A SUFI IN BOLLYWOOD: MOHAMMED RAFI - Part 3 of 3.

                        The moral of the Sufi is beneficence!

By NASIR ALI:

“….but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor,
the widow, and the orphan, if they come to your door.”
Khwaaja Moinuddin Chishty.


Rafi Sahaab could be called a great philanthropist because within the limited income from his playback singing career and despite the responsibility of his huge family and relatives, he donated substantial sums of money to the needy who were not necessarily poor but still deserving whether in the film industry or elsewhere.


Whenever some music directors approached him for help and a request that if he sang for them the film producer would hire them for his film, he always acceded to their requests. In order to preserve their moral integrity and also give a boost to their nascent career, he would nominally charge just a Rupee, and give them his blessings too. To top it, he always gave out his best renditions even when he was not paid at all. His song, Chanda kaa dil TooT gaya hai (KHOJ) for Music Director, Nisar Bazmi, who finally migrated to Pakistan in 1962 is a case in point. The truth is that if Rafi Sahaab had not have been generous or made “adjustments” in his fees, we would have missed many lovely songs that Rafi Sahaab sang for such Music Directors as Iqbal Qureshi in CHA CHA CHA (Subha naa Aayee); Sonik-Omi (of Dil ne Phir Yaad Kiya fame) in MAHUA (the thundering Donon ne kiyaa thaah pyaar magar); Dulal Sen for in BLACK PRINCE (Nigaahen naa phero chale jaayenge hamm ); Lala-Assad-Sattar in SANGRAM (Main toh tere haseen Khayaalon me.n ); Sardar Malik in BACHPAN (Mujhe tumse mohabbat hai); G.S. Kohli in ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (Maanaa mere haseen sanam): C. Arjun in MAIN AUR MERA BHAI (O Gori zulm kare zulf ka bikhar jaana); or in PUNARMILAN the song filmed on Jagdeep as the hero (Paas baiTho tabiyat bahal jaayegee); Pandit Shivram in OONCHI HAVELI (Daulat ke jhooThe nashe mein ho choor); Babul in NAQLI NAWAB (Tum poochhte ho ishq bala hai ke nahin hai; and Chhedaa jo dil kaa fasaana); and for his colleague Bipin Datta whom Rafi Sahaab helped produce KYA YEH BAMBAI HAI and also sang for him the cruising waltz of Yeh bambai shahar ka baDaa naam hai par gaDbaD  ghoTaale kaa har kaam hai... filmed on comedian Maruti (father of Guddi Maruti); Prem Dhawan in Pavitra Paapi (Allah hi Allah kar pyaare bhayy ); Sapan-Jagmohan’s maiden musical venture in BEGAANA (Phir voh bhuli si yaad aayee hai) and in TERI TALASH MEIN (Teri aawaaz ki jaadugaree se).


Regarding the last-named song above, an interesting anecdote was related by Sapan-Jagmohan over the Vividh Bharati Radio Station. The musical duo wanted to record a song in a male voice but definitely not in Rafi’s since they knew that the producer would not be able to afford the Legend’s fees. On the other hand, the producer being a die-hard fan of Rafi Sahaab told them that he would be able to arrange the money for Rafi Sahaab. So they scheduled a recording session for Rafi Sahaab who promptly attended the studio in time. However, the worried look on the faces of the producer and the musical duo told Rafi Sahaab that something was amiss with the team. On enquiry, he learnt that the producer had not been able to arrange for his payment. Had there been anyone else in place of Rafi Sahaab he would have there and then gone away.  But not Rafi Sahaab!  The saint that he was, he put the entire team at ease and recorded the song giving out his best as usual.  He left wishing them all the best. No one remembers the movie but only the song.  Such was the “Jaadugaree” of his voice and generosity.


According to Pyarelal, Rafi Sahaab was the only singer who never took money for the first song that he recorded for a new composer. It is known that Rafi Sahaab did not charge Laxmikant-Pyarelal for their maiden venture CHHAILA BABU (1960)(Tere pyaar me.n mujhe Gham milaa) and for PARASMANI that was released first (1963). Even for DOSTI (1964), he had just a token payment. The musical duo acknowledged that “Har dukh mein Rafi Sahaab ne hamaaraa saath diyaa.”


