Music After Rafi
This article is written by Mr. Anmol Singh
It is believed that an individual’s importance is understood better when one leaves us for ever. The same can be said for Rafi Saab. This was during the era of 80s when music passed through one of the most difficult phases.
Singing the most of songs in 1980 and providing maximum number of hits, Rafi Saab leaves us suddenly forever on 31st July. The result of Rafi Saab’s need in the 80s was deeply felt by music composers, which brings his clones like Anwar, Shabbir Kumar and Munna Aziz into limelight. Most music composer made the most effective use them. LP used them through of their compositions. To name a few – “Sari Duniya Ka Bojh Hum Utha Te Hai”, “Jeet Janyenge Hum”, “Dil Diya Hai Jaan Bhi Denge”, “Tum Se Mil Ke Naa Jaane Kyon“, “Pyar Kiya Nahi Jaata Hai”, “Mohabat Ab Tejara Bann Gaye Hai”, “Zindagi Imtihaan Leti Hai”, “Teri Mehbaniyan”, “Dil Beqrar Tha Dil Beqrar Hai“, “Aaj Kal Yaad Kuch”, etc. Even Pancham contributed using the above singers through songs of ‘Betaab’ and one unforgettable score sung by Anwar, “Koi Pardesi Ayaa Pardes Main”. Early 80s also saw the gradual rise of Anu Malik, some of his works involving the above singers consist of – “Kahan Jate Ho Ruk Jaao“, “Sohni Meri Sohni”, “Yaad Teri Ayegi”, etc.
Mohd Rafi with O.P.Nayyar and Guru Dutt
Another singer who emerged after Rafi Saab death was Suresh Wadkar. Being classically trained he sang many quality songs mainly under LP, Pancham and KA. There where few contributions from other composers as well. To name a few – “Saajh Dhale Gagan Tale”, “Chal Chameli Baag Mein”, songs of Prem Rog where he sang for Rishi Kapoor, “Likhanewaale ne likh daale milne ke” a duet with Lata from the film ‘Arpan’ is truly mind blowing. A ghazal with Bhupindar from ‘Masoom’, “Huzoor Is Kadar Bhi Na Etra Ke Chalie”, another super performance by Suresh under Pancham. A duet with Anwar from Vidhaata, “Haathon Ki Chad Lakiroon Ka” is truly magnificent. A great composition from KA. Another marvelous contribution from the duo for Suresh was “Aur Is Dil Mein Kya Ratha Hai”. There are many such great contributions by Suresh.
Despite many good scores composed by established music composers and singers many good films didn’t perform as per expectation. The result of which many quality film makers experienced a gradual downfall from 1983 onwards. Many well known film makers like BR films, Gulzar, Ramanand Sagar, Ramesh Sippy, etc made a switch over to television producing serials. Rafi loyalists like Nasir Hussain, J Om Prakash, Manmohan Desai and Shakti Samath also ran out of steam in the 80s with a number of flops in a sequence. Perhaps a lot of blame was put in video piracy for the failure. But the fact remains, without Rafi it was difficult to compose quality songs.
The downfall of quality filmmakers restricted the work for quality music composers, singer, lyrics, scriptwriters, etc. At this point sub standard filmmakers step in, which also brought in sub standard music composers, lyrics writers, etc. Most of these filmmakers who had no sense in filmmaking, imposing their own ideas on majority composers. As a result it became extremely difficult for quality music composers like LP, Pancham, KA, Khayyam, etc to get work quality work. Many old music composers contributed in very few quality films rather being more cautious in their approach to get recognition for their work. In fact the LP and Subhash Ghai combo were the most successful pair to contribute quality scores through out the 80s. Rajesh Roshan was primarily associated with his brother Rakesh Roshan. KA could manage at least one hit in a year to maintain their position. In orders words all the composers lost their freedom in the 80s, which they enjoyed in the earlier decades when Rafi Saab was there. Music lovers wondered whether the old composers had forgotten to compose good tunes in their later years. It is believed the LP where left with many unused tunes which only Rafi Saab could render. This implies that they were not able to operate with their full potential, which is applicable to other music composers as well.
Apart from composers even singers where also affected. With Mukesh and Rafi gone perhaps Kishore was the only quality singer left. Ideally it was an open ground for the Pancham and Kishore combo to bring back the old glory of early 70s in the 80s. Kishore end up singing majority songs much below his caliber in the 80s. The best of Kishore was lost once Rafi was no more. Same is the case with Mahendra Kapoor who kept himself associated with the B R banner whether films or television, not much contribution for Manoj Kumar after ‘Kranti’. The down fall of music in films sees the rise of many ghazal singers like Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Talat Aziz, Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, etc in the 80s, since music lovers had no choice but listen to melody in private concerts or through private albums. Few of them contributed in films under LP, KA & Khayyam.
Kishore & Pancham contributed their best in the entire 70s when Rafi was there. When Rafi Saab leaves us there was not much contribution from the duo other than few exceptions in the early 80s, which possibly were recorded prior to Rafi’s death. Since Rafi was a very high quality singer it kept all his contemporaries along with music composers on their toes to deliver their best. This in turn benefited many film makers to produce quality films and write quality scripts. Since music has been the primary criteria for success in filmmaking, many below average or small budget films had many hit songs prior to 80s sung by Rafi Saab and other singers. Where as in the 80s many big budget films could contribute very few hit songs.
As the dominance of sub standard films reaches its peak from mid 80s (somewhere 1986-87) the only way to bring back crowds to the theaters was to re-release the old films of 50s, 60s and 70s through film festivals. We see the songs of films like “Dosti”, “Caravan”, “Karz”, “Amar Akbar Anthony”, etc being played on the screen. As the golden era comes back on screen, once again we see the showering of coins by the music lovers. Yes, Rafi Saab lived after his death for his fans and will live forever.
Mohd Rafi with poet lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and composer Khayyam
To conclude Rafi Saab took away many things along with him once he left us, which triggered many sequence of events resulting in the downfall of music. Quality was affected to a great extend in every possible aspect of filmmaking. A good script or lyrics need a great voice with great power of expression and emotions to make a song win the hearts of the music lovers. Rafi’s voice had every thing that was needed giving us incredible numbers from late 40s to the late 70s. His ability to enhance an ordinary tune to an extra ordinary score was not seen after his death. When the tunes in 80s were good enough the singers who sang them exceptionally well, could not add some thing new or different to enhance the over all quality. Indeed there where many things only Rafi Saab could do. His honesty and humbleness added to his work. No wonder a great composer like Naushad said "I lost 50% of myself after Rafi’s death". Similarly O P Nayyar also stated "There would have been no O P Nayyar if there was no Rafi". The same holds true for Madan Mohan as well who was never associated with any big banner, but composed incredible scores with Rafi Saab. Similarly Rajesh Roshan in his tribute to Rafi Saab said, that “People complain about today’s songs, but then tell us where are the singers like Rafi to deliver them”.
