The genius of Mohammed Rafi

Hindi cinema has a long history of fine male playback singers. From KL Saigal to Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar, these fine talents have played a commendable role in popularizing the Hindi film song and raising the stature of several actors through the songs they have sung for them. Who can imagine anyone else but Saigal singing ‘Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya Toh’ (Shahjehan, 1946)? Is there even a possibility to entertain the idea of anyone but Mukesh singing for Raj Kapoor? Or Kishore for Rajesh Khanna? But perhaps, the man who can claim to be the first among equals between these many musical geniuses is Mohammed Rafi.

Rafi died more than 35 years ago in July 1980. His versatility, his ability to perfectly articulate the mood of every song, every character left him peerless. In the upcoming episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975, which features Hindi film songs from the year 1964, Javed Akhtar mentions an interesting episode about Rafi’s talent. Akhtar says that when the film Leader released, he was in college. The film had the memorable Rafi song, ‘Tere Husn Ki Kya Taareef Karoon’. Akhtar remembers sitting with a few friends in college when the song played on the radio. “We looked at each other and someone asked, ‘Does Dilip Kumar have a new film releasing?’ This is a true story that listening to Rafi sing we could gauge that a new film of Dilip Sa’ab was releasing… Rafi must be credited for this because with the same voice, he could sing for so many different actors in such a way that just by listening to the song you could know who was singing it in the film. This isn’t a small thing but something that we should marvel at.”

Rafi sang for a whole bunch of stars, character actors and comedians from the late 1940s right up to the time of his death. In the same year, 1964, it was his songs in Dosti — ‘Chaahonga Main Tujhe Saanjh Savere’, ‘Meri Dosti Mera Pyaar’ and ‘Rahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta’ — that catapulted composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal to the big league.  While Mukesh’s many songs in Sangam (1964) — ‘O Mehbooba’, ‘Dost Dost Na Raha’ and ‘Bol Radha Bol’ won him many plaudits, it was Rafi’s duet with Lata Mangeshkar, ‘Yeh Mera Prem Padhkar’ that had the audience empathise with Rajendra Kumar’s character.  

Sangam released in the same year as Chitralekha. The film had many wonderful songs such as ‘Ai Ri Jaaney Na Doongi’ and ‘Sansaar Se Bhaagey Phirtey Ho’. But it is ‘Mann Re Tu Kaahey Na Dheer Dharey’, which was sung by Rafi and picturised on Pradeep Kumar that left its mark. Rafi’s rendition can be described with so many superlatives, but none of them can quite do justice to the brilliance with which he sang it. In a survey conducted by Outlook magazine exactly a decade ago (June 20, 2006, edition), this song was rated number one among the 20 Best Hindi Film Songs ever. The jury which consisted of eminent names like Sonu Nigam, Khayyam, Gulzar and Akhtar himself, also ranked Rafi’s ‘Din Dhal Jaaye’ and ‘Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain’ from Guide (1965) among the top four songs.

The star to whom Rafi was indispensable was Shammi Kapoor. The playback singer sang for Shammi in each of his big hits right from Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) to Junglee (1961) to Teesri Manzil (1966) to Brahmachari (1968). In his book, Shammi Kapoor: The Game Changer, the author Rauf Ahmed quotes Shammi, “I cherish my association with Rafi Saab as a crucial part of all that I have achieved in my career… I can never forget it.”

Akhtar narrates a memorable anecdote to highlight the extent to which Shammi depended on Rafi. He says that Shammi once told him that he was in Europe when a song of his was being recorded. Shammi was very anxious since he personally sat with Rafi for each recording session to tell him the exact histrionics with which he would enact the song. But since he was not there on this occasion, the song got recorded. Shammi was consequently apprehensive since he had not briefed Rafi. Consequently, Akhtar says that when Shammi heard the song, “He was stunned. He called up Rafi sa’ab and said, ‘I was thinking when I come, I will tell you what I will do and how you should sing…’ But Rafi sa’ab said, ‘I know how you perform on screen and so I sang it accordingly.’” Akhtar concluded, “The two had a terrific understanding.”

You can watch the next episode ofThe Golden Years: 1950-1975 with Javed Akhtar this Sunday at 8 pm to know more about the many fineHindi film songs from 1964.