Now, unlike others, Rafi Sahaab would go for the recording at the appointed time or even before, in order that producers may not be saddled with extra costs. After the job was done he would go back home without ensuring that his fees had been paid or not. A film-producer knew this habit of Rafi Sahaab. So when the song recording was over, the producer absconded without paying or even saying thank you. Once it so happened that one day the producer found himself in the same studio as Rafi Sahaab. He tried to flee. However, the generous soul that he was, Rafi Sahaab asked him to take it easy. He told him not to worry since there were many others in line before him, who had yet to pay him. Rafi Sahaab, in fact, used to “forget” if someone owed him money.


It also happened that when some such film producers paid him the fees he returned the same to them as gifts for their children. Once after finishing the recording of a song Rafi Sahaab came out of the studio and made his way towards his car. There he found the producer standing by the car. He had kept the money wrapped in a handkerchief. He handed it over the bundle to Rafi Sahaab. Rafi Sahaab found the handkerchief contained soiled and crumpled notes of various lower denominations. Rafi Sahaab understood that the producer had collected the money from various sources in order to pay him. Acknowledging the payment which was not even half of what the producer had promised him, he handed it back to the producer.  Rafi Sahaab told him that he should consider it as a gift from him for his children. It is difficult to say whether the film-producer was more astonished or more grateful - or both!

Of course, as far as the commercial film-makers were concerned, they could afford to pay his price and Rafi Sahaab did insist on the payment from them. However, money was not the criterion for him to accept any movie. Once C.V. Nagaiah, the famous personality of the Telegu films, invited Rafi Sahaab to sing in his new venture BHAKTA RAMADASU which had been considerably delayed for want of funds since Mr. Nagaiah's benevolence had been selfishly exploited by unscrupulous people.   Rafi Sahaab recorded the song Dil ko hamaare darshan dena that was to be picturised for the character of Kabir in the film. Considering the background, he refused to take the payment. Instead, he selflessly asked Mr. Nagaiah whether he needed any financial help for completion of his movie. Rafi Sahaab had known Mr. Nagaiah only cursorily through the Hindi screen version of MEERA and yet he took the pains to travel down South at his cost with the aim of helping out Mr. Nagaiah.

As the yester-year’s popular Bollywood hero, Jeetendra, stated during the recent launch of the Rafi Academy in Mumbai, Rafi Sahaab sang hundreds of songs free for film producers who were not able to pay him money. Accompanying Jeetendra on that occasion was Rakesh Roshan, and this reminds me that the latter had started out as an actor and then graduated as producer-director. For his AAP KE DEEWAANE, Rafi Sahaab sang the title song for free just because he himself liked the song and it was a one-liner anyway. How many singers would do that?  Thus it was that Rafi Sahaab helped film producers and upcoming music directors who could not afford even his reasonable fees.

At this juncture, it is also essential to apprise the dear readers that it is not that all such producers are innocent of mal-practices.  It is a well-known fact that some of them deliberately delay payments to the staff and artistes so that if the movie flops, they can wash their hands off,  citing the loss.  Of course, this can never be the ground for not paying the artistes but this is being done.  Mohammed Rafi Sahaab definitely knew about all this hanky-panky business.  However, he never worried about that account because he was happy when someone succeeded and was grieved when someone suffered a loss.   A concrete example can be cited:  Everyone remembers HUMSAYA (1968) for Rafi Sahaab's soulful song:  Dil kee aawaaz bhee sun.  Joy Mukherjee was the producer and director and also the movie's hero along with Mala Sinha and Sharmila Tagore as his heroines.  I remember that the movie was premiered at the Maratha Mandir Cinema.  Despite the lilting compositions of O.P. Nayyar the movie bombed at the box-office.  Joy Mukherjee was devastated.   When this news reached Rafi Sahaab he at once met Joy and handed him an envelope that contained Ten Thousand Rupees that he had received as his fees.   Joy was reluctant to accept it.  Seeing his reluctance, Rafi Sahaab sang: Dil kee aawaaz bhee sun to him.  Hearing this, Joy couldn't refuse Rafi Sahaab!    Now how many singers or artistes can go to that extent in this dog eat dog world!


Rafi Sahaab’s beneficence is also borne out by the fact that he did not charge for the songs in case the movie was produced by a colleague such as Kishore Kumar. For his songs in CHALTI KA NAAM ZINDAGI, (Band muTThee laaakh kee) released 1981, he just charged One Rupee.

