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Episode 3: Rafi Sahab
101 Plays3 months ago
We're back with a special episode all about legendary playback singer Rafi Sahab, whose birth centenary we will be celebrating on December 24th. Join Deepak and Julian as they delve into Rafi Sahab's youth, the artistry of his singing and the reasons why he remains one of the world's most beloved singers.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Conversing Cinema'
00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome to Conversing Cinema, a podcast about films from India and occasionally beyond. Your co-hosts are Deepak Mahan and me, Julian Cauldron.
00:00:26
Speaker
Welcome back to conversing cinema after a substantial break, Deepak. I think life got in the way in between. But we've come back with a really special episode.
Muhammad Rafi's Cinematic Influence
00:00:38
Speaker
And today's episode is about Muhammad Rafi, whose birthday is coming up on the 24th of December. And this episode is special for a couple of reasons.
00:00:48
Speaker
ah Firstly, because Muhammad Rafi is one of the great figures in playback singing in Indian cinema ever, but also this is our first episode about songs and singing. So I'm really looking forward to diving in and discovering more about the whole world of playback singing, which as a non-Indian person was very new to me when I first came to India.
Rafi's Early Life and Rise to Fame
00:01:10
Speaker
So Deepak, maybe we can start off with a bit of background. Who was Muhammad Rafi? Where was he born? Where did he come from? See, he was born in a small village called Kautla Sultan Singh, which is very near to Amritsar, the city of the Golden Temple. He had a good voice, but it was not trained. This particular village used to be frequented by a saint singer who would just go around with a begging bow.
00:01:40
Speaker
and people would give him some arms ah while he would be singing. So Rafi Sahib was enamored with that saint's voice and he would actually follow him, then recite the whole song again. And one of those days, he heard Rafi Sahib singing and when he heard him singing, he said, this ah boy is somebody special. And he mentioned it to his elder brother and also predicted that one day this boy's voice will be capturing the imagination of the entire world. And that came true. This prophecy but was taken very seriously by his elder brother, and he made it mandatory for him to do some kind of a practice. And he did appoint a couple of teachers for him. Gradually, it came to a point that they decided that they should actually, for better pastures, move to a bigger
Bombay: The Turning Point
00:02:34
Speaker
town. So from Potala Sultan Singh, they moved over to Lahore,
00:02:38
Speaker
And in Lahore, the friend of Raffi Sab's elder brother, a man called Hamid Bhai, who took him around to All India Radio and he started singing there. Then he was brought to the notice of one of the premier Punjabi musicians, Shyam Sundar, and he gave him a break in a Punjabi film.
00:03:00
Speaker
and realizing that the world would only open to them if they were to go to Bombay, which was the heart of the Indian cinema. Hamid Bhai took permission and brought him to Mumbai somewhere around in 1940-41. And that was the time that they lived very close to Victoria Terminus so railway station. Till that time, he had not had something which was a very ah long formal training.
Rafi's Dedication and Early Practices
00:03:27
Speaker
But the fact was that he was good at understanding the nuances of singing and he practiced them well. Now, since they were living in a very small room and they did not want to disturb the neighbors, Rafi Sahab would actually from their walk up to Marine Drive, which is the seaside and almost about three to four kilometers away. And then at four o'clock or four thirty in the morning, he would be doing his practice.
00:03:55
Speaker
And it was in one of those early morning sessions while he was singing that the famous superstar actress singer Suraya heard his voice. She opened her window and she was so enamored that she called him. So she opened her doors and she said, you sing so well that one day people will be really thrilled and enthralled by your voice. And she allowed him a free access to her house, gave him a room and from there and I think the whole story ah started and he was given his first break as a choir singer by the musician Noshad. But ah listening to him and seeing his dedication, then he was very shortly given a debut by Noshad in the Hindi film industry. And Shamsumdar had also come to Bombay and he also recommended and that's how right from his first song onwards, No Stopping It.
The Sweetness and Range of Rafi's Voice
00:04:52
Speaker
That is it quite an amazing story and it's something out of a movie really, that kind of trajectory, very unconventional. um So he started then in the forties and his career spanned many decades, right? So at that time in the forties when he first started, what was happening in Hindi cinema at that time? What was the style of song? Like where was he, what was he walking into? I think one of the best things that happened to him was that This was the time that the silent era movies were going out. Sound had come in and this also started first experiments in singing. Earlier actors, the actresses had to sing their own songs and this had to be done while filming a shot. But when playback singing came in and the right kind of recording studios came in, I think that was the time when he stepped into the film industry.
