An article by Anup Pandey from rec.music.indian.misc. Contributed to the site by Ms. Nalini Ramji.

Hi RMIMers,

I saw a program called Sangeet Sitare in which they remembered Mohd. Rafi and interviewed some singers, his son Shahid Rafi, Johnny Walker and Joy Mukherjee about Mohd. Rafi. I will write whatever I remember. Let’s all remember this great soul Mohd. Rafi, who left us on this day (Jul 31) in 1980.

Woh Jab Yaad Aaye Bahut Yaad Aaye

Manna Dey

Rafi sahab ek sampurna singer the. Jo gaana bhi wo gaate the usme Rafi Sahab ki apni stamp hoti thi. Unke jaisa singer na to hua hai na hoga.

English translation: Rafi Sahab was a complete singer. All his songs had his distinct stamp. There was no singer like Rafi and there won’t be a singer like Rafi.

Shahid Rafi (his son)

On him being the best singer

Main bachpan se lekar aaj taq, purane se naye bahut gaanewalon ko suna hai, par unke jaisa gaanewala nahin suna.

On his playful antics and family relations

Woh jab gaana gaakar aate the to apne bachhon aur family ke sang waqt gujarana pasand karte the. Woh bachhon ke sang bachhe ban jaate the. Ek choti si baat yaad aati hai, hamaare ghar men doodh (milk) wala pichhee se botelon (bottles) men doodh laata tha. Unhe (Rafi) kachhe doodh peene ka bahut shauk tha. To woh doodh waale ko rokkar kuchh bottlen pi jaate the. Aage chalkar mammi (Rafi’s wife) puchti thi ki aaj bottlen kam kyun laaye to woh bolta tha ke sahab bich men doodh pi gaye.

On his soft-spokenness

Bahut dheema bolte the woh. Hamen kabhi kaan lagakar sunna padta tha. Mujhe wo pyaar se Shah karke bulate. Kabhi mujhe bulane ke liye dheeme se bolte the Shah yahan aao. Mujhe sirf Shah sunayi deta tha to main samajh jaata tha ki wo mujhe bula rahen hain. Phir woh kehte the (very softly like a whisper) mainne yeh gaana gaaya hai aao sunaoon.

About Neel Kamal song Babul ki duaaen

Hamari behen (Rafi’s daughter) do din pehle vida hui thi. Daddy us din to roye nahin the par do din baad is gaane ki recording karte samay ro diye the. Is liye gaana bahut natural ho gaya. Ravi (MD) sahab mujhse (Rafi’s son) bole ki, Rafi sahab to vastav men ro diye.

About his God-fearfulness

He (Rafi) was a very god-fearing person. Unko yeh God gift hi to thi. Kabhi gaana gaane ke baad log bolte the ki Wah, Rafi Sahab kya gaana gaya hai to unki ungli (finger) upar uth jaati thi ki sab kuchh upparwaale ki baat hai.

About his (son Shahid’s) favorite(s) Rafi songs

Sabhi gaane bahut achhe hain. Agar main ek gaana ginaaoonga to aap bolengi (interviewer) ki woh gaana bhi to bahut achha hai. Phir main doosra bataoonga. To aap koi doosra bataengi. Mujhe to unke sabhi gaane bahut pasand hai. Ek gaana bata dijiye jo Rafi Sahab ka gaya hua ho jo kisi ko pasand nahin aata ho.

(Note: I will post the English translation later. I really liked his son’s interview as he touched upon some of the nice lesser known aspects of Rafi Sahab.)

Joy Mukherjee

Rafi Sahab ki ye kabhi thi ki woh gaana gaane se pehle poochte the ki yeh gaana parde par kaun gaayega. Yeh gaana Dilip Kumar Sahab gaayenge ya Shammi Kapoor Sahab gaayenge ya Joy Mukherjee Sahab gaayenge phir woh usi style men gaate the.

Johnny Walker

Rafi Sahab meri liye itna achha gaate the ki log samajhte the ki main hi gaa raha hoon. Mere liye unke gaaye gaane sabhi super hit hue.

Mahendra Kapoor

Bahut dheema bolte the. Bahut patience tha. (He then mimicked Rafi when he (Rafi) has heard something unusual.)

Notes about the program: The program had clips of some of his famous songs and his live performances of Aasman se aaya farishta pyaar (with Sharmila Tagore live) and Badan pe sitaare lapete hue. The hosts did a nice job in presenting the show too with good introduction, shots of Mohd. Rafi’s home, etc.

Regards,
Anup
From : rec.music.indian.misc
Author : Anup Pandey
Date: 08 Aug 1996