Then, who does not remember, Madhuban mein radhika naache re (Kohinoor – 1960)!  When Rafi Sahaab heard the tune that Naushad Saab had composed in Raga Hamir, Rafi Sahaab got so much carried away that he only took a token-payment of One Rupee for his masterly rendition. He let go of the bet amount that he won from S.U. Sunny, the film producer who initially wanted to delete this number but retained it after Rafi Sahaab predicted the thundering success of the song.

Similarly, he refused to take money from Naushad Saab for recording the ghazal, Jis raat ke Khwaab aaye (in the unreleased HABBA KHATUN). Incidentally, this was his last work with Naushad Saab for soon thereafter, Rafi Sahaab was no more. Naushad Saab recounts that after hearing the composition in Raga Patdip Rafi Sahaab began to weep. He had liked it immensely. After the recording of the song, he started to weep again out of the sheer impact of the ghazal. When Naushad Sahaab insisted to pay him, Rafi Sahaab refused, saying that the joy that he had derived from singing the ghazal was much more than what the money could give him. He went away saying: “Main paise naheen loonga, main paise naheen loonga…”


Music Director Anu Malik (son of Sardar Malik of SARANGA fame) remembers Rafi Sahaab as the kindest human being he ever knew and as the “Giving Person” who often refused to accept money.


There are also instances when he left huge sums of money in his bag for the benefit of some older singers who had fallen on bad days, without even letting them know about it. At times he recommended them to music directors. He also encouraged new talents without bothering in the least that they would be a competition for him.  But this merits a topic by itself and is not being dealt here. 


Rafi Sahaab would distribute sweets after every recording session and would also ask the musicians if they needed anything. This scene was witnessed and committed to memory by at least one person who had attended the recording of the Rafi-Manna Dey duet in ABHILASHA:  Ek jaanib shamme mahfil. While his colleague had gone away after the recording, Rafi Sahaab spent lots of time with the musicians,  asking them if they needed any help.


Rafi Sahaab never publicized his charity. He used to mail cheques to the deserving lots of filmy people regularly without mentioning his name or address. The veil of secrecy was lifted only after Rafi Sahaab went to meet his Lord. When the cheques stopped coming, the beneficiaries realized that it was Mohammed Rafi Sahaab who had been helping them monetarily by sending them the cheques down the years. Additionally, every month a queue of the needy people formed outside his house. Rafi Sahaab would then hand over Rupees 100 or Two-Hundred to the people without bothering for their names.


During the holy month of Ramadan, it was usual for Rafi Sahaab to pay the Zakaat (i.e. compulsory tithe of two and a half percent of the income) annually to the deserving and the needy. Packets of money were prepared in advance of this month and the names or designated numbers of each of the hundreds of the recipients were written down on the packet in order to ensure that none was left out. The packet would be given to the recipients when they gave out their names and numbers. The distributor of Rafi Sahaab’s zakaat generally happened to be his Secretary, Zaheer, who was also his brother-in-law. There was no pomp or show and no hassle.


Rafi Sahaab’s was well-known for his munificence even to the ordinary folks in the vicinity and other cities. They knew that if anyone approached him, he would give them the needed assistance. There was this lady from Hyderabad who was related to Fazal Nawaz Khan Jung Bahudur (d.1964), the Finance Minister of the erstwhile Nizam’s Hyderabad. She had the cancer of the thyroid and came down to Mumbai for surgery at the J.J. Hospital. She went from door to door of film personalities and businessmen for financial assistance. When she approached Rafi Sahaab, the latter donated Rupees Ten Thousand without bothering to ask for any receipt. This was the highest amount she had received from any individual. This was in the early Seventies – the so-called “lean period” of Mohammed Rafi Sahaab. Remember that as we near the year 2011 in two weeks’ time, the sum of Ten Thousand Rupees can still be considered as a substantial amount for charity. Then, it is also a well-known fact that it was Rafi Sahaab who was the first person who had got dialysis equipment imported from abroad for donation to the Bombay Hospital for the kidney- patients.