00:05:48
Speaker
And the best part was that most of the singers had a wave of 1, 1.25, 1.5. But here was a singer who suddenly people found had not just a very immeasurable sweetness, but also had an octave almost beyond 3, which is not ordinary. There are artists of various kinds. There are artists who are incompetent. There are artists who are average. Then there are good. Then there are better.
00:06:19
Speaker
Then there are some who are great, then there are some who are extraordinary, and then there are some who are beyond comparison.
Emotional Depth in Rafi's Singing
00:06:27
Speaker
I think he came into that category of suddenly, and people realized that, and the biggest forte of his was that he had a knack of understanding the emotional content of lyrics and poetics, which most of the others at that time were not able to do. So they were singing within the meter,
00:06:48
Speaker
But here was a man who was expressing and emoting that song which would look good on screen. Looking to the nuances, they found that here was a singer who could actually go from A to Z with remarkable ease. And this made the work of the musicians and the music composers much easier. Despite the fact that there were a lot of competitors much before him like Talat Memud, Manade, Mukesh,
00:07:17
Speaker
Kundalal Seghul was also there, but Kundalal Seghul died very soon thereafter. He also predicted that this boy is somebody out of the ordinary and would definitely rule the airwaves. And that prophecy came true. And similarly, even while the women also, Nur Jaha, Surya, Lata, Uma Devi, and then gradually Geetha Datt and Asha Bosele, Shamshad Begum, they all came in.
00:07:46
Speaker
But none of them had that kind of range. And so they were all Astra because to match him on any level in terms of the emotive content, as well as the octave. And mind you, because of that, in fact, Rafi Sahib had to compromise and come down onto their scales and then sing. And yet he delivered. Now that is something remarkable. And that he continued right till the day he died. So he started in 1941 and he died in 1980, July.
00:08:16
Speaker
And in a 40 year span, he really did something exceptional. And when he died, he was the highest recorded singer in the world.
Multilingual Mastery
00:08:25
Speaker
And he had sung almost in 20 languages, including about two songs in English. He sang in about regional languages like Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, whole range. And that speaks volumes about his talent and ability and also the ability to weave himself Because most people in the regional languages, which you are quite familiar living in India, are quite difficult to actually get hold of. And they all said that his pronunciation was incomparable. So he kind of really got into it like a fish takes to water.
00:09:04
Speaker
so let's dissect his artistry a little bit because you've touched on a lot of elements that come up quite frequently when you read about Rafi Sahib and his particular talent or set of talents.
Natural Talent Over Formal Training
00:09:20
Speaker
One of the things that people often comment about is the sort of ease and naturalness of his singing style, which is interesting because based on what you said before, it doesn't sound like he had a particularly conventional musical education that was perhaps partly self-taught. So that ease of delivery seems to be something that that is very appealing to a lot of people. Maybe you could just talk a little bit about that that characteristic of his singing.
00:09:53
Speaker
A lot of people say that he went to this master and that master and learned the classical singing, but the fact remains that there is no kind of catalog of his having gone and learned at the feet of the masters for a very long time. He did go to several masters and all, and this was all his earnestness to learn new. And that is why once so noted music director Jayadev, as well as music director Kaya,
00:10:20
Speaker
They told that the biggest thing about him was that he was always an ardent student of music. It never went to his mind that he was somebody who was ruling the charts. So there was this ah always a constant urge to imbibe newer things. And this is, I think, the quality that was his hallmark. So wherever he went, if he learned for five days, seven days, or if he ever thought that this is something to be taken, he went into it, practiced it to the maximum, and because he mastered all these various aspects of thinking, that in a way helped him very much. Now, I'll give you a very small example. Even at the height of his popularity in the 70s, when the
00:11:18
Speaker
Cacophory in Hindi film music got louder and the advent of Amitabh Bachchan killed melody in Indian film industry because most of the films became action-oriented. So there were no melodies, interjections of a song which would actually further the story in a lyrical manner. Earlier the poetry used to be God. The poetry you would actually Further, the impetus of the story, the content of the story, the ah feel of the story, which was not happening in the 70s. And suddenly the sound went too heavy, metallic, that
Continuous Practice Amidst Fame
00:11:58
Speaker
he actually went to Qayyam Saab, who's known to be a very wonderful musician with very soft compositions. So he asked him, he said, Sir, could you compose certain songs for me?