February 11th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Very true said by Mr. Anmol. Music after Rafi Saheb is zero. Singers like Shabbir kumar, Anwar, Mohd. Aziz came and vanished! No one can take Rafi Saheb’s place, it’s just impossible. I have stopped listening and bothering on today’s songs and singers as well. But, I believe Rafi Saheb is still living in millions of heart all over the world
melodiousrafi@yahoo.com
February 11th, 2008 at 7:47 am
The music industry had lost its Jewel in the Crown on the 31st July 1980.
I remembered seeing an interview with Lata in 1983, when she said “I do not feel like singing these days”.
Kishore stated in a UK radio interview in 1986 that songs these days sound like “cham chama cham” There were phone in calls to Kishore regarding about Rafi, in response Kishore said he would be singing a Rafi tribute number on stage for his UK concert.
Remember Kishore even considered of calling it day and returning to his native home town.
I remembered in late 1981 when our local video rental/audio provider said, there had not been a single superhit since Rafi passed away.
If only Rafi could have lived longer!
February 11th, 2008 at 9:38 am
music had indeed died post 1980; one culd here only repeated and
tiring bongo beats in r.d.b music; his poor cousin bhappi lahiri too
could’nt out-perform any other composer ; L P the giants who
could tune to any given situation would not be the same again with
the departure of their main singer - mohd rafi saab.
i think only nadeem-shravan revied the melody back in to hfm and
pulled back “music lovers” back again to music.
1942 - a love story was an exception in a decade for r.d.b for sure.
binu nair.. the rafi foundation..
February 11th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Anmol Singh has hit the nail on the head! The combined presence of all the singers (male) in the post-Rafi era has not been able to fill the huge void left by the legendary singer’s departure from the scene. One can only recall a poignant line form one of Rafi Sahab’s melodies (from Ek Nari, Do Roop, 1973) “Mujhko mere baad zamana doondegha…”
February 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Nice article Yes we want more such articles from u Anmol.
well said Hussein bhai after Rafi saab there was no quality music.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Very well crafted article mr anmol singh. simply nothing more can be said after departure of Rafi Sahab from the hfm. despite kishore’s presence until his death, the best of music was locked in the period before 31st july 1980. kishore did produce excellent pieces of songs since his rise, but the quality of songs that the 1960s produced was alas absent and no more to be seen thereafter. and the central figure in all the movies and behind all the herioes and other characters was the golden voice of rafi sahab. like mr hussain sheikh says, i too have stopped listening to music after the 1980s and have not seen any movie for the last several years now. even the compositions of good mds has faded away and except for a song here and a song there, most of what has been recorded in the period after rafi sahab’s depatture has been loud noise rather than pleasant and soothing music. congratulations for an excellent article.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Dear Anmolji,
Some people are not ready to accept Rafi Saab as good singer and they have
no alternative also.So many rafians put so many words about this and still
I am repeating that if we hear the songs of Amar Akbar Antoney,Hum Kiseese
Kum Naheen,Sargam etc.(the films in 1970s) we can understand nobody
was there to replace Rafi Saab for his abilities to perform various types of
songs.
When we hear the others singers songs we are feeling the repeatation
as they have only handful of good songs in their credit.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
first of all gr8 article by anmol ji.. wat a balanced article you have written,, i mean ur article is totally factual & logical wdout criticising anyone.. keep it up sir..
binuji,,
r u sure nadeem-shravan revived the melody back?? i think there is no any relation of melody & nadeem-shravan,, they even degrade d shyari,, they also degrade gayaki by over-exploiting kk’s clone kumar sanu,,
im really feeling pity for d janta of those days who made songs like “saaso ki zarurat haai jaise..” popular,, also preffering sanu over sp & hariharan is juss beyond belief…
February 11th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Mohammed Rafi saab has inspired so many singers such as Anwar, Shabbir Kumar, Mohammed Aziz, Vipin Sachdeva, Sonu Nigam etc but not one of possessed the same talent as his.
Mohammed Rafi saab was divinely and is still being blessed by Allah the almighty and that is the reason why every generation of music lovers still listen to that voice that has departed from this materialistic world almost 28 years ago.
The music today is at its lowest than ever and is all about making money regardless of the quality of music and singers.
The singers today are not talented at all neither are the music composers or the lyricists.
We all bow down in front of Allah and pray to him to send us back Mohammed Rafi.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Very good article. It is true that even KK could not recreate his magic in the eighties, perhaps he lost interest in film music of those days or he became very casual because of no competition. How many songs of KK from 80s are remebered today as compared to his seventies, especially sixties and fiftees songs. Very true that even the Mds could not come out with something soothing, because the man with unlimited range had gone.
We had so many musicals in the fiftees and sixties and seventies, but how many after eighties, a handful which can be counted on your fingers. 1942 Love Story, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil To Pagal Hai, Baazigar, how many more one can add? I do not get any more perhaps because I lost inetrest in Hindi Film Music after 1980, in fact I stopped seeing movies iteself. One of the main attraction during my College days was the Rafi songs, which drew me even to some inane movies like Thokar, Mauva, Aabroo, Raton Ka Raja, etc. After he left, I was more happy listening to his casettes rather than get my mood off by listening to very ordinary songs of post 1980.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Music lost its charm after Rafi saab passed away. People who can’t see this or are ignorant of facts will say well no singer would have made a difference in the 80’s. However Rafi would have made a difference, as he wasn’t just any singer, he was a phenomenon, and he would have kept music flying high in the 80’s. The majority of MD’s were never the same again after Rafi saab passed away, the likes of Lata, Kishore, Asha etc. could not do anything about the sad state of music post-1980.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
many singers will come and go but alas their songs dont have
long shelf lives… one month , six months or few days ?????
rafi saab songs are “eternal” since they hit the head first and
then the heart - where it remains “for-ever”.
for almost a decade or more music lovers lost their interest
in music.
the oldies are back again and rafi-centric singers who can give
sixty percent or little more are back in demand as the music shows
show.
the maximum shows are of rafi saab and they are all superbly
attended…
there is a “renaissance” happening in music too..
anmol ji…. well analysed piece….
binu nair. the rafi foundation……… mumbai.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:16 am
today will be Pran Bithday,I think the Bharat Ratna Award should be given to this man I think he is only one we can compare him with Mohd Rafi maybe as I think because he was at top and still know there is no will him came.