Next, I may briefly point out that there was this man who had four daughters. How he, a total stranger, approached Rafi Sahaab for monetarily help and how Rafi Sahaab gave him money for getting not one but all his four daughters married goes to prove beyond the pale of doubt that he was a man with a golden heart, and a “Sakhi Hatim”.  Rafi Sahaab had told the man that he should not reveal the matter to anyone.  However, that grateful man revealed this fact only after the passing away of Rafi Sahaab. (For details please see the Philanthropic Side of Rafi – Part 1 in this Blog at http://tinyurl.com/3yc7bjm)

Rafi Sahaab also used to give something more: Anup Jalota remembers Rafi Sahaab teaching him how to maintain his posture before the microphone and how he should throw his voice into it. As such Anup Jalota also learnt to make the distinct pronunciation of each of the words that he sang. To his ardent fan, Mahendra Kapoor who used to copy Rafi Sahaab’s singing style and even the way he talked, walked and dressed, Rafi Sahaab advised him to learn classical training and forge his way ahead with an original singing voice. Even Bhupinder benefitted from Rafi Sahaab during the recording sessions of Haqeeqat. Rafi Sahaab introduced Mahendra Kapoor to the Chopras, while he instructed Kalyanji of Kalyanji-Anandji musical duo to remove Manhar Udhas from the chorus singing while recording Kisi mehrbaan ki nazar DhoonDhte hain (RAJA SAAB), to the latter’s shock. He, however, felt relieved to learn from Kalyanji that Rafi Sahaab had recommended him as a full-fledged playback singer.  In fact, extra lyrics were written to the same song to accommodate the solo rendition of Manhar Udhas whose career saw a rising graph. Mubarak Begum recollects how accommodating Rafi Sahaab was! Though it was in 1963 that their duet, Mujh ko apne gale lagaa lo (HAMRAHI) became famous, a decade earlier when they were recording a DAERA song, Devta tum ho meraa sahaaraa, she couldn’t match Rafi Sahaab’s pitch and requested him to lower it, which he willingly did. Nitin Mukesh recently disclosed that his dad, the legendary playback singer Mukesh, had advised him: “Tuu Rafi ke gaane gaa. Gaanaa seekhna hai, Gaane waala banna hai, achchaa Gulukaar banna hai, Mohammed Rafi ke gaane gaa.” He adds that his father was right! According to Yesudas, "Studying Mohammed Rafi can help a budding singer more than any textbook on music can do."


There are too many such incidents, but all of them cannot be recounted here. Many we would never know. Thus Rafi Sahaab essentially practised the morality of Sufism.


To conclude, Rafi Sahaab was a God-fearing man who maintained impeccable conduct and behavior in his dealings with God and man. He was of a spotless character and free from anger, lust, greed, and egotism. Simple living and high thinking were natural to him. What emerges unequivocally is that Rafi Sahaab was sensitive and full of feelings for others. He had the betterment of others at heart. He was generous to a fault and considerate towards every person he came in contact with. He was active in rendering help whether in cash or kind to the people around him and even to the total strangers. Expecting no returns for his favours , he remained as humble as ever to the last despite his legendary status of the most revered and greatest playback singer in the Indian sub-continent. Indeed, wherever he went his presence brought a whiff of fresh morning breeze even to the dark pockets of the filmdom, serving them as a role-model so that the people benefitted from his association, altruism, philanthropy, charities, and devotion to work.


Indeed, Mohammed Rafi Sahaab was a true Sufi who graced the Indian film industry called Bollywood.


CONCLUDED


NASIR ALI 

MOHAMMED RAFI, A SUFI IN BOLLYWOOD - Part 2 of 3.

The charm of Sufi is his humility!



The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk on the earth in modesty, and if the impudent offend them, they continue their way saying: “Peace” (Qur’an: 25:63)


This one is a very well-known trait of Rafi Sahaab. According to Rafi Sahaab, humility is a must for one to be successful in any field. He took care never to hurt someone’s feelings for whoever does that will never be successful in life:
“Hamne kisi ka dil dukhaayaa naheen. Jo kisika dil dukhaata hai voh zindagi mein kabhi tarakki naheen kar saktaa.”


As Pyarelal of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo stated, Rafi Sahaab always looked down while talking and no matter with whom he talked he did so in the same tone. I must make it clear for the western readers that keeping the eyes lowered is a sign of humility and a great virtue recommended by the Holy Quran. For him everybody was the same. “He was the ‘Farishta’.” Once after he had recorded Woh jab yaad aaye (Parasmani), both Laxmikant and Pyarelal touched his feet. Rafi Sahaab told them he does not sing well out of his own volition but that Allah makes him sing well.


