Mohd Rafi and Dharamendra

The combination of Mohammad Rafi, Laxmikant Pyarellal and Dharmender stormed bollywood films of 1960s and 1970s. When LP emerged in the musical arena with Parasmani and Dosti, bollywood music was being dominated by Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad Ali, Roshanlal Nagrath, OP Nayyar, Madanmohan Kohli and other big composers who created history. The stars of the golden age were associated with the big composers, for example Raj Kapoor was associated with Shankar Jaikishan, Dilip Kumar with Naushad Ali, to name a few. So Laxmikant Pyarellal required an upcoming star with whom they could create partnership. Dharmender was one of those stars. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi

The film Barsaat Ki Raat released in 1960 was a milestone in music in bollywood films. It was directed by PL Santoshi. The music was composed by Roshan Lal Nagrath. Lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhianvi. The film exposed the versatility of Mohammad Rafi, who took the songs to a higher dimension than what they deserved.

Rafi had to face the capability of orthodox qawalli singers like SD Batish, Bande Hasan and Balbeer. Manna Dey was there and he always earned reputation of singing brilliant qawallis throughout his career. The female singers used included Suman Kalyanpur, Sudha Malhotra, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and Kamol Barot. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi

Remembering Mohammad Rafi on his death anniversary and the challenge of continuing the Rafiana.

The entire world remembers great Mohammad Rafi on his death anniversary, on 31^st July, 2012. It has been more than 30 years after his death that he still remains alive in the minds of numerous music lovers all across the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi with Madan Mohan

It is known to the entire film world that Madanmohan Kohli was very close to both Mohammad Rafi and also Lata Mangeshkar.  When the spat took place between Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar over the issue of royalty, between 1963 to 1967, both of them did not sing any duet songs. Lata contended that singer should receive royalty for their entire life for songs sung in films. Rafi contended that if singers don’t share the losses suffered by the film industry, they should not also share the profits.

Composers in bollywood industry had to decide either to choose Rafi or Lata in respect of duet songs. It was a very difficult decision. Ghazal Ka Shezada Madanmohan Kohli handled the situation in his own royal style. He concentrated more of the solo songs where he could devote them to both Rafisahab and Lataji. In respect of duet songs, where the song required the treatment of female singer he asked Manna Dey or Talat Mehmood to sing the duet with Lata. When the song required the treatment of male singer he asked Suman Kalyanpur or Asha Bhosle to sing with Mohammad Rafi. Read the rest of this entry »

Joy Mukerjee and Mohd Rafi

Veteran actor Joy Mukherjee died on 9^th March, 2012. He was the son of noted filmmaker Sasadhar Mukherjee and Sati Debi. Sasadhar Mukherjee was the co-founder of Filmalaya Studios.

Joy Mukherjee stormed bollywood films with his debut in the film Love in Simla in 1960. It was directed by RK Nayyar. Iqbal Qureshi composed the music of the film. From that time the everlasting combination of Joy Mukherjee with Mohammad Rafi stormed bollywood music for the next 10 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi with Shakeel and Ravi

Renowned music director Ravi Shankar Sharma died on 7^th March, 2012, at the age of 86 years. His music had remained immortal over the years.

From the film Vachan and Albeli in 1955 he started his musical journey. In 1960, Mohammad Rafi’s soft ghazal “chaudavi ka chand” in the film Chaudavi Ka Chand made him a musical star. Guru Dutt’s picturization was as outstanding as the lyrics and the brilliant performance of Rafi. From that time it was magic been created whenever Rafi and Ravi combined together. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi and Roshan

Whenever any reference relating to everlasting singer Mohammad Rafi comes, the attention goes to the big budget films and songs for big banners. Rafi is known the most for singing catchy numbers for Shammi Kapoor under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan and classical songs for Dilip Kumar under the composition of Naushad Ali. Although Rafi had sung brilliant songs for all the leading actors of 40s, 50, and 60s, much had been written about the successful films where both the songs and the films did excellent business. Read the rest of this entry »

Mohd Rafi

The listeners of music all over the world wish happy birthday to Mohammad Rafi on 24th December, 2011. The noble soul had left his admirers 31 years ago. Yet he is alive in numerous everlasting hit songs which are heard and cherished for generations.

A Mohammad Rafi Musical Academy should be opened in Mumbai. The aim and objective of the Academy should be to train singers in the art of playback singing. The way Pune Film and Development Institute had created acting talents like Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and others, in the same way Mohammad Rafi Academy and appoint singers of repute from different parts of the world to train young singers in the art of playback singing. Read the rest of this entry »