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Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was the most versatile playback singer Hindi cinema has ever known — a voice for which no emotion, no style, no octave was out of reach. Born into a modest family in the village of Kotla Sultan Singh in Punjab, Rafi's love of music began in the lanes of Lahore, imitating the call of a wandering fakir. While working at his elder brother's barber shop, he received formal classical training from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami. At thirteen, when a power failure interrupted a K.L. Saigal concert in Lahore, the young Rafi was put on stage to calm the crowd — and destiny opened its door.

His recording career began with the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (1944); he entered Hindi cinema with Gaon Ki Gori (1945) after moving to Bombay. Naushad's 'Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki' (Dulari, 1949) brought his first major recognition, and 'O Duniya Ke Rakhwale' from Baiju Bawra (1952) proved that even the most punishing classical passages bowed before this voice. For the next two and a half decades Rafi was the voice of every hero — Dilip Kumar's gravity, Dev Anand's romance, Shammi Kapoor's abandon ('Yahoo!'), Johnny Walker's mischief — giving each a distinct vocal personality.

'Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho' (1960) won him his first Filmfare Award; he won six in all, plus the National Film Award for 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' (Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, 1977). The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on him in 1967. Ghazal, bhajan, qawwali, patriotic anthem, lullaby, comic number — he set the standard in every form, recording several thousand songs across more than a dozen languages. Famously gentle and devout, he was known to sing for free for struggling producers. He died of a heart attack on 31 July 1980; tens of thousands walked in his funeral procession through torrential Bombay rain. To this day, when any new singer attempts a soaring high note or a feathered whisper, the measure remains the same — Rafi Sahab.

Rafi was born on 24 December 1924 in Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near Amritsar in Punjab, one of six sons of Hajji Ali Mohammad. The family had no musical tradition; the boy nicknamed 'Pheeko' first fell in love with melody by following a fakir who sang through the village lanes. Around 1935 the family moved to Lahore, where his elder brother ran a barber shop and Rafi worked in it. A brother-in-law, Mohammed Hameed, spotted the boy's gift and arranged formal training — with Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami he learned Hindustani classical music. At thirteen came the legendary break: at a Lahore concert where K.L. Saigal refused to sing until power was restored, young Rafi was sent up to hold the restless crowd. Composer Shyam Sunder noticed him, and by 1944 Rafi had recorded his first songs for the Punjabi film Gul Baloch.

Rafi reached Bombay in 1944 and sang his first Hindi film song for Gaon Ki Gori (1945). Naushad became his great architect: after 'Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki' (Dulari, 1949), Baiju Bawra (1952) made Rafi the undisputed master of classical-weight film song. Through the 1950s and 60s he formed defining partnerships — with O.P. Nayyar (whose rhythmic swagger Rafi voiced for Shammi Kapoor in Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Kashmir Ki Kali), with Shankar-Jaikishan (Junglee's 'Yahoo!', Suraj, Brahmachari), with Madan Mohan (ghazals like 'Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil'), with Ravi ('Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho', his first Filmfare) and with Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He could record a bhajan ('Man Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko' — written, composed and sung by Muslims), a qawwali, a drunken lament and a comic Johnny Walker number in the same week. The Kishore Kumar wave after Aradhana (1969) briefly dimmed his dominance, but 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' (1977) won him the National Award and a triumphant last act. He recorded until days before his death in July 1980.

Rafi's death on 31 July 1980 brought Bombay to a standstill — mourners in the tens of thousands followed his bier through monsoon rain, one of the largest funeral processions the city had seen. His legacy is the very grammar of male playback singing: the controlled falsetto leaps, the devotional hush, the ghazal's restraint and the rock-and-roll abandon are all techniques later singers learned from his records. Sonu Nigam, Mohammed Aziz, Shabbir Kumar and Udit Narayan built careers in his shadow and say so openly. His bhajans remain temple staples and his naats are sung in mosques — a Muslim singer whose 'Man Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko' is among the most beloved Hindu devotionals ever recorded, he remains Indian secularism's most melodious argument. Padma Shri (1967), six Filmfare awards and a National Award understate it: by common consent of musicians, Rafi is the most complete voice Hindi film music ever had.

Rafi's instrument combined classical rigour with an actor's imagination. His range ran from a velvet baritone whisper to ringing high notes he could hold without strain — 'O Duniya Ke Rakhwale' famously climbs to punishing heights while staying rounded in tone. His signature gift was character transference: he studied the actor he sang for, adjusting timbre, attack and even laughter so that Shammi Kapoor's Rafi was unrecognisable from Dilip Kumar's Rafi. He shaded dynamics like a ghazal singer — a line begun at full voice could end as a feather — and his classical taleem let him toss off intricate taans inside three-minute film songs. Above all there was the famous 'smile in the voice': an open-throated warmth that made even grief consoling.

• Vast range from velvet baritone to effortless ringing high notes
• A different vocal personality for every actor he sang for
• Ghazal-like dynamic control, from full voice to a whisper
• Classically trained taans and murkis inside film songs
• The famous 'smile in the voice' — open-throated warmth