00:12:14
Speaker
which would bring out the honey in my throat, that it would bring out the softness and the sweetness of my voice, which I am not getting to sing in most of the other compositions. Then Khayyam kept a kind of condition. He said, if you practice with me, you'll have to practice at least a couple of hours every day and you will not be in any way disturbed you will not be taking phone calls and he put these conditions and he said in between except for taking water or tea you would not be going out you would not be conversing with people and Khayyam Saab told me who was very close to me and he said Deepak he was one of the greatest students that you can ever that there was not a hint that this was a man who had traveled the world almost 22-23 times he had taken world tours he was
00:13:07
Speaker
famous from West Indies to Timbuktu and from Fiji to ah USA. and And yet he sat there practicing again and again and again the same lines with the fervent of a boy who's wanting to excel at an examination. ah This is something that speaks volumes about his character and his dedication. And this is what actually ultimately made when he sang on the microphone.
00:13:36
Speaker
things were very, very easy for him. Chitra Gutt, a noted music like director of the Hindi film industry, has said that when it came to singing, Lata Mangeskar, Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar, most of the other singers, delivered what you wanted. They would, to a large extent, satisfy you But he said when Rafi Saab came, he delivered something beyond the even expectations and imaginations of the music director. You felt he had done something which was divine. I'll give you an example and you can play that clip there. There is a song from Chitrigo. It's a sad lyrical song, but look at the flight. It talks about in metaphorical way about the life oh going away like a bird.
00:14:25
Speaker
When you play this clip, you'll realize how beautifully he goes and the crescendo to which he goes. You'll realize that ah what mastery he has, his voice never wavered. Most of the people at the higher crescendos, their voices either go thin or they squeak. His voice never wavered, never squeaked and never went thin.
00:15:06
Speaker
And similarly, there is another song that you can play if you feel like. All he was told was that this man is singing a romantic song, remembering his beloved. And he is tossing and turning and then getting up early morning and singing. When you listen to that song, he actually jethrugo said, made the misty morning come before you.
00:15:59
Speaker
That was the quality of his throat, his pronunciation, his emotional connect, because he understood. And in a way, his singing made the picture come alive and it added to the dimensions of the screen story. But even when you heard it on radio or on cassette or on a record player or digitally anywhere, literally the scene is created before you. He had a golden sunshine on his face and a golden sunshine in his throat.
00:16:28
Speaker
And he would always be smiling. And that is why when he sang also, it was with without any efforts. And I'm sometimes really surprised these days when I see these youngsters and all singing, they make more variations with their hands and their body rather than their tonal inflections. And this is where he scored. Marvelous singer. And that is why I and a lot of others feel that ah there has been no singer in the world who can compare with them because one He could sing devotional songs. He could sing romantic. He could sing tragic songs. He could sing bhajans. He could sing the classical songs and with the same ease and the kind of different subjects that he has taken. It is remarkable that you know from camera to life insurance to vegetables to the best of poetry in romance or tragedy or philosophy.
00:17:25
Speaker
has been expounded in his voice. And I don't think any singer has sung so many variations of pitch, tonal inflections, and sound, as well as the number of subjects and emotional variations as much as Rafi Sahib did.
00:17:51
Speaker
So let's talk about his versatility because that is again something that is always remarked on when people talk about his artistry and his impact. I've read that, um now I can't speak or understand Hindi, but I've read that he was very good at adopting different regional accents when he was singing, depending on the film, depending on the character, and that also he would adapt his style to particular stars as well, and he became associated quite closely with certain movie stars.
00:18:27
Speaker
um And also he he sang a lot of non-film songs as well. So there's this huge range of work in his overall body of work, um which really showcases his ability to adapt his style. But, you know, I've been listening to a lot of his songs in the background as I've been going about my day recently.
