RMIM Archive Article "363".

From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Shahid Rafi on Rafi
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# Posted by: Anand Tiwari
# Source: Asian Age
# Author: Afsana Ahmed
#


Folks,

The following article appeared in "The Asian Age". It can be viewed at
www.asianage.com/pages/enter.htm

Anand

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Voice of a million souls
By Afsana Ahmed

Every evening normally when all other kids reluctantly sat by the
study table, a seven-year-old kid chose to be different. Enchanted by
the soothing music of the Ektara which wafted in the air, and ignoring
the regular reprimands of his parents, the young boy religiously
followed a fakir to the latter's abode - a huge tree. Observation by
the fakir led to a friendship which gradually stimulated the dormant
interest of the boy. He picked up the rudiments of music from the
fakir as he already had a God-gifted voice. Rafi's first inspiration
was the fakir's voice. Years later, the quiet boy grew up to create an
irreplaceable mark in the history of music. When late singer Mohammad
Rafi decided to become a singer, his father, a village landlord, was
dead against the idea, but with the guidance of his elder brother and
his own conviction Rafi scaled the heights of stardom after a long
struggle.

There have been umpteen things written about his works and
achievements.  However, there are certain unsaid and unspoken memories
of the late singer, which son Md Shahid Rafi treasures of his
father. Shahid fondly recalls that he was in awe of his famous
father. Though he was friendly to a certain extent, the late singer
commanded immense respect.

"Inspite of his hectic schedule, he always gave us quality time. He
was very quiet and possessed a sedate personality. On weekends, he
took all of us to our Lonawala bungalow. We enjoyed being together and
cherished our relationship.  When he was just nine years old, he
stared singing in mehfils in his hometown Lahore. Once there was a
show in Lahore where the late singer K.L. Saigal was singing. Crowds
thronged the place and unfortunately the electricity went off and
Saigal saab refused to deliver without the musical bands. That's when
dad was asked by the organisers to enthral the crowds. He performed
and was spotted by music director Shyam Sunder, who had come with
Saigal saab.

The lure of the film industry brought daddy to Mumbai where he started
by singing in a Punjabi film whose music director was Shyam
Sunder. Later, he got a few offers from Hindi films like Gaon Ki Gori
and Pehle Aap, but nothing worked for him. Dad even sang in chorus for
Naushad uncle. It was sheer luck, which got dad in Naushad uncle's
good books and he got two major breakthroughs as Baiju Bawra and
Aan. Naushad favoured Rafi over Talat Mehmood. One day Talat saab
infuriated Naushad saab by smoking in front of him. The Forties
didn't give him opportunity except Naushad saab's Jugnu. It took
the entire Fifties to establish himself and gradually his supremacy
over his contemporaries.

Success never disturbed him. The more he became popular, the more down
to earth and accessible he became. He always used to say, "main
mohtaaj nahin banna chahta". He pointed upwards and said, "sab khuda
ki den hai."

'Commercially dad reached his zenith in the Sixties. His
contemporaries, the late Kishore Kumar and Mukesh, were pre-occupied
with their acting careers. He became the regular voice of Rajendra
Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and other top actors. Dad
was very close to Naushad, but that didn't stop him from giving his
best to other music directors. Pointing out good songs from Dad's
collection will be a tuff job. Every rendition has its own individual
style hummed by all and sundry.

Dad's loveable nature got him many friends in the industry, though
he was in the peak of his career. I don't want to go in details
about daddy's temporary squabble with Lata Mangeshkar, over issues
of royalty payment, not that it caused any slump in his
career. Everyone knew dad was right, which gave him confidence to deal
with the low phases of life. Daddy was never a film buff, but after
Deewar, he became a fan of Amitabh Bachchan. I remember when he first
got to sing for Amitabh Bachchan, Chal chal mere bhai, tere haath
jodta hoon, he was overwhelmed. He came home and like a kid, full of
verve and excitement, narrated the entire incident. He was very happy
to sing for Amitabh Bachchan.

However, in the Seventies, post-Aradhana Kishore Kumar regained his
position which became difficult for dad, but he never showed it. Dad
never consumed liquor but he accurately rendered the evergreen Choo
lene do nazuk hoton ko, in his controlled but slurring voice. Though
he made a comeback in 1977 with Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahin and Amar Akbar
Anthony, daddy was happy with whatever he acquired. Though dad never
wanted to become a music director, he however, gave music for a
non-filmi album, in someone else's name. It was a major hit with
the public, but no one knew that the music was by dad. He never had
any personal favourites but Oh duniya ke rakhwalon and Suhaani Raat
dhal gayee, were the songs he used to sing in public places and shows.

Dad was a very private person His never let out his depressions and
frustrations at home. He was always like a calm sea.  Dad, when he was
still a struggler in Mumbai, married mom when she was just thirteen
and was in her Seventh class. Today, mom tells me how she embarrassed
and confused she was when she was asked to put mehendi on her hands,
when one day she walked in from school. That very day she was married
off to daddy.  His death left us numbed and shattered. A heart attack,
while recording for a Bengali film, snuffed out the genius in 1980. In
the morning after the recording, he complained of a minor pain in his
chest. Mom was running a high temperature, but mom instinctively
sensed something was strong and called all of us. By then his hands
had turned blue. With his insistence, he was taken in his own car to
the National Hospital. By then we got to know that he had an heart
attack. The hospital didn't have a pace-maker, so he was shifted to
the Bombay Hospital, which was very closeby. During this shifting, he
suffered three major attacks and after sometime he died.

Dad never wanted us to join this industry, so he send all seven of us
to London.  He always wanted us to become big businessmen and we have
fulfilled his dream.  He always said that if we wanted to become
singers, we should be able to excel him in his own field, and right
from the beginning he knew that none of us had the potential to excel
him.

Moreover, he was aware of the dirty politics in the industry. Hence
this reluctancy in grooming us as singers. Sad but true, close
friends, who frequented Rafi Mansion during dad's heydays, deserted
us. However, it does not make any difference to us."

Till date, not a single day passes without Mohammad Rafi songs wafting
in the air, be it in the local paan shop, in the cab or in the radio.
The genius has passed away but his sonorous voice still lingers on and
on.



From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian