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Hamara Forums _ Mohd Rafi _ Mrs Mohd Rafi Talks About Rafi Saab

Posted by: Saj1974 Oct 11 2004, 02:36 PM

Salaam,

I've had this article with me for about 14 years. Posting for everyone, absolutely brilliant read and give us a great insight of Rafi Saab as a person. Enjoy!!!!!

Regs
Saj

Source: Stardust or Star and Style (can't remember)

Mohd Rafi

‘Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho’ – the voice was deep, husky, sexy.
‘Suhani raat dhal chuki’ – the tome turned sad, sombre.
‘Chalkaye jaam’ – the slur of a drunkard. Intoxicating.
‘Yahoo. Chahe mujhe koi junglee kahen!’ – Exciting. Vivacious. The
voice had adopted a dare-devil attitude.
Behind all these moods lay one man – Mohammad Rafi.
Professionally acclaimed, personally Mr. Rafi preferred to be an
unknown. He hid his name and family from the eyes of the industry and
the public.
Today, eight years after his death, Mr Rafi resurrects the man behind the singer. The father behind the professional. The husband behind the
Rafi saab that we all knew… and loved.




I did not have a father – only my mother and an elder brother.
But from as far back as I can remember, Rafi saab was a household name.
My sister had married his elder brother, and it was she who brought the proposal home.
I was doing my sixth standard examinations and had just returned from school, when my sister told me, ‘tomorrow you are getting married’. I was 13 years old and Rafi Saab was 19. I didn’t know the meaning of the word shaadi, but did exactly as I was advised.
I don’t want to elaborate on the marriage, because I was probably too young to understand what was happening to me.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦

Rafi saab had been singing from the age of 10. So when we got married, he was well into singing ghazals (which were a rage at that time), and film songs.
But since I came from a very conservative upbringing, I didn’t quite like music, it didn’t matter so much to me. Even when we were married, Rafi saab didn’t encourage me to listen to his songs. He’d always smilingly look at me and joke. ‘If you only paid attention to my singing, who will do the house work?’ We would share a good laugh about it.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦.

We lived in a chawl at Dongri in the beginning of our marriage. I never felt anything, because I knew my young husband would be great one day. A little later, we shifted to a chawl in Bhendi Bazar, but Rafi saab didn’t quite like the area. So by the grace of Allah and fate, we soon took up an ownership flat at Colaba.

I never interfered in my husband’s work, but I realised that things were looking up for us. Even though Rafi saab never showed it – he remained a simple man throughout his fame. In ’54, we shifted to our home in Bandra and have remained here ever since. It was here that we had six of our seven children – four sons and three daughters.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.
Rafi saab was a very simple human being.
His life revolved around his children. In fact, I’d say unki zindagi bachche the.
I can’t recall a single moment when he never asked about them.
His was a routine: a home-to-recording-and-back-home schedule. After which, he’d promptly ask me if the children wanted anything. There was nothing he wouldn’t give them.
Only the Almighty above knows how they didn’t grow up spoilt. They adored their father and were very proud of him.
The only thing the children disliked about their abba was that he didn’t encourage taking them to recordings, functions or movies. In fact, they hated going to the movies with their father, because it was always the case of, ‘Let’s enter after the film begins and we’ll leave before it ends’. The kids always complained that they didn’t know what the start and end was!

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦


All this stemmed from the fact that Rafi saab disliked publicity of any kind. It was funny, because even if we were attending a marriage, he’d promptly tell the driver to wait near the gate. He’d enter, go straight to the bridal couple and after wishing them warmly, he’d walk back to the car and we’d drive home. It was quite a joke really.

Even the interviews he had to give, weren’t clone by him. The previous night, he would sit with his elder brother Abdul Amin and he’d explain to him how to answer.
All Rafi saab’s interviews were done by his elder brother. Infact, he treated Abdul saab like a father – the man literally caught my husband’s finger and taught him to walk. Abdul saab figures very prominently in making my husband the celebrity he finally became.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦..


Habits? Rafi saab as far back as I remember, would wake up every day at 3am and do his ‘riyaaz’. After about two-and-a-half-hours of that, he’d go and play a game of badminton.
Yes, the only funny habit he did have, was to fly kites. Even if he had a half-hour break between one recording and another, he would rush home, run up to the terrace and start flying his kites. He was like a child when it came to his kite flying. And he’d sulk like a baby if his kites were cut. This habit was his only love till the end.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.


