I am very sorry for the error in my earlier comments. The name of the unreleased film mentioned earlier by me is actually “Habba Khatoon” to the best of my knowledge. Apologies to all for the error.

Jay Sagar

I am a big fan of Rafi and have been following almost all of his hit songs, particularly all those that are counted among classics. Has anybody got his song “Jis raat ke Khwaab aayi hai” from the unreleased film “Habba Jhatoon” composed by the great Naushad saab. I have heard this song once from a friend and I can tell you that this can easily be ranked among the top 10 songs sung by rafisaab. You have to just hear the voice quality, the range and the variations that he brings into his singing. I thought it was just divine singing. I have even read somewhere Naushad saab saying that the above mentioned song is the best ever song that he had composed for Rafi and also sung by Rafi. I am not sure when this song would have been recorded, 60’s or 70’s era. Just think it would have been in 60’s because of the sheer quality of rafisaab’s vocals.

I think the difference between Rafi saab and all other singers was that he had a divine voice. One thing I want to confess here that all singers of the era of 50’s and 60’s were great singers with great voices. Kishore Kumar I thought was a fabulous singer with great vocals. Similarly Rafi Saab like all the other great singers had a great vocals, but I think he had a divine voice. There was a great divinity in his voice, which I think no other male playback singer had. It is something that can be only felt, but cannot be expressed. It was almost as if God would sing, then God would sing or sound like Rafi.

I think Rafi is definitely the greatest male playback singer that India has ever produced and there is no question about that. The very fact that the greatest of the music directors made the most hit songs with rafi singing for them proves this. But at the same time, all the other singers of that era were also wonderful singers. So let us enjoy their songs as well. That era of 50’s and 60’s were golden era of Hindi film music. They will never come again. Similarly there will never be another Rafi.

(To Mohan Flora,

If it is possible to get a audio piece of that song and put it on this site, it would be wonderful.)

Thanks
Jay Sagar

Subject: Mohd. Rafi: The Greatest Singer

Generally, I worship God, not human beings. But, If there is one human that is worthy of worship, it is Mohammad Rafi. Both as a singer and as a citizen.

To choose one song from his vast repertoire is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. All the same, I would like readers and lovers of Rafisaab to listen to this one from a little known film called Bindiyaa. Written by Rajinder Krishan and composed by Iqbal Qureshi, you cannot help shedding a tear or two:

“Main Apne Aapse Se Ghabra Gaya Hun’

Mujhe Aye Zindagi Deewana Kar De”

Posted by Ramnath on 31-JUL-06