00:18:52
Speaker
And it's always recognizably him singing, but even I can hear, even yeah even though I can't understand the words, I can hear significant differences in the way he's delivering each song. So maybe talk a little bit about how he achieved that that versatility and some of the the the things that he became known for in that regard.
Versatility and Adaptability Compared
00:19:14
Speaker
Well, I'll give you a couple of examples and I'll also compare, let's say,
00:19:22
Speaker
Engelbert Humberding. There is a particular, if you go through his entire genre, the singing is within a particular range. Let's say Frank Sinatra. He doesn't go much into the higher octaves at all. Similarly, Cliff Richard. There is a particular wavelength to which he sticks. Similarly, let's come down to the Hindi film Singers, starting from, say, Lata Mangeshkar.
00:19:50
Speaker
Now, Lata Mangeshkar is an exceptionally good singer, very sweet, but Lata Mangeshkar also, ah yeah you know, emotes very well. But when you listen to Lata, it is lata. It is not the character which comes into your mind. Similarly, Asha Bhosle, you can see the sensuousness if there is sweetness and there is a certain, I would say, purity of sound which comes in Lata's singing.
00:20:19
Speaker
There is a certain sensuousness and there is a certain amount of huskiness that comes in through Asha Bonsle's singing. Again, you admire their wonderful texture of sound and their emotive and ability, but you get that as lata separate from Asha, Asha separate from lata. Similarly, if you listen to Mukesh, he confines himself to one particular octave And Mukesh is very nice, sad, everything and all. But there is hardly any kind of versatile movement in his voice. Same happens to Mahindra Kapoor. Tishore Kumar is very good. He can go up to a very high level, up to about two octaves and all. Yet, there is no classical interpretations and all, you know, the tans and soars, they don't go up and down in such a pacy manner. Tishore Kumar has not sung Kavali's. Tishore Kumar did not sing ghazals.
00:21:18
Speaker
Ashore Kumar was not given bhajans in all to sing, you know was never given patriotic songs. Now this must be, you can understand only because of the fact that the music composers understood that they had certain limitations. Manadeh again was a brilliant classically endowed singer, but voice quality, it was more like a background sound. Producer-director Leif Tandon,
00:21:44
Speaker
He once said that he made a film called Jugaasman and Rafi Sahib started ah singing the title song. And after a about one minute or so, late Tandon said, Rafi Sahib, this is not to be sung in Shami Kapoor style. Shami Kapoor is not there in my film. So he said, oh, nobody told me because I presume that most of your films have Shami Kapoor. So he said, who's there? He said, Rajendra Kumar. Within a minute,
00:22:09
Speaker
The man changed his entire vocal genre because Shami was a little louder and Shami's songs would have a little more of a physical movement. The sound would always convey that body action. Whereas in Rajendra Kumar, whose natural voice also resembled Ravi Sahib in real life, so he brought the lower tone lower and then sang.
00:22:33
Speaker
Now this ability is something which is remarkable. Then there is a comedian who was there at one time, Radhakishan. Now that Radhakishan, when he actually spoke, it was almost like his sound was very jarring. It was ah something which would have ah not a lot of gravel in it. Rafisa, when he sang for Radhakishan in a film, a lot of people actually mistook that it was being sung by Radhakishan.
00:22:59
Speaker
Now, for Johnny Walker, he would bring out a different kind of vocal texture. For Mehmod, he would bring out a complete different genre. And similarly, for Devanand, there would be effervescence that would come out. A lot softer, but for Dilip Kumar, it would be a little softer, but grever. In a palette of musical colors, he would give the right kind of shade, and he would delightfully endure that song with a stamp of his own.
00:23:29
Speaker
and make you realize. So even if you were walking in the street, you would immediately realize, oh, this is a Shami Kapoor song, or this is a Rajendra Kumar song, or this is a song of Johnny Walker. That characterization, which he imbibed his voice and in his throat, was something which was remarkable. And this he maintained even when he went into the highest of octaves, paradoxically, even when he sang for Kishore Kumar, Ravi Sahib sang almost about 11 to 12 songs for him.
