New Delhi, Dec 24 (Representative) Exactly 100 years back on this day was born a singing colossus whose mellifluous voice transcended the barriers of language and time to leave an indelible mark on the cultural fabric of the Indian subcontinent. Md Rafi’s legacy endures to this day, with his evergreen songs still keeping music buffs mesmerised.Born on December 24, 1924 in a humble village Kotla Sultan Singh near Amritsar in the backdrop of the intensifying movement for freedom from British rule, Rafi was inspired by a fakeer who roamed around in his locality and began singing mimicking his chants,.Later on, he was discovered the by hawk-eyed maestro Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan. His first public performance came at the age of 13, when Rafi sang in Lahore at a programme featuring K. L. Saigal.His first playback song in the Punjabi film “Gul Baloch” in 1941 marked the start of a stellar career. By 1944, he had moved to Bombay, where he sang for his first Hindi film, “Gaon Ki Gori”.Known for his unmatched versatility, Rafi’s repertoire spanned across genres from soulful ghazals and devotional bhajans to energetic qawwalis and soaring romantic ballads.Over a career stretching across four decades, he lent his voice to around 7,000 songs in multiple languages and dialects such as Konkani, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Magahi and Maithili. Apart from Indian languages, he also sang in some foreign languages, including English, Persian, Arabic, Sinhala, Mauritian Creole, and Dutch.What distinguished Rafi was not merely his vocal range but his uncanny ability to imbue each rendition with an actor’s essence. His collaborations with composers like Naushad, S.D. Burman, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced some of Indian cinema’s most cherished musical gems.
His voice suited any genre of music – be it a moving ghazal like “Aap Ke Pehloo Main Aakar Ro Diye”, a plaintive bhajan like “O Duniya Ke Rakhawale”, or a wild and whacky Shanker-Jaikishan composition like “Chahe Koi Mujhe Jungle Kahe”.Among his early notable works “Suno Suno Ae Duniyawalon, Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani”, was head with rapt attention by then Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who invited Rafi to sing at his house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Nehru on the first anniversary of India’s independence .Rafi’s contributions earned him numerous accolades, including six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honoured with the nation’s fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri by the Government of India.In 1969, the advent of the superstar Rajesh Khanna in the Hindi film industry with the classic “Aradhna” opened gateways for another great singer Kishore Kumar, which in turn saw a downward curve in Rafi’s journey in the music industry.Rafi viewed the rise of R.D. Burman as a significant shift in his career, as Kishore Kumar became his favoured voice. The irony, however, lies in the fact that it was Rafi who initially propelled Burman into the spotlight with the composer’s breakthrough score for Teesri Manzil (1966), which became a massive hit.
But even during the more subdued phase of his career, Rafi’s collaborations with eminent composers like Rahul Dev Burman, Sachin Dev Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Madan Mohan yielded masterpieces that have since been enshrined as enduring classics of Bollywood’s golden era. Mention must be made of the 1977 film Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, a title that proved significant for Rafi who yet again announced his leviathan presence with immortal songs like Chand Mera Dil, and the soul stirring Kya Hua Tera Vada.In fact, Kya Hua Tera Vada brought Rafii the national award and Filmfare Award. Ironically again this song was composed by none other than R D Burman.During his last years, Rafi found himself amidst a controversy over Lata Mangeshkar’s entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the one who had recorded the most number of songs.Rafi passed away in Mumbai on July 31, 1980, aged 55.In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the “Best Singer of the Millennium” title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted as the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN’s poll.Sharing a video of Md. Rafi on X (formerly known as Twitter) with the iconic track “Mujhe Tum Bhula Naa Paoge”, Bollywood’s Bhidu Jackie Shroff captioned, “Remembering Rafi Sahab on his 100th Birth Anniversary”Bollywood actor Sekhar Suman took to his X account to wish Md. Rafi on his birth anniversary on this auspicious day, ” Mohammed Rafi the greatest ever playback singer of Indian cinema turns 100 today. Soon it wd be 200 n 300 years. All of us wd be gone except Rafi Sahab. He wd live forever.”