NEW DELHI: Google on Sunday paid a tribute with a doodle to unforgettable playback singer Mohammad Rafi on his 93rd birthday.
The irreplaceable Mohammad Rafi, with his golden voice, represented the era of golden music when lyrics were meaningful and melody reigned supreme.
He is credited with playback singing for nearly 5000 songs in several languages including Hindi, English, Persian, Dutch, Sinhalese, Arabic and in regional dialects. From classical music and romantic ballads to rock and roll, Mohammad Rafi had sung them all in a career spanning almost 40 years.
A perfect foil to Lata Mangeshkar’s ethereal voice, Mohammad Rafi sang the highest number of romantic duets with her, immortalized in songs such as “Jo wada kiya woh nibhana padega” , ” Ek shehanshah ne banwa ke haseen Taj Mahal”, “Ramiyaa vasta vaiyya” and “Baar baar tohe kya samjaye payal ki jhankar” etc.
Mohammad Rafi’s solo numbers had the quality and ability to convey the mood of the moment be it melanchony or pleasure. Who can forget his songs like “Mere mehboob tujhe meri nigahon ki kasam’ or “Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya” or “Mai yeh soch ke uske dar se utha tha” or “Yeh zindagi ke mele”.
Such was his versality that he could adapt his voice to any actor. If he sang “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai” for Guru Dutt in “Pyaasa”, he also gave his voice to “Sar jo tera chakraye” for Johnny Walker in the same film.
The Guru Dutt-Sahir Ludhiyanvi combine classic..”Jinhe Hind par naaz hail, woh kahan hai” was so provocative that it prompted the rulers of the day to temporarily ban the song from being played on the All-India Radio.
The film Baiju Bawra revealed his range in songs like “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj” and “O duniya ke rakhwale” which Naushad Ali, the film’s composer, never ceased to marvel.
It was Naushad Ali who gave his first break to Mohammad Rafi in films and the pairing yielded memorable music including the famous “Mere Mehmood tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam”.
Among his unforgettable patriotic songs are “Meri Awaz suno” and “Suno suno ae duniya walong, Bapuji ki amar kahani”. Born on December 24, 1924, in Amritsar district of Punjab, he was one of the eight children of Haji Ali Mohammad.
Even as a child, young Pheeko, as he was fondly called at home, was attracted to the sufi singing of a faqir on his rounds and would imitate the chants. As he grew up, he tried to make a living by doing odd jobs including working in a relative’s barber shop. Despite opposition in the family, his brother, recognised his talent and arranged for him to be trained under Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan.
In 1941, Mohammed Rafi made his debut as a playback singer in Lahore in a Punjabi film, “Gul Baloch” with a duet “Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee” with Zeenat Begum.
He came to Bombay in 1944 and never looked back. Mohammad Rafi was married to Bilquis and it is said that so keen was he to impress her parents that he stood outside her house for a couple of days before he was able to win her hand in marriage. He is supposed to have rendered the song, “Teri pyari pyari surat ko kisi ki nazar na lage” with her in mind!
For his rendering of Guru Dutt’s title song in “Chaudhvin ka Chand” he won his first Filmfare award in 1960 and then went on to win five more prestigious film awards.
In 1967, he was awarded the Padma Shree by the Indian government and in 1977 he won the National Award for “Kya Hua Tera Wada” from the film, “Yadoon Ki Barat”.
Between 1944 and 1980’s Mohammad Rafi was the reigning king of male playback singing regaling audiences with his depth and range. He worked with every top music composer of the day and became the voice of Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar, the box-office stars. His “Chahe mujhe koi jungali kahe” is enjoyed by his fans even today.
There was a brief period when Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar did not sing together over their difference of opinion on the issue of playback singers getting royalty on the songs.
While Lata Mangeshkar was fighting for it, Rafi felt that once a singer gets paid a fee for a song, that should be the end of the matter.
Finally the nightingale had her way and Jaikishen of Shankar-Jaikishen ironed out the differences between the two singers. It has been 37 years since the Mohammad Rafi died in 1980 but there has been none like him, nor can there ever be. (AGENCIES)
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