Mohammed Rafi
Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast, peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award in India. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in a CNN-IBN poll.
He recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and in many Indian languages as well as some foreign languages, though primarily in Urdu and Punjabi, over which he had a strong command. He recorded as many as 7,000 songs throughout his career, spanning several languages such as Konkani, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Magahi, Maithili, etc. Apart from Indian languages, he also sang in some foreign languages, including English, Persian, Arabic, Sinhala, Mauritian Creole, and Dutch.
Early life
Mohammed Rafi was the second eldest of six brothers born to Allah Rakhi and Haji Ali Mohammad in a Punjabi Bhatti Jat Muslim family. The family originally belonged to Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near present-day Majitha in Amritsar district of Punjab, India. Rafi, whose nickname was Pheeko, began singing by imitating the chants of a fakir who roamed the streets of his native village Kotla Sultan Singh. Rafi's father moved to Lahore in 1935, where he ran a barbershop in Noor Mohalla in Bhati Gate.Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami. His first public performance came at the age of 13, when he sang in Lahore featuring K. L. Saigal. In 1941, Rafi made his debut in Lahore as a playback singer in the duet "Goriye Nee, Heeriye Nee" with Zeenat Begum in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch under music director Shyam Sunder. In that same year, Rafi was invited by All India Radio Lahore station to sing for them.
He made his Hindi film debut in Gaon Ki Gori in 1945.
Early career in Bombay
Rafi moved to Bombay, Maharashtra in 1944. He and Hameed Sahab rented a ten-by-ten-feet room in the crowded downtown Bhendi Bazar area. Poet Tanvir Naqvi introduced him to film producers including Abdur Rashid Kardar, Mehboob Khan and actor-director Nazeer. Shyam Sunder was in Bombay and provided the opportunity to Rafi to sing a duet with G. M. Durrani, "Aji dil ho kaabu mein to dildar ki aisi taisi...," for Gaon Ki Gori, which became Rafi's first recorded song in a Hindi film. Other songs followed.Rafi's first song with Naushad was "Hindustan Ke Hum Hain" with Shyam Kumar, Alauddin and others, from A. R. Kardar's Pehle Aap.
Rafi appeared in two movies. He appeared on the screen for the songs "Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha" in film Laila Majnu and "Woh Apni Yaad Dilane Ko" in the Film Jugnu. He sang a number of songs for Naushad as part of the chorus, including "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani, Roohi Roohi" with K. L. Saigal, from the film Shahjahan. Rafi sang "Tera Khilona Toota Balak" from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi and a duet with Noor Jehan in the 1947 film Jugnu, "Yahan Badla Wafa Ka". After partition, Rafi decided to stay back in India and had the rest of his family flown to Bombay. Noor Jehan migrated to Pakistan and made a pair with playback singer Ahmed Rushdi.
In 1949, Rafi was given solo songs by music directors such as Naushad, Shyam Sunder and Husnalal Bhagatram.
Besides K. L. Saigal, whom he considered his favorite, Rafi was also influenced by G. M. Durrani. In the early phase of his career, he often followed Durrani's style of singing, but later evolved his own, unique style. He sang with Durrani in some of the songs such as "Humko Hanste Dekh Zamana Jalta Hai" and "Khabar Kisi Ko Nahiin, Woh Kidhar Dekhte".
In 1948, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the team of Husanlal Bhagatram-Rajendra Krishan-Rafi had overnight created the song "Suno Suno Ae Duniyawalon, Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani". He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at his house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian Independence Day.
Recording career in the 1950s and 1960s
In his early career, Rafi associated with many contemporary music directors, most notably Naushad Ali. In the late 1950s and 1960s, he worked with other composers of the era such as O. P. Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan, S.D. Burman and Roshan.Work with Naushad
As per Naushad, Rafi came to him with a letter of recommendation from Naushad's father.Rafi's first song for Naushad Ali was "Hindustan Ke Hum Hain" for the film Pehle Aap in 1944. The first song for the duo was the soundtrack of the movie Anmol Ghadi.
Rafi's association with Naushad helped the former establish himself as one of the most prominent playback singers in Hindi cinema. Songs from Baiju Bawra like "O duniya ke rakhwale" and "Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj" furthered Rafi's credentials. Rafi ended up singing a total of 149 songs for Naushad. Before Rafi, Naushad's favorite singer was Talat Mahmood. Once Naushad found Talat smoking during a recording. He was annoyed and hired Rafi to sing all the songs of the movie Baiju Bawra.
