From Chaudvin Ka Chand Ho to Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe…Yahoo to Sar Jo Tera Chakraye, Hindi films wouldn’t have been the same without the magically versatile voice of Mohd Rafi, whose 100th birth anniversary falls today
On returning from a trip abroad sometime in the 1960s, Shammi Kapoor gave a listen to a song recorded for him by Mohd Rafi and was astounded by how the singer had captured his verve and andaaz to the last detail. “I asked him how he did it. Rafi saab smilingly said, ‘I imagined this is how Shammi would jump or roll or lift his hand or shake his leg or head, and sang accordingly,” the filmstar told TOI in 2010, a few months before he passed away.
It was this ability to infuse an extra dimension to any song – courting duets, farewell ballads, boisterous qawwalis, immersive devotionals, up-tempo folk, soft ghazals, complex classicals, naughty nightclub numbers – that made Rafi the most popular and versatile male playback singer of the 1950s and ’60s. He could even yodel; just listen to Unse rippi tippi ho gayee (film: ‘Agra Road’, 1957). Shringar, karuna, hasya, roudra, veera – his voice could effortlessly express each rasa (emotion).
