By SHRI RAM SHAW
New Delhi: “Sabhi se judaa jiska andaaz hai, Zameen taa falak jiski parwaaz hai / Wohi jispe sangeet ko naaz hai, Mohd. Rafi ki who aawaz hai.”
Forty four years have passed since the ‘messiah of mausiqui’ legendary Bollywood singer Mohd Rafi left for heavenly abode. But, the golden voice of the silver screen continues to reign the music world. The legend lives on through his magical velvet voice which is still lingering in the hearts and minds of millions of his fans across the globe.
On his 45th death anniversary (July 31), a musical evening has been organized at DAV Girls College, Yamunanagar, Haryana. Well-known Bollywood actors Aroon Bakshi and Mustaq Khan, and several singers including Mohit Khanna, Dimpi Gautam, Nidhi Arora and Priya Nahal will perform at the event to regale the audience likely to turn up in a large numbers.
Pankaj Arora, organizer of the event under the banner of Shri Ganesh Entertainment and Humanity Service Society said, “We have been organizing the event in memory of Rafi Sahab for the past 16 years. Haryana is the only state in entire country where we organize a week-long programme like blood donation camp, food and cloth distribution etc in memory of the great singer.”
“Rafi Sahab was the greatest ever playback singer of India. He was uniquely and singularly responsible for the very existence of the finest artistic grandeur, splendor and original creativity that embodied the golden era of music and melodies of Hindi cinema. He had such fascinatingly wide musical range, supreme artistic caliber, versatility and mastery over music and melodies,” Arora added.
Arora further said, “Such was his voice clarity, pleasantness of pitch and exquisite tone that he was unsurpassable and unparalleled. He has the distinction of being the first playback singer of all times to be featured in the pioneering list of the Guinness Book of World Records, for having sung the highest number of songs, which is a total of 26,000 songs, in Hindi and other languages.”
Aroon Bakshi, well-known actor-singer, said, “Mohammed Rafi was like an angel. He was very soft spoken, seldom angry, very humble. He was a very pious person. He believed in the concept of simple living and high thinking. During his lifetime Mohammed Rafi had donated immeasurable money in charity, noble causes and for our country.’’
“He was a true patriot of India and he believed in our country’s secular values and our rich culture, tradition and heritage. The boundaries of religion, caste, creed, richness, poverty, economic class, language and politics were beyond the legendary stature of Mohammed Rafi and he was above all these boundaries. Numerous instances are there when he bought expensive imported Dialysis equipment to our country to assist charity hospitals that serve ailing kidney patients of our nation. Rafi sahab was an ideal man with lofty ideals and esteemed values for which he was ready to face anything,” Bakshi added.
As movie buffs, we have all seen the skilled Aroon Bakshi as an actor. His portrayal of characters on the silver screen is one that states he is true to his role. Not only have we seen him, but we have heard him as well. He has enthralled audiences with high quality songs.
People have heard them all and sung them all and danced to their tunes with gay abandon. And the list of these songs has been endless including the more popular ones such as Duniya Di Tha Tha Tha from the Ajay Devgn starrer Platform, Tunna Tunna from the Sanjay Dutt starrer Adharma and Jhule Jhule Lal from the Akshay Kumar starrer Jai Kishen.
Bakshi made his acting debut with the 1981 film Sazaye Maut. He has been in the film industry i.e. Bollywood for more than four decades and has featured in more than hundred films including Hindi, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. He started his playback singing career with the 1986 film Karma, and then went on to lend his voice for songs in many movies. He has 323 songs to his credit till date.