True Voice - Mohd Rafi
The following article was brought to my notice when Sharad posted it on MAS. The article has been trimmed down a bit keeping afloat Rafi details. However, anyone interested can go visit the source at http://tfmpage.com/forum/4980.6302.04.57.19.html
I am Swaminatha Iyer and I am 78 years old. I hail from Tiruchi and I am a part of music associations in Tiruchi, M’as as well as in West Bengal and Maharashtra.
I think it is wrong to condemn music or artists on either side of Vindhyas. Our Indian music is one of the few which has not been cleaned off by the western music though there has always been a influence. It speaks a lot of the richness of our music. Sometime back director of MTV had said that MTV westernized the music wherever it went but in India , MTV had to be Indianized for it to be accepted. A lot of this credit goes to the Indian film music.
I have been fortunate to have close personal association with Rafi, Sirkali, TMS, Dr. BMK, Kishore, SPB & KJY, PS, Mannadey and the one and only Lata Mangeshkar.
Comparisons are bound to come, but almost every artist or I have met considers Lata to be beyond comparison. Her talents are beyond anyone’s reach. Even Sirkazi used to talk of her singing like a die-hard fan as do countless others.
Now coming to the Rafi-SPB discussion. It might be difficult to convince an South Indian to believe Rafi is the better and at the same time Rafi crowd will never believe any other male singer comes anywhere nearer. There is one more mobile crowd, which is well conversant with Hindi and some south Indian language. Majority of them tilt to either Rafi or Kishore.
During one of my stays in M’as I had stayed with SPB. While talking of true voices he said, I don’t feel like half a singer when listening to Rafi. True voice is not a tech term but many in circle use it. Perfect example would be lata, but to understand consider our own PS who within her range is superb. People who do not have such true voices can never do justice to original. They generally underplay many parts of the song or fake it with bass/superficial singing. True voices make people like Sirkazi, Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, Lata… Inimitable. However since Sirkazi and Nusrat did not have the filmy voices their “real” following is limited to their local arena.
In addition to the true voice if the singer has a very good voice then in “most” cases he/she can better songs of others. It is this combination which makes Rafi stand out among the other male singers. There are many here who seem to have mistaken notions on a good bass and also on high pitch.
Bryan Adams does not require a monster bass in “Summer of 69″ to sound real manly. It is the punch which gives that feel and that is decided only by the comfort level in most ranges (that is by what your throat can support). This you CAN never disguise with bass. Since people have talked about lack of manly voice viz. a viz. Rafi it was necessary to bring this point out. I have had the fortune of listening to most singers in studio and some times without a mike, practicing with MD’s.When Lata or Rafi do, the level is so high that people hesitate to even hum. It felt silly to sing in their presence (and it feels silly when someone says his voice isn’t manly).
In RD’s tribute when SPB sang “Aaja Aaja mein hoon” or “Chaand mera dil” it sounded only sweet and lacked punch if you compare with Rafi’s original.
Yesu once told me God has been partial to Rafi. He said “god gift term anavasyamaa romba common aa ippo use aardu”.. but idu Rafi kee thaan 100% porundu”. This person could sing “as intricately as a lady without sounding thin”, “cover any mood”, “versatility odey perfect example Rafi”. Yesu said most important is the comfort level over ranges which makes you feel God has been partial to Rafi. (But Of course in Rafi’s early career (1950’s) the voice was relatively feeble).
To people exposed to Rafi’s talent, these or any amount of praise can only seem less. I just wish he was alive and you people could get a live chance to hear him. Probably you can get hold of the DD album for the Geet Gaata Chal series where the first four episodes were dedicated to Rafi. Rafi is on camera singing “O Duniya Ke Rakwaaley” and many other songs. If you see and hear the last part you will realize why SPB said “impossible”. I think particularly those people who have talked about scales w.r.t Rafi should see this album. Its a known fact in industry that Rafi ruled high pitch and there is no male singer better in switching notes so easily. There are artists who can go beyond but then they sound strained or they don’t have pleasant voices when they venture into those territories.
