Book extract: Mohammed Rafi – Golden Voice of the Silver Screen

Many in the industry feel that the ramification of Rafi's stand, in the royalty issue, continues to be felt in the music industry today. Not just that, if Rafi had agreed, his successors would have been entitled to a substantial amount in royalties, as his songs continue to be popular even today and are extensively played even on modern devices.

Perhaps Rafi's decision not to take a share of the royalty that came to the music directors and lyricists, was a completely magnanimous gesture that contributed to the survival of the many talented individuals in the industry, as in those days their careers were not highly remunerative.

As present day singer Shaan said, 'My father too was a music director and I know what their earnings were, including the royalties, and how difficult it was for them to survive and sustain their family in those days.'

The entire industry unanimously vouches for Rafi's benevolent nature – too creative to be attuned to the commercial aspects of his talent. Even if one assumes that Zaheer (his brother-in-law who was also his manager) or Rafi did not fathom the long-term implications of this decision, the legendary singer, in all probability, could not have taken this stance without discussing it with his seniors in the industry. Shahid Rafi feels that given the humane qualities of his father, he might have chosen to bequeath what he could have claimed (as royalty) to the community of music directors and lyricists for whom he had great regard.

One can assume that Rafi's decision was largely guided by his heart. As Sonu Nigam put it, 'We cannot blame only Rafi Sahab for refusing the royalty. Others could have made their own choice and fought for it if they had wanted to.' Singer Kunal Ganjawala feels, 'If Rafi Sahab had agreed to join hands with Lataji and established the practice of singers getting royalty, it could have become the industry norm.'

This difference of opinion however kept the diva and the emperor of playback singing professionally apart for several years. After this incident, Rafi took a stand that he would charge the same official fee as Lata Mangeshkar did. However, Rafi often put this rule aside when he sang for a new entrant in the industry or if someone had a genuine financial problem.

The Rafi-Lata duet, 'Dil Pukaare Aa Re Aa Re' is believed to be SD Burman's attempt to bring back the early glorious days of Rafi and Lata singing together.

This issue surfaced again 50 years later, when Lata Mangeshkar spoke to a Mumbai tabloid on her patch-up with Rafi. 'Composer Jaikishan took the initiative. I asked him to get a written apology from Rafi Sahab. I got the letter and ended the cold war. But whenever I'd see him, the hurt would return.'

Shahid Rafi voiced his objection to this remark in a press conference that he organised at the Raheja Classique Club, Andheri, Mumbai, on September 27, 2012. 'With due regards to Lataji… I am perplexed. Why is Lataji bringing it up in the absence of my father after half a century? If my father had written an apology letter to her she should have treasured the piece of paper and put it in the public domain as every Lata and Rafi fan has the right to see it. Moreover, every truth has to be substantiated, especially when one is speaking of a national figure like Mohammed Rafi. There was no reason for my father to apologise as in the '60s, he was at the peak of his career, singing for all the lead actors of that period. If the whole feud was about royalty and he decided not to take it – which was his personal decision – and he did not stop the others from taking it, then what made him write an apology? For a moment, even if I were to believe that my father had apologised to her, then that only proves his humility and justifies why the industry calls him a farishta. Somehow, I never heard my father ever holding any grudge against Lataji, or anyone else for that matter. My father had great respect for every artiste, be it his co-singers, the musicians or chorus singers. I am clueless as to why this apology letter is being talked about in 2012 when there was enough opportunity to do so between 1967 and 1980. Even Lataji's biographies by different authors make no mention of this letter. It is hard to believe that a legend like Lataji could not forget the issue in all these years.'

In the mid '60s, compositions that were envisaged as duets by Rafi and Lata turned into tandem songs. This only showed that music directors still thought of Lata and Rafi when they conceptualised the duets.

Madan Mohan was one of the composers who chose Rafi and Lata for most of his songs. His son Sanjeev Kohli elaborates, 'For songs where Rafi Sahab's voice was thought to be a must, a replacement for Lataji's voice was found in other female voices. Similarly, when composers wanted Lataji in the song, they chose Mahendra Kapoorji, Mannada and Mukeshji as the male voices.'

Actor Biswajeet recollected that producer-director Subodh Mukherjee made a film April Fool (1964) where Saira Banu was paired opposite him and Shankar-Jaikishan were the music directors. While Lataji sang the solo, 'Unki Pehli Nazar Kya Asar Kar Gayi,' she refused to sing the duet with Rafi. Subodh Mukherjee took a firm stand that he would not change the male singer, Rafi, due to which Suman Kalyanpur became the default female voice for the duets, 'Kehdo Kehdo Jahaan Se Kehdo' and 'Tujhe Pyar Karte Hai, Karte Rahenge.'

If one was to closely examine Rafi's career during that period, he had sung 857 Hindi film songs out of which 502 were solos and 308 were duets (not with Lata). Duets with Lata, released between 1963-67, were mostly recorded before 1963. From 30 duets with Lata in 1960, the number plummeted to a mere 5 duets in 1966; in 1965, there was none. The fact remains that Lata has sung more than 400 duets with Rafi, which is the maximum number of duets sung by Lata with any singer across her career as acknowledged by her. Though in case of Rafi, his maximum duets are with Asha. Even before the rift, Rafi's duets with Asha far outnumbered those with Lata.

Rafi and Asha were singing an average of 43 duets every year between 1958 and 1963. Rafi's and Lata's averaged 23.

Guinness Records
In a letter to the Guinness Book of World Records, dated June 11, 1977, Rafi had challenged the claim of Lata Mangeshkar that she had recorded the maximum number of songs – not less than 25,000, according to Guinness.

Rafi, according to his fans, would have sung more songs than Lata – he being the senior of the two. They estimated the number of songs sung by Rafi to be anything from 25,000 to 26,000. This prompted Rafi to write a letter, in protest, to Guinness.

In an interview to BBC, recorded in November 1977, Rafi claimed to have sung 25,000 to 26,000 songs, till then. After receiving a reply from the Guinness Book of World Records, dated November 20, 1979, Rafi wrote, 'I am disappointed that my request for a reassessment vis-à-vis Ms Mangeshkar's reported world record has gone unheeded.'

Evidently, this number, as quoted by Rafi, was also incorrect. According to industry sources, Rafi has sung 4,425 Hindi film songs, 310 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.

Published in 1990, Gandhar Swar Yatra by Vishwas Nerukar, a reknowned music researcher, details Lata Mangeshkar's Hindi film songs career (1945-1989) by saying that the singer rendered 5066 Hindi film songs till 1989; the number was far behind the Guinness claim made 15 years ago (in 1974, when this entry was introduced for the first time).

After Rafi's death, in its 1984 edition, the Guinness Book of World Records again named Lata Mangeshkar as the one with the Most Recordings but also stated that Mohammed Rafi claimed to have recorded 28,000 songs in 11 Indian languages between 1944 and April 1980.

The Guinness Book entries for both Rafi and Lata were eventually deleted in 1991. According to the available figures, Rafi has sung 4,425 Hindi film songs, 310 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.

However, one has to take into account that these erroneous figures were thrown up in the absence of any official source of recorded statistics, documenting the career graph of these musical stalwarts and others in the industry.

(Extracted with permission from the publisher)