Who Could Have Sung These Songs?
This article is written by Mr. H.V.Guru Murthy
A big debate is going on in various web sites of Rafiji, KK and others regarding who was a better singer. In fact, this sort of discussion was always going on even in our days when we used to heatedly argue as to who was better.
No doubt, all these great Singers, whether it was Rafi or KK or Mukesh or Hemant or Talat or Mannadey or Mahendra, gave us wonderful songs which we remember even now after so many years. Mukesh was very good in songs filled with pathos, uncomplicated songs without much high or low, soft, simple songs. Some of his songs especially for Raj Kapoor were superb. Hemant Kumar with a heavy voice, was also good in all these respects as Mukesh was and his songs had a touch of the Bengal culture and Rabindra Sangeet. Talat was King of Gazals, soft, velvety voice used especially well by Madan Mohan and he was the main Singer for Dilip Kumar before Rafi took over.
KK perhaps was much more talented than these above mentioned singers and could carry any song effortlessly. Though he had been giving hummable songs even in fiftees and sixtees, his main period was in seventies. He became main Singer for almost all the heroes in the seventies. Mahendra’s forte was the effortless ease with which he could raise his voice (remember ‘Na Muh Chupake Jiyo’ from “Hamraajâ€). He was also lucky that he gave voice regularly to heroes like Manoj Kumar and B.R.Chopra always wanted MK in his movies and also when OPN did not go along with Rafi for a brief period, Mahendra got all OPN songs during the period.
But all these above Singers had their shortcoming in singing classical songs and qawalis. Of course, here classical means not just Indian ragas, which any how any Indian song will have as its basis, but including raag, taal, alaap, etc., typical songs being ‘Duniya Ke Rakhawale’, ‘Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya’, etc. A typical qawali can be ‘Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai Ishq Ishq’. Mukesh, Talat and Hemant also were not adept at singing at high pitches. Though MK has sung some classical stuff, his effort looked pedestrian. The so called qawalis of KK in the seventies are strictly not qawalis but more of ordinary songs.
Talat Mehmood, Mohd Rafi
The best among all these Singers was Mannadey, talent-wise on par with Rafi but the only difference being the voice, Rafis’ voice was that much more soft, steady, with pure diction and more melodious. In fact, in one of the recent programs at Bangalore, Mannada while talking about Madan Mohan and his Gazals admitted that MM gave so many wonderful gazals sung by Lata and Rafi and howsoever he tried, he could not sing like them. What humility?
All these talks of comparing Rafi with other Singers is not worth discussing as all these Singers as well as their Music Directors have admitted on various occasions that Rafi was the best. His diction, hold on classical ragas, effortless ease with which he used to raise and lower his voice, his throw of words, his way of putting feelings and meaning into each and every word was matchless. It appeared that where others just sang songs, Rafiji felt and lived those songs. However, the topic of comparison raises an interesting debate every time and each Music lover is entitled to his opinion. My opinion is that all were good singers but over all talent-wise, Rafi was the best. Who could have sung the following songs so wonderfully other than Rafi. Can we even imagine the following songs in any other voice. I have restricted the list to just twelve songs and I am sure fellow Rafi lovers can list out many more songs.
“Ishq Ki Garmiye†(Gazal) is a beautiful Rafi Gazal about which we already have a beautiful article in the web site published few months back. Of course, Talat could have sung this Gazal, but what about the lines “Pesh Karun†after each of the three antaras, when Rafiji repeats second time. Rafiji sang the particular two words “Pesh Karun†differently both the times, whether Talat could have achieved the same effect?
“Tumse Kahun Ek Baat†(Dastak) was sung by Rafiji in whispers so sensuously. How many similar songs we have from other singers?
“Ae Watan Ae Watan†(Shaheed) especially the line “Manao Jab Azad Bharat Ka Din, Tum Hame Bhool Jana Nahiâ€, the pathos, disappointment, every thing comes out in the voice of Rafiji. How many could have given the same effect, perhaps Mannadey to certain extent.
“Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya†(Suvarna Sundari) was a pure Carnatic classical song sung so beautifully by Rafi and Lata. Which other singer could have sung this classical number especially in the Carnatic style.
“Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai Ishq Ishq†was a qawali made memorable by Rafiji and Mannada. No other singer could have even attempted this song. In fact, all other qawalis sung by others including the so called qawalis sung by KK in the seventies pale in comparison to Rafi and Manna’s qawalis.
The following songs were sung at such a high pitch that probably only Mannada or Mahendra could have tried, but MK could not have made it so memorable.
“O Duniyake Rakhwale†(Baiju Bawra), especially the last line “Rakhawale†raising three times, each higher than the previous one (and on stage fourth time).
“Yeh Mehlo Yeh Takhto†(Pyaasa), one can call this a revolutionary song, the Poet clearly showing his disgust at the Matlabi Society, each stanza sung at a low voice and the tempo raises and the last stanza – “Jalado Jalado†clearly showing his hatred for the Society. Except Rafi, no body else could have justified this song, and that is perhaps the reason SDB chose Rafi for this song.
“Subaha Na Aayi†(Cha Cha Cha) was another song where Rafiji goes high in the end, “Aajao, Aajao, Aajaoâ€, the climax.
In “Jaagi Jaagi Ankhiyon Ke†(Biwi Aur Makan), the breath control is breath-taking.
Mohd Rafi, Kishore Da, Manna Da
“Dekhi Zamane Ki Yaari†(Kagaz Ke Phool) was another wonderful song for Guru Dutt, again singing very slowly and at low voice in the beginning, slowly raising the voice while singing “Pal Bhar Ki Khushiyan Hai Saari†and suddenly bringing down the pitch, just wonderful. Rafiji goes higher in the second part “Udja Udja Pyaase Bhanvare†and again comes down to the initial low pitch, so effortlessly.
“Apni Aazadi Ko Hum Hargiz†(Leader), especially the lines “Jo Sabak Baapune Sikhlaya Bhula Sakte Nahin, Sar Kata Sakte Hain Lekin Sar Jhuka Sakte Nahinâ€, who could have raised the voice so effortlessly but still retaining the steady voice. Who said that Rafi needed breath-control.
“Zindabad Zindabad†(Mughal E Azam) already a high pitch song, Rafiji still raises it further while singing the last Antara and the way he brings down the voice from the highest pitch to lower pitch so smoothly after singing “Vo Pathar Hai Insaan Kahan, Insaan Kahan … â€.
In the recent “Voice of India†contest, an up-coming good singer sang a KK qawali when all the Participants were asked to sing qawalis. This particular Singer appeared to be a fan of KK as majority of his songs especially of older generation were of KK. The judge pointed out that the qawali selection was not correct. Later the same singer sang the qawali from “Hum Kisise Kum Nahin†and also admitted that after the earlier episode, he wanted to show that he could also sing qawalis. In fact, the Judges also appreciated his efforts. No doubt, in qawalis, Rafi and Manna are the last words.
Well, Rafiji in his long career of 35 years has sung so many songs. Many of them are such that only Rafi could have done justice to those songs. In fact, even while using other Singers, the MDs reserved certain songs only for Rafi or Manna as they always knew that other Singers would not be able to do justice to those songs.
Ours is a democratic country and everybody has his/her own opinion. Anybody can express his difference in opinion from the other but nobody should show disrespect or try to demean others opinion unless it is derogatory or hurtful. Comparisons will be there and there is no harm if the comparisons are logical and backed by facts. If anybody feels that it’s an waste of time, he is free to ignore it.
Critics
tiger versus lion who will win. Einstein versus Newton who is better…cannot you listen to music just for the sake of music? None of us will ever reach the levels of any of the names you have mentioned. So why compare? These people are legends in their own rights. Manna dey praised Rafi saying Rafi was a better singer than him. Rafi mentioned “you people listen to my songs, I listen to Manna Dey songs only”. Who is better? These legends cannot be compared. It’s infinity versus infinity. Just wasting time trying to prove your subject matter expertise? What is your qualification to judge the Gods of music? This is like sitting in the stadium and commenting Ronaldinho has better skills than Kaka because blah blah blah…!!!Why wasting everyone’s time? This way soon ants will start judging who has better army America or Russia or China!!! WTF!
