Rafi's unmatched track record
K. PRADEEP
|
Many of Mohammed Rafi's songs exist only in the collections of his ardent fans.
|
Even after 25 years of his death, Mohammed Rafi remains immortal through his songs. Music director Laxmikant expressed surprise at the phenomenal demand for Rafi's songs. `No other singer, not even Lata Mangeshkar, has been able to attract such tremendous following. It's almost as if he were still alive," he once said. It is believed that Rafi, in a career spanning around 40 years, sang almost 26,000 songs. Compilations of his songs are still being released but they are mostly those that have already come out in other collections, sometimes digitally mastered, the same vintage stuff in new forms.
This versatile genius made his debut as a playback singer in Hindi films in 1942 in the film `Laila Majnu.' It was a qawwali in which his voice was part of the chorus. Rafi also played a small role in this film. Till he got his first solo in the film `Dillagi' (1949: Naushad), Rafi sang in the chorus. He got his big break in the film `Baiju Bawra' and since then, till his death on July 31, 1980, there was no looking back for this great singer.
However, even today a huge chunk of his songs have not been reproduced in cassette or CD formats, some of them have never been broadcast, remaining as prized possessions in the hands of a few private collectors. Then there are songs that Rafi rendered during the early phase of his career but never got the credit for it.
"So many of Rafi's melodious songs are not in circulation today. During those early years, many a time, his name was never printed on the gramophone record labels. In fact, that was the fate of many new singers of those days. The labels had the names of the characters on whom the songs were picturised in the film, or that of the actors or actresses who starred in these films," points out film historian B. Vijayakumar.
On the label of the 78-RPM gramophone record of the film Amar Raj (1946) is printed `Mohantara Talpade In Duet.' Rafi sings the song, which is recorded on both sides of the disc and lasts around six minutes, with the female singer lending her voice for hardly one minute. But while the female singers name is faithfully printed, Rafi's name has been ignored.
"Playback singing those days was not yet established. Filmgoers believed that their favourite stars sang all those songs they saw on screen. In `Amar Raj' the hero was Trilok Kapoor. He, being a top star in those days, would not have wanted people to know that a rookie singer was lending his voice for him. That must have been one reason why Rafi's name was dropped. Those days even the film credits did not have the names of the playback singers," says Vijayakumar.
Preserving the 78-RPM records was a tough job and took up a lot of space. Songs from these records were converted to Vinyl, Long Play, Super Play and Extended Play records when these came into vogue. "Many songs, including those sung by Rafi, were lost during this process of conversion. The recording companies had their panels to select the songs that were to be converted. The selections were usually very subjective. They mainly went for the top hits and popular songs leaving behind some real nuggets. The saddest part was that the companies either destroyed or dispensed with most of the old 78-RPM records. So now these treasures are to be found only in private collections," explains Vijayakumar.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
