Mohammed Rafi

  


Mohammed Rafi ( December 24, 1924 – July 31, 1980), was a legendary Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He won 5 National Awards and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwanlal Matto and Firoze Nizami.

Rafi's first public performance came at the age of 13, when he was allowed to sing at a concert featuring K. L. Saigal.

In 1948, Rafi sang "Suno Suno Aye Duniya Walon Bapu Ki Ye Amar Kahani", written by Rajendra Krishan. He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at the latter's house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Nehru on the Indian Independence Day.
Rafi's association with Naushad helped the former establish himself as one of the most prominent playback singers in Hindi Cinema. Songs from Baiju Bawra (1952) like "O duniya ke rakhwale" and "Man tarpat Hari darshan ko aaj" furthered Rafi's credentials.

 O. P. Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan and S.D. Burman. Burman patronized Rafi as the singing voice of Dev Anand.

Rafi worked with Burman in movies like Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Tere Ghar ke Saamne (1962), Guide (1965), Aradhana (1969), and Abhimaan (1973).

Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan were one of the most successful singer-music director pairs in the Hindi film industry. Under the baton of Shankar Jaikishan, Rafi produced his songs for actors like Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Out of six Filmfare awards, Rafi won three for S-J songs, viz., Teri pyari pyari soorat ko, Baharon phool barsao, and Dil ke jharokhe mein.

Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), composed by Ravi. He got National Award for the song Babul Ki Duaen Leti Ja from the film Neel Kamal (1968), also composed by Ravi. Ravi and Rafi produced several other hit songs, in the films China Town (1962), Kaajal (1965), and Do Badan (1966).

The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal ("L-P") also patronized Rafi as one of their leading singers, right from their very first film, Parasmani (1963). Both Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Awards for the song "Chahoonga main tujhe saanjh savere" from Dosti (1964). Rafi sang a total of 369 numbers (186 solo) for L-P

At one point Rafi stated that he was only so keen to sing with Lata Mangeshkar as she was with him.Later, at the insistence of S. D. Burman the two decided to reconcile and sing duets; on a personal level, there was still tension. During his last years, Rafi was involved in a controversy over Lata Mangeshkar's introduction in to the Guinness Book of World Records

In early 1970s, Rafi fell ill and recorded fewer songs. At The same period Kishore Kumar's popularity increased due to the songs he sang, controversially, for the film Aradhana in Mohd Rafi`s absence during Rafi's Hajj pilgrimage in 1969.

 The music for Aradhana was composed by S. D. Burman, and he had used Rafi as the male playback voice for the first two recorded duets, "Baaghon Mein Bahaar Hai" and "Gunguna Rahen Hain Bhanwre". After these two recordings, S. D. Burman fell ill and his son and assistant, R. D. Burman, took over the recordings. R. D. Burman got Kishore Kumar to sing the solos "Roop Tera Mastana" and "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani", which led to Kishore Kumar's popularity.

During 1971-1973, Rafi's musical output decreased; however, he did deliver several hits. Some of Rafi's popular songs of the early 1970s were with music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, R. D. Burman and S. D. Burman. These include "Tum mujhe Yun Bhula na Paoge"(a signature song of Rafi in 1971) from Pagla Kahin Ka, "Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil" from Heer Ranjha (1970), "Jhilmil Sitaron ka" from Jeevan Mrityu (a duet with Lata Mangeshkar, 1970), "Gulabi Aankhen" from The Train (1970), "Yeh Jo Chilman Hain" and "Itna to Yaad Hain Mujhe" from Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971), "Mera mann tera pyasa" Gambler, "Chalo Dildar Chalo" from 1972 released Pakeezah, "Chura Liya Hain Tumne" from Yaadon Ki Baarat (a duet with Asha Bhosle, 1973), "Na tu Zameen Ke liye" from 1973 released Dilip Kumar movie Dastan, "Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho" from Hanste Zakhm (1973), "teri bindiya re", from Abhimaan(1973) and "Aaj mausam bada beimaan hai" from Loafer (1973).

Rafi made a comeback as a leading singer in the mid-1970s. In 1974, he won the Film World magazine Best Singer Award for the song "Teree Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Qadam Aaj Ke Baad" (Hawas) composed by Usha Khanna.

In 1977, he won both Filmfare Award and the National Award for the song "Kya Hua Tera Wada" from the movie Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, composed by R. D. Burman. Rafi sang for Rishi Kapoor in films like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Sargam (1979) and Karz (1980). The qawwali "Pardah Hai Pardah" from Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) was a superhit. Rafi's notable renderings in the late 1970s and early 80s include Laila Majnu (1976), Apnapan (1978), Qurbani, Dostana (1980), The Burning Train (1980), Naseeb (1981), Abdullah (1980), Shaan (1980), and Asha (1980).

On Thursday, July 31, 1980, Rafi died at 10:50 p.m., following a massive heart attack. His last song was "Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost" (Aas Paas), which he had recorded with Laxmikant-Pyarelal few hours before his death. He was survived by four sons (Saeed Rafi, Khalid Rafi, Hamid Rafi, Shahid Rafi), three daughters (Parveen, Nasreen, Yasmin) and 18 grandchildren.

Rafi was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery. In 2010, his tomb was demolished to make space for new bodies. Fans of Mohammed Rafi who arrive twice a year at his tomb, on December 24 and July 31, to mark his birth and death anniversary, use the coconut tree nearest to his grave as a marker. Mohammed Rafi was known for his altruistic behavior, which was exhibited on several occasions.

The government of India announced a two-day public holiday, honouring him.


Awards

Honorary

• 1948 - Rafi received a silver medal from the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on the first anniversary of the Indian Independence Day.
• 1967 - Honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
• 2001 - Rafi was honored with the "best singer of the millennium" by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine in Mumbai on Jan 7, 2001. Rafi won with 70% of the votes.

National Film Awards

Winner:

Year	Song	Film	Music director	Lyricist
1957	"Jinhen Naaz Hain Hind Par"	Pyaasa	Sachin Dev Burman	Sahir Ludhianvi
1964	"Chahunga Main Tujhe"	Dosti	Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Majrooh Sultanpuri
1966	"Baharo Phool Barsao"	Suraj	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra
1967	"Babul Ki Duaae "	Neel Kamal	Bombay Ravi	Sahir Ludhianvi
1977	"Kya Hua Tera Wada"	Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin	Rahul Dev Burman	Majrooh Sultanpuri

         

Filmfare Awards

Winner:

Year	Song	Film	Music director	Lyricist
1960	"Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho"	Chaudhvin Ka Chand	Bombay Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni
1961	"Teri Pyaari Pyaari Surat Ko"	Sasural	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra
1964	"Chahunga Main Tujhe"	Dosti	Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Majrooh Sultanpuri
1966	"Baharo Phool Barsao"	Suraj	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra
1968	"Dil Ke Jharoke Mein"	Brahmachari	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra
1977	"Kya Hua Tera Wada"	Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin	Rahul Dev Burman	Majrooh Sultanpuri

Sameer (lyricist)

 

Sameer ( born 24 February 1958) is an Indian lyricist, mainly writing lyrics for songs in Hindi language films. He is the son of noted Hindi lyricist, Anjaan (Lalji Pandey). Since the beginning of his career, Sameer has penned around 4,000 songs in over 500 Hindi films and more than 130 songs in 23 regional films, including Bhojpuri and Marathi language films. He has won three Filmfare Awards. Recently, he announced his association with Tumbhi where he would nurture & review artists and their artwork

Sameer started his career as a lyricist in 1983 with the film Bekhabar (1983).
In 1990, he came into prominence with hit songs in films such as Dil and Aashiqui. He won his first Filmfare Award for the song Nazar Ke Saamne in the latter. In the following decades he emerged as a leading lyricist in Bollywood, writing the lyrics for over 500 Hindi films (4,000 songs)
According to Sameer, his inspirations have been lyricists Majrooh Sultanpuri and Anand Bakshi, and his father, Anjaan, a leading lyricist

Sameer won two additional Filmfare Awards in 1993 and 1994; one for the song Teri Umeed Tera Intezaar from the movie Deewana, and second for the song Ghunghat Ki Aad from Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke. Some of his most successful songs include songs in films like Beta, Saajan, Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Raja Hindustani, Anjaam, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Fiza, Dhadkan, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Devdas, Raaz, Dil Hai Tumhaara, Tere Naam, No Entry, Aksar, Dhoom 2, Saawariya and more.

