Mohammed Rafi
This article is written by Raj Kaushal and contributed by Mohan Flora.
The CBSO celebrates the legendary Bollywood singer Mohammed Rafi, Bollywood’s answer to Frank Sinatra. Like Mohammed Ali, listen to another Mohammed who was simply the greatest.
Mohammed Rafi sung over 26,000 songs in a career spanning 40 years, most of those spent as the undisputed King of Bollywood playback singers.
When Mohammed Rafi was a little boy, a fakir used to wander by his house in Lahore singing songs. Captivated by the beautiful sounds, the little boy would follow the holy man and sing along. So began the musical journey of Rafi, a magical trip that would lead him to Bombay, the blossoming Bollywood film industry and immortality as, arguably, the greatest ever male Hindi playback singer.
Born in 1924 in Punjab to a middle class Muslim family of barbers, Mohammed Rafi was not meant to enter the world of music. His strict father regarded singing as an inappropriate career for his son, but with the help of his older brother, the young Rafi changed his mind and by the age of 7 was being trained in Indian classical music.
By the age of 13 he had amazed an audience of thousands with his debut public performance, and by the age of 18 had arrived in Bombay, ready to conquer Bollywood.
Mohammed Rafi montage
It was clear from the beginning that Rafi had a unique talent which distinguished him from the other playback singers of the era but it was only when he teamed up with the music composer Naushad – most notably in the 1952 classic film Baiju Bawra – that Rafi established himself as one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema.
Rafi revealed a golden voice of unrivaled tonal quality and range, which had the power to pitch lyrics from the lowest modulations to high soprano.
This incredible versatility of range soon attracted all the stars and, during the 1950s and 1960s – unquestionably the golden age of Hindi film music – Rafi became the voice of all the cinema greats, from Dilip Kumar and Guru Dutt, to Shammi Kapoor and Dharmendra.
Rafi proved his greatness further with an astonishing display of vocal pyrotechnics that used intonation and inflection to ensure no actor he lent his voice to ever sounded like the other.
But Rafi was more than just an outstanding Hindi playback singer. During his 40-year career he sang over 26,000 songs in all the national languages of India, achieving an unequaled level of success in many genres of Asian music, from ghazals and geets, to qawwalis and bhajans.
Surprisingly, Rafi could have pushed back the musical boundaries even further but in 1980, at the age of 55, he died of a heart attack.
CBSO pay tribute
On the 7th April 2006, the CBSO pays tribute to the legendary Rafi with a concert that showcases many of his much loved songs. It is a creatively bold and pioneering step by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as they are investing in local artists who will play tribute to Mohammed Rafi
Whilst there are many South Asian musicians worthy of being honoured by the CBSO, it is difficult to think of a better starting point than Rafi to introduce the sounds of Hindi music to the West and the talents of the CBSO to the culturally diverse communities in and around Birmingham.
His influence stretched across generations and musical genres, encouraging and inspiring many of the great Asian singers in modern music. “The singers performing at the concert are local to the West Midlands, yet also have an international recognition, such as Mehboob Chohan who had the privilege of receiving personal tuition from the great Mohammed Rafi.” said Parminder Singh Jutla.
“The other singers are British Asian bhangra legends Shin, who came second in the tribute competition on the first anniversary of Rafi’s death, and Slinder Pardesi, who has recorded two tribute albums to Rafi.”
Shin added: “On the night we will be reliving and paying tribute to the great Mohammed Rafi. The audience will have the opportunity to hear 18 tracks played to a live orchestra, similar to how they would have been originally recorded. It will truly be a magical night for all.”
July 19th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Hi Roger,
Congrats! For the Wimbledon Title!
Your friend Himesh is passing through the same phase as Kishore was passing through the 1971-1976 phase. See how all the producers and directors are going to him , just like they were going to RD Burman and Kishore Kumar during that phase. Better singers like Udit, Shaan, Sonu,Sukhwinder, Hariharan etc. are being passed by! But people will finally realise, just like they did in 1976-1980 and beyond that it was a passing fad!. Hindi film music these days is real bad and who remembers it after two months! Rafi is all conquering as you agree and he will rule for generations to come!
