Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer and musician.
65 Facts About Mohammed Rafi
2.
Mohammed Rafi is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent.
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Mohammed Rafi was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie.
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Mohammed Rafi received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award.
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In 2001, Mohammed Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine.
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In 2013, Mohammed Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN's poll.
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Mohammed Rafi recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and in many Indian languages as well as some foreign languages, though primarily in Urdu and Punjabi, over which he had a strong command.
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Mohammed Rafi recorded as many as 7,000 songs throughout his career, spanning several languages and dialects such as Konkani, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Magahi, Maithili, etc.
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Mohammed Rafi was the second eldest of six brothers born to Allah Rakhi and Haji Ali Mohammad in a Punjabi Jat Muslim family.
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Mohammed Rafi's father moved to Lahore in 1935, where he ran a men's barbershop in Noor Mohalla in Bhati Gate.
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Mohammed Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami.
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In 1941, Mohammed Rafi made his debut in Lahore as a playback singer in the duet "Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee" with Zeenat Begum in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch under music director Shyam Sunder.
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In that same year, Mohammed Rafi was invited by All India Radio Lahore station to sing for them.
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Mohammed Rafi made his Hindi film debut in Gaon Ki Gori in 1945.
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Mohammed Rafi and Hameed Sahab rented a ten-by-ten-feet room in the crowded downtown Bhendi Bazar area.
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Around the same time, Mohammed Rafi recorded another song for the 1945 film Gaon Ki Gori, "Aji Dil Ho Kaaboo Mein".
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Mohammed Rafi considered this song to be his first Hindi language song.
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Mohammed Rafi appeared on the screen for the songs "Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha" in film Laila Majnu and "Woh Apni Yaad Dilane Ko" in the Film Jugnu.
19.
Mohammed Rafi sang "Tera Khilona Toota Balak" from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi and a duet with Noor Jehan in the 1947 film Jugnu, "Yahan Badla Wafa Ka".
20.
In 1949, Mohammed Rafi was given solo songs by music directors such as Naushad, Shyam Sunder and Husnalal Bhagatram.
21.
Mohammed Rafi sang with Durrani in some of the songs such as "Humko Hanste Dekh Zamana Jalta Hai" and "Khabar Kisi Ko Nahiin, Woh Kidhar Dekhte".
22.
In 1948, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the team of Husanlal Bhagatram-Rajendra Krishan-Mohammed Rafi had overnight created the song "Suno Suno Ae Duniyawalon, Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani".
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Mohammed Rafi was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at his house.
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In 1948, Mohammed Rafi received a silver medal from Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian Independence Day.
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Mohammed Rafi ended up singing a total of 149 songs for Naushad.
26.
Mohammed Rafi was annoyed and hired Rafi to sing all the songs of the movie Baiju Bawra.
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Mohammed Rafi worked with Burman in 37 films, including Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Kala Bazar, Nau Do Gyarah, Kala Pani, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Guide, Aradhana, Ishq Par Zor Nahin and Abhimaan.
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Mohammed Rafi worked with them from their first film, Barsaat.
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Mohammed Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand, composed by Ravi.
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Mohammed Rafi received the National Award for the song "Baabul Ki Duaen Leti Jaa" from the film Neel Kamal, composed by Ravi.
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Ravi and Mohammed Rafi produced several other songs in the films China Town, Kaajal, Do Badan and Ek Phool Do Maali.
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Mohammed Rafi sang a total of 197 numbers for Nayyar.
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OP then stated that from now on he too did not have the time for Mohammed Rafi and cancelled the recording.
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Mohammed Rafi rendered the highest number of songs for this music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, as compared to all the music directors: 388.
35.
Once, when composer Nisar Bazmi, who once worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal before he had migrated to Pakistan, didn't have enough money to pay him, Mohammed Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him.
36.
Kalyanji's relationship with Mohammed Rafi started with the 1958 film, Samrat Chandragupta, his debut film as a solo composer.
37.
Kalyani-Anandji and Mohammed Rafi went on to work together for the music of the Shashi Kapoor-starrer Haseena Maan Jayegi, which featured songs like "Bekhudi Mein Sanam" and "Chale The Saath Milke".
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Mohammed Rafi associated with several of his contemporaries, singing duets with them and sometimes for them.
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Mohammed Rafi sang the highest number of duets with Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar.
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Mohammed Rafi sang for many small time and lesser-known music directors.
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Mohammed Rafi sang several songs in Chris Perry's Konkani album Golden Hits with Lorna Cordeiro.
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Mohammed Rafi recorded many private albums in various genres and languages.
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Mohammed Rafi sang 2 songs in Mauritian Creole while on his visit to Mauritius in the late 1960s.
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Mohammed Rafi refused to side with her, stating that his claim on the film producer's money ended with his being paid his agreed fee for the song.
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Mohammed Rafi argued that the producer takes financial risk and the composer creates the song, so the singer does not have any claim over the royalty money.
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Mohammed Rafi felt belittled, as music director Salil Chowdhury sided with Lata.
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Mohammed Rafi stated that he was only so keen to sing with Lata as she was with him.
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Mohammed Rafi could recover some of the lost ground in 1977, but the main songs of the period were by Kishore Kumar.
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Mohammed Rafi made a comeback as a leading singer in mid 1970s.
50.
In 1976, Mohammed Rafi sang all the songs for Rishi Kapoor in the hit film Laila Majnu.
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Mohammed Rafi sang for many successful films in the late 1970s and the early 1980s many of whose hit songs were dominating the charts in the late 70s on radio programs such as Vividh Bharati, Binaca Geetmala and Radio Ceylon.
52.
In 1978, Mohammed Rafi gave a performance at the Royal Albert Hall and in 1980 he performed at the Wembley conference centre.
53.
In December 1979, Mohammed Rafi recorded six songs for the Hindi remake of Dilip Sen's Bengali superhit Sorry Madam; the film was never completed due to a personal tragedy in Dilip Sen's life.
54.
Mohammed Rafi died at 10:25 pm on July 31,1980, following a massive heart attack, aged 55.
55.
The last song sung by Mohammed Rafi was for the movie Aas Paas, with music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
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Mohammed Rafi was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery and his burial was one of the largest funeral processions in India as over 10,000 people attended his burial.
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Fans of Mohammed Rafi, who visit his tomb twice a year to mark his birth and death anniversaries, use the coconut tree that is nearest his grave as a marker.
58.
On September 22,2007, a shrine to Mohammed Rafi designed by artist Tasawar Bashir was unveiled on Fazeley Street, Birmingham, UK.
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Bashir is hoping that Mohammed Rafi will attain sainthood as a result.
60.
Lata Mangeshkar, his contemporary, has said that "Mohammed Rafi bhaiya was not only India's greatest playback singer but a wonderful person" and that "he was one singer whose vocal range could outclass any other singer, whether it was me, Asha, Mannada or Kishore bhaiya".
61.
In 2001, Mohammed Rafi was named as the "best singer of the millennium" by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine.
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Mohammed Rafi married twice; his first marriage was to his cousin, Bashira Bibi, which took place in his ancestral village.
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Mohammed Rafi had four sons and three daughters; his first son, Saeed, was from his first marriage.
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Mohammed Rafi was a teetotaller and abstained from smoking and he stayed away from parties in the industry.
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Mohammed Rafi contributed to the society by helping people through his charity and notable deeds.