Remembering Rafi On His 45th Death Anniversary

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 July 2025 The aura and greatness of some individuals remain undiminished even when they're no longer with us. In fact, their greatness keeps increasing as time marches on. One such legend was the great Mohammad Rafi who's still very much alive through his immortal numbers. Today, Rafi is not just a name. He's a cult. His more than 7 thousand songs (sorry, he didn't sing 26,000 songs; that's apocryphal) have warmed the cockles of the hearts of countless listeners for many decades and will continue to gladden our hearts and minds with the same soulful intensity and impact. Today is Rafi's 45th death anniversary as he breathed his last on July 31, 1980. In these times, when everything is so evanescent and ephemeral, it's the genius and legend of Rafi that have stood the test of time. The onslaught of widespread mediocrity hasn't been able to take the sheen off Rafi's marvellous singing. Now the question is: What makes Rafi so great? When Rafi was singing, there were other brilliant and notable singers as well. Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh were the contemporary stalwarts who also sang beautifully and carved a niche for themselves. Yet, Rafi remained head and shoulders above them. The incredible range of Rafi's voice and his mastery of classical singing along with his chaste diction catapulted him to the firmament of singing. His orotund voice (Rafi didn't exactly have a baritone like that of Frank Sinatra, Pankaj Mullick or even Hemant Kumar) had a dulcet quality which could sing all types of songs whether sad, light or humorous. His uncanny ability to sing the way a hero or a character speaks was his forte. Listen to the songs he sang for Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Biswajeet, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Dharmendra, Joy Mukherjee, among others. It seems as if the heroes themselves were singing those numbers! Such was Rafi's vocal adaptability and musical pliability. Rafi had an effortless style of singing. He was quick on the uptake and mastered a song and its tune in no time. The great composers Khayyam and Roshan were of the view that singing was Rafi's built-in quality. He sang all types of songs with equal and consummate ease whether it was "Jaane Kya Dhoondhti Rahti Hain Ye Aankhein" (Film: Shola aur Shabnam, 1961, lyricist, Kaifi Azmi, composer, Khyyam) or "Sau Baar Janam Lenge" (Film: Ustadon ke Ustad, 1963, lyricist, Asad Bhopali, composer, Ravi Shankar Sharma). Agreed, Rafi also sang quite a few mediocre, nay awful songs, even those forgettable songs were better than many 'good' songs of today sung by the singers whose names connoisseurs of music don't bother to remember. One wonders how Rafi could sing so many songs with so much pathos, passion and poignancy. Rafi once told an interviewer, "Mujhe Sirf Gaana Aata Hai " (I can sing only). Yes, he knew just one thing: Singing. And he knew it so well that no one could hold a candle to him on this count. He (Rafi) proved that, "Ek Hi Aansoo Ho Magar Ho Jaan-E-Hayaat / Uss Se Kya Haasil Agar Laakh Dariya Bah Chale." As a diehard fan, rather an aficionado, of Rafi, my day begins and ends with his evergreen numbers. Take a bow, maestro. Your memories shall remain eternally ineradicable. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/remembering-rafi-death-anniversary/d/136357 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism