Dr Md Shairul Mashreque :
There are many singers in the subcontinent reaching the height of glory, but none compares Rafi. When he performed simply miracle in the film Boijubawra with his dexterity in classical music many commented that Tansen had reincarnated. Rafi had the ability to sing at the top of the voice-the height no singer could ever reach. He was also efective in low notes ‘capable of singing every genre of music.’ The main quality is his superb style, command, and very strong voice mixed with sweetness. He used to sing in different style as situation demanded. During his lifetime even after death the height he reached rising to the pinnacle of glory no singer in the subcontinent could ever reach.
He created and then inhabitated all by himself a whole world, being the most popular singer in South Asia along with Hemonto, Shymol Mitra, Mehedi Hasan, Talat Mahmud Ahmed Rushdi and and Kishore Kumar. The term Rafiology has been coined to refer to his master mind and unique singing capacity. In fact he is an institution.
Rafi was notable for his versatility, his songs ranged from classical to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans.
He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona of the actor lip-synching the song on screen in the movie. Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought singer in the Hindi film industry
In fact he is a singer with a difference and the king of playback. Fayyaz Mahmood Akhtar, commented: “Muhammad Rafi has incomparable and outstanding qualities like sweeter than honey, crystal clear, highly pure and unique voice, cleansed pronunciation like shiny pearl, exceeding to limits talent which presents uncounted actions at the same time with great skills looks like computerized machine, the potential to touch the heights of sky in Alaap and expressions of emotions and much more, on the top of it the domination of spiritual strength due to his devoid of hypocrisy great character, his soft and tender heart and his good and righteous soul.”
To quote a music lover: “Rafi is the king of play back with absolute command over film songs ranging from classical to modern songs. His voice quality was excellent and unparallel. So every crtics in the realm of film songs would like to place him at the apex; he is head and shoulders in movie songs 9n the subcontinent.”
Rafi’s singing capacity was simply inordinate To comment a Ravi’s fan He was, sent by the Great Almighty God to the world to preach humanity, peace of mind and love to the entire world and that is what he did all his life…We may have other great singers to come probably very talented but there shall never be another Rafi.; Some others appreciations are: no more adjectives – singer of the Milenium, Rafi can never be replaced, He was born to sing. He was God’s gift to us, the world’s greatest singer ever. There will never be a singer like this. A man made to sing in heaven or to bring the joy of heaven on earth. We are all lucky to be in touch with this greatest immortal voice ever…Rafi lives forever
Rafi is simply unparallel, a golden voice with a silken touch. I would like to refer to some comments about Rafi:
Sonu Nigam, Ahmed Rushdi and many others undoubtedly tried to copy the Great Rafi Sahab but due to their being not that accurate as Rafi, could not technically match Rafi.
Sonu- because of being out of sur many times; and specially for taking murky in a cheap style, not in rich style of Rafi.
Ahmed Rushdi – good voice, good singing but lack of raw material likes Rafi. Also accuracy of sur in question sometimes.
Mahendra Kapur- Nearest to Rafi; but lacking in raw material: Voice.
In fact, no one could come even near to Rafi. Mainly Anwar- could have been far ahead of Sonu Nigam, if he was not arrogant.
Rafi class singers are: Mehdi Hassan & Lata.( nurag says:
February 2, 2011 at 5:20 pm)
Infact, Rushdi was a fan of Rafi sahab himself and he has admitted it as well, I’ll post his tribute to Rafi sahab in coming days too. Yawan27 January, 2009)
Asjad Khan says:
February 17, 2010 at 1:26 am
hi friends
m from pakistan and great fan of ahmed rushdi but has equal respect for mohammad rafi sahab. rafi sahab is a great legend and equally respected everywhere. like rushdi sahab,rafi sahab had amazing voice quality and no one can compete rafi sahab as far as playback singing is concerned. tallat mahmood,mukesh,hemant kumar,all are great names but rafi is above all.
m extremely thankful to ashok sahab,radha gee and sadhna gee for giving an unbiased opinion. your knowledge on the subject surprised me that you people know so much in detail about ahmed rushdi,masood rana etc.you are right that masood rana and saleem raza cant stand with rushdi sahab though they were also amazing singers like kishore kumar, manna day can’t compete rafi sahab. masood rana was a big fan of rafi and he use to sing high pitch sogs normaly. unfortunately saleem raza doomed earlier because of mehdi hassan and ahmed rushdi’s presence in pakistan film industry. rafi sahab inspired a lot many singer during the past 65 years and his legacy still travels. i thank you all once again for giving a neutral opinion and keeping certain elements who enjoy controversies, away from creating bad taste. my only purpose of posting comments here is to express my respect and likeness to the great voice of subcontinent by the name of mohammad rafi.
