It
is exactly 19 years since Mohammad Rafi passed away (July 31, 1980), but his voice
continues to haunt us even today. After all, he's left behind a rich legacy of songs sung
by him over 35 years.
Rafi's voice,
ranging from the melancholic to the boisterous, was such that it suited every mood and
every occasion in films. His is one voice that has been imitated the most to be called a
Rafi clone is actually regarded as a compliment by most newcomers.
Yet, no one has
been able to recreate the Rafi magic. Perhaps, no one can. At best, each of these singers
has been able to imitate just one aspect of his voice. But nobody possesses the
versatility that Rafi did.
He could become
the soul of Guru Dutt in songs like Dekhi zamaane ki yaari bichde
sabhi bari bari Kagaz Ke Pool, Johnny Walker's voice
in the mischievous Tel maalish Pyaasa
or sing the catchy Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan CID.
He could match
Shammi Kapoor's energy and zest in Yahoo Junglee and do a soft, romantic Ehsaan tera
hoga mujh par in the same film. He could give character to a legend like Dilip
Kumar with Tere husn ki kya taarif karoon Leader as well as do wonders for a mediocre actor like Joy
Mukherjee with songs such as Mujhe dekh
kar aapka muskurana Ek Musafir Ek Haseena and Champa kali dekho jhuki gayi re Ziddi.
In spite of his
success, Rafi remained an extremely quiet and reserved person. Many of his admirers could
not fathom how such a low-profile man sounded so flamboyant in some of his songs. His son
Shahid recalls, When we asked him whether he had actually sung the
'yahoo' number, he just smiled and nodded. We kept asking him, 'how did you sing this
song?' But he wouldn't expand on the subject. It was difficult for us to imagine a gentle
person like him shouting out that yahoo."
Perhaps, it was
Rafi's humility and willingness to learn that made him such a great singer. He respected
all his music directors, whether they were young or experienced. His contention was you
are teaching me a new song, so you are my ustad. If someone could not pay him his fees,
he'd still sing for him and treat him the same way.
Rafi was born in
a small village called Kotla Sultan Singh near Amritsar in December 1924. His family
shifted to Lahore when he was still a baby. A fakir used to come to their locality in
Lahore every day and sing. The young Rafi was so fascinated by him that he used to follow
him around.
His elder
brother Hamid was aware of Rafi's love for music and encouraged it. In
fact, says music director Naushad, A lot of credit for Rafi's
success must go to Hamid who knocked on several doors and tried everything to ensure that
his brother got work.'
In Lahore, Rafi
started taking music lessons from Ustad Wahid Khan. One day Rafi and Hamid had gone to
attend a performance by K L Saigal. But the legendary singer refused to sing since there
was a power failure at the venue. Hamid went up to the organiser and asked if his brother
could sing to keep the audience quiet.
That was Rafi's first public performance at the age of 13. As it
turned out, the setting was just right for him. Among the audience sat noted composer
Shyamsunder who was so impressed that he invited the young Rafi to come to Bombay. Hamid
brought him to Bombay without telling their father why they were going. Their mother,
however, knew about it and blessed them.
But things were
difficult in Bombay. The brothers had very little money. They lived in Bhendi Bazaar and
walked every day to the studio in Dadar to meet Shyamsunder. They had filled two pillow
cases with chana (gram) and lived off it for days. Finally, they did meet Shyamsunder who,
as promised, gave Rafi a song in the Punjabi film Gulbaloch.
His second film was a Hindi one, Gaon Ki Gori.
Naushad Ali was
one of the first composers to work with Rafi. He narrates an endearing story. When I heard Rafi, I liked his voice and promised him work in future. I
was already doing a film called Shahjehan with Saigal. Rafi, who was a fan of Saigal, came
to me with a request, that it was his greatest desire to sing with Saigal. I gave him one
line in the song Roohi roohi mere sapno ki rani," recalls Naushad.
The first full song he sang for me was in Anmol
Ghadi -- it went like Tera khilona toota balak... he
adds. Then again he sang for me in Dillagi Is duniya mein aye dilwalon dil ka lagana khel nahin and Tere koonche
main armanon ki duniya leke aaya hoon."
After this, Rafi
became very popular and started getting work from other music directors as well. But it
was left to Naushad to explore the wide range of Rafi's voice. The film was Baiju Bawra,
the song O duniya ke rakhwale sun dard bhare mere nale. Naushad discovered that in an era
when low octave singing was the norm, Rafi had a phenomenal range, and yet, he never
sounded out of tune.
Shammi Kapoor
acknowledges that Rafi had a lot to do with his success. It was
amazing the way Rafisaab adapted himself to what I wanted him to do. I used to be terribly
involved with my songs and go for all the recordings. I used to make it clear how I wanted
a certain line sung and Rafisaab always responded, says Kapoor.
He cites an
instance. I remember when the song Tareef karoon kya uski in Kashmir Ki Kali was being recorded, I wanted
the signature line Tareef karoon to be repeated till it reached a crescendo. O P Nayyar,
the composer and a friend of mine, objected. He thought it would sound boring. But
suddenly, Rafisaab spoke up and said 'I would like to do it the way the boy wants it
because I know what he wants,' Kapoor remembers.
When the film
was released, the song was a big hit. Nayyar hugged Kapoor and congratulated him for his
foresight, but the actor maintains it was possible only because
Rafisaab had taken the song to such a pitch and had sung each repetition in a different
style.
He adds, with a
touch of pride, Though Rafisaab sang for all the actors be it Dilip
Kumar or Johnny Walker he was especially identified with me. Some songs sungs by him and
picturised on Joy Mukherjee and Biswajeet were actually my kind of songs. Baharon phool
barsao, Pukarta chala hoon main or Teri pyari pyari surat ko these were my songs, sung in
Rafi's special style for me. I remember when he sang Main gaoon tum so jaao for
Brahmachari, I told him how I wanted him to sing one particular line. When he saw the
picturisation he came and kissed my hand and said, 'it's very beautiful, why didn't I
think of that?'
Lata Mangeshkar,
who has sung some of her most beautiful duets with Rafi, says that our
songs together are so lovely that it is a pleasure to listen to them over and over again.
Some of the memorable songs of the duo are Jeevan mein piya tera
saath rahe Goonj Uthi Shehnai, Tum
to pyar ho Sehra, Tasveer teri
dil mein Maya, Dheere dheere
chal Love Marriage, Tujhe jeevan
ki dor se Asli Naqli, Chalo
dildar chalo Pakeezah, Tere husn
ki kya tareef karoon Leader.
According to
Shahid, Rafi used to take a great deal of interest in his songs. He
always wanted to know who he was singing for. After that, you would hear shades of that
person's voice in his singing this was his special gift, says Shahid.
Indeed, Rafi was
special. All those actors he sang for felt a sense of possessiveness for him and
acknowledged his contribution to their popularity.
His voice always
struck a chord, even when he sang non-film songs such as Paaon padoon tore shyam... For
generations to come, there is a repertoire of 35,000 Rafi songs to revel in. His last song
was Tu kahin aas paas hai dost for the film, Aas Paas.
Today, in the
midst of the cacophony of voices, Rafi's is the one which stands out, even almost two
decades after he's gone. |