Md. Rafi was an outstanding singer but Manna Dey was equally good. Md. Rafi’s singing style was more melodious but Manna Dey was more accurate and technically perfect. But the major difference was the market force, which does not always follow the logic. Md. Rafi was commercially much more successful than Manna Dey. Time and again Manna Dey proved his singing prowess in some of his immortal renditions but very rarely was he utilised to his potential. Had he received a half of the beautiful compositions that Md. Rafi or Kishore Kumar got in their carrier, there could have been a meaningful comparison. There cannot be any comparison between equally talented singers, some of whom got to sing lots of beautiful compositions and somebody who rarely got good compositions to render. Despite very few good compositions to boast about, it is only a tribute to this outstanding singer that he is even compared with his more successful peers.
NO BODY CAN( EVEN GOD )CAN TAKE PLACE OF MOHMMAD RAFI.
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look gentlemen all the sangeeth premi’s , there are only and were and will be three great singers in this world. firstly it will be rafi sahab , ghantasala ji and mukesh. because in there singer u can hear the heart singing and the scale of rafi is greater than ghantasala and ghantasala’s far more than rafi and mukesh was the soulful singer aatma ki awaaz, tho in saari baathon ke samajhkar sochkar ek ek gaana in mahanu bhavon ka sabhi log sun li jiye aur amar ho jaaiye. — pankaj
Dear Mr.Murthy,
My opinion about Muhammad rafi is a very well studied opinion, built and developed not only on the observations I myself could make over the last 45 years about Rafi’s innumerable songs of all moods but also they have been based on the valuable comments made about Rafi by other great singers namely Mannadey, Jesudas, Latha, Kishore Kumar and SPB. Well I hope that you would agree that these are not ordinary singers! Some of them were highly knowledgeable in classical singing also. Their conviction about Rafi’s magical singing has been always in line with what and how I rated the great singer called Muhammad Rafi!
Dear Dr.Chandrasekhar,
I am not particularly peeved by whether you find fault with my views or not ! My opinion transcends beyond region, religion, language and all other biased considerations! What I wanted to convey was that though Rafi may not be as good as the any contemporary XYZ classical greats when it comes to technical perfection in classical music , Rafi’s range was unparalleled. Rafi unlike all other great singers of his time, could sing any type of song of any mood/feel. Do you think there was any other singer in Indian film industry who could sing songs of romance, pathos, flamboyance(like Shammi Kapoor songs) as impressively as Rafi.
Well, I may not have heard many of the songs of Ghantasala. Yet, when one makes a opinion about comparative performance of great singers after so many years’ observations supported and enriched by the remarks made by other great singers of the industry, well, it becomes a studied opinion. The opinion I made was one such and not at all a knee jerk opinion. And I had known closely several music lovers from Andhra Pradesh. Though all of them acknowledged the greatness of Ghantasala, they invariably placed Rafi in a unique unmatchable class.
By the way, Dr.Chandrasekar, I am interested to know about your knowledge about Rafi! Can you say with certainty that you have heard enough numbers of songs sung by Rafi of all moods before you would make a comparison?
Lastly, I would also request that you access the remarks made by great singers like Mannady, Jesudas ( both highly talented singers of classical music), Latha, Kishore Kumar about Rafi. Again about how SPB another great from south has commented about Rafi in an interview!!. When all these are available in the internet for us, why don’t we also weigh these vital inputs before we make comparison and decide, who is what etc.
If my knowledge about any contemporary singer is incomplete by any means, my observations about Rafi have been vindicated by the comments made by these great singers about Rafi. Please study all of them and let us discuss this issue without any bias!! Good luck!
With due respect to every one, I am referring to all commentators. You are all commenting on the singers, Carnatic vs Hindustani etc. It is the music director who composes the music and decides the raag, singers will only sing according to the music director’s instructions. If in one language Carnatic is selected and in other language Hindustani for the same song sequence, we should appreciate the music director’s effort in giving life to the same song sequence in different styles. The question of one is greater than the does not arise, at least between Mohammed Rafi and Ghantasala as different languages will have their own sweetness. I have enjoyed the song in both languages with the same passion. Usually when a song from one language is translated to another language it tends to loose the effect, but, personally I would say this song has the same level of quality both in terms of lirics and music. My request to all the people commenting on the great singers is “let us not disrespect any singer or musician” as they have lot more great qualities in them than we can ever think of. Compared to all those great people we are all very small in calibre. When those singers and music directors were not thinking differently about the others, who are we and what knowledge do we possess to comment on such great people. My humble request to all is just hear and enjoy the good songs and music. I did not mean to hurt any ones feelings, if I have said something wrong please excuse and correct me. Namaste.
dear sri gokuldas kumar,
your post 82. certainly and clearly more than singers and fans like you and me, it is the musicians who know better about music. already several posts appeared so far from various musicians of both carnatic and hindustani music who judged and expressed as to who is the best of all indian playback male singers till date. for instance, i advise you to read the post 1897 of mr khan dated 31st may 2010 in “an endless feud between fans of rafi and kishore”. and for your kind information, mr khan is not only a well experienced hindustani musician but also is an ardent fan of rafi. regards.
82 – gokuldas kumar M
You seem to know only about rafi and not about others, so I do not find any fault with your views, but it would have been better, if you had written your post with the same knowledge you had on rafi, on other contemporary singer as well, whom you referred in your post. Some of the people, despite incomparable achievements/accomplishements by other singers, fail to grasp the truth about other singers, (as happened in post 80 and 82), it is surprising to think that whether they do not want to listen, or deliberately avoiding to listen, or deliberately arguing even after knowing the truths. Post 81 of vitthal may be carefully read for removing the misconceptions.
Your views on comparison also does not have any base. The contemporary singer referred by you has not sung in hindi, so comparison is not possible, but rafi had sung in the language in which the singer referred by you has sung. So fans of the contemporary singer referred by you are certainly more capable of deciding who has a edge. I think you understand what I say.
Mr. Manish kumar has known the facts accurately, though his post dates long back, it is enlightening.
gokuldas kumar – 82
Pl. read the above posts of manish kumar and others and carefully post 81. If one carefully reads post 81 and the contents therein, I see no validity of posts 80 and 82 here.
There is and was no other singer in indian film industry as versatile as Md.Rafi and as complete as Md.Rafi . Even if a particular contemporary singer had an edge over him in classical music, that does not place him over Rafi, just because if Rafi could sing even a classical number well, others could not reach anywhere near him in melody and feel of voice. no other voice had the unique raw material that Rafi’s voice had. It is as simple as that!!!
Anurag ji,
Agreed with rafi ji’s skills, but disagree with your views on ghantasala. Just read word by word this encyclopaedia – you will know the facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghantasala_(singer)
Ghantasala,very good in classical singing, but no match for Rafi, who gives pure emotions, clarity of voice, accuracy, mood of song and wider range. he does not have to shout on upper scale. Truly said, all others sing, Rafi lives the song.
dear h.v.guru murthy ji and other rafi saab fans, as everybody knows kishoreda use to call rafi saab whenever he gets difficult songs,only rafi saab can sing any type of songs,iam inviting every body to visit rafi saab”s blog,total over 500 pages are there,to go to next page,kindly click older posts,you will find bottom of every page,please don”t miss any page,also kindly visit my you tube channel,i have uploaded over 200 rare songs of rafi saab,kindly visit this links,take care
http://www.rafifanblog.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/mohamedparvez?feature=mhum#p/u
Narayan ji,
Sorry, if I have hurt you. That was not my intention. My view was that if Mr. hussein has not liked some version he can state that in a dignified way, but he need not use words such as horrible rendition, he cannot sing great – what are all these. Each has his personal views and they are well appreciated if put upon healthy terms. Sir, I have great regard for you and I personally know you as a fan of ghantasala like rafi fan and I am also aware of your knowledge about the great ghantasala. I am aware that to defend hussein ji, you had made such comment, which I do not take it seriously. And more so I politely disagree with your other points (You also know that ) and I know that you are quite well aware that ghantasala’s versatality extended specially in films to hari karthas, burra kathas, janapada sangeets, padyams, sanskrit renderings, bhagavad gita (private recording) other than playback singing of all varieties of repertoires and genres and wherein in these specialised compositions the essential ingredients & variety versatile factors were more than which were required for any harketein factors which you mentioned. You further quite know that no singer has reached or contributed to the level of ghantasala in the above areas and I am aware that you know this fact very well. So your such remark imo stands out of context.