Nov 11 2009, 02:22am
Ahmed Rushdi is a great voice of South Asia and this is very unfortunate to declair him a mimic of some one. Ahmed Rushdi was famously known as ‘Magician of Voice’ and ‘Master of Stage.’ Rafi sab is no doubt a great singer but sir vikant has no right to say something negative about Rushdi. He must listen to Rushdi’s songs first then comment upon. I am a big fan of Rafi also but this is an established fact that Ahmed Rushdi has no competition in singing talents other than Rafi. Some people who dont have respected for legends and out of their sheer bias attitude are trying to undermine Rushdi’s importance. Once great music director Nisar Bazmi said that Mohammad Rafi and Ahmed Rushdi are amongst those few singers of South Asia who have their own unique styles and their voice cannot form ‘cones’ as they touch higher notes. Once in an interview Rafi sab praised Ahmed Rushdi because of his uniqueness. Thanks (Sajjad)
Rafi is/was the greatest ever singer to come of the Indian subcontinent-majority of his fellow greats/contemporaries have gone on record, and hailed him as the greatest of all. Just sample his body of work, and if you understand music, you will know that it dwarfs the work of others (and makes it look almost elementary) like Mukesh, Kishore etc. ohioguy 24us OCT 2009
I found out that rafi sahab, in his unique voice and singing abilities, was much ahead of almost entire lot of singer from the past and present. Therefore, I am not amazed at the fact that many singers/people in the sub-continent considers Rafi Sahab a ‘Bhagwaan’ of singing. I too come to the same conclusion.
ajeev Sharma Rafi sahab is the greatest among all time singers. His personality suited his voice. Perhaps God had gifted his own voice to Rafi sahab.
Many people have picked Rafi as the greatest singer, and they are the only ones that are right. Rafi is/was so far ahead of the pack that it’s not even a subjective thing. I’m really sorry to say, but those who feel that anyone else is better than Rafi either don’t understand music, don’t have enough exposure, or have some other bias.
As an exercise, just try analyzing a large set of, let’s say 500 best songs for each of the greatest Indian subcontinent singers, and the chances are great that you will also arrive at the same conclusion. Even the great Lata in a tribute in The Hindu newspaper last year hailed Rafi as the greatest ever singer of the Indian subcontinent.
Bushra Bushra5 months ago
He is the world best singer “Md rafi sb
Joseph Chandra Sekhar2 years ago
It is a benediction that in moments of deep sorrow , God Himself comes and follows us silently, one step behind, and not to disturb the melancholy in time and in human hearts,… and remembers them all, perhaps, so that He can also sing them somewhere,… through the hearts of some other men. He did it with me and I comment on it as I sing it wholeheartedly.
REPLY
“When a controversy erupted in the letters to the editor columns of the popular magazine Filmfare on who was a greater singer, Rafi or Kishore, the latter put an end to the debate by sending a letter claiming ‘Rafi sahib has been the greatest male playback singer of our times.”
“As one thinks about Rafi, one concludes that he is still a force to reckon with. Twenty-nine years after his death, we find more Rafi clones than the followers of any other singer. He was indeed a singer’s singer, if one may adapt a term used for Edmund Spenser – a poet’s poet.”
Rafi sahab will always be missed but his legacy remains and his voice continues to echo throughout the world.
It is really true for this great maestro that whatever he sang became gold. Mohammed Rafi Sahab’s golden, incomparable, velvety, pure, fabulous, poignant and sweetest voice is evident in these songs
Remembering the greatest of all singers, the singing god ‘MOHAMMAD RAFI JI’ on his 33rd death anniversary.
