I thought the self appointed crusaders have taken my advice I made a while back in the other thread which is now subsequently rightly closed by the admin.
I see that the self appointed crusaders are here too with statements that are not only incorrect but silly at best. More than often I choose not to respond to such an illogical dialogue as it is shear waste of time but having done most of my work and now listening to the songs of Rafisaab, I am taking some time out to reply to a few preposterous comments and I hope this time these self appointed messengers of KK either update their lack of knowledge about Rafisaab or leave this site with dignity so that we can use the space for a rational and factual discussions.
I was reading an interview of our beloved Mana Da, a Rafian to the core who all his life has devoted himself to praise Rafisaab with all his heart. Just like many other great artistes like Naushad Saab, Ravi, Mahendra Kapoor, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Lataji, Chitraguta, OP Nayar, Kishore Kumar and the pioneer of playback singing, Saigal Saab who predicted even before Rafisaab even sang his first recorded song about the greatness of Rafisaab. All these legends (and many more) have said on many occasions that about the unmatched greatness of Rafisaab as a playback singer.
It is not surprising that they should say so as they understand the art better than most of us. The unmatched greatness of Rafisaab is now considered as obvious as the directions of the rising and setting of the sun. Obviously there may be few who would disagree to the directions of the rising and setting of the sun. They surely can choose to but they would only end up in being described as ignorant or, duds or simply fools. The same applies to those who doubt and refuse to accept that Rafisaab is the benchmark of singing, the very best that we have ever seen.
What I see here is a breed of misguided people who sadly seem to represent Kishore Kumar when the fine singer and person himself admitted with grace about him being a Rafian.
“Whenever I get the time, I listen to Naushad’s songs sung by Mohammed Rafi. Over and over again. Every time I get the same feeling. The joy of realizing that this is what is perhaps called the perfect jugalbandi, something that cannot be surpassed. In our country, the ideal male voice for touching your heart was Rafi.” - the latest comment by Mana dey. Anyone who has being to a decent English school can understand the meaning of this.
“No artiste like you has come before and no one will ever come. Your voice is a mercy for this tension ridden world” - Naushad
“It was an honor for me that Rafisaab sang so many songs for me” - Naushad
“He was the only singer whose voice could be molded to meet any situation, mood or actor”- Naushad
His range was second to none and his ability to sing at any pitch was something only Lata bai could match - Naushad
These are just a few statements from the guru of music directors. One who has read enough or cared to read enough about Naushad knows that he held Rafi in the greatest position, position of the number 1 singer of all times. There is no room for any misinterpretation. Hence if anyone still chooses to deny the facts either can’t understand English or are just being mischievous for reasons best known to them. I think they consider it a stigma, a humiliation if Rafisaab is considered the best ever, a humiliation that is self imposed as they have taken the personal burden of crusading for their favorite singer, in this case KK.
I have met Mana da and he said that the media from time to time try to misinterpret his remarks. He said he believed it from day 1 that Rafi was better than him and he maintains it to date. When he was asked whether Rafisaab was the best ever, his answer was very simple , yes. Rafi fans must not believe anything else besides this if they read in any media that contradicts this view.
Lataji probably the only one that comes close to Rafisaab’s class says that he was the one that filled the empty space left by the passing of Saigal and that the space left by the passing off Rafisaab is still empty. Simple English, anyone that has a basic understanding can fathom the meaning of these statements.
At a Saigal concert in Lahore, the power failed and Rafi Sahab, then 17, was roped in to sing a couple of songs to keep the restive audience quiet. Not only he achieved in keeping them quiet but also delighting them as Saigal Sahab looked on amazed only to comment later that Rafi Sahab was destined to achieve lofty heights in singing and how true he was. Music director Shyam Sunder, who was in the audience, was so extremely impressed and later worked with Rafi Sahab on melodies that remain fresh to date.
Rafi Sahab infact got his first break in Hindi films in a Shyam Sunder film and his dream of working with Saigal was realised when Naushad gave him two lines to sing in the Saigal film, Shahjahan.
This marked the beginning of the greatest and purest journey of HFM, it marked the beginning of an unmatched tradition of singing that would become a benchmark for all singers forever.
Rafisaab was destined to be the greatest force in singing and with the passing of time this hard fact becomes larger in magnitude. More and more people are realising and making the most of the greatest voice of HFM and it is lovely to see youngsters getting to know more and listen to the master. His fan base keeps increasing by the minute. In an informal Chat with Hemant da’s son Jayanto, I was surprised when he said Rafi was the best. One would have thought he would say his father was the best. I have great admiration and respect for such open minded people.
Jayanto later went on record saying in an interview:
“Rafi saab could sing any song, Rafi saab … is like ….. (a pause) No 1 to 10″.
I could go on and on about the unmatched greatness of Rafisaab but then I would only be stating the obvious things that most are aware off anyway.
I believe ignorance is not bliss but a curse and mischief is a sign of weakness. If these crusaders even have one sensible bone in their body then I hope they can realize that they are the odd ones out who are looked upon with disgust or simply ignored. You have a choice to make here.
A request to all, do not use slur on this website and if you are not happy about what’s happening here then leave this site with peace and dignity rather then make a complete mockery of yourself and in the process insult the legend you seem to crusade for.
Kishore Kumar was a fine artiste and a fine person so do not bring any disregard and disrespect for him as he had enormous respect for Rafisaab whom he considered as an idol and a brother.

