The Rafi Foundation at Hyderabad
BY A.S. MURTY (asmurty2@rediffmail.com)
Since the time the Rafi Foundation got going at Mumbai, followed by its Delhi Chapter’s birth, we at Hyderabad were mulling over the idea of forming the Hyderabad Chapter. Likeminded persons got to know one another through the pages of www.mohdrafi.com and also names of probable contacts were forwarded to us from Mumbai and Bangalore. It was by chance that I got to know first Mr. P. Narayanan from Bangalore on the website.
I had all along known only the songs of Rafi Sahab and was influenced since my own childhood by the uniqueness of this legendary singer. While I liked any good composition with good lyrics rendered in a class of its own by any singer, Rafi Sahab scored over the rest by his clarity, diction, softness and full of zeal and emotion in his songs. Such was the impact of his rendition that I had never the difficulty in understanding the mood of the song. Rafi Sahab conveyed it all through his voice. One need not see the movie from which a song was rendered. There it was for the entire world to relish the efforts put in by the producers, the directors, the story writers, the lyricists, the music directors and above all the actors. The entire picture is before our eyes – only the singer had to be Rafi Sahab.
It was through Mr. Narayanan Ji that I first got to know of the Rafi Foundation and its proposed activities. I was immediately drafted into this. I had no hesitation to announce my association with the Rafi Foundation. Slowly as we went about reading the various articles on the website and interacting with other “RAFIANSâ€, we got to know and understand more of our own tribe. Several notable names crop up in my mind – Mr. H.V. Gurumurthyji, Mr. B. Venkatadriji, Mr. Mohan Floraji, Mr. P. Haldarji, Mr. Hussein Sheikhji, Mr. Binu Nairji, etc. etc. It would take another twenty to twenty-five names if I were to name all the very active RAFIANS on the website. Mr. Narayanan introduced me to Mr. S. Ramakrishnaji, also from Hyderabad and we had a long conversation. Instantly we hit it off as I found to my pleasant surprise that Mr. Ramakrishna was not only an ardent fan of Rafi Sahab, but also a very vocal one. He is endowed with the best of musical knowledge. I started discussing these and other articles with my other two known RAFIAN friends Mr. R. Padmanabhan and Mr. A.V. Srinivasan who are my colleagues too. Then we learnt that another good friend of ours, Mr. N.R. Padmanabhan, too was a die-hard fan of Rafi Sahab. This was too good to be true. In my own backyard, I suddenly found an avalanche of Rafi Sahab’s fans – all with equal or more knowledge of Hindi film world, Rafi Sahab’s songs, etc. The first thing that we five did was to subscribe to the SARGAM magazine published by the Rafi Foundation from Mumbai. It was during the publication of the magazine’s first issue last year that we came in contact with Mr. Shirish Kulkarni. Again, the very first phone conversation that I had with Mr. Shirish Kulkarni, I knew that we had discovered a new friend who is equally devoted to the one name that we all adore – Mohammed Rafi Sahab.
Mohd Rafi
We continued our socializing on the website and also through regular emails and phone calls between Hyderabad on one side and Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and other places on the other. I personally have made the best of friends in the recent times and all with a common agenda – that of propagating the works of Rafi Sahab. Though on the wrong side of the 50s, we decided not to let go of this wonderful phase in our lives and we began organizing our own meetings in Hyderabad. If on one Sunday all my other Hyderabadi “RAFIANS†would come to my house, we would all assemble at Mr. Ramakrishna’s house the next Sunday. We would spend a few hours singing songs of Rafi Sahab and also discussing how to expand our horizon. Again our friends Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Shirish Kulkarni gave us several “leads†of “Rafians†and we were on the phone the next moment contacting them, often with success. Most of the other “Rafians†may not be very active, but it does not dwarf their commitment to the common agenda that we have ahead of us.
And then came one of the best moments in our path so far, in the form of visit to Hyderabad by Mr. Shirish Kulkarni alongwith his friend from Mumbai Mr. Joseph D’Souza on a personal visit. They had however kept one full day for us before they left for a remote area on their personal work for the next two days. 25th January, 2008 was a day we will remember for all time to come. That day we had decided to assemble in the hotel room occupied by Mr. Shirish and Mr. Joseph. We rang up to other friends and we were also joined in by Mr. Mir Hasan Ali and Mr. Raghavendra Rao. It would be a record of sorts if I state here that we were all huddled up in that room on that day from 2.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. and all through we were singing Rafi Sahab’s songs and discussing the Rafi Foundation, the Bharat Ratna Award and other “RAFIANS†known to us. No one bothered about food, we were only interested in Rafi Sahab’s songs and his style of singing. Just an occasional cup of tea every few hours would suffice. No one bothered that each one of us had to go very long distances to reach our homes. Only one topic was central in our minds – RAFI SAHAB. Our families too did not ‘disturb’ us enquiring when we will return home. They all knew only Rafi Sahab will let us go and at an appropriate time. During the time we spent at the hotel room, Mr. Narayanan from Bangalore, Mr. Shashank Chickermane from Mumbai, Mr. Zareef Ahmed from New Delhi and others spoke to each of us. Names that were not known to one another only a few months back seemed so familiar and from within the family. This is the magic of Rafi Sahab. Bonds were created for eternity from the one and only – THE ETERNAL RAFI SAHAB.
