Mohammed Rafi

His last recording, five days before he died, was a duet with the singer he had once feuded with for years. They made up long before that day.

MCQ Questions

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Mohammed Rafi

The playback voice behind decades of Hindi cinema’s biggest stars.

149

Songs recorded with composer Naushad alone, over their long partnership

1944

First Hindi film song, a duet in “Gaon Ki Gori”

1967

Receives the Padma Shri

1968

Wins his only National Film Award, for “Neel Kamal”

1980

Dies at 55; over 10,000 attend his funeral

A feud, then reconciliation: Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar stopped recording duets for nearly 3 years, over a 1960s royalty dispute. They later made up, and his very last recording, days before his death, was a duet with her.

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Must Know

• Mohammed Rafi was born on 24 December 1924, in Kotla Sultan Singh, Punjab.
• He trained in classical music under Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan and other teachers.
• His first Hindi film song was a duet in “Gaon Ki Gori” (1944).
• His career grew rapidly through his partnership with composer Naushad, from the late 1940s onward.
• He sang for many of Hindi cinema’s leading actors, including Shammi Kapoor and Dev Anand.
• He won the National Film Award in 1968, for “Baabul Ki Duaen Leti Jaa,” from “Neel Kamal.”
• He received the Padma Shri in 1967.
• He died on 31 July 1980, in Bombay, of a heart attack, at age 55.

Good to Know

• He won 6 Filmfare Awards across his career.
• He sang in many languages beyond Hindi, including Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.
• Over 10,000 people attended his funeral, among the largest in Indian film history.
• India Post issued a postage stamp in his honour, in 2016.
• A 2013 CNN-IBN poll voted him the “Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema.”

Test Yourself

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1. Mohammed Rafi won his only National Film Award in 1968, for a song from which film?

Baiju Bawra

Neel Kamal

Guide

Pyaasa

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Great to Know

• His exact song count is disputed. A conservative, widely-cited figure puts his Hindi film songs at around 4,425. Rafi himself claimed 25,000-26,000 total recordings, and Guinness credited him with 28,000 by 1984 — but this entry was later withdrawn, in 1991.
• His 1960s royalty dispute with Lata Mangeshkar kept the two apart for nearly 3 years. Composer Jaikishan helped bring them back together, for the film “Palkon Ki Chhaaon Mein.”
• Don’t confuse Mohammed Rafi with the actors whose songs he sang. He was the singing voice behind stars like Shammi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, not an actor himself.