So as Manish kumar ji puts it – each was a unique talent and great in his own way. Neither can be replaced or compensated by other. The great rafi is great rafi only and so stands ghantasala, the unique. Thank you sir.
Manish kumar ji,
Nice to read your posts. You are a true rafi fan and true music lover too in line with the great rafi saab’s attitude towards music, specially the insatiable regard which rafi ji had towards ghantasala. Sir, you are 200% correct. Rafi is rafi and ghantasala stands ghantasala. These two were the greatest playback singers the country has ever produced in the last millenium. Each was unique and great in his own way. Both had god gifted unique talents. In fact, the comparitive analysis has been quite healthy in these pages, but for some biased fans (as you said fan pride).
Dear Moderator ji,
Anyhow, we as ghantasala fans have great regard for this site of the great rafi, and we are specially thankful to the kind moderator of this beautiful site, which has in right musical spirit allowed healthy discussions among the above two greatest playback singers of india and specially welcoming and participating in discussion of south indian legends viz., ghantasala. Thanks are also due to spirited rafi fans who have appreciated true music and for carrying out beautiful analysis of south indian songs. Thanks are specially due to this site and moderator for having facilitiated for introduction of sri ghantasala to rafi fans and other fans also. This is the only site which is bigger in size than all other sites of music singers (which I have known) and we wish that this site shall continue to grow in popularity in line with rafi saab’s popularity. All the best.
anil,
“not taking into account the ’subjective’ (according to them) factors like the film situation, the character on whom the song has been picturised etc.”
exactly! i share your views.
on one hand, i think comparisons are a fruitless end. in the end, each to his own. however, there’s always a new angle or fact that comes up in these comparisons and i appreciate that. the latter is why i take a lot of interest in comparative discussions. Of course, there is *some* fan pride too
both were versatile & well rounded in their singing. i still maintain my *personal opinion* that the two singers differed in emphasis filmy voice vs. technical ability and each was best for his post. ~20 songs is unfair sampling of a singer but i can have still gauge the voice itself. needless to say, i am biased towards rafi’s velvet smooth voice & expression as i have been a fan of his since i was a child. i’ve listened to a few ghantasala devotional songs and he sings from the heart and reaches great depths in his emotions (and of course voice control is amazing). ghantasala was ghantasala and rafi was rafi. they have a lot of traits in common (that is why ghantasala and rafi are relevant to one another imo) but each was a unique talent.
siri,
thanks for sharing that outstanding song. first time i heard it. yes, ghantasala’s expression of emotions was amazing not only in the depth but also in the detail. eloquently expressing emotions behind individual syllables & words yet sounding natural is something i revere. i’ve appreciated that trait in rafi and (now) ghantasala thanks to you.
if it is not a problem at this site, i would actually welcome more links to ghantasala’s songs where he expresses a variety of emotions. i will be able to better appreciate him.
ar,
yes, i’m sure you are right about ghantasala’s emotional songs. i’ve only listened to 20 of ghantasala’s songs (which is nothing) but have enjoyed ~1000 of rafi sahab’s songs. i have not given a fair sampling to ghantasala’s songs to make such a broad statement on expression of emotions. thanks for the correction. it’s hard to imagine a singer have the genius to see the scope of detail, have the god gifted eloquence, and personality to put perfect emotions & voice modulation for each individual syllable in a song. rafi was such a singer and now i’m sure ghantasala is another.
Post 65: “Pasand Apni Apni, Khayal Apna Apna”. Hope you have heard this proverb.
Manishji:
Nice to read your post (again). If you think that technical skills cannot be the only criterion for judging singers, then you have a good company in me. And I wouldn’t say that everything other than technical ones are subjective, when it comes to singing (or other forms of art).
As you rightly mentioned, if one is to go purely on the technical parameters, it is inevitable that the conclusions reached are incomplete and inconclusive (and often misleading). I have seen this happening in many musical blogs where many (so called) experts thrash Rafisahab (for instance) for his alleged ‘shouting’ at high pitches or ‘whispering’ at low notes or not ‘following the text’ when singing semi-classical songs ,not taking into account the ‘subjective’ (according to them) factors like the film situation, the character on whom the song has been picturised etc.
Ref: Posts 65&66.
Thank you Rafifanji and Murthyji. Nice to know you liked my posts.
I really don’t want to go into the specific reasons why Karnatic classical exponents can adapt better vis-a-vis their Hindustani counterparts for I think this is not the right platform to do it. May be, as a general note, one can say that Hindustani classical music is more rigid and more concentrated than the Karnatic one.
Ref: Post 58.
Singhji, I think you are spot on when you say that ‘kuhu kuhu…’ wouldn’t have attained comparable popularity had it been a Mannada-Lataji duet.
ref post 69 Ms siri, we are from the rafi foundation, hyderabad chapter and would like you to join our group. we have many a big music enthusiasts in our group and we hold musical sessions twice a month. you can get back to me at 93912 67272 or rafimurty@gmail.com
This message is also for any other rafi fan from Hyderabad who would like to join our group.
63 – Manish kumar ji,
Purely as a music lover from andhra, we enjoy both rafi & ghantasala as two unique incomparable legends the indian playback industry has ever given to music lovers, with the former being more famous across the globe. Regarding your enquiry on emotional songs, i refer your kind attention to this one very great emotional song by ghantasala, wherein he virtually gives display of a crying man, you could get it. A great musical composition indeed. (I hope you might not have heard it earlier)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qRVB4_d_A -
For your views manish ji on the same.
Post 56 AR your comments to Mr Hussein Sheikhs views are in poor taste and Ghantasala garu will never forgive you for this bland statement of yours..
Iam also a great follower of the great Ghantasala garu who excels in all devotional,romantic, sad, classical songs like Rafi sahab but is not as versatile as Rafi sahab in light comedy songs in the harkateheins n other form of playback singing…
Dear Moderatorji… please edit all views expressed by the post 56 AR as the person seems to be fundementalist n fascist and brings such views in the auspiscious,pure website dedicated to Rafi sahab who has sung more Hindu devotional bhajans than all male singer’s put together,,,
Manish kumar saab from post 63
Sir, I am in full agreement with your balanced and respectable views. What you have stated his fully correct. Both rafi and ghantasala were greater in their own ways and were fully perfect and unique to their respective industries in which they were placed. But on your observation on emotional views, i can say that there are many great emotional songs rendered by ghantasala too in telugu like rafi in hindi and which are simply unique similar to rafi ji songs.
Post 60 – anil cherian saab,
Nice post. I have seen in one programme wherein SPB states, Great playback singers that too established greats, sing from nabhi and he specifically made reference to ghantasala and rafi in this regard, who used to bring the effect of the songs from nabhi, Of course depending upon the song, some songs may come from throat that depends upon the situation and circumstance in which the song has to be rendered, but the basic style of singing by established greats is singing from nabhi, in which style the perfection for a song comes. This specially applies to classical based film songs.
