by Nadeem Sundoo

I know that this is indeed a very sensitive topic – nevertheless I feel that I must write about it. The reason for this is that I time and again find articles arguing that Lata Mangeshkar is a better singer than Muhammad Rafi. Sometimes it’s only a short comment, other times it’s a full article. Now, I respect a writer’s right to personal opinion, but whenever any arguments are given in these articles they are of a subjective nature – no real facts are put forward, only subjective opinions are given. If, however, facts had been given to support the opinion I would have accepted it, but instead it prompts me to add some quality and objective arguments to this debate by writing this article.

Muhammad Rafi is the best male playback singer that India has ever produced. If you disagree with this then please read my article posted on this website: The Impact of Mohammad Rafi’s death on India’s music industry. And if you are still not convinced then you are entitled to your personal opinion, however unreasonable it may be. The current article would then probably be a waste of your time, thus you should stop reading any further and continue the blind belief that Kumar Sanu or Kishore Kumar is the embodiment of perfect singing.

On the female side Lata Mangeshkar is considered the best Indian playback singer, but the question that begs to be answered is: Who is the best; Muhammad Rafi or Lata Mangeshkar? A question that many people at one point have thought about, and some may have answered it while others didn’t. And yes, it is a very controversial question and many people would probably advise me not to write about it. Some would argue that the comparison cannot be made due to the pair being a male and a female. I disagree on both accounts and to prove my position I need to apply some rationality and reason. So, first some boring trivia.

Firstly, the question: Who is the best singer; Muhammad Rafi or Lata Mangeshkar? is a legitimate question. Because we ask these types of questions all the time, which is better, PC or Mac? Ferrari or Lamborghini? Lion or Tiger, Rose or Tulip etc. These questions are quite natural, because each object in question represents a capacity for something and we want to know if that level of capacity is the highest or are exceeded by another object. We admire the best and we want the best. Therefore we always want to know who/what the best is.

And secondly, you can indeed make the comparison between male and female singing, because the two persons in question are delivering the same product – a song. If someone asked you who were the better singer, Lata Mangeshkar or Shabbir Kumar? You would without hesitation answer “Lata Mangeshkar”. And the answer would be the same if you replaced Shabbir Kumar with any other person except Muhammad Rafi or (perhaps for some) Asha Bhonsle. The interesting thing here is that you in this situation do not care if the two persons are of different gender. The greater the gap between the singing skills of the persons in question, the more sure the answer. No one in their right mind would ever acknowledge Dilip Kumar as a better singer than Lata – this is even evident for a child. And why is that? The reason for this is that you instantly evaluate the best songs by the person in question (Shabbir Kumar, Dilip Kumar etc.) with Lata’s best songs and you get your answer immediately; Lata, of course! Even the majority of people would select Lata over Kishore Kumar without any concern for gender (isn’t that correct my dear Kishore Kumar fans?). So why is it that when one compares Lata with Rafi hesitation creeps in for some people. The reasons can be many; here are some of the most important:

1. Uncertainty due to inadequate knowledge about singing skills: Most people just do not know which qualities makes a good singer, thus they with good reason refrain from taking a position on the matter. This article will shed a light on this.
2. Blind following of what is conceived correct by other people: Some people do not follow the matter because someone has convinced them that you cannot ask this question, but as argued above this is a very legitimate question which should be allowed to be asked and must be answered. This is just like dogma in religion – you are not allowed to ask the question. I totally disagree here; if the question can be answered then it must be asked.
3. Inability to decide due to close “competition”: Some people do not permit themselves to choose one above the other because they feel that both singers are so good that it would belittle one if you choose the other. In their minds they feel that because a singer has sung a song that is simply divine, that singer cannot be ranked below other singers. This reasoning is subjective (in most cases it is due to nostalgia); just because one adores one or more songs by a specific singer does not make that singer the best in the world – thus this reasoning would qualify almost every singer in the world as the best singer. And this is exactly the situation today; because no objective analysis has been made on this matter everyone has their personal best singer. But that best singer is a subjectively best singer – we need to establish the objectively best singer; the one that ranks above all others. And the base for valuation must be strictly objective.

