Number Theory: Celebrating Md Rafi's Bollywood discography

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Today marks the 100th birth anniversary of Mohammed Rafi, one of India’s finest and most prolific playback singers. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he sang in a number of languages. While there is no comprehensive catalogue of all the songs recorded by him, Hindi Geetmala, an online repository of Hindi songs, has a catalogue of over 4,000 songs recorded by the late singer. Here is a look at the 4,436 songs he recorded for Bollywood films.

Legendary singer Mohammed Rafi. (HT File Photo)

Celebrating Md Rafi's Bollywood discography

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  Rafi sang at least 4,436 songs for Bollywood films, the most being in 1960

  Rafi sang his first track for a Bollywood film at the young age of 20. This was for the 1944 movie Pehle Aap, for which he sang three songs. However, it was only at the end of the 1940s that Rafi’s career took off in terms of output. For example, he sang over 100 songs for the first time in 1949. This output would reach a peak in 1960, when he sang 228 songs, or about two songs every three days. The 1960s were also his most prolific decade, with a total output of 1,669 songs. To be sure, the year-wise breakup of Rafi’s songs can only be analysed through the year of release of the films for which he sang. For example, some of his songs were heard by the general public only after his death in 1980. This is because some of the films for which he sang were held back due to production delays.
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  There is an equal split of Rafi solos and songs with other singers

  The 4,436 Rafi songs analysed here are almost equally split between songs Rafi sang solo (2116) and those he sang with other singers (2,320). But this was not always the case. Up to the 1950s, only 41% of his songs were solo. It is only when he sang a large number of solo songs in 1960s – his most prolific decade -- that the split became almost equal.
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  The number of songs he sang with Asha Bhosle dwarf all other collaborations

  More than one singer in Bollywood usually implies a duet between a male and a female singer. This is evident in Rafi’s top singing collaborations. His top five collaborators are all women: Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, and Suman Kalyanpur. However, his sixth and seventh most common collaborations were indeed with two male singers: Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. To be sure, the number of songs Rafi recorded with Bhosle dwarf collaborations with nearly every other singer. He recorded 877 songs with Bhosle, compared to 448 with Mangeshkar, his next most frequent collaboration; and fewer than 200 with every other singer.
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  His top composer and lyricist collaborations were relatively more equal

  The lyricists who wrote the most songs for Rafi were Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi, and Rajinder Krishan, who wrote 382, 372, and 352 songs respectively for the singer. Clearly, his collaborations with lyricists were relatively more equal than those with singers. This was also the case with his collaborations with composers. His top composer collaborations were with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Shankar-Jaikishan, and Chitragupt; who composed 383, 356, and 257 songs respectively for the singer.
• A giant of the industry

  To be sure, numbers are only one way of looking at something subjective like music. Hardly anyone can recount all the 4,436 songs analysed here, which is likely an underestimate of Rafi’s output. But hardly anyone who listens to Bollywood music can do so without encountering this giant of the industry.