You are correct. Many people have said that trained classical carnatic exponents can easily bring hindusthani style effect (because of their practise from nabhi as well as throat) but the same is not easy for hindusthani trained people, who have to do more effort to bring the desired results. Very good example for this is as discussed in many forums here was the song siva sankari of ghantasala in the rag darbari kannad raga , wherein he creates hindusthani effect without compromising his carnatic style. But, can you please clarify that is it due to the factor that carnatic music has more depth and creative skills than hindusthani, because many state that carnatic experts can easily adapt to hindusthani and not vice versa.
Anil Cherian ji – 60 & 61
Fully agree with your views. That is what I too had put it. My message (post 55) too clearly states the same views. Agree with your clarification on carnatic style vs. hindusthani style rendition too. Thanks for the posts. Nice to read them.
Hussein sheikh ji,
I found only a single person that is you, ( from all music lovers, musicians and other numerous rafi fans whom I met till today), who expressed purely subjective personal views for the telugu version of kuhu kuhu. Of course a subjective personal view. (thus the ratio is 99.99 : 0.01) See the rendition of the version from a musical angle, you will know the truth & anil cherian ji clearly puts it right in his post 60 here. The hindi version too is nice to hear. No doubt about it.
refer post 57 by “murthy”. sir, can we have your full name because it tends to confuse with my own name and even with that of the author of this article. you will appreciate, i am sure, that it is always better to give one’s full and correct name (for instance my email id does not give my full and correct name, hence I tend to post my comments with my own name, for the sake of clarity to all). hope the present debate ends on a sombre note.
ar,
i think ghantasala was suited best for his post i.e. telegu industry but rafi was suited best for his post i.e. hindi film songs. i don’t think either could have come close to the other if they swapped posts. their respective industries had different emphasis and each singer, perhaps by good fortune, had the strengths to match their industries. i’m aware that ghantasala has rendered many genres other than just classical music. however, his industry placed greater importance on classical music whereas the songs rafi was asked to sing put greater importance to a filmy voice. i think rafi had a filmier voice than ghantasala. purely my opinion. it’s kind of like rafi vs mannade imo.
it’s true that i can’t understand telegu and it does bring doubt to my ability to judge emotions in telegu songs. however, i can still get a good grasp of the emotions because music is universal. i can appreciate some of spb’s tamil songs or kishore’s bengali songs or rafi’s punjabi songs. in the few songs i’ve heard, rafi seems to be able to inject more emotions & elements in a song. this is not necessarily in depth (althoug he’s second to none here too) but in terms of detail & variety behind individual words and they all are convincingly natural (coming from the heart, not manufactured, seems just right & not forced) in most of the songs.
in the past you’ve stated that the only objective way to judge singers is their technical ability. that evaluation is incomplete & inconclusive. that’s like declaring a mack truck better than a porsche because the former has more horse power. it’s just impossible to separate subjectivity from music. rafi’s technical ability was proficient and more than enough for 99% of the songs he sang. is his technical ability lacking in “hum ko tum pe pyar aaya”, “ehsaan tera hoga muchpar”, “tere mere sapne”? absolutely not. he met or exceeded the technical requirements for those songs and those songs are the appropriate yard sticks to judge his technical ability. yes, you have the occasional “baat chalat” but those are few and far between. i acknowledge them but they don’t have much weight in the context of hfm as a whole.
of course ghantasala is going to have an edge in “kuhu kuhu” because that composition emphasizes his strengths. likewise, i don’t see ghantasala matching rafi for a song like “huye hain tum pe aashiqu bhaala maano bura maano”. both were great in their posts and comparisons are going to be limited. even my own personal opinion of liking rafi’s voice & expression best (which is far reaching & general) does not apply to a lot of ghantasala’s songs because the technical ability was even more important than voice for some of the songs. so nevermind the comparisons and just enjoy these two legends for their unique contributions. it’s a pity we missed out on a ghantasala version of “mere mitwa” as he has left for his heavenly abode by then.
Post 55, 56, 57, 58: I was referring to telugu version of Kuhu kuhu…. by Ghantasala. It’s my personal view that I did not enjoy the Telugu version. And there’s not like jealousy. That’s your thinking mr. 55. I enjoy Rafi-Lata version in Hindi. That’s it.
Rafifanji:
I hope you wouldn’t mind my observation on your querry adressed to Guru Murthy sir.
The ‘kuhu kuhu’ is set in Karnatic ragas but I suppose they have their Hindusthani equivalents. So, theoritically, a well-trained Hindusthani vocalist shoudn’t be finding it too tough to sing. However, from what I can pick from this song, Lataji and especially Rafisahab tries to reproduce the typical Karnatic classical style ‘taans’ for which they were not trained enough. So the final outcome is neither purely Karnatic style (which the singers were trying to do) nor purely Hindustani style (in which the singers were trained).
Having said this, I wouldn’t dare call ‘kuhu kuhu..’ a mediocre effort. Both Rafisahab and Lataji compensates with their sweet voice and ‘manodharma’.
As a side note, let me mention that it is relatively easier for a Karnatic classical exponent to adapt to Hindustani style rather than vice-versa. And infact there are many well-known South Indian classical film songs set in Hindusthani ragas.
Hope we are not witnessing another series of unhealthy comparison. The Telugu original of ‘Kuhu kuhu..’ is set in Karnatic style and raga (actually 3 or 4 of them). Ghantasalaji, a very well trained Karnatic singer, sings it very well, so does his female counterparts (Jikki in Telugu and P Suseela in Tamil). In the Hindi version, both Rafi sahab and Lataji struggles to replicate the original. Lataji does better (from a technical angle) because of her greater training in Hindustani classicals.
But we have to applaud Rafisahab for attempting a song for which he was not trained enough and his core singing style (singing from the ‘nabhi’ with lesser use of the throat) and his voice type (the multi-layered, rich one) was a major handicap.
Gurumurthy ji,
Just a small request / advise on kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya song in your wonderful article above. You were stating that it is sung in carnatic style. In my opinion, both rafi and lata have rendered it in hindusthani style, because the pronounciations of swars and alaaps are in hindusthani style and the song does not appear to fulfil the carnatic style requirements. The telugu rendition by ghantasala is purely carnatic, in terms of depth as well and is quite wonderful, simply unique. Pl. correct me if my views are otherwise.
Hussein sheikh ji, – ref. post 54
How come you are hearing ghantasala songs : if ghantasala’s rendition is not good according to you, then it should be taken that rafi ji’s is even more horrible, because both rafi and lata themselves had acknowledged that they could not sing like ghantasala. In fact lata had told that rafi felt discomfort on singing this song and rather requested manna dey to sing the song. Nevertheless, the hindi song came out as a beautiful number. This song became a hit in hindi simply because rafi and lata had rendered it. Had it been manna dey, I doubt whether such recognition would have come for the song.
Gurumurthy ji,
A nice article. All the songs are great numbers by rafi ji and musical hits.
Post 54 – hussein sheikh
Sorry, kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya is sung by rafi and lata and not by ghantasala. Kuhu kuhu is a beautiful number. How can you call it a horrible rendition. In fact, it had also won an award. You do not have a good taste of music. However, one point, many rafi fans take this as one of the great numbers. Do you know that this song is the telugu original one sung by ghantasala, the telugu great playback singer, for whom this song is only a left hand game and there are many far greater renditions in telugu by ghantasala than this suvarna sundari song, which is only one of the simple songs ghantasala had rendered in telugu. For this simple song, many people rate ghantasala as greater, In fact his greatness lies in many other great renditions in telugu which are far far greater and superb than the suvarna sundari number. For this simple number (for ghantasala), many view that in hindi rafi and lata struggled which stands only as a simple number for ghantasala.
Post 54
Well, i am not aware of you sheikh saab. But your post speaks of a fundamentalist mentality for which I need not make any comment. From your words, i have to decipher that you have heard rafi’s song and your views perfectly fit to the said song. Because kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya is sung by rafi and not by ghantasala (the original telugu number is hayi hayiga – meaning happily know the meaning of telugu words first, you will know what a lyric is). You first try to know which song is sung by whom.