So, as you can see all the reasons stated above are unfounded; if you can acknowledge Lata over Shabbir Kumar you have proven that the gender issue does not go into the equation. This means that we can ask the question and rightly we will do so.

In the article mentioned above I argued that the demand for Lata (and Asha and Kishore) declined drastically after Muhammad Rafi’s death. Thus arguing that Rafi’s popularity was independent from these singers and that the popularity of these singers were indeed dependent on Rafi – and only Rafi. This fact alone indirectly proves that Muhammad Rafi was the greater singer. But there is of course a more direct way to verify this – I will try to do that in this article

Now, you may have noticed that I used the word “fact” above. Die hard Lata fans are obviously not used to this word, so I have to elaborate it a bit. A fact is something that is real and thus can be verified objectively. If you apply this criteria to the articles I referred to earlier, it will render their subjective conclusions obsolete. So before any of you Lata fans post a comment for this article please check your facts for subjectivity before commenting. A large number of your arguments fall under this category, the rest falls under the category of lies. This is not surprising because we know for a fact (hmm, that word again!) that Lata did a lot of scheming, lying and plotting against a lot of people in the music industry. And you Lata fans may actual like this aspect of her, because you may be like this yourselves. I have a theory about this: I think that people who defend Lata have the same negative traits in their personality; thus they do not see her as negative (or ignore this aspect of her). Anyway, this is only my subjective opinion – not a fact!

Just to clear any misunderstandings; I’m not anti-Lata (even though it may sound like that). Countless of her songs are my favorites. I will be the first to defend that Lata is probably the greatest Indian female singer (some would choose Asha). But the fact of the matter is that her personality does not match her heavenly voice; it’s a matter of integrity – something to do with the fact that her voice is beautiful, but that beauty cannot be seen in her person, unlike Muhammad Rafi. Here we have total integrity – not only was Rafi the greatest male singer with the most beautiful voice; his personality were equally great and beautiful – indeed a great role model for any human being. This obviously begs the question: Is it important that a good singer needs to be a good human being as well? Of course not! But if you sing songs about love, compassion, empathy etc. then people expects the same emotions/feelings to some extend in your personality. If your personality then turns out to show significant negative traits, people get confused. They are not able to identify the positive traits of the voice with the negative traits of the person and thus a conflicting love/hate relationship starts developing. This is in essence the relationship I have with Lata; I unconditionally love her voice and songs, but I’m disgusted by her behavior. Sometimes when listening to one of her songs on YouTube a picture of a young and innocent Lata pops up and I think: “O Lata, why did you not stay this innocent all your life? What greatness you would have attained”. It makes me sad and I feel sorry for her; she has thrown away greatness.

Ok, enough subjective opinions, let’s get started with the objective analysis. The analysis consists of the following:

1. Establish what defines a good singer
2. Establish how to directly compare two singers
3. Make the comparison

A: What defines a good singer?

So, what is the definition of a good singer? The experts themselves are divided on this, but it basically boils down to two main aspects; technique and feeling.

Now, the main aim of music and singing is to move you emotionally; any music or song has this as the main goal. To reach this goal you must master both the technical aspects and the feeling/emotional aspects of singing. The technical aspects are like the body and the feeling/emotional aspects are like the soul/personality. If you take out all feeling from a song it will be like a robot singing. There will still be singing ability, but the song will emotionally move you very little.

The technical aspect is a prerequisite for actualizing the feeling/emotional aspects. So, if someone does not master the technical aspects even the greatest amount of feeling/emotion cannot elevate that person to a singer – he will remain an emotional Majnu – never be a soulful singer.

So, let us see if we can breakdown these two main aspects of singing.

