my surprise, my hand would automatically touch the marble of his gate and then go to my head!â€
Did you read the last sentence? That’s the kind of respect people in the music community had for Rafi. When he died, the entire music world was at his feet. Have minimum respect for a man who established playback singing as a popular art form and helped so many actors, directors, producers and music directors succeed. He loved RD also and would have definitely lent him a helping hand at his time of need had he not left us.
We grew up at a time when there was no internet or a site called orkut. In fact, many of us got addicted to his voice before we recognised his face. We didn’t have the opportunity to write critical analyses like the way the 20-year-olds do nowadays. But God had given us a pair of ears and we used that to maximum advantage: listening to at least 10 Rafi songs a day.
Rafi Saheb sang 26000 songs in his entire musical career, while kishore kumar sang 5000 songs in his entire musical career, so, why Kk couldn’t surpass Rafi Saheb if he was more talented than Rafi Saheb? Rafi Saheb had 6 Filmfare awards till 1980 and KK had 3 till 1980… so…. that’s it dear ashu.
I read in a ‘Star & Style’ magazine while at the recording of a duet “Mere dildaar ka baankpan Allah Allah…’ from a movie called ‘deedar-e-yaar’, Kishore had difficulty in singing that song, but Rafi Saheb had explained KK how to sing it. Even jeetendra was present in that recording session.
I agree you can sing ‘kya huwa tera waada…’, but cannot express the feelings that the legend did… anybody can sing, but the most important thing is to create a feeling in the song!
Rafi Saheb could do justice to any song given to him! He was a complete singer, he can what the music directors wanted. He was so versatile that i do not have words to describe here. I agree KK was a great singer no doubt, but Rafi Saheb was the best of all.
Rafi Saheb was never down, who said there was not much competetion among singers in the 50s and 60s? Mukesh and Manna Dey were seniors to Rafi Saheb, Talat Mahmood was there, G M Durrani was there and all these being great singers, even KK was there ( ha ha ha), but Rafi Saheb was ahead of all till his death. Why you don’t understand dear? Even KK had said Rafi Saheb was his favourite singer!! Even KKs brother late Ashok Kumar’s favourite was Rafi Saheb, frankly I enjoy KKs some songs, but my all time favourite is one and only one Rafi Saheb.
Mr. Hussein,
“Kya hua tera wada” is easiest song, even i can sing. Regarding “Nafrat ki Duniya” there were lot of confusion created by Rafi fans.
I must say Kishore was nervous starter, Whenever he gets some songs he alway recommend Rafi’s name. For e.g. Nafrat Ki Duniya, Haal Kya hai, Wada tera wada etc.
Sometime MD agrees and sometime not. I will tell u real story abt Dushman movie song (WADA TERA WADA). When Laxmikant played this songs, kishore said Rafi’s voice suit this song better, but LP both insisted and convince Kishore that noone can sing better than him, and it resulted true.
Do u think Rafi could have justice to this songs?
There was one song in Prem Kahani, “PHOOL AHISTA PHENKO”. Originally Rafi suppose to sing this song, but after some debate LP agreed with Mukesh.
Hussein,
I think u got me wrong. I wrote with respect to 70’s.
First 3 movies, Rafi sang for him and all r musical hits.
Do u know Hussein, there was not much competition among singers in 50’s and 60’s.
Kishore was singing for himself, and sometimes for Dev Anand.
Mukesh for Raj Kapoor, so Rafi was unanimous choice because that time Urdu was primary language in Indian Cinema.
Why Rafi could not maintain the same position after 69.
Again he came in limelight after 76 due to ban on Kishore’s Songs and multi starrer movie.
I would like to make one thing very clear, i am big fan of Rafi and Biggest of Kishore.
Nasir Hussain’s was a musical man, his first choice was Rafi Saheb in each of his movies! Who was R D Burman? Listen to the songs from ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Caravan’, ‘Pyar Ka Mausam’, etc… and now do not say R D gave Rafi Saheb a new life!
KK had no guts to sing ‘kya huwa tera waada…’, KK even failed to sing ‘Nafrat ki duniya ko chhod ke…’ from ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’.