00:23:59
Speaker
when you see Kishore Kumar on screen, it literally looks like it's not Ravi Sahib, but it is Kishore Kumar who's singing. So that was the quality of this, like it was Rafi and yet not Rafi. It sounds like on the one hand, he had enormous natural talent, which he worked very hard to to hone. But at the same time, this incredibly intuitive sense of performance and acting and persona, yeah which he was able to deploy um with incredible facility from what you're saying, so that he could just tailor his performance to the star or the music or the the occasion. It's quite incredible. And like you say, that's not something that many performers are able to do at any point in their career. And he did it for decades. Yes. That is why I think even in the later stages,
00:24:54
Speaker
while he had delivered for Devanand, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor in the earlier era. Raj Kapoor though voice was actually Mukesh but he also sang about a dozen songs for Raj Kapoor and even behind Raj Kapoor it doesn't seem any way odd because Raj Kapoor later on adopted Mukesh as his own singer. Raj Kapoor always said that Rafi Sahab was the uncrowned king of melody. He always tried to find kind of a situation in his films where he could actually have one song of Rafisa. So either it would be a background song or somewhere or the other, but he always was very, very fond of Rafisa.
Setting Standards in Playback Singing
00:25:34
Speaker
When the youngsters came in, like Mitten Chakraborty or Rishi Kapoor, he adapted his voice to suit their persona. So let's talk about his impact on playback singing. He's such a towering figure in the film industry in India.
00:25:53
Speaker
for such a long time. I mean, he must have set a template for playback singing to an extent and um set people's expectations around what what it should sound like. So what was his impact on subsequent singers in the industry? I'll quote you once again, music director Jay Dev. He was a bachelor and at a small apartment near Churchgate Railway Station, Mumbai. And this is way back in 81 or so and we were sitting and having a cup of tea and he said to me,
00:26:23
Speaker
Deepak certain, and this was after demise of Raffi Saag in 1980. He said Deepak, there were certain films which would or could not have been made if Raffi Saag was not
Enduring Impact of Rafi's Performances
00:26:38
Speaker
there. And he was emphatic about it that even if they had been made, they would have never, ever qualified or made an impact as great without Raffi Saag. So he quoted, he said, a film like Pia Saag,
00:26:53
Speaker
would have been absolutely dwarfed without Rafi Sahib. The song Yeduniya Agar Milbijai, which starts from the lower octaves and then goes right up to the crashing finale where and the poet expounds. He does not want this world because this world is full of treachery. That crescendo could not have been developed or been possible through anybody's voice except Rafi Sahib.
00:27:21
Speaker
Similarly, the song which spoke about the agony of India, ah ha hakaha jana hindda parana hevokaha that satire could not have made that kind of huge impact on people's psyche if Rafi Sahib was not there. Similarly, the non-film tribute paid to Mahatma Gandhi by The Nation,
00:27:43
Speaker
so no suno e duavalo butpukia maran and which brought tears to people and which still brings tears to people and also the tribute to Pandit Nehru after his death, Mary Awa's Suno. He said these kind of songs would not have been possible, could not have been rendered to that magnificent effect by anyone ex except Raffi Saab. Similarly, a film about a classical singer, Raju Bhavra,
00:28:11
Speaker
could not have been possible without Rafi Sahib giving all the various shades of emotion from pain to longing to romance through the classical renditions. then the song like Madhuban Me Radhika Nachare in Kohinoor. Any classical singer would be proud of singing that kind of notation at such a fast tempo.
00:28:52
Speaker
me
00:29:07
Speaker
He himself admitted that his only and biggest success, Hamdono, was primarily because of Raffi Saab singing some of those most beautiful songs Abhinaya, Chhorkar, Mezindagi, Kasat, Nivata, Chalagya, Kabhi, Khutbe, Kabhi, Alath, Perunaya,
00:29:23
Speaker
if A to Z is the compound dictionary or thesaurus of Hindi film music or playback singing. Most of the people go from A to maximum F or say GH, but he was somebody who actually built that thesaurus or dictionary to Z. Why? Because he kind of evolved and developed certain nuances which were just unknown to the human imagination in terms of singing.