Work with S. D. Burman
S. D. Burman used Rafi as a singing voice of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt. Rafi worked with Burman in 37 films, including Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Kala Bazar, Nau Do Gyarah, Kala Pani, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Guide, Aradhana, Ishq Par Zor Nahin and Abhimaan.Work with Shankar–Jaikishan
Rafi's partnership with Shankar–Jaikishan was among the most famous and successful in the Hindi film industry. He worked with them from their first film, Barsaat. Under Shankar–Jaikishan, Rafi produced some of his songs for actors like Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Out of six Filmfare awards, Rafi won three for S-J songs – "Teri Pyaari Pyaari Surat Ko", "Bahaaron Phool Barsaao" and "Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein." The song "Yahoo! Chaahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" was sung by Rafi, matched by a fast-paced orchestra and composition by Shankar Jaikishan. S-J had Rafi give playback for Kishore Kumar in the film Sharaarat. Rafi sang a total of 341 numbers—216 solo—for Shankar–Jaikishan. Among the films of this combination are: Awaara, Boot Polish, Basant Bahar, Professor, Junglee, Asli-Naqli, Rajkumar, Suraj, Sangam, Brahmachari, Arzoo, An Evening in Paris, Dil Tera Deewana, Yakeen, Prince, Love in Tokyo, Beti Bete, Dil Ek Mandir, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Gaban and Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai.Work with Ravi
Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand, composed by Ravi. He received the National Award for the song "Baabul Ki Duaen Leti Jaa" from the film Neel Kamal, also composed by Ravi. Rafi wept during the recording of this song, which he admitted in a 1977 interview with the BBC.Ravi and Rafi produced several other songs in the films China Town, Kaajal, Do Badan and Ek Phool Do Maali
Work with Madan Mohan
was another composer whose favorite singer was Rafi. Rafi's first solo with Madan Mohan in Aankhen was "Hum Ishk Mein Burbaad Hein Burbaad Ruhenge". They teamed up to produce many songs including "Teree Aankhon Ke Sivaa", "Yeh Duniyaa Yeh Mehfil", "Tum Jo Mil Guye Ho", "Kur Chale Hum Fida", "Meree Aawaaz Suno" and "Aap Ke Pehlu Mein Aakur".Work with O. P. Nayyar
Rafi and O. P. Nayyar created music in the 1950s and 1960s. O. P. Nayyar was once quoted as saying "If there had been no Mohammed Rafi, there would have been no O. P. Nayyar".He and Rafi created many songs together including "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan". He got Rafi to sing for singer-actor Kishore Kumar – "Man Mora Baawara" for the movie Raagini. Later, Rafi sang for Kishore Kumar in movies such as Baaghi, Shehzaada and Shararat. O. P. Nayyar used Rafi and Asha Bhosle for most of his songs. The team created many songs in the early 1950s and 1960s for movies such as Naya Daur, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and Kashmir Ki Kali. Rafi sang a total of 197 numbers for Nayyar.
The songs "Jawaaniyan yeh mast mast" and the title song "Yun to humne lakh hansee dekhe hain, tumsa nahin dekha" of the film Tumsa Nahin Dekha were hits. They were followed by songs like "Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehera" from Kashmir ki Kali.
Rafi and OP had a falling-out during the recording for movie "Sawan ki Ghata". As disclosed by OP during one of his interviews; Rafi reported late to the recording stating that he was stuck in Shankar Jaikishan's recording. OP then stated that from now on he too did not have the time for Rafi and cancelled the recording. They did not work together for the next 3 years.
Work with Laxmikant-Pyarelal
The composer duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal patronized Rafi as one of their singers, right from their first song by him from the film Parasmani. Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Award for the song "Chaahoonga Mein Tujhe Saanjh Suvere" from Dosti. Rafi rendered the highest number of songs for this music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, as compared to all the music directors: 388.Once, when composer Nisar Bazmi, who once worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal before he had migrated to Pakistan, didn't have enough money to pay him, Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him. He also helped producers financially. As Laxmikant once observed – "He always gave without thinking of the returns".