People they didn’t put Pran name on there new born boys and abount MohD rafi they put Mohd rafi name to there new born boys,
As I think actor will Dilp Kummar and Mr bachchan comes after 100’s years like Pran maybe after 1000’s but like Mohd Rafi never and never……
February 12th, 2008 at 1:27 am
This is a brilliant article by Anmol Sir please keep up this excellent work on Rafi saab
Many Thanks
Khalid Rashid
UK
February 12th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Superb Mr.Anmol Singh,
You have written here like what we have in our minds. Music has actually ended with Rafi Saab. am very unfortunate that I could not see him at all. God is great that his voice is there always with all of us. Rafi Saab zindabad…
Even though I belong to present generation my mind always goes with people of 60s and thereon.IMusic actually started degrading since 70s and not in 80s. We missed gorgeous tunes by beautiful musicians like SJ, OPN, Roshan, Naushad Saab, Madan Mohan in the 70s itself. Why blame Rafi Saab alone. RDB killed the music with western tunes. It was only LP who gave a good competition to him and gave some lilting tunes with ofcourse our beloved Rafi saab. Rafi Saab joined God (mokshai) after a good karma on earth. 1977 was really Superb. There is no record that Kishore Kumar took a filmfare award in 60s when Rafi Saab reigned but in 70s Rafi saab gave a comeback with National award as well as Best singer of the year 1977. What should one say on this. Does anybody have that beautiful video where Rafi saab coming to the stage to take the award. I beg to everybody here to send a copy of it to krishna.murty@wipro.com. He is always above superior to any singer on earth. He is PadmaSharada, He is Gem of India, He is next to God. He is everything for me on earth. No day or night goes for me without hearing a song. God you are too partial to take him away from us. I will stop here as tears might roll out…
February 12th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I would like to congratulate all Rafians for their presious contributions which enriched my information regards Rafi Sahab and enspired my soul. I am not Indian citizen, but luckly I came to know Rafi Sahab since the mid of the seventees from Indian films and great actors like Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, and Ragendra Koomar. Alonside with Rafi, I came to know the voices of the great Lataje and Ashajee. I fully agree with Anmol paya that music had suffered after rafi Sahab left this world. I believe that no one can take his place, because people like him is a gift from the Lord and will not easly replaced. Bahhot bahoot shokria Rafians.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
although golden era died wd rafi sahab but what was the music scenario of those days!!!,, i mean y janta totally neglected rdb’s ijazat and libaas from late 80s?? i think these two music along wd album dil padosi hai were really high quality albums by rdb.. janta did the same thing wd rdb’s ijazat & libaas as earlier they did wd madanji’s haste zakhm & dil ki raahen…
ijaazat & libaas were gr8 steps taken by gulzar & pancham to revive d melody, and these two albums were in higher pedestal in comparison to odrs from late 80s.. i still cant believe dat albums like aashiqi became rage those days..
god bless bappi da & nadeem-shravan…..
February 12th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
anmol ji : music tastes change with every era . people do want
a change in every sphere of life . hence, we saw the era of
k l saighal, ch atma, durrani, talat , rafi , kishore and again rafi
up to 1980.
some of the greatest songs were recorded in different eras
according to the generation tastes which changed according to the
times.
to give an example , for puritans rafi’s voice was loud and there
were many critics then. the yahoo song really “put Off” these
puritans of the older generation but the “new” generation and the
youth fell for rafi’s new trend songs : lock, stock and barrel.
we have enough stuff to write about golden songs of each era
and compare these with the music post 1980…
surely, melody has gone away from the music with the new trends
in film making and with the advent of the keyboard which has
taken away majority of the jobs of musicians; along with
their bread and butter.
with the advent of new instruments and dearth of real singers, the
melody has gone ‘away’ , but surely we have about 30000 songs
from the hfm or more to enjoy and live for.
binu nair………the rafi foundation…….rafifoundation@mail.com
February 12th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
haaaaaaa, what can i say, Rafi Sahib died before i born but i love his songs, listen his songs. i have never nought a caste of y other male singer but Rafi sahib’s.
what a voice that is, the more i listen the more he amazes me, how to discribe his qualities, you will feel that there is nothing in the layrics, nothing n the composition but yet you want to listen that song just coz of that man. the expresion and emotions he gives to each and every word he sung is amazing. even just in one word he gives different expressions. he was tought by Allah
February 12th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Janab Anmol Singh Saheb,
Congratulations! An excellant and well written article.
I salute all the Rafians for their wonderful and heart touching statements about this Legend. All the praise goes to almighty God, who gave us Rafi Saheb.
With regards,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
February 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Excellent Analysis Anmol Singh ji.But I would like to disagree the part where you mentioned about Nadeem Shravan.I think that songs from QSQT(’Ae mere humsafar especially) has given some fresh air to other wise dying hindi film music.Of course ‘Ashiqui’ was popular too.But when you look back now I feel it was QSQT.
Few of my Favourites in Post Rafi era are
.Apne dilse padi dushmani ee…isaliye mein tumse dost ki(Betab)
.Apnom mein mein begana(KK)
.Agar tum na hote(Lataji)
.QSQT SOngs
.Teri ummeed tera intezar(Deewana)
.Na jane mere dil ko kya hogayaa(DDLJ)
.Kuch Na Kaho(1942 a love story)
.Ae ajnabhi(Dil se)
February 12th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
We all believe music died when Mohammed Rafi saab passed away on 31st July 1980. Two naujawans’ stood up to keep the spirit of Mohammed rafi’s singing style alive.
These naujawans’ were Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz. Although both were competing against each other for the love of Mohammed Rafi saab, they managed to sing many songs in the same films.
But I would say Mohammed Aziz was the best singer after Mohammed Rafi saab. He had more range and depth than Shabbir Kumar in terms of singing style. He sang for all the top actors in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Manmohan desai, a die hard Mohammed Rafi follower, utilised Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz in Coolie, Mard, Allah Rakha, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and Toofan. Harmesh Malhotra used Mohammed Aziz in Nagina, Nigahen, Heer Ranjha, Banjaran, Paapi devta etc to bring Mohammed Rafi style of singing in his films.
Like Manmohan Desai, KC Bokadia also used Shabbir Kumar very well in his films such as Teri Meherbaniyan, Naseeb apna apna, Jawab hum denge, Pyar kiya hai pyar karenge, Paap ka anth, Main teri dushman, Kundan, Aaj ka arjun etc.
So I would like to say Mohammed rafi is the best singer and after him would be Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz. But it is very sad that they are not singing today in films as current music directors dont appreciate Mohammed Rafi.
To end I would like to quote one of Mohammed Aziz’s song:
“NA FANKAAR TUJHSA, TERE BAAD AAYA
MOHAMMED RAFI TU BAHUT YAAD AAYA”
February 12th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Rafi saab will live on till music lives.All I can say is that we all love u rafi saab and if you are looking at us from above please know that we all love and worshipp you.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Anwar the playback singer with his maiden song in mere gharib
nawaaz , “kasme hum apne jaan ke ” , made music lovers sit
up and take notice.
this was in 1976-77 period and rafi saab too blessed anwar for
coming closest to rafi saab.
but pride and certain habits took the better of him and his art
and the man vanished from the screens.
binu nair.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:24 am
post 22 Dear Imtiaz sab,
Sir I totally disagree ur view points both Shabbir and Mohd Aziz were very poor imitators of Rafi saab and most of the songs were pathetic to say the least. For eg in Khudah gawah and Tere Meherbhaniyan both of them spoiled the show by crying n crooning without any melody.poor LP had no Sonu Nigam at that time. Only in Betaab, Shabbir was melodious.
I feel Sonu Nigam who speaks to his Demi god Rafi saab everyday and who considers Rafi saab as his father can atleast come close to 70% of Rafi saab’s melodies. Perhaps Rafi saab has blessed him so much that is why Sonu is in great demand amongst the current MDs also.
No current MDs worth their salt can ever afford to forget the Emperor of music that is RAFI SAHAB>
Another famous singer who has a style of his own is Udit Narayan and proudly say that he belongs to the school of MOHD RAFI MUSIC and no wonder he is still a force to reckon with.
