Did you become a Rafisaab fan before, or after the legend passed away? Options

[iqbal]

All Rafians, please vote - this should be interesting!

[bchatterjee]

All Rafians, please vote - this should be interesting!

But when rafi passed away (it was I remember the last in the series of famous people passing away starting with Sanjay Gandhi ending with Rafi), I was only 7 years old. So how can one expect to appreciate Rafi Saab at that age!!! Hence I guess more people from my generation are on this forum and one cannot draw any conclusion like after a celebrity dies he becomes famous or something like that!!! I am sure if I would have loved Rafi, Talat and Hemant Kumar if I was alive then....Same goes for Geeta Dutt, Meena Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari

Bappa

[sri]

I was quite surprised to find in the poll results that over 2/3rd of the people who voted were born after the legend passed away.

It does speak of Rafi sahab's eternal magic that so many of the younger generation ave taken to him.

I was indeed extremely fortunate to have lived through the golden period having been born in 1954. To me, the songs of Rafi and Lata, Mukesh and Talat, Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar - release 1 ( as they say in the software world nowadays - meaning the Kishore of pre 1969 days before he became a rage ).... and many others were 'LIVE' songs - since we were witnessing these songs being born on the radio waves and rising to their popularity heights on the Binaca geetmala .. before giving way to newer songs.

How i remember the excitement of listening to a new song released on radio and how we would all look forward to hearing our favourite songs in the Binaca Geetmala on Radio Ceylon and other listener's choice programmes like Jaymala etc. ! Kishore Kumar was a rare appearance ( compared to Rafi and Lata ) and I distinctly remember how I would wait anxiously to hear his lovely voice and always wonder why this great singer was not able to get more songs to sing !! Didn't know about 1969 and Aradhana then.

Those were the days of Rafi and Lata. So many songs came and went .... some I have never heard since ..... and whenever I come across any rare song of that era, my mind goes back to those childhood days!

My fanatical interest in hindi film music did not go unrewarded. In 1978 I had occasion to visit a recording studio where Rafi sahab was recording a new song and was introduced to him. He shook hands with me and spoke a few lines enquiring about me. Probaly the MOST MEMORABLE DAY of my life !

More about that some other time ....but I am truly surprised and happy to see a larger percentage of fans in the next generation ! Rafi sahab deseves all this adulation and more. As Lata Mangeshkar, herself, once said about this famous man - "Aise kalakaar baar baar janam nahin lete'

sri

[iqbal]

My fanatical interest in hindi film music did not go unrewarded. In 1978 I had occasion to visit a recording studio where Rafi sahab was recording a new song and was introduced to him. He shook hands with me and spoke a few lines enquiring about me. Probaly the MOST MEMORABLE DAY of my life !


sri

Hi Srikantji and welcome to HF,


Thank you very much for that lovely post, can you please provide more details of that song being recorded and the others present in the studio, eg MD, lyricist, venue etc.



Thanks
Iqbal

[sri]

My fanatical interest in hindi film music did not go unrewarded. In 1978 I had occasion to visit a recording studio where Rafi sahab was recording a new song and was introduced to him. He shook hands with me and spoke a few lines enquiring about me. Probaly the MOST MEMORABLE DAY of my life !


sri

Hi Srikantji and welcome to HF,


Thank you very much for that lovely post, can you please provide more details of that song being recorded and the others present in the studio, eg MD, lyricist, venue etc.



Thanks
Iqbal

Hi Iqbal

Here it is .... since you asked.

It was the summer of 1978 ... just before I was to take on my first job ( i had actually come to Bombay .. from Calcutta, for a job interview ) ... and one of my good friends who knew Rafi Saheb very closely took me to this recording at Mehboob Studios. We waited there for Rafi saheb to arrive. When he did, in a large imported car, a group of people went up to welcome him and bring him in. He was such a cheerful and polite person ... kept smiling at everyone. My friend took me up to Rafi Saheb. They hugged and then I was introduced to the great man as one of his big fans. He shook my hand, gave me a gorgeous smile and enquired very kindly about me.

By then it was time for the recording. It was an unnamed movie ( at that time ) and the Music Director was Ghanshyam ( who had been assistant to the great Madan Mohan ). Ghanshyam was already known for at least one good song ( 'Apni khushi se apna hi dil todna pada' sung by Lata for the film 'Kunwara Badan' 1973 ). No idea who was the lyricist for the recording i attended .... but it is likely to have been Rajinder Krishan, i think. Anyway, he was not around for the recording.

The recording started.... and I was lost in the glorious voice - pretty good tune it was too. Two recordings were made ... the second with some minor variations. No retakes ( unfortunately for me ). Such was the depth of Rafi saheb's preparation. We could hear the actual recording through some good speakers kept in the room where we waited .. just outside the recording room. When Rafi saheb emerged, I was in a trance ..... a bunch of people waiting there 'literally 'gheraoed' (surrounded) him and lavishly heaped praises on him ... wah wah Rafii saheb , kya gaaya aapne etc etc. I guess most filmi people would have lapped it all up. But not this man. He blushed, looked very uncomfortable and looked almost too shy to be hearing all this !! And this was after having attained almost 30 years of nationwide fame and popularity. I was totally amazed. I had heard good things about him ... but never expected to actually witness such humility with my own eyes. It was both a lesson for me and an eye opener about the true greatness of this man with such a fantastic voice. Truly a great person ... rare and precious.

The song rang in my ears for many many days ... i had written down the words and kept them carefully somewhere ( not to be found now ) ... and i recorded the tune in my own voice on my cheap tape recorder ( tape got spoilt ) - so that i could remember it later. Unfortunately, the film was canned .... the song never got released. I tried through my friend to trace the song ... but unsuccessfully. That little treasure has disappeared without a trace.

My only hope is that it may someday emerge from the dark recesses of my memory ( where I am sure it resides ) and will come back to me in a flash n some lucky day ! Till then, I only wonder ..... how many such songs must this man have recorded - which we are unable to hear and appreciate because the films may have been canned ?

The song may not there today. But that day is permanently etched in my memory. That visit to meet and hear Rafi Saheb ... along with a subsequent visit to Lata Mangeshkar's house.. were probably 2 good reasons why I accepted the job in Bombay ( when I was actually keen to stay in Calcutta ! )

That surely was a loong story. Hope i do not bore all you people.

sri