No one can be sweeter, more melodious, more convincingly close to heart of music lovers except the ‘VOICE OF GOD’ – ‘MOHAMMAD RAFI JI.’ n
There are many singers in the subcontinent reaching the height of glory, but none compares Rafi. When he performed simply miracle in the film Boijubawra with his dexterity in classical music many commented that Tansen had reincarnated. Rafi had the ability to sing at the top of the voice-the height no singer could ever reach. He was also efective in low notes ‘capable of singing every genre of music.’ The main quality is his superb style, command, and very strong voice mixed with sweetness. He used to sing in different style as situation demanded. During his lifetime even after death the height he reached rising to the pinnacle of glory no singer in the subcontinent could ever reach.
He created and then inhabitated all by himself a whole world, being the most popular singer in South Asia along with Hemonto, Shymol Mitra, Mehedi Hasan, Talat Mahmud Ahmed Rushdi and and Kishore Kumar. The term Rafiology has been coined to refer to his master mind and unique singing capacity. In fact he is an institution.
Rafi was notable for his versatility, his songs ranged from classical to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans.
He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona of the actor lip-synching the song on screen in the movie. Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought singer in the Hindi film industry
In fact he is a singer with a difference and the king of playback. Fayyaz Mahmood Akhtar, commented: “Muhammad Rafi has incomparable and outstanding qualities like sweeter than honey, crystal clear, highly pure and unique voice, cleansed pronunciation like shiny pearl, exceeding to limits talent which presents uncounted actions at the same time with great skills looks like computerized machine, the potential to touch the heights of sky in Alaap and expressions of emotions and much more, on the top of it the domination of spiritual strength due to his devoid of hypocrisy great character, his soft and tender heart and his good and righteous soul.”
To quote a music lover: “Rafi is the king of play back with absolute command over film songs ranging from classical to modern songs. His voice quality was excellent and unparallel. So every crtics in the realm of film songs would like to place him at the apex; he is head and shoulders in movie songs 9n the subcontinent.”
Rafi’s singing capacity was simply inordinate To comment a Ravi’s fan He was, sent by the Great Almighty God to the world to preach humanity, peace of mind and love to the entire world and that is what he did all his life…We may have other great singers to come probably very talented but there shall never be another Rafi.; Some others appreciations are: no more adjectives – singer of the Milenium, Rafi can never be replaced, He was born to sing. He was God’s gift to us, the world’s greatest singer ever. There will never be a singer like this. A man made to sing in heaven or to bring the joy of heaven on earth. We are all lucky to be in touch with this greatest immortal voice ever…Rafi lives forever
Rafi is simply unparallel, a golden voice with a silken touch. I would like to refer to some comments about Rafi:
Sonu Nigam, Ahmed Rushdi and many others undoubtedly tried to copy the Great Rafi Sahab but due to their being not that accurate as Rafi, could not technically match Rafi.
Sonu- because of being out of sur many times; and specially for taking murky in a cheap style, not in rich style of Rafi.
Ahmed Rushdi – good voice, good singing but lack of raw material likes Rafi. Also accuracy of sur in question sometimes.
Mahendra Kapur- Nearest to Rafi; but lacking in raw material: Voice.
In fact, no one could come even near to Rafi. Mainly Anwar- could have been far ahead of Sonu Nigam, if he was not arrogant.
Rafi class singers are: Mehdi Hassan & Lata.( nurag says:
February 2, 2011 at 5:20 pm)
Infact, Rushdi was a fan of Rafi sahab himself and he has admitted it as well, I’ll post his tribute to Rafi sahab in coming days too. Yawan27 January, 2009)
Asjad Khan says:
February 17, 2010 at 1:26 am
hi friends
m from pakistan and great fan of ahmed rushdi but has equal respect for mohammad rafi sahab. rafi sahab is a great legend and equally respected everywhere. like rushdi sahab,rafi sahab had amazing voice quality and no one can compete rafi sahab as far as playback singing is concerned. tallat mahmood,mukesh,hemant kumar,all are great names but rafi is above all.
m extremely thankful to ashok sahab,radha gee and sadhna gee for giving an unbiased opinion. your knowledge on the subject surprised me that you people know so much in detail about ahmed rushdi,masood rana etc.you are right that masood rana and saleem raza cant stand with rushdi sahab though they were also amazing singers like kishore kumar, manna day can’t compete rafi sahab. masood rana was a big fan of rafi and he use to sing high pitch sogs normaly. unfortunately saleem raza doomed earlier because of mehdi hassan and ahmed rushdi’s presence in pakistan film industry. rafi sahab inspired a lot many singer during the past 65 years and his legacy still travels. i thank you all once again for giving a neutral opinion and keeping certain elements who enjoy controversies, away from creating bad taste. my only purpose of posting comments here is to express my respect and likeness to the great voice of subcontinent by the name of mohammad rafi.