July 18th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
This has given a new opening. This means Himesh has pulled off something original. WOW! Means he can be put in likes of Kishores. Too early to say. Can he pull of something of a new style to some of Rafi or Kishore numbers. The answer would lie in that. It is not enough to win only on your home turf to call yourself a “world champion”(ironic statement)YOU KNOW! However there where instenses in the 60’s when Kishore would adopt Rafi’s style singing on same lines. This gave kishore no SHORE! So he eventualy he changed his style to the ‘bold voice type’ which made him create waves for 6yrs(1972-1977). Mukesh was his own type;no need a mention. So Rafi in a way had to compete with singers perched on to their own ways. Any one of the three ways could have won the race. But it was Rafi who had the leading edge. He literaly dominated the scene for around 3 decades. Mark you I am using the word ‘domination’. Films ran literally on Rafis numbers.
July 18th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Then does this mean a permanent death to originality? May be perhaps. Rafi sometimes becomes a Big Barrier Reef to many of the upcoming artists. Can neither cross it nor break it. Infact after 24 of his death if he is able to have this kind of a dominant power over singers of this Era,one can emagine how his dominace would have been felt by his genre singers including Lata. Infact Kishore and Mukesh gave Rafi a tougher run than perhaps today singers. Udit ,Shaan,Abijith and even Sonu put in the previous generetion would have simply been brushed aside the way Mahendra.K or Manadey experienced before the likes of Rafi, Kishore and Mukesh. Now arises the question of Himesh. I think hats of to Himesh. In an era where singers of the caliber of Sonu is not able to pull off anything original, it could have meant a dead end. But somewhere from the heap Himesh has produced something wich is unheard of from a Rafi number.
July 18th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
So, how else can todays singers establish their own rule. Frankly speaking it sometimes becomes fustrating. It is nice to sit and speak of the emporor in Rafi and his grandeor,to rejoice his godly voice and spiritual touch. But as an upcoming artist today he becomes a Big Barier Reef. You are neither able to cross it nor able to break it. You sometimes begin to wonder why this Rafi factor exits at all!
July 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Abhijit,Shaan only add to the numbers. Sadly even they try their best to make something look original. Alas! It is so that when they dig a part of the singing gold mine they only later end up knowing that the gold part of it has already been dug out by a person called Rafi. Then they start to wonder where else to dig for the ‘original’ tag. But the fact is that all the gold(originality) in singing has already been dug by Rafi. Take it or leave it. He has furthur refined it, converted into ornaments and has put it for sale. What you need is ’supernatural’ talent to buy it. To really speak I feel like taking mercy on these today male singers. However the way they sing people will say”We have heard this style from Rafi before.”
July 18th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
For me and i am sure for millions Rafi is the best singer of the world. I wander why there are so less video material of him, although in India they are making films from the earliest years.
Azad Ilahibaks from Holland, born in Suriname (South America).
July 18th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Add to that Udit’s limited range. vocal pyrotechnics,well Udit can wish to have it in his next birth. Actually given Udit’s limited range musicians feel theirs screws are tightned. They have to stick to only the advanced piano style numbers. Closely observe you will know what I mean. That might have prooved a delight to a singer whose range is 2wice and who has more variety with voice modulation techniqs in Sonu nigam. This is what led to his raise in the beggining of this century. OOOPS! given all that Sonu has he lacks the most important part-A Sweet Voice. His might be sweet in short sweeps in the middle octave but it soon dies (like Hritiks fame after KNPH) giving rise to a knife sharpners sqeeking voice making me feel like simply switching of the electrical device and sit in silence.
July 18th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
I think Rafi could have easily dominated now a day singers had he been alive simply because he would have witnessed the death of originals in this era save Himesh.R to an extent. Take Udit Narayanan. I think Udit is simply lucky to be arround for such a long time provided his limited talent. He simply dosen’t have it in to inspire the youth. To start with he himselves is a big Rafi fan. Carefully give your ears to the finer aspects of his coy. (like the taking off,straight landing,vibratory landing,eeka gamakas in the middle of the stagas,light hearted shifting of the swaras up&down with a careless touch to it) You will begin to discover that he is no better than a black carbon copy of Mohd Rafi. Actually I feel like giving words of pity for Udit. But still musicians persists with him coz of the absence of a complete male singer like Rafi. Not to rob Udit totally of the credit he at least has a stable voice(with a little bit nose).Thank god it remains stable up and down unlike Sonu nigam’s. Sonu’s voice reminds me of the knife sharpner’s noice. Yes it sometimes is simply noice.
