#GoldenFrames: Mohammed Rafi, the legendary Bollywood singer with a honey-laced voice

Mohammed Rafi lent his voice to a range of actors, music directors and genres. He was nominated twenty-one times and received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. The singer was also honoured with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India in 1967. Rafi could effortlessly emote happiness, pain, sorrows, excitement and love through his voice. He is an icon in Indian film music.

In This Pic : Mohammed Rafi, GoldenFrames

The seventh of eight children, Mohammed Rafi, was born on December 24, 1924, to parents Haji Mohammed Ali and Allahrakhi in a small village called Kotla Sultan Singh, Punjab, India. The singer grew up in an orthodox household where music and singing were frowned upon. However, it didn't stop Rafi to take an interest in singing, and he would often imitate the chants of a local fakir roaming on the streets of Rafi's hometown, Lahore. His talent was first recognised on a grander scale in 1937, at the age of thirteen, where he unexpectedly performed at the Pan-India Exhibition due to a power failure. Here, he was heard by renowned singer K.L. Segal, who predicted that Rafi would become a big singer one day.

In This Pic : mohammed rafi, goldenframes

A seventeen-year-old Rafi completed recording his first playback duet with Zeenat Begum for the Punjabi movie 'Gul Baloch' (1944) in Lahore on February 8, 1941. Naushad allowed him to sing in the chorus for the movie 'Phele Aap' (1944). Rafi sang the duet song "Yahan badla wafaa ka bewafaai ke siva kyaa hai" for the movie 'Jugnu' (1946), which became a super hit even before the film was released.

In This Pic : mohammed rafi, goldenframes

Rafi became the voice of almost every screen hero, supporting actor, character actor in Hindi cinema between 1942 and 1980. He also worked with music directors, ranging from the legendary Shyam Sunder and Naushad to Ravindra Jain, Anu Mallik, Bappi Lahiri and Rajesh Roshan. According to the late Indian film producer Manmohan Desai—Rafi’s voice was Godlike. "Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho" from the movie 'Chaudhvin Ka Chand' (1960), "Chahunga Main Tujhe" from the movie 'Dosti' (1964), "Khilona Jaan Kar" from the movie 'Khilona' (1970), "Maine Poocha Chand Se" from the movie 'Abdullah' (1980) and "Dard-e-dil" from the movie 'Karz' (1980)—are some of Rafi's iconic collection.

(In this photo: Naushad and Mohammed Rafi)

In This Pic : Mohammed Rafi, GoldenFrames

He is an artist who sang over 7000 songs in various Indian and foreign languages. It is hard to put in words the joyful discoveries of Rafi singing in Bengali, Assamese, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu or Punjabi. His celebrated music career inspired several greats.

In This Pic : Mohammed Rafi, goldenframes

Pic Courtesy : BCCL