Post 53
AR ji,
I agree with you, kuhu kuhu original telugu rendition is unique and outstanding. Specially, ghantasala outshines others. There is no dispute about that. Ghantasala stands great in his own style. The hindi version is also good and you have to look at the same from a hindusthani style, both rafi and lata did a good job. The hindi version also provides for a great rendition by rafi and lata the outstanding singers of hfm.
Post 54 Hussein sheik ji,
No jealousy please. If an artist is superb, we have to accept that, no issues on that front. There are many songs which sound great only in rafi saab voice and nobody can dispute that. Similarly, in some genres and songs, the same applies to shri ghantasala as well, kuhu kuhu telugu rendition being one among them.
Post 53: I have heard “Kuhu Kuhu Bole koyaliya…” in the voice of ghantasala…, it was horrible rendition. Nothing great. He can’t sing better than Rafi Saheb.
Mr. Gurumurthy ji
In your article you write kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya, which singer could have sung better in carnatic style. It is well known that the same song in telugu (original one) by shri ghantasala ji, wherein ghantasala ji easily overtakes both rafi and lata and in hindi, a fact which was acknowledged by rafi as well as lata. Classical rendition filmy songs shri ghantasala easily overtakes rafi by wider margins.
a nice article and i appriciate it.whatever the songs which have been discussed in your article was few.nomber of songs are there which no one could have sung those songs.few songs which iam discussing here,aaja re aa zara(1961),dil ruba dil pe tu ye sitam kiye ja(raj kumar),ye dunia ye mahfil(heer ranjha),dil jo na kah saka wohi raaj dil kahne ki raat aayee,nafrat ki dunia ko chor kar pyar ki dunia me khush rahna mere yar(haathi mere saathi)mai nighahe tere chehre se hatau kaise,toote hue khabo ko is dil me basaya tha,azhu na aayo balma sawan bita zaye,hum kaale hai to kya hua dil wale hai,ye raat hai pyasi pyasi (choti bahu),dil saad tha (aap aaye bahar aayee),tere isk ka mujh pe hua ye asar hai(naagin),parda hai hai parda hai(amar akbar anthonee).keep it up
Dear Raj,
Aadaab Rafi.
It was wonderful interacting with you and other Baar Baar Rafi Fan Club memebers last saturday. Looking forward to more of such meets and get togethers. Pleae do let me know if there is anythig I can do for the club, anything for Rafi Saab !
Aadaab Rafi, Allah Haafiz.
Patil
I first heard Rafiji’s songs when I was 18. One of the first songs I hear was Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki from Dulari and I simply loved his voice. So graceful, so sincere and filled with emotions, then I heard the ultimate O Duniya Ke Rakhwale, that is simply an amazing song, my eyes were filled with tears after I heard that, the way Rafi Saab raises his voice is awesome, could not imagine any other singer even try to attepmt that with the same tune and steadiness in the voice.
JAI RAFI SAHEB, MYSELF UMESH MAKHIJA… I AM DEVOTEE OF HAJI RAFI SAHEB..
Dear Shashankji,
there is no duet song of Yesudasji with Rafi saab.It is informed in an
interview with yesudasji that he was lucky to had a rehersal with
rafi saab under the music of raveendra jain but the recording did not
take place.
Can anybdy tell us yesudas and rafisahab have sang any duet song.
One of the finest songs ever sung is from Manoj starrer shaheed:sarfroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai.this duet of rafi and manna de conclusively evidences rafi’s supremacy as a singer.just listen to this song and you will be convinced of manna de’s repeated asservation that no other singer could even remotely match rafi’s stature as a singer.beginning with alaap rafi goes through his paces in a superlative manner.manna de is barely able to carry his part.it is not for nothing that in a recent interview manna de said that he used to listen to rafi in amazement.
Nice article gurumurthyji, i want to tell tht Mohdrafi and kishorekumar sang many duets with themselves in many films, but both are great singers in their approach. Just listen this song “Zindabad Zindabad†(Mughal E Azam) can any singer sings the way rafisahab sang, the song starts from high and ends it in high alap. wht a genius singer he was, remarkable.
post 26 : dhani ram ji: in a concert at shanmukhananda hall mumbai after rafi saaheb finished a song, in walked yesudas and said : whatever i am today it’s because of mohd rafi and took his ashirwad/blesings.
readers will be delighted to know that yesudas dad translated the song oh duniya ke rakhwale in to malayalam with the same tunes and prepared yesudas – for a music career.
this carnatic music wizard also recently wrote a letter from the aircraft to the rafi foundation and handed it over to purser/rafi lover sanjiv makhija and sang a few lines of “oh duniya ke rakhwale” in the aircraft itself. the letter is about extending his support to rafi foundation and telling about his entire family being rafi lovers.
binu nair. rafi foundation…
post 26 : dhani ram ji: in a concert at shanmukhananda hall mumbai after rafi saaheb finished a song, in walked yesudas and said : whatever i am today it’s because of mohd rafi and took his ashirwad/blesings.
readers will be delighted to know that yesudas dad translated the song oh duniya ke rakhwale in to malayalam with the same tunes and prepared yesudas – for a music career.
this carnatic music wizard also recently wrote a letter from the aircraft to the rafi foundation and handed it over to purser/rafi lover sanjiv makhija and sang a few lines of “oh duniya ke rakhwale” in the aircraft itself. the letter is about extending his support to rafi foundation and telling about his entire family being rafi lovers.
binu nair. rafi foundation…
to the endless list of gems which are not so well known but which only rafi could have sung i may add the following:
1.Is rang badalti duniya mein insaan ki neeyat theek naheen nikla na karo tum sajh dhaj ke bhagwan ki neeyat theek naheen
2. dil mein ik jaane tamanna ne jagah payee hai aaj gulshan mein naheen ghar mein bahar aayee hai
3.yeh raat yeh phizaayen phir aayen ki na aayen aao shama bujha ke hum aaj dil jalayen ( a duet with asha)
Meanwhile,In a report carried on July 1 by Jallandhar based Hindi daily,Punjab Kesari,well-known ghazal singer Peenaz Masani has stated that ghazal has a lasting impact while pop music is ephemeral.Ghazal is for the ear while pop is for the sight.She praises Begum Akhtar for holding her own in primarily a male bastion.
I expected her to mention some great ghazal singer as her favourite singer.But lo and behold!Her favourite singer is the greatest singer ever in any genre:Mohammed Rafi.
ref post 32 Anil Cherianji, thanks for reproducing excerpts of the interview of yesudas and what great words ‘ he is a musical university…..’. it gives us all a great feeling to read stuff like that. also dhani ramji, your comments are so well crafted and you have wide knowledge too. i also admired krishnarafianji’s comments (post 30). to say “rafi sahab was the greatest” is simply an understatement. kudos to all for their lively comments on a worthy article by gurumurthyji.
Dhaniramji,
I fully agree with you. Rafiji had everything a Singer should have. Yesudoss has observed that God was partial to Rafi in that he gave all KHOOBIS of a Singer to Rafi.
shri gurumurthyji
It is always a deiight to read your articles and views.when i think of rafi’s songs i find so many that have been sung with absolute perfection.most of them were quite popular when they were released but were seldom heard thereafter.the following used to be broadcast regularly on radio ceylon and vividh bharti and other radio stations in the sixties and are very lovely indeed.I can’t imagine anybody else,including the great Lata Mangeshkar,even attempting this one:
zulf lehrai teri aur meri taqdeer bani (from the film yeh raaste hain piar ke)
the song composed in raag bhairavi,opens with a touch of heer and is sung at a slow pace in a deep voice.among other singers only mukesh had such deep bass (evident in nain dwar se man mein voh aa ke tan mein aag lagaye) but he was incapable of the kind of modulations required for the opening piece.
then begins the antra with koi mujhse pooche ki tum meire kya hai.rafi goes through it with great ease,melody and mastery.and then the song reaches a crescendo at a high pitch.raif shows the great reach of his voice in this song.
sometime in sixties hmv released a set of two cassettes containing the best songs of the period.one of them never heard these days is the qawwali: aakhon mein tumharei jalwe hain hothon pe tumhare afsaane,betabie dil se tang aa kar pohunche hai yahan tak deewane.
this song again is a superb amalgam of pitch,pace,bass,melody etc beyond the singing capacities of any other singer.the great qawwal nusrat himself couldn’t have done it as he didn’t have rafi’s volume and range (no disrespect meant to the great maestro who has been the best in the field of qawwali)
Then there was this one : raaze dil un se chhupaya na gaya,a song never heard these days.very few songs have been sung with such feeling.no other singer could have sung each word with such command and emotion.
rafi had in his voice range,grace,sweetness,melody,delicacy,volume,throw,feeling,pathos and technical skill denied to any other singer of any genre.what do you think sir?
