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
August 15th, 2008 at 9:37 am
a new book on legend rafi saaheb release:
Legend Mohe Rafi book release function at - Pune - at manohar mangal karyalay near Nal stop on 18th august from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m followed by lilting memories and songs of the legend.
binu nair, rafi foundation, mumbai, 9833 250 701
August 13th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Hi all,
I was just browsing through this otherwise great website and chanced across this forum. I am greatly amused by these never-ending debates of who is the greatest singer between Rafi saab and Kishore da etc.
The debate was once actively taken up by us in RMIM (see posts from 1993-1995 etc.) , although it was a lot more friendly and lot more involved in technical aspects.
Although I enjoy a lot of great, superb renditions by Rafi saab during the golden era of HFM, I am at variance with claims by “rafians” that Rafi saab was as much at home in singing classical songs as he is in singing the Shammi Kapoor variety.
Rafi was anywhere but home as far as singing classical songs are concerned. His ability in that genre is very average. IMHO, he sold well because only he had the “screen voice” that could attempt classical numbers.
Most people who are uninitiated into classical music blindly look for the “taans” and “harkats” put in by the singer to judge their ability. But that is not the goal or motive of classical vocal training. The goal of any kind of classical training in vocal music is to achieve control of and mastery over Sur. If you do not achieve that, all the taans and other gymnastics you put in are irrelevant.
So, from that point of view in mind, it is impossible to say with any certainty that Rafi saab was better than Kishore. The effortlessness with which Kishore moves/switches from register to register is unmatched. No, Rafi saab couldn’t match it. Rafi has a tendency to yell when he goes above top Rishabh.
If you compare Kishore’s “Koi hamdam na rahaa, koi saharaa na rahaa” from “Jhumroo” with Rafi’s “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj” from “Baiju Bawra”, both the songs have the same range (Mandra Pancham to Taar Gandhaar for the Kishore song, Mandra Dhaivat to Taar Madhyam for the Rafi song), you will note that Kishore’s movement across the range is effortless, Rafi’s is more labored. And when Rafi hits that high Madhyam: “sun more vyaakul man” or “sab guNiijana pe”, it is clear that Rafi is yelling and he is outside his comfort zone.
People also claim that since Rafi can sing at an “absolute” higher pitch than Kishore, he is a greater singer. But anybody who knows Hindustani Classical Music knows that this is irrelevant.
The placement of the base note / tonic is irrelevant. I’m assuming that
the tonic is placed wherever the singer finds it comfortable. Given that
in Indian music, the octave is relative to the singer’s pitch, I don’t see why the fact that Rafi tends to sing at a higher pitch than Kishore should mean anything. If Kishore can reach and sustain *Kishore’s taar gandhaar* more comfortably and with more pleasant results than Rafi can reach *Rafi’s taar gandhaar*, then the fact that Rafi’s taar gandhaar is F or F# while Kishore’s taar gandhaar is merely D# or E is beside the point. It’s not like they are tenors being judged on the quality of their high C. In fact, using this logic, one could say that Kishore was a better singer because he could sing at a much lower pitch than Rafi could.
It could be argued that Rafi had a slightly wider vocal range (about 2 octaves) than Kishore (about 1.5-1.75 octaves), but, IMO, Kishore showed greater authority within his vocal range than Rafi showed in his.
Besides, technical mastery is just one and not the only criteria for judging singers. Kishore kumar was truly original. That he could do what he did with no training in music is truly inspirational.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
स्वतंत्रता दिवस पर किशोर कुमार का गाया हुआ एक बेशकीमती और दुर्लभ गीत !!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
ref my earlier post. the correct link to this rare song on india’s independence day by kishore kumar is available on the following link :
New Delhi, Delhi arrived from google.co.in on “गीतों की महफिल: स्वतं� �्रता दिवस पर किशोर कुमार का गाया हुआ एक बेशकीमती और दुर्लभ गीत !!”
one can find the link in the blog : GEETON KI MEHFIL under “Live traffic feed” which is on the left panel of the blog. The song goes on like this :
पन्द्रह अगस्त की पुन्यतिथि फ़िर धूमधाम से आयी,
भारत के कोने कोने में खुशियाली है छायी ।…… the blog author has however opined that the word Punyatithi is a misnomer here as it is associated with the death anniversary. however, the song throws up this question about who the other singer is apart from the credited kishore kumar.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I just listened to a private patriotic song by Kishore kumar and another voice that resembles that of rafi sahab. could anyone confirm if the voice in the song is that of rafi sahab apart from that of kishore kumar ? this is a very very rare song and the link is given hereunder for all knowledgeable rafi-fans to throw some light on it :
http://mahaphil.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post_09.html
i can see traces of rafi sahab’s voices in the other singer. other information on this private song is available on http://www.downmelodylane.com/nf_kishore.html
but no information is given on who the other singer is. it could be interesting to see what rafi-fans have to say on this.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am
rafi ke bare mein main kya tarif karoon unki tarif karna
suraj ki diya dkhane ke baraber hai
is duniya mein jo sab se badi gam ki baat hai ke md rafi saheb is duniya mein
nahi hai aur unse mulakat is duniya mein nahi ho sakti.