I think his greatness lay in his humble attitude towards people. He was very religious and never forgot to thank Allah for what he had become and achieved.
The whole world around him had progressed, people had changed, but Rafi saab knew nothing of it – his ways never changed according to the times.
For him, it was the togetherness of his family which mattered. I think he was at his best when he would call all of our relatives over, ask me to cook a lovely meal and sit and chat. The unity of our whole family, is what Rafi saab was very sentimental about.



……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦..

My husband didn’t have any favourite singers. For any song that was sung well, he’d praise the singer. And even if he did like someone more than another, it was never mentioned – even to us. He always felt that if he took sides, he’d be hurting so many others in the bargain.
If anyone came and said, ‘Rafi saab, you sang so well that that movie is a hit and the hero has become big’, he’d answer, ‘if it wasn’t for the music director or that hero, I wouldn’t be singing that song. Inki vajay se mujhe kaam mila’.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦


Every music director that he worked with was treated with equal respect. For example: when Rafi saab was already an established singer, Laxmikant-Pyarelal were violinists in Shankar-Jaikishen’s group. Yet, when Laxmi-Pyare became big, never once did Rafi saab consider them as mere violinists. He’d always say, ‘Mere ustaad hain, I will learn more by
singing for him’.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦..


Favourite songs? I know he loved his song from Dulari under Naushad saab’s music – ‘suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaogee’.

But there were quite a few of his own songs which he liked. I knew it, because after his recording, he’d gather the children, bring out the harmonium and sing the song. He’d do this quite often when he was in a happy mood. What Rafi saab did quite enjoy, was when he had sung a song with a star – like with Nanda in Jab Jab Phool Khile or with Saira in Aman.

He always told us excitedly, ‘Today I sang with so-and-so’.
Favourite films? God knows what he liked about it, but he saw Sholay thrice.
He attended many trials, but I don’t remember him mentioning any film in particular.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦.


As far as actors were concerned, Rafi saab did have a special liking for Sammiji and Dharamji.
Shammiji, almost at every recording, would listen to Rafi saab and literally act out how he’d do a particular line, or make an expression with a particular word.
Dharamji was another actor who always openly showered his love on Rafi saab. Bada pyar tha in dono actoron ke liye. In fact, I am proud to say that I don’t think there is any film industry person who didn’t love my husband. And personally, he never spoke a word against anyone.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦


I spent the most wonderful 35 years of my life with Rafi saab – before he passed away on
July 31, ’80. He was going to be 54. I remember it even today. He had been requested to do a Bengali recording for their Kaali pooja album. The day before that, he told me ‘I’m tired, I don’t think I’ll be able to sing this Bengali song’. So I told him to tell the people to take somebody else. ‘No, no they’re coming all the way from Calcutta in the hope that I will agree. I’ll do it this year, but next year I’ll say no’.

The next day, he sat for rehearsal from 9:30am and was in pain, but he refused to tell us anything till 12:30 in the afternoon. We scoulded him about it, but he told us, ‘Those who come to the Rafi residence, should never return empty-handed’. These were his last words.

He was in a lot of pain and was sweating profusely. It was also in the month of Ramzan, so he was hungry. His hands and feet were yellow. The doctors asked us to shift him to a hospital, explaining that Rafi saab had suffered a very major heart attack. The end came soon after that…

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦.


Today, when I look back I am grateful for the children we have borne. They have been wonderful sons and daughters, and have been my strength for the last eight years, after his passing away. But yet there are moments when I wish I was 13 years old and Rafi saab was 19… There are times when I wish he’d come to me like he would nearly every evening, sit beside me and ask me, ‘What is troubling you? Tell me your troubles and they’ll all go away’.



Posted by: mohd2004 Oct 11 2004, 03:21 PM

Thanks Saj1974 for a nice article on Rafi Saab.


Mohd.

Posted by: Pradeep Oct 11 2004, 03:46 PM

Thank you Saj bow.gif This one sure goes pinned.

Posted by: dhiren Oct 11 2004, 04:07 PM

Dear Sajbhai,

Thank you very very much for such a nice article.

Posted by: irfan Oct 11 2004, 06:46 PM

Thanks SAJ for such a nice Article.The heart yearns more for Rafisaabs presence.

