Indian music and film industry would have different if Sir Muhammed Rafi were not there. He is one of the most influential music artists and singers in the Indian subcontinent. In his lifetime the artist has sung numerous songs in several regional and international languages; which makes him one of the legends of the industry.
The Beginning
Mohammed Rafi was born on 24th December 1924 in a village near the Amritsar district of Punjab, India. He was the son of Haji Ali Mohammad and the second eldest among six brothers. Music was deep-rooted in the artist from the beginning and he started singing by imitating the chants of the fakir who used to roam around on the street of his native village. Rafi’s father moved to Lahore in 1935 and as Rafi grew up, he started learning classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Firoze Nizami, and Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo. Nurturing his musical skills, he did his first public performance at the age of 13 years only in an event at Lahore with K.L Saigal in 1941. He made his debut playback singing in a duet with Zeenat Begum for the track ‘Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee’. The track was featured in a Punjabi film named, ‘Gul Baloch’ (released 1944) under the eyes of music director Shyam Sunder. Following the event, he was invited to All India Radio Lahore and the next year he made his debut in the Hindi film ‘Gaon Ki Gori’ in 1945.
Music Career
Getting Introduced to Bollywood and was one of the big breaks of the artist. He moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1944. He started his new life in a ten-by-ten feet room, sharing with Hameed Sahab at the crowded zone in the Bhendi Bazar area. With the help of poet Tanvir Naqvi, he got to introduce to many film producers and directors like Mehboob Khan, Abdur Rashid Kardar, Nazeer, etc. Shaym Sunder gave him the chance to Rafi to sing a duet with G. M. Durrani, for the song “Aji dil ho kaabu mein to dildar ki aisi taisi…”, the first-ever recorded hindi song by Mohammed Rafi. It was from the movie ‘Gao Ki Gori’ and Rafi sang the other songs too. He also started working with Naushad around the same time. The first song with him was ‘Hindustan Ke Hum Hain’, along with Alauddin, Shyam Kumar, and many others.
Rafi also appeared on screen in for films on is Laila Majnu and the other one is Jugnu. In 1945 he appeared for the track ‘Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha’ and ‘Woh Apni Yaad Dilane Ko’ in 1947 for Jugnu. 1947 is the year of India’s independence and Rafi was being a part of it. In 1948, after the assassination of the Nation’s father Mahatma Gandhi, Rafi made a song overnight with Bhagatram and Rajendra Krishan. The song ‘Suno Suno Ae Duniyawalon, Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani’ moved everyone and was personally invited by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Work with S D Burman
S D Burman and Rafi combo gave the audience some of the greatest musical hits and amazing movies with the blissful soundtrack. With Burman, Rafi worked on more than 37 films like Aaradhana (1969), Abhimaan (1973), Pyaasa (1957), Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), and many others.
Work with Ravi
Mohammed Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the track ‘Chaudhvin Ka Chand’ in 1960 which was composed by Ravi. The artist also received National Award for the song ‘Baabul Kee Duaen Letee Jaa’, another masterpiece composed by Ravi from the movie Neel Kamal (1968). Together they worked in many movies like Ek Phool Do Maali (1969), China Town (1962), etc.
Work with Shankar-Jaikishan
Collaborating with Shankar-Jaikishan was one of the most successful partnerships in the Bollywood music industry. Rafi received a total of 6 Filmfare Awards in life and three of them were for this pair. He sang a total of 341 S-J songs including 216 solo tracks. Some of the legendary hits like “Yahoo! Chaahe Koee Mujhe Junglee Kahe”, “Teree Pyaaree Pyaaree Soorat Ko”, “Bahaaron Phool Bursao”, and the list keeps continuing. The songs were featured in the movies namely, ‘Junlee’, ‘Professor’, Yakeen’, ‘Love in Tokyo’, ‘Arzoo’, etc many others.
Work with O.P Nayyar
O.P Nayyar believed that “If there had been no Mohd. Rafi, there would have been no O. P. Nayyar”. This power duo gave some of his biggest hit soundtracks for big hits during the 1950s and 1960s like Naya Daur (1957), Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962), Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), etc to name some. Rafi Sang 197 songs with O.P and 56 among them were solos.
Work with Madan Mohan
Rafi was Madan Mohan’s favorite singer. Rafi’s first solo work with him “Hum Ishk Mein Burbaad Hein Burbaad Ruhenge” is one of the greatest musical hits. Other songs like, ‘Tum Jo Mil Guye Ho’, “Yeh Duniyaa Yeh Mehfil”, “Meree Aawaaz Suno”, etc had tantalized the listeners.
He has also worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, many contemporary singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, and countless music directors to create legendary tracks. He has sung more than 25,000 songs and each of them proved that, ‘He is a Legend’.
Fall of the Star
On 31st July 1980, Rafi left the world with a massive heart attack at the age of 55 only. The last song he sang was “Shaam Phir Kyun Udaas Hai Dost / Tu Kahin Aas Paas Hai Dost”, from the movie ‘Aas Paas’ which was recorded few hours before his death. Over 10,000 people attended his burial and made this historically tragic moment memorable.