Many singers of today are his compulsive followers. But they end up inheriting only part of his quality. Md. Aziz ended up with a sad voice. Mahendra Kapoor with a thick nasal voice. Anwar with a nasal voice. Sonu Nigam with a feminine voice. Rafi neither had a soft voice nor a heavy (bass) voice he had a good voice. Importantly did not strain at high notes, and voice if at all only became better at higher notes. If you see him singing it will remind you of Janaki. However diff the song is or the note is he will be smiling and singing. It is unthinkable that he cannot sing something.
There seems to be lot of talk about “Shankara Bharanamo” song. SPB has sung many a great numbers and things being said about this song in this forum are rather amusing, particularly b’cos 3 out of 4 people who can be called as singers will be able sing it and at least one out of 10 will sing it with the same effect. There are lot of other songs of SPB where this great singer has played with songs in total control. You will find most south Indian singers who have had a good exposure say that it is beneficial to learn Hindustani as it gives better breath control and improves expression.
Rafi was not only able to glide over a song, the important thing was that he could express each word/sound when singing. It is one thing to hold your breath, start and reach a crescendo (high note), as like in “Shankara”, “Anbey (Yennai kaan villaye)” it is different ballgame if you have to do it from low notes or suddenly switch notes. With practice the former can be done, latter requires a special gift. Rafi had a natural ability to do the latter. In “Tum joh mil gaye ho” there is such a transition in the “karwaan mil gaya” part. I have never seen anyone do justice to most of his songs in my life time. In “parda hai parda” quawaali the similar part is “kar doon to, Akbar mera naam”. In fact most of his songs will have these specialty as it was his natural ability to sing freely in a wide range at the same time giving that extra expression.
Whereas SPB takes us to heavens with “Idu oru pon maali”,”Ilaya nila” “bisiladarenu”(kannada), when he sings Rafi’s song it lacks the punch or expression, though it has the bass. But at least most agree that SPB does some justice to original, whereas most others murder the original.
One trivial point I would like to add is that singing in Hindi is harder. There are more “JHA”,”CHA”,”HA”,”THA”, “KHA”,”JA”,”FA”. These take away the breath faster. The more expressive you are the more air you are using up. Just singing from Nabhi will not help, your throat also needs to do a lot, for singing in Hindi, Bengali etc. SPB makes you fall in love with his south Indian songs but same cannot be said about his Hindi songs. If you just glide through words having these sounds, you will never be expressive. Doing this as well as reaching high notes is not easy. Rafi had this gift and that’s why it is difficult to imagine anyone else in his shoes. Song “Chalkaaye jaam” has so much expression that it is unthinkable how anyone can sing it. When Rafi switches to a high note with “Mitwaa” in the song “Chaahunga mein tughey” you cannot replicate it with bass. Most others will sound as if they are shouting in such cases. That man’s throat had the ability to freely sing at such levels.
Versatility is not just the ability to sing in various styles, more important is how good you are singing in those styles. You have lot of Ghazal singers today but when Rafi sings a Ghazal you will sit up and take notice. You don’t have to be part of the Ghazal listeners crowd. This is one important aspect. Whatever style you sing you should be able to pull the common man to listen and not just a particular crowd. Pick “parda hai parda” or any qawalli and it will stand tall among other qawalli’s.
Variety is amazing :
songs of Guru Dutt’s Khagaz key phool or songs like abhi naa jao chod key, Aaja teri yaad aayi, Aaj kal mein dhal gaya, Aaj kal terey merey pyaar, Aasmaan sey aaya farishta, Dil ney pyaar kiya hai, Deewana mujh saa nahi, Din dhal jaaye, Duniya paagal hai, Jaane walon jara, Dil joh na kaha saka, Dil key jharokon mein, Dil kaa bhavar, Chalkey teri aakkhon sey, Kar chaley hum fida, khilona jaan kar tum, Woh jab yaad aay, Woh hain jara khafa, Vaadian mera daaman, Pathar key sanam, Chaand mera dil, Main zindagi kaa saath, Mainey poocha chaand sey, sun sun jaalima, Koi jab raah na paay, hum to chaley pardes, badan pey sitaarey, laal chadi maidaan, Tum jo mil gaye, O meri shaahey, Sau baar janam lengey, Tum mujhey yoon bhula, Tumney mujhey dekha, Terey merey sapney, Tumny pukaara hum chaley aay
Name a situation/mood and Rafi’s song will be there on the top.