And just as Rafi Sahab would have said “Ek Akela Thhak Jayega, Milkar Haath Baddhana, Saathi Haath Baddhana, Saathi Haath Baddhanaâ€, we all took the solemn oath of working together to form the HYDERABAD CHAPTER of the RAFI FOUNDATION. A suitable name for this organization would be discussed shortly.
I and Mr. Ramakrishna have been contacting many more RAFIANS here in Hyderabad and the strength is swelling. Mr. Samarjeet Acharjee (just 27 years of age) is the latest entry into our fold (he has been a RAFIAN all his life and has even posted an article on www.eternalrafi.com). There are several other plans in our mind and the following months will unfold them all.
TOHFA WOH MILA MUJHE, JISPAR DUNIYA KO NAAZ HAI
SAARE JAHAN SE KHOOBSORAT, RAFI TERA ANDAAZ HAI
Rafi sahab ki awaaz taqyamat hamare dilon mein mehfooz rahegi, rafi sahab ki awaaz se mera din shuroo hota aur raat dhalti hai, i am the very big fan of mohammed rafi, rafi sahab is a part of my life.
hi murthy sir
i am also fan of mohd rafi sahab
5th July 2008. ABADRAFI – the hyderabad chapter of the rafi foundation – held its maiden musical show by inviting Mubarak Begum Sahiba to Hyderabad. Immediately on arrival, begum sahiba went searching for her old friend Jamunaji (remember her opposite rajendra kumar in humrahi and other roles in sasural, milan, beti bete, etc. ?). when they met one another after a gap of nearly twenty years or so, passions brought tears into their eyes and jamunaji was specifically invited on our behalf by mubarak begum sahiba for the programme. this way we were richer with the presence of jamunaji also and everyone in the audience remarked ‘the gayika and the nayika’ of “humrahi” are together. Begum sahiba enthralled the audience with her vintage songs (kabhi tanyahiyon mein yun hamari yaad ayegi, hum haale dil sunayenge, mujhko apne gale lagalo aye mere humrahi and devta tum ho mera sahara, etc. detailed article with photographs has been sent to this website and possibly in the near future the same would be posted on these pages. meantime, rafi-fans can see the photographs at :http://www.orkut.co.in/Album.aspx?uid=13779911347653132522&aid=1215762852
and also read the full report on http://www.eternalrafi.com at the following link :http://www.eternalrafi.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=465&Itemid=41
Rafi was a fine artiste, and a finer human being. Many a time, we have someone who excels in his/her field., but as a person he/she is rotten to the core. Take Latabai for example. She was a successful playback singer, but was a horrible human being. She was a disgrace to humanity itself. She ruined many careers… did many bad things.. but time is the greatest leveller. She got the Bharat Ratna due to her political connections., but ever since she received that award., while her cheap ego might have got a boost., the value of the Bharat Ratan came down.
To be a great human being is the finest accomplishment of all… and Rafi had that qualtiy.
top duets of rafi lata.the most elegant combination of legends.
1.dil todne wale tujhe dil dhoondh raha hai(son of india)
2.do sitaro ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat(kohinoor)
3.teri duniya se door chale hooke majboor(jabak)
4.jo wada kiya vo nibhana padega(taj mahal)
5.pao chulenedo phulo ko inayat hoogi inayat hoogi(taj mahal)
6.chand jane kaha kho gaya,tumko chehere se parda hatana na tha(main chup rahoongi)
7.koi bata de dil hai kaha,kyo hota hai dard waha(main chup rahoongi)
8.sau sal pehele mujhe tumse pyaar tha(jab pyar kisi se hota hai)
9.dekho rootha na karo baat nazro ki suno(tere ghar ke samne)
10.aawaz deke hume tum bulao,mohobat mein itna na humko satao(professor)
11.tujhe jeevan ki door se band liya hai(asli naqli)
12.tasveer teri dil mein jis din se utari hai(maya)
13.husn chala kuch aisi chaal diwane ka pooch na haal(bluff master)
14.tumhari nazar kyo khafa ho gayi(do kaliya)
15.aap ne yaad dilaya to mujhe yaad aaya(aarti)
16.tum to pyar ho sajna,mujhe tum se pyaara aur na koi(sehera)
17.main chali main chali peeche peeche jahan,ye na poocho kidhar ye na poocho kaha(professor)
18.mujhe kitna pyar hai tumse apne hi dil se poocho tum
(dil tera diwana)
19.wo jab yaad aye bhaut yaad aye,gham zindagi ke andhere mein hamne charage mohobat jalaye bhujaye(parasmani)