Rafi Sahaab’s voice has been called the “Voice of God” by his fans. For some his voice was a miracle; for some it was magic. Easily, he was the most mellifluous playback singer in the film industry with a voice that could move mountains. The powerhouse of his voice was such that he could easily sing in three octaves without veering out of control. As Naushad Saab stated, even after scaling highest notes he would stay at that peak without shaking his voice, remaining firm there. He was also the most versatile singer. His repertoire included the peppy and energetic songs, Rock ‘N’ Roll numbers, romantic and sad songs, lullabies, ‘bidai’ songs, ‘Heer’, folk-songs, semi-classicals, ghazals and nazms, bacchanalian songs, patriotic songs, devotional songs including bhajans, shabads, bhangras, naats, munajaats, and qawwalis and what not! He could sing in many Indian languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Konkani and even English. He won 23 Filmfare nominations and won 6 times. Of course, if the Awards for singing had been constituted earlier than 1959, he would have won many more awards. He won three Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, each in 1957, 1965 and 1966. He won the National Award twice, one in 1968 and the other in 1977. Though he deserved better, in 1965 he condescended to accept the Padma Shri Award from the Government of India. As early as 1948, he had won a Silver Medal that was handed to him by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the newly independent India,. In 2001, he was posthumously honoured as the Best Singer of the Milleneum by Hero Honda and Stardust film magazine. However, as has been stated before, Rafi Sahaab attributed the magic of his voice to God. Therein lies his true humility which is one of the characteristics of a real Sufi.


In the film industry we do come across instances of humility but mostly they are phoney or cultivated with the aim of satisfying personal interest. Once the interest is served then the do-gooder is forgotten. Here, one can cite the big names in Bollywood by way of examples but we won’t. Rafi Sahaab’s humility was such that he gave respects not only to the seniors but also to the juniors. He was eager to learn and despite his immense knowledge of songs and music and his stature in Bollywood, he considered the music director whose songs he sang as his Guru.

For example, during the Dil Deke Dekho days, Usha Khanna, who had made her debut as music director with this movie, fought shy to suggest some nuances to Rafi Sahaab in certain song. How could she! She was just two years old when from 1944 to 1959, i.e. when that movie was released, Rafi Sahaab had sung songs the number of which was more than combined number of songs of all the other male singers during the period. However, Rafi Sahaab put her at ease by telling her that she had not learnt the song from him but that he had learnt the song from her. Now, how many famous people can crush their ego to such an extent, and that too, before a novice? Hardly! That was Rafi Sahaab.


This had happened earlier too with Shankar-Jaikishan who had made their debut in Barsaat (1949). The young Rafi had already made waves post Saigal-Age, when he went on the spree of matching his voice to the cinematic content, reaching the perfection in the Nineteen Sixties. He, along with Suraiya, was a hot favourite of their Gurus, the first musical duo, Husnlal-Bhagatram. Rafi Sahaab told the debutants that they were the composers and he would sing their composition the way they wanted. Hence, Main zindagi mein hardam rotaa he rahaa hoon was recorded. The trio of Rafi-Shankar-Jaikishan was to rule the Bollywood music for two decades and bring a romantic flamboyance to the way the music was composed.


In regard to money matters, Rafi Sahaab gave donations or charities through his Secretary as we shall see later. Naushad Saab, the ace music director once asked him why he did so. The answer he received from Rafi Sahaab was typical of a saintly humility: “Main denewaaale kaun hoon? Denewaalaa to Allah hai.” (i.e. Who am I to give? The Giver is God). Thus he did not assign charity to himself but to God. He believed in the deed – not in Glory.

It is interesting to note that it was the humility of Rafi Sahaab that made the mega-star Amitabh Bachchan bow down with respect and touch the feet of the singing legend. This happened before the recording of the Rafi-Amitabh duet, Chal mere bhai, for Naseeb (1980). A day before Laxmikant-Pyarelal , the music directors for Naseeb, told Amitabh Bachchan that Rafi Sahaab was very punctual and therefore he should report for recording on time. The next day both Rafi Sahaab and Amitabh Bachchan reported at almost the same time at 12.30 p.m. Rafi Sahaab noticed that Amitabh was shaky and his eyes were bloodshot.  On asking him the reason, Amitabh revealed that he had been listening to Rafi Sahaab’s voice from the time he was ten years old. And now that he was scheduled to sing with him he had spent a sleepless night. Hearing this Rafi Sahaab laughed. He let him into his own secret. He told Amitabh that he too had spent a sleepless night thinking that he will be singing with a much taller superstar. Amitabh Bachchan was deeply touched by the answer of Rafi Sahaab and he spontaneously bowed down to touch Rafi Sahaab’s feet for blessings.