Swami
January 6th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
ramkrishna ji… post 718…
chaste and humble language - will surely win u pioints and friends here as well as in life.
the use of words like “to hell with” is surely in bad taste and against the philosophy of
rafi saaheb….
truly sangeet is saraswati…. our utterance too should be on such lines…
binu nair…. the rafi foundation… binu
January 5th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
thanks for the clarification mr anil cherian - my mistake!
January 5th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
hello readers,
i am a new person to this site. b’coz, i noticed some interesting discussions, i thought to post some of my thoughts. edhar bahut sare message padne ke bad mera opinion, i feel all the contributors here are good fans of many legendary singers. the discussion on comparison is simply continuing to drag the messages so that this message site - meri awaaz suno - can beat the other message site of the rafi-kishore saga which has 815 messages and can create a record in itself. esliye edhar log messagon ki raftar bada rahe he.
January 5th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Ramakrishna garu, - 719 pl.
No dispute about what you said sir and no doubt about it.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:20 am
For Ramakrishna Sir.
Your points well-taken. I feel odd when you address me sir, pls..don’t….I’m younger to you (into thirties) and my knowledge of singers and songs are not as much as yours.
As I mentioned before constructive comparisons are always nice, it enlightens people. However there should be a level playing field. I mean one can compare a master in classical music/singing to a great light singer only on the points where they converge..like the voice quality (which again is objective to an extent), the vocal range etc. It doesn’t make much sense when we compare them from a highly technical angle. Do we compare say a Padma Subramaniyam to a Madhuri Dixit from a technical angle. I’m not trying to imply that Rafi sahab is not great from a technical angle. However I enjoy him with my heart and not with my brain and I suppose most of the music lovers do the same. As mentioned by Mr. Manish just now (and as you are aware) Rafi sahab is much more than correct notes and right representation of raagas and that’s exactly why common folks like me adore and hail him.
Yeah..artists are god’s own creations and deserves all the respect. I myself play western musical instruments and have had some basic training in singing and if I respect anyone, it’s the artists.
Hope I made myself clear now. Please accept my apologies for being rude with you.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
For Mr. Manish Kumar.
You got me wrong, bro. I was emphasising the very same point u mentioned. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough. My comments were in response to several posts hinting at another singer doing a better job at some of the classical-based songs and raagas. Yeah..I know 4 sure, Rafi sahab has no match..and I really wonder how u reached the conclusion that I was trying to say someone’s better. Perhaps u haven’t gone thru this latest comparison series going on 4 sometime and basically I wanted to bring it to a close. Hope it’s clear to you now.
January 4th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
ref post 711
sri vasu garu,
in the same ‘ jhummandi naadam’ sri p.b.srinivas has refered rafi sahab as the melody master.
similarly p.susheela garu has also told that melody means mohammed rafi garu.
January 4th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
ref post 710
mr anil cherian sir.
i am very sorry to hurt you by using tough words.
sir, i feel music is divine and its goddess saraswati. so any musician i see i consider him to be a messenger of goddess saraswati, let him be a tanpura artist, harmonium artist or tabla artist and so on………………
and about my dearest rafi sahab i can proudly say he is a ‘ saint’, an incarnation who has given bread and butter to so many and has brought up so many music directors to the lime light.
and your last sentence i can call amitabh as ‘ab’ but i cant call muhammed rafi as ‘rafi’. because i bow my head to him. with all happiness i can address him as ‘ rafi sahab’ , similarly i cant call the famous karnatic singer as chembai, my concious does not permit me . i will say sri chembai vaidyanaath bhagavataar the great.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
dear binu ji,
Your points are well taken. I was only trying to counter the allegations of some esteemed readers who without possessing adequate knowledge were posting their views. You are well aware of my knowledge regarding rafi sahab and his songs as i have written many posts with regard to this top bollywood legend. Hope the mis-understanding clears sir.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Nothing can beat Rafi’s voice. It is indeed the real voice.