20.ek shehenshah ne banvake hasi taj mahal(leader)
21.tere husn ki kya tarif karoo(leader)
22.tere ghar ke samne ek ghar banaoonga,duniya basaoonga tere ghar ke samne(tere ghar ke samne)
23.ye aankhe uf yuma ye soorat uf yuma(jab pyar kisi se hota hai)
24.dhere dhere chal chand gagan mein(love marrige)
25.o jane wale sun zara ye dil ka majara(preet na jane reet)
26.yuhi tum mujhse baat karti ho ya koi pyaar ka irada hai(sacha jhuta)
27.tum hi tum ho mere jeevan mein phool hi phool hai jaise gagan mein
(ek dil sau afsane)
28.chup gaye taare nazare oye kya baat ho gayi(do raaste)
29.jhil mil sitaro ka aangan hooga(jeevan mrityu)
30.dil tera diwana hai sanam,jaante ho tum kuch na kaheenge hum
(dil tera diwana)
31.din saara guzare tore angana,ab jaane de mujhe mere sajana,mere jaar shabha khair(junglee)
32.o sanam tere ho gaye hum pyar mein tere kho gaye hum
(aye milan ki bela)
33.tu hai saakhi main hu sharabi sharabi(ram aur sham)
34.baar baar tohe kya samjaye payal ki jhanakar(aarti)
35.ye parbato ke daayre ye sham ka dhua,aise mein kyo na cheed de dilo ki daasta(vaasna)
36.mujhe teri mohobat ka sahara mil gaya hota(aap aye bhahar aye)
37.teri bindiya re re aye hai teri bindiya re(abhiman)
38.yaad mein teri jag jag ke hum raat bhar karvate badal te hai
(mere mehboob)
39.dil pukare a re a re a re abhi na ja mere saathi(jewel thief)
40.kitna pyaara wada hai in matwali aankho ka(carvan)
41.kabhi raat din hum door the din raat ka ab saath hai(aamne samne)
42.gun guna rahe hai bhavre khil rahi hai kali kali(aaradhana)
43.itna to yaad hai mujhe na jane kya baat huve(mehboob ki mehindi)
44.aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai aaj to tere bina neend nahi aayegi(nayi umar ki nayi fasal)
45.wada kar le sajana tere bina main na rahu mere bina tu na rahe na hoonge juda(haath ki safai)
46.palko ke peeche se kya tumne kar daala phir se to pharmana(talash)
47.bekhudi mein sanam ut gaye jo kadam(hasena maan jayegi)
48.sathiya nahi jaana ke ji na lage(aaya sawan jhoom ke)
49.ruth hai milan ki saathi mere a re mohe kahi le chal baho ke sahare
(mela)
50.ke chand aur taare kisne churaye hai tune to nahi tune to nahi
(night in london)
51.rangat teri surat si kisi mein nahi nahi(tumse aacha kaun hai)
My compliments and respectful regards to ashish who worships Rafi. We all, even today live with Rafi – moonlight in throat!! -Sanjaya Srivastava,!PS, Commandant, 28th Bn. PAC Etawah, UP
great work m.saleem bhai. great work indeed. i have noted down your email id and i will first mail to you all the details about the hyderabad chapter. here too our good friends mr gopal sunder rajan is spreading the word around and through him we have already got two more new members. friends from riyadh can form a separate association at your end which in turn can be affiliated to the rafi foundation. i will also inform mr binu nair and mr p narayanan about this. if your friends in riyadh are interested, they may subscribe to the sargam magazine too which is likely to come out in a month’s time for its second issue. my email ids are : asmurty2@rediffmail.com, rafimurty@gmail.com thanks again.
Dear Saleem Sahab,
Assalamu Alaikum:
I am also belong to Hyd. and currently stationed in Jeddah. I too will be very glad see you in Hyd. Kindly let me know your vacation plan so that I can plan my vacation accordingly.
With kind regards,
Imtiyaz A. Sharif
I would like to share with Rafians, my visit with Mr. Anwar (Playback singer). There was a great concert of Mr. Anwar on this weekend at Holiday Inn, Jeddah. I had a privilege to perform a duet (Zindagi imtihan leti hai) alogwith Mr. Anwar. It was a very successful show and public liked him very much. He performed his own numbers and Rafi Sahabs’ numbers as well.
When we asked about Rafi sahab, he said a lot about his humanity, which is not new for us, but one thing he told that “Rafi Sahab aksar kaha karte the kay log unkay marne kay baad unko ek achche insaan ki haisiyat say yaad kiya karein. Allah ne unki yeh khahish bhi poori kardi. Aaj saari dunya unko na sirf ek azeem singer maanti hai balke is se kahin ziyada ek achche insaan ki haisiyat se yaad karti hai”.
Hum tamaam Rafians ki duwa hai kay Rafi sahab ka yeh naam aur yeh izzat Allah rahti dunya tak qayem rakhe.
It was very good to see aroung 40 – 50% young chaps attended and enjoyed the show.
Murthy Sir.