It was Rafi Saheb’s magical voice that all composers were after him. They knew Rafi Saheb was a complete singer, an allrounder. KK was just ok. SJ’s favourite was also Rafi Saheb. Does this mean you have more knowledge in music than the composers whose 1st chice was Rafi saheb?
r. d. burman allowing Rafi to sing “Kya huwa tera wada”! What a statement! do you know who produced the film? Nasir Hussain, the man who was responsible for RD’s rise. And that man forced RD to make sure that Rafi sang “Kya huwa tera wada”. The difference between Nasir and Dev is that the former was grateful for what Rafi did for him; the latter is an ingrate to the core.
Let me tell you something else. “Kya huwa tera wada” would not even feature in my top 50 Rafi songs. But it was enough for him to make a comeback. If your loRD had given even 25% of his catchy tunes to Rafi earlier, the comeback would have in 1973-74, not in 1976. It was Rafi’s misfortune that he didn’t get too many good songs to sing during the 1971-75 period. And if Rafi had not passed away prematurely in 1980, he might have been able to save your loRD’s dwindling fortunes in the 1980s. Rafi has promoted and saved the careers of so many people in the industry that it is futile to list their names.
Hussein,
If u know little music, then u must be knowing that if composition is not good, noone can make song famous.
It is not Rafi who helped Nayyar to become famous. It is both way.
Mr. Halder,Sorry i could not read ur blog, so i did not reply.
Here is reply for ur blog.
I can understand ur feeling and why u r abusing Dev Anand.
Dev knows his choice better than u.
Do u think Rafi could sing “Pholo ke rang se dil ki kalam se…” as good as kishore. No way. It is not his cup of tea.
Regarding “Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare”, After Rafi’s intakal, Kishore paid tribute to Rafi by singing this song in KHANDWA.
Why you people are behind Burmans, is it because they helped Kishore to remove Rafi from top singer chair?
Don’t forget it was R D who gave re-birth to Rafi by allowing him to sing “KYA hua tera wada”
As per Haldar (great knowledge of simle an dcomplex songs), it is very comlex songs which Rafi only could see. 🙂
I think anyone could sing this songs, but because of multi starrer this song went to Rafi and again Rafi came in lime light.
O P nayyar was famous, but Rafi Saheb’s songs made him more famous. O P Nayyar was one of my favourite music directors along with Naushad, SJ, LP, Madan Mohan,… to name a few.
Your rating doesn’t change the facts. That’s your thinking. Rafi Saheb is and will always remain the greatest ever singer.
Rafi Saheb was O P Nayyar’s first choice, now what does this mean? O P Nayyar was never on top after spliting with Rafi Saheb. What Binu Nairji and P Halarji have said is correct and true.
I still appreciate RAFI. I think i am great admirer of Rafi along with Kishore.
Wherever i go, i carry my CD pouch containing KK, Rafi and Mukesh songs.
Please go through Kishore Kumar Interview in YOUTUBE, especially Part 5 to Part 14.
U will really know manything abt him. I am fond of collecting KISHORE and RAFI inetrview.
I rate them as follows:
– KISHORE
– MUKESH
– RAFI
I am sure you did not like, but it is true.
Very well said P Haldar.
Mr. Biju,
O P Nayyar did not become famous because of Rafi. And first of all, Nayyar did not repent for this rift.
He leaved his glorious life as Rafi.
Rafi was good human being, so definitely he helped many composer.
Be cheers.
Ashu, Mahendra Kapoor’s songs in “Kismat” were ok, but couldn’t save the movie as it was a total flop, whereas, ‘Baharein Phir bhi Aayengi’ had very nice and far better songs by Rafi Saheb of which you didn’t mention. Later after Rafi Saheb passed away in 1980, O P Nayyar had said that he made great mistake by spliting with Rafi Saheb. I know that you’ll appreciate Rafi Saheb and his songs after you cross 40 years of your age.