July 18th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Rafi saab is simply amazing. He simply makes it look simple. Show me one singer yesterday or even who can do the same justice to many of Rafi’s numbers. Is there even one male singer who can take his place or even dream of producing the same ‘melodious comforting’ coy. Min you I am simply not speaking about the coy factor. Sonu nigam will be delighted to put forth his expertise in that field. Accepted Sonu is a child prodigy. May be he can superficially come near to Rafi’s(and that to simply for a big show off) coy. But 100 on 100 is my bets that Sonu cannot even dream to match Rafi’s indepth melody factor. Sonu has weak points in him like any other mortal. He simply trys to cover them up by either changing his voice or trying to protray it more sentually,which may have given him that mometry raise but soon he has realised that it has become stereotypic. This is finally showing him the way down in front of talents like
Himeh.R.
July 17th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
My interest grew to such an extent that I too wanted to sing like him. My parents soon took me to my guru. From him I have learnt music to this stage. I have sung select rafi songs in my school and college days (though I am yet a college student). I however began to discover that classical and film music are differnt. I had to work seperatly for singing film songs. Clasical music just could have put iceing on the cake. But the major chunk of it was my stuff.
July 17th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
I am appearing for the senior exam next month in hin. cla. music.
Yet my interest in light music is alive coz of rafisahab. My mother a fan of his made me forcibly listen to ‘madhuban me radhi ka’ when I was 6yrs. I thought it would be an other scrap for my ears. But not to be. Word after word I began to discover that this one is something to be taken note of. I asked his name to learn that it was Mohd Rafi I was listening to.
July 17th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
dear countrymen,
Besides the other unique points in Rafi is the point that he connects himselves with people directly. I never get a feeling, I am listning to a ‘bollywood singer’. He seems to share his feeling with all of us individually. We have heard that he was “giving without thinking of the returns” and even “sing songs witout taking money”. Though he is idolised and added the fact that he was a genius “he always remained down to earth and lived with all our day today middle-class values” as we have heard. that is inspiring! Well, whenever I listen to him I can’t help thinking that my own father is instilling the spirit of love in me. 26721822
July 17th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Dear countrymen,
Can any one of us really believe that rafi was an ordinary humanbeing singing?No, when we hear him sing we wonder if god himselves lend his voice.For me (18yrs) I haven’t been in his era; so I am not sure whether a mortal can produce such a coy as that. I think he was an instrument through whom god was spreading love in our country by singing.
July 16th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
DEAR JAWAID NASEEM
APART FROM THE NAMES YOU HAVE MENTIONED, THERE IS ANOTHER NAME WHICH YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN. RAFI LOVERS CIRCLE WHICH HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 1997 WITH ONE SINGLE OBJECTIVE TO KEEP RAFI SAHEBS EVERGREEN AND ALSO UNCOMMON ALIVE THROUGH THEME PROGRAMMES PERFORMED ON STAGE. LAST YEAR WE ALSO INSTITUTED A MOHAMAD RAFI RAFI MEMORIAL AWARD WHICH WAS PRESENTED TO MUSIC DIRECTOR RAVI ON 312T JULY, 2005 AT OUR ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE ” YAAD E RAFI, SHAAM E RAVI. THIS YEAR ON 30TH JULY WE ARE STAGING RAFI SAHEB KI YAAD SONIK OMI KE SAATH. THE AWARD WILL GO TO MUSIC DIRECTOR OMI. YOU AND ALL RAFI LOVERS IN KOLKATA ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS SHOW.