phir bhi unke gane amar hai aur jab tak duniya kayem rahegi unka nam jinda
rahe ga
md aftab alam
July 31st, 2008 at 5:58 am
My dear friends !
Today is 31st July…an inauspicious day for all the music lovers.
Today, in 1980, we lost our beloved singer Padmashree Mohammad
Rafi Sahab. He was not less than an angel.
Let us remember him on this day and pray for his divine soul !
May God bless his soul eternal peace in the heaven !!!
Thanks.
-Raajkumar Akela
ज़मी से फलक तक सभी आँख नम है
सभी के दिलों मे बसा एक गम है
कहाँ खो गया वो सुरों का सिकंदर
बिना जिसके संगीत का सूर एक कम है
-राजकुमार “अकेला”
July 30th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Rafi sahab ke bare me mere jaisa Git-Sangit ka angutha chhap ladka agar kuchh bhi kahe to vah unka apman hoga.
mai to bas saari umar unhe sunna chahta hu.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Good News for Mohd Rafi Fans
Mr. Farrukh doing great job at http://www.radio4fm.com/# and click on Listen Live there will be programs on Mohd Rafi from 267\2008 till 31/07/2008 from10 pm to 1 am Dubai time and in India time 11 30 pm to 2 30 am……from 2678 to 307\2008 from 10 pm to 11pm and on 317\2008 from from 10 to 1 am.
He is doing great job from few years, I hope people in media will be honest as he is as I think. also you can send sms msg at 0097504625891 from 10 pm to 1 am UAE(Dubai time)
Thanks a lot Mr.Farrukh for this great job
July 25th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
ref to 938::
Harvinder sir, pls don’t mind. i also respect chitragupt a lot for his melodies, he was great melody creator.
here is famous bhojpuri song of rafi-chitragupt combo,melody is great::
http://www.esnips.com/doc/7975915f-babb-40c6-8a95-31ded4f28f10/Sonwa-Ke-Pinjra-Mein-Band-Bhaile-Haye-Raam
and who can forget this great rafi number by chitragupt from aakashdeep::
http://www.esnips.com/doc/3c13855f-36ac-4c02-b79d-04bfc4fe7e61/Mujhe-Dard-e-Dil-Ka-Pata-Na-Akash-Deep
July 25th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Yes, Mr.XXX, this is the one and thank you for posting it here. See how easily Rafisahab descends to the lower notes, while in some of the film songs of the same period (late ’70s) he was not too comfortable (by his standards) singing at lower notes. Perhaps the presence of his ‘guide’ at his side has something to do with it.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
mr.cherian,
were you talking of this version, i got it from another rafi sahab’s site, its truly a gem of a song, rafi sahab did some improvisations as you mentioned in your previous post::
http://eternalrafi.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=343&Itemid=75
July 24th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
xxx and your post 935. I never ever claimed that chal ud ja re panchi to be the only or one of the few marvelous songs of rafi saheb for chitragupt. this was just an example. i have always believed and rated chitragupt and ravi higher than more popular md’s. both these md’s were very clean, indian and melodious in their compositions. it is shame that such fine md’s are not remembered much.
so mr xxx please do not think otherwise.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Thank you, Mr.XXX for the song. Never heard it before and it was some experience, listening to it. The finale is superb, isn’t it?
I serched in the youtube for the DD verson of ‘man tarpat…’ but can’t find it. Infact I heard it just once way back in the early ’90s. I liked it as much as the original film version. Rafisahab’s voice was naturally more mature in this version and he did make some improvisations too.
And thanks for explaining the reasons why Rafisahab wasn’t as prolific with SDB as he was with some other MDs.
July 20th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Pyarelal ji’s recent interview, as usually he remembered rafi sahab also…
——————————————————————————————
I never called Rafisahab by name in all the years that I knew him. He was that kind of a man. If he sat in front of you, he would not look at you. If you praised him, he would raise his hands upwards as if to say Allah ki dua hai . On Id, he would personally drive up to our house and send up 2 kgs of mutton. There was never a dikhawa (show). He spoke very less.