January 4th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Yes… vasu ji… it’d indeed a waste of time for all of us to
read constantly about ur favourite singer at the cost of rafi saab…
in a mohd rafi saab site…
obstinate peple will never see ‘reason’.. .. bechaare , bahut
bhar chalti gaadi me chad jaate hai…. (this is a mumbai jargon)
and sing the same tune again, again, again and again…..
this is a legend rafi saab site and please start a website of
ur favourite singers and dont waste time,effort nd space
of rafi lovers herein…
binu nair..
January 4th, 2008 at 12:42 am
anil cherian - of course you already knew about the many factors - i didn’t tell you anything new. but i wanted to emphasize that you CAN’T so cleverly take that silly angle to try to prove someone to be higher than the mount everest of singing - mohammed rafi sahab!
January 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Anil Cherian,
“From a purely techniqual standpoint” a ha! mr cherian - it is not just that. there are many more factors considered like versatility, sweetness of voice, expression of taan / harkatein. taking everything into consideration - rafi sahab had not match! the closest thing to rafi would be a Lata Bhoshle hahahaha!
- Manish
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Mr.vasu jI.. I BELIEVE U HAVE A PERSONAL I.D. pOST 711…
PLEASE USE IT TO WRITE TO FOUR LOVERS OF SHRI GHANTASALA
AS THIS IS A LEGEND MOHD RAFI SITE…
pLEASE STOP THIS AS WE ARE NOT INTERESTED AT THIS
POINT OF TIME TO READ UR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SINGERS
OTHER THAN RAFI SAAB…..
bINU NAIR….. MUMBAI…..
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Ramakrishna garu,
I have already re-iterated in my earlier messages that it is a waste of time to argue with people who have incomplete knowledge regarding ghantasala garu. unnecessary arguments will be like blowing of a conch before a deaf man. I had already written about sri k j yesudas garu long back, who sang in telugu films (sri krishna vijayam etc.) when ghantasala garu was very much there.
and people are well aware of this fact.
sir, last saturday in etv jhumaandi nadam, p b srinivas garu was the guest (he was one of the famous south indian singers along with sri jesudas) wherein he too like spb had great praise and regard for sri ghantasala garu, p b srinivas statement was voice of ghantasala garu is impregnable and he was the king in the film world in the south and other singers were only part of ghantasala garu.
friends, pl. do not mistake the above comments for comparison, my intention is purely to educate the so called people who are ignorant and have only incomplete knowledge about the talent of ghantasala garu.
i again repeat my earlier comments, rafi sahab and ghantasala garu are the two eyes of indian film music. these two are gift of god to all the music lovers. we should be happy and fortunate to have such type of incomparable and irreplacable singers in the film industry rather that continuing arguments in a cheaper way.
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
@ post 709.
Mr. Ramakrishna:
U missed the bus, here. My comment was meant 2 b sarcastic; this apples Vs oranges comparison really irks me. I just wanted 2 emphasise the folly of comparing a light/ play-back singer who sang some heavy classical stuff when pressed to a classical singer who also did some light/ play-back singing. since u r from south u know 4 sure that in south classical-based songs dominated films right into the 60s, whereas it was not the case in hindi. u also know pretty well that it’s the bhagwatars who sang many (if not most) of the songs during this period in south. U also know very well that ur fav. is a basically a bhagwatar, who bcoz of his more “filmy” voice (compared 2 certain others) was more popular. I suppose u also know that a Rafi-sque singer (a term very difficult 2 describe or define but can mean someone with a honey-dripping voice and style which goes well with any face on the screen) appeared in the south, for the first time not in Telugu but in Malayalam and he goes by the name K.J.Yesudas. Then why this effort 2 prove that ur fav. is better? If analysed from a purely technical view-point, all the bhagwatars from south could be adjudged better singers than Rafi sahab.