HASHIM KHAN
98310 81230
July 16th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Or mai bht shukar guzaar hun JAWAID NASEEM sahib ka jinhon hum sub RAFIANS k jazbaat ko apne khubsurat alfaz se ZUBAN bakhshi… hum sub RAFIANS jo jawaid jese TARJUMAAN pe FAKHAR hona chahye..mera dil se SLAM hai JAWAID NASEEM sahib ko……. NA FANKAAR TUJH SA TERE BAAD AYA …MUHAMMAD RAFI TU BHT YAAD AAYA……!!!!!!!!!
July 16th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
MUHAMMAD RAFI ek tha ek hai or ek hi rhe ga… agar koi kahe kahe k koi duja rafi tha ya hai ya kbi qyamat tak ho ga to KHUDA ki qasam vo jhut bolta hai……… kash meri umar bhi RAFI GEE ko lag jati…ae kaash…………… !!!!! AFSOS RAFI JAHAN SE GUZAR GYA.. KYA KHOOB AADMI THA KHUDA MAGHFIRAT KRAY……..
July 15th, 2006 at 3:00 am
IF GOD COULD SING HE WOULD SOUND LIKE RAFI. ZIA.ZAREEN
PALWASHA
July 11th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Ali Balooch…
i am very much agreed with your words. I myself believe in the same cocept that Rafi sb dont require any award, he was far beyond awards and thingd like that, what required is AN AWARD SHOULD BE INTRODUCED IN RAFI S’S NAME “MOHD RAFI ” AWARD AND SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE MOST TALENTED ARTISTE OF THE YEAR.
MOHD.RAFI AWARD in Kolkata had been introduced by some of the caziest lovers of RAFI SAHEB and the award was given as LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD to P.RAJ & M.SHAKOOR, it was a consistent effort of
TAJ AHMED MOTI
MD SALIM
SHAMSHER ALAM
&
SABIR KHAN who played a very important role, these are the persons in Kolkata who are ready to do anything in the name of Rafi saheb.
RPG introduced a Radio channel on TV in the name of GUZRA HUA ZAMANA, SABIR KHAN was the host and performed incomparable job to promote those rare songs of rafi sb which are hard to get these days.
WE the Kolkatans are mad for Rafi sb. and welcome each and every Rafian from our heart to be a part of any cause for RAFI sb.
JAWAID NASEEM
09331052384
July 11th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Hi music love,
Why we Mohd Rafi fans want to Mohd Rafi should have Bharat Ratna Award or any other award?!!As I think there should be Award called Mohd Rafi award it should give to the best singer of the year.
July 11th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Woh ek shakhsh jo phoolon ki baat karta tha..
woh ek shakhsh jo rangon ki baat karta tha…
woh shakhsh jisne thi naghnon ko zindagi bakhshi
woh ek shakhsh jo lamhon ki baat karta tha………….
Woh shakhsh ab bhi sitaron ke saath rahta hai..
woh shakhsh ab talak saanson mein uun hi basta hai…
koi bhi rang ho mausam ho ya koi lamha………
woh shakhsh yaad ki waadi mein sung chalta hai……..
zamaane beet gaye aur badal gayee duniya..
magar badla nahi chahat ka silsila apna…..
main kaise baat karoon aur kahan se laoon usay
magar mumkin nahi yeh bhi ke bhool jaoon usay..
har koi jiski har ek deed ko tarasta tha..
shafqaton ki jo kisi menh sa barasta tha..
WOH EK SHAKHSH JO INSAAN NAHI FARISHTA THA
WOH SHAKHS JISSE HAMARA BHI EK RISHTA THA.
********************************************
aur woh farishta thhe JANAB ALHAAJ MOHAMMED RAFI SAHEB MERHOOM.
JAWAID NASEEM
09331052384
jawaid77in@yahoo.com
July 8th, 2006 at 8:20 am
While browsing thru the web, I found this blog written by a young man gautam in the topic MIND MATTERS who didn’t have much knowledge about Rafisaab initially but what one DD program did to him. Please read on:
“Meri Aawaz Suno…..”
27th December 2000. It was a chilly night and I was huddled up with a book. Just then the phone rang.”Quick! Switch on the TV! ” said she, “Doordarshan channel.”
Dumbfounded, I did as instructed.On TV, There was a bald man in a suit, standing before the mike and waiting for the narrator to finish.Thinking it to be some kind of joke, I was about to turn away, when the words came out …
“Suhaani raat dhal chuki …. na jaane tum kab aaoge
Jahaan ki rut badal chuki… na jaane tum kab aaoge”
And I stood there, mesmerized…. listening to one song after the other.