Dear fellow rafians:
don’t waste your time in responding to people who provide quotes out of context. op did mention in one of his interviews that rafi saab cried when they got reunited. That is out of immense respect this humble, down-to-earth singer had for this great composer. What this “knowledgeable person” didn’t tell you is that in the same interview, op conceded that his biggest blunder was to turn this farishta out of his recording room. And what was Rafi’s fault? He was a little late for a rehearsal. For someone who was recording three to five songs a day, is that such a major problem? What infuriated op was not that Rafi was a little late, but because Rafi said that he was late because he was recording an SJ song. Rafi was caught in the cross-fire between op and sj. If you recall, in 1958, sj used him to sing “tin kanistar peet peet kar” to snub op. Big egos have ruled the music world since the 40s, and the foremost among them are Sajjad Hussain, Anil Biswas, Naushad, C. Ramchandra, O. P. Nayyar and Salil Choudhury. And when they said something, you’ll have to understand the context in which those statements were made.
For folks who come to this forum and quote out of context, here are a few other statements that OP had made:
without rafi there would be no op
there will never be another mohammed rafi
please do not compare the two [do you understand which two he is talking about?]
Now let’s talk about Naushad. Most of his tunes are invariably intricate and complex. It is true that Kishore Kumar was not meant for his tunes. In fact, after Andaz, he shifted from Mukesh to Rafi primarily because Mukesh could not reach the high octaves he demanded for his compositions. The only other male singer who could have done justice to his compositions was Manna, but I doubt whether he’d have the same effect. A music director’s primary responsibility is to compose and then think of the singer who can deliver it. If Kishore couldn’t deliver it, it’s Kishore’s problem, not Naushad’s.
SD and SJ were different because they created a lot of simple but catchy songs that the aam junta would like. And sd, more than any other music director, realised the virtue of using kishore in these songs. He used rafi too in many such songs. But for the more complex compositions, he invariably turned to rafi, who was always his first serve. sd had some of the most talented assistants, including N. Datta, Jaidev and the enfant terrible of film music. The first was always in favour of Rafi (“Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi”). The second made sure that “Jalte hain jiske liye” went to Talat and the third slyly made Kishore record “Roop tera mastana”. sd had composed both these songs for Rafi. There was so much politics in the Burman royal family that one can make a film on it. Add Dev Anand to the mix and then you will see what Sd was fighting against. This ingrate doesn’t even recognise the role Rafi played in his career! Dev dumped Sd and rafi in hrhk and you can see what happened to his career graph after that. The guy, I am sorry to say, doesn’t understand music.
Coming to what Pyarelal said about Kishore, let me ask this “knowledgable person” why was this question posed in the first place? Did anyone ever ask any md “can rafi sing all kinds of songs?” Does this knowledgable person understand that it would have been impolite for Pyare to say “no, he cannot sing all kinds of songs”. Would this knowledgable person go and ask Pyare whether Kishore would have sung “chahoonga main tujhe saanj savere” better than Rafi?
According to this knowledgable person, Kishore could sing all songs that Rafi sung equally effectively or better. If he thinks that Kishore sang “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” better than Rafi, he should immediately consult an ent specialist. If the ent specialist thinks that there is nothing wrong with his ears, he should go and consult a psychiatrist.
Amen.
Dear Ashu : Pl. do no read too much between the lines…..
It was Nayyars mistake and biggest folly to shun Rafi….
You know what : rafi had already made his name and money and
he never chased cash…
He wanted new artistes to come up and he tried his best and told
a composer friend : tu si upar aao… tell me how many songs I
have to sing for you… dont bother about the money part….
Ashu bhai : doodh deti huwi gai ki laat bhi kabhi sehna padhta hai…
O.P. Nayyar erred and suffered which he admitted later on..
rafi saab was an emotional person and to cry is no sin…. its a
human trait… he did’nt cry for a song .. but for the relationship
what he had with Nayyar saab…..
rafi saab has helped out many composers which I am aware and
Nayyar saab was one of them – when he was down and out…..
Many facts make a truth sir….
binu nair
Yes, now u’ve accepted that what i wrote was true.
U r correct, Nayyar tried with mahendra Kapoor and for ur kind information it was not washed out.