Rafi sahab is undoubtedly God’s gift to the music world. I am sure no other singer could have dared to attempt the phenomenal patriotic song Ab koi gulshan na ujde, ab watan azzad hai (Mujhe Jeene Do, 1963, music Jaidev and lyrics Sahir). Each stanza is unique in itself, but the second stanza (mandiron mein shankh baaje masjidon mein hon azaaan) leaves the listener spellbound. The manner in which Rafi Sahab’s voice soars to a very high range and dips spectacularly is something out of this world. Where can we find another Rafi??
Would like to mention some songs of the ’70s (a decade considered to belong to another singer).
#1. Kahi ek masoom nazuk si ladki….. – what great singing, caressing each words rather than throwing them, he paints a beautiful picture of the ‘ bohat khoobsoorat’ girl for the listeners.
#2. Dheere chal zaraa….- so soft (yet so masculine) and haunting.. can anyone sing like this
#3. Parda hai parda…- Just listen to Rafisahab rendering ‘nahi hain…’ (in the line ‘Akbar mera naam nahi hain). He punches it and lets his voice taper down, like a ripple in a pond. This line is also sung by the popular singer of the period and one simply has to compare it to understand the difference in class…
Nice article by Gurumurthyji, i like to read such types of articles. Now as a contributor in ths sites there is some prblm going on where there is no response from them. We request tht plz. give us the reply when we write a mail to ur side. Its nice to read some articles whch has been written by many fans of the sites.
Dear Bangaloreans,
“Baar Baar Rafi” a group of Rafi fans at Bangalore is organising a musical evening at Chowdiah Memorial Hall at Malleswaram, Bangalore on Sunday, 17.08.08. Orchestra by the famed “Keep Alive” Group of Mumbai with voice of Rafi, Mr. Srikanth as the lead Singer with 15 piece Orchestra accompanied by Co-Singers. Ticket denominations Rs. 1000, Rs. 500, Rs. 300, Rs. 200. For tickets please contact Mr. Narayanan (9886779557), or Mr. Ashok Dalmia or Mr Krishnan of WIPRO or Mr. Guru Murthy (9880777890).
Dhani Ramji,
I fully agree with you that “Jaane Bahar” from “Preet Na Jaane Reet” picturised on Shammi Kapoor is also a song which only Rafi could have sung especially the lines “Kiranon Ko Bhi Na Chunena Doonga Tera Badan”, sung at a high pitch and suddenly bringing to lower pitch.
In one of the recent TV interview in Kannada Channel, SPB was asked who was his favourite singer. SPB replied that till he entered Film Industry, it was Ghantasala and after entry, it became Rafi because he came to know the versatility of Rafi. Well I am not belittling Ghantasala, who has also sung so many wonderful songs in the South Indian languages.
Let me add two more of Rafi’s less known songs which sound so beautiful in his voice.Nobody could have rendered them with such feeling.
1.Gore hathon par na zulm karo,hazir hai yeh banda hukam karo
2.Jaane bahar husn tera bemisal hai,allah kamal hai are wallah kamal hai
Moreover who could have sung supernal songs like Jinhen naaz hai hind par voh kahaan hain,main yeh soch kar us ke dar se chala tha,main nigaahen tere chehare se hataon kaise,mujhe le chalo aaj phir us gali mein etc.the list is endless. rafi’s great quality is that he infuses each word with the emotion that the song is striving to convey.No other singer does that.Manna Dey had great virtuosity but also had a dry voice.Moreover his voice didn’t have the same volume as rafi’s.Leave aside a handful of his songs,he looks so banal in all others.Mahendra Kapoor had solidity of voice but not exapansiveness.rafi was his mentor right from his days as a learner.In an interview on Radio World Space he was asked if he would have liked to sing some of rafi’s songs,his reply was:Main unko ga kar bigaarta hi ( i would have only made a mess of them ).
talat was good with huge limitations.At every step his voice gets muffled up.Once at a concert in delhi talat sang his choicest ghazals but when rafi rendered his na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon all that talat had sung paled into insignificance.the purpose is not to
belittle the other singers but to state a reality.just see what happens when mukesh raises his pitch.the song is butchered.
Ref: Post 29.
Agree with you totally. None else could/can create the same magic… And “Babul ki duayeen…” is another wonderful example..
Post: 26
Would like to reproduce an excerpt from K J Yesudas sir’s interview (given recently to a Malayalam fortnightly):
Q: Thousands love to hear you day in and day out. Who do you like to listen to?
A: There are several singers I like listening to. But there is one special to me- he is Mohd. Rafi sahab. He could sing any song, there were others who excelled in certain types of songs, But Rafisahab could sing anything very well. He is a musical university and I have always tried to imitate his qualities, though I never tried to copy him as such.
Respected Rafi Sahib’s fans,
The good articles of Mr. H.V.Guru Murthy, S. Anmol Singh, Mr. Binu Nair, Mr. P. Narayanan at this Main Rafi Site are need of the hour. We really owe to these pioneers, who are always hoisting the flag of Rafi sahib at the top of the world. I have a long cherished desire that the NRI fans of Rafi sahib should announce to launch a Rafi TV Channel. Would my wish become a reality? The efforts of the above-mentioned pioneers ‘ll always be remembered. I salute these people.
– MEHTAB, +91-98157 03226, E-Mail : mehtabmasih@yahoo.co.in
Dear Mr.Guru Murthy,
Undoubtedly, RAFI SAAB is numero uno.. Comparisons not required at all. If people say otherwise. No problems its their limitations to understand our Rafi Saab.. Every quality singer has accepted Rafi Saab as the greatest. SPB, Yesudas etc.,. Some time back, I was listening to a programme of Pankaj Udhas where the RJ asked him to chose between Rafi and Kishore. His answer was obviously RAFI.. NO FURTHER DISCUSSIONS ON THIS to prove what Rafi saab is. He is Diamond, Gold, next to God.. above all religions, heart touching.. words are not enough as tears are rolling out of emotions. See you on Aug 17 at Chowdaiah..
Re: Post 14
Mr. Jai: I agree with you that some of the songs that Rafi Saheb sang could have been sung by others. However, I totally disagree that a song like “sunno sunno miss cahtterji” in kk’s voice would have been as good. Had kk sang this song your mind’s ‘eye’ will see kk not jhonny walker delivering this song. In fact I have this problem with all of kk’s song -be it delivered by rajesh khanna or amitabh bachchan – it is always kk who jumps out of the song instead of the actor who delivered it. It may be beacuse that we had seen kk on the screen several times and always associated his personality with the song. This was not the case with our favourite singer mohammad rafi. He was not a screen personality and that in a way helped him mold his song to the actors who delivered them. Also, I love Manna Dey’s songs. He is my second most favourite singer. His classical based songs are great. But I was compiling a list of songs based on the ragaa’s and when I started ranking them with my likings – invariably Rafi sahab;s songs came on the top. Raag Darbari – ‘O duniya ke rakhvaale’ and ‘toote huye khwabon ne”. Hameer – “Madhuban me Radhika”. Malkauns – “Man Tarpat Hari Darshan ko aaj”, etc.
