Born in 1924 at Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near Amritsar, Mohammed Rafi, nicknamed ‘Pheeko’, the second youngest of Hajji Ali Mohammed and Allah Rakhi’s six sons, started singing early, deeply inspired by the songs of a wandering fakir in the village. In the 1920s, circumstances compelled Rafi’s father to move to Lahore where he opened a small dhaba. Rafi’s elder brother, Mohammed Deen started a barber shop in Noor Mohalla, Bhatti Gate in the same city, with Rafi lending him a helping hand. Meanwhile, Mohammed Deen’s friend, Abdul Hameed recognized Rafi’s talent and encouraged him to sing. Later, he convinced the reluctant family to allow him to take Rafi to Bombay. In 1944, the two arrived in an alien city from where Mohammed Rafi slowly won over the heart of an entire nation.
Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen is the authorized biography of one of India’s most beloved singers.
Sujata Dev, an entrepreneur with a background in Mathematics, Statistics and Economics, and over 20 years’ experience in the Media and Entertainment industry, started the first IPTV venture in India. A speaker at several seminars and forums on M&E, Telecom and Economics worldwide, her research and white papers on the convergence of Telecom and Entertainment have been widely appreciated across Asia, Europe and USA. In 2009, she represented India at Asia Women’s Business and Economic Conference, Tokyo.
A recipient of the Global Indian Achiever’s Award, in 2011, she is also Managing Director, Third Generation Mobile Pvt. Ltd., Co-chairperson, National Committee of M&E, ASSOCHAM, Founder Member & Senior Vice President, Indian Broadband Forum, member of Executive Council, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) & Society Member of the Governing body, IIM, Shillong.
Passionate about music-Indian and Western-Sujata has been a fan of Mohammed Rafi since her childhood. This book is her tribute to the legendary playback singer whose songs have marked our growing-up years.
Rafi Sahab has been one of the most versatile male playback singers in the history of Indian cinema. Even today, 34 years after his death, when one hears his soothing voice rendering a bhajan (devotional song of Hindus), or a stirring patriotic number, or his joyful rendition of nature's splendour, the feeling is special. Rafi Sahab was, and still is, an integral part of the average Indian's life, the changing times notwithstanding.
For many, his voice was that of God.
My grandmother was an ardent music lover and the radio was her addiction. As a little girl, I often rested my head on her lap, listening to Radio Ceylon as her wrinkled fingers ran through my hair. On one such occasion, while the song '0 Duniya Ke Rakhwaale' was playing, she explained that it was the voice of God. I looked up at the stars in the sky and said, 'God, what a beautiful voice you have!'
Later, while I was putting this book together, I understood what my grandmother had meant.
Through a common family friend, Raashid Zaffar, I met Shahid Rafi (the only living son of Mohammed Rafi). Over a cup of coffee, he expressed his desire to publish a biography on his father. We looked around for a publisher and decided to go with Om Books International.
I began work on this biography and a short film with the blessings of the family of this legend-a simple, unassuming, musical giant who ruled the country's popular music scene for almost four decades.
The journey began with the interview of Pyarelalji, the prolific music director. He told me, You are the blessed one. You have a great task ahead of you. That gave me the confidence to go ahead with the challenge.
I wanted to unravel the man behind the voice. Drawing inspiration from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist-'When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it' -I embarked on the task at hand.
Tracking his footprints brought out many facets of Rafi Sahab's life, both as a singer and a human being. My quest to learn more about this man of few words, led me to speak to people from different walks of life who were acquainted with him in some way or the other-actor, music director, contemporary singer, recordist, family members and surprisingly, even a paanwala (person who sells prepared Betel leaves) in one of the bustling lanes of Kolkata.
The stories and viewpoints, in this biography, have been retained at their candid best. Who could have described the relationship between Shammiji and Rafi Sahab better than Shammiji himself!
The toughest yet enjoyable exercise has been the research on Rafi Sahab's career. It would have been impossible to cumulate every detail of his career without the support of his contempories. As I sifted through all the information, I realised that the mere mention of Rafi Sahab was an aggregation of love, admiration and respect that the singer garnered from millions of people across the world for the fankaar (artiste) and farishta (angel) that he was.
