Mohammad Rafi at 100: The Voice That United a Nation

By Pickle November 24, 2024

From soulful ghazals to joyous yahoos, Mohammad Rafi’s golden voice remains a symphony that echoes across generations. by Shoma A. Chatterji

Mohammad Rafi will complete his centenary on December 24, this year. On the occasion of the Goa IFFI, I think it will be befitting to pay a tribute to this immortal music maestro on his centenary.

His life on earth lasted just 55 years. But within that brief span, he has given Indian music in general and film music in particular a massive musical library of songs that will remain immortal for all time to come. His songs dominated radio stations worldwide for four long decades, appearing on gramophone records and, of course, in films.

He was an artist who encompassed within himself not only his God-gifted voice and classical training under the best of Ustads of his time but, instead of becoming a practitioner and performer of Hindustani classical music as a playback singer, he crossed every genre of music, ranging from ghazals to kheyals through classical raga-based songs, light songs, bhajans, quawallis, romantic numbers, and very sad numbers to modern, fast numbers with fast beats like the Yahoo, Ya Koi Mujhe Jugnlee Kahe number picturised on Shammi Kapoor in Junglee many years ago.

He not only sang in Hindi and Urdu, but also recorded a few Nazrul Geetis in Bengali. However, the writer was unable to locate these recordings on the Internet.

On July 31, 2010, the 30th anniversary of Rafi Saab’s death, Lata Mangeshkar, with whom he had a significant disagreement, said of Rafi Saab, “Rafi bhaiya was not only India’s greatest playback singer but also a wonderful person. I am yet to come across another artist so modest, dignified, and unassuming. He had the blessings of Goddess Saraswati, which greatly contributed to his iconic success, and he firmly believed in true sadhana. Every morning he practiced his riyaz like a devoted singer and rehearsed before recording each song.”

Lataji and Rafi Sahab had a disagreement in the 1960s over how singers should be paid royalties for their songs. The tiff became so strong that the two vowed never to sing together again. Music directors, producers, and lyricists faced a dilemma as they couldn’t determine who would accompany Rafi Saab in the duets. This led to the emergence of other female playback singers such as Shamsad Begum, Asha Bhonsle, and numerous others.

Naushad, who reportedly discovered Rafi Saab’s wide range, once stated, “Rafi Saab had tremendous potential for the higher notes too, and I used this talent of his in films like Deedar, Amar, Uran Khatola, and, most importantly, Baiju Bawra.”

His talent in music was discovered more or less by an accident of fate, not in Bombay but in Lahore. He was just 17 years old. There was a musical concert in Lahore where K.L. Saigal was the biggest draw. However, an electrical short circuit silenced the sound and darkened the auditorium, prompting Saigal Saab to request the young Rafi as a substitute. In the audience was the then-known music director Shyam Sundar, who saw the musical talent hidden in this young boy and brought him to Bombay.

Rafi Saab’s cherished dream of singing with K.L. Saigal became a reality when Naushad gave him two lines to sing in the film Shah Jahan, which features Saigal. Though Rafi found himself sidelined by the then-established playback singers who were favoured by different producers, directors, and music directors because each actor/producer/director/music director had his preference, such as Raj Kapoor sticking to Mukesh, Dilip Kumar having a special place for Talat Mahmood, and Dev Anand for Kishore Kumar, once he had struck a good rapport with Naushad, especially when he playbacked for Dilip Kumar for the film Jugnu, in which he sang along with Noor Jahan on Naushad’s musical score with Dilip Kumar doing the lip-syncing, he struck gold and never turned back.

But the real turning point in Rafi Saab’s musical career came with the songs he sang under Naushad’s baton for Baiju Bawra (1952), which also, unwittingly perhaps, underscored the universality of music, which crossed all barriers of caste, class, religion, language, status, and education.

Rafi Saab was a Muslim, and he broke all communal barriers by lending his voice to any song in any language, no matter if it was a ghazal, a keertan, or a fast number with fast beats. He hit the heights of popularity with his patriotic tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, composed by Husanlal Bhagatram and Rajendra Krishen, that went, Suno suno ae duniyawalon Bapuji ki amar kahani. He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at his house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian Independence Day. This happened within four years of his migration to Bombay, a miraculous feat in the midst of stiff competition from the music industry in Bombay cinema.

This great singer, who not only made India proud in his native country but also across the globe, has been the subject of two books. Shahid Rafi, his son (who had seven children from two marriages), and Sujata Dev jointly authored Mohammed Rafi—Golden Voice of the Silver Screen in 2015. The book states that Rafi sang 4,425 Hindi film songs, 310 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 non-film songs between 1945 and 1980. A 2015 Manorama Online article states that “researchers” have found 7,405 songs sung by Rafi Saab.

A long documentary was also made on him, and the Indian posts and Telegraphs brought out a first day cover and a stamp to commemorate his memory in 2016.

Despite suffering from a severe throat infection during the 1970s that persisted for a considerable period, he recorded fewer songs. However, the songs he did record stand out for their timeless musical quality. Among these are some very melodious numbers like Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil, Gulabi Aankhen, Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga, Aaya Re Khilonewala, Tum Mujhe Yun Bhula Na Paaoge, Aaj Mausam Bada Be-Imaan Hai, Chura Liya Hai Tumne, Teri Bindiya Re, and many more.

He has sung for all music directors through three generations, singing on lyrics ranging from the great Kaifi Azmi through Shakeel Badayuni, Shailendra, Sahir Ludhianvi, and Hasrat Jaipuri, and play-backed for every actor under the sun till he passed away. In 1978, Rafi gave a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, and in 1980 he performed at the Wembley Conference Centre. From 1970 until his death, he toured around the world extensively, giving concert performances to packed halls. Some of his songs have become ritualistic practices at marriages and similar functions. One example is the number Babul Ki Duayen Leti Ja, which, over time, has acquired such mythical status that it has become a regular song sung at dolis during weddings when the bride’s father gives the bride away.

Shoma A. Chatterji, 81, film scholar, author and freelance journalist. She has won several awards including the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 1991 and the National Awards for Best Writing on Cinema for her study of the works of Aparna Sen. She has interviewed Tapan Sinha several times