The technical aspects of singing are many, of which the following I think are the most important:

• Accurate intonation and pitch control
• Ability to sing full range of notes (high, medium and low)
• Smooth transition when switching notes
• Modulation of tone
• Clarity of words
• Expression of words
• Power of voice
• Vocal control throughout the range
• Fullness/Richness of tone
• Rhythm
• Timing
• Good breath control

The list is far from complete, but I would argue that these criteria define the most important aspects of a singer. These aspects can all be learned. Given enough time, dedication and the right teacher one would be able to master these aspects. The reason for this is that these aspects are all well-defined, thus they can be learned. If you master these aspects you will be able to sing a song with a very high technical quality. This high technical quality will be appreciated by the listener, but he/she will not be touched unless you bring in some feeling/emotion to the singing.

So, how is feeling/emotion put into the music/singing? There are, as I see it, three main feeling/emotion levels in music/singing:

1. The first level is music without singing (i.e. instrumental music): This is the lowest emotional quality level. Here the level of feeling is determined by the composition of the music and the use of instruments. The emotional quality varies depending on the instrument in use; a flute can convey some types of feelings better that a drum and vice versa. The skills of the musician also plays a role; the better skilled the better emotional quality. The feeling/emotions in this level are thus controlled by the music composer and the people who play the music instruments.
2. The second level is music with technical perfect singing, but without concern for feeling: This level adds more emotional quality compared to the purely instrumental music. Practically any singer will put in some degree of feeling into the singing, so basically this level is only theoretical. Even so, I have chosen to assign this type of music to its own level because adding vocal to instrumental music raises the emotional quality. The reason for this is that the music is now supported by words that convey the specific emotion f.ex. “Yeh duniya yeh mehfil, mere kaam ki nahin”. The basic meaning of the words carries an emotion even if you do not attempt to sing the words with feelings. And this specific emotion from the singing would be added to the emotion of the purely instrumental music thus adding to the overall emotional quality. So, the additional feeling/emotions in this level are added by the text writer.
3. The third level is music with technical perfect singing and with feeling: This is the highest emotional quality level. Here not only does the singer sing the words, but do so with feeling, and thus shows directly the emotions that he/she wishes to convey. Please note that this is the only level where a singer has a say about the emotions of the song. Here the feeling/emotions are produced by cooperation between the music composer, the musicians, the text writer and the singer.

A part from these three main levels there are different combinations or variations of these main levels such as singing without music, singing with music but without words etc. But all these sub-categories have emotional quality levels between category 1 and 3.

So, a person’s level of singing ability can be measured by the following

1. Level of technical ability.
2. Level of feeling/emotional ability.

As stated earlier please note that a person will not be considered a singer unless he/she has a moderate level of technical ability, thus the standard for been considered a singer is decided by the technical ability – this can be considered as the foundation of a singer. A person with a potentially high level of feeling/emotional ability, but without any technical ability will never be appreciated as a singer. But once you master the technical ability that same feeling/emotional ability that were useless before (singing-wise) now suddenly becomes equally, if not even more, important than the technical ability.

So, a good singer is defined by his/her technical and emotional singing abilities. So, if we are to compare Lata and Rafi it must be based on their technical and emotional singing abilities.

The technical singing ability

Now, I cannot make an absolute comparison of every technical ability of Lata and Rafi, because I’m simply not technically qualified for that. That task must be undertaken by someone else. But even if someone did that and proved one singer technically better that the other singer, that fact alone would not make the technically better singer the overall better singer of the two. However, what is important regarding the technical level is that it has to be attained at master-level by the singers. If one or more technical aspects are only attained at medium level for one of the singers, these medium level abilities will be apparent in the songs and the singer will be considered to be the lesser singer (this is the case for most of the new wave of singers in the 80’s, E.g. Shabbir Kumar do NOT have accurate intonation and pitch control and are not able to sing full range of notes (high, medium and low) nor does he have smooth transition when switching notes). Most of the all-time top 10 singers of the music industry have technical abilities on the master-level. But even though their technical abilities are on master-level the master-level ability may vary from singer to singer, f. ex.