Bahare phir bhi aayengi and Kismat were great example…
Autobiography can be fake, O P Nayyar was totally down after he broke out with Rafi Saheb, O P Nayyar tried with Mahendra Kapoor, but didn’t success and was washed out.
This is true, boss.
I am just 31. I was not there, but i read it in O P nayyar autobiography.
God bless u.
Rafi Saheb cried in front of O P Nayyar, as if ashu was present there! Unbelievable.
Mr. Rajkumar Akela,
I am sorry to say that “Aap ke naam ke anusar aap ki soch bhi akeli or thakeli hai”.
I am surprised to know that Rafi could not sing in 70’s much due to his haj pilgrimage programme. Boss, If you remember there are few great songs sung by Rafi during 70’s…
1. Patta Patta buta buta haal hamara jaane hai
2. Tere ishq ka mujh pe hua e asar hai
3. Few songs from Yaddon ki Baarat, Amar Akbar and Anthony, Karz and Sargam.
DO u mean all above songs he sang from Macca, give me a break 🙂
There is no doubt that Naushad, O P Nayyar,Khayyam and Madan mOhan was brillian music composer.
Let me go one by one..
1. Naushad – He clearly said in one of interview that he could not compose music which suits KK. I consider this as Naushad inability.
Note: O P Nayyar did not work with Lata, Does it mean Asha or Suman Kalyanpur is better than Lata?
2. O P Nayyar – If you remember Nayyar stopped working with Rafi in late 60’s. Rafi cried like baby in front of him and pursuing him to give another chance.
3. Khayyam – My fav. Khayyam’s composition are from
” thodi si bewafai”
” Kabhi- kabhi”
” Dil-e-Nadan”
Kishore is alywas best with Khayyam
4. Madan Mohan – He is fond of Rafi, but ultimately he worked with Kishore.
My comment on KK can not sing song like ********
“Kishore could sing any songs”, this is not my word, Pyarelal said once. I believe, Manna Dey could see all songs you have mentioned in ur blog better than Rafi.
KK not only sang for SD/RD, he sang for Chitragupt(Good composition), Rajesh Roshan (My Fav. Music Composer) and many more. I think LP utilised his potential better than RD.
I think or rather i am sure that there are many Kishore’s songs Rafi could not sing with same feeling…
1. Mere hosh le lo diwna bana do
2. Yaado me wo jaaye kaha
3. Pyar Ajnabi hai
I am having huge colection of Kishore and Rafi songs. You will surprise to know that i am listening Rafi ” Chhoo le ne do najuk Hoton ke” now..
May god bless you and give you good ear and soul.
Sorry if i hurt u.
ashu
Unfortunately it is an year back discussion between the so called asu/aswani and few Rafi Saab fans, but I would like to add few points that this aswani should know. True, Rafi Saab was not so busy during 1970-1976 because of his haj pigrimage programmes and an oppotunist grabbed this opportunity. ok ! it was his luck. He sang a number of popular songs. He sang only popular songs because the tunes of the songs were melodious mainly composed by sD and rD. He was never a good singer in the eyes of veteran music composers like Naushad Ali, OP Nayyar, Khayyam and madan mohan who rarely used his voice. Can you deny the greatness of these magical composers ? I think they understand music and melody better than you aswani. I do not know what you know about music, I have been a musician since last 40 years and I know kk can not sing a song like “KUHOO KUHOO BOLE KOYALIA” or “MADHUBAN ME RADHIKA” or “O DUNIYA KE RAKHWALE”. You will be sorry to know that he was not able to sing even a small classical part of his song ” KE PAG GHUNGROO BANDH MIRA NACHI ” KK may be a popurar singer becuse of the melodious tunes of SD and RD but when a pathetic scene appears on the screen, we need Rafi Saab to sing “ZINDAGI TO BEWAFA HAI EK DIN THUKRAEGI…” Got it baby ! So next time when you use your fingers on your keyboard please think again and again before writing a word about Rafi Saab. May God increase your musical knowledge ! Amen!