As 4 ur allegation on my showing disrespect 2 a legend, let me inform you that I never did and will never show lack of respect 2 this great singer. When u address Amitabh Bachan jee as AB, it’s not insulting him..right? Similary we don’t say MGR sir or KK da. Am I right?
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
ref post 705
mr anil cherian,
its a matter of great regret that one way you say to stop this discussion and the other way you are seeking a discussion regarding rafi sahab vs chembai. so sorry to note.
mr anil when you take the name of a singer please give respect to him. your way of giving introduction is very poor and totally incomplete.
i think you dont know his full name.
he is the great singer sri chembai vaidyanaath bhagavataar. i know he is mentor for sri jesudoss.
for heavens sake dont say chembai. he is not your servant.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Hello Everybody who are just increasing posts by comparing. Pl stop it. One thing you all will understand and should understand. Rafi Saab is incomparable. Pl stop everything other than talking about our beloved Godly person Rafi Saab whom I could never see in my life. I am very unlucky that I was born in 70s and lost him when I was just 7 years. When his voice can create a magic like this how would that have been when met personally. Feeling him, speaking to him, listening to him. Gods are too partial sometimes. I feel.
If somebody starts comparing. I a Rafi Deewana will have to reciprocate accordingly. Be careful.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:25 pm
hello friends,
what comparisons between north and south legend is going on here for so many days.i am not aware of much music but i love songs of rafi saab very much. they are very beautiful. very recently, i have been to hyderabad on tour and listened songs of ghantasala on radio. i can say hmmm……. his voice sounds excellent. i thought another rafi was singing. no further discussions and comparison otherwise further problems may arise.
January 1st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
mr. vijay - post 703 pl.
you perhaps do not know that the frontline golden singers i.e. ghantasala and rafi have been basis (in the north and south respectively) for other singers to pursue singing in the films. you are talking about today’s singers and music. mr. you may pl.note today’s singers have no option of doing anything but simply praising those frontline legends and singing their gems. no option pl. and hence no today’s singer whether in the north or south is at least 1/2 of the greatest legends i.e ghantasala and rafi pl.
further note that bringing a child (today’s singers) into picture when discussions are going between elders (the legends quoted above) cannot be of any use.
January 1st, 2008 at 6:40 pm
What next?… Rafi sahab Vs Chembai?…. (Chembai was a great Carnatic classical exponent from South who personally trained Yesudas Sir when the latter was young, for the information of those who haven’t heard the name). This singer routinely hit “ni” in the 3rd octave and went beyond..and had a “sharp” voice; He sang in a lot of temples to boot.
December 31st, 2007 at 10:29 pm
now another group has started tangential attack. to hell with it.
vasu garu, khan sahab, vitthal garu, prasad garu these people do not understand our views with proper perspective. thats why i am telling from a long since let us stop this debate but it was going on continuing.
we are not posing that we are the masters rather we appreciate the talented but a man should have an open mind to understand it.
where are these people when some one writes article just by pushing rafi sahab’s name with some other music director & goes on writing about that music director .
December 31st, 2007 at 8:15 pm
You guys are so cruel people like Sonu niigam has kept rafis sahabs alive..
I am a very big rafi sahabs fan…insulting sonuji like this, you should be ashamed of yourselfs…
Sonuji is a great singer of today & loves rafi sahab…
December 31st, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Anil ji…
sure… u are on the dot….
binu nair…..
December 31st, 2007 at 11:50 am
@ Binu Sir:
Comparisons are good when they are constructive. Personally I’m for comparisons of voices, styles et al. See how Haldar sir compares several greats, one gets enlightened reading them. However for many ppl., comparison means proving their favourite is better than another. This is where it gets destructive and often dirty and as you rightly said this is a never-ending process.