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
September 5th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Mr. Anil - your post 1099
With due respects to your post, i express my personal opinion (which has been based on my personal research) here.
The main article by swaminath iyer has included k j yesudas while writing about rafi ji’s greatness. Mr Arun’s question was why only ghantasala (who was much famous and great) is not mentioned when all the southern singers (including Bala murali krishna - the greatest classical exponent has been mentioned). I am sorry your answer shifts a bit from the track. I feel you will take my opinion here in a positive way.
Anil, I am a tamilian, living in Andhra Pradesh for the past 30 years. I am quite well versed with many tamil, telugu, malayalam as well as kannada songs. Each has his own personal choices. I have heard k j yesudas ji many times (including his many telugu as well as malayalam songs). He is also a great classical singer. But, without hurting your choice, I feel k j yesudas though great and classically trained, cannot be compared with ghantasala ji. His range lands along with the great BMK , Pbs etc. Not only K J Yesudas or any other southern singer, leave songs, none can sing any padyam or sanskrit slokam also anywhere even nearer to the extent of ghantasala ji. This has been uneqvivocally stated by k j yesudas himself and other southern singers namely p b srinivas, tms and the great spb. You hear Bhagavad gita by sri ghantasala, that alone is a testimony to your opinion. Such rendition does not exist anywhere. (Bhagavad gita has been sung by Bala murali krishna and spb also which is hardly 50% of ghantasala rendition.) I am sorry to hurt your choice but this is a fact. You hear the gita, you will know what ghantasala is. Moreover, I have read in many newspapers and many columns referring him as the Mohd. rafi of south for so many years. This is the first time i am listening this title to sri k j yesudas, by a k j yesudas fan (anil - you appear to be a malayali - hence i have respect for your personal choice. Hence no offences pl. to you) Pl read my post 1101 also. Mr. Anil, I have done a great research on all the playback singers, like swaminath iyer, and i personally feel, like many rafi fans here, that along with the greatest legend rafi, ghantasala leads the pack with other playback singers.
Anyhow, as i mentioned each has his own personal choices, but the majority opinion tilts towards my above view Mr. Anil.
O K let us talk about the legend of all times rafi ji. I have heard the great song of rafi ji singing live in the website - o duniya ke rakhwale. I am posting hereunder the same for the benefit of our dear music lovers. Pl. Enjoy rafi ji live singing.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOTN6tVKLAM
Mr. Bose ji,
You appear to be a great fan of kishoreji who was an accomplished singer. While respecting your personal choices, I am sorry to state that rafi ji had an edge over kishore kumar. Kishore kumar ji rose to fame only after rafi ji had established the sound foundation for a great musical era in the bollywood filmdom which can be hardly replaced by anybody in the times to come. Simply to say, rafi is rafi and none can challenge or dispute that. You should take into account the originality aspect of greatest playback singers.
Rafi ji was the first person , i again repeat, the first major personality in Hindi playback singing who had established a sound foundation for the greatest playback singing. (period 1945 to 1980) Even saigal though former to rafi, did not have such great voice as rafi ji possessed. other singers in bollywood have simply no option but to follow him.
Same was the case with ghantasala in the south. He was the first personality to have established sound foundation for the southern music. He was responsible for the popularity of south indian music. Whole credit goes to him (Period 1944 to 1974)
These greatest legends popularity continues unabated till today i.e. even after their passing away in the 70’s. ( 3 decades have passed) This itself stands as a great testimony to these greatest legends. Mr. Anil to specifically note this fact.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Surajit:
“kishore is the more natural and gifted of the two. he is very open to changes in the song structure or tune. so much so that he incorporates them himself, impromptu”……..
Well…….Interesting….I cannot make a black and white judgment from this alone. Because, there are cases where Kishore sought changes because he could not render them. Take “Humen tumse pyar kitna” for example. Kishore himself suggested the simplified tune to RDB and the song went on to become a superhit (btw, I love the song)..Hats off to Kishore for being so innovative and understanding the pulse of the people. But does it necessarily elevate him as a singer? I doubt… On the contrary, it depreciates his singing prowess. Rafi, in his place might have reproduced the Parveen Sultana version which might or might not have gone on to become a hit..But he would be higher in my eyes as a singer..