It’s really good of you. I will work assidously to enroll atleast 20 people from Riyadh, which in turn each one of the 20 will produce another 20 and the network will go on. I shall be calling you up on your directline IA soon.
Regard
thanks m.saleem bhai and let us hope your trip to hyderabad will be in the near future. we would love to meet you here in person. we appreciate the efforts of ravinder jain and yesudas to revive the glory of rafi sahab. while it is true that there will never be another ‘rafi’, all that is being done to propagate rafi sahab’s legacy will go a long way in reconstructing the magic that was woven by the legendary phenomenon since the late 1940s and right upto the early 1980s. do also explore the possibility of extending news of our hyderabad chapter to your known friends/relatives here in hyderabad and i would be only too glad to talk to them personally and meet them. my contact numbers are 040-24097279 and mobile number is 93912 67272 (with a prefix 0 for those living outside andhra pradesh). rafimurty@gmail.com, asmurty2@rediffmail.com thanks.
That is really nice of you Murthy Sir, Why not, I shall definitely try to meet you folks in person. In fact back here in Riyadh, there are so many cluster cultural organisations, which ponder on nostalgic renditions of Rafi Sahab and others, unfortunately the group cannot go anywhere near as there is less time available for anyone to do Riyaaz and also the comlexities of the place.
There was a plan recently by Ravindar Jain and Yesudas to reproduce Rafi. One in the form of a biography and the other in context to his melodies. I bet if there is any one who could come to close to this gentle giant it is SP and none other. Yesudas has a meliflous voice, but it does not lift up for a pahadi type of tunes.
Have you ever watched the song Tere bin Soone – in Meri Soorath Teri Ankhen? With Ashok Kumar’s histrionics, Rafi’s melody and SD’s composition. A gem. or Roshans’ Aese tho na dekho ke bahak jaayen kaheen hum, aakhir ko tho insaan hai farishta tho naheen hum. I listned to this song may hundreds of times but yet it is a fragrant as a fresh flower.
Dear Mr. m. saleem sahab. thanks for the information that you have posted with regard to spb and usha khanna, the srilanka story and so forth. for the others who may not have followed atleast one word “andi”, let me explain. it is used to give respect to the listener just like ‘sahab’ or ‘sir’. just connect it to the reference mr m saleem sahab was making of s p balasubrahmanyam and the compere asking the former how he would rate rafi sahab and spb replied “not just great sir (andi in telugu)”. saleem sahab when on a holiday to hyderabad, please do get in touch and also keep posting your thoughts. thanks again.
Sorry Mr. Sunder I got it now – you are the son of Gopal Madam? am i right.
She was a Urdu teacher in Rly school
Dear Mr. Gopal
I guess we share the same spirit and also a common back ground maybe. I am working in Riyadh since over a decade. If you say your father was a Urdu teacher in Railway School possibly i may be his student. I studied in Railway Mixed Middle School Lallaguda (now High school with Indira as the Principal) up to 5th and then continued in Railway Boys High School as I was 12 and was kicked out from RMMS. What is your father’s name?
I know of Newton Sir who used to teach Urdu.
By the way my house is in South Lallaguda, besides Masjid and I live in Riyadh and visit Lgd once a year. I am 51 years perhaps we know each other.
My mail id is rabuma2003@yahoo.com
I have yesterday contacted Mr. Gopal Sunder Rajan on his mobile number and later also sent him mails which he too promptly acknowledged. I have also contacted mr. pvks raju sahab and am glad more and more very dedicated rafi-fans from andhra pradesh are joining us. soon some more from visakhapatnam are also joining us and the doors are wide open for all rafi-lovers. my contact number is 93912 67272 at hyderabad and email id is on the main article itself. besides the hyderabad chapter has an email id :: abadrafi@gmail.com and my own alternate email id is :: rafimurty@gmail.com
new members are most welcome to contact me at the above mobile number or through emails. One may also contact my close friend mr s ramakrishna at 99495 09592. Gopal Sunder Rajan Sahab, please also introduce more of your friends who are all great rafi-lovers like you. thanks.
Dear Rafians
I am G Sunder Rajan resident of secunderabad, a die hard fan of Rafi Saheb, was working in Muscat returned back and settled down in secunderabad with my family I was born in Secunderabad my age is 52 years my mother was a urdu teacher in railway school for 41 years. Rafi saheb let us on 31st July 1980 I wept a lot on that day and till this moment he lives with me I have good collection of his songs. I sing most of his songs in social gatherings not for monetary sake but as I feel he his with me I truly get delighted. A incident happened in Muscat on a Thursday were I went to attend Sai Baba Bhajan in my friends house, I was asked to sing a song of Rafi Saheb, I was not prepared but not to displease my friends I decided to sing O Duniya Ke Rakh Wale from Baiju Bawra, as the song was progressing I started getting immersed in the song and was touching high pitch during the last lines and when I finally concluded I happen to see two elderly women in tears whom I dont know they happen to come to bhajan later on I came to know that the pain in my voice made them weep. I am refering this becoz there are many songs of Rafi Saheb which is not know to general public by Rafi Sahebs blessings I have in my library.
