By Vijay Bavdekar

Mohd Rafi and Dev Anand

In one Musical programme Burmanda honoured Rafi as “All Time Great“. It was always said that Kishore was Burmanda’s first choice for Dev Anand, also it is an open truth that Burmanda had a special feeling for Kishore, rather Kishore was his weak point, and so he created special tunes for him which were picturised on Dev Anand. Though Kishore was projected as Dev’s voice, in my opinion facts are somewhat different. So without prejudice, let us have a flashback. (more…)

By Nadeem Sundoo

Mohd Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar, Shankar Jaikishan and others

There’s a lot of talk around the net about who is the best singer; Rafi, Lata, Asha or Kishore. And most of the articles are very subjective, the bias to one or another artist is clearly seen, be it pro-Rafi, pro-Lata, pro-Asha or pro-Kishore.

Ignoring the subjective articles there’s also a lot of objective articles comparing the various aspects of singing such as voice modulation, expression, power, sweetness and feelings just to name a few. These articles give a very clear indication about who, objectively seen, is the best singer India has ever produced – if ever there was any doubt. Some articles also talk about Mohammad Rafi’s impact and contribution to the music industry, but I have never encountered any article about the impact of his death on the music industry. And thinking about it I realized that it maybe holds the strongest argument for his superiority over all other Indian singers. (more…)

By Salim K

Mohd Rafi

Mohammed Rafi is a name that takes a few seconds to pronounce but the unmatched talent, achievement, success and grace of the man is so large, diverse and unique that it would take a lifetime to appreciate the miracle of God. Yes Mohammed Rafi is nothing less than a miracle and miracles are rare and do not come cheap, nor they are a daily affair and nor they have any limitations. (more…)

By Amarjit Singh Kohli, founder chairman of Yaadgar-e-Rafi society

Mohammad Rafi claimed to have sung 28,000 songs. He didn’t go beyond 5,000.

Legendary singer Mohammad Rafi had a 36-year-long career. But till 1991, there was no clarity on the total number of songs he sang. If we go by the articles and programmes on Rafi in the media, this number is somewhere around 28,000. However, this seems unrealistic, as 28,000 songs in 36 years means that Rafi sang an average of 777 songs each year. Out of the 36 years, if we subtract the years between 1970-76, when Kishore Kumar emerged as the most popular singer and Rafi did not get many singing contracts, the average comes to about 1,000 songs a year. This means 2.74 songs per day. This is not humanly possible. (more…)

By Biman Baruah

(Shardhanjali to Rajesh Khanna)
NAFRAT KI DUNIYA KO CHOD KAR PYAR KI DUNIYA MEIN KHUSH REHNA MERE YAAR

This is the only Mohammed Rafi song aired when actor Rajesh Khanna passed way on 18^th July, 2012 due to prolong illness and his funeral procession crowded by mourners in the street which made a mark after 32 years, last seen at the time of funeral of Rafi Sahab. The song created a history in Hindi Film Music. The producers and actor of the film Haathi Mere Saathi (earlier named as Pyar Ki Duniya) wanted all the songs are to be recorded in the voice of Kishore Kumar. But after several attempt, Kishore Kumar unable sing this heartbreaking song as desired by the composers then tussle begin between producer, actor and music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal. (more…)

By Shashikant Dubey and Ahamed Kutty

Mohd Rafi

I am a huge fan of Rafi Saahab. When i was around 10 in the year 1993, the first song that I heard of his voice was ‘Yahoo!! Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe. At that time I did not knew who was Rafi, then I heard another gem of his and that was ‘Aaj Mausam Bada Beimaan Hai Bada‘. (more…)

By Achal Rangaswamy

Mohd Rafi Sahab and Rakesh Khanna

A slim, almost impoverished looking young man, albeit with a twinkle in his eye and a charming smile, wooed his lesser known heroine in a low-budget film. The film would go on to be sent to various film festivals, become known as the first film in which Bhupendra sang a solo, but most people would not remember it as the first film in which the winner of a major talent hunt would be playing the hero.

Jatin Khanna, now rechristened as Rajesh Khanna wooed Chand Usmani, who would later go on to play either sister to heroes in B grade films or maybe the mujre wali in B- grade films. But the song that was chosen for this occasion was hauntingly beautiful.  The hero urges the lady to stay on, by singing “ aur kuchh der thaher aur kuchh der na ja….”. The song was rendered flawlessly. (more…)

By Salim K

Anand Bakshi with Laxmikant, Amitabh and Rafi sahab during the recording

Rafi sahab is probably the only singer whose voice would suit all actors and stars irrespective of the decade and their age. Even though Raaj kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Amitabh Bachan and Rajesh Khanna were considered synonymous with Mukesh, Mahendra and Kishore , the songs Rafi Sahab has sung for them  occupy a special place in the careers of these actors and HFM in general.  For example who can forget eternal melodies like  “baazi kisene Pyar ki sung for RK in film Nazarana”, “ Bhari Duniya mein Akhir Dil” sung for Manoj Kumar in Do Badan and “Teri Bindiya Re” sung for AB in Abhiman. There are many more such beauties that Rafisahab has sung for these stars.  Needless to say all these  stars had and have the greatest love, respect and admiration for Rafi Sahab. (more…)

Compiled by: Sri Biman Baruah, a resident of Gokuldham ONGC Colony, Film City Road, Goregaon(East), Mumbai-400063.

Mohd Rafi Sahab and Dr. Bhupen Hazarika

RAMZANORE  ROOZA  GOL
ULLAL  EIDAR  JOON
CHENEHARE  MEHFILATE  
BAHE  AAJI  KAUN…… 2

(Ramzan’s Rooza has Ended, Moon of EID is Spotted, Who will be seated in the Assemble of Worship)

It was the sole famous qawwali song from Assamese film, Lati-Ghati (1966), where two legendry singers, Mohammed Rafi and Dr. Bhupen Hazarika shared their golden voice with chorus. The song begins with voice of Rafi Sahab with chorus and in middle of song Dr. Hazarika joins them. The thesis of the song is the celebration of EID at the end of holy month of Ramzan by Hindu and Muslim together with communal harmony in a small village called Hajoo nearGuwahati,Assam. The lyrics and music of the song was penned by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika with direction of the film. Dr. Hazarika was the first person fromAssam who led the way of pioneering the Assamese cinema and culture in national and international cinema graph. (more…)

By Achal Rangaswamy

Rafi Sahab with Dev and Pancham

Dev saab entered the warm and nicely furnished room.

He wasn’t surprised to see a very familiar and smiling face.  It was his voice, the voice that had sung so many of his romantic songs, sad songs, happy songs and patriotic songs. In fact he had been wondering who was the most likely person he would meet when he walked in here. (more…)