September 5th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
It’s mind-boggling how anyone can put a singer like Saigal, and a singer like Kishore, or any singer at all, in the same breath as Rafi, it doesn’t make sense at all. Anyone who says such things hardly knows anything about music. It’s pointless to debate or even associate anyone in Rafi’s league or class, he was by far the greatest singer of all time and miles ahead of the rest.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Post 1103: Another rotten joke! KK is more gifted than Rafi Saheb. No one will believe you Mr. Bose. Better stay away.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
nobody could have sung : “mana re tu kaahe na dheer dhare”,” Oh duniya ke rakhwale ” or Mana tadpat hari darshan ko and madhuban me radhika naache re - better than mohd rafi.
if this visitor is commenting on the minus points in the song then its done due to pure jealousy…… nothing more, nothing else.
poor guy , he is showing deficiencies in the songs which are crossing more than four decades of glory. we find such “illiterate critics” many a times and in a free world we have to live with people such as this “irritating bug”.
binu nair…. mumbai….
September 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Dear Mr.Bose refer mail 1103,please stick to your words and refrain yourself from further writing ,but before that please answer two basic queations
1 ) where was kk from 1955 to 1972 ,he had already sung under likes of sajjad,roshan ( incidently the first duet of kk with the greatest rafi saab was in `malkin`).
2 ) why all the all time greatest mds like sj,opn,naushad,mm & even sdb & even rdb (required the greatest rafi saab for climbing the ladder),did not use kk when as per you during that best period of kk`s voice.
I had raised the same questions in my earlier mails also.
I am not so learned on music,but as a layman in the field of music ,please answer my two basic questions,otherwise you are also a nobody ( which is already confirmed ) in the field of music.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Hi all,
This Surajit guys is an imbecile & biased idiot with an inferior taste, and I implore you all to just ignore him. Only low-class people like him can think Saigal & Kishore to be singers on par with Rafi. And speaking about Lata, everybody MD worth their salt considered Rafi to be superior to Lata during the golden era of HFM. Lata is an absolutely great singer but she had many weaknesses too — just randomly thinking even in a simple song like the title song of Dil Tera Deewana, she is clearly struggling, while Rafi is dominating her as he did in almost all their duets. It doesn’t mean that Lata is not great — it just highlights the ultra-superior talent of Rafi who is/was the most complete singer to come out of Bollywood. Only mentally & musically challenged & biased imbeciles like Surajit don’t get that. Surajit has extremely low standards — just ignore him!
September 5th, 2008 at 10:47 am
post 1103 : this person has come with “a one point agenda” and that’s run down mohd rafi - by every means.
he will quote k.l.saighal, mukesh, lata to serve his purpose. and he will add up to say kishore kumar was a natural singer, untrained etc… etc….
listen, rafi fans do not care about it. we love mohd rafi songs, we love songs of each and every singer (but we are choosy about it), and we do not need lessons in music from this writer for how much he may try, he will not sell his wares herein.
goodbye sir.
binu nair, mumbai
September 5th, 2008 at 9:21 am
KK was definitely no genius in singing at all, I feel sorry for his fans who elevate him to a status that he doesn’t deserve at all. Mr. Haldar was right, ignore such people who post nonsense about ‘Saatwan Sur’. We are talking about a singer whom most around the world, past and present consider to be the greatest vocalist ever, which he was, and here comes a person trying to go against fact, and bring his status down to that of Kishore, as well as teach us classical music when there are so many here who have much more classical knowledge than him, how shameful.
I know many Kishore fans who are bias and blind, and Mr. Bose is one of them. It’s one thing to be subjective and opinionated, and its another to carry your opinions and views forward and alter the truth. Everyone has the right to an opinion, but no one has the right to alter the truth, which is exactly what mr. bose is doing, and he has not suceeded and never will, what a waste of time. Mr. Bose, you seem to be living in your own fantasy world, I feel sorry for you, may you find the right path one day and realize that there was no one close to Rafi and there never will be. He was and will remain the greatest singer of all time, whether you agree or not. Even your idol KK mentioned that and accepted that, yet you and his other fans are jealous and can’t seem to accept that, so you bring Rafi down, the only way you can let out fire, and let out your insecurities. As I said earlier, many KK fans are giving KK a bad name with such useless and nonsense posts.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Also, overall what Mr. Bose is saying makes no sense, and also the part about RD preferring Kishore. if RD fully preferred Kishore based on his supposed singing talents, how come he didn’t give him his qawwali’s, ghazals, or other classical songs ?. Those mostly went to Rafi and Bhupinder, and not Kishore. So much for Kishore’s singing talents in that aspect. ofcourse Kishore was hardly a great singer, he had severe limitations and drawbacks, something his fans (such as Mr. Bose) do not want to admit.