I wish to enroll my self in the Hyderabad Chapter of Rafi Saheb club can u please mail back the details. Hope to see all of the Rafians soon lets meet to keep talking more about Rafi Saheb s contribution not only to filmworld but also to poor families where he used contribute.
Pl respond asap
with best wishes
g sunder rajan
9440803619
secunderabad ap
As i wrote earlier about mr saleem-ul-haq and the late mr rajmannar, i understand from the former that the late mr rajmannar was a supreme bhakt of rafi sahab. mr rajmannar worked for the state bank of hyderabad and was a very big devotee of rafi sahab, so much so that he used to pray in front of photographs of rafi sahab alogwith those of other gods. mr rajmannar died very recently in jan 2008, but was very sick and ailing for the last 10 or 11 years. about 10 years back his condition became so critical that his doctors had given him only 10 more days. mr rajmannar then informed his doctors that he has full faith in his gods and in rafi sahab and that he will leave the world only when ‘they’ wanted him to leave. mr rajmannar used to pray every day to his ‘gods’ and to rafi sahab and continued to live for the next 10 years. this small story was narrated to me by mr saleem-ul-haq only to show how big a fan of rafi sahab was mr rajmannar.
Bharath Ratan for Md. Rafi. I am not pessimist for I look at the braoder side of things. people like him, Ustad Vilayath Ali Khan or OP Nayyar surely no as these people had never shown any inclination or interest towards these mundane things. It neeeded of him to be a bit crafty and a little bit of psychophancy which he perhaps lacked. Also in a few years he will become Nat King Cole or Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan whose names getting close to oblivion. Another generation his name gets obliterated and whatever interested fans are the language may seem Latin to them.
It is sad that a person who has raised himself above race, religion, selfishness and above all taken his voice/voice of India beyond Himalayas and seven seas gets such a cold reception, perhaps just because he belongs to a certain (sic).
The artists are the true advocate of steadfastness. I was listening to an interview on Door Darshan with SP Balasubramanima who I rate the rarest of singers living today – May Allah give him good health and honor, for at least we have someone to call him singer (genius). The compere asked him, how would you rate Rafi? in his indomitable style SP words were – not great andi – he was simply greatest with water in his eyes.
Usha Khanna on Jay Mala possiblly in the 80s she was full of admiration for him, for his talents, humility, generosity. She said as she was a struggler when she approached Rafi , rendered songs free which he did to many other struggling music director at that time. A Sri Lankan fan demanded a Sinhalese song while on a musical tour to colombo with usha Khanna – Rafi sahab asked them to play the number and in a couple of reslistening rendered the same in Sinhalese infact bettering the original.
Bharath Ratan for Genuine Rathan.
I have many such great information(s) to share with people who are serious about music. my contact is rabuma2003@yahoo.com. I am from Hyderabad Dn work and live in Riyadh
inadvertantly and with no ill intention, i had forgotten to convey our hearfelt thanks to others who had given their valuable comments and suggestion. it was difficult to locate each and every name from the list of comments and it is my mistake that i could not accomodate their names in my post no. 30. i once again regret for the lapse and would like to convey our deepest gratitude to mr anmol singh sahab, mr zorawar sahab and mr xxx sahab also for having propped up our morale to newer heights and we look forward to your continued guidance and support as always. dr khaja aliuddin sahab thanks for your wonderful ‘sher’ and i have to compliment you for your wonderful taste. when i look at the photographs of rafi sahab, an old urdu couplet comes to mind – hai teri hi si shakl magar shokhiyan nahin, chup chup jabhi toh hai teri tasveer kya kare’.
My sincere thanks to s/shri dr aliuddin sahab, hussein sheikh sahab, binu nair ji, mohd parvez sahab, santosh sahab, mohanflora sahab, azad ilahibaks sahab, shashank chickermane sahab, p narayanan sahab, souvik chatterjee sahab, vikas sharma sahab, shrirang nawathe sahab, ashish kapoor sahab, pvks raju sahab, p haldar sahab, n g rangaswamy sahab, mir hasan ali sahab, samarjit acharjee sahab and mrs gayathri garu, and scores of others who have not only complimented our initiative but also boosted our morale so high with their kind and encouraging words that i am lost for words. our entire team at hyderabad (s ramakrishna, a v srinivasan, r padmanabhan, n r padmanabhan) joins me in thanking each one of you and those who have echoed similar messages on our email ids. we shall strive to build a strong and pro-active organization here in hyderabad and have the closest of links with similar organizations throughout the world. we shall be always guided by the mature views of all rafians and the the mere fact that rafians are in millions across the globe itself gives us a lot of strength.