Shaan loves both the legends Rafi and KK.
So today’s gen next are fans of Sonu,Udit,and Shaan and they are all big fans of Rafi saab
February 13th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Only a very small group of rafians are paticipating in this website.
i have talked with so many rafi saab lovers.People still love music
of rafi saab and the same time loving him as their own beloved one.
rafi saab and his music need much more attention as some of the
medias and jelous people try to vanish rafi saab.really so far i did not
care about that.now after seeing so many things i feel we need to do
little more effort.Dear Krishnaji (refer post 15) after seeing your coment
tears come out from my eyes.You know one of my friend’s wife was
telling she used to weep when she hear the rafi saab song “Aaya hum
mere dil bar theri anjuman me lekar”
For us mohamed rafi saab is a singer,is a gentle,soft,humble man and
above everything “a miracle” which is always near our soul and why it is like
that only the almighty knows
February 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
DEAR ANMOLJI
THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR SUPERB ARTICLE !
YES, I TOO AGREE WITH YOUR VIEWS .
VERY CORRECTLY SAID BY MR. HUSSAIN SHEIKH ( POST NO. 1 ) AND MR. K.J. RAVI ( POST NO. 4) .
WE ALL LOVE RAFI SAHAB AND WILL ALWAYS DO SO -AS RAFI SAHAB SAYS IN ONE OF HIS SONGS :
” SAU BAR JANAM LENGE ,
SAU BAR FANA HONGE ,
AE JAN-E- WAFA PHIR BHI,
HUM TUM NA JUDA HONGE ….”
BEST REGARDS/ A.T.M. SALIM.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Mr.Narayanan
This is Santosh from Ahmedabad.I have misplaced your number .Pl give me your number so that I can talk to you and re live the magic of our rafi saab.Honestly it gives me great pleasure to talk to people who love rafi saab.
Long live rafi saab.He was and will be the best singer as far as voice, range, emoting and suitablity to different actors and different generations.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Post 29 :: only poison… and communal feelings in his mind. feel sorry
for his thinking.
binu nair…. rafifoundation@mail.com
February 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Post 29.
Please don’t spill this precious website with your communal writings.This site is too beautifull so that we don’t allow anybody to ruin the precious nature.Pls don’t compare your ‘bacha’ singers like Aziz & Kumar with the Legendery Mohd Rafi.
Admin.
Pls delete the post 29.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
An interesting article. In the list of the singers mentioned by the author, perhaps Sonu Nigam had been the most successful at present. I have mentioned about Sonu Nigam in my article at http://stationshollywood.blogspot.com
Very significantly the other singers who imitated Rafi, just imitated his style, they did not have the classical talim to provide same level of excellence. Sonu Nigam is a much trained singer and can sing western songs at ease. His greatest victory is the esteem at which he sees Rafi. Because to understand Rafi’s greatness one has to have lot of musical understanding.
Many ccomposers like Naushad, OP Nayyar, Khayyam, etc. who were alive after Rafi’s death did not experiment with the replacements. Neither Rafi can be replaced nor Lata can be replaced. Rafi can only be remembered like a saint.
Souvik Chatterji.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
First of all thanks to all the Rafi Fans for your compliments.
Ref to Post 31- Possibly my focus on this article is mainly on the era of 80s. Sonu Nigam certainly is a better singer than the Rafi Clones like Shabbir & Munna Aziz. Sonu Nigam possibly imerged some where in the mid 90s.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Post 3:
Dear Binu ji,
Nadeem - Sharavan was not revived back the music. They were simply imitator. They stole music from old Pakistani songs (specially songs of Mehdi Hassan) and re-create them in India.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
In the 80s LP tried out his compositions with most of the singers that had been referred by the author. Actually LP were absolute admirers of Rafi and probably given the maximum number of songs to him as they survived for the longest period. For example Jaikishan died in 1971, otherwise SJ could have given more songs to Rafi. In the 80s stars like Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor in films like Vidhata had to sing with some playback singer. And most of the Rafi clones could not fill up the vacuum created by Rafi.I have mentioned realtionship of Rafi with OP Nayyar, Madanmohan, etc. in http://stationhollywood.blogspot.com and they had not compromised with alternatives, they preferred not to give music than try out others.
Souvik Chatterji.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
thanks a lot for sending me the books/cd to Murtyji & vinod viplavji.
I got the books yesterday itself.
shashank_72@rediffmail.com
February 15th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Music after mohd rafi we can see it in flim JHODA AKBAR,as I think this flim is missing music of Nausand Ali and voice of Mohd rafi or we can say music of Mandon mohan and again voice of mohd rafi………..as I think
February 15th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Good Article nice topic raised Mr. Anmol
In one sentence I complete yuor Article, According to Rajesh Roshan “Nowadays good songs are not coming because there is no RAFI
I m also a great fan of Rafi Saab I have a large collection of 4000 songs of Rafi Saab’s song in 250 imported TDK Audio Cassette, 300 HMV Audio Cassettes, and many CDs, VCDs, DVD’s and MP3. Its in filmi non film, released, unreleased, bhajan , qawwalies, shabad, around the World Prog Audio Cassette, a psycholopedia, many rare movies and etc in 20 various languages not only Audio but also I have his Personal family Video like his sons wedding around duration 30 minutes, live interviews, doccumentry film and many video clips in VCD format, and his many audio interviews and arround 100 LPR( Long Player Record)
And also KL Saigal, Talat Mehmood, Mannaddey, Kishore Kumar, Asha, Lata, Noorjahan, Shamshad and Geeta Dut, Mehdi Hassan Pakistani Film Songs in 40 Audio Cassette, Ghulam Ali Ghazals, Vast Collectio
Due to some private reason I want to sale my entire collection, If there is any person who wants to purchase my collection approach my name
Thanks
Regards
Mr. Nadeem
Tell. 022-24051327/28
Cell. 09323749890
nadeem_3310@yahoo.co.in
February 16th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I do not agree with this article. It is true that the vacuum left by Rafi will never be filled and that no singer today can render a song as magically as he did. However, this is not the reason why music spiralled downhill after Rafi. The ultimate reason: there was a shortage of quality music directors. Look at the trends from 1950 to 1990. 50s & 60s you had HB, SJ, MM, SDB, Roshan, OPN, Salil, Chitragupta, Naushad, peak LP, peak KA. You also had great talents in that time like RDB, Jaidev, etc who weren’t as prolific. These MDs are so great I’d hesitate to rate one over the other! Then in the 70s it goes right down to RDB, LP, & KA. SDB was ailing and MM was depressed. You go from dozens to just 3! See a trend? 1980s LP take hundreds of assignments and go for quantity over quality (as xxx pointed). RDB & KA are not composing at respective bests. It is easy to make trash that becomes popular for a short time - just see charts of American music. I can’t give examples due to language so take my word for it. It is tougher to impose your talent and make something popular, eternal AND do it regularly. This is what we had in 1950s and 1960s and sometimes in 1970s. The three MDs were no longer able to do that in the 1980s. Usha Khanna did it in 1983 but overall movement was declining. Ask yourself this: if SJ, SDB, Roshan, MM, etc where around in 1980s (the large string of mega talents) - would music decline? No nearly as much. Udit Narayan doesn’t compare to Rafi but he is still a good singer. When Madan Mohan tune was given to him in 2004 - what happened? Immense popularity + quality. Same with 1942 A Love Story. Yes if Kishore or Rafi were around those songs would be much better - but the songs were very good on absolute scale rather than a comparative one. Even when Rafi & Kishore were around they complained about declining quality of compositons. Immortal, good, and bad are three different things. We had immortal music with Rafi, we could have had good music with decent singers but instead we often got bad music because a decline of MDs. What if peak Mohammed Rafi was around in 2008? Of course his intrinsically awesome voice would add light to some compositions but the impact would be limited because very few compositions would make full use of his abilities. The reason for decline is not many good MDs today.
