Mohammed Rafi Fans, You Must Know This!

Mohammed Rafi Fans, You Must Know This! The year was 1980. Mrs Indira Gandhi, after a political exile of two years, stormed back into the corridors of power. Her son Sanjay, infamous for the excesses of sterilisation during the tenebrous days of the Emergency succumbed to an ill-fated plane crash. The baton of the dynasty was passed on to the reluctant older son, Rajiv Gandhi. It was in many ways a tumultuous year. Brawny Soviet Union trampled all democratic norms and their tanks stormed into Afghanistan. This incident triggered large scale boycott of the Summer Olympics at Moscow, led by the United States of America. Later that year came the revelations of the flagitious case of Bhagalpur blindings, immortalised years later by Prakash Jha’s iconic film Gangajal. All these events however, were overshadowed in the collective memory. On the 31July that year as it poured heavily in Delhi and motley crowds sat sipping steaming cups of tea, glued to their radio sets, they heard about the tragic demise of the estimable playback singer of Hindi cinema - the one and only mellifluent Mohammed Rafi. The skies darkened and there was a heavy downpour as the elements too seemed to shed tears in his memory. It was a frosty and nippy winter in Kotla Sultan Singh, a verdant hamlet in the undivided Punjab of British India. The year was 1924 and just a day prior to Christmas, when the charismatic vocalist Mohammed Rafi was born to Haji Ali Mohammad and Allahrakhi Bai. The prodigious child was the fifth of the six siblings. The child’s musical prowess was revealed from a very tender age and his talent was recognized by his elder brother’s friend Abdul Hameed. This friend prevailed upon Mohammed Rafi’s family to nurture the amateur’s talent. Mohammed Rafi first learnt the craft of Hindustani classical music under the tutelage of Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo. Panditji taught him various intricacies of raag shastra and the strains of Punjabi folk ragas besides imparting to him the knowledge esoteric raagas like Pahaadi, Bhairavi, Basant and Malhaar. He later trained under Ustad Abdul Wahad Khan of the Kirana Gharana and also received rigorous lessons from the legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of the Patiala Gharana that further honed his musical skills. Rafi Saheb, as he was known among the music fraternity was to subsequently polish his metier under the renowned musicologist, Feroze Nizami, a producer with the All India Radio, Lahore. Legions of Rafi Saheb’s followers are perhaps unaware that K.L. Saigal and G.M. Durani were his idols and in the nascent stages of his career he emulated Saigal’s style of rendition. Mohammed Rafi performed his first stage show as a young boy of 13 in Lahore. The singer then embarked upon his musical odyssey by rendering for the All India Radio in Lahore in the year 1941. Then arrived the momentous occasion when he soulfully sang ‘Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee,’ a duet with the fabled singer, Zeenat Begam for the Punjabi film Gul Baloch. However, it is quite a travesty that the film was screened three years later that is the year 1944. Mohammed Rafi’s maiden foray in the tinsel world of Hindi cinema was with the magical wand of Naushad. The number was ‘Hindustan Ke Hum Hain’ along with Shyam Kumar, Alauddin and others, in A. R. Kardar's film Pehle Aap. It so happened that around the same time, the talismanic vocalist recorded another song for the 1945 film Gaon Ki Gori, ‘Aji Dil Ho Kaaboo Mein.’ As it was his first solo number, the eminent singer considered it to be his first Hindi song. Mohammed Rafi has been considered as one of the most versatile singers produced in the subcontinent. Quite seamlessly he could sing romantic, patriotic, classical or melancholic numbers; bhajans, quawallis or peppy beats, the virtuoso singer could do wonders. Perhaps the singular quality he was known for was his unique ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor —ranging from Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar to Shammi Kapoor— on the silver screen, with astonishing ability. The lip-syncing matched the performance of the actor. Rafi Saheb recorded round 7,500 songs during his career and was feted with six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award, among others. For his gargantuan contribution to Indian cinema the maestro was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 1967. The sonorous rendition of ‘Bhagwan Bhagwan, Ae Duniya Ke Rakhwale, Suno Dard Bhare Mere Nale’ is a reflection of the pluralism and secularism of this country. The magical number which moistens the eyes of cine goers to this day is from the celebrated film Baiju Bawra. The song was picturised on Bharat Bhushan and the lyrics were penned by Naushad Ali and Shakeel Badayuni. The Voice of the Millennium, Lata Mangeshkar was to once remark, “As a singer you have to bring soul to the song.” Certainly, Mohammed Rafi who sang with all zest, ebullience and gusto succeeded in doing just that…..effortlessly. 