The famous music composer duo Nadeem-Shravan chose Sameer as their lyricist for most of their works. Sameer authored more than 950 under the music composition of famous music composer duo Anand-Milind

 

Awards

• Filmfare Best Lyricist Award:
  • 1991: Nazar Ke Saamne from Aashiqui
  • 1993: Teri Umeed Tera Intezaar from Deewana
  • 1994: Ghunghat Ki Aad from Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke
• Zee Cine Award for Best Lyricist:
  • 1998: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Asha Bhosle ' the most versatile singer of bollywood'

  

Asha Bhosle (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly regarded Hindi playback singers in India. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 1000 Bollywood movies, and among other activities she has recorded many private albums and has participated in numerous concerts in India and abroad. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Renowned for her voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle's work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian Classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, Rabindra Sangeets and Nazrul Geetis. She has sung in over 18 languages.She had sung over 13,000 songs.

At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, marrying him against her family's wishes. Ganpatrao was sister Lata's personal secretary. The marriage failed miserably. Her husband and in-laws mistreated her. After a few years of marriage, Bhosle was turned out (around 1960) by a suspicious Ganpatrao and she went to her maternal home with two children and pregnant with her third child, Anand. She continued to sing in films to earn money.

At that time, prominent playback singers like Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar (her sister) monopolized the singing for the "heroine" roles and the big films, whilst Asha Bhosle used to get the assignments they did not take: singing for the bad girls and vamps, or songs in the second-grade movies. In the 1950s, she sang more songs than most other playback singers in Bollywood (not counting Lata), yet most of these were in low budget B or C-grade films. Her earliest songs were composed by A R Qureshi, Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam Mohammed, most of which failed to do well. Singing in Dilip Kumar-starrer Sangdil (1952), composed by Sajjad Hussain, she got reasonable recognition. Consequently, film director Bimal Roy gave her a chance to sing in Parineeta (1953). Raj Kapoor signed her to sing the song Nanhe Munne Bachche with Mohammed Rafi in Boot Polish (1954), which gained popularity

O. P. Nayyar gave Asha Bhosle a big break in C.I.D. (1956). She first achieved success in B. R. Chopra's Naya Daur (1957), composed by him. Her duets with Rafi like Maang ke saath tumhara, Saathi haath badhana and Uden jab jab zulfein teri, penned by Sahir Ludhianvi earned her recognition. It was the first time that she had got to sing all the songs for the lead actress. B R Chopra, the producer of Naya Daur recognized her talent and got her to sing in many of his later films including Waqt and Gumraah, Humraaz, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Dhund etc. Nayyar's collaboration with Bhosle also produced many hits. Gradually, she established herself and received patronage of composers such as Sachin Dev Burman and Ravi. Bhosle and Nayyar had a professional and personal parting of ways in the 1970s.

In 1966, Asha's performance in the duets from music director R D Burman's first successful movie, Teesri Manzil won popular acclaim. When Asha first listened to the tune of the song Aaja Aaja, she had felt that she would not be able to sing the Western dance number. R D Burman offered to change the music. She was offended a bit and took it as a challenge to sing the song. After rehearsing for 10 days, when she finally sang the song, an impressed R D Burman handed her a 100-rupee note. Aaja Aaja and other songs of the film, O Haseena Zulfonwali and O Mere Sona Re (all three duets with Rafi, another popular Bollywood singer), became rage of the day.

Shammi Kapoor, the actor of the movie, once said – "If I did not have Mohammad Rafi to sing for me, I would have got Asha Bhosle to do the job".

Asha's collaboration with R D Burman collaboration produced numerous hits in the 1970s and resulted in a marriage. In 1960s and 1970s, she became the voice of Bollywood's most famous dancer, Helen. It is said that Helen would attend her recording sessions so that she could understand the song better and plan dance steps accordingly. Some of the most popular Asha Bhosle-Helen numbers are Piya Tu Ab To Aaja (Caravan), O Haseena Zulfon Wali (Teesri Manzil), and Yeh Mera Dil (Don).