——————————————————————————————
link::
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lifestyle/Soul_Curry_Meri_dosti_mera_pyar/articleshow/3254875.cms
July 18th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
ref to p 933::
chitragupt ka jab bhi zikr hota hai to sirf “chal udd ja re panchhi ” ka hi naam kyon aata hai, he was much more than that, chitragupt-rafi ji ke aur gaano mein bhi prakash daale yahan sab log please…
here are some chitragupt-rafi gems,
ye sach hai dunia walo::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I9WtnvcdTjc
kal hamara hai::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jPOnOqsixEI
main kaun hoon:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lJ9ckiCzwYU
laagi chhotey na(duet)::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UHb7_7y_R24&feature=related
and here is famous chitragupt number with lata, daga daga vai vai vai::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Se6RTSrogHw
July 14th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
mr.anil cherian, ref to your posts 916 and 920::
no i haven’t watched or listened that doordarshan’s version of “man tarpat” yet. could you please provide me the link and plz jot down how it compares to original one…
regarding sdb::let us only talk of a golden era(50s and 60s),and in 60s from 1961-69 sdb did only 15 movies(very less, when compared to others) and most of them had rafi as a dominant playback singer, even in the movies like guide, teen deviyaan, dev was gaga over kishore but sdb emphasized on rafi, notice that kishore got all the duets from “teen deviyaan” but this might be due to rafi-lata rift otherwise i am sure that those duets would have also gone to rafi sahab.
i believe that to neutralize the impact of gems by rafi-naushad, rafi-sd and rafi-roshan from 60s requires a large no. of gems by other mds(keeping rafi ji-madan ji gazals in totally different class)
here is “dil ka dard niraala” music by sdb, lyrics by shakeel, movie-kaise kahoon(1964), singer-rafi sahab::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ppguIG-Ugno
July 4th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Post 927 Mr Haldar. I note with intrest that you rate Ravi saheb above KA and RDB for Rafi Saheb’s compositions.
In my opinion Ravi and Chitragupt are two MD’s who outshined RDB in terms of melody and quality of songs, not only for Rafi Saheb’s songs alone. To me they were quality whereas RDB was quantity and a smaller percentage quality wise- one quality was that he was SDB’s son and other being Asha Bhonsle’s husband to be remembered and popularised commercialy these days.
Genius of Ravi’s sweetness can be heard from Khandaan’s Tumhi mere mandir Tumhi meri pooja. What a composition. Listen to Kaajal and Nai Roshni songs by Mod Rafi Saheb.
ChitraGupt’s Bhabhi number Chal ud ja re panchhi or Lata’s number from Akash Deep - Dil ka diya jala ke gaya yeh kaun meri tanhai mein.
These are a few examples of serenity such MD’s gave to hindi songs.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Post 929 : raju saahab : re : the hits of rafi saaheb, your choice is mine - too. naushad, shankar jaikishan, op nayyar are the titans of hfm and they are followed by ravi, laxmikant pyarelal, usha khanna , sdb and roshan saaheb.
all these men and women used rafi saahebs vocals for 40 plus years.
due credit to chitragupta, hansraj behl and the many unsung composers of the music world.
binu nair, mumbai, rafi foundation & Sargam Magazine.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Ref. post 927
yes sir, ravi - rafi combinations excel. The video posted was a great song from the sixties. Nice to hear it and thank you for uploading it. Another great from ravi -rafi was chaudvin ka chand ho, a great melody.
Ref.post 929
Raju sir, thank you for your compliments. Your words shall definitely show the direction for keeping the rafi naam going up.
Rafi ji was a illustrious direction to all the other great singers even from other languages. Of course, for your comments, i agree with you same was the case with Shri ghantasala, who was like rafi ji and incomparable in his own field.
Ref. post 926
Producers have the final say. But on whole during 50’s and 60’s rafi was the sole leader in hindi film playback singing. Majority of the music directors did prefer only rafi sahab for majority of songs. Even same is the case with producers.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Mujhe bhool gaye kya!
June 28th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Dear rafi lovers,
I am also a fan of rafi saheb. Rafi saheb’s voice is a magic voice and shall continue for a long long time as long as the film world continues. I am from hyderabad and i feel i have missed this site for long. In fact,this site gives a wonderful analysis of the contributions of the great rafi saheb specially to the younger generation people who do not know much about the legend’s greatness. I congratulate all the rafi lovers for keeping the name of great rafi saheb going. I was busy reading many messages in this site for the past few days and fascinated by the discussion and comparison of rafi saheb with other great singers in particular, shri ghantasala, who is generally adored by telugu/southern people as the telugu/southern rafi. (But i was sad to see the discussion culminating, of course at few places, in disgusting tones, which should not be the fact while discussing about two great incomparable contemporaries) In fact, as far as my knowledge goes, rafi saheb had great acclamation for other great singers also. I do not know about other languages, but i know one thing which i can tell. Mohd. RAfi saheb has sung some songs in telugu language also and while he was singing telugu songs, rafi saheb paid a visit to shri ghantasala’s house who in turn held rafi saheb in high esteem and rafi saheb in turn exchanged complimentaries. This was one of the great qualities of rafi saheb and shri ghantasala.