February 16th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Good article by Mr.Anmol. whtever will be after Mohdrafi’s demise the film industry lost its musical charm and even after kishore was there we hear so many songs of rafisahab also. now also i feel that there is so many rafi songs are not released, now somebody should do a film as a tribute to mohdrafisahab, his unreleased songs and his life-story. if any body have a copy of film’s division documentry film of mohdrafi. plz. can i get a copy of it. He was a unique playback singer in the film industry.
shashank_72@rediffmail.com
February 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
ANUP JALOTA NE UNKE BAARE ME KAHA HAI:AGER PLAYBACK SINGER KE ANDER YEH KAHA JAAYE KI BAADSHAH KAUN HAI TO EK NAAM ZUBAAN PER AATA HAI MOHD RAFI SHAHB.MOHD RAFI SHAHB KE BAARE ME KYA KAHA JAAYE KUCH SAMAJ NAHI AATA LAJAWEB FENKAAR KYA GAANE KI RENGE KUA AWAAZ.JAB DILIP KUMAR KE LIYE GAA REHE HAI TO LAGTA HAI KI DILIP KUMAR GAA REHE HAI JAB DEV SHAHB KE GAA REHE HAI TO LAGTA HAI DEV SHAHB GAA REHE HAI.SAB SE BADI BAAT YEH THI KI KOI FORMAL TRAINING NAHI THI KY BHAGWAN KI DEN THI.
February 16th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
sanjay ji,
partially agree wd u, but i think primary reason was death of rafi sahab, as
lp’s deterioration in 80s has lot to do wd rafi sahab, there 100s of tunes got wasted coz of 80’s tragedy, also imagine ravi’s only gr8 album from 80s “nikaah” & lp’s “ek dooje ke liye” in voice of rafi sahab, both were gr8 albums and wud b revolutionary too if rafi sahab wud rendered all those tunes..
agree wd u dat demise of those magical and most gifted mds was also d reason behind sub standard music of 80s, actually quality came down from post 1975 itself wd demise of gr8 madanji & dada, early demise of j from sj also affected d music, earlier dis worst thing happened in late 60s-early demise of gr8 roshan sahab , naushad sahab denied to compromise wd quality, all these were factros behind wat happened in post 75era, but rafi sahab kept everybody on their toes to deliver best untill 1980….
also ignorance of rdb by big banners in late 80s was also reason behind deterioration, majority of wat rdb delivered from 1961-83 was quality work, things went against him in 1984 wen 90% of his work was crap, from dat moment all big banners went to bappi,lp,rr,rj…
even wat he delivered in early 90s was better dan those of nadeem-shravan, anu malik etc etc.. lets onsider only three songs by rdb in early 90s..
1.tum jo mile to laga hai (drohi-1992, singer-suresh wadekar)
2.mile jhoom ke milan rut aayi (professor ki padosan-1993, only classical number from early 90s sung by lata & anoop jalota )
3.aaja meri jaan (aaja meri jaan-1993, superbly sung by spb & anuradha, notice here dat pancham totally revived his as well as hfm’s orchestra wd dis song)
there is no any song of anu & ns which can surpass quality of above songs, note dat i have not mentioned his comeback album after 10 long years 1942als.. all big banners commited big mistake by ignoring rdb, composers like ns, anu, ram-laxman, anand-milind were toddlers b4 pancham’s talent
February 16th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Further to my post 33:
After 80’s, many old Pakistani songs were used in Indian films by some music directors. Either they had not enough caliber to produce good compositions or they were too lazy to create good compositions, which ever was the reason but they imitate many songs. Few songs which quickly came into mind are given below. Unfortunately I did not remember the films, singers or music directors names.
1. Noor Jehan’s “Chalo Acchha hua tum bhool gaye” was used in voice of Lata ji with same lyrics and composition and picturised on Rekha.
2. Mehdi Hassan’s “Aaj too ghair sahi” was used with same lyrics and composition and picturised on Rajesh Khanna.
3. Akhlaq Ahmed’s “Sona na chandi, na koi mehel” converted into “Choti si dunya, muhabbat ke hai mere paas” with same composition.
4. Muserrat Nazir’s ghazal “Chalay to cut hi jaye ga sefer, aahista aahista” converted into “Tumhein apna benaney ki qesem, khai hai khai hai” and used in film “Sadak”.
These are some songs which came immediately into mind. The list is very long. Once in an interview, Mehdi Hassan pointed out the same and said that Nadeem - Sherawan had become famous due to his songs, which they used with their names.
February 17th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Anmol sahab, beautiful article. Very informative!
I just want to add that Rafi sahab sang each and every with heart. In order to make your singing affective, one must sing with heart and Rafi sahab always did that. That is also part of the reason people cry, smile, laugh, and feel his voice in their hearts.
I will say it again, a singer like Rafi sahab is born in centuries!
February 17th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Daer Azamm
as u said I will say it again, a singer like Rafi sahab is born in centuries!” but the true is singer like Mohd rafi born once only and never again,Indain are lucky because they have Mohd rafi,He was true Human in many culture.
Q WHAT IS BOLLYWOOD MUSIC?
A ,Born in late 1940’s child in 1950’s young in 1960’s old in 1970’s and no mare music after 1980’s
the answer we get it so easy that no music without mohd rafi
Anil Baswas was at the top in 1940’s but after mohd rafi came with Naushand there was no Anil baswas,Anil baswas said that Mohd rafi voice is not good but when Mohd rafi was at the top in 1958 when anil went to him to sing for him Mohd rafi singed for him,RD used KK in the place of mohd rafi in 1970’s but when he went to Mohd rafi he singed for him,same to dev Anand,DharamJi,
February 18th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Ref to Post - 38 & 41.
Prior to writing this article I had taken the entire download of films in which KK had sung for most of the music composers between 1981 to 1987. The following are the statistics.
Bhappi Lahiri - 71 Films (Hits - Namak Halal, Sharaabi)
Pancham - 64 Films (Hits - Kudrat, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, Shakti, Sanam Teri Kasam, Satte Pe Satta, Agar Tum Na Hote, Shaukeen, Saagar)
LP - 34 Films (Hits - Rajput, Andhaa Kanoon, Avtaar, Mr India)
KA - 13 Films (Hits - Laawaris, Kalakaar, Jaabaaz)
Rajesh R - 21 Films (Hits - Yaraana, Kaam Chor)
Usha K - 11 (Hits - Souten)
KK sang maximum no. of songs for Bhappi Lahiri.
