Mohd Rafi - The Versatile Genius

Mohd Rafi - The Versatile Genius

Mohd. Rafi was perhaps the most popular male playback singer ever and maybe the second most popular singer of Indian Cinema after who else Lata Mangeshkar!

Rafi could sing for anyone in any style. At one stage in the 1960s Rafi was the voice of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Johnny Walker, Sunil Dutt, Biswajeet, Joy Mukherjee, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Raaj Kumar! From the classical Madhuban mein Radhika Nachi re to the swinging Aaja Aaja Main hoon Pyar Tera, from the soulful Hum Bekhudi Mein Aapko Pukarein to the comic Sar jo Tera Chakraye, from the philosophical Dekhi Zamaane ki Yaari to the frivolous Aiaiya Karoon Main Kya Sookoo Sookoo, he could sing anything! In fact Rafi was blessed with such a range that he could easily sing in three octaves without veering out of control.

Born in Kotta Sultansingh village in Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rafi moved to Lahore when he was 14. There he studied music under Khan Abdul Waheed Khan, Jeevanlal Matto and Ghulam Ali Khan. He was introduced to radio Lahore by composer Feroz Nizami and made his film debut as playback singer in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (1944).

He moved to Bombay in 1944 where he was first given a break by Naushad in Pehle Aap (1944). Rafi's earlier singing style appeared influenced by G.M. Durrani and his first really big hit was in Jugnu (1947) where he sang the duet Yahaan Badla Wafaa ka Bewafaee ke Siva Kya Hai with Noor Jehan under Feroz Nizami. But his career really took off with the all-time hit Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki from Dulari(1949). From then there was no looking back and Rafi ruled as the undisputed king of playback singing till the early 70s when Kishore Kumar took over. However it took Rafi much of the 50s to establish his superiority over rest of the competition. Kishore Kumar and to a lesser extent Mukesh and Talat Mehmood were preoccupied by their acting while Hemant Kumar saw a decline in his singing career by the end of the 1950s. Manna Dey never really got the breaks his talent deserved and from 1960-1970 Rafi was unchallenged at the top.

But in spite of his superstardom he remained humble and soft-spoken and never forgot his riyaaz. Rafi has sung some of the best songs for heroes under the influence of alcohol (Din Dhal Jaaye in Guide (1965) and Choo Lenedo Nazuk Hothon ko in Kajal (1965)) but never touched alcohol himself!

While Rafi has sung with every top music composer and co-playback singer there was always something special when he sang under the baton of Naushad and S.D. Burman. Aradhana (1969) and the Rajesh Khanna wave saw Rafi displaced by Kishore Kumar and the early seventies was a creative nadir for him.

But Rafi was not one to quit and made a grand comeback with the Nasir Hussain musical Hum Kissi se Kum Nahin (1977) and Amar Akbar Anthony the same year even winning the National Award for Kya Hua Tera Vaadaa for the former.

But this comeback phase did not last very long as in 1980 Rafi succumbed to a heart attack. However by then Rafi had established that his was one of the most recorded voices in Indian cinema and till date not a single day goes by without Rafi being heard on radio or television.