Twenty-four years ago on July 31, 1980, Mohammad Rafi, whose versatility, matchless voice and melodic prowess endeared him to countless millions, died of heart failure in Bombay at the age of 56. No substitute of the irreplaceable magician, who provided solace to millions of broken hearts, has been found although several singers have tried to imitate his voice and style.
His sudden death, according to some critics, was caused by the financial crunch forced on him by Lata Mangashker's threat to the producers that she would not sing in their films if Mohammad Rafi was signed to record songs in those movies. Lata pressurized him because of a tiff the late vocalist had with her on the issue of 25,000 songs she claimed she had recorded for the films, which the late artiste from Lahore challenged.
A couple of male voices during the second quarter of 21st century won the hearts of countless millions with their emotionally stirring, penetrating songs, which, courtesy gramophone discs, films and radio, reached millions of homes in every nook and cranny of the sub-continent. Kishore Kumar and Mukesh ranked third and fourth in popularity. The first two positions fell in the lots of Kundan Lal Saigol and Mohammad Rafi, both of Punjabi origin..
Playback singer Mohammad Rafi moved to Lahore from his village Sultansinghwala when he was in his early teens to live with his older brother inside the famous Bhatti Gate. It was there that his talent was spotted by three noted musicians of the 1940s, first by popular ghazal and thumri singer Allah Ditta Shahalamiwala and later by classical singer (and composer) Feroze Nizami and Ustad Chhotey Ghulam Ali Khan from whose melodic wisdom he benefited.
I have had the privilege and good fortune of knowing and interacting with these three musicians, who confirmed that Mohammad Rafi, during different periods and at different stages of the development of his melodic personality, learned the art of vocalization from them. In those days, Lahore brimmed with musical activities spawned by a number of baithaks located inside the walled city, which were thronged by music buffs and connoisseurs daily to enjoy good music. Another place, which hosted numerous impromptu concerts was the mazar of Khikhiri Peer located at the rear of the tomb of Hazrat Data Gunj Bakhsh, where every Thursday evening, musicians from different gharanas gathered to demonstrate their melodic prowess. People from all walks of life visited the place to enjoy music demonstrated by the practitioners of its light genres. For those who were interested in classical modes, the mazar of Sabz Peer in the Bazar-e-Husn area and Takiya Meerasiaan on Chamberlane Road outside Mochi Gate provided venues for musical confabulations and unannounced concerts.
Composer Feroze Nizami, who hailed from Bazar-e-Hakeemaan and aired his music from Lahore radio introduced Mohammad Rafi to the then Lahore station of All India Radio, where he met Pundit Jeevan Lal Mattoo. In 1944, composer Sheyam Sunder used Rafi's vocals for the recording of a song in Gul Bakauli, a Punjabi movie produced and directed by Gul Zaman. With that song Rafi made his debut in film industry. The same year, he moved to Bombay with Feroze Nizami to try his luck at the burgeoning film centre. Composer Naushad Ali gave him a break when he recorded a song for Kardar film Pehle Aap, which went by unnoticed.
Rafi found musical stardom with producer-director Mehboob's film Anmol Gharri (1946) and during the same year he sang a chorus with legendary K.L. Saigol in Kardar's film Shahjehan, Merey sapnona ki rani composed by Naushad. His big hit was in a duet with Nurjehan. Yahaan badla wafaa ka beywafai kay siwa keya hai in Shaukat Husain Rizvi's film Jugnu (1947) in which he appeared briefly as a student singing in the college dormitory. After that sky was the limit for him. In 1948, his song Yeh zindgi kay maile reached the lips of millions following which his voice was used by all frontline composers of the sub-continent of the likes of S.D. Barman, Shankar-Jai Kishen, Master Ghulam Haider and Naushad.
For the sake of brevity, I am not listing the titles of Rafi's songs, which won tremendous acclaim, as it will consume a large space. No verified count of his songs is available any way, but it is claimed that Rafi, during his 36-year-long film career, recorded thousands of songs in his dulcet and versatile voice, which he used for all kinds of expressions in sad, happy, comic, devotional and patriotic songs.
One of the most risky pastimes is to nominate a person for the first place among musical immortals as for this extraordinary honour there are always a number of artistes who possess nearly equal credentials. However, a time comes when one has to draw a line to single out one singer, whose influence on the listeners was more than anyone else in the field. In my estimation, there was no one in the field during the life of Muhammad Rafi, who could match the aura and his charismatic musical personality, His voice added a new tangent, beauty and vivacity to film songs, which no other male playback singer in India and Pakistan possessed. He was one of the most versatile singers to analyze but he recorded songs in a bewildering multiplicity of styles.
Late Muhammad Rafi was born a born musician. Even before he received some tutoring from different teachers, he was capable of rendering all kinds of songs, a quality manifest in his songs of classical nature, which he recorded for several films - Mun Tarrapat Hari darshan ko aaj (raga Malkaus) and Madhobun mein Radhika naachey re (Raga Hameer) and Munn ki been matwari baaje ( a duet with Lata in raga Basant Bahar).
Muhammad Rafi is no more with us but the reverberations of his numerous absorbing and heart-rending songs continue to haunt us. As long as electronic reproductive devices are available he will live in the hearts of countless millions.