• Kishore Kumar does not have the same ability to sing high notes like Mukesh
• Mukesh does not have the same ability to modulate tone as Rafi
• Talat Mahmood does not have the power of voice as Kishore Kumar
• Etc.

So on the face of it the level of the technical ability for Lata and Rafi are on master-level – they would individually pass all the technical aspects listed earlier on a very high level.

Even if I cannot make an absolute comparison of every technical ability of Lata and Rafi, I can make a relative comparison and conclude from that. So the question to ask is: “Are there some technical aspects that one singer excels in compared to the other singer?” Yes, there are! Lata obviously lacked some technical abilities since Asha was preferred for fast pace, high pitch songs. So in that sense Asha had some better technical abilities (fast pace singing, high pitch control, smooth transition when switching notes, good breath control) compared to Lata. This fact (not my personal opinion) directly proves that Lata was not perfect in all her technical ability aspects. On the other hand, Rafi was selected for all types of songs and are very versatile in this aspect (this is also a fact!). So the songs that Lata could not master as perfect as Asha were given to Asha, and the male singer selected for these songs were no other than Rafi – in that sense Rafi was Lata and Asha in one! That my friends, is simply fantastic!

And if we compare modulation of voice then there is absolutely no comparison – Rafi was the master of voice modulation – no one came near him in this aspect. Countless examples can be found on his voice modulation due to specific actors in the movies (E.g. Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Johnny Walker, Dev Anand, Jeetendra, Dharmendra). The same cannot be said of Lata (or Asha). Not in a thousand years can you establish which actress Lata (or Asha) is playback singing for on any of their songs. On the same note, never have I heard that any other singer was selected for a song instead of Rafi due to lack of technical skills. And frankly I doubt that any singer excelled Rafi in any of the technical skills to a degree that could make Rafi look amateurish. At best a singer here or there could match one or two technical skills or at best maybe outdo Rafi slightly. But this is only speculation, if anyone one have any proof please bring it forward.

In fact, when you think about it, Lata does not excel in a single technical ability compared to Rafi. Whereas Rafi compared to Lata excels in multiple technical abilities like Modulation of tone, Clarity of words, Expression of words and Good breath control.

Thus the above observations favor Rafi’s technical abilities above Lata’s. So, in that sense Rafi must factually be placed above Lata (and Asha) when comparing the technical abilities. But as stated earlier, a technically better singer is not necessary the overall better singer. The emotional ability is the decisive ability, when technical ability on master-level is attained.

The feeling/emotional singing ability

The feeling/emotional ability is in essence the human touch to the song – the soul of the song. It can be divided into the types of feelings that exist in the emotional spectra, like love, hate, happiness, sorrow etc. – that is obvious. But what is important here is the accuracy of the emotions infused into the song. A love song between a man and a woman must be infused with love as the main emotion, not hate or sorrow or other feelings, E.g. Waqt se din aur raat is a sad song (please note that this is not sad love, but sadness due to unhappy social circumstances), Sambal kar ishq farmaana is a humorous friendly advice song, Resham ki dori is a romantic love song. These three song have a different main emotion, which is easily recognized. Most song however do have an identical main emotion, but differ in the supporting emotion. Chaudhvin ka chand ho is a purely romantic love song, Aap Aye Bahar Ayi is a happy love song. Both songs are mainly love songs, but the main emotion of love must be added with one or more supporting emotions – in this situation respectively romance and happiness. Another example is that not all romantic love songs have the same level of romance nor does all sensual love songs have the same level of sensuality. Chaudhvin ka chand ho ya aftaab ho and Jo Baat tujh mein hai teri tasveer mein nahin are both romantic love songs with the same theme of comparing the beauty of the loved one, but the level of romantic emotion are very different. As can be hinted from the title, the level of emotion of Chaudhvin ka chand ho ya aftaab ho is on a very high level, the poetry is highly philosophical, comparing the beauty of the loved one with the most beautiful aspects of nature, almost on the absolute level – this is the main theme of the song. In comparison the poetry of Jo baat tujh mein hai teri tasveer mein nahin is on the relative level comparing the beauty of the loved one with a picture of herself. Thus a level of pure heavenly romantic emotion is required in the former, while the level of romance in the latter is basically earthly. The singer has to infuse the emotion of dignity and loftiness in the former, while these sub-emotions are not required in the latter. It goes without saying that the correct emotion infused into the song is the most important emotional aspect. The infusion of the perfect emotion consistent with the theme of the song depends very much on how able the singer is to grasp that specific emotion. This ability can be called the emotional intelligence, and the level of emotional intelligence in a singer depends partly on personal experience with the specific emotion/feeling in question and partly on how a singer can relate/understand a specific emotion/feeling even though he/she does not have any direct experience in it.