Between 1981 to 1983 the following are the hits rendered by KK under various Music Compsoers
‘Kudrat’, ‘Namak Halal’,‘Yaraana’, ‘Silsila’, ‘Barsaat Ki Ek Raat’, ‘Laawaris’, ‘Shakti’, ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’, ‘Satte Pe Satta’, ‘Rajput’, ‘Andhaa Kanoon’, ‘Agar Tum Na Hote’, ‘Avtaar’, ‘Souten’, ‘Kalakaar’, ‘Shaukeen’, ‘Kaam Chor’.
Between 1984 to 1987 the number goes down.
‘Sharaabi’,’Saagar’,'Jaabaaz’,'Mr India’.
During the period of 1984 to 1987 till Kishore’s death Bollywood witnessed the worst quality of music. The last best contribution by Pancham for Kishore was in ‘Saagar’ in 1985. One cannot really blame Bhappi completely for the downfall of music, since he was being offered very few quality films. He did had quiet a number of hits in the late 70s to his credit. Plus success criteria for both Pancham and Bhappi Lahiri appeared to be very much Kishore dependent. This was not the case with LP and other music composers. Therefore after Kishore’s death Bhappi Lahiri & Pancham almost vanished from the scene.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:02 am
in an attempt to be all bold & garner attention for my point lol…i forgot to add…thanks very much for the article, i enjoyed reading it, and rafi sahab zindabad!
February 18th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
ref to p:45,
anmol ji,
i dn know much abt commercial success but these 3 albums by pancham from 1987-94 were totally in higher stand in quality dan those by odrs..
1.ijaazat
2.libaas
3.1942 a lv stry….
much better than albums by odr biggies– l-p, k-a, salil da, ravi ji during 1987-94…
whenever pancham got some sensible filmmakers & lyricists he clicked but odrs unfortunately didnt, reasons like death of rafi sahab, downfall in standard of film making were d primary reasons behind deterioration.
imagine those 100+ unused tunes by lp in 80s, 80s wud b gr8 for lp if rafi sahab wud b hav been there to render those tunes, which they shelved after death of this gr8 singer …..
February 19th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Ref to Post - 47
In terms of commercial success mid & late 80s was a very bad phase of Pancham. His music cannot be considered bad as such, but it was not that great to create an impact the way it was in the early 70s. Perhaps ‘Ijaazat’ was his last best perfomance in the 80s. His biggest downfall in 80s was loosing the Nasir banner plus the success QSQT through Anand-Milind. Nadeem-Shravan followed next through ‘Aashique’. This acted almost like a dead end for Pancham.
In terms of commerical success LP were way ahead of their comtemporaries. Plus they were successfull with many new film makers of late 80s viz. N Chandra(Tezaab), Boney K(Mr India), Mukul Anand (Hum). Above all Subhash Ghai was always there with them. They were successfull with many new singers also, where Pancham couldn’t click successfully.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
ref to p 48::
sir,
u r viewing d things through d commercial angle, and yes commercially lp always lead his contemps… but im viewing d things through quality angle, and after d death of shri madan mohan ji & sachin da i believe pancham contributed maximum to d quality followed by lp & ravindra jain…
actually golden era was only from 1949-75, it was only aftr rafi ji’s comeback some quality returned so we can extend golden era upto 1980, but after great rafi sahab there was no quality music, 2nd generation composers(lp,rdb,ka) only disappointed us in 80s…
these 5 maestros were d real architects of d golden era
1.naushad
2.sd burman
3.madan mohan
4.shankar-jaikishan
5.roshan……
February 20th, 2008 at 12:34 am
I don’t know why few people want to Make RD and KK the best offourse they were great but not even in best five as I think..
IF we speak abount best music I think in 1940’s was Anil Baswan in 1950’s was naushand ,1960’s the best year of music was SJ in 1970 was LP as I think after 1980 there is no one at top but we can say LP was at top.
If we speak about best singer also KK will be not in best five singers as I think
February 20th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Mohammed Rafi was, is and will remain the greatest singer and human being on this planet.
The death of Bollywood music occurred on 31st July 1980. Since then we have not heard a voice as beautiful as Mohammed Rafi saab’s. Allah sent him to the earth as a mercy to mankind. He taught people how to respect one another, being good and sharing excellent relations with one another, unlike stupid people like Kishore kumar and lata mangeshkar who are most arrogant and ignorant people on earth.
His one quality that really strikes me and which the entire world should learn from this God - fearing human is “Simplicity”.
He remained simple all his entire life. No wonder why he was blessed with such godly personality and with a clear and sweet voice!!
After Mohammed Rafi Saab many of his die hard followers wanted to be like him at least 1% but the envious and arrogant bollywood music industry did not give enough opportunities to his followers.
These followers were Anwar saab, Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz saab. The indian music industry did not want a muslim singer to be the number 1 singer in india as they witnessed how Mohammed Rafi saab ruled the industry for nearly 40 years. They would now want a hindu singer to rule instead.
If the voices of Anwar saab, Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz saab were so bad why would the music directors in the 1980’s gave them so many songs to sing to all the top actors when they had singers like Kishore kumar, amit kumar, mahendra kapoor, suresh wadkar, nitin mukesh, shailendra and udit narayan?
Its because all the music directors were missing Mohammed Rafi saab to such as extent that they wanted someone who sounds somewhere like him to offer their beautiful voices. No wonder why in the early 90’s when kishore kumar’s low life people like kumar sanu, abhijeet and vinod kumar appeared the music directors shifted their focus to these ugly and boring singers.
The music directors hate Mohammed rafi saab and his followers. But I will say Mohammed Rafi saab shall live here on earth for ever and ever!! His followers Anwar saab, Shabbir Kumar saab and Mohammed Aziz saab will loved and heard for ever!!
Thank you
Mohammed Rafi saab worshipper
February 20th, 2008 at 9:02 am
anjaan,
i’m going to answer you dispassionately on a very sensitive subject you’ve brought up. “ethnic” pride and bias is bound to happen with SOME, likely a minority within a large group of people. however, especially with something as universal and natural as music, majority of members of groups will NOT hold that bias.
you wrote: “The music directors hate Mohammed rafi”
they LOVED him. shankar-jaikishan & op nayyar were accused of using him so much they didn’t utilize other singers. madan mohan, chitragupta, usha khanna, ravi, laxmikant pyarelal regarded him as their favorite and used him the most. sd burman gave rafi sahab his career best compositions. and it wasn’t purely professional either - they loved him PERSONALLY (how could you not seeing what an angel he was) and repeatedly exclaimed he was a saintly man. now if they hated him or had a religious bias - they wouldn’t say such genuine personal praise. they would fail to acknowledge him but they do! usha khanna has a big smiling photo of rafi sahab in her home.
