As Mohammed Rafi's 30th death anniversary comes up on July 31, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar pays a personal tribute to one of India's greatest playback singers.
"Rafi bhaiya was not only India's greatest playback singer but also a wonderful person. I am yet to come across another artist so modest, dignified and unassuming. The blessings of Goddess Saraswati were with him and this was responsible to a great extent for his iconic success and he believed in true sadhna. Every morning he had his riyaz like a devoted singer and rehearsed before recording each song.
Suhani raat dhal chuki in "Dulari" tuned by Naushad saab, made him a household name in the late 1940s. Since then there was no looking back for Mohd. Rafi. He went from strength to strength as a singer never conscious of his amazing abilities.
While raising his voice to the highest octave for O Duniya Ke Rakhwale in "Baiju Bawra," he was so involved that he was not even aware that his vocal chord was disturbed and blood oozed out. Naushad saab had to compel his musicians and the sound recordist to stop the recording immediately.
He was not only cordial but affectionate and cooperative with his colleagues. I consider myself very lucky for having sung the maximum number of duets with him under Naushad, C. Ramchandra, S.D. Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhury, Madan Mohan, R.D. Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji. Even other talented composers like Hemant Kumar, Ravi and Khayyam worked with us with resounding success.
We sang so many memorable duets together. I remember Do Sitaron Ka Milan, Sau Saal Pehle, Dil Pukare, Yeh Dil Tum Bin...He was one singer whose vocal range could outclass any other singer, whether it was me, Asha, Mannada or Kishore bhaiya. Yet, he never believed in dominating the scene.
Rafi Bhaiya was very particular about lyrics. He was dead against obscenity. Salil Chowdhury, who generally did not use Rafi bhaiya, composed the haunting Tasveer teri dil mein, which we sang for "Maya." It was the Hindi version of his Bengali master piece, Ogo aar kichu to noi. Rafi bhaiya was not getting the antara ( phirun tujhe sang leke), accurately. Salilda grew impatient and showed flashes of anger, but Rafi bhaiya would not react. He politely asked Salilda to explain it to him and ultimately delivered it even better than what Salilda expected.
Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, even Rajesh Khanna... Rafi bhaiya sang for top actors with equal ability and resounding success. The way he rendered Aye chand jise, Na mukhda mor ke and Tujhe dekha for Uttam Kumar in "Choti Si Mulakat" was mind-blowing.
He was at his best rendering Teri bindya re for Amitabh Bachhan and Dard e dil for Rishi Kapoor. No wonder even music directors of the 1970s, like Bappi Lahiri and Rajesh Roshan, used his voice very effectively. I still remember him singing Dil ki kali tuned by Rajesh Roshan for "Inkar" in 1978. The female voice simply paled in comparison.
It is very wrong to say that Kishore Kumar overtook Rafi bhaiya in the early 1970s. Kishore was no doubt at his peak, but Rafi bhaiya was equally effective with Tere naam ka diwana, Gulabi aankhen, Yeh duniya yeh mehfil and Tum jo mil gaye ho. Even Kishore bhaiya never felt he was ahead of Rafi.
It's been three decades since he left us but his melodies are alive not only in my heart but in that of countless music lovers. Rafi bhaiya, Yaad na jaye beete dino ki."
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I heard tht in the Movie - Maya, it was Lata and Salil charging on Rafi Sahab, for wrong notes in the song.
ReplyDeleteHere she says that it was Salil who did it all.I think she is trying to mould the stories so tht she does not get bad names.
Also, I feel that in the song of Maya - It was Rafi Sahab who sang better than Lata ji. He matched the voice so much with Dev Anand and yet with so melody. Lata's voice crashed at many places in the song.
Perhaps I also think tht the songs of 1960's Rafi sang all songs better than Lata.
Correct completely agree
ReplyDeleteI am astonished as the amount of 'bias', the writer has for Rafi Sahab. The Kohinoor song, he is mentioning, Lata Voice is even not heard at place while in one place in the antra where she di
ReplyDeleted not take breath, the result is that she haven't uttered the last word of the stanza as her breath has reached the end.
Lata was known to be jealous of Rafi, because Rafi was far superior to her in singing. I can give lot of examples of the duets where Lata has almost always paled by the sheer brilliance of Rafi's voice. In others where she has tried to match Rafi's high octave notes, her voice becomes so shrill that it would sound painful to the ears.
Regarding Manna Day, listen to the duet with Lata,"Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi", Lat has sung it beautifully while Mannada voice is overshadowed. Similarly, in my opinion, in contrast to what most people think, Lata has technically sung the song, "Merey Mehbob, Qayamat Hogi" better than Kishore. It is another debate that Kishore powerful voice is apparently sounding better.
Hence, an advice for the writer, don't be judgmental about any singer while remaining bias, at the same time. Remain Neutral.
Rafi's Superiority that makes him exceptional is the way he sang different words in the song in a way that would give the meaning to that particular word. No one before him has ever done that. All his compatriots would sing the antras and mukhras, in the same monotonous tone, meaning each world of the stanza would sound the same. As, a small example, listen to Rafi's famous song,"Chalkayey Jaam", the word Jaam is used in the song some seven times. Look at the singer's greatness, each of the seven times, Rafi Sahab has changed his voice, so that each "JAAM" is sounding different from each other.
ReplyDeleteVery few listeners could understand why Muhammad Rafi was awarded as the Singer of the Millennium.
If any body has any doubts, just listen to what SP Bala Subramunium Jee has to say about Rafi Sahab. He has taken some 15 minutes to describe the beauty of Rafi Sahab's singing and why is he the undiputed Shehensha of Playback singing, male or female.