I also welcome mr pvks raju sahab to this forum and i shall be in touch with him on his mobile and also through his email id and we shall meet in hyderabad as and when shri raju comes here. we are fascinated by your views and knowledge on the hindi film world as also the telugu/tamil counterparts.
here i would like to mention specially about mr saleem-ul-haq sahab, a hyderabadi rafian who has the widest collection of songs from the hindi film world right from the first talkie days and has them well tabulated in his house. in fact, the ground floor of his house is dedicated to the hindi film world. hundreds of thousands of lp records, audio-cassettes and now cds line up various shelfs and he has them all chronicled. mr saleem-ul-haq has also the rarest of rare photographs of all the great film personalities – producers, directors, actors, actresses, singers and others who had made a name. he is a one-man powerhouse of knowledge and anecdotes and one has to spend atleast a week in his house to understand him fully. mr saleem-ul-haq, the author of the book ‘biography of mohd rafi’ has his own website http://www.mohdrafibiography.com where his email ids and contact numbers are given. he is ably assisted by his nephew mr mohd faheem-ul-haq. mr saleem-ul-haq has the rarest of rare collection of songs on rafi sahab, video recordings of rafi sahab and several others and the collection has to be seen to be believed. in fact, i was thinking that the a p tourism should give a 15 mts halt at his house as part of the local city sight seeing tour that they conduct every day. hyderabad boasts of the best museum – the salarjung museum – but equally well stacked is the ‘museum’ of mr saleem-ul-haq. we propose to hold a small interview of this great personality who has devoted almost all his life in assembling such a grand collection. mr saleem-ul-haq was modest enough to inform me that he was not only influenced greatly by the late mr rajmannar, but that the latter also provided with a lot of details that are contained in the book. there is another story on mr rajmannar’s bhakti towards rafi sahab which i shall refer on a later date. suffice it to say, that these two names tower above all here in hyderabad as far as their devotion to rafi sahab is concerned and we at the rafi foundation(hyderabad chapter) salute them. greetings to all other ‘unknown’ rafians from hyderabad too and request to those who visit this site to spread the word round about the hyderabad chapter so that we get more and more committed rafians under one common platform. asmurty2@rediffmail.com
AS Murty garu, Iam from Hyderabad but presently working at Jagdalpur in Chattisgarh State. I am an ardent admirer of the great rafi since my childhood. Frankly speaking I grew listening to his songs. There was a time in the 60s when the radio(Ceylon) was functional and we had internal antennes(mesh type)tied up from one corner to the other corner in the room(I do remember with nostalgia) you had to tune to Ceylon, Rafi/Lata/Mukesh were the regulars in Hindi(by the end of the 60s another great singer did join this company in the form of ever versatile Kishor) and in Telugu it was the great Ghantasala crooning with the telugu nightingale Suseela. Similarly the melodious Suseela held her grip over tamil audiences along with TMS. These great souls have come up on their own strength and born are very rarely. All of them sounded so melodious. I feel Hindi /Telugu/Tamil cinema music will never regain its lost glory. I salute these all time greats. In fact it is Rafi who sang those soft melodies to such beautiful women like Sadhana, Asha Parekh, Vyjanti, Nutan, Madhubala, Saira and Rajshree and not the heroes appearing on the celluloid. His pairing with Shankar-Jaikishan and OP Nayyar created several master pieces. Can any other singer would have rendered these masterpieces like “Aapki haseen Rukhpe Aaj naiya noor hain”, “Chalke teri ankhone se”, Yeh Phoolon Ki Rani”, “Gustaki Maaf”, “Barahon Phool Barasaoo,, “Madhosh Hawa matwali fiza””Badan Per Sitare Lapte Hua” Jab Mohabbat Jawan Hoti” Dil ke jharoakepe” to name a few. This man could croon anything from soft melodies to Fast swingy songs to Heart choking songs. In fact Lata version of Mere Mehboob title songs pales out completely when one hears to the male version rendered by Rafi. Same is the case with the title track of Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai. Normally Lata is known to give tough competition to her male counterparts in all songs. But then it is Rafi who towers. SInce every thing was a live recording in those days, the singers are to literally sweat out to gain perfection. Such was that era. The present day singers may not be able to match their precedessors. Only SPB to a large extent was the original singer in Telugu after the great Ghantasala. He held audience captive in telugu films during the 70s rendering some beautiful numbers along with Suseela and Janaki. Murty garu, I am also a Hyderabadi and I support your cause for getting the legendary Rafi a much delayed Bharat Ratna. Infact I think Shri Ram Bilas Paswan jee had also proposed the name of Rafi along with other dignitaries for the prestigeous award. U can call me on 09425258008 (paranandivksraju@yahoo.com)
raju sahab, you seem to be from a.p. is it so? are you from hyderabad ? please get in touch with us at asmurty2@rediffmail.com or 93912 67212 (hyderabad) for you have a indepth knowledge and commitment towards rafi sahab and the hyderabad chapter is only looking for persons like you. we would be too glad to be in touch with you. regarding the bharat ratna campaign for rafi sahab, you may be knowing that all of us from hyderabad, mumbai, new delhi, bangalore, and many more places did run a sustained campaign and while we missed the bus this year, the campaign will continue until the government grants our most justified wish. let us all be together for the tasks ahead in this direction. please do get in touch. thanks.