By the 1980s, Asha Bhosle had been stereotyped as a "cabaret singer" and a "pop crooner". In Rekha-starrer Umrao Jaan, she proved her versatility by singing ghazals like Dil cheez kya hai, In aankhon ki masti ke, Ye kya jagah hai doston and Justju jiski thi. The music director Khayyam, had lowered her pitch by half a note. Asha herself was surprised that she could sing so differently. The ghazals won her the first National Award of her career. A few years later, she won another National Award for the song Mera Kuchh Saamaan from Ijaazat (1987)

In 1995, a 62-year-old Asha Bhosle did playback for young actress Urmila Matondkar in the movie Rangeela. The soundtrack featured songs like Tanha Tanha and Rangeela Re sung by her, and composed by music director A. R. Rahman, who went on to record many more songs with her.
As late as 2005, 72-year-old Asha Bhosle's numbers for the Tamil film Chandramukhi and the pop song Lucky Lips for Salman Khan-starrer Lucky were chartbusters.

Partnership with music directors: 

O.P. Nayyar  

Khayyam

Ravi

Sachin Dev Burman

Rahul Dev Burman (Pancham)

Ilaiyaraaja

A. R. Rahman

Jaidev

Shankar Jaikishan

Anu Malik & almost every music director of bollywood.




Awards

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award:

  
 
  

• 1968: "Garibon ki Suno" (Dus Lakh, 1966)
• 1969: "Parde Mein Rehne Do" (Shikar, 1968)
• 1972: "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" (Caravan, 1971)
• 1973: "Dum Maro Dum" (Hare Rama Hare Krishna, 1972)
• 1974: "Hone Lagi Hain Raat" (Naina, 1973)
• 1975: "Chain Se Humko Kabhi" (Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye, 1974)
• 1979: "Yeh Mera Dil" (Don, 1978)
• Other Awards:
  
  • 1996 - Special Award (Rangeela, 1995)
  • 2001 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
  
  

  National Film Awards

   

  Asha has won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer twice:
  
  • 1981: Dil Cheez Kya Hai (Umrao Jaan)
  • 1986: Mera Kuch Samaan (Ijaazat)







She received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema


• In 1997, Asha became the first Indian singer to be nominated for the Grammy Award, for Legacy, an album with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.... "Asian Hero"

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan  (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997) was a musician from Pakistan, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis. He was featured in Time magazine's 2006 list of "Asian Heroes".
In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan(Uncle), Nusrat became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party.
Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan.

His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.
Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage.

He sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan. He also sang Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye for Sunny Deol's movie, Dillagi. The song was released only in 1999, two years after Nusrat's death.
Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram, composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Nusrat. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" was also done as a tribute to Nusrat
    

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001

Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure on August 11, 1997 in London, England while on the way to Los Angeles in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital, London, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48.^{[5][unreliable source?]} His body was returned to Faisalabad, Pakistan and his funeral was attended by the public.

In 2005, Nusrat was awarded the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards

Many other artists have also cited Nusrat as an influence, such as A.R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra, and Alim Qasimov.

Sukhwinder Singh

 

Sukhwinder Singh is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards.

Singh later gained more international fame for singing "Jai Ho" from the film Slumdog Millionaire, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

The combination of Sukhwinder Singh and composer A. R. Rahman has produced many hit songs. The list includes "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from Dil Se, "Ramta Jogi", "Ni Main Samajh Gayee" and "Taal Se Taal Mila" from Taal, "Ruth Aa Gayee Re", "Raat Ki Daldal Hain" and "Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain" from Earth, "Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai" from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, "Aayo Re Sakhi", "Bhangari Morori" and "Piya Ho" from Water, "Chinnamma Chilakkamma" from Meenaxi, "Thok De Killi" from Raavan, and "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire. He has also recorded a couple of Tamil songs for Rahman: "Thiruvallikkeni Rani" from Udhaya and "Lucky Lucky" from Ratchagan.

Sukhwinder Singh is one of the most in-demand singers in Bollywood.

he got a break in a Madhuri Dixit starrer called Khilaaf in which he sang a hit song ‘Aa ja sanam’. But the singer himself realised that something was missing in his voice. He left his dream city to tour England and America to learn more about music. To see, hear and understand the various forms of music. After this broadening of his musical horizons he returned to Mumbai to kick-start his musical career.

Best Of Sukhwinder Singh:
Song	Movie
Chhaiya Chhaiya	Dil Se
Rut Aa Gaye Re	1947 - Earth
Ramta Jogi	Taal
Ishq Bina	Taal
Dholna	Thakshak
Ae Watan	Hindustan Ki Kasam
Hai Hai Mirchi	Biwi No. 1
Ilu Ilu	Saudagar