Posted by: Talaikya Oct 11 2004, 09:35 PM

Very Touching! Thank you Saj ji.

T


Posted by: SAJJAD Oct 11 2004, 10:12 PM

Thanks for the article bow.gif One question - Who is Abdul Amin ? I thought Hameed Saab was the man behind rafi saab's success!

Posted by: rafik Oct 12 2004, 08:27 PM


Thank you for sharing this article.

Posted by: iqbal Oct 12 2004, 08:41 PM


Thank you very much Saj for the wonderful article

Posted by: parekhashok Oct 21 2004, 01:30 PM

No words of thank are enough for Saj1974ji. A great article indeed. It is matter of regret that Mrs. Bilkis Rafi's thoughts published after 8 years of Rafisaab's passing away, reached to us after next 16 years!

Ashok Parekh

Posted by: myawan Oct 21 2004, 06:48 PM

Thanks to Saj for bringing this to us!

Posted by: rafian Nov 7 2004, 06:07 AM


> I spent the most wonderful 35 years of my life with Rafi saab – before he passed
> away on July 31, ’80. He was going to be 54. I remember it even today. He had
> been requested to do a Bengali recording for their Kaali pooja album. The day
> before that, he told me ‘I’m tired, I don’t think I’ll be able to sing this Bengali song’.
> So I told him to tell the people to take somebody else. ‘No, no they’re coming all the
> way from Calcutta in the hope that I will agree.
> I’ll do it this year, but next year I’ll say no’.


1980 - 54 = 1926
I thought Rafi was born in 1924.

Also, wonder why Rafi thought of saying "no" to singing the Bengali song the next year?

Rafi Bhakth,
Rafian

Posted by: anjani_iitk Jun 9 2005, 02:24 PM

Rafi was born on 24th December 1924 in Kotla Sultan Singh, Amritsar.

Posted by: iqbal Jun 9 2005, 03:51 PM

Hi Rafian / Anjani – See this thread where it also mentions 1926 as the year of birth.


http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?showtopic=11596

Posted by: asad_cmp Jun 26 2005, 05:43 PM

Thank you for giving such immortal article on the one and only Rafi Sahab.
I am a great fan and admirer of Rafi sb. Please send some detail interview of Rafi sahab about his opinion on his contemporary actors to whom he sung.


Thanks again

Asad Mehmood

Posted by: friend4u Jun 29 2005, 01:27 AM

Wonderful and Touching article. Thanks a lot to the releaser. It reached us late...But kehte hain na...better lte than never:)

take care

Posted by: HAMARI DUNIYA Jun 30 2005, 08:36 PM

Great insight in to Rafi sahab's personal life.
Very heartwarming.
Thanks for posting it.

Posted by: LEGENDRAFI Jul 2 2005, 08:34 PM

QUOTE(HAMARI DUNIYA @ Jun 30 2005, 08:36 PM)
Great insight in to Rafi sahab's personal life.
Very heartwarming.
Thanks for posting it.
*




A Beautiful article. A rare insight into a legend's life. Thankyou so much for providing us this privilege.

Posted by: Guest_Vilas_at_HF Jul 10 2005, 09:57 PM

My dream of knowing more about Rafi sahab has been fulfilled today after almost 25 years. Thank you so much Saj sahab....I am wondering why there is no live recording of Rafisahab I am looking for his live recording since long time. I regret that I never saw him personally. Somebody need to come forward as this year will be rafiji's 25 th death anniversary. Please try to get "LIVE" concert of Rafi sahab!!
I miss Rafi sahab forever!!!! ....Aisa insaan OR singer kabhi paida nahin hoga!!!
Love,
Vilas



QUOTE(Saj1974 @ Oct 11 2004, 02:36 PM)
Salaam,

I've had this article with me for about 14 years. Posting for everyone, absolutely brilliant read and give us a great insight of Rafi Saab as a person. Enjoy!!!!!

Regs
Saj

Source: Stardust or Star and Style (can't remember)

Mohd Rafi

‘Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho’ – the voice was deep, husky, sexy.
‘Suhani raat dhal chuki’ – the tome turned sad, sombre.
‘Chalkaye jaam’ – the slur of a drunkard. Intoxicating.
‘Yahoo. Chahe mujhe koi junglee kahen!’ – Exciting. Vivacious. The
voice had adopted a dare-devil attitude.
Behind all these moods lay one man – Mohammad Rafi.
Professionally acclaimed, personally Mr. Rafi preferred to be an
unknown. He hid his name and family from the eyes of the industry and
the public.
Today, eight years after his death, Mr Rafi resurrects the man behind the singer. The father behind the professional. The husband behind the
Rafi saab that we all knew… and loved.




I did not have a father – only my mother and an elder brother.
But from as far back as I can remember, Rafi saab was a household name.
My sister had married his elder brother, and it was she who brought the proposal home.
I was doing my sixth standard examinations and had just returned from school, when my sister told me, ‘tomorrow you are getting married’. I was 13 years old and Rafi Saab was 19. I didn’t know the meaning of the word shaadi, but did exactly as I was advised.
I don’t want to elaborate on the marriage, because I was probably too young to understand what was happening to me.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦

Rafi saab had been singing from the age of 10. So when we got married, he was well into singing ghazals (which were a rage at that time), and film songs.
But since I came from a very conservative upbringing, I didn’t quite like music, it didn’t matter so much to me. Even when we were married, Rafi saab didn’t encourage me to listen to his songs. He’d always smilingly look at me and joke. ‘If you only paid attention to my singing, who will do the house work?’ We would share a good laugh about it.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦.

We lived in a chawl at Dongri in the beginning of our marriage. I never felt anything, because I knew my young husband would be great one day. A little later, we shifted to a chawl in Bhendi Bazar, but Rafi saab didn’t quite like the area. So by the grace of Allah and fate, we soon took up an ownership flat at Colaba.

I never interfered in my husband’s work, but I realised that things were looking up for us. Even though Rafi saab never showed it – he remained a simple man throughout his fame. In ’54, we shifted to our home in Bandra and have remained here ever since. It was here that we had six of our seven children – four sons and three daughters.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.
Rafi saab was a very simple human being.
His life revolved around his children. In fact, I’d say unki zindagi bachche the.
I can’t recall a single moment when he never asked about them.
His was a routine: a home-to-recording-and-back-home schedule. After which, he’d promptly ask me if the children wanted anything. There was nothing he wouldn’t give them.
Only the Almighty above knows how they didn’t grow up spoilt. They adored their father and were very proud of him.
The only thing the children disliked about their abba was that he didn’t encourage taking them to recordings, functions or movies. In fact, they hated going to the movies with their father, because it was always the case of, ‘Let’s enter after the film begins and we’ll leave before it ends’. The kids always complained that they didn’t know what the start and end was!

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦


All this stemmed from the fact that Rafi saab disliked publicity of any kind. It was funny, because even if we were attending a marriage, he’d promptly tell the driver to wait near the gate. He’d enter, go straight to the bridal couple and after wishing them warmly, he’d walk back to the car and we’d drive home. It was quite a joke really.

Even the interviews he had to give, weren’t clone by him. The previous night, he would sit with his elder brother Abdul Amin and he’d explain to him how to answer.
All Rafi saab’s interviews were done by his elder brother. Infact, he treated Abdul saab like a father – the man literally caught my husband’s finger and taught him to walk. Abdul saab figures very prominently in making my husband the celebrity he finally became.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦..


Habits? Rafi saab as far back as I remember, would wake up every day at 3am and do his ‘riyaaz’. After about two-and-a-half-hours of that, he’d go and play a game of badminton.
Yes, the only funny habit he did have, was to fly kites. Even if he had a half-hour break between one recording and another, he would rush home, run up to the terrace and start flying his kites. He was like a child when it came to his kite flying. And he’d sulk like a baby if his kites were cut. This habit was his only love till the end.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.


I think his greatness lay in his humble attitude towards people. He was very religious and never forgot to thank Allah for what he had become and achieved.
The whole world around him had progressed, people had changed, but Rafi saab knew nothing of it – his ways never changed according to the times.
For him, it was the togetherness of his family which mattered. I think he was at his best when he would call all of our relatives over, ask me to cook a lovely meal and sit and chat. The unity of our whole family, is what Rafi saab was very sentimental about.



……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦..

My husband didn’t have any favourite singers. For any song that was sung well, he’d praise the singer. And even if he did like someone more than another, it was never mentioned – even to us. He always felt that if he took sides, he’d be hurting so many others in the bargain.
If anyone came and said, ‘Rafi saab, you sang so well that that movie is a hit and the hero has become big’, he’d answer, ‘if it wasn’t for the music director or that hero, I wouldn’t be singing that song.  Inki vajay se mujhe kaam mila’.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦


Every music director that he worked with was treated with equal respect. For example: when Rafi saab was already an established singer, Laxmikant-Pyarelal were violinists in Shankar-Jaikishen’s group. Yet, when Laxmi-Pyare became big, never once did Rafi saab consider them as mere violinists. He’d always say, ‘Mere ustaad hain, I will learn more by
singing for him’.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦..


Favourite songs? I know he loved his song from Dulari under Naushad saab’s music – ‘suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaogee’.

But there were quite a few of his own songs which he liked. I knew it, because after his recording, he’d gather the children, bring out the harmonium and sing the song. He’d do this quite often when he was in a happy mood. What Rafi saab did quite enjoy, was when he had sung a song with a star – like with Nanda in Jab Jab Phool Khile or with Saira in Aman.

He always told us excitedly, ‘Today I sang with so-and-so’.
Favourite films? God knows what he liked about it, but he saw Sholay thrice.
He attended many trials, but I don’t remember him mentioning any film in particular.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦.


As far as actors were concerned, Rafi saab did have a special liking for Sammiji and Dharamji.
Shammiji, almost at every recording, would listen to Rafi saab and literally act out how he’d do a particular line, or make an expression with a particular word.
Dharamji was another actor who always openly showered his love on Rafi saab. Bada pyar tha in dono actoron ke liye. In fact, I am proud to say that I don’t think there is any film industry person who didn’t love my husband. And personally, he never spoke a word against anyone.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦


I spent the most wonderful 35 years of my life with Rafi saab – before he passed away on
July 31, ’80. He was going to be 54. I remember it even today. He had been requested to do a Bengali recording for their Kaali pooja album. The day before that, he told me ‘I’m tired, I don’t think I’ll be able to sing this Bengali song’. So I told him to tell the people to take somebody else. ‘No, no they’re coming all the way from Calcutta in the hope that I will agree. I’ll do it this year, but next year I’ll say no’.

The next day, he sat for rehearsal from 9:30am and was in pain, but he refused to tell us anything till 12:30 in the afternoon. We scoulded him about it, but he told us, ‘Those who come to the Rafi residence, should never return empty-handed’. These were his last words.

He was in a lot of pain and was sweating profusely. It was also in the month of Ramzan, so he was hungry. His hands and feet were yellow. The doctors asked us to shift him to a hospital, explaining that Rafi saab had suffered a very major heart attack. The end came soon after that…

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦.


Today, when I look back I am grateful for the children we have borne. They have been wonderful sons and daughters, and have been my strength for the last eight years, after his passing away. But yet there are moments when I wish I was 13 years old and Rafi saab was 19… There are times when I wish he’d come to me like he would nearly every evening, sit beside me and ask me, ‘What is troubling you? Tell me your troubles and they’ll all go away’.
*



Posted by: vaishali Jul 12 2005, 09:34 AM

Dear Saj ji,

Very nice article, really 2 good.
thanks a lot !

regards,
vaishali

Posted by: soumya Jan 10 2006, 04:21 PM

lovely article. very touching to say the least. thank you so much thumbs-up.gif [b][font=Book Antiqua][size=6]

Posted by: Rafi:Bhakt Oct 13 2006, 01:34 AM

Saj-ji,
I simply can't thank you enough for this wonderful article. A great article, very touching. I was reading this with tears in my eyes...can't even fathom why God will take away a humble soul at only 54 years.

Rafi Saab We Miss You a Lot!

Posted by: Anwar_Fan Oct 21 2006, 07:34 PM


He died in a state of ROZA + in the company of his beloved family.

Beautiful article, thanks saj.

Posted by: shabbirkumar786 Apr 12 2007, 10:33 PM

QUOTE(Saj1974 @ Oct 11 2004, 02:36 PM) *

Salaam,

I've had this article with me for about 14 years. Posting for everyone, absolutely brilliant read and give us a great insight of Rafi Saab as a person. Enjoy!!!!!

