Hyderabad: Millions of admirers of ‘Rafi Saab’ will be celebrating the birth anniversary of the singer with a golden voice on Sunday.
Mohammed Rafi was born on December 24, 1924, in Kotla Sultan Singh Village near the Amritsar district of Punjab. His songs still resonate with his admirers across the globe.
The centenary year celebrations across the globe started early this year with many programs organized at various levels by his admirers.
To his credit, Mohd Rafi has roughly 26,000 songs including the famous “Ab kya misaal doon” composed by Roshan, “Chaudavi ka chaand” composed by Ravi, “Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan” composed by Naushad, “Janewalon zara” composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal, “Mai gaoon tum so jao” composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “Mai zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya” composed by Jaidev, “Pukarta chala hoon mai” composed by OP Nayyar, “Teri aankhon ke siva” composed by Madanmohan, to name a few.
Hyderabad artists pay tribute
Akbar Khan, of A K Events orchestra group, said his troupe will remember the legend in two private programs scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday in the city.
“Rafi saab was a legend. Public demand we sing the renditions of Rafi Saab during the functions. To mark the centenary celebrations we will make a point to sing Rafi saab songs on both the days and remember him,” said Akbar Khan.
Mohd Azam, of R G Karaoke studio at Shah Ali Banda, said on Sunday they have a program ‘ Rafi ki Yaadein’, at their studio. “Artists from Hyderabad will perform at the event,” he said.
Some other local groups are organizing small gatherings to celebrate the birthday of the music legend.
Rafi’s association with Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Khayyam, Madanmohan, Ghulam Mohammad, OP Nayyar, etc is well noted. Also, his associations with lyricists like Shakeel Badayani, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, etc are well remembered.
Rafi was associated with most of the Bollywood actors of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, era including Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Rajender Kumar, Raj Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet, Guru Dutt, Balraj Sahani Amitabh Bachan, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, etc.
Many accolades
During his career spanning close to 35 years, he received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honored with the “Best Singer of the Millennium” title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN poll.
Rafi learned classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo, and Firoze Nizami. His first public performance came at the age of 13, when he sang in Lahore featuring K. L. Saigal. In 1941, Rafi made his debut in Lahore as a playback singer in the duet “Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee” with Zeenat Begum in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (released in 1944) under music director Shyam Sunder. In that same year, Rafi was invited by All India Radio Lahore station to sing for them. He made his Hindi film debut in Gaon Ki Gori in 1945.
Rafi was noted for not sending anyone he met back empty-handed. He contributed to society by helping people through his charity and notable deeds, according to his close friends quoted in several magazines.
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