This article is written by Mr. Padmanabhan NR, Rafi Foundation, Hyderabad Chapter – This is for you Sandeep Nadkarni Sab

Mohd Rafi with Dilip Kumar

This review is being attempted at the instance of  Shri Sandeep Nadkarni, who wished it  from Sri. Nagesh Sidhanti who in turn had mesmerised us all with his review of Door rah kar na karo baat. I am trying a song review for the first time and would request forbearance of all concerned in case I fall short of expectations.

This song is from the film Deedar (1951) starring Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Nimmi, Baby Tabassum and Yaqoob among others. The lyrics are by Shakeel Saheb and music by Naushad Sahab (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji

Sonu Nigam

Sonu Nigam is considered the most powerful playback singer in bollywood films at the moment.  The greatest debate that haunts most of the music lovers of the country is that whether Sonu Nigam had reached the level of excellence that Rafi had reached in the 50s and 60s.

The greatest achievement of a singer lies in his acceptability before diverse range of composers and lyricists. As Rafi was classically trained and could adapt any type of song ranging from qawallies to ghazals to soft romantic numbers to westernized rock and roll compositions his demand before the musical community was immense. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Achal Rangaswamy

Mohd Rafi

It was a sticky morning in Delhi. 1^st August 1980. 6 AM. I was packing my bag to load it on my Enfield Bullet. Time to get back to my HQ – Jaipur. I had just recovered from a bout of typhoid, that had left me with only enough energy to record over 250 songs on various audio cassettes (that’s what we used those days).Most reluctantly, as all of us do after a long stay at home, I picked up my bag. My father tuned into All India Radio to listen to the Morning English News.

The first few news items were mundane. The fourth news item stunned all of us. The first to react was my father, probably because he sat closest to the dining table where the compact radio was kept. “Noted playback singer Mohd Rafi passed away last night….”, said the pained voice of the news reader. Television existed those days, but the transmission ended early into the night, well before the great man breathed his last. (more…)

A personal tribute to Mohd Rafi and Rajendra Kumar. Compiled by: Mr.Biman Baruah, Finance & Accounts Officer, ONGC Ltd., Assam Asset, Sivasagar

Mohd Rafi with Rajinder Kumar

Baharon Phool Barsaoo……… Mere Mehboob Aaya Hai………

At the age of eight, I became a reactionary fan of great Mohammed Rafi Sahab with this great romantic song from the 1966 film “SURAJ” which was very perfectly picturised on Rajendra Kumar showering with flowers to Vyjayanthimala in a natural location with Elephant and Peacock. The film was produced by S. Krishnamurthy & directed by T. Prakash Rao which considered one of the first highly commercially successful fantasy dramas of Hindi Cinema.

Shanker-Jaikishen’s chartbuster music and Mohammed Rafi’s singing played an important role in the film’s popularity. The film showed Rajendra Kumar as a blustering hero with swords, horses, elephant, etc. and the songs of the film are remembered till date considering all time evergreen hits. (more…)

Two Rafi Songs from the Film ‘Naya Raasta’- A Study in Contrast
By
Mrs. Usha G Rao- a Senior Member of ‘Baar Baar Rafi’- The Fan Club, Bangalore, India

Mohd Rafi

Call it a cliché, an oft-repeated statement or stating the obvious, I would still like to dwell on this topic and say- ‘Versatility, thy name is Mohammed Rafi’. For me, a discussion on any aspect of Rafi Sahab’s singing amounts to a joyful celebration of his music. Each time I look at the prism of his songs, I see a new angle, a new dimension hitherto unseen by me.

I wish to present here a study of two of his songs from the 1967 film Naya Raasta. The mood and the ethos of the two songs are at total variance with each other and hence are perfect examples for the topic under discussion. The music is composed by Narayan Dutta, better known as N Dutta and the lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi Sahab are some of the most meaningful lyrics ever written for films. (more…)

This article is penned down by Mr Gaurav D Bijoor.

Mohd Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur

Mohammed Rafi can be truly described as the uncrowned King of Melody and also the Greatest Ever – whose simple name will always spell sheer magic.

In his astonishing career spanning almost 36 long & patient years from the year 1944 – “Gulbaloch” to 1980 – “Aas Paas” he has been successfully associated with more than 30 female play back singers ranging from the most to the least popular category and with these singers Rafi Saab the dynamic has had the unique golden opportunity of rendering either one OR more songs, equally with class & beauty of its own. Though the list of the female singers so associated with Rafi Saab is lengthy the same in a nut shell can be considered ranging from the “Malika –e-Taranum” – Noorjahan to Anuradha Paudwal in general. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. H.V.Guru Murthy

Mohd Rafi

Till Mohammed Rafiji emerged, most of the earlier Singers were flat singers without much variation. After Rafi saab came on screen, the importance of diction, variation in voice for different actors, raising and lowering of voice, putting feeling into each word, etc. were noticed. As one of Rafi hero, Biswajeet opined that acting for Rafi songs was very easy, as Rafi took care of all the acting in his song putting feelings into the lyrics and the actor was just required to lip-sync.

Mohammed Rafi Saab has sung nearly 5000 songs and in fact, most of the songs can be considered as a Milestone in the history of Indian Film Music. Still, there are certain songs of Rafiji, which established the ‘Singer of the millennium’ as the most versatile singer as well as paved the way for similar songs in other movies. Some of these songs became rage of the Nation when they were released and were on the lips of the Nation. Personally I consider all these songs as ‘Milestone songs of Rafiji’. (more…)

This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji

Rafi Sahab with Sharada on stage live singing Bakamma Bakamma

Rafi had sung many duets with all the leading female singers in the country during the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. He had sung around 440 duets with Lata Mangeshkar, who dominated bollywood music during the 50s, 60s and 70s. He sang duet songs with Shamshad Begum, Mubarak Begum, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur and others. During that period he sang many duets with Sharda as well, mainly in films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Sharda won a number of filmfare awards for best singer for her performance in mainly the films of Shankar Jaikishan. Sharda is still alive and also has received the Rafi Memorial Award in 2007, from the Rafi Lovers Circle, Calcutta. (more…)