I have also read regarding sargam magazine by shri binu nair, rafi foundation. This is indeed a great boon for people who want to know about rafi saheb. I feel the magazine assumes its importance day by day and becomes successful in popularising the great rafi sahab’s contribution to the hindi film music.
Post 927 Mr. Haldar saheb
Rafi saheb’s great hits came from naushad, shankar jai kishan and o p nayyar. Though there are other music directors, i feel the 3 music directors have played a great role in rafi sahabs melodious numbers. Whatever a music director talent be, it cannot shine unless a great singer like rafi saheb or ghantasala is present to breathe life into the songs composed by the music directors. In fact, music directors have come into prominence by the great melodious voice of rafi saheb. We can observe till today, rafi saheb’s songs continue to enjoy immense popularity, the fact is we remember rafi saheb’s voice as the benchmark and the music director’s are next. I hope you agree with me.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
well comments all others guys ,,,same these abilities have rafi in our personality…..and he has owner a lot epicure….specialy his voice has magic….and a very delicious vioce ,,,,,,,,i like his songs a lot of but speciall one which i like ‘’HUM TOU PARDASE'’ i do tribute…..
June 24th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
ref post 917:
I agree with mr. sanjay arora that o. p. nayyar’s contributions are immense as far as rafi saab is concerned. I’ve always included op in rafi’s “pancha ratna”. Rafi lovers should do a dispassionate analysis of the mid 50s to realise how important the sher-e-punjab’s contributions were towards rafi saab’s career. I am slowly starting to believe that if it were not for the competition from op, sj and sd would not have switched to rafi the way they did.
I also agree with mr. arora, mr. mehboob and mr. narayan that we rafi lovers always tend to underestimate ravi. Ravi ji was one of the biggest rafi bhakts and if he had his way, all his compositions would have gone to rafi saab, even in the 70s. We should always acknowledge that. I would have liked to place ravi in the top 5 rafi composer list, but it’s very difficult given the level of competition. But I’d definitely place him above rd and ka, and probably on par with lp. But when it comes to ghazals, he is no. 2 on my list, next to the ghazal king, the one and only madan mohan. Also, ask yourself the following question: In rafi’s top 50, how many would be ravi’s compositions? At least seven! And that tells you what a great combo the ravi-rafi combo was.
Here’s a ravi-rafi gem from nartaki:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e8ReKM-djqU
June 24th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
POST NO.923
DEAR MEHBOOBJI
YES , YOU ARE RIGHT REGARDING PRODUCERS PRESSURIZED MUSIC DIRECTOR RAVI TO GET SOME SONGS SUNG BY OTHER SINGERS.
BUT NOT ONLY PRODUCERS , SOMETIME STARS ALSO REQUESTED/INSISTED TO GET A PARTICULAR SONG TO BE SUNG BY OTHER SINGER INSTEAD OF RAFI SAHAB .
AS AN EXAMPLE - THE SONG ” YEH DIL HAI MOHABBAT KA PYASA ….” FROM THE FILM : ‘ DIL NE PHIR YAAD KIYA ‘ WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUNG BY RAFI SAHAB BUT AT THE LAST MOMENT DHARMENDRAJI INSISTED MD SONIK-OMI TO GET THE SONG BE RECORDED IN THE VOICE OF MUKESHJI . THEN MD SONIK-OMI REVISED THE WHOLE COMPOSITION OF THE SONG WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY PREPARED FOR RAFI SAHAB AND GOT THE SONG RENDERED BY MUKESHJI .
THOUGH MD SONIK-OMI ( WHO ALWAYS USED TO PREFER RAFI SAHAB AND USED TO CALL RAFI SAHAB FONDLY AS ‘ KHAN SAHAB ‘ ) WAS BOUND TO TAKE MUKESHJI INSTEAD OF RAFI SAHAB !
THIS MATTER WAS TOLD BY MUSIC DIRECTOR OMI (OF SONIK-OMI ) - IN ONE OF HIS INTERVIEWS IN A VIVID BHARTI PROGRAME .
BEST REGARDS/ A.T.M. SALIM