Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Mohd. Rafi


An Indian EP on the Angel label from 1969. Part of a soundtrack to a film called "Tumse Achha Kaun Hai". All the songs here are sung by Rafi but he is joined by Lata Mangeshgar on "Rangat Teri Surat".

"Mohd. Rafi was perhaps the most popular male playback singer ever and maybe the second most popular singer of Indian Cinema after who else Lata Mangeshkar!

Rafi could sing for anyone in any style. At one stage in the 1960s Rafi was the voice of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Johnny Walker, Sunil Dutt, Biswajeet, Joy Mukherjee, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Raaj Kumar! From the classical Madhuban mein Radhika Nachi re to the swinging Aaja Aaja Main hoon Pyar Tera, from the soulful Hum Bekhudi Mein Aapko Pukarein to the comic Sar jo Tera Chakraye, from the philosophical Dekhi Zamaane ki Yaari to the frivolous Aiaiya Karoon Main Kya Sookoo Sookoo, he could sing anything! In fact Rafi was blessed with such a range that he could easily sing in three octaves without veering out of control.

Born in Kotta Sultansingh village in Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rafi moved to Lahore when he was 14. There he studied music under Khan Abdul Waheed Khan, Jeevanlal Matto and Ghulam Ali Khan. He was introduced to radio Lahore by composer Feroz Nizami and made his film debut as playback singer in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (1944).

He moved to Bombay in 1944 where he was first given a break by Naushad in Pehle Aap (1944). Rafi's earlier singing style appeared influenced by G.M. Durrani and his first really big hit was in Jugnu (1947) where he sang the duet Yahaan Badla Wafaa ka Bewafaee ke Siva Kya Hai with Noor Jehan under Feroz Nizami. But his career really took off with the all-time hit Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki from Dulari(1949). From then there was no looking back and Rafi ruled as the undisputed king of playback singing till the early 70s when Kishore Kumar took over. However it took Rafi much of the 50s to establish his superiority over rest of the competition. Kishore Kumar and to a lesser extent Mukesh and Talat Mehmood were preoccupied by their acting while Hemant Kumar saw a decline in his singing career by the end of the 1950s. Manna Dey never really got the breaks his talent deserved and from 1960-1970 Rafi was unchallenged at the top."

Discover more about Mohd. Rafi HERE.

Mohd. Rafi = Janam Janam Ka Saath Hai

Mohd. Rafi - Tumse Achha Kaun Hai

Mohd. Rafi - Rangat Teri Surat


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4 comments:

Ben The Balladeer said...

Love these 2 last post, they come close to the music I'm looking for.Looking for a song called "Chori Chori" possibly by Mukesh Kisoork. And to other titels "Chote Se Mulakat" and "Lata Taya Re Lata Taya". I grew up with these songs in Suriname in the 60's.If by any change you have them..... please please please.

Wastedpapiers said...

Glad you are enjoying them ben . I don't think I have the songs you seek. My collection of Indian records is pretty thin really. There are other blogs around that specialise in Bollywood songs- maybe they have them?

Ben The Balladeer said...

I found the first song on Mohd Raffi's site.Tons of songs to download
thxs

Anonymous said...

wasn't one of his songs featured in the movie "Ghostworld?