In an interview of Amitabh Bachchan by Rahul Bajaj on Sahara TV Channel of 20th August, 2007 the former was asked to say something about Rafi Sahaab. Speaking about Rafi Sahaab, Amitabh Bachchan said:


"Rafi Sahaab bahut hee sajjan insaan theh, itna sajjan insaan maine aaj tak naheen dekhaa.”


He then went on to narrate an incident where he was on a tour for two days. Rafi Sahaab was the main attraction and he was to sing on Day One. Another singer was to sing on Day Two. After finishing his assignment on the first day, Rafi Sahaab left for the airport. In the meantime, to their shock, word reached them that the other singer was not coming. This would have definitely marred the show on Day Two. They were nervous. They dashed to the airport only to learn that Rafi Sahaab had already boarded the plane. They were granted the permission by the authorities to emplane and speak to Rafi Sahaab for a few seconds. They informed Rafi Sahaab about their predicament. After hearing them out, Rafi Sahaab did not utter a word. Without any fuss he simply got up and disembarked from the plane. Such was the grace and personality of Rafi Sahaab. After narrating this incident Amitabh added: “And on the top of this, what a voice! What a singer!”


Amin Sayani, the very popular compere and radio-host of yesteryears pointed out the sense of justice and quality of Rafi Sahaab. If he travelled with the artistes or troupe, he would insist on sitting with them in the economy class, rather than choose the luxury of the executive class. He followed the same trend of lodging in the same hotel as them.

Film star Nanda too fondly recalls her recording stint with Rafi Sahaab. This was for Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965) and the song was Ek thaah gul aur ek theeh bulbul. The readers will remember that the song contains laughter and certain utterances of Nanda. Someone introduced her to Rafi Sahaab as “Baby Nanda.” We know that she began her career as a child artiste in her father’s home production, Mandir, and the word “Baby” continued to be tagged after her name despite her attaining the womanhood and stardom. Babies grow up but the habit dies hard and we cine-goers used to continually call her as Baby Nanda. This was also the case with “Baby” Naaz. Anyway, she was a great fan of Rafi Sahaab and told him so. Instantly, Rafi Sahaab too said that he was a great fan of hers. According to Nanda, “I couldn’t believe it. I was flabbergasted. It was the biggest compliment of my life!”


Next, an incident was narrated to a friend of mine by an eye-witness which does proud to the word, Humility, itself:  During a concert at Calcutta some four decades ago, this person heard an eminent playback singer shouting that “If you have Rafi for the show, why bring me in!” Later that person  followed the singer to the Green-Room where he saw that singer having a cup of tea.  In walked Rafi Sahaab for tea.  When a cuppa was brought to him, he ignored it. Instead, he  just picked up the cup of that singer who had been sipping tea from it.  Putting that cup of to his lips he began to sip tea saying: Perhaps, I will get the ‘Sur’ (note of the musical scale) by drinking the remainder of the tea (‘jhuThaa’)from this cup!”  On hearing what Rafi Sahaab said, tears welled up in the eyes of the singer for he was a good man at heart.  From that onwards he himself became a great fan of Rafi Sahaab.


Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingle of Indian Melodies, while paying him a tribute on the occasion of his 30th death anniversary, stated: “"Rafi bhaiya was not only India's greatest playback singer but also a wonderful person. I am yet to come across another artist so modest, dignified and unassuming.”


According to Thespian Dilip Kumar: “Is shakhs me.n kabhee ahankaar kee, naa ghamand kee, koee boo baas nahee.n theeh. Kabhee kisee ne Mohammed Rafi Sahaab ko kisee par naaraaz hote nahee.n dekhaa naa koee baat sunee….”

To conclude.

NASIR

MOHAMMED RAFI - A SUFI IN BOLLYWOOD. PART 1 OF 3.