So, let us make a quick recap: We established that

1. A singer is measured by the level of technical ability and feeling/emotional ability.
2. The technical ability is only a prerequisite for being a good
3. If the technical ability is on master-level, then the emotional ability is the decisive

Thus the emotional ability is the primary indicator for ranking the singers.

B: How to compare two singers?

Now we need to establish how to compare two singers. The following are the different ways to compare two singers:

• By single songs: Here we compare two different songs by the singers E.g. “A dil-e-nadaan” with Lata and “Kahin ek masoom nazuk si ladki” with Rafi. This comparison gives the lowest number of common features, because here the music is different, he musicians are different, the song texts are different and the emotion in the songs are different. Thus this type of comparison is inadequate.
• By duet songs: Here we compare a song were both singers are present E.g. “Resham ki dori”. Here the music is the same, the musicians are the same, the emotional is the same, but the song text is different. The number of common features is high here, but different text sung by the singers still doesn’t make it 100% identical.
• By identical songs: Here we compare the exact same song, sung by the two singers E.g. “Mere mehboob tujhe”. Here all features are the same; the music, the musicians, the text and the emotion. The songs are more or less the same (some parts of the song can be different but overall it is the same) – the only real difference being the singers. Thus a direct comparison for these types of songs is highly adequate.

Thus the emotional intelligence can only be compared accurately when two singers sings 100% identical songs (or close to that). So, what I would like to do is to compare identical songs by Rafi and Lata. This will be done I the next section.

C: Comparing the two singers

In the following, I have compared 22 almost identical song of Lata and Rafi (there may be more, but these are probably the most famous). For every song, I have explained my reasons for the difference (if any) between Lata and Rafi’s interpretation/version of these songs and given my opinion to who has given the best interpretation. This is obviously not 100% objective, but it is the closest to an objective comparison. I have tried to be as objective in my reasoning as possible, but because it is a matter of feeling I may have been influenced by my subjective feelings. I’m sure most people would agree with my conclusions, but ultimately is up to every single individual to form his/her mind about it. I recommend that you listen to each and every song in the list – sometimes starting with Lata’s version first then Rafi’s version and sometimes Rafi’s version first then Lata’s version. The songs are listed stating with the songs with the greatest difference first:

1. Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Muhabbat ki Qasam: Now, this song is probably the one with the greatest difference between Lata’s and Rafi’s version. Rafi is light years ahead of Lata in terms of emotions – the difference is so great that Lata’s version seems flat compared to Rafi’s version. Rafi takes you on an ecstatic journey intoxicated by love and sadness – totally spellbound. Lata seems to be late for her dinner and rushes through the song with minimum attachment. Every word in Rafi’s version is carefully expressed and filled with deep emotion; Lata’s version lacks intoxication, seems emotionally superficial and does not have the same grandeur as Rafi’s version. There is simply no comparison here; Rafi’s version is considerably better.
2. Taqdeer ka fasana: Same argument goes for this song – Rafi is light years ahead of Lata. Again Rafi excels in emotion, subtleness and pronunciation for which Lata lacks. Please note that Rafi masters the high notes superbly, while Late seems to be screaming at high notes. It´s almost like Lata rely on power, while Rafi while having the power, tames it and let it be controlled by his masterful infusion of emotions. If we only had Lata´s version it would go down as a good song, never knowing if it could have been sung in a better way. But with Rafi´s version we know – it can be sung in a far better way. Rafi just raised the bar considerably. Rafi’s version is considerably better.
3. Ehsaan Tera Hoga Mujh Pe: Same argument goes for this song, however to a lesser degree. The difference is not so apparent as in the songs above, but still considerably to register – Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is considerably better.
4. Agar bewafa tujhko pehchaan jaate: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Lata’s version is indeed masterful and heartbreaking, but listen to Lata’s version first and then listen to Rafi’s version; Rafi’s version is more relaxed and subtle. You will find that Rafi’s version is tearing reality apart; Rafi’s version is considerably better.
5. Jab Jab bahar Aaye: Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. It´s almost like Lata focuses more on the technical aspects neglecting the emotional aspects. Note how relaxed and peaceful Rafi’s version is. Lata’s version is technically perfect, but note how she focus on power and miss subtleness in expression. Rafi’s version is much better.
6. Aaj Kal Mein Dhal Gaya: Same argument goes for this song. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Please also note that Rafi extends the pronunciation of the word “Rang” in Rang bari shaam resulting in much more balance in the sentence compared to Lata´s version. Rafi’s version is much better.
7. Jiya Ho Jiya Kucch Bol do: There almost no comparison here; Rafi´s version much more powerful, balanced, effortless. You can hear how Lata struggles with the fast pace and high pitch in this song (there is little doubt that Asha could have done a much better job with this song). Rafi on the other hand show better clarity and expression of words, better breath control and better pitch control while conveying the emotions of the song. Rafi’s version is much better.
8. Waadiyan Mera Daman: Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. Please note how Rafi´s version is much more settled and relaxed. Rafi’s version is much better.
9. Meri Shahekhoban O Meri Jane janana: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. Rafi’s version is better.
10. Pardesiyon Se Na Akhiyan Milana: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. Rafi’s version is better.
11. Aji hum se bach kar kahan jayega/ Aji Rooth Kar Ab Kahan Jaiyega: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. Please note that there´s too much screaming in Lata´s version. Rafi’s version is better.
12. Sajan sajan pukaro galiyon mein: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Again Rafi´s version is much more subtle in terms of emotions. Rafi’s version is better.
13. Tum kamsin ho/Main kamsin hoon:The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is better.
14. Zindagi bhar nahin bholegi woh barsaat ki raat: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Please note how Rafi expresses “Barsaat ki raat” at position 1:30 and 3:55 – just heavenly! Lata does not reach that sweetness. Rafi’s version is better.
15. Dil Jo Na Kah Saka: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is better.
16. Gar Tum Bhula Na Doge: Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of intoxicated emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is better.
17. Dil Beqarar Sa Hai: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is slightly better.
18. Tum Mujhe Yoon, Bhula Naa Paaoge: The songs are not 100% identical but close enough. Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is slightly better.
19. Teri Aankhon Ke Siwa: Rafi is again ahead of Lata in terms of emotional expressions. Rafi’s version is slightly better.
20. Yaar jinhe tum bhool gaye ho: Note that Rafi’s expressions of the words are much more clear. Every word is completed before moving to the next word. Rafi’s version is slightly better.
21. Akele Hain, Chale Aao, Jahan Ho: Here I don’t see any significant difference in the versions. Both are evenly matched.
22. Kali ghata chhayi prem rut aayi: Here I don’t see any significant difference in the versions. Both are evenly matched.

Before looking at the results I will again stress that I have tried to be fair and as less subjective as I can. I believe that other people will have slightly different outcomes for the evaluation of each song, but that the overall conclusion will be the same.