00:29:53
Speaker
And what he brought to the microphone was something which was remarkable. And that is why oh the playback singing added to the beauty of the film, added to the beauty of the story. It added to the character of the scenic script. And it gave wings to people to imagine in the voice of Rafizab, pieces can be written on his singing at People are doing that kind of research now on his voice. The background song, more than 200-250 songs in Hindi film industry have been rendered by Rafi Sahib. And the beauty and the paradox is that many of these background songs had female characters. So the question arises why a female artist was not used? Because the film composers and the film producers and then directors felt
00:30:49
Speaker
that the impact of the emotion and the sound on the screen goers would not be as much through the female singing as by Rafi Sahib. So lots of these songs, and mind you, a background song is basically devoid of a lot of action, and it is the singing and the lyric and the poetry that has to convey the exact metaphor, the exact feeling for the synagogues.
00:31:19
Speaker
and this is where his singing made an impact. Even in films like Mughal Azam, where all more than a dozen songs are by the female singer, he comes in only for one song, Zindabad Zindabad, Hem Mahabbad Zindabad, but what a climax he takes it to such heights with that three and a half octave.
00:32:15
Speaker
Similarly, in Pakistan, all the songs are by the female singers. He gets to sing only one line but even in that do it, he creates empathy with the listener. When you listen to that song, the only thing is you forget the female because his rendition is so brilliant, so overpowering and that is why Dilip Kumar Sahib also once said that on the borders of India, the most favoured singer is Rafi Sahib and that's of course because of the fact that he went
00:32:52
Speaker
many of these international borders to sing and entertain the soldiers but also for the fact that his patriotism came through his singing most eloquently and it touched people's hearts and souls and that is the beauty of his singing actually you feel that it is your own self which is there you listen to Rafi Sahib as I said it is Rafi and yet not Rafi Sahib It is something your emotions and all get so deeply involved that it becomes a part of you, you imbibe it, and it stays
Rafi's Timeless Legacy
00:33:26
Speaker
forever. And I think for four decades, from 41 to 1980, and thereafter for several years, and even up till now, most of the people have kind of experienced their romance, their tragedies, their internal turmoil, their emotional upheavals through his songs. And that is why they identify with him.
00:33:47
Speaker
as somebody who's you know part and parcel of their entire persona, virtual upbringing. So his appeal is remarkably enduring. And as you say, very widespread. People from all over the world love his music, still listen, regularly rank him as their favorite playback singer of all time.
00:34:16
Speaker
It sounds to me like for a lot of people, he's the closest thing that they've had to like an inner soundtrack to their lives, to their emotional lives over many decades. yeah You have that, maybe we can close on this. You have a lovely anecdote. I think you were in the Gulf at one point and you had a driver from Pakistan. Just tell us about that that story. and Julian, you've put it very well that it's the inner emotional track of most people that he's become part and parcel. And that is why almost about 25 to 30,000 programs around the world are organized every year commemorating his birthday or paying tribute on his death anniversary, which is ah remarkable because the governments have not recognized him because he was never part of any kind of political setup, political parties.
00:35:12
Speaker
There have been singers, they have been given the highest awards by ah the government of India and yet they were part and parcel of a particular genre of politics. But Rafi Sahib was universal and that is why people say that he was akin to God's voice. Now this is an epithet which I think automatically shows how much he was revered, how much he is loved. And this is something which is not just said by somebody who developed this epithet, Manmohan Desai,
00:35:42
Speaker
popular film producer, director of the Hindi film industry. But this is something which is a belief held by most people.
00:36:16
Speaker
seen I was in Qatar. I had a regular driver from my sponsors for me and my wife. But one of those evenings, you know, we felt that we would be taking a stroll around Seashore and we would not like him unnecessarily wait upon us. So we freed him. And after our dinner and our stroll and it was past midnight, then we hailed a taxi. It was playing some song of Rafi Sahar and I just asked him very casually, do you like the singing? He said, sir, he's my God and I love him and he's so good. And I wish people around the world would take a ah lesson from his singing. Within that man, a man who was wanting this world to be very, very ah cheerful, peaceful, ah not destroyed by Nippam bombs or strife or unnecessary divisions or diviousness of the religious
00:37:11
Speaker
and political figures. We are immediately connected because I may be agnostic, but at times I am led to believe that there is God because of Rafi Sahib singing because I have not come across anybody singing in that kind of extraordinary manner. I also come from a family which does not believe in dividing people. I completely feel that we are all one and we should all live together. We should progress together.