The programme was a recording from the Doordarshan Archives… and the man whom I had just listened to was one of the legends in Hindi Film Music …. Mohammad Rafi.
Next day, I went to our local music shop and bought a couple of his audio-cassettes. After listening to them, I wanted to have more, so asked my friends to lend me what they had of him. Very soon, I was listening to him day-in and day-out.
The reason Rafi appeals to me is his awesome vocal range. He has sung some of the best songs in almost every genre of contemporary music. Be it :
Qawwali ( Parda Hai Parda),
Saddy ( Din Dhal Jaaye Haay),
Playful ( Achcha Ji Mein Haari),
Romantic ( Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar),
Ghazal ( Koi Sagar Dil Ko Behelata Nahi),
Classical (Madhuban me Radhika Nache Re),
Soulful ( Mann Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare ),
Devotional (Mann Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj),
Patriotic ( Ab tumhare hawaale watan saathiyon),
Mischevous ( Aaye Ga Aaye Aaye Ga Ye Kya Ho Gaya )…
….. You name it and you have it.
As my net-pal Varsha rightly says, devotional songs in Hindi films are often too melodramatic, but listen to the ones rendered by Rafi, and you can’t help feeling drawn into it.
I am also quite fond of Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and other male singers. However IMHO, there are very few songs of these which Rafi couldn’t have done an equal justice to … but there is quite a huge number of songs of Rafi which no one other singer could have sung with such a panache.
Apart from being a music virtuoso, Rafi the person was also equally as good. He was humble, a tee-totaller, and deeply religious. There are n-number of anecdotes about how he helped upcoming music directors by singing for them almost for free.
Some people accuse him of over-exposure. To some extent I do agree that he could have done without some trashy songs. But there might have been some compulsions.
Today, I have a collection of about 500 of his songs. Indeed, there was a time when I thought I had heard him all …. but discovered very soon that my collection is a drop from an ocean.
It’s futile to list top favourite songs since they keep on changing as per my mood and atmosphere, but there are a few which would make the list anytime…
1. Suhaani raat dhal chuki
2. Ek haseen shaam ko
3. Abhi na jaao chhodkar
4. Paaon chhu lene do
5. Aapke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor hai
Mohd Rafi passed away five months before I was born. They say his funeral procession was the biggest one the city of Mumbai has ever witnessed. Though he may have ceased to exist in physical sense, his songs continue to accompany us in our moments of joy and sorrow, triumph & tragedy.
To quote lyrics of one of his own songs ….
” Tum muze yun bhula na paaoge
Jab kabhi bhi sunoge geet mere
Tum mere sung yunhi gun-gunaoge ‘’
Yours,
- G.
posted by -GS. at 10:38 PM 1 comments
July 7th, 2006 at 4:55 am
Dear Nair thanks alot,
Honour on any other singer will not be an insult to Mohd Rafi Sahab,it will be insult for award and singer who will get the award.
The king gives award to other.
there is a programm on ZEE SA RE GA MA I think it name should be MO HD RA FI.
dear Nair you know better than me.
July 7th, 2006 at 12:23 am
Dear Nair what u said that is right 100% but what we can do in country where they don’t want to show a film because Aamir Khan in this film!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Nair after 26 years still Mohd Rafi is number 1,I think it is more than any award.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
As far I understand, the plea for Bharat Ratna for Rafi Sahab did not make any impact or that it was turned down. Hopefully, they will press the matter again on this 31st July. I agree with Unknow that Rafi Sahab is the king, but disagree that he does not need conferment of BR for the reason that any further conferment of the Honour on any other singer will amount to be an insult not only to Rafi Sahab but to all music lovers and to music itself. The Phalke Award regulations say that it cannot be awarded posthumously, however, there is no such restriction in case of BH (after an amendment in 1955).
July 5th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
dear mohd saleem ,
It is better that Mohd Rafi has’t got Bharat Ratna Award because his not only from Bharat he is for all world he is only king on music world and King give awards 2 others not get awards