Mohammad Rafi versus Kishore Kumar

The article is very informative but why the need to compare? Statements like “Whatever Rafi did, Kishore Kumar did one better.” or “Kishore Kumar was nowhere a competitor to Rafi.” do disservice to both singers. For me music matters, the politics of music is irrelevant.

Re mama re mama re, incidentally, is the no#1 song even youngsters sing when the letter ‘Ra’ comes up in Antakshari – those youngsters who still play old-fashioned games like Antakshari, that is.

Let me make up for my adverse comment on Rafi by listing my favourite Rafi songs:
1. Saathi na koi manzil
2. Tere mere sapne (Guide)
3. Pukaarta chala hun main
4. Hum Bekhudi mein tum to pukare chale gaye
5. Abhi na jao chhod kar
6. Hum aap ki aankhon mein (pyasa)
7. Main ye soch kar uske dar se utha tha
8. Suhani raat dhal chuki
9. Rang aur noor ki baraat kise pesh karoon.
10. Deewana mastana hua dil
And that is without including the immortal classical numbers like ‘Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare’, ‘Man tarpat hair darshan ko’ and ‘Madhuban mein radhika naache re.’
But even today I can’t tolerate songs like ‘Khilona jan kar’ and ‘Babul ki duaen leti ja’.

Very well written article. I think its Technicality vs Soulful singing here, when u talk of Rafi vs Kishore. Kishore was a better emoter, sang with the greatest expressions and feelings ever, thus rightfully making him the greatest “Playback singer” in 1970’s and 80’s. Fully agreed, that technically there were limitations in the genre of songs he could sing, but he was master of expressions, thus by far surpassing any singer in song of any mood. Although general perception is that he was best at masti songs, I think its his sad songs that bring out his deep expressive skills to the core- songs like “Badi sooni sooni”, “Mere naina sawan”, “Mera jeevan kora”, “Manzile apni”, “O saathi re”. Listen to the brillance of expressions from the soft “Humein tumse pyaar kitna” to the loud “Om Shanti Om”. Singer for any mood.

the main difference between kishore kumar and other singers are that,if today you listen to the songs of all our past playback singers,the one voice which will stand out as if it is recorded today itself,is of kishore kumar.he was well ahead of his time.even today’s youth enjoys kishore-da’s evergreen songs.he is a class apart.with due respect rafi saaf offcourse!!!

agreed, Udit Narayan is infact in Rafi school. Although he has a different voice, slightly heavy, but style and expressions are Rafi inspired. But he is more original than any singer of his generation

I would only add this to the debate.

One dominated when there was real melodious music, old maestros were in their prime, the standard really high and competition very stiff. I mean 50s and 60s, the so called golden era. Where Naushad, C Ramchandra, SDB, SJ, OPN, Ravi, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Hemat Kumar, Salil Chaudhary ruled. An era when we had countless such films in which all 7 or 8 songs were superhits, such that people can recount them all, even today. Such was the impression these compositions left.

In the 70s sporadically and 80s generally, actual music started giving way to little more than orchestrated noise. What can you say about an era where KJAJ, LP & RDB are the top three big guns! Mind you, these three gave some top class hits back in the 60s but come late 70s and the whole of 80s, they were churning out one forgettable tune after another, albeit in vast quantities. All sinking down without leaving a trace. For someone to have dominated this era is not all that big a feat.

all agreed, but i still stick to my comments.
we can not compare divine singers with good singers.

@AM, I am quite surprised with your estimate of 1:20, not sure but ratio could be 50:50. I would still think leaving ratios apart, the absolute number of RD’s memorable songs and their quality would be far better than any of his peers in 70’s and 80’s. But still a disclaimer: I am not from that generation, but closely follow songs of old movies. 100% agreed that RD-Gulzar gave his best creative outpur, Aandhi is my favorite soundtrack. A number of Indian classical based songs by RD-Lata combo are testim0ny to his command over the traditional form of music.

Yes, Vishnu, you have defined it in one line.
Comparison is not on equal levels.
… anurag

During the emergency Kishore Kumar was banned by Sanjay Gandhi on AIR.
This brought Rafi back on top.

