Mohammed Rafi (Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी,Urdu: محمد رفیع, December 24, 1924 - July 31, 1980) was one of the greatest Indian playback singers in Bollywood. Rafi still remains popular in India and in many other parts of the world with people of Indian origin. His voice is referred to as "the voice of god". He continues to inspire new Bollywood playback singers like Sonu Nigam, Mohammed Aziz, Shabbir Kumar and Anwar.
Here's a television advertisement that brings out the magic of Rafi Sahab. A BSNL ad that'd make every fan of Rafi Sahab smile.
Special thanks to Bina Ji and Satyendra Singh to have brought out the discussion about this ad. And thanks to Bharath Ganesh for help in video conversion.
OP Nayyar's music came stamped with his own, distinct class - the freshest brew of melody and rhythm, and probably the most innovative choice and use of instruments. Though the superficial listener might just associate him to the hoof-beats, the more ardent listener would smile contently whenever those Sarangi, Santoor, Sitar or even the Harmonium would cast a spell in those magical pre-ludes/interludes. And, discounting his occasional use of the other singers, there is no doubt about his choice of THE male voice for his songs. I guess Rafi Sahab not only sounded the freshest when singing for OPN, but also elicited an unmatched painful-romanticism (I do not know how else to describe the feeling in Aanchal mein sajaa lena kaliyan, Deewana Hua Baadal or Hai Duniya Usiki). In fact, one can go, and has gone, no ends to talk about these songs.
September 27th was a sad for all music lovers, as one of the great fans of Rafi sahab and an amazing singer himself,
Mahendra Kapoor sahab, died in Mumbai on late Saturday following a cardiac failure. He was 74.
He was not keeping a good health of late as he had been suffering from heart ailment for long, his son Rohan Kapoor told IANS.
Born in Amrisar in Punjab, Kapoor first came into prominence after he won a singing contest at the All India Youth Festival in the late 1950s.
A fan of singer Mohammad Rafi, he had dreams of making a career as a playback singer in Bollywood movies.
Thanks to filmmaker B.R. Chopra, he got a foothold in the film industry ad came into prominence singing the Tere pyar ka asra number in Dhool Ka Phool.
The native village of Mohammed Rafi near Amritsar is doing its bit to keep the memories of the legendary playback singer alive by developing a park to be named after him. As the 28th death anniversay of Rafi falls on Thursday, his village Kotla Sultan Singh remembers its greatest hero, whose name will always be among one of India's greatest singers.
"The village panchayat has given an acre of land near the main road for a park which is named after Mohd Rafi. We will also be putting up Rafi Sahab's statue over there," village sarpanch, Santokh Singh said.
5TH 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.
Almost a month back Samarjit Acharjee informed me that he would shortly be leaving India for better prospects in the U.S. and he has thus invited Mubarak Begum Sahiba to Hyderabad for a rendezvous with our musical group of ABADRAFI. He asked me to organize a musical show, however small and that the legendary singer would attend the same. That set the ball rolling. Ours is still a small group and in its infancy. How were we going to arrange a musical show where the Chief Guest would be Mubarak Begum Sahiba herself. We had to get our act together, and fast. First, we got all the details of the gifted singer – her profile so to say. Websites helped. Other music lovers too helped in gathering all the data. We had wanted all her songs and our messages went in all directions seeking the rare gems of Begum Sahiba’s songs. Good friends like Hussein Sheikh helped a lot in this regard. Samarjit too could gather a few from other sources. Many in our group too had not heard of some of the very best songs of Begum Sahiba. Three songs that were know to all of us were (1) Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun Hamari Yaad Ayegi, (2) Hum Haale Dil Sunayenge, Suniye Ke Na Suniye and (3)the evergreen duet with Rafi Sahab – Mujhko Apne Gale Lagalo (Humrahi). The other songs were not too common for our group. The idea was that we know all the notable songs much before Begum Sahiba comes to Hyderabad. 5th July 2008 (Saturday) was fixed after consulting many of our friends. It was convenient for some while others had to make room for attending the musical program. The basics done, we got down to the real ground work. A suitable venue had to be arranged. Orchestra had to be negotiated, photographs and videography to be arranged. Banners had to be made and so also word had to be spread around in the musical circles of Hyderabad about the upcoming event. We were running against the time and all the members of ABADRAFI got 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.
During the three days that I got to spend with her, there were talks about the difficult times and the uncertain future. But there was no resignation in those talks – only a glaring resolve. An acceptance of reality, an amnesia of an absolved past. She agreed for every interview I arranged, without even asking her. “No personal questions, no controversial questions.” She seemed not to be an interviewer’s delight. When asked about how her passion for singing evolved she says, “I never wanted to sing, I was forced to sing by my father.” She is not very happy either about the long walk at and even longer drive from the Shamshabad Airport. You ask her the questions, she gives you her answers. No frills.
The Indian music company Saregama is launching a music CD and series of tours around Britain to commemorate the Indian singer Mohammad Rafi.
At an event at the Nehru Centre in London on Tuesday 17th June, a CD album titled ‘Rafi Resurrected’ will be unveiled by the late Mohd Rafi’s eldest grandson Rizvan Rafi.
A national tour with Indian singer Sonu Nigam will follow in July: at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham(15th July); Manchester’s Apollo Theatre (17th July) and the London Coliseum (20th July). Sony Entertainment Television Asia will broadcast all concerts.
NDTV reports about "Rafi Nite" organized in Mumbai which drew tremendous crowd. It tells us that the Magic of Rafi sahab's voice still keeps people enchanted.
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.