5. Immortal, Multifaceted Kishore Kumar Gloom enveloped the world economy as markets tanked in 1929. Wall Street had collapsed and the Great Depression was declared officially. Elsewhere in the world, the BBC TV was launched formally. Back home in India, there was the clarion call of Purna Swaraj at the Lahore session of the Congress. It was a momentous decision for Indians to strive for freedom and become suzerains by their volition and their own right. Amidst all this cacophony, there were strains of harmony and symphony. Lata Mangeshkar, the mellifluous singer was born on 28 September 1929, in Indore and the euphonious songster Kishore Kumar arrived on 4 August that very year in Khandwa. Thus present day Madhya Pradesh has the unique distinction of becoming the cradle to two prominent, legendary and fabled singers of Indian cinema. Kishore Kumar was born into a Bengali Brahmin family. His father, Kunjalal Ganguly was an estimable lawyer and mother Gouri Devi hailed from an opulent family. Kishore Da, as he was affectionately referred to, was the youngest of four siblings. His oldest brother was the consummate trouper, Ashok Kumar who essayed riveting roles that fired the imagination of millions of Indians. Anup, another brother too forayed into tinsel world but with not much success. Sati Devi was the only sister. Kishore Kumar was literally coerced to don the greasepaint and act, by his older sibling Ashok Kumar. But perhaps acting was not in his blood and he was to give a string of flops. In fact it is estimated that as many as 16 of his first 22 movies bombed at the box-office. His maiden foray in front of the camera was in the film Andolan directed by Phani Mazumdar in 1951. Kishore’s heart beat to be the mellifluent voice behind the actor. He was not a trained classical singer, yet this amazing talent immortalised innumerable songs which are crooned to this day. This multifaceted artiste got his maiden opportunity to sing in the movie Ziddi, aeons ago in the year 1948. This opportunity to sing the song, ‘Marne Ki Duayen Kyon Mangoon’ was provided by music director Khemchand Prakash. Kishore Kumar was enormously dexterous; he could seamlessly render any kind of song, without any formal training in the field of music. He was a trouper, script writer, lyricist, producer and director and possessed Mandrake like magic to conjure a plethora of tricks on the legion of his fans. The talented playback singer was blessed with a soulful voice which enabled him to enrich the world of music through comic, melancholic, patriotic numbers and besides haunting romantic songs. ‘Hame Tumse Pyaar Kitna’ left an indelible impression on the minds of cinema goers; ‘Aane wala Pal’ from the movie Gol Maal, composed by RD Burman, resonates in the minds of listeners to this day. His vast repertoire, spanning four decades, illuminated the universe of cinema through enigmatic renditions. In a facile manner he skilfully rendered his voice to actors such as Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Shammi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and the one-man industry Amitabh Bachchan. He wrote and directed Chalti ka Naam Gadi in the year 1958 where the three brothers Ashok, Anup and Kishore along with the ethereal beauty Madhubala had audiences in splits. The artiste teamed up with Mehmood and Sunil Dutt and the prepossessing beauty Saira Banu to scorch Bollywood with Padosan in the year 1968. A few years later it was the triumvirate of Kishore Kumar, Mehmood and Amitabh Bachchan that provided wholesale entertainment to audiences in form of Bombay to Goa in the year 1972. Kishore Kumar's numbers like ‘Meri Bhigi Bhigi Si’, ‘Jhoom re Jhoom’ and ‘Yeh Dosti’ inspired a generation of singers and audiences. Kishore Kumar was particularly fond of yodelling. This is an Australian form of music where gibberish and nonsensical words without any particular meaning are dovetailed with the song. Kishore Kumar with his sense of timing and rhythm could endlessly and incessantly yodel. The impact was nevertheless dramatic on scores of artistes. In particular Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan lip synced to these numbers with finesse much to the amusement of cine goers of various ages and classes. Kishore Da could never be cast in the classical mould but instead he carved a remarkable niche for himself in the tinsel world. This exceptionally talented singer could render compositions in a facile manner in Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Urdu and of course Hindustani. Such was the repertoire and span of this quintessential tinder box exploding with talent that it left audiences gasping for breath. The romantic Kishore Kumar married four times. Perhaps he was a restless soul. His wives were Ruma Guha Thakurta, the ethereal Madhubala, the voluptuous Yogita Bali and the enigmatic Leena Chandravarkar. For his extraordinary contribution to Indian Cinema he was feted with 8 Filmfare Awards for best play back singer. In the year 2012 his adieu song ‘Guru Guru’ was auctioned at the Osions Cinefare auction. This song was recorded just a day before his tragic demise. However, the artiste in him could never be caged and had an anti-establishment streak, particularly during the Emergency. So much so, that his songs and movies were banned by Doordarshan, at that time the only television channel on the landscape. It is indeed poignant that Kishore Kumar cast his mortal self on the birthday of his older brother Ashok Kumar, on 13th October 1987. Such is the travesty and destiny of life.