There are probably only two other male playback singers equally popular to him in the history of Indian Cinema, However he beats everyone in the number of songs that he has sung(around 26,000) and more importantly because he is probably the only singer who has excelled in almost every genre of singing in Hindi film music. Ladies and Gentlemen, this blog is about the virtuoso, a true fankaar, the one and only Mohammed Rafi.
Rafi's romantic duets are probably among the best one can get to listen. Though the highest number of them are with Lata, I am especially fond of the ones with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle. My all-time favorite is the one with Geeta Dutt "hum aapki aankhon mein" from the 1957 classic, Pyaasa. Other personal favorites of this pair are "jaane kahaan mera jigar gaya ji", "aankhon hi aankhon mein" and the lesser popular "yeh hai bombay meri jaan". Rafi and Asha made a great combo too. Who can ever forget “Achha ji mein haari chalo maan jao na” - A sensuous Asha and a teasing Rafi, both at their best. Another song, where Rafi and Asha outperform each other is the song, "Deewana Mastana Hua Dil".
A pious Muslim, Rafi delivered probably the most authentic bhajans of Indian Cinema. My favorite being "man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj", It is a beautiful bhajan which could turn an agnostic into a devotee. Set on Malkauns Raaga by Naushad, written by Shakeel Badayuni and sung by Rafi, it is symbolic of India’s secularism. Nothing pseudo about it.
Rafi had a classical training under masters like Abdul Wahid Khan and Ghulam Ali Khan. Rafi was a perfectonist and it is almost impossible to find any naunces in his singing. He could effortlessly sing classical based songs. Listen to "madhuban mein raadhika naache" or the high pitched "o duniya ke rakhwale", he could easily switch between third and first octaves, yet maintain his mellifluous voice.
Rafi was undoubtedly the all time best Qawwali singer, Indian Cinema has seen. Each one of his qawwali is superb. Be it "pardah hai pardah", "hum kisise kam nahin" or "chandi ka badan". My all-time favorite though is from 1960 movie, Barsaat ki Raat: "na to caravan ki talaash hai", the song starts off beautifully by Manna dey and Asha bhosle and is brilliantly taken over by Rafi.
Rafi excelled in rendering patriotic songs: "kar chale hum fida" from haqeeqat, "sarfaroshi ki tamanna" from shaheed are some of the memorable ones. Rafi sang the youthful peppy songs as well with equal ease. Most of them were pictured on Shammi Kapoor. Movies like Junglee, Kashmir ki Kali, Dil Dekhe Dekho, Brahmachari, An evening in Paris, Teesri Manzil had some great songs by Rafi and were a rage in the 60s. Though there were too many good songs of this type, I would like to point to two songs which I particularly like, one is "jawaniyan yeh mast mast" and the other is "ayyaiyya karoon mein kya sukoo sukoo".
Rafi has sung many beautiful ghazals. Two such ghazals have been sung solo both by Lata and Rafi. Personally, I like the Rafi version. These are "teri aankhon ke siva" and "ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar".
The versatility of Rafi makes it impossible to brand him as a specific type of singer: there can be nothing which is rafiana andaaz. But specifically, a few of his romantic numbers are my personal favorites. The best of them all is "chaudvin ka chaand ho, ya fitaab ho, jo bhi ho tum khuda ki kasam lajawaab ho" :aahh.. this one is a gem of a song, Rafi at his romantic best. Another one is "zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat". Rafi's personal favorite that he himself acknowledged in one of his interviews is "suhaani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge". A few other romantic songs that comes to my mind: "din dhal jaaye" , "tere mere sapne", "abhi na jao chodkar", "hum bekhudi mein tumko pukaare".
I know this was a futile attempt at paying a tribute to Rafi in a single post, and I also know that I have skipped many of his great songs. It has been 26 years since he left us all, but here I am sitting in another corner of the world and typing this as his songs continues to play on.
Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge
haan tum mujhe yuh bhula na paoge
Jab kabhi bhi sunoge geet mere
Sang sang tum bhi gun-gunaoge
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
6 comments:
indeed he wasa greta singer :) good post it refreshed my memories of "vividh bharathi" songs :)
mohammed rafi is my dad's favourite singer and i've inherited the same genes! the links on ur post made for some great listening...my personal favourites are chaudvin ka chand, o duniyake rakhwale and abhi na jao chodkar. its amazing how rafi was the sole voice behind many popular heroes inclduing dev anand and shammi kapoor.
Yes. Rafi "was" indeed a great singer. His music "is" still in our hearts. Eventhough he has come and gone, his music always alive - generations to come....
May be, I will add one more point. We also need to give credits to lyricists and music directors who made Rafi a great versatile artiste.
@enigma that's good :)
@shubha true, the sheer numbers point to that.
@shyam that's a good point, and as I pointed in an earlier post, Good film music depends a lot on it's lyrics and tunes.
Aah! Rafi sahab... ham bhi diwaane hai. In love with his voice.
Nice write-up... all these songs are my favoutites.
"Tum mujhe yoon bhula na paaoge" at the end was touching.
@sindhu thanks for your comment.
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