Regs
Saj

Source: Stardust or Star and Style (can't remember)

Mohd Rafi

‘Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho’ – the voice was deep, husky, sexy.
‘Suhani raat dhal chuki’ – the tome turned sad, sombre.
‘Chalkaye jaam’ – the slur of a drunkard. Intoxicating.
‘Yahoo. Chahe mujhe koi junglee kahen!’ – Exciting. Vivacious. The
voice had adopted a dare-devil attitude.
Behind all these moods lay one man – Mohammad Rafi.
Professionally acclaimed, personally Mr. Rafi preferred to be an
unknown. He hid his name and family from the eyes of the industry and
the public.
Today, eight years after his death, Mr Rafi resurrects the man behind the singer. The father behind the professional. The husband behind the
Rafi saab that we all knew… and loved.




I did not have a father – only my mother and an elder brother.
But from as far back as I can remember, Rafi saab was a household name.
My sister had married his elder brother, and it was she who brought the proposal home.
I was doing my sixth standard examinations and had just returned from school, when my sister told me, ‘tomorrow you are getting married’. I was 13 years old and Rafi Saab was 19. I didn’t know the meaning of the word shaadi, but did exactly as I was advised.
I don’t want to elaborate on the marriage, because I was probably too young to understand what was happening to me.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦

Rafi saab had been singing from the age of 10. So when we got married, he was well into singing ghazals (which were a rage at that time), and film songs.
But since I came from a very conservative upbringing, I didn’t quite like music, it didn’t matter so much to me. Even when we were married, Rafi saab didn’t encourage me to listen to his songs. He’d always smilingly look at me and joke. ‘If you only paid attention to my singing, who will do the house work?’ We would share a good laugh about it.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦.

We lived in a chawl at Dongri in the beginning of our marriage. I never felt anything, because I knew my young husband would be great one day. A little later, we shifted to a chawl in Bhendi Bazar, but Rafi saab didn’t quite like the area. So by the grace of Allah and fate, we soon took up an ownership flat at Colaba.

I never interfered in my husband’s work, but I realised that things were looking up for us. Even though Rafi saab never showed it – he remained a simple man throughout his fame. In ’54, we shifted to our home in Bandra and have remained here ever since. It was here that we had six of our seven children – four sons and three daughters.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.
Rafi saab was a very simple human being.
His life revolved around his children. In fact, I’d say unki zindagi bachche the.
I can’t recall a single moment when he never asked about them.
His was a routine: a home-to-recording-and-back-home schedule. After which, he’d promptly ask me if the children wanted anything. There was nothing he wouldn’t give them.
Only the Almighty above knows how they didn’t grow up spoilt. They adored their father and were very proud of him.
The only thing the children disliked about their abba was that he didn’t encourage taking them to recordings, functions or movies. In fact, they hated going to the movies with their father, because it was always the case of, ‘Let’s enter after the film begins and we’ll leave before it ends’. The kids always complained that they didn’t know what the start and end was!

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦


All this stemmed from the fact that Rafi saab disliked publicity of any kind. It was funny, because even if we were attending a marriage, he’d promptly tell the driver to wait near the gate. He’d enter, go straight to the bridal couple and after wishing them warmly, he’d walk back to the car and we’d drive home. It was quite a joke really.

Even the interviews he had to give, weren’t clone by him. The previous night, he would sit with his elder brother Abdul Amin and he’d explain to him how to answer.
All Rafi saab’s interviews were done by his elder brother. Infact, he treated Abdul saab like a father – the man literally caught my husband’s finger and taught him to walk. Abdul saab figures very prominently in making my husband the celebrity he finally became.

……………………………………………………………………â€
¦â€¦â€¦..


Habits? Rafi saab as far back as I remember, would wake up every day at 3am and do his ‘riyaaz’. After about two-and-a-half-hours of that, he’d go and play a game of badminton.
Yes, the only funny habit he did have, was to fly kites. Even if he had a half-hour break between one recording and another, he would rush home, run up to the terrace and start flying his kites. He was like a child when it came to his kite flying. And he’d sulk like a baby if his kites were cut. This habit was his only love till the end.

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I think his greatness lay in his humble attitude towards people. He was very religious and never forgot to thank Allah for what he had become and achieved.
The whole world around him had progressed, people had changed, but Rafi saab knew nothing of it – his ways never changed according to the times.
For him, it was the togetherness of his family which mattered. I think he was at his best when he would call all of our relatives over, ask me to cook a lovely meal and sit and chat. The unity of our whole family, is what Rafi saab was very sentimental about.