I think that for the classical songs Rafi Sahab is second to none.
Mr. Gurumurthyji: great article. Although you missed my favourite “baabul ki dovayn leteei ja”. I challange that no other singer can fill the song with the emotions that rafi sahab was able to do. Then again, I do not think that none of the songs that Rafi sahab has delivered could have been delivered as beautifully by any other singer.
Mr Binu Nair wrote: “rafi saaheb once sang “Meri sapnon ki raani kab aayegi tu†in front of kishore and the crowd jubilantly swayed at the renowned shanmukhananda hall and asking the music company to cut a disc in rafi’s vocals. also present were kalyanji and anandji and it was a live concert………..”
Fascinating. Where did you hear this? Do you have more details? When did this take place?
Nobody could have sung any of the great songs of rafi.the list of such songs is endless.i must mention only one of the less known to buttress my earlier post that even the less known songs of rafi are better than the better known songs of other singers.The song is :
Parvar digare alam tera hi hai sahara,tere sive jahan mein koi nahin hamaara.
Anil cherianji
You are right on the spot.When yesudas gave his first concert in Bombay,rafi was present in the audience.Yesudas was a budding singer in those days and was not yet known to north indian audiences.rafi was at the peak of his career and what a peak it was.and yet rafi was able to size up the talent of the young singer.after the concert,rafi complimented yesudas.since then each came to admire the other.yesudas with his tremendous classical background drew rafi’s attention while yesudas acknowledged the uniqueness of rafi’s melodious voice and singing prowess.in the recorded history of indian music,only yesudas deserves to be bracketed with rafi and since yesudas himself concedes rafi’s superiority,let us just honour his view.
nice article, songs mentioned are just extra ordinary, only Rafi Saheb could do justice to such songs.
Its a very good article, but MR greatness cannot be fully captured by words, and comparing him with other singers is bit insulting, as he had no comparison, he was gift by god to humanity, and as music has no relegion (Thank God) and there by had no relegious barriers which curse our society.
Waiting fo that day when common sense will pervail and religious prejudice overcome and he be declared as King (as Elvis is), but this is not possible till the Pundits and Mullahs influnce our society.
Dear Gurumoorthyji,
excellent topic and study.
In terms of music, mohammed rafi saab is a “super market” since
he could sing all types of songs there by he could satisfy all type
of music lovers.For me the most astonishing thing as far as
his sound is concerned is the songs he sung for johny walker.In
such things we cannot imagine other singers such perfection of
sound which is matching the actor’s sound.
also the way he is playing with the words no singer in india to do
the same way how he is pronouncing. examples of words:
Khushboo,mehabooba,shaam,mohabbat,fiza,rangeen,aasmaan etc.
that iswhy he became “ustaadom ke ustaad” and still nobody to
compare with him even they have good sound.
I fully agree Cherianji, The song from Love In Tokyo – Aajare Aajara is a unique song. Rafiji sang this song in a shivering voice without raising the voice bringing out the impetuous love of the hero for the heroine. The music by SJ was great. Another song which Rafji sang with a shivering voice was the title song of Tumse Acha Kaun hai, which incidenatlly I was listening today morning while driving to the Office. Well, one can notice something special in almost all Rafi songs.
Shri Gurumurthy
Where is the comparison,Sir.Compared to the colossus called Rafi,all other singers are mere pigmies.Look at the following:
Rafi :good to very good songs: 5000
Mukesh: good to very good songs : 125
Kishore : good to very good songs : 75
Others : good to very good songs : 50 each
Nice article, songs mentioned in the article are superb. No one is even near to Rafi Saheb.
Anil
The song Aaja Re Aa Zaraa Aa is really mind blowing, listen to it while you have headphones/earphones on and you will notice never will there ever be another Rafi.
How on earth does he sing this song the way he has I will never know but I am so so glad he has as what magic this song is,voice which is out of this world.
Completely disagree when you say it is mles ahead of Roop Tera Mastana, I would say it is GALAXIES ahead of roop tera mastana.
Khalid Rashid
UK
i heard recently the gem from anu malik’s first rafi song : mohaabbat rang laayegi, aahista aahista,,, its a duet with chandrani mukherji….
see the softness of the song and according to anu, rafi improvised the song and it’s one of the beauties with average lyrics…. now , we know why anu said : rafi would increase the song quality ten fold. present singer’s can’.
and thats why we have “noise” passing on as “music”. but this also will pass and i am confident of a new dawn in music.
yeh subah kabhie to aayegi……………….
binu nair, rafi foundation, mumbai… cell : 9833 250 701….
Post 14 : rafi saaheb once sang “Meri sapnon ki raani kab aayegi tu” in front of kishore and the crowd jubilantly swayed at the renowned shanmukhananda hall and asking the music company to cut a disc in rafi’s vocals.
also present were kalyanji and anandji and it was a live concert………..
the song should also have been recorded in rafi’s voice for music lovers to relish, we strongly feel.
binu nair, rafi foundation, mumbai, binus2000@hotmail.com
Wonderful article (as always) from Gurumurthy sir.
Would like to add on a few more songs to the list of inimitable songs. One is “kehna ek deewana..” from Laila majnu… to me it’s perfection in male play back singing. Rafisahab sounds exactly like the abandoned lover wandering about in the desert. Another one is ‘aaja re aa zaraa…’ from Love in Tokyo. I always ask myself ‘how on earth can anyone sing like this?’ whenever I listen to/watch the song.. with a quivering and ‘charged-up’ voice he creates magic in this song and personally I rate this one miles ahead of the much heralded ‘roop thera mastana…’. Then there is ‘hai duniya usiki…’ from Kashmir ki kali (?).. Can an observer ever say it’s not Shammi Kapoor who’s actually singing the song? Infact one can go on and on and finally generalise that Rafisahab is indeed the ultimate and no one else would’ve been able to render those songs as brilliantly as he did.
The only singer (IMO) who could be compared to Rafisahab in terms of all round brilliance is K J Yesudas sir (a huge Rafi-bhakt) and I suppose if Rafisahab were alive today he would have said something like ‘he reminds me a lot of myself’ (what Pele remarked about Maradona in 1986) about Yesudas sir.
Dearest Jai,
op nayyar was great witout Lata ji the great singer and op nayyar was who made Asha Ji but op nayyar without Mohd Rafi said by op nayyar keeping Mohd rafi out of recording rooms was my biggest mistake in life,kk had great songs with op Nayyar but not same class of Mohd Rafi.
O P Nayyar was great without Lata Ji and Naushand was great without KK but who can give me great music director without Mohd Rafi.
when RR asked why you don’t give the good music as you gave in 1970′s and answer was give me singer like Mohd rafi I will give you good music..
naushad fostered a starting rafi. op’s best came with rafi but rafi was transitioned to the #1 spot with greatest effort from op nayyar. who made who is as difficult as determining whether the leg is is more important than the arm. both benefited and enjoyed each other’s company very much.
notice that *both* kishore kumar and mohammed rafi sang *some* light, playful songs for sd burman and each did great justice to those compositions. just like me, op nayyar was a biased rafi fan. he intinsically preferred rafi’s voice and art. indeed there are a lot of op songs that rafi was best suited for. however, purely as food for thought, couldn’t kishore kumar sing the peppy songs of op nayyar just as well as rafi? i think he could. not all of op’s songs were “aana hai to aa” or “man mawra bawra”. kishore was very peppy himself and could easily sing songs like “suno suno mrs chatterjee” or “mujhe akhiyon pe apni yakeen hai”. of course, a diehard rafi fan like me would still prefer rafi’s rendering but the masses and other fans (and even rafi fans) would be happy with kishore’s rendition. additionally, as we’d see later, kishore made a great pair with asha. so i wouldn’t say that op relied entirely on rafi. he entirely liked rafi but a man who could succeed without lata – could succeed with any decent singer. imo it was more of a coincidence that op’s downfull happened just as his rift with rafi. mahendra kapoor was great for devotional and patriotic songs but for peppy or romantic songs – i’d easily take either rafi or kishore. i wonder what would have happened if kishore kumar was willing and op opted for him instead of mahendra kapoor. of course, i was speaking only on musical terms. i did not consider factors like op nayyar and rafi have excellent chemistry and understanding each other exactly and being comfortable with one another. the same would not always happen for op with other singers.