TO SWAMI NATHAN JI,
I HEARD THAT YOU ARE INTO MUSIC ASSOCIATIONS GROUP IN CHENNAI.
CAN I PLEASE KNOW THE ADDRESS OF THE SAME IN CHENNAI SO THAT I CAN COME TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT. MY E-MAIL ID IS RPADM@REDIFFMAIL.COM. PLEASE YOUR PHONE NUMBER ALSO.
THANKING YOU,
PADMANABHAN
MUHAMMAD RAFI – LIVE IN CONCERT [DVD]
PLEASE NOTE: THAT THE ORIGINAL FOOTAGE HAS BEEN PASSED ONTO A PROFESSIONAL DVD TRANSFER SERVICE FOR ALL LOYAL FANS OF THE MASTER
[RESPONSE GIVEN TO FAIZAL WHO SUGGESTED THE ABOVE SERVICE]
First of all thanks a million for getting back to me with your stupendous comments concerning the video footage of the Master, which I have followed and carried out by sending off the original vhs to a proper professional service centre. I’m hoping that they will give me a fast response relating to the quality of the contents on the cassette, as it’s already been through many battles over the last 25 years or so.
The only reason that I have taken these steps is that your comments hit me right on the nail like a hammer, after all since I am advertising the dvd for sale… so let’s go further by improving and enhancing the picture and sound quality. Could you imagine me offering it to anyone and then having to receive complaints over a botched up cowboy job, and after all it will save me from all those criticisms in the future.
The actual concert footage is over 2 hours
It kicks off with ‘Bari Door Se Aaye Hain’ and ends with ‘Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Piyar Tera’
Muhammad Rafi is wearing a white suit on stage
I leave you now with peace and prosperity for the future!
KHUDA HAFIZ
MUHAMMAD RAFI – LIVE IN CONCERT
Muhammad Rafi was an outstanding singer and one of the most influential playback singers that our part of the world has ever produced, a voice which captured millions of heart’s and whose songs touched all generations.
This is the second time that I am going to comment about the master, who I had the privilege as a child to watch on stage at Bradford’s St George’s Hall, West Yorkshire [UK]. I actually grew up listening to his melodious voice as it soared all around me, whether I was watching a movie or listening to the radio set.
There came a time in my life when I was just ten years old, that I got the chance of watching Muhammad Rafi [The Legend] live on stage and in person performing live to a captivated audience. I had to be forced to go by one of my family friends who had bought 2 tickets for us both, so he literally had to twist my arm into going with him.
However whilst attending the gig I was totally baffled at what I had just experienced on stage, he was right ahead of me… yes Muhammad Rafi Sahab singing live. He kicked off the show with ‘Bari Door Se Aaye Hain’, followed by many of his recent hits and past famous songs such as ‘Hum Bekhudi Main Sanam’, ‘Parda Hai Parda’, ‘Hum To Chale Pardes’, ‘Kiya Hua Tera Vaada’, ‘Sar Par Topi Lal Rumal’, ‘O Duniya Ke Rakhwale’, ‘Punjabi track’, and some other hits.
It’s been a long time now and for a ten year old it’s very hard to remember, but I never ever forgot that memorable night as some of it’s contents were captured onto one of those old movie cameras. Which were later distributed onto vhs tapes in the 80’s and sold for ridiculous high prices to anyone interested in buying a copy.
My dear father bought himself a copy of that recording which I’ve watched innumerable times over the last 25 years or so, but my vhs tape is failing me now in 2007. So I am going to have it’s contents transferred onto dvd format, once I manage to grab myself a good machine… it’s been over 2 months now since my last post in December 2006, but would you believe it – I’m still looking for one.
Once it’s been transferred entirely all onto dvd quality format, I can then distribute it by offering it to any buyers who will be interested in buying themselves a rare recording of the legendary Muhammad Rafi live in concert. Before all that I would like to put some clips on you tube first, just to give you a small little taste of what’s to come in the near future.