A person who boasts of classical knowledge, and goes around writing such nonsense, shows that they hardly have any knowledge at all. It’s all opinions, views, bias and nothing more. I feel sorry for such KK fans, the more they try and defend their case, the more their case drowns.
Mr. Bose your write-ups are not solid, full of lies, and only your views and not the truth, so for the sake of this forum, stop writing such trash. it would be better if you brought more sensible topics to the forum, something that doesn’t defy logic or go against fact.
it’s a waste of time for me and others to reply your posts which make absolutely no sense at all.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Mr. Bose,
Anyone who put Saigal in the same league as Rafi and who labels Rafi as an average classical singer or one who struggles in classical songs, is the one who doesn’t know anything about music or classical songs. Also, anyone who puts Kishore in the same league as Rafi also doesn’t know anything about music.
I will not reply to your points because they are all flawed. They may be true for you but its just your opinion. In those songs you mentioned, Rafi never struggled, I fail to see what you mean, it seems you have a huge bias against the greatest singer ever, which is why you are making such comments.
Rafi definitely had an excellent low range, listen to “Nav kalpana nav roop se” which is just one example of his excellent low range. ofcourse in the high range, no one could touch him.
“O duniya ke rakhwale” and “Man tadpat hari darshan” are definitely classical masterpieces, and two of the best songs ever, only a person who doesn’t know anything about classical music would say such a thing. Sorry to say “Radha cholechhe” is not better than ‘Man tadpat hari darshan”, that’s your opinion only talking and not the truth. “man tadpat hari darshan” beats out that Manna song by miles.
Listen to Rafi’s concert version of “O duniya ke rahwale” and look at his own input of “mehle udaas”, there is no singer dead or alive who could match that, not even yesudas, whom I consider the best classical singer after Rafi. So whatever you are saying is way off the mark and rubbish.
“baat chalat naii chunari rang daari” was sung in an excellent way by Rafi, your analyzing of the song is rubbish, Rafi never did what you mentioned, and he sang it in a beautiful way, which showed his great classical skills.
“kishore is the more natural and gifted of the two. he is very open to changes in the song structure or tune. so much so that he incorporates them himself, impromptu, in the midst of the final take. the spontaneity that lit his rendering cannot be acquired through technical mastery or through practice. it has to be a part of one’s inherent personality.”
To say Kishore is natural and gifted (and of the two) is like saying he was versatile which is totally wrong. Kishore was not gifted nor natural in singing, he had severe limitations which you fail to acknowledge but it doesn’t matter if you acknowledge this apect of Kishore or not, its still the truth. Rafi was the most gifted and most natural singer ever, and I don’t understand this trained theory of yours. Rafi wasn’t as trained as Manna or other singers, whatever he achieved was due to his brilliance and genius. Also, even if he did receive classical training, it was for the best, as to be an excellent singer, one has to have classical training, Lata, Asha all had training as well so what you’re saying is false. On the other hand, even if Kishore had training he would have remained the same, with severe limitations.
“it is well known that rafi is loathe to last minute changes in the tune or structure of a song. he likes to make sure that he is well practiced to his satisfaction before he goes for the final take. you could commend him for his professional attitude, but it does cost him the spontaneity.”
Wrong again, Rafi was very open to last minute changes in tune or structure of a song, or anything. He was very particular about rehearsals though because he was a perfectionist. Spontaneity was always there in Rafi’s case, whereas in Kishore’s case he wasn’t really a great singer for anything like Spontaneity to matter. You are right though, spontaneity can’t be learned through practice, it has to be natural, which Rafi had, and Kishore lacked.
RD preferred Kishore because he wanted to help out his friend who’s singing career was in the pits, which is why he preferred him. The interesting thing is that he always had to revert back to Rafi whenever his back was against a wall, and he needed Rafi throughout his career. It has nothing to do with Kishore’s singing, as Rafi was the greatest singer of all time and RD knew that as well.
You definitely don’t know what you’re talking about, you are truly bias, and your knowledge of music is poor. You only go by what you think is correct, sorry to say it is completely false and nonsense. Stop trying to disect things which don’t need disecting, you’re trying to prove something which cannot be proved, and instead making a joke of yourself.
Rafi will always be the greatest singer of all time, as well as the best classical singer, regardless of what you or anyone else says, as its already a proven fact. Putting Kishore and Saigal in Rafi’s league or above is a joke, only someone who has no knowledge of music or is bias would do that.