His Inner Nobility and Spiritual Awareness:

by Nasir:

 When we speak of Sufi or Sufism we are faced with a formidable gamut of religion and philosophy that has come down to us for centuries either in the form of writings of scholars and/or the ascetic practices of sages and saints in the sub-continent of India and elsewhere. Sufi is a God-fearing person who not only worships his Creator but also serves the mankind, carrying on his vocation with a sense of worship and devotion without obstructing or manipulating his fellow-creatures. We don’t want to go into the origin of Sufism and examine its religio-philosophical aspects. Suffice it to say that the aim of the Sufi is to spread peace, love and happiness in his environment and among all the creatures for the sake of pleasing that Supreme Creator who is known as Allah, God, or Ishwar . Thus a Sufi is shorn of all the negative traits that act contrary to divine love and command but which are usually common among us –the ordinary human beings. The spirit of Sufism has to be reflected in the personal character and the day to day activities in relation to God and the human beings.


As for Bollywood, it is not just glamour, glory and grandeur. To a greater extent, it is known for such evils as vulgarity, gossiping, bitching, unhealthy grind, envy, rivalry, swipes, insults and brawls, hypocrisy, groupism, devastating usury, drinking, gambling, greed, bribery, black-money laundering, casting couch, fornication and adultery.  No, I wasn’t referring to the reel life but real life where these aberrations abound but which nevertheless need to be pointed out if one wishes to know about the other side of positive Bollywood. This was the place where Rafi Sahaab worked for almost four decades.  As I stated in my earlier posts, “He far exceeded the moral standards of the Bollywood film industry in comparison with which he clearly emerges as a saint. Yes, if one has to name a saint in Bollywood, then Rafi Sahaab’s is the only one name.”


For brevity’s sake, we will examine only a few aspects of Rafi Sahaab’s character which amply demonstrate how a Sufi strayed into Bollywood and made a lasting impact not only as the greatest playback singer but also as one of the greatest human beings ever to grace the Hindi film industry.  In fact, Rafi Sahaab’s first brush with a Sufi began when he was just seven years old when a faqir used to frequent his neighbourhood singing hymns and devotional songs. The child was attracted to what he heard and began following the faqir almost daily. In the process he learnt to sing and surprised many who later heard him reproduce those hymns. No one in the least could even imagine that one day the same child would attain a lasting fame as the world renowned singer and a great human being.  However, just singing devotional songs or Sufi songs does not make one a Sufi. In other words, a cowl does not make a monk.


Strictly speaking,  the word “Sufi” can only be attributed to a high-ranking Muslim saint (Awliya) but figuratively the word is being used for a person who in addition to following the code of Islamic conduct and prohibitions and commands, also practices the inner dimensions of Islam and not just its outer aspects. By such practices that person purifies his heart from the filth and beautifies it with exemplary traits, including love for God and his creatures. This is what we find in Rafi Sahaab. His good nature was evident from the fact that he observed the divine commandments such as the daily ritual prayers, compulsory fasting, paying the compulsory tithe, i.e. Zakaat – all without hypocrisy! He paid respect to his seniors and behaved with kindness with the juniors and with justice to his equals. He did not follow the flesh nor the devil.  Rafi Sahaab was a devout Muslim who knew that law without truth is mere display, truth without law sheer hypocrisy. As such, he concentrated on ‘Namaaz’ and till his dying day he never let go of the shariat or the outer aspects of Islam. In fact at the time of his fatal heart attack, he had been fasting for the entire month of Ramadan and refused to take medicines on that fateful day.


It has been said that a person who remembers God despite facing the day to day grinds of daily life is far superior to the one who gives up the worldly life to offer full-time prayers. His spiritual consciousness drew him closer to God since he regarded everything, including the wealth, his well-being, and his voice, as belonging not to himself but to God.


During the time of his tremendous output of songs and the height of popularity, the success never went to his head. At the same time when his output declined in early 70’s in comparison with his previous outputs that did not deter him at all. He faithfully continued with his ‘Riyaaz’ and still giving hits one after the other. For Rafi Sahaab, both the conditions were the same, and he remained contented. At about this time, he was more occupied with performance of the compulsory obligation of the Haj and complying with the spiritual aspects of pleasing his Creator at the cost of his job. He had also been advised by no less than his brother Hamid – the same person who had put him as a kid on the stage to sing in Saigal Saab’s presence – to give up singing and settle down in Canada.

As a matter of fact, Rafi Sahaab had even gone to the U.K. and had been staying there where Kishore Kumar and Amit met him at his residence in London in 1972 and were treated to exotic meals and time-travel down the years. And, as stated, we know that even during that period Rafi Sahaab provided a number of hit songs which are still popular today, such as Aaj mausam badaa beimaan hai (for LOAFER 1973) to name just one!


