The recent conferment of the Bharat Ratna awards on five personalities, predominantly from the political sphere, took Hindi music fans around the globe by surprise. Many had been passionately hoping that this year, marking the birth centenary year of the legendary playback singer Mohammed Rafi, would see him posthumously honoured with the long-awaited award.
Instituted on 2nd January 1954, the Bharat Ratna honours outstanding service or achievement without consideration of race, occupation, position, or gender. Despite the recent awards marking a record for the most Bharat Ratnas awarded in a single year, Rafi was conspicuously excluded.
Born on 24th December 1924, Rafi's remarkable journey as a playback singer, his unrivalled dominance spanning over two decades, and his numerous hit songs across various genres have led to comparisons with Manna Dey’s classical brilliance, Mukesh’s melancholic numbers, Talat Mahmood’s ghazal renditions, Kishore Kumar’s vibrant performances, and most notably, Lata Mangeshkar’s melodious hits, with whom he sang over 400 duets.
Although Lataji was honoured with the country's highest civilian award in 2001, the continued exclusion of Rafi sahab from this honour remains a surprising and significant oversight by the respective governments involved.
Should the decision of choosing this award have been made by popular vote, Mohammed Rafi might have been awarded this honour during his lifetime (he died on 31st July 1980). Interestingly, Rafi was honoured as the 'Best Singer of the Millennium' by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine in 2001 and was named the 'Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema' in a CNN-IBN poll in 2013. Furthermore, his song 'Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare' was voted the top song in Hindi cinema history by Outlook magazine poll in 2010, with three songs tied for second place, two of which (‘Din dhal jaaye’ and ‘Tere mere sapne’) were his.
Over the years, the recipients of the award in music field chronologically enlist: M.S. Subbulakshmi (in 1998), Pandit Ravi Shankar (in 1999), Lata Mangeshkar (in 2001), Ustad Bismillah Khan (in 2001), Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (in 2009), Bhupen Hazarika (in 2019).
Keeping this honour away from Rafi for all these years is a baffling enigma, especially since I believe he deserves recognition at least as much as, if not more than, Lataji. This is not to diminish her monumental contributions to music; however, prioritising her over Rafi seems to undermine his unparalleled impact on Hindi cinema music.
Besides numerous hit duets attributed to these legendary singers, the solo songs sung by both will substantiate the fact that Rafi had an advantage, as most of these songs are more popular in Rafi’s voice. The songs I remember include: ‘Mere Mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki qasam’, ‘Ahsan tera hoga mujhpar’, ‘Dil jo na kah saka’, ‘Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi’, ‘Teri ankhon ke siwa’, ‘Wadiyan tera daman’, ‘Pardesiyon se ankhiyan milana’, ‘Gar tum bhula na doge’, ‘Jab jab bahar aayi’, ‘O meri shahe khuban’, ‘Akele hain chale aao’, ‘Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge’, etc.
Undoubtedly, Lata matched Rafi in some songs, but she never surpassed him. But there are certain duets in which Rafi clearly outshined Lata. He had the rare combination of high notes and melodious voice, which remains unconquerable.
Rafi stood out as Hindi cinema's first prominent playback singer, who dexterously adapted his voice to match with all the leading actors of almost three decades including Bharat Bhushan, Dilip Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Shashi Kapoor, Joy Mukherjee, Rishi Kapoor, etc. Besides becoming heartwarmingly Shammi Kapoor’s voice, his songs like 'Sar jo tera chakraye aur dil dooba jaye' for Johny Walker and 'Hum kale hain to kiya hua dilwale hain' for Mahmood, exemplified his exceptional talent in playback singing. Recorded over 26,000 songs, he sang for all the music composers and lyricists of his time and lent his voice to a wide range of film music genres.
A Padmashri, the lowest tier of the civilian awards, is the only state honour he had received during his lifetime (in 1967). Moreover, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country's highest honour in the field of cinema, hasn't been conferred upon the legendary singer, while it was awarded to Lata in 1989, Asha Bhosle in 2000 and Manna Dey in 2007 by the government of India, shows this huge disparity.
Fifty years from now, when many recipients of the Bharat Ratna may fade into obscurity, merely noted in textbooks, Rafi's voice will continue to resonate through roadside dhabas, his songs remixed in nightclubs, and music clubs will still celebrate his mellifluous singing.
The legacy of Rafi’s divine voice in Hindi cinema music continues to live on through the voices of Mohinder Kapoor and Anwar during his lifetime, followed by Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz after his passing, and is now being carried forward by Sonu Nigam and Javed Ali. However, there have been many other playback singers such as Suresh Wadkar, SP Balasubramaniam, Udit Narayan and Sukhvinder, who have revealed shades of Rafi in their singing, even though they may not have consciously copied the legend.
Numerous Rafi-cloned vocalists like Debashish Dasgupta from Kolkata, Anil Bajpai from Gwalior, Saurav Kishan from Kerala, and Jugal Kishore from Delhi, enthrall audiences nationwide with live performances of the timeless songs from his repertoire.
The truth is, Rafi was far more than a legendary singer. He set a benchmark for the playback singing in Hindi cinema. The golden era of Hindi film music (the 1950s and 60s) revolved around him, and this reality is what resonates deeply with his fans.
Indeed, the lustre of the Bharat Ratna is literally diminishing and as its prestige is undermined by not being awarded to Rafi. I religiously believe that the title would feel honoured to be bestowed upon this unparalleled singer of Hindi cinema.
(Kausar Firdausi is a writer, poet and singer, based in Delhi. The views expressed are personal)
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