You may email me whenever you have the time
altaf786hussain@hotmail.co.uk
IS IT WISE TO SPEND TIME IN COMPARING RAFI SAHAB WITH OTHER SINGERS. RAFI WAS AND SO FAR THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION OF SINGING. A PERSON CAN REACH MANNA DEY OR KISHORE’S STANDARD BUT TO REACH RAFI IS A TOUGH TOUGH JOB. SO FAR NO ONE HAS COME EVEN HALF WAY CLOSE TO HIM. HE WAS UNIQUE. HE WAS DIFFERENT. HE COULD SING ALL SO EASILY AND I BET HE COULD SING ALL THE KISHORE KUMAR SONGS SO MUCH BETTER JUST LIKE THAT!DONT COMPARE A LION WITH A RAT GUYS!
Rafi sahab indeed the best singer of all time. Rafi always the best singer than any other singer whether it is kk. Amitabh bachchan {bollywood shanshah} also said NA FANKAAR TUJHSA TERE BAAD AAYA. Rafi sang more than 26000 songs in only 35 years of his career while kk only 5000 songs. What can be the reason. THINK———-
The reason is– Rafi was the first choice of maximum and established music composers
I mention few songs that could not be sung by kk or any other singer as rafi sang.
sad and sentimental songs——-
Aye mohbaat zindabad
o duniya ke rakhwale
mohbbat zinda rehti hai
kar chale hum fida
toote hue khwabon ne
na tu zamin ke liye
tera kaam hai jalna
{and many more}
for kids——
chhun chhun karti aayi chiriya
chakke mein chakka
happy birthday to you
{and many more}
bhajan——
mann tarapat hari darshan ko
sukh ke sab sathi
raghupaty raghav raja raam
radhike tune bansari churayi
{and many more}
rocking——
jaan pehchaan ho
chahe koi mujhe jungli
{and many more}
funny—-
sar jo tera chakraye {absolutly unmatched}
yeh bombay meri jaan
yeh duniya gol hai
{and many more}
rural—–
yeh desh hai veer jawano ka
aewe duniya…koi main jhooth boliya
ramyya vasta veyyaa
mere desh mein pawan chale purwayi
pipra ke patwa sarikhe dole manwa
{and many more}
humanity—–
tu hindu banega na musalman banega
saathi haath badhana
{and many more}
patriotic—–
sarfaroshi ki tamanna(sung tow times for two films with different musician)
aye watan humko teri kasam
watan ki raah mein
watan pe jo fida hoga
jahaan daal daal par
{and many more}
duets——
ek pardesi mera dil le gaya
o leke pehla pehla pyar {sweetest voice forever}
parbton ke pedon par
thehriye hosh mein
jo waada kiya woh
chhari re chhari
neel gagan par urte badal
gotedaar lehnga
sar par topi
teri duniya se door
laagi chhote na
{and many more}
husn ki tareef—–
husn se chand bhi sharmaya hai
jaan-e-bahar husn tera
main nigahe tere chehre se hatau kaise
jab mohbbat jawan hoti hai {sweetest voice}
subhan allah haseen chehra
{and many more}
shadi songs——
aaj mere yaar ki shadi hai
yaar tere sab naach rahe
mera yaar bana hai dulha
ghori pe hoke sawar
{and many more}
ghazal—–
aye taza waridan-e-bisat-e-hawa-e-dil (mirza ghalib)[fully unmatched]
maine socha tha agar maut se pehle
Qad-o-gesu
{and many more}
PEOPLE WHO CONSIDER KK BETTER SINGER THAN RAFI I THINK THEY HAVE NOT LISTENED TO RAFI ENOUGH AND WITH HEART. THEY ALSO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC. PLEASE GO TO A ESTABLISHED MUSICIAN LIKE NAUSHAD AND COMPARE THEN.
“SAB SE JUDA JISKA ANDAAZ HAI
ZAMEEN TO KYA FALAK JISKI PARVAAZ HAI
WAHI JIS PE SANGEET KO NAAZ HAI
MOHD RAFI KI WOH AAWAAZ HAI”
“kishore ki nahi hai”
i have writen much. my fingers are getting tired so i have to stop.
you are welcomed here
vip5km@yahoo.co.in