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Remembering Indian playback singer Rafi on his 100th birthday

A look at the legacy of Bollywood’s most beloved singer

At one stage in the 60s, Indian playback singer Mohammed Rafi was the regular singing voice of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Joy Mukherjee, Biswajit, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Raaj Kumar. Rafi could manage this feat because of his fantastic range; he could easily juggle a classical Madhuban Mein Radhika Nache Re with a swinging Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar.

Rafi's vocal virtuosity was spotted at an early age, while he was performing on Radio Lahore. He made his debut with a Punjabi movie, Gul Baloch (1944). In the same year, he went to Bombay (now Mumbai) to sing for Pehle Aap. He struggled to make a name for himself throughout the 40s but save for the occasional number — such as Yahan Badla Wafa Ka (Jugnu) — his songs were largely undistinguished.

A strange incident insinuated Rafi into Indian composer Naushad Ali's recording room. During a recording for Babul (1950), playback singer Talat Mahmood infuriated senior music director Ali by smoking in his presence. Consequently, it was Talat's rival Rafi who found himself getting a major breakthrough with two Naushad scores in 1952 – Baiju Bawra and Aan. The latter's hits like Maan Mera Ehsan identified him as the voice of Dilip Kumar while Baiju Bawra's classical music-based songs like Insaan Bano demonstrated that Rafi could sing in three octaves without veering out of control.

However, it took Rafi all of the 50s to establish his supremacy over competition. Mukesh and Kishore Kumar were stymied by their preoccupations with their acting careers while the highly specialised vocals of Mahmood and Hemant Kumar simply fell by the wayside. From 1960 to 1969 Rafi ruled as the unchallenged supremo among male playback singers but the soft-spoken crooner neither cut down on his riyaz [practice] nor did he change his outlook. His vocal control in numbers such as Chhoo Lene Do was much admired.

Rafi tended his career with the passion of a workaholic. He took care to understand every inflection of poetry in Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya (Hum Dono). His voice could infuse immeasurable yearning into a song like Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meriand or light-heartedness to tunes such as Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra.

In the early 70s, Rafi had to taste the bitter cup of defeat. He went to perform Hajj after recording two songs for the film Aradhna and formed an opinion that professional singing was against Islam. The director suggested Kishore Kumar take on the project. The numbers were Mere Sapno Ki Rani and Roop Tera Mastana, for which he won his first Filmfare award. So devastatingly did the post-Aradhana Kumar wave displace Rafi that this period was a creative Sahara for him.

However, the dedicated singer made a belated comeback in 1977 after his songs in Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (Kya Hua Tera Wada) and Amar Akbar Anthony (Parda Hai Parda) became successful. Admirers like Indian film producer and director Manmohan Desai now openly declared Rafi's superiority over the competition.

In 1980, the voice that had entertained millions was silenced forever. Rafi's was one of the most recorded voices of the century. And to date, it's not uncommon to hear a Rafi song being aired on radio or television in India.

Sadiq Saleem is a UAE based writer & can be contacted on his Instagram handle @sadiqidas.

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