Nov 11 2009, 02:22am
Ahmed Rushdi is a great voice of South Asia and this is very unfortunate to declair him a mimic of some one. Ahmed Rushdi was famously known as ‘Magician of Voice’ and ‘Master of Stage.’ Rafi sab is no doubt a great singer but sir vikant has no right to say something negative about Rushdi. He must listen to Rushdi’s songs first then comment upon. I am a big fan of Rafi also but this is an established fact that Ahmed Rushdi has no competition in singing talents other than Rafi. Some people who dont have respected for legends and out of their sheer bias attitude are trying to undermine Rushdi’s importance. Once great music director Nisar Bazmi said that Mohammad Rafi and Ahmed Rushdi are amongst those few singers of South Asia who have their own unique styles and their voice cannot form ‘cones’ as they touch higher notes. Once in an interview Rafi sab praised Ahmed Rushdi because of his uniqueness. Thanks (Sajjad)
Rafi is/was the greatest ever singer to come of the Indian subcontinent-majority of his fellow greats/contemporaries have gone on record, and hailed him as the greatest of all. Just sample his body of work, and if you understand music, you will know that it dwarfs the work of others (and makes it look almost elementary) like Mukesh, Kishore etc. ohioguy 24us OCT 2009
I found out that rafi sahab, in his unique voice and singing abilities, was much ahead of almost entire lot of singer from the past and present. Therefore, I am not amazed at the fact that many singers/people in the sub-continent considers Rafi Sahab a ‘Bhagwaan’ of singing. I too come to the same conclusion.
ajeev Sharma Rafi sahab is the greatest among all time singers. His personality suited his voice. Perhaps God had gifted his own voice to Rafi sahab.
Many people have picked Rafi as the greatest singer, and they are the only ones that are right. Rafi is/was so far ahead of the pack that it’s not even a subjective thing. I’m really sorry to say, but those who feel that anyone else is better than Rafi either don’t understand music, don’t have enough exposure, or have some other bias.
As an exercise, just try analyzing a large set of, let’s say 500 best songs for each of the greatest Indian subcontinent singers, and the chances are great that you will also arrive at the same conclusion. Even the great Lata in a tribute in The Hindu newspaper last year hailed Rafi as the greatest ever singer of the Indian subcontinent.
Bushra Bushra5 months ago
He is the world best singer “Md rafi sb
Joseph Chandra Sekhar2 years ago
It is a benediction that in moments of deep sorrow , God Himself comes and follows us silently, one step behind, and not to disturb the melancholy in time and in human hearts,… and remembers them all, perhaps, so that He can also sing them somewhere,… through the hearts of some other men. He did it with me and I comment on it as I sing it wholeheartedly.
REPLY
“When a controversy erupted in the letters to the editor columns of the popular magazine Filmfare on who was a greater singer, Rafi or Kishore, the latter put an end to the debate by sending a letter claiming ‘Rafi sahib has been the greatest male playback singer of our times.”
“As one thinks about Rafi, one concludes that he is still a force to reckon with. Twenty-nine years after his death, we find more Rafi clones than the followers of any other singer. He was indeed a singer’s singer, if one may adapt a term used for Edmund Spenser – a poet’s poet.”
Rafi sahab will always be missed but his legacy remains and his voice continues to echo throughout the world.
It is really true for this great maestro that whatever he sang became gold. Mohammed Rafi Sahab’s golden, incomparable, velvety, pure, fabulous, poignant and sweetest voice is evident in these songs
Remembering the greatest of all singers, the singing god ‘MOHAMMAD RAFI JI’ on his 33rd death anniversary.
No one can be sweeter, more melodious, more convincingly close to heart of music lovers except the ‘VOICE OF GOD’ – ‘MOHAMMAD RAFI JI.’ n