Also, anyone with any inch of musical knowledge and an unbiased view knows that Rafi has no peers, he was the greatest singer of all time, and the best classical singer.
Btw, read the above article again, swaminatha iyer says Rafi is in a different class and league all together compared to anyone else.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Dear Rafifan,
I don’t know why “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” is classified as a bhajan. I think it would be more appropriate to classify it as a spiritual song. Once you hear the song, you immediately realise that no other singer could have the same impact as rafi saab.
I don’t know how the others feel, but I’ve felt that rafi’s voice incorporated two distinct styles of devotional singing: the bhakti style of the hindus and the sufi style of the muslims. Among the other singers, manna dey could also sing in both styles, but what amazes me is that rafi could beat everyone in bhajans. Part of the reason could be that he was a very spiritual reason. And if it were not for the fakir whom he used to follow as a little kid, we wouldn’t have had the phenomenon called “rafi”. That fakir was rafi’s earliest teacher.
I’d like to provide an excerpt from a recent interview with Khayyam:
—-
Khayyam recalled that, in the ’50s, when Rafi’s singing career was already ascending with people taken in by his mellifluous voice and unique singing style, the singer once called on him and made an unusual request.
‘He said that he had a desire to sing some bhajans - Hindu devotional songs,’ Khayyam said.
‘In fact, Rafi himself gave me some bhajan tunes and asked me to compose music taking those tunes as a base. That album containing these memorable bhajans was one of Rafi’s earliest non-film albums,’ said Khayyam.
—–
Now we know how “tere bhaose hey nandlala” and “paon padu tore shyam” were created. Rafi held a near-monopoly on “nandlal”. A favourite nandlal song of mine — can’t be called a bhajan — was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar for “godaan” in raag kafi. Here is “holi khelat nandlal biraj mein” rendered in a very playful mood by the one and only —-:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4TtHWql3Uo
Bengali readers can relate this tune to the Nazrul geeti “brajo gopi khale hori”, which rafi saab sang a month or two before he passed away.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
hi,
myk, binu nair, unknow, anil cherian etc.
i will refrain from furthur answering to your posts. anybody who says saigal cannot be placed alongside rafi , who says mukesh does go “besuraa” sometimes and then goes on to say that he is still better than kishore, who says rafi is the best classical singer (better than lata and asha) unfortunately knows nothing about saigal and his music, nor does he/they know anything about classical music. if your fixation with rafi prevents you from recognizing kk for the genius that he was, you are more to be pitied than anything else.
if rafi is your favourite singer, i will not argue because he is a great singer. if you say you love rafi’s voice more than any other singer’s voice, i will never say a word. this is because these are all personal choices not subject to criticism.
but, if you put forth a claim that “man tarpat hari darshan” and/or “o duniya ke rakhwaale” is the best classical song in hindi film music, then you are way off the mark. if your arguement is based on the claim that these songs evoke a strong emotional response from you, fair enough, i will not press the point further (for me, though, the expressions infused into this song are a little overwrought).
however, if your claim is that these songs are classical masterpieces, you cannot be more wrong. there are many instances in these songs where rafi’s rendition lacks technical rigour and is strained. And you don’t need the recommendations of naushad to disprove this point. any trained ear can catch the glitches.
if you want to listen to a better rendition of a song in the same raga (malkauns) as “man tarpat hari darshan”, listen to manna dey’s “Radha cholechhe”.
to see how badly rafi can do in the classical genre, listen to “baat chalat naii chunari rang daari” from Rani Roopmati here. rafi sings here with krishnarao chonkar.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoQJIy8o9Qc
it’s not that he is not equal to the task of rendering the taans. the fact is that it is clearly evident that rafi struggles to adhere to the structure of the raga or the “pakad”. when you talk about classical virtuosity in a filmi context, this is of paramount importance. when rafi tries to render a classical song, it’s as though he is “by-hearting” the structure and flow of the song. it’s not a spontaneous flow of a singer fluent in classical music. and i am not even talking about intricate taans of the ustaad/pandit variety.
just listen to the mangeshkar sisters in this “duet”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlP9akjezn0
lata, much to my surprise, takes shudh nishad in the avaroh of tilang (while asha doesn’t).
also, listen to lata’s rendition of “aaja bhanwar” from rani roopmati in raga brindavani sarang (starts at about 4:50) in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L5saeQyHdA
it is surprising how many of you point to the duets or tandem songs of rafi and lata to compare the two. Lata’s pitch is about 2 notes lower than Rafi. Most duets and tandem songs are composed closer to Rafi’s natural pitch. Lata had a great mandra (low) range which Rafi totally lacked.
