December 24, 2017
On legendary Bollywood singer Mohammed Rafi's 93rd birth
anniversary on Sunday, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar reminisced about those great
times of singing companionship. She said music was his life.
"Rafi Saab
was very close to my brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. In fact, when brother was
still a child he sang a duet with Rafi Saab in 'Baiju Bawra'. The great composer
Naushad invited my brother for the duet 'Sacho tero naam'," she recalled.
Hriday sang for Baiju when he was still a child.
"In fact, in 'Baiju
Bawra' I got to sing with my brother for the first time. Hriday sang for Baiju
the child and I sang for his beloved when she was a child. In 'Baiju Bawra',
Rafi Saab sang with such power. His power and glory were in full force here,"
she said.
"People said that my duets with Rafi Saab were better than my
duets with any other male singer. Though I enjoyed my duets with Mukesh Bhaiyya
and Kishoreda, I have to agree Rafi Saab had a fabulous range and a staggering
control over the seven notes. Our duets were considered really special by music
lovers," she added.
Recalling some of their work together, she said:
"Offhand I can recall 'Paon choo lene do' ('Taj Mahal'), 'Woh jab yaad aaye'
('Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere'), 'Ek shahenshah ne banwa ke haseen Taj Mahal'
('Leader') and 'Kitna pyara wada hai'('Caravan').
"Mind you, this is just
a sample. There were so many…. Hordes of fabulous compositions and it was such a
challenge to sing them with Rafi Saab. His mastery over the language of music
was impeccable. Music was Rafi Saab's life."
"He was a serious type of
person. Unlike Kishoreda who would do a lot of 'masti' before recording, Rafi
Saab was generally quiet. He kept to himself, polite and cultured but spoke only
when spoken to."
They would rehearse what people refer to as their
"monumental duets" for hours, getting the lyrics right, adding nuances.
"For Rafi Saab, his singing was a form of worship. Even I am very serious about
my work. But for Rafi Saab, the dedication was on another level. He had no vices
at all. He didn't smoke, drink or eat paan. He led an ascetic's life.
"And yet he died in his 50s. The same is true of my other favourite co-singers
Mukesh Bhaiyya and Kishoreda. They all died young, in their 50s. So did my
favourite composer Madan Mohan. It wouldn't be wrong to say I lost some of my
dearest colleagues and close friends at a very young age."
Of course, she
misses them.
"I miss Rafi Saab too. He was one of a kind. He was the
chosen voice for Dilip Kumar Saab and sang some of the thespian's most cherished
numbers. It was said that Dilip Saab preferred Rafi Saab's voice while Raj
Kapoor Saab preferred Mukesh. To me, both the singers were equally dear.
"We recorded scores of songs together so we met almost every day. Sometimes, we
would be out of one recording studio and then into another for two different
songs during the same day with scarcely something to eat.
"Back then we
had no managers. I had a very faithful driver Jai Singh who was my
rakhi-brother. He took me to all the appointments for recordings, made sure I
had my meals on time. Back then life was simpler and the ties that bound people
together went beyond the work place," she added.