Laila Majnu, AAA, Suhaag, Shaan, Apnapan, Naseeb all had Rafi with the best songs. Qurbani, Yarana, Aap To Aise Na they had only one Rafi song but were big hits. One reason why Rafi faded in early seventies was that Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor had stayed too long and some newness was brought in by Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar.

I have seen Mr Samay Kumar’s observations about Sudesh Bhosle. According to him, he is good at mimicking K L Saigal and S.D Burman. I think it is a mistake to say that Sudesh Bhosle can mimic Saigal. The trouble with most people is that they have simply heard the name of K L Saigal but not listened to him with rapt attention. The truth is that Saigal is such a unique singer that no other singer can come anywhere near him even when he tries his best to copy his songs. And those who have listened to Saigal’s non-film ghazals, such as Ghalib’s ‘Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum ke tu kya hai’, ‘Phir mujhe deeda–e-tar yaad aya’, ‘Matwale pane se so ghata jhoom padi hai, chhati se duan utha hai jo boond padi hai’, ‘layi hayaat aaye sada le chali chale’ and many others, know that he cannot be copied. God gives a voice like Saigal’s to a singer only once in centuries.

Let me make it very simple. Rafi was more popular in 50s, 60s and some part of 70s. While Kishor became more popular in 70s. Overall both singers were great but Rafi was the best. Even today and times to come in future you will not find match for Rafi.

Dear Music lovers,

One great article but full points to the music lover friends who have commented straight from their hearts.. Kishore was really good and did dominate 70s but Rafi is supreme.. comparison to Rafi is somewhat my soul would not accept.

rgds..

I have read with keen interest all the contributions made in this blog by different music lovers. Nearly all of them are all praise for Rafi and consider him singer-par-excellence who is difficult to be surpassed by any other playback singer. But why do we make comparisons? Why don’t we accept the fact that variety is the spice of life. I am also a great admirer of Rafi, but I think every singer has some unique quality of his own. For instance, there are songs of Mukesh which I cannot imagine any other singer singing better than him. Just imagine if Anil Biswas had asked Rafi to sing, ‘Dil jalta hai to jalne de, ansoo na baha…’, or imagine Naushad asking Mukesh to sing, ‘O duniya ke rakhwale, sun dard bhare mere nale…’ No way, for all of know that every singer’s voice has a distinct quality of its own and he should be given only those songs which he can sing best. So, making comparisons between singers is no use.
I think there is no gainsaying the fact that Lata Mangeshkar is the greatest female singer of all times. Her songs have been picturised on umpteen leading ladies over the past sixty years. But then the question arises, must we expect that every young woman to sing in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar? But, unfortunately, that is what our filmmakers thought for decades and thus deprived other talented singers of the chance to sing for films.
There was a time when there was a wide varieties of female singing voices. We had Zohrabai, Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum, Rajkumari, Geeta Dutt, Sudha Malhotra, Mubarak Begum, and a few more who regaled us with their rich voices. But then came a long period when the Mangeshkar sisters dominated the film music scene. The variety which is supposed to be the spice of life was totally missing in this long period.
Luckily, we have once again a multiplicity of both male and female singing voices. But the tragedy is that neither the lyricists nor the music directors of today can create the magic that the maestros in the 50s and 60s created for us. Film music today is nothing but unmitigated cacophony. In fact, some people say that to call modern film songs as a genre of music is to insult music.

@ SB
I couldn’t agree you that R.D. Burman had destroyed the foundation of hindi film music. I don’t know whether you have heard R.D. Burman’s music of the 70s & 80s. He had great contributions to the Bollywood music industry where there were numerous hits by Lata-ji, Rafi Saab, Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle. R.D. Burman started his career with Rafi Saab in the film Chhote Nawab (1961), & then Teesri Manzil (1966), Abhilasha (1968), Pyar Ka Mausam (1968), The Train (1970), Caravan (1971), Hum Kisise Kam Nahin (1977) etc. All songs of Rafi Saab in R.D’s music were Superhits. I don’t know whether you know all these. R.D. Burman was the only music director to record the most superhit duet song of Rafi Saab & Kishore Kumar (Yaadon Ki Baarat). R.D. Burman was the only music director who made hindi music very very popular in the 1970s as he introduced a new style in music. Some of his music have got a touch of the west, but it got the melody. R.D. Burman had also given semi-classical music. All over R.D. Burman is the model music director of today’s composers.