Now let us look at the result:

1. Songs 1 to 8 (36%): Rafi’s versions are considerable better than Lata’s versions. In song 1, 2 and 3 Lata is outclassed by Rafi on several levels. In these songs I cannot help thinking that Lata sings the songs like she is reading a text, while Rafi sings the songs like he speaks directly to the audience. It’s like Lata is still in the recording studio, while Rafi is plunged deep into the situation of the song.
2. Songs 9 to 16 (36%): Rafi’s versions are better than Lata’s versions. Rafi’s versions are much more relaxed, much more balanced.
3. Songs 17 to 22 (28%): Rafi’s versions are slightly better than Lata’s versions or they are evenly matched.
4. The interesting thing here is that not ONE of the above songs can we place Lata’s version as being significantly better in terms of feelings/emotions. Only in song 21 and 22 are the emotions/feelings/expressions matched. This fact alone establishes that Lata is not a better singer than Rafi.
5. More than 2/3 of the song are interpreted noticeably better by Rafi. This suggests that Rafi is the better singer.
6. In some of the songs it seems that Lata has infused more power in her voice compared to Rafi’s versions. Some people could favor this technical quality over the feelings/emotions quality and thus argue that Lata’s versions are better than Rafi’s. The problem with this argument is that none of these songs has tunes or messages that requires power. Songs with tunes and messages that require power are “O duniya ke rakhwale”, Ye duniya ye mehfil”, “Husn hazer hai” or “Woh dekho jalla ghar kisi ka”. The tunes and messages in these songs require that you cry out from your heart – which both Lata and Rafi has demonstrated in abundance here. But to infuse additional power in the songs above is a misjudgment, because when you add power you lose subtleness – that is the reason that Rafi’s versions are much more balanced to listening to.
7. Finally, I think that the number of Rafi’s versions in the list that were super hits, are greater than numbers of super hits with Lata’s versions. I’m not sure, but if you know then please shed a light on this.

Conclusion

The above results are quite clear. We do not have a 50/50 situation or anything near. More than 2/3 of the songs are interpreted significantly better by Rafi, and at the same time not one song is interpreted significantly better by Lata. The results favors Rafi so significantly, that we can now conclude that compared to Lata, Rafi does not only possess superior technical abilities, but does also possess superior emotional abilities. Muhammad Rafi is factually a better singer than Lata Mangeshkar!

The single most important ability of Muhammad Rafi compared to Lata Mangeshkar (or any other singer for that sake) is his ability to flavor a song with his emotions. This ability is not surpassed by any other singer. Some singers may equal or surpass some of Rafi’s technical abilities, but as stated earlier the technical abilities are only the prerequisite for being a good singer – to be an exceptional singer you have to spice up the song with emotions/feelings. If Rafi had only been at technical masterful singer with medium level of emotional application he would just be a page in the book of the music industry like most singers are. And we would not adore him as we do. But being the giant that he is on the emotional area, he is not just one page but practically the majority of the book – he cannot be sidetracked by any sincere student of music. In the universe of singers where good singers are planets and master-level singers are stars, he is the supernova.

We have come a long way and the analysis should be concluded here, but there is still one question I feel we should ask: What is the reason that Rafi’s emotional interpretation of a song is so much higher than Lata’s (or other singers). I think (not necessary a fact) that because Rafi controlled the technical level better than other singers it gave him surplus for focusing on the emotional level AND because he had a high emotional intelligence, he was superior than other singers in the interpretation of the songs. THIS, I think, was in essence the primary reason for his superiority.

If we didn’t have Rafi’s versions of these songs, we would have thought that Lata’s version were the ultimate interpretations of these songs. With Rafi’s interpretations we stand in awe of the fact that even the masterful renderings of Lata can be surpassed by several levels. It makes us wonder how much further Rafi could have taken some of Lata’s solo songs – THAT, my friends, is a very interesting question, one that we will never know the answer to.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 4th, 2017 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.