A voice for all times

Amarjeet Singh Batth

Blessed with a melodious voice, Mohammed Rafi took singing to sublimility. Born on December 24, 1924, his journey in music began as a child. He would then follow a faqir who sang, ‘Khedan de din chaar ne maaye’ on the streets of Kotla Sultan Singh, near Amritsar. 

When Rafi stepped into the film industry, it was the era of ‘singer stars’. He also acted in two films — Laila Majnu and Jugnu. KL Saigal, Noor Jehan and Suraiyya were a few eminent singer stars of those days. In 1944, he moved to Bombay and contacted Sham Sunder, who recorded his first Hindi track. He met Naushad, who fell for the uniqueness of his voice and recorded many tracks with him. However, it was with ‘Yahan badla wafa ka,’ a duet with Noor Jehan from Jugnu (1947), that shot him to fame and established him in the industry. 

Then came the dawn of playback singing and the focus shifted on melody. Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar emerged as the major stakeholders. Rafi understood the concept of playback singing — that of singing according to the actor’s personality, voice quality and acting style. He sung with such perfection that it seemed like the actor and singer were the same person.

In the times when radio was the only source to whet appetite for music, Rafi’s singing style made the listener guess film’s hero. He had a different singing style for every situation and helped actors to express themselves more effectively. His voice was the most-sought after, especially by Rajinder Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra and Dharmendra. 

The versatile singer sang all genres with equal ease. ‘Man tarpat hari darshan ko’ is still heard with devotion. ‘Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha’, is a ghazal for all seasons.  ‘Yeh ishq ishq’ is a perfect example of a well-sung qawwali. ‘Mera rang de basanti chola’,  and ‘Kar chale hum fida’ overwhelms one with feeling of patriotism. 

He was the voice of hero and also the character. In Pyasa, he sung ‘Sar jo tera chakrae’ for Johny Walker and also for Guru Dutt. He sung for Kishore Kumar in Shararat, Raagni and Shehzaada. He lent his voice for an old and not valued emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, ‘Na kisi ki ankh ka noor hoon’ and a sizzling ‘Gulabi aankhein’ for the first superstar of Indian cinema Rajesh Khanna with same finesse.

Rafi lived up to the lyrics of songs by not only singing words, but he also put his soul into them. ‘Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to’ (Sahir Ludhianvi), ‘Baharon phool barsao’ (Hasrat Jaipuri), ‘Chaudhvin ka Chaand’(Shakeel Badayuni) are some fine examples of soulful melodies. It is said that Rafi is not just meant to be listened, but to be felt as well.

Rafi could sing in the all three octaves with ease. Shankar Jaikishan, O. Nayyar, SD Burman, Madan Mohan and Laxmikant Piarelal composed timeless compositions with him. He simplified classical music singing lucidly so that even a person with no knowledge of music could also relish it. While singing for different languages, he sung with proper pronunciation and in the native accent which was credible. 

 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru honoured him with a silver medal in 1948. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1967, four National Awards and six Filmfare Awards. ‘Sham phir kyun udaas’ from Aaspaas (1980) drew the curtains on him and immortalised this legend.