July 31 marks 30 years since Mohammed Rafi bid farewell to the world. No singer has till date beat the magic of his voice and his style of singing. Kochiites from the older generation vividly remember Rafi’s concert held at the Coronation Club, Mattanchery, way back in the 60s. I remember the day he came to the college ground to see the Nehru Cup and the tumultuous ovation he received from the viewers.
Rafi was born on December 25, 1924, in Punjab. Even at a young age he was more fond of music than studies. He became the disciple of Firoze Nizam and when Firoze became a music director at the Lahore radio station, Rafi got an opportunity to sing there. That marked a turning point in his life.
Once at a performance where K L Saigal was scheduled to sing, the legendary singer refused to because there was a power failure at the venue.
Rafi, who was at the programme with his brother Hameed, sought the permission of the organisers and said he would sing to keep the audience quiet. That was Rafi’s first public performance - at the age of 13! Among the audience sat noted composer Shyam Sunder, who later invited Rafi to Bombay. Rafi first sang for a Punjabi movie. He began his singing career in Bollywood with Nazeer Khan’s ‘Laila Majnu.’ The songs of ‘Gavom Ke Gori,’ ‘Jugnu’ and ‘Baiju Bavra’ catapulted him to fame. He sang in other languages too.
Rafi has more than 26,000 songs to his credit and he made way to the Guinness Book of World Records.
‘Oh duniya ke rakhwale’ (Baiju Bavra), ‘Kya hua tera vaada’ (Hum Kise Se Kam Nahin), ‘Suno suno duniya wallo Bapuji ki amar kahani’...
the songs in his voice have a special place in every music lover’s mind. Rafi, who got the Filmfare Award for the best singer several times, was awarded the Padmashree 1965.
Shammi Kapoor has credited a lion's share of his success to Rafi. The Shankar-Jaikishan-Rafi team will be remembered for the songs picturised on Rajendra Kumar, especially ‘Baharon phool barsaao’ and other innumerable hits including ‘Dil ke jharokhen ke mein’ (Brahmachari) and ‘Tumse achha kaun hain.’ Rajkumar, Pradeep Kumar and Joy Mukerji would not have fared this well without Rafi’s voice accompanying them.
Rafi made a comeback of sorts with a host of hit songs in the mid- 70s. One of Madan Mohan’s last films, ‘Laila Majnu’ which was released in 1976, had Rafi singing for newcomer Rishi Kapoor. ‘Tere dar pe aaya hoon’ and ‘Barbad-e-mohabbat ki dua’ were huge hits.
Rafi rubbed shoulders with Kishore Kumar in the early 80s. ‘Dostana’ was a musical hit and its songs became hugely popular. Rafi was nominated for the Filmfare for three songs in 1980 and he continued to produce hit songs.
On July 31 the same year, after singing ‘Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost’ with Lakshmikanth-Pyarelal for ‘Aas Paas’, Rafi asked, “Should I leave?” The composer duo were surprised because Rafi had never said anything like this before. He smiled and said, “Okay, I will leave.” Rafi died at 10.50 pm that day following a massive heart attack.
kochi@expressbuzz.com