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Mohammed Rafi- In Memoriam |
( 24th of December, 1924- 31st July, 1980)
Mohammed Rafi was only fifty-five when he passed away twenty-one years ago on this day. No matter at what age Rafi left us, it would have been too soon for his legion of fans. Twenty-one years or a hundred and twenty one, there will of course never be any question of forgetting the tremendous impact Rafi had on playback singing. About 26,000 songs will forever stand as a testament to that.
Rafi was born on the 24th of December, 1924 in Kotla Sultanpur, Punjab ( now Pakistan). When his family moved to Lahore, he studied music under Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. His first admirer was older brother, Janab Hamid Sahab, who stopped at nothing to make sure that Rafi succeed with the beautiful voice he'd been blessed with. He was twenty years old when music director Shyam Sunder offered him his first singing job in the Punjabi film, " Gul Baloch' in 1944. Sunderji was more than impressed with what he heard and Rafi became a frequent voice in his films after that. With Sunderji's very successful 'Gaon ki Gori', Rafi began carving his inimitable niche in the industry
The music director most responsible for Rafi's success was Naushad. Naushad fulfilled a lifelong dream of Rafi's- to sing with K.L. Saigal. He was given one line to sing in Saigal's classic "Roohi Roohi Meri Sapno Ki Rani" from 'Shahjehan'. After that, the first complete song that Rafi sang for Naushad was in "Anmol Ghadi". Naushad discovered the incredible range in Rafi's melodious voice and carried it to the hilt. With Nuashad, Rafi's style became more refined and distinct from those of contemporary legends like Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. 'Baiju Bawra' attested to the pure magic of the Naushad-Rafi collaboration.
Those 26,000 songs also show off another of Rafi's accomplishments- versatility. Just a look at Rafi's portfolio is fascinating. Of course, one of Rafi's greatest achievements was becoming the voice and keeping up with the escalating energy levels of Shammi Kapoor. It is quite amazing that this man, well known to be docile, could be the thundering voice behind the 'Yahoo!' in "Junglee". A lot of the Shammi Kapoor magic was displayed in his songs and hence can be attributed to Mohammed Rafi. That voice also enhanced the different flavours and screen personalities of other veterans like Guru Dutt and Dilip Kumar.
Perhaps ultimately, the most remarkable aspect of Rafi was the man himself, who retained a lot of humility and dignity even in the pinnacle of his success. An eternal voice with a noble personality- truly the stuff that tremendous legends are made of.
(courtesy: 3to6.com)
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