the only singer in hindi films that regularly sang classical and i liked – was mannade. rafi’s ability to sing classical songs is definitely NOT what set him apart from the rest. it was unique, velvet, sweet voice. his enormous success in all genres (romantic, thoughtful, devotional, playful etc) of film music. his voice suiting the heroes very well. these are what made rafi great. i’m in the minority but rafi is not my preference for classical songs and to me that’s not a big deal. so what – rafi is my choice for just about any other genre.
rafi is the best . no word other than this
In fact after the arrival of Great Rafisaab in the late forties in the playback singing,all the music directors n film producers were so much impressed with his magical n golden voice which could turn any song whether it is love song,ghazal,sad,religious,patriotic,quawali,classical,romantic,slow n fast,background songs conveying film message most affectively he proved hero..rafisaab hit sixer everytime he rendered any song…song became gold with his magnetic voice…Hemantda returned to bengali industry,ghazal king Talat Mehmood lied low, then Saigalsaab died in 1948.Mukesh sang mostly sad songs,Kishore was busy with his yodlee.but Manna Dey gave us classical as well as he cosang quawalis with rafisaab .so Mohd Rafisaab replaced practically all with his rare talent.There r so many songs which can be sung with full justice to lyrics,tune,character,emotions of words,right diction of any language even english pop …could/ can be by rafisaab only.Great Manna Dey once said,” rafi saab is the gharana of music”…how true it is…rafisaab voice is real mardana voice it remained same at low as well as high pitch…his voice was so flexbile n matchable to the hero on screen it appeared hero is singing with his voice…so were the feelings n impressions the fans enjoyed…..every singer has his own style n limitation within which he could do justice,every song of Mahender kapoor(who look upon rafisaab as his guru) if sung by rafisaab could have been even better(claimed by Ravi(HIT music director)….but RAFISAAB hit everytime sixer when he recorded any song…everybody used to shower him bundle of praises…he being very humble said while rasing hands above towards GOD..it is His blessings….that proves his greatness….so RAFISAAB WAS.IS AND WILL BE GREATEST VOICE OF ALL TIME….
Nice article
Santoshji, what a significant observation. when Rafi raised his voice it became more broader where as others voice became thin. Well it always became shrill. Rafiji’s voice was steady even at higher pitches. Perhaps only Mahendra Kapoor used to be steady at higher pitches apart from Rafi.
the day when op nayyar decided to keep rafi saaheb out of the recording rooms , opn was out of the industry…. that’s rafi greatness.
both agreed to work again but the magic was out from the composer. the legends were truly great and opn said : keeping out rafi was my biggest mistake in life. mahendra kapoor and opn never could work the “magic” and this is also rafi greatness.
binu nair, mumbai,….
Gurumurthy sir,
Very good article.There is no match for rafisaab’s voice quality.
I am no expert and I do not know how to post any article on our dear rafi saab on this site. But I would like to point out one greatness in rafi saab’s voice.I always felt that the greatness and uniqness of his voice was that when the pitch was raised the voice became broad, whereas other singers , the voice thins down when the pitch is raised.
Pl shed some light on this aspect of rafi saab’s voice which I feel has been left out till now in all our respected members articles and comments
Great article about comparison of Rafi Sb. with others. No doubt he is the greatest singer of all time.
Janab Guru Murthy Sahab, Adab Araz Hai,
Congratulations: As usual great aticle. You made my day. Guru Murthy Sahab, it is always pleasure and interesting to read anything on Rafi Sahab, written by you.
With regards to all Rafi lovers,
Long live rafi sahab,
Dr. Khaja Aliuddin
bindas arcticle guru murthy sahab, when ever it came to potray a song with “true life” in it , music directors could not think of any-body else other than our rafi sa’ab.
there is another die-hard fan of rafi sa’ab in chandigarh. his name is mr b.d sharma. he has a society called as “yaadgaar-e-rafi society. every year he conducts programmes of rafi sa’ab.
he invites personalities from the film industry as chief guests in every programme. he has already hosted rafi sahab’s wife bilkis rafi,shahid rafi,o.p nayyar, biswajeet [twice] , usha khanna, naushad sa’ab, mala sinha, rajinder kumar, hasrat jaipuri, majrooh sultanpuri, ravi, kalyan ji-anand ji, lakshmi kant- pyare lal, anwar and also suman kalyanpur.
he is among a rare breed of rafi fans who goes to bombay every year and requests a personality to grace the occassion.
this year the rafi foundation, delhi chapter, is organising a programme of rafi sa’ab on 30′th of july. ashish kapoor; 09810087414, 09212587414,; ashkpr@hotmail.com
The songs mentioned in the above article are all extra ordinary, which can be rendered by Rafi. A complete voice.
But I would also like to compliment all the contemporaries of Rafi Sahab for singing some of the finest melodies of all times.
What a true article!
It is said, Muhammad Rafi Sahib’s voice was the voice of God. Muhammad Rafi’s voice was as natural as crystal clear water.
One day when Madam Noor Jahan, Pakistani Player Back singer was giving interview, she said when the music of film “Koyal” was preparing, MD Khursheed Anwer asked me for singing the song “Sagar Roye Lehrain Shor Machayen”. I could not understand the music at the first time, but after reharsal i could understand. Nevertheless Madam Noor Jahan was the best playback singer of Pakistani Film Industry and she had sung a song with Muhammad Rafi Sahib “Yahan Badla Wafa Ka” from film “Jugnu”.
When Muhammad Rafi was interview, he said that i sang almost most for all MDs and i did not feel any difficulty.
This is the true telant.
I would like 2 only say that OP nayyar had said that “Agar Muhammad Rafi na hota to O P Nayyar bhi na hota.
Excellent–Mr Gurumurthy- each and every word in your article reflects the thoughts of millions of Rafi fans. Your line–”It appeared that where others just sang songs, Rafiji felt and lived those songs” sums up the essence about Rafi sahab’s songs. The soul in Rafi sahab’s songs directly reaches your heart and hence these are evergreen and one always gets so much peace by listening to his songs.
May be for another 100 years and even after mankind shall remember this greatest singer-may his soul always rest in peace.
Good analysis, Gurumurty. Thanks! Rafisaab was the peerless complete singer-master of all genres occidental or oriental.
Breaking news!!!!!!!!
Films Division documentary on Mohammed Rafi
- Basant Kumar Mohanty
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New Delhi, Jun 22 (PTI) The magical voice of versatile singer Mohammed Rafi has captivated generations of music lovers but not many know the struggle he had to go through in his formative years.
It is that phase of the life of the playback singer, born in a poor family in Amritsar, which will be the focus of a docu-film being made by the Films Division, the premier documentary producer of the country, this year.
To commemorate the diamond jubilee of the organisation, Films Division has started making a film on the legendary singer that would give a comprehensive view of Rafi’s life, struggle and accomplishments.
“The film will project Rafi’s early days, his penchant for singing, struggle in Lahore and then in Bombay and his ascent to fame,” its chief producer Kuldeep Sinha told PTI.
The film will be of 40 to 50 minutes duration and will be directed by Sinha himself.
“It will be unique work in the sense that we will highlight the troubles and difficulties that came in the making of Rafi. We will also show his major works,” he said.
Rafi, born at Kotla Sultanpur in unidivided Punjab in 1924, had started singing by imitating chants of a ‘fakir’ at his village. His family later shifted to Lahore, where Rafi learnt Hindustani classical music.