yes, the MDs gained by using rafi sahab and getting the most out their composition. he immortalized compositions. but that wasn’t the only reason. they LOVED him. to argue the importance of MD, lyricist, singer, etc. is to argue importance of leg, arm, body. they’re all important. nevertheless i’ll lightly say that first you need something to reach or do (composition) before you can actually make the most out of it (singer). it is better to have a great MD and decent singer (there were plenty of “decent’ singers in the golden age albeit none were close to the great rafi sahab) than to have an awful MD and great singer. if the composition is really poor - no singer no matter how good can make it something it is not. these MDs made the most out of rafi sahab’s talent and hence thanks to those MDs and god’s gift to rafi sahab - we have the legend. rafi sahab himself stated many times that he was very grateful & thankful to the music directors for choosing him. when you hear “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpe” you better equally thank shankar jaikishan & hasrat jaipuri or shailendra for making that song possible. take out any of those players and you lose an immortal gem from rafi sahab’s career. the mds played a massive role in shaping rafi sahab’s career and there is no loss of pride in embracing that truth.
my mentor was a devout muslim and a die hard kishore kumar fan who always played kishore’s songs for me. i of course was a die hard rafi fan (and i never cared if he was muslim or jewish - i respect the religion). yes there’s the minority but look at the big picture. fans like you aren’t helping anyone by trying to drive a wedge between ethnic groups. if you know anything, you won’t deny that kishore kumar was a big fan of mohammed rafi and made many genuine dedications to rafi sahab from the peak of his career to the end. he even suffered a heart attack in 1981 because he was depressed to lose his friend! lp & madan mohan played big roles in rafi sahab’s grand comeback in 1976 - did they hate him too? lp especially would have done just fine commercially (which doesn’t equate musically or eternally) to stick with other singers in 70s but they loved rafi sahab and gave him songs even against the wishes of narrow minded producers! you probably know that sahir ludhianvi preferred to stay in india with his hindu & muslim friends rather than go to partition pakistan. i think op nayyar’s live was saved because his muslim neighbor hid him from extremists (the neighbor risking his own life). it is because people fail to look at the big picture that we have needless feuds. the fault lies in the person not the religion, race, etc. if only people understood that and controlled emotions.
you are very wrong and doing a great disservice to rafi sahab. and the same would go for fans on who try to promote antagonism against other artist without looking at the big picture. just recently i saw this happen with lata mangeshkar and i’ve seen it with kishore kumar (rafi’s #1 fan). please follow the example of the anglic rafi sahab. and finally - don’t be a rafi “worshipper”. it is an insult to the man. accept him for what he was - a great MAN - not a deity. i would be happy if you took back that statement of yours i quoted.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Ref - 49
Yes, commercial success is important for getting recongnition. Coming to Pancham as mentioned earlier his work was not bad, but it certainly mediocore at many occasions which him in comparision with Bhappi Lahiri. Plus why KK sang more songs in 80s for Bhappi rather than Pancham who has alaways been his number one choice through out? Please think over it.
In 1984 you can judge Pancham’s score
Aawaz (1984), Bade Dilwaale, Jagir, Zameen Aasman (1984), Aawaz (1984), Hum Hai Lajawab, Boxer, Lava, Rahi Badal Gaye, Anand Aur Anand, Hum Dono (1984), Duniya (1984), Bandh Honth, Aan Aur Shaan, Jagir,
Similarly in 1986
Bond 303, Saveray Wali Gaadi, Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu, Zindagani, Paleh Khan.
1987
Dacoit, Zalzala, Namumkin, Joshiley.
Like as mentioned earlier 1985 he had one big hit ‘Saagar’ and 1987 ‘Ijazzat’. The music of these films was truely mind blowing.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:16 am
post 51 : please do us a favour and keep out “religion” or
“ethnicity” from this music lovers and rafi saaheb site.
guru ji will scorn at u for ur stupid views had he been alive; more,
politicians and sectarians in the society has already devided the
people and we are better off without ur “purpose-less theories”.
have u heard the phrase : “naach na jaane, aangan tedaaaa, sir ”
binu nair… the rafi foundation mumbai..
February 20th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
ref to p:: 53
sir,
i really dn bother who used whom in 80s,,bappi da used kk more, ok its fine as 90% of their work was substandard, dis mama-bhanja jodi was never close to kk-pancham jodi. im saying all this wdout being disrespectful to kk as he was rafian too. he always showed his high regards for mohdrafi ji. although in singing department he was far behind from rafi ji.
coming back to pancham- sir plz check out these albums by pancham in 80s, i found all these better than odrs in 80s…
1980- khoobsurat, bulandi, abdullah, the burning train, aanchal, shaan,jal mahal..
1981-zamane ko dikhana hai,kudrat,basera,love story,kaalia, barsaat ki ek raat,naram garam,harjaee…
1982-namkeen, angoor, satte pe satta, bemisal, ye wada raha, sanam teri kasam, shakti..
1983-masoom, agar tum na hote, pukar, bade dil wala,betaab,mahaan…
you mentioned some movies from 1984 but as i mentioned earlier that his work in 1984 was really mediocre except sunny(1984). similarly two albums from 1985- saagar & sitamgar were good, one from each 1986,87,88,89 jeeva, ijaazat, libaas and parinda respectively. ijazat & libaas were excellent scores by pancham in late 80s. much better in quality than odrs in late 80s..
.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Ref. post # 51: Rafi Saheb is loved even today by each and every person in this world. And please, for God’s sake, do not drag any religion in this holy site, this is a very humble request to all from me! We all love Rafi Saheb from our heart. Long live Rafi Saheb.
melodiousrafi@yahoo.com
February 21st, 2008 at 12:36 am
Dears fans
we are all music lover but in the world there are many religions eash of us think they are the best but no one of us is the best. mohd rafi with his songs singed for most of religions is the best.
who have the answer that why Lata Ji had Bharat Ratna award and Mohd rafi not?
February 21st, 2008 at 10:00 am
some delighting excerpts from post 51::
——————————————————————————————
1. Mohammed Rafi was, is and will remain the greatest singer and human being on this planet.
The death of Bollywood music occurred on 31st July 1980. Since then we have not heard a voice as beautiful as Mohammed Rafi saab’s. Allah sent him to the earth as a mercy to mankind. He taught people how to respect one another, being good and sharing excellent relations with one another
2.His one quality that really strikes me and which the entire world should learn from this God - fearing human is “Simplicity”.
——————————————————————————————
but anjaan ji plz dn convey any negative thoughts in d name of religion, as rafi ji was above all religions, “mann tarpat hari darshan ko” was 100% muslim creation having more than 100% devotion & pride for hindu in it.
rafi ji aur naushad ji sangeet ke sache pujari the kyoki sangeet sabhi religions se upar hai. we all should be very thankful to these two as they gave so much divine music with melody & pride for us..
February 27th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Rafi was a sensation in the history of playback singing and SJ acknowledged his talent over the years.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I wonder if anybody knows any hit songs made for Rafi Sb that he could not sing due to his sad demise. I always felt that the songs of RK’s movie PREM ROG (released 1982) would have reached another pinnacle if rendered by Rafi Sb. So I have two questions for whosoever can answer:
1) Were the songs of movie Prem Rog made in the life of Rafi Sb and LP preferred Suresh Wadekar over him or was this that these songs were made after his demise?
2)Is anybody aware of any hit song made close to the fateful date of 31 July 1980 exclusively for Rafi Sb which he never got to render and later sung by another singer?
