& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Man with a magical voice

Syed Maqsud Jamil
Mohammad Rafi was bom on 24 December 1924 and died on 31 July 1980.
He was bom with natural endowment of a phenomenally gifted voice. The volume and depth of Rafi's voice was exceptional. He could sing without the aid of instruments with an overpowering effect. "Na kisika aankhon ka noor him " of the film "Lal Qilla" a legendary ghazal penned by Bahadur Shah Zafar and the other one "Lagta nahin hai dil mera uzre dayar me’ and in Gum Dutt's classic movie "Pyaasa" the song' Ye mahelo ye takhto ye tazo ye insan ke dushman samajo ka duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai’ still move the heart. At the request of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru he sang ’Bapuji ki amar kahani" as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
When Rafi sang "Aye duniake rakhwale" for "Baiju Bawra" the range of his voice rose to a great height. The height was unbelievable but the tenor was equally unfaltering. ’Meri Kahani bhulne waley" of "Deedar" was another song of this kind.
Mohammad Rafi songs had another gift-- the mastery of his classical base. 'Mana tarapata Hari darsan ko ajo" of "Baiju Bawra" was an excellent song of classical base. The sequence on Bharat Bhushan looked so realistic because of the song by Rafi. For the movie "Kohinoor" Rafi again demonstrated his mastery of classical base ’Madhuban me Radhika nache re" was another good classical song by Rafi. "Duniya na bhaey mujhe ab to bulale chamo me" of the movie 'Basant Bahar* was another good classical piece by Mohammad Rafi.
Rafi's forte was the deeply touching nature of his sad songs to heighten the pathos of lovelorn heroes. Music director Salil Chowdhury was in a class of his
own. The film was Bimal Roy hit "Madhumau" and the lead actor was the thespian Dilip Kumar. He was in great pain for the loss of Vyajantimala. Rafi sang "Toote hue khabon ne hamko ye shikhaya hai" with all his heart poured into it.
Rafi's other remarkable quality was that he sang to perfection to personify the actor. For "Dil Ek Mandir" Rafi sang the unforgettable song of nostalgia "Yaade na jaye bite dino ke” filmed on Rajendra
Kumar.
The film "Dulari* is special because Rafi sang "Suhani Raat dhal chuki na jane turn kab aao ge* with longing for the rendezvous expressed with mesmerizing mastery. In the movie *Kala Pani" Dev Anand was at the top of the world with a slanted cap pouring pathos in wine and Rafi sang for him to make it a classic song of all time- "Hum bekhudi me turn ko pukare chale gaye". For the same actor for the movie "Hum Dono" Rafi sang with his virtuoso mastery - " Kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona aya baat nikli to har baat pe rona aya".
The Bengali novel "Ulka* was made into a Hindi movie "Meri Surat Teri Aankhen". It was a masterpiece. The music was by Sachin Dev Burman. Rafi's voice rose to celestial heights when he sang "Tere bine sune nayan hamare" filmed on Ashok Kumar. This is one of his greatest songs. When his voice drifts to express the depth of his pain it gives one the feeling it was wafting in heavenly firmament.
Mohammad Rafi sang a number of romantic love songs. "Chaudhvi Ka Chand Ho Ya Aftab Ho" of "Chaudhvi Ka Chand," 'Ye mera prem patra par kar* of "Sangam", "Khoya khoya chand’ of "Kalabazar", "Tere mere sapne bas ek rang hai" of "Guide" and 'Likhkhe jo khat tujhe' of "Kanyadaan* are few of the many. Rafi-Lata duets are all time popular. The lilting melody of "Mujhe kitna pyar hai tumse" of the film "Dil Tera Diwana" still flutters hearts of all age.
Eminent writer journalist Sachin Bhowmik said Mohammad Rafi that the singer needed only one take to record while others took more than one. Manna Dey termed Rafi Sahab as Ustad.