Shahid Rafi gave a clear picture of Rafi Sahab as a family man; this included his relationships within the family, the dreams Rafi Sahab and his wife, Bilquis, shared for their children, and how he was the pivot of his close-knit family.
I have tried to ensure that Rafi Sahab's humble persona becomes apparent through the 80-odd interviews featured in this book. When he passed away, millions throughout the world felt a profound and irreplaceable void.
Three of the many matinee idols Rafi Sahab sang playback for-Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Joy Mukherjee-shared their personal equations with the singer in what would sadly be one of each one's last interviews. Music director Ravi Sharma too bared his heart about the legend. Little did he know that it was the last time he would be speaking about Rafi Sahab, who sang some of the gems he created in the '60s. Jagjit Singh, the ghazal (a lyrical poem in verse set to music) maestro, spoke about Rafi Sahab as a singer, just three days before he was hospitalised. Shamshad Begum, the yesteryear melody queen recounted many unspoken milestones at the initial phase of Rafi Sahab's career. As destiny would have it, Manna Dey, the prolific singer who during our interaction referred to Rafi Sahab as the greatest Indian singer, passed away before this book went into press. The talented painter Sharad Waykool, who was supported by Rafi Sahab in the early days of his career, also passed away. Rafi Sahab's dearest childhood friend Sardar Kundan Singh, who with his impeccable memory and childhood anecdotes, helped us retrace Rafi Sahab's roots, died on January 13, 2014. Both Mr Waykool and Mr Singh desired to be present for the launch of this book, and I am certain they shall join us in spirit.
And I hope the readers experience the same joy I did as I began my journey of discovering the wonder that was Mohammed Rafi who we have immortalised in our hearts.
First of all, my compliments to the publisher for the thoughtful gesture of bringing to public knowledge the story of the life of a legend about whom the millions who loved the songs he sang from his soul for their enjoyment and inner enrichment know so little about.
Mohammad Rafi was my voice in practically all my memorable films. He was also the voice of all the leading men of Hindi cinema who enjoyed great popularity with the masses in their time. He had the God given ability to mould and adapt his rendering of a number according to the given situation in the film, the character's mood of the time, the overall nature and disposition of the character in the film and the setting or milieu of the film. From my own experience of working with him I can say that it was always a marvel for me when I listened to his effortless rendering of the compositions of the recordings. He was as clear to me as Naushad Sahab was and with Rafi Bhai it was a mystical bonding as if he was a part of me when he sang for me, knowing without being told, how I would perform the song during the filming of the sequence.
He was a humble, unpretentious man who remained unaffected by all the adulation and reverence he received the millions who listened to his songs and soaked themselves in the myriad moods and sentiments he conveyed so gorgeously with his versatile voice. We understood each other not only as actor and his playback voice but also as friends who shared common concerns. I remember an experience when Rafi Bhai and I were at the Indo China border, soon after the conflict of 1962, to entertain the Jawans of the Border Security Force. And suddenly a day prior to the show he lost his voice due to the severe cold causing a throat infection. Rafi Bhai was in tears and inconsolable because he knew he would let down the eager Jawans who were sending us little notes on pieces of paper with requests for the songs they wished to hear live at the show. He kept on praying and I kept on giving him my own concoction of a ginger and honey drink which he drank obediently. And lo and behold it worked! Rafi Bhai couldn't believe it when he woke up in the morning of the day of the show and he cleared his throat and heard his own inimitable velvet voice. He was a karmayogi in the real sense of the word. He won numerous awards and recognition but he believed that his real reward was the admiration of the people, the common man for whose entertainment Allah had gifted him with the incomparable voice he possessed.
I can see that the author has put in painstaking labour to bring out the story of his life and to highlight the exceptional contribution he made to Indian film music and its popularity across the world the documentary on his life which accompanies the book in a DVD should be of equal value to his followers. My compliments once again.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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