also, you don’t have to listen to me. just read the article above written by swaminatha iyer. he himself says that lata’s talents are beyond anyone’s reach.
now you folks can continue your praise of rafi’s classical prowess. i will not jump in the midst anymore.
sudip,
that definitely is a very nice verse. in fact, i enjoy all the songs and verses of pyaasa. i always thought that sdb made the best use of rafi’s voice (songs from kala paani and kala bazaar come to mind).
considering that it is a verse and not a song, rafi rendered it very well, with good expression and punctuation. however, i thought his intonation (esp. when he begins a couplet like “tang aa chuke …” and “denge wohi …” etc.) near the lower notes betrayed a degree of discomfort.
however, it’s not something technically impossible for kishore to have rendered. my feeling is that it wouldn’t have sounded as sweet as rafi. but this is for reasons other than technical.
here are a few songs of kishore rendered with minimal music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-cQB2SyFs&feature=related - see the sweet harkat that he pulls off near 1:40.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hMZpic8DTQ - again, not a technically easy song at all (you can try it for yourself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUabntsHEc4 - another beautiful song with minimal music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIMVrHSW4so - another rendition with no music
to me, the clearest distinction between the two is that rafi is a practiced singer, a rehearsed singer, while kishore is the more natural or gifted, spontaneous singer. and i am not expressing this view out of thin air.
it is well known that rafi is loathe to last minute changes in the tune or structure of a song. he likes to make sure that he is well practiced to his satisfaction before he goes for the final take. you could commend him for his professional attitude, but it does cost him the spontaneity.
kishore is the more natural and gifted of the two. he is very open to changes in the song structure or tune. so much so that he incorporates them himself, impromptu, in the midst of the final take. the spontaneity that lit his rendering cannot be acquired through technical mastery or through practice. it has to be a part of one’s inherent personality.
it was mainly for this reason that rdb preferred kishore. rdb once remarked that you have to teach kishore just once and he would be on to it like a shot.
so, your preference for a singer comes mainly from what you are looking for.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Anil:
Your observation is correct-the song is indeed similar to “hum ko tumhari ishq”. I felt the same too.
The big difference here is COMPLETE LACK of any musical instrument..And the sudden switching to high pitch without any instrument is even more commendable.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Arun - your post 1098 clarification - quite simple.
You should have known by this time reply to your question, by reading many messages in the past few pages. Anyhow, as earlier pointed out my me and many southern fans of rafi ji here, rafi is rafi and ghantasala is ghantasala i.e. as rafi is unique to hindi, ghantasala is unique to telugu. Ghantasala is another rafi in indian playback singing. Truly, it is difficult to distinguish in clear terms who is great, because when you hear individually both, both appear greater in their own styles. That is why, i feel swaminatha iyer, the writer of the original article here, who had close association with almost all the southern singers, deliberately avoided ghantasala, because he knew this fact.
Rafi’ji’s edge highlighted here.
But one point i have observed rafi ji had maintained beauty in his voice for a longer time than ghantasala ji. Rafi’s voice had great beauty from early 50’s to mid 70’s, whereas in case of ghantasala ji, the voice lost its earlier greatness from 1968 onwards. From 1953 to 1966, ghantasala’s voice was at its peak and had a unique beauty similar to rafi ji. . If you hear ghantasala songs after 1966, (his health started deteriorating, and he passed away ultimately in 1974) it will not appear much great though they are beautiful by virtue of his classical edge and experience. So in this particular area, rafi ji has an edge in terms of longevity in relation to maintenance of his voice and number of songs and contribution.
Moreover, in one telugu film talla pellama, (1970) rafi ji had a great number nuvvu nenu which is a qawali number and rafi had performed it great (barring telugu language pronounciation). I am not able to upload the great telugu number of rafi ji here for the benefit of readers, as i was unable to locate the number on the website. If any telugu fan of rafi can upload the same, our other friends can enjoy the same.
This telugu number by rafi is certainly greater than ghantasala in 1970, by which time the great ghantasala’s earlier unique voice had already lost its earlier majestic sheen. I hope my telugu friends concur with my view.
Finally, all my friends and rafi ji lovers, - i wish you all of you a happy ganesh chaturthi festival today. May lord ganesha’s blessings be showered upon all human beings. May the entire human race live happily and peacefully.