00:37:38
Speaker
you and me should join in hands and bring much more prosperity and humanism and laughter and cheer to every child around the world and I felt instantly connected with this driver and I went on listening to him and then around the time that we were nearing our hotel I said you see I have played a lot of his songs on the radio because of my programs and I know a lot of things and I'm writing a book on Rafi Sahib and he was so thrilled He held my hands when we got up and I was wanting to give him the money. He said, no, sir, I would not take it from you because you are like a brother to me because of Rafi Sahib. Now, this, I think, is a homage that is extraordinary. not And this is a common man. And I leave you at another homage that was paid by the industry to him. Lake Tunden told me that in the independent India from 1947 up to this point, there have been only three
00:38:36
Speaker
major outpourings of grief by the public, which have been spontaneous, automatic, and have gone on to the streets. One was the death of Mahatma Gandhi. The other one was the death of Pandit Nehru. And the third was the death of Rafi Sahib. Rafi Sahib was practicing, while he was fasting for Ramzan, he was practicing a Bengali bhajan with the father of the present singer, Shan.
00:39:05
Speaker
And because of that, he suffered a heart attack, but he kind of ignored it. And he sang five, six hours, and that led to his death. But look at the fact that the next day he died on 31st of July, 1980. On 1st of August, there were more than 100,000 people on the streets of Bombay in Bandra, walking along with his coffin up to the cemetery.
00:39:33
Speaker
and Mind you, it was boring cats and dogs on that day up till about the time that he was late to rest. It was boring. But everybody from Dilip Kumar to Amitabh Bachchan to Amjad Khan to every music director, actor and film actresses and all and common people were there to pay their homages. And Kishore Kumar was holding his feet and crying for 40, 45 minutes. And Kishore Kumar is on record saying that I could sing one kind of song. The same could be delivered in seven different variations by Rafi Sahib. And Tanak Mehmoud, one of the doyans of Hindi film playback singing, he said, the world needed Rafi Sahib more than me. I wish allla Allah, that is God, had taken my life rather than Rafi Sahib because the world needed him more. Now, I don't think anybody even
00:40:30
Speaker
Sons do not pay this kind of homage to their fathers. This speaks volumes about the fact that Rafi Sahib was a very divine soul, very much loved. And this is because he was extremely tender hearted, extremely good and humane. He was extremely generous. Several hundred songs he sang for people free.
00:40:51
Speaker
Well, he used to charge only one rupee. Somebody asked him, why do you charge one rupee? He said, I don't want to get this feeling of ego that I have sung something free and I've done him a favor. No, it's a contract. He's paid me one rupee and I've taken that money. Now this shows also the inner philosophy of that man. He sang free to get money for churches, for gurdwaras, for temples, for mosques. He sang.
00:41:21
Speaker
free of cost in several countries on various occasions, only because he wanted people to flourish. He gave donations for blind schools, orphan associations. And the fact was that he was a man in the film industry who was untainted throughout his life, never played foul. We have hundreds of stories about the leading female singers of India creating obstacles in the path of not just female singers, but also the music directors who gave chance to young female singers. Now, Rafi Sahib is dead for 44 years and yet is loved around the world. There have been people who have also been laid to rest, but they are not remembered. Now, that is a very, very clear sign that here was a singer who not just touched people's hearts and souls because of his singing,
00:42:19
Speaker
but also was known to be an extraordinarily generous kind and a very good soul. And that is why they still love him and they still revere him. So irrespective of the fact that the government of India may not have given him the highest award, the fact remains that Rafi Sahib was the most immortal and the most unique jewel of India and a gift to mankind.
00:42:46
Speaker
It's a ah great time of the year as his birthday is imminent to put on a few of his songs and remember his legacy and celebrate all of the beautiful emotions that he's been able to share and invoke in, you know, millions of people over the years.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:43:03
Speaker
Deepak, thank you so much for this conversation about Raffi Sabu, it's fascinating and I've certainly learned a lot.
00:43:12
Speaker
You've been listening to Conversing Cinema with Deepak Mahan and me, Julian Coldry. We'd love to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments, you can email us at podcast at conversingcinema.in. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review or rating, and most importantly, share us with your friends. Conversing Cinema is produced and edited by Julian Coldry and Deepak Mahan. Music is by Deepak Mahan. See you next time.