As Dilip Kumar mentioned in an interview to a Marathi Language newspaper, Sakal, of 28th July, 2005:

“In late 60s (i.e. 1969) and early 70s, people in the industry were gossiping about how Kishore Kumar has dismantled Rafi's position. But Rafi was not even slightly affected by it. I myself never liked any sort of comparison between Rafi and Kishore Kumar. But Rafi preferred to remain quiet. He never tried to answer the criticism that was being thrown at him with words. It was always his voice and his songs that used to do all the talking. Rafi is not amongst us today but his voice and his songs are still there with us.” (English Translation courtesy Prince2a of Hamara Forums)


However, Rafi Sahaab was prevailed upon by his children to continue what he was best at, namely, playback singing. Once he decided to come back to the recording studios, the pendulum began shifting in his favour once again beginning 1976 (Laila Majnu) so that later in 1977 he won the Filmfare Award in the Best Singer Category as well as the National Award for Kyaa huwaa teraa waada in Hum Kisise Kam Nahin. For the remainder of his life, Rafi Sahaab remained the busiest and the most popular playback singer. He regained his position with the triumph of the returning emperor or like the rising of the phoenix though not completely from the ashes. Thus like a true Sufi, Rafi Sahaab was never swayed by the ups and downs of life.


Let Fate be cool as water, hot as fire,
Do thou live happily whichsoever it be!


He respected all religions and human beings. We are informed by one of his fans that when Rafi Sahaab was asked how does Islam view other religions, he replied: “All are vehicles and a path to God’s Divine Presence.” He thus respected the unity of religious ideals.  The colour of the water is the same. However, it's the colours of the vessels that give the water a different hue.

There can be no denying the fact that Rafi Sahaab has rendered the filmy or non-filmy devotional songs with such soulful sweetness and heart-rending pathos and over-powering emotions that they send the listeners into raptures. Pointing out to a Bhajan of Rafi Sahaab which he rendered for Kalyanji-Anandji in GOPI (Sukh ke sab saathee), Pyarelal of the LP musical duo says: “There’s so much ‘Apnapan’ in the Bhajan though he belonged to a different religion.”

Check out a few filmy and the non-filmy devotional songs: Parwar-digaar-e-aalam (HATIM TAI); Ibtedaa tuu hai intehaa tuu hai; Kaali kamli waale tujh pe laakhon salaam (a duet of HATIM TAI KI BETI); Agar mil gayee mujhko raah-e-madinaa; Agar kamli waale ki rahmat naa hoti; Shah-e-madinaa sarware aalam sallal laaho ‘alaihi wassallam; Baadshaah-e-Wilaayat Ali murtuzaa; Madad keejiye taaj-daar-e-madinaa; and many many more such naats as well as qawwalis.
Bhajans: Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj (BAIJU BAWRA), Mujhe apni sharan mein lelo ram (SANT TULSIDAS); O duniya ke rakhwaale (BAIJU BAWRA); Duniya naa bhaaye and Badee der bhayee (BASANT BAHAAR); Aaj achaanak rooth ke mujh se chale gaye bhagwaan (CHAKRADHARI);  Jis kaa saathee hai bhagwaan (AASTIK); Aanaa hai toh Aa (NAYA DAUR); Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh (AMAR); Apnee chhaayaa me.n bhagwann (INSANIYAT);  Soona soona laage biraj ka dhaam; Tere bharose hey nandlaala; Mere Shyaam teraa naam; or the Shabads Mitar pyaare noo (NANAK NAAM JAHAAZ); Har ko naam sadaa sukh daayee and the like and many others in various Indian languages.


Rafi Sahaab was never carried away by the gloss or glitter of Bollywood. Thus he hardly had time for the filmy parties and gatherings. He never smoked; he never took alcoholic drinks. Thus contrary to the norm in many film industres, he never indulged in wining, dining and womanizing! His spare time he devoted to his wife and children and carrying on the good deeds of spreading love and sunshine in people’s life. Sometimes he indulged in outdoor games for the sake of his health and sometimes enjoyed flying kites from the terrace of his home. A black kite in the blue sky, Chali baadlon ke paar/hoke Dor pe sawaar, signified that it was Rafi Sahaab who was at the end of the kite’s string.

CONTINUED IN PART 2....