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My husband didn’t have any favourite singers. For any song that was sung well, he’d praise the singer. And even if he did like someone more than another, it was never mentioned – even to us. He always felt that if he took sides, he’d be hurting so many others in the bargain.
If anyone came and said, ‘Rafi saab, you sang so well that that movie is a hit and the hero has become big’, he’d answer, ‘if it wasn’t for the music director or that hero, I wouldn’t be singing that song. Inki vajay se mujhe kaam mila’.

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¦


Every music director that he worked with was treated with equal respect. For example: when Rafi saab was already an established singer, Laxmikant-Pyarelal were violinists in Shankar-Jaikishen’s group. Yet, when Laxmi-Pyare became big, never once did Rafi saab consider them as mere violinists. He’d always say, ‘Mere ustaad hain, I will learn more by
singing for him’.

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Favourite songs? I know he loved his song from Dulari under Naushad saab’s music – ‘suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaogee’.

But there were quite a few of his own songs which he liked. I knew it, because after his recording, he’d gather the children, bring out the harmonium and sing the song. He’d do this quite often when he was in a happy mood. What Rafi saab did quite enjoy, was when he had sung a song with a star – like with Nanda in Jab Jab Phool Khile or with Saira in Aman.

He always told us excitedly, ‘Today I sang with so-and-so’.
Favourite films? God knows what he liked about it, but he saw Sholay thrice.
He attended many trials, but I don’t remember him mentioning any film in particular.

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As far as actors were concerned, Rafi saab did have a special liking for Sammiji and Dharamji.
Shammiji, almost at every recording, would listen to Rafi saab and literally act out how he’d do a particular line, or make an expression with a particular word.
Dharamji was another actor who always openly showered his love on Rafi saab. Bada pyar tha in dono actoron ke liye. In fact, I am proud to say that I don’t think there is any film industry person who didn’t love my husband. And personally, he never spoke a word against anyone.

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I spent the most wonderful 35 years of my life with Rafi saab – before he passed away on
July 31, ’80. He was going to be 54. I remember it even today. He had been requested to do a Bengali recording for their Kaali pooja album. The day before that, he told me ‘I’m tired, I don’t think I’ll be able to sing this Bengali song’. So I told him to tell the people to take somebody else. ‘No, no they’re coming all the way from Calcutta in the hope that I will agree. I’ll do it this year, but next year I’ll say no’.

The next day, he sat for rehearsal from 9:30am and was in pain, but he refused to tell us anything till 12:30 in the afternoon. We scoulded him about it, but he told us, ‘Those who come to the Rafi residence, should never return empty-handed’. These were his last words.

He was in a lot of pain and was sweating profusely. It was also in the month of Ramzan, so he was hungry. His hands and feet were yellow. The doctors asked us to shift him to a hospital, explaining that Rafi saab had suffered a very major heart attack. The end came soon after that…

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Today, when I look back I am grateful for the children we have borne. They have been wonderful sons and daughters, and have been my strength for the last eight years, after his passing away. But yet there are moments when I wish I was 13 years old and Rafi saab was 19… There are times when I wish he’d come to me like he would nearly every evening, sit beside me and ask me, ‘What is troubling you? Tell me your troubles and they’ll all go away’.







hey saj wat a WONDERFUL article!

as always uv come up with EXTRA-ORDINARY rare stuff!

keep it up mate.



take care.


BASH.

Posted by: manish7 Aug 5 2008, 05:18 AM

What a priceless treasure. I cannot thank you enough.

Posted by: venkat Aug 16 2008, 10:35 AM

I heard that by the late sixties, Rafi Saab's remuneration per song used to be Rs. 10000. Can anyone confirm?

Even on a conservative basis of money doubling every 5 years, that Rs. 10000 today must be equal to (Rs.10000 x 256 = Rs.25,60,000) a whopping Rs. 25.60 lakhs per song!!!!

Does any singer of today receive this kind of remuneration per song? Well, not that they deserve, in any case!!! smile.gif

Venkat

PS. If anyone wants a clarification on the arithmetic, I shall be glad to provide that. biggrin.gif

Posted by: venkat Aug 20 2008, 11:12 AM

QUOTE(venkat @ Aug 16 2008, 10:35 AM) *

I heard that by the late sixties, Rafi Saab's remuneration per song used to be Rs. 10000. Can anyone confirm?

