5^TH July, 2008 will be remembered by music lovers in Hyderabad as a day of revival of the vintage music of the hfm (hindi film music). For nearly six months now, we have been trying to organize a grand musical show and also invite some well known playback singer of the yesteryears to Hyderabad. The closest we came to was the name of Mubarak Begum Sahiba and our good friend Samarjit Acharjee was in continuous contact with her. Either the glorious singer with the golden voice was not available when we had wanted to organize a show or we were preoccupied with our normal lives and thus we could not go ahead with the idea that remained in our minds. However, we did not lose heart and kept our trials going.

“Tell us about any incident that you would never forget, Mubarak Ji? Something that brings a smile to your face or brings tears to your eyes…”

“Andhere Chha Rahe Honge, Ke Bijli Kaundh Jayegi, I had just sung till this line from the song Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun from the film Hamari Yaad Aayegi when” - she paused for a moment to look at the anticipation in the faces in front of her – “the lights went off!” We laugh out loud; she smiles. “Gaane ka aisa asar kisine kabhi dekha nahi hoga,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes. Mubarak Begum chose something amusing over the myriad melancholic things that keep bothering her.

 

Songs by legendary singer Mohammed Rafi drew a packed house here 28 years after his death, and audiences were in for a surprise as an evergreen voice from the yore took the stage again, rekindling memories and melodies of an era gone by.

Mujhko apne gale laga lo and Thahariya hosh me aa loon, sung by the forgotten Mubarak Begum wafted across the lush green lawns of the Green Court Club on the city's outskirts Sunday night.

 

I came across this article on timesofindia.com website and it was interesting to read that even in the troubled territory of Afghanistan the voices of Rafi sahab and Kishore Da is making people forget their pains and share a smile or two. Music has so much power which helps it transcend the barriers of language and cross the boundaries of nations to spread the word of love among all its listenere. So no surprise there that the appeal of Rafi sahab's voice is universal.

"It's a different matter altogether that the demand for Bollywood Hits - the Qurbani qawwali - outstripped the response to any other music. But you can't blame them - old Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar songs are streaming constantly in the background, wherever you go. The mere mention of Amitabh Bachchan raises a roar of applause."

    Everyone in my family is a big lover of music and movies so I had been exposed to a sizeable dose of Bollywood music right from my early childhood days. We had a big Panasonic tape recorder and a smaller Panasonic Radio. A day would typically start with songs by Rafi sahib, as my mom would go about the regular chores of house work listening to Rafi sahib. My father due to his rural upbringing had some fascination for the Radio and he would carry it with him everywhere in the house, after getting back from the office. So at nights we would have Vividh Bharti entertaining us, and we would all wait for Ameen Sayani sahib’s Binaca Geetmala. My mother was and is a fan of old Bollywood music, with Rafi sahib without doubt being the first choice, and we had a decent collection of songs by Rafi sahib in form of hundreds of audio cassettes. But well that didn’t make me Rafi sahib’s fan. I was too young to appreciate his singing, even though I liked hearing him. In those days the Disco fever was at its peak, now people are going to get a hearty laugh, to learn that in those days I liked the songs of “Disco Dancer” (yeah Bappi Daa one) and also enjoyed listening to singers like Nazia Hassan, and so on. Nevertheless, I used to have a great time whenever my mom would put the songs sung by a certain Mr. Rafi.

By A S MURTY  ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Among the many boisterous fast songs sung by Mohd. Rafi Sahab, one song stands out as kingly as any can be. That song is the title song from the film RAAJKUMAR – Jaane Wale Zara Hoshiyar Yahan Ke Hum Hain Raajkumar. The song is picturised on the return of the prince to his kingdom from studies abroad and is so wonderfully picturised that one feels totally immersed in the sequence of events.  Shammi Kapoor, the  prince is atop a fully bedecked royal elephant, what with an entire band of trumpeteering band and scores of royal guards and aides in attendance.  The setting is perfect for a royal entourage – the costumes, the glittering ornaments, the perfect lyrics and the fast paced music.  The icing on the cake is once again the magical and shahanshahi  rendering by Rafi Sahab.  “Hoshiyaar, Hoshiyaar” echoes through the vast surroundings and through the entire route that the princely journey takes the viewers along. There is this ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude and a subtle message for the world that when a prince is taking a walk, the lesser beings beware.  And lest anyone undermine the ‘king in the making’, he yells “Yahan Ke Hum Hain Raajkumar”. The subjects are reminded that the royalty affords him the centre-stage and that he has armies in front and at the back.

By A.S. MURTY

( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Since the time the Rafi Foundation got going at Mumbai, followed by its Delhi Chapter’s birth, we at Hyderabad were mulling over the idea of forming the Hyderabad Chapter. Likeminded persons got to know one another through the pages of http://www.mohdrafi.com/ and also names of probable contacts were forwarded to us from Mumbai and Bangalore. It was by chance that I got to know first Mr. P. Narayanan from Bangalore on the website.

I had all along known only the songs of Rafi Sahab and was influenced since my own childhood by the uniqueness of this legendary singer. While I liked any good composition with good lyrics rendered in a class of its own by any singer, Rafi Sahab scored over the rest by his clarity, diction, softness and full of zeal and emotion in his songs. Such was the impact of his rendition that I had never the difficulty in understanding the mood of the song. Rafi Sahab conveyed it all through his voice. One need not see the movie from which a song was rendered. There it was for the entire world to relish the efforts put in by the producers, the directors, the story writers, the lyricists, the music directors and above all the actors. The entire picture is before our eyes – only the singer had to be Rafi Sahab.