Please treat this as my last post for this discussion. Anyone here who wishes to know more about our beloved Rafi then please feel free to ask, i would be more than happy to assist.

I see that the self appointed crusaders are here too with statements that are not only incorrect but silly at best. More than often I choose not to respond to such an illogical dialogue as it is shear waste of time but having done most of my work and now listening to the songs of Rafisaab, I am taking some time out to reply to a few pre-poserous comments and I hope this time these self appointed messangers of KK either update their lack of knowledge about Rafisaab or leave this site with dignity so that we can use the space for a rational and factual discussions.

I was reading an interview of our beloved Mana Da, a Rafian to the core who all his life has devoted himself to praise Rafisaab with all his heart. Just like many other great artistes like Naushad Saab, Ravi, Mahendra Kapoor, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Lataji, Chitraguta, OP Nayar, Kishore Kumar and the pioneer of playback singing, Saigal Saab who predicted even before Rafisaab even sang his first recored song about the greatness of Rafisaab. All these legends (and many more) have said on many occassions that about the unmatched greayness of Rafisaab as a playback singer.

It is not surprsing that they should say so as they understand the art better than most of us. The unmatched greatness of Rafisaab is now considered as obvious as the directions of the rising and setting of the sun. Obviously there may be few who would disagree to the directions of the rising and seting of the sun. They surely can choose to but they would only end up in being described as ingorant or, duds or simply fools. The same applies to those who doubt and refuse to accept that Rafisaab is the benchmark of singing, the very best that we have haver seen.

What I see here is a breed of misguided people who sadly seem to represent Kishore Kumar when the fine singer and person himself admitted with grace about him being a Rafian.

“Whenever I get the time, I listen to Naushad’s songs sung by Mohammed Rafi. Over and over again. Everytime I get the same feeling. The joy of realising that this is what is perhaps called the perfect jugalbandi, something that cannot be surpassed.In our country, the ideal male voice for touching your heart was Rafi.” - the lastest comment by Mana dey. Anyone who has being to a decent english school can understand the meaning of this.

“No artiste like you has come before and no one will ever come. Your voice is a mercy for this tension ridden world” - Naushad

“It was an honor for me that Rafisaab sang so many songs for me” - Naushad

“He was the only singer whose voice could be moulded to meet any situation, mood or actor”- Naushad

His range was second to none and his ability to sing at any pitch was something only Lata bai could match - Naushad

These are just a few statements from the guru of music directors. One who has read enogh or cared to read enough about Naushad knows that he held Rafi in the greatest position, position of the number 1 siinger of all times. There is no room for any misinterpretation. Hence if anyone still chooses to deny the facts either cant understand english or are just being mischievous for reasons best known to them. I think they consider it a stigma, a humiliation if Rafisaab is considered the best ever, a humiliation that is self imposed as they have taken the personal burden of crusading for their favorite singer, in this case KK.

I have met Mana da and he said that the media from time to time try to misiterpret his remarks. He said he belived it from day 1 that Rafi was better than him and he maintains it to date. When he was asked whether Rafisaab was the best ever, his answer was very simple , yes. Rafi fans must not belive anything else besided this if they read in any media that contradicts this view.

Lataji probably the only one that comes close to Rafisaabs class says that he was the one that filled the empty space left by the passing of Saigal and that the space left by the passing off Rafisaab is still empty. Simple english, anyone that has a basic understanding can fathom the meaning of these statements.

