E-Paper
Rafi: The melody king
Mohammad Rafi, who struck gold with Baiju Bawra, is remembered as B'wood's golden voice.
It seems unfair to confine a man's memories to only two days in a year when one actually hears his voice on a daily basis. They don't make men like Mohammad Rafi anymore. The power that this master crooner has over millions can be gauged from an instance which took place in Mumbai as recently as last month. As part of an ongoing research project, I was interviewing a cross-section of people within and outside the Hindi film music industry. The research involved meeting up with fan groups of various musicians and singers also.
A group of 10-12 'Rafians' (as ardent followers of Mohammad Rafi like to call themselves) invited a musicologist friend for an informal evening of Rafi's songs. Each song would be followed by discussions, anecdotes associated with it and the style of the music composer etc. Among other things, a few songs also brought up a mention of the other great, Kishore Kumar. My friend stated that while 'Rafi was great but Kishore Kumar wasn't far behind. Both have their own outstanding qualities and need to be admired for different reasons. At any length, it is an unfair comparison to make,' he reasoned. He was lucky to have escaped with only harsh abuse, so strong was their reaction. The fans wouldn't even hear him out on Kishore Kumar, let alone consider him alongside Mohammad Rafi. My friend recalled with anger (and some shudders) that he was lucky he hadn't been lynched that evening! He has since sworn off any other informal musical evenings!
On the other extreme was another music-loving group that didn't like listening to Naushad's music. I asked them why and the explanation was succinct. 'He prefers Mohammad Rafi over Kishore Kumar and we think Kishore Kumar is by far the best. How can you even ask us if there can be a debate on the issue?' they enquired incredulously giving me looks that clearly said, they thought I didn't know my 'm' from my 'c' in MusiC and I ideally should have been swallowed up by earth long before, for harbouring a notion that Naushad was worth lending an ear to!
Mohammad Rafi was born Haji Ali Mohammad in Kotla Sultan Singh, Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on December 24, 1924 and passed away on July 31, 1980. In a career spanning 36 years (he began at the age of 20 and had his first song recorded on 28th February 1944), Rafi rendered about 5000 songs. He lent his voice for every hero worth his salt in the Hindi film industry from Dilip Kumar (Nain ladh jayeen hai in Ganga Jamuna and Madhuban mein Radhika naache re in Kohinoor) to Jeetendra (Pal do pal ka saath hamara in Burning Train).
Interestingly, he even sang two songs picturised on Kishore Kumar in Raagini/OP Nayyar and Shararat/Shankar-Jaikishan. Rafi's wide range included bhajans, ghazals, romantic songs, bhangra, classical, songs of pathos and each of them was qualitative supreme.
The youngest among five sons, Rafi was initiated into music by a fakir who used to pass by his house every day. But his father disapproved - big time. There was no way a son of his would become a gavaiya (a singer) he maintained. In fact, he discouraged anyone who wanted to listen to young boy, from coming into the house. But fate had a will stronger than his father, Allah Rekhi. And Rafi found a firm supporter in his eldest sibling, Hameed Ali.
When the family moved to Lahore, Rafi was put under training (discreetly) with Ustad Waheed Ali Khan sahib. He also picked up the basics from Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, the younger brother of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. He was picked up for a song Ne heeriyo teri yaad ne saatya… in the Punjabi film, Gul Baloch. And even though Naushad would give the young boy a hearing (from whose father the young boys had managed a recommendation letter) and three songs in his upcoming venture Pehle Aap, it would be two years before the industry cast a second glance.