February 29th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I am an avid admirer of the great Mohammad Rafi.
I have often wondered how Rafi Sahb’s voice would have immortalized
some of the songs of the 80s and 90s if he had lived for another ten
fifteen years. This is especially true of the songs released
immediately after his death like those from Prem Rog, Qulli, Baitab;
particularly, Prem Rog songs picturized on Shahshi Kapoor would have
reached another pinnacle if rendered by Rafi Saheb.
In this regard, can a knowledgeable Rafian answer my following two questions:
1) Is it true that songs of Prem Rog (released 1982) were recorded
before the fateful date of 31 July 1980 and that LP preferred Suresh
Wadekar over Rafi Sb?
2) Is anybody aware of the songs made close to 31 July 1980 for which
Rafi Saheb may have signed a contract/agreed to sing but he could not
due to his demise?
Thankyou
Tahir
March 7th, 2008 at 3:03 am
anmol singh: even lata agrees with me in a recent interview here…
New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) The Bollywood music industry is in urgent need of a revolution in composing to fish itself out of the slump it has witnessed in recent times, says veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar.
“If things have to improve, one of the two has to happen. Either a new musical phenomenon must emerge in composing, or some playback singer or the other should get into composing, taking charge of the music they get to sing,” a new book — “Bollywood Melodies” — quotes Lata as saying.
But Lata is doubtful if either of these will happen. “For the sake of film music, I wish it did,” she hopes. But according to the singer, dubbed as the ‘nightingale of India’, there is no dearth of talented singers in the country.
“It is just that there’s no composer to test a singer’s range; work on exploring the voice of the singer the way composers used to do in the 1950s.” Lamenting that the emphasis of present-day music is on instant popularity and not on creating something that is original, the book quotes, “Creative music is not happening anywhere — not in Mumbai, not in the south or even in Bengal. How can you blame the singers alone for it?” The book, written by Bangalore-based organisation development consultant Ganesh Anantharaman, traces the evolution of the Hindi film song to its present status as the cultural barometer of the country, through an evaluation of the works of over 50 leading composers, singers and lyricists — from K L Saigal to Sonu Nigam, Naushad to A R Rahman, Sahir Ludhianvi to Javed Akhtar. PTI
March 7th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Thanks for Nice article and fantastic Phographs of Sahir, Guru Duut and our payare Rafi Saab
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:33 am
Re: Post 62 & for Anmol Singhs attn:
Yes sanjay ji. Lata indeed has said the lines that we have no
music composers who can bring the “jaadu” from the present
day singer’s throat.
but she is some 20 years late in admitting the same.
in many stage shows lata ji has been taking all the credit for her
songs , not even mentioning the composers or the lyricists .
and we need to tell her that music composers such as pyarelal,
ravi and Khayyam are all unemployed today. Mr. daan singh a
rare music comp0ser is somewhere in rajasthan, unheard of
for a long time.
if lata wishes she could line up some private songs from her
“trust” funds for these great living composers. giving statements
and lamenting in public with no action has been our “national
pastime” - and hence lacks conviction.
coming back to the subject, the book by bangalore based
anantharaman is a must read for all music lovers .
binu nair.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
Bollywood Melodies - written by bangalore based writer anantharaman
is a must read and it has lines eugolising Mohd Rafi saaheb, my
friend narayanan from the rafi foundation - informs me.
binu nair…. the rafi foundation, mumbai : +9833 250 701
March 24th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Ref - Post 62
Manish Kumar Ji,
Music Composers in todays time are compitent enough to bring best out of all the singers. But the problem is majority don’t get good scripts which can influence good songs. Film scripts are influnced by the present day life style also. With living standards going up in also influences the audience likes and dislikes, were the appreciation is more towards fantacy and fiction and not much towards reality.
In the 50s, 60s & 70s scripts were more reality oriented, plus people didn’t have much high living standards. Therefore the appreciration for quality music was there. In 80s the story line was more sterio type consisting of more vulgarity, volience, one or two rapes, etc. This limits scope for quality music. Even the best music composer cannot do anything with such a story line.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:57 am
i m totally agree, with views of this site, but now v can say that a big part of lack of rafi ji’s absense is been fulfilled by a singer, who is now no. one singer, that is sonu nigam, he has a same voice, like mohd.rafi,as well as he is a versatile singer,his voice is sp true, but even then we can’t fulfill, absense of the legendary, rafi ji.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Re. Post 67: Sonu Nigam is no where to Rafi Saheb. Listen carefully to Rafi Saheb’s voice and then to Sonu Nigam, it is as difference as heaven and hell respectively. Please do not compare any singer with Rafi Saheb. By the way, Mr. Ajaay, it was a rotten joke!
March 28th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Ref Post 68
Just to highlight one incident of recording by Sonu Nigam for a patriotic song for a Vidhu Vinod Chopra film. Prior to recording the song Sonu did a lot of boxing in the recording chamber, in order to create fire in his voice for getting the patriotic effect. I felt like laughing.
Singers like Rafi, Mahendra K and Manna Dey who sung incredible number of patriotic songs in their career, would never imagine of doing some thing like this.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
sonu nigam sounds more like mimicry artist rather than a true singer, only very few playback singers today among the bulk of singers have the original voice, some of them are- udit narayan, kailash kher, sukhvinder singh…. but still no one is pure like rafi , talat or manna………
March 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Ref: post #70.
Exactly… I’m really bemused when people compare Sonu favorably with Rafi sahab… To me Rafi sahab’s voice is like marble piece.. super-smooth yet heavy. Sonu’s voice is like feather … soft but light.. Among all the Rafi-clones, Md. Aziz is the one who had the heavyness in his voice.. Sonu is more of a Shabbir-clone or a Anwar-clone than a Rafi-clone.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Mohammed Rafi is the bhagwaan of India!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 3:25 am
While Rafi saab’s talent has it’s own special place in Indian music history, the talents of Sonu Nigam is unparralled in this world. He has taken music up another notch from where rafi left it. Sonu has surpassed the talent level of Rafi saab and has convincingly established himself as the best male singer India ever had!
April 8th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Re. Post 73: I repeat Sonu Nigam is nothing in front of Rafi Saheb. Sonu’s voice shiver in many of his songs, so please do not even think of comparing Sonu to Rafi Saheb.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Guys - Stop this nonsense argument about Rafi & Sonu Nigam. Each one have their own place. Change is inevitable and if you look at the Playback industry (even going by the quality in reality shows such as Saregamapa) talent is in abundance.
Sonu Nigam has acknowledged and still acknowledges that Rafi is his guru, nowhere has he or will he ever mention that he is a better singer than Raft. Where is this nonsensical argument about Sonu being compared with Rafi emerge.
Please let a good singer be. Rafi was a revolution during his times and Sonu is a revolution during our times…. this fact will remain. I can refute anyone who tries to defy this with simple & common sensical explanations.
Thanks
April 16th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
NIGAM IS THE BEST
April 17th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Possibly it is the same person writing in different names stating Sonu Nigam better than Rafi.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Re. Post 76: Ask Sonu who is the best and you’ll get the reply.