At a Saigal concert in Lahore, the power failed and Rafi Sahab, then 17, was roped in to sing a couple of songs to keep the restive audience quiet. Not only he achieved in keeping them quiet but also delighting them as Saigal Sahab looked on amazed only to comment later that Rafi Sahab was destined to achieve lofty heights in singing and how true he was. Music director Shyam Sunder, who was in the audience, was so extremely impressed and later worked with Rafi Sahab on melodies that remain fresh to date.
Rafi Sahab infact got his first break in Hindi films in a Shyam Sunder film and his dream of working with Saigal was realised when Naushad gave him two lines to sing in the Saigal film, Shahjahan.
This marked the beginning of the greatest and purest journey of HFM, it marked the beginning of an unmatched tradition of singing that would become a benchmark for all singers forever.

Rafisaab was destined to be the greatest force in singing and with the passing of time this hard fact becomes larger in magnitude. More and more people are realising and making the most of the geatest voice of HFM and it is lovely to see youngsters getting to know more and listen to the master. His fan base keeps increasing by the minute. In an informal Chat with Hemant da’s son Jayanto, I was surprised when he said Rafi was the best. One would have thought he would say his father was the best. I have great admiration and respect for such open minded people.
Jayanto later went on record saying in an inteview:

“Rafi saab could sing any song, Rafi saab … is like ….. (a pause) No 1 to 10″.

I could go on and on about the unmatched greatness of Rafisaab but then i would only be stating the obvious things that most are aware off anyway.

I believe ignorance is not bliss but a curse and mischief is a sign of weakness. If these crusaders even have one sensible bone in their body then I hope they can realise that ther are the odd ones out who are looked upon with digust or simply ignored. You have a choice to make here.

A request to all, do not use slur on this website and if you are not happy about whats happening here then leave this site with peace and dignity rather then make a complete mockery of yourself and in the process insult the legend you seem to crusade for.

Kishore Kumar was a fine artiste and a fine person so do not bring any disregard and disrespect for him as he had enormous respect for Rafisaab whom he consdired as an idol and a brother.

I do not know as to why make an issue of a passing remark made by Manna Dey. Of all the replies I find Mr Haldar’s observations most appropriate. I have read in diffrent magazines, heard Manna Dey live in interviews on TV and radio and have CD where Manna Dey pays richest possible tribute to Mohd Rafi. He always described Mohd Rafi as a genius and very rare and the best male playback singer of hindi cinema.

Closest to controversy was his remark that although Mohd Rafi was not as classicaly trained as me (word uneducated may also have slipped out of his mouth - which has been blown out of proportions and totaly out of context), even during classical singing duets, I always feared that Mohd Rafi will overtake me even in my expertise. Manna Dey admits with pride that at no stage did he feel defeated because he was only loosing to a genius. He called Rafi and Lata as something as God gifted which no amount of classical education or Riyas can bring.

Being from a humble background and a large family of Barber, it is not surprising that he did not have opportunity to go to expensive school or obtain much classical training. But he did get just the right education in music also to sing songs which are still a rage. I do not know how much academic education he had, but I have seen his Urdu handwriting and it is very good and uniform (I can not read Urdu, but his flow is smooth).

I request readers not to compare the two and appreciate Manna Dey’s tribute to Mohd Rafi. The “so called” remark could not have been Manna Dey’s intent.

In Bengali music, among the male singers, Hemant(a) and Manna are perhaps the most popular singers. Hemanta is a rage among Rabindra-sangeet lovers, too. Kishore’s songs are also very popular but most of his major Bengali hits were before Aradhana and tuned by RD. In fact, songs like Tum bin jawoon kahan and Yeh sham mastani had Bengali versions that used to come out during Durga Puja. After Aradhana, Kishore didn’t use to sing in Bengali that often; RD, sometimes with Asha, would often sing the original in Bengali and have Kishore/Asha sing it in Hindi.

In 1983, three years after Rafi’s death, Kishore had come to Calcutta for a concert. He started with a Rabindra-sangeet and then, in memory of his departed friend, sang Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare (the song that has been ranked #1 in a recent Outlook poll). In an interview that was published in the Illustrated Weekly, Kishore, a self-avowed Rafi fan, had said that he used to listen to Rafi’s songs during his spare time. Rafi was the singer’s singer, the ustadon ki ustad.

Nice serve. In fact, my comments also were just limited to the word “uneducated” and, akin to yours, it was my bias towards Rafi. A version, of a skeptic (and a wannabe satirist), nothing else…and did not mean anything more (once again my apologies!). The moment we break from the semantical part and take Manna Dey as a singer, obviously, we find a second rank holder of a class of a relatively good strength (there is another [KK]andidate fighting for this position in a neighboring forum; in fact for the first rank, if not second).

Well, I liked your play in the other court in this forum (5-0). Never knew about your love for Indian music. Hopefully, there will be more forthcoming.