Artistes from Doha will join a celebrity singer from Pakistan to pay tribute to one of the greatest singers from India, Mohammed Rafi. Carrying on with its tradition of organising a concert on Rafi’s death anniversary, Punjab Music Group, a community forum comprising expatriates from the subcontinent, will organise the Rafi Tribute Nite at Skill Development Centre on July 29.
Sohrab Ali Khan, a classical vocalist from Lahore, has been invited to perform at the event. He will be joined by singers from India such as Neha Prasad and Shyam Moham while popular radio host Farzana Safdar of FM 107 will host the musical event, expected to be attended by a large number of Rafi fans in Doha.
Sohrab Ali Khan is a popular singer who started in 2001 and has since been the disciple of classical vocalist Ustad Basharat Hussain. Khan released his first audio album in 2007. “This will be as big a show as we have been organising in the past and we are expecting a large number of people to show up,” said the chief organiser of the event, Nazakat Ali Khan.
Mohammed Rafi (December 24, 1924 –July 31, 1980) was an Indian playback singer and one of the most popular in the Hindi film industry. Rafi was notable for his versatility, his songs ranged from classical to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans.
He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona of the actor lip-synching the song on screen in the movie. Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought after singer in the Hindi film industry. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri award by the government of India.
Rafi is primarily noted for his songs in Hindi, over which he had a strong command. He sang in other Indian languages including Assamese, Konkani, Bhojpuri, Odiya, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu … and notably Urdu. Apart from Indian languages, he also sang songs in English, Farsi, Arabic, Creole, and Dutch.
Contemporary Bollywood singers like Shreya Ghoshal, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Mahendra Kapoor, Shabbir Kumar and Mohammed Aziz were influenced by Rafi’s style of singing.
Pakistan’s noted film, television and radio singer Anwer Rafi also imitated Rafi’s voice. Mohammed Rafi Academy was launched in Mumbai in 2010 on the 30th anniversary of the singer’s death, started by his son Sahid Rafi to impart training in Indian classical and popular music.
After his death in 1980, seven Hindi movies were dedicated to Rafi: Allah Rakha, Mard, Coolie, Desh-Premee, Naseeb, Aas-Paas and Heeralal-Pannalal. Rafi is one of the recording artistes mentioned in the 1997 hit British alternative rock song Brimful of Asha by Cornershop.
Anwer Rafi was invited by PMG in 2014 at a similar concert to pay tribute to legendary Mohammed Rafi at Al Khor Community auditorium. Anwer regaled the audience with over two dozen immortal songs of Rafi. Indian singer and actress Aishwaria Murali presented duets with Anwer, much to the delight of the audience.
Anwer is a recipient of several awards like Bolan Award, Graduate Award, Bahoo Award and National Award. Born in Lahore on June 23, Anwer is the son of well-known music director Mohammad Shafi Nagi, who was the cousin of Mohammad Rafi. He is married to the daughter of Pakistan’s prominent music director Nazir Ali. Incidentally, Anwer was also born in Lahore’s Mohallah Chumalaa, the birth place of Rafi.
Local singers Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Javed Bajwa and Abu al-Khair presented popular songs. Mohinder Jalandhri group and Sangharsha group also performed at the show.
REMEMBERING RAFI: Vocalist Sohrab Ali Khan of Khaberdar fame from Pakistan will perform at the show. Right: Farzana Safdar of FM 107 will host the show.
