binuji, that’s what I suspected all along. But rd’s mama is writing this nonsense in a bengali magazine. I’ll provide you the name of the periodical and the issue date. Maybe we need to lodge a protest against publishing such false stuff.

The news item and interest of the legend reported ‘may’ not be
true.
today, i spoke to shahid rafi and he confirmed that the maestro not
to be very adept at cooking…

binu nair. mumbai.

———————

Myk.
thanks for the S.D.B. article. do you have the illustrated weekly article
too on rafi saab - written by raju bharatan.

by the way its noted that there are two great writers who can
write exclusively on - legend rafi saab.
both happen to be raju. one is raju bharatan and the other raju korte
one of the best and the biggest fan of rafi saab. my the magic grow.

myk, technically speaking, the precursor to “maine poochha chand se” is “koyi aur duniya mein tumsa haseen hai” from pyar ki kahani.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zXIaE7BC3Q8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YM9Q4ACUApE

Excellent story you have posted there. Hopefully Binu-ji can confirm the ‘cooking’ angle.

I have a query. Who was Dada Burman’s regular tabla player ?.

I absolutely adore the way SD used the tabla, it is just pure class. We know Samta Prasad played in MSTA, and I believe Shivkumar Sharma also played it along with the santoor in SD’s orchestra. Then we have Maruti Keer who was a SD regular as well.

The IPZN song is a masterpiece. “Mehbooba teri tasveer” is one of the best Rafi solo’s of the 70’s. Not only the amazing tabla but the excellent orchestration as well. Rafi is as usual top class, you can just close your eyes and listen to him singing this song the whole day.

I am not sure if this is true, but I read once in an Anand Bakshi article that for IPZN, this song was chosen over “Maine Poocha Chand Se”. RD then used “Maine Poocha” in Abdullah ten years later, which was in fact composed by SD.

If you compare the tunes that SD gave to Rafi as opposed to Kishore or other male singers, there is a difference. Rafi had the voice and the range to sing such beautiful SD creations. With Rafi, SD was never limited in any way, with others he was, as simple as that.

Thanks for your post. I agree, in the 70’s KA made some choices that should have gone the other way, towards Rafi saab. I agree with all the examples that you have listed. Rafi saab sang excellent solo’s for KA but for now I would like to focus on the ‘duet’ aspect in the 70’s. In many films even if Rafi saab only sang one song in the film which was a duet, that song proved to be the best, and most long lasting, not to mention the most popular of the film. There are numerous examples (these are only for the 70’s), just to name a few:

Wada karle sajna (with Lata) - Haath Ki Safai
Tumse door rehke (with Lata) - Adalat
Yeh wada raha dilruba (with Asha) - Professor Pyarelal
Main tujhse milne (with Lata) - Heera
Kya dekhte ho (with Asha) - Qurbani
Hum hain pyar ki (with Lata) - Do Musafir
Pyar se dilbar de (with Asha) - KKAK
Ban ke saathi pyar (with Lata) - Sweetheart
Yunhi tum mujhse baat (with Lata) - Sachcha Jhoota
Mere mitwa mere meet (with Lata) - Geet
Bheege hue jalwon par (with Asha) - Shankar Shambu
O meri chorni (with Lata) - Kaatilon Ki Katil

KA only used Rafi once for Amitabh in Adalat and the song turned out to be a stunner. I wonder why they didn’t make more Rafi-AB combo’s.

For all his Kishore songs, I would rank this KA-Rafi masterpiece right up there amongst the very best of Rajesh Khanna, “Yeh Raat Hai Pyaasi Pyaasi…” (Chhoti Bahu).

KA’s use of the santoor reminds me of SDB. SDB had his own special way of using the santoor, and KA too were excellent when it came to this instrument.

the person is right (post55). rafi (is) an expert in kite flying.
I went to his old villa just behind Babha hospital. the villas name
is green view and its on waterfield road.
the pco operator confirmed to me that - people still come to this
area and describe how rafi used to fly kites and wave at groups of
people who assembled to see him. he had more pull than any hero -
of his time, usha timothi was mentioning.
rafis eating habits were subjects of great discussions. he used to
have delicious ghee soaked biryanis . He used to say : how will
i sing if i do not have energy..
about his cooking - i will report back soon…

binu nair.. mumbai.