Since my childhood I have been an ardent fan of this noble and highly accomplished singer.
There shall never be another SJ-Hasrat-Rafi, Shakeel-Rafi-Naushad, Rafi-OP-SH Bihari and Rafi-Madan mohan-Kafi Azmi combination. The songs have all been milestones only on account of the velvet voice of the great Rafi(the female co-singer will also have to be acknowledged like Lata, Asha & Suman for providing equal contribution).
The songs were so hummable and the mood so clear. Even decades later one can recognise the actor in the songs whether it was the highly energetic Shammi Kapur, evergreen Dev Saab, King of sorrow Dilip Saab or the Jubliee Kumar. He simply gave his best. It is very difficult to visualise them without the great singer. If it was 25% contribution of the actor, 75% support was provided by Rafi himself and turned them into sensations. Rafi also lent his voice to new and struggling actors like Biswajit and Joy Mukerjee whose films ran only because all of them were musical hits. His range was himalayan. Just nobody could tower above him. I salute the great Rafi and request that the Hyderabad chapter should posthumously recommend the Govt to give the Bharat Ratna(for even singing great patriotic songs in each and every film of 50s and 60s.
After Lata it is Rafi who definitely deserves it and is now long over due to him. I always wanted to watch the singer while he performs live on stage and alas it cannot be fulfilled. He left so early for eternal journey. May the Almighty give eternal rest to this great soul.
post 23,,
re ashish kapoor from delhi – rafi foundation;;;;
let me say that ashish is a great rafi follower and he is a rare rafi
guruji fan….
my compliments and best wishes to him for he is one of those
rafi lovers who will always keep the flag flying higher……
keep it up sir…
binu nair.,..
Dear Mr Murty and other memebers of RAFI FOUNDATION HYDERABAD,
CONGRATULATONS…
Thanks dear hussien sheikh sahib,
thanks for providing me with the inforamation regarding the song about which i asked for.I REALLY APPRECIATE UR CONCERN AND EFFORTS
hi all rafians,i had the pleasure of meeting murti saab on monday 18-02 2008, he is a wonderful person.i have met scores of rafi fans, and i have not come across any-body who is not down to earth.all rafians are soft spoken and “vinamrr'[polite].murty sir, keep up the good work. ashish kapoor ashkpr@hotmail.com,tel-9810087414;9212587414
Congratulations Murty Sir. Lovely article for a lovely mission.
Best wishes and whole-hearted support always.
– Samarjit.
murty ji and ramakrishna ji, wish you the best in your endeavours.
Dear A.S.Murthy,
Congrats, its a very good article and to put in true words a very good introduction to music lover’s who do not have much intro about singers. As this article tells us “a singer who sings from heart reaches another heart and resides their in the form of love or we can say true tributes to the singer. Over all we are lucky and nice to note that we have an organization at Hyderabad base too.
Kudos to Murtyji, Ramakrishnaji for having achieved the target within a short period. My hearty congratulations also to Shirish Kulkarni and P. Narayanan for the timely support rendered to them to achieve the same. The fragrance of Rafi Saab is always there in every corner of the world. Recently, on 9th Feb.2008 I had attended a concert organised by Shri Kaushik Kothari at Fine Arts, Chembur, Mumbai in the name of our Rafi Saab. Almost, every prog. by Kaushik on Rafi Saab is well attended by me and my family. What a beauty? As usual, audience stuck to their seats for nearly 4 hours. The auditorium was housefull as usual. Moreover, Kaushik presented the audio visual presentation by Ameen Sayani on Rafi Saab which took the audience spell bound. We could even watch Rafi Saab singing live “Man re tu kahen na dheer” and Tumne Mujhe Dekha and the interviews by Ameen Sayani on Rafi Saab with Lataji, Aashaji etc. and even with Rafi Saab on the demise of S.D.Burmanji. Rafi Saab spoke with deepest feelings on Dada Burmanji which was applauded by the audience. Kaushik Kothari was also mentioning about the same programme to be conducted by him in Bangalore, Chennai and other parts of India in the near future. Rafi lovers please do not miss this golden opportunity as Kaushik is one of the true and ardent Bhakths of Rafi Saab and has already conducted more than 100 shows all over Mumbai and outside and his concerts are always overpacked due to talented artistes as well as disciplined organisation.
Thanks once again to Murtyji & Ramakrishnaji and also to all Hyderabadis for bringing us one more chapter on our beloved Rafi Saab.
Ramaswamy.
Post # 17: This song is from the film “Majboor”, an Amitabh starrer.
