There was a concert in London last year where Sonu Nigam sang Mohd Rafi's songs as a "tribute" to Rafi, accompanied by a full orchestra. It was later televised. I saw it on tv.
Now- I like Sonu Nigam and a fair bit of his singing. However, in my opinion, Sonu butchered Rafi's songs to unrecognizable shreds. ( So bad that one couldn't even excuse it as a failed attempt at re-interpretation).
Of course, Sonu did not intend to slaughter those songs as he did- quite the reverse. Funny thing is- he appeared to think that he was doing a great job when he he was "singing" those compositions. Rafi must be spinning like a jet turbine in his grave that day.
Till this day, the only contemporary singer that I consider worthy of singing Rafi is Sudesh Bhonsle'. (Sonu would have done himself and us all a favor by listening to Sudesh B sing Kya Hua Tera Wada at a Lata Mangeshkar concert that was televised last year as well, and learning from it).
Point is that with Rafi, Kishore, Lata etc songs- one cannot help making a comparison of a re-rendered "cover" with the original and mostly realizing with disappointment that the latter effort does not just lack the tonality of the real McCoy- but also most of its emotiveness and character.
Rafi, Kishore, Manna Dey, Lata etc. songs, though fun to sing are dangerous territory for those who aim to use them to win competitions. Better stick to the Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghosal, Sukhwinder, Kailash Kher repertoire of tried and trusted tunes with mass appeal- much safer bets.
Edited by str8tok - 17 years ago
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