Even on a conservative basis of money doubling every 5 years, that Rs. 10000 today must be equal to (Rs.10000 x 256 = Rs.25,60,000) a whopping Rs. 25.60 lakhs per song!!!!

Does any singer of today receive this kind of remuneration per song? Well, not that they deserve, in any case!!! smile.gif

Venkat

PS. If anyone wants a clarification on the arithmetic, I shall be glad to provide that. biggrin.gif


Anyone who can throw some light on Rafi Saab's remuneration per song by mid/late sixties?

Venkat

Posted by: r&d Aug 20 2008, 11:34 AM

Naushad talking about Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan asking
for 25000 for singing in Mughal-e-Azam. in which he said
that Lata bai and Mohd. Rafi used to get 300-400 per song.
This is probably late 50s. During the 60s price increased.
I think that is the reason Lata and Rafi didn't sing together during most of the 60s.

FYI, Your assertion that money doubles every 5 years would require
16% interest rate. power of compounding the most powerful Law
in science.

Posted by: venkat Aug 20 2008, 11:48 AM

QUOTE(r&d @ Aug 20 2008, 11:34 AM) *

Naushad talking about Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan asking
for 25000 for singing in Mughal-e-Azam. in which he said
that Lata bai and Mohd. Rafi used to get 300-400 per song.

FYI, Your assertion that money doubles every 5 years would require
16% interest rate. power of compounding the most powerful Law
in science.



R&D, I know for sure that Rafi Saab got nearabouts of the figure I mentioned, by 1968 or so. I have read news pieces (live) around that time, confirming it.

Mughal-e-Azam took many years to complete. So, the episode you mention could be during late fifties.

Well, regarding future values of money, Hyderabad real estate near Jubilee Hills had registered a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 35%, not just for two or three years, but over 18 years from 1990 to 2008!!!! smile.gif

Venkat

Posted by: r&d Aug 20 2008, 12:04 PM

QUOTE(venkat @ Aug 19 2008, 11:18 PM) *

QUOTE(r&d @ Aug 20 2008, 11:34 AM) *

Naushad talking about Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan asking
for 25000 for singing in Mughal-e-Azam. in which he said
that Lata bai and Mohd. Rafi used to get 300-400 per song.

FYI, Your assertion that money doubles every 5 years would require
16% interest rate. power of compounding the most powerful Law
in science.



R&D, I know for sure that Rafi Saab got nearabouts of the figure I mentioned, by 1968 or so. I have read news pieces (live) around that time, confirming it.

Mughal-e-Azam took many years to complete. So, the episode you mention could be during late fifties.

Well, regarding future values of money, Hyderabad real estate near Jubilee Hills had registered a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 35%, not just for two or three years, but over 18 years from 1990 to 2008!!!! smile.gif

Venkat



It is 80% for California for 10 years. That doesn't mean anything.
Japan had that during the late 80s. The bubble cannot go on forever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USA_home_appreciation_1998_2006.svg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shiller_IE2_Fig_2-1.png
Look at the above link and you can see that recent years is an anomaly based on
easy credit and cheap energy. Bubbles may be the way modern economies work.
But you continually need to find new bubble and dumb people to believe that this
time is different.

House are not investment they are liability. It only works if the prices keep doubling
to match the interest rate you are paying. Never in history that has been true.
If it was then every one would be millionaires. Cheap energy is not going to
last that is what Global warming is all about. Too bad most people have
their head buried in sand.

Posted by: Shahid Hussain Jan 20 2012, 10:05 PM

Good News For The Muhammad Rafi Fans And Punjabi Songs Lovers !
The World`s First Ever Book On Muhammad Rafiji`S Punjabi Songs Is Under Publication Which Will Cover All The Punjabi Songs Sung By Muhammad Rafi For Punjabi Films Or Non-Films. Bhajans, Ashloks And All Other Devotional Songs Are Included.The Detail Will Soon Be Posted. Any Suggestion And Information Is Welcomed.


Regards
Shahid Hussain
Lahore
00923224698677
singer.rafi@gmail.com
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Mohammad_Rafi_Singer/

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