CAN ANYBODY PLEASE TELL ME FROM WHICH MOVIE THIS SONG SUNG BY RAFI SAHIB IS-
“ROOTHE RAAB KO MANANA ASAN HAI ROOTHE YAAR KO MANANA MUSHKIL HAI”
The article and the effort of Mr. Murty is appreciable. The foundation can held programs in TV channels like R for Rafi, so that new talents who sing Rafi’s songs can be unearthed. More publicity is required for works on Rafi.
Souvik Chatterji.
Congrats Mr. Murty on forming the Rafi foundation. One of the noble mission relating to Rafi can be unearthing some rare songs of Rafi which are not easily available and make a collection of all the songs of Rafi even in different languages. Another type of involvement can be listing the songs composed by noted composers and lyricists for Rafi. Proper research on these subjects had not been done. The other important work can include publication all the write-ups on Rafi. It increases the knowledge base on Rafi and also helps in learning and unlearning various things related to music.
Souvik Chatterji.
Thanks to such forums/foundations the younger generation can become more aware of Rafisaab’s music and be inspired like the following news:
Feb 19, 2008- Shaava Shaava winner in Rafi tribute
Winner of the recently held reality show Shaava Shaava, Sumeet Raghavan, has announced that he will be launching an album as a tribute to the legendary singer Mohammed Rafi.
“Yes, it’s my mission to record an album with some of my favorite Rafi numbers. Possibly, there could be duets too with the Shaava Shaava female contestants,†said a happy Sumeet.
Apart from the singing, Sumeet will soon be seen on the big screen in movies U Me Aur Hum and In Such Times
Dear Murty sab,Ramakrishana sir,Padmanbhnan sir,Acharyaji and the lovely team of Rafi Foundation
You have warmed all the lovers of Rafi saab across the world .
Great job and congrats…..
LONG LIVE RAFI SAAB.
P.Narayanan
hello murty ji,,
really nice step has been taken by you…
cngrats sir!!! …
may god bless you success…
*long live rafi sahab*
Murty Saab,
Beautiful article. You are a writer of caliber. On 25th of January 2008, though I was there with all distinguished Rafians in that hotel room, but I regret not spending much time with all of you due to some commitments. As you wrote in your article that “One need not see the movie from which a song was rendered. There it was for the entire world to relish the efforts put in by the producers, directors, the lyricists, the music directors and above all the actors. The entire picture is before our eyes. ONLY THE SINGER HAS TO BE RAFI SAHAB.” Keep it up.
I wish mr A S MURTHY JI and mr S RAMAKRISHNA JI success in there work to keep Mohammed Rafi ‘s name alive.
Azad Ilahibaks (from Holland)
Congrulations! for the new rafi foundation in Hyderabad. i want to congrulate Mr.Murtyji for that. whatever u needed from me i will help u for that. i am regular touch with murtyji and i will contribute something from myside. plz. accept it. i will try to come there once if i get a chance.
shashank_72@rediffmail.com
Dear Mr. Murty,
Congratulations from all of us at Delhi Chapter of Rafi Foundation. We hope Rafi Foundation to swell further like the sweetness of Rafi Sahab’s voice.
The best part is that we all are bonded by our love for a human being who was not greedy for anything and was a saint in true sense. We hope all our associates to follow the same path and we shall have our goals achieved in due course with his blessings. “AANA HAI TO AA RAAH MEIN, KUCHH PHER NAHIN HAI, BHAGWAN KE DER HAI, ANDHER NAHIN HAI”.
LONG LIVE RAFI SAHAB !
Regards,
Zorawar Chhugani
# 9810224991
zorawar_c@hotmail.com
Congrats to Rafi Foundation. We will grow world over.
Nice article and a GREAT START, asmurty,
Congrats and best wishes for a great future!
No doubt anything Rafi is going to thrive and expand.
I pray for your success!
mohanflora,california-mohanflora@yahoo.com
Congrats : mr.murthy ji..
first mumbai the karma bhoomi of rafi guruji, then delhi,
then hyderabad; and at many global centres rafi lovers are
coming together.
pyaar ki raah dikha duniya ko rafi had sung and lovers are
heeding to his call….in every deed……….
this calls for celebration…….
binu nair. mumbai… rafifoundation@mail.com
Nice job Mr. A S Murty, I pray for its success.
Congragulations to all on this great occassion.it is the sheer love for rafi saab and his blessings that have led to this culmination of Hyderabad chapter of rafi foundation.Mr.Narayanan had conveyed this good news to me over the phone.
I am in Ahmedabad and I wish to know if any sort of similar nature can be started in Ahmedabad.
Long live rafi saab
iam happy to know mr A S MURTHY JI and mr S RAMAKRISHNA JI HAS started rafi foundation hyderabad chapter i wish them all the best
Janab Murty Saheb, Adab Araz hai,
Aap par to yeh sher fit hota hai.
Akela chala tha janibe manzil magar
Log saath athe gai aur karwan bantha gaya
Hearty congratulations Murty Saheb.
I am a Hyderabadi living in Chicago,an ardent fan of Rafi Saheb.
Hum bhi aapke saath side by side rahenge.
With regards,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
Holyfamilydr@aol.com