SB says that barring A R Rehman, all other music directors of today are run-of-the-mill kind whose creations hardly make any impact on us. I have often seen bloggers going gaga over A R Rehman, but I am the one who is often left cold after listening to his songs. It is said that technically Rehman is perfection incarnated. But just technical excellence is not enough to create immortal music. There is something else that goes to the making of immortal tunes.
I ask the admirers of Rehman: Is there just one song of Rehman that our children’s children will remember fifty years hence? Where is his Jai ho song that created such hysteria that it was created a classic at that the time when ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was released?
Khemchand Prakash,Anil Biswas,Naushad, Sajjad Hussain, Shankar-Jaikishen, S.D Burman, Madan Mohan, Roshan, and a few others have created songs which are evergreen. ‘Aai ga aane wala..’, ‘O duniya ke rakhwale..’, ‘Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandni…’, ‘Sur na saje kya gaoon mein…’, ‘Jalte hain jis ke liye teri ankhon ke diye…’, ‘Hum pyar mein jalne walon ko chain kahan…’, ‘Na to karwan ki talash hai…’ — all these songs are simply unforgettable. Even the present generation loves listening to these songs. But the cacophonous things we hear today are not songs, but a travesty of music. Most of the present-day songs are pilfered tunes from the West. All that our ‘creative geniuses’ have done is to replace English lyrics with Hindi lyrics.

Hello AK,
May be, this is a rare occasion that I am unable to agree with you. No quarrel there; however, my points is: Need there be comparison between these 2 Dadas of Male Singing of Bollywood? In my opinion, it is needless. Further, let me venture and add: Both had share of bad patches and mediocre songs and strokes of fate. But, calling all that Kishore Kimar sang post Aradhana shall be stretching the Kishore legend too far…a typical 21st Century Marketing. In a nut-shell, to me both were in a league of their own and too great to comment upon. Trust, you will not view this as a critique of your article. Regards – KRV

Hello friends,
I had always been a Mohd. Rafi fan, since I was a kid. Like my parents and friends, I, obediently followed the tradition to listen and admire rafi and only rafi. His “Makhmali awaaz” was always a treat to my ears. I would sing his songs at the school and with friends. People liked me because I was eventually, if not easily. able to hit those “high surs”. I was admired.
But, then I had chance to listen to Kishore da`s songs. I was moved! His voice was uniquely LARGE. The base in his voice was incredibly deep, unlike any other singer. His voice was inimitable. Such strong voice, reflected pronounced masculinity. His songs like ‘Hal Kya Hai Dilon Ka’, ‘Phoolon ke rang se’, ‘Aapke Anurodh Pe’ ‘Kuch To log kaheinge’ and many others, are great examples of his talent. You would see many singers singing Rafi`s songs, giving him a good enough tribute. There are sonu nigam, shabbir and many others who are fairly good at it. But Kishore Kumar was UNIQUE. No one in the world has such a tremendous throw and solidarity. AND now we can just IMAGINE what kishore da could have done if he was classically trained from his childhood. His voice would have broken the boundaries and CONQUERED the world!!
The khanak in kishoreda`s voice was a god-gift and the almighty has not given even one-tenth of that charismatic resonance that kishoreda was rewarded with.
Conclusively, I hope and pray that the rafi`s fans break their old bias for an hour and just listen to the songs I have recommended above! Do not banish kishore da`s talent without even weighing them fairly. And as for Rafi, he has been my guru, idol, teacher, god and always will be.

Thank you.

Kishoreda was a maverick. His voice had a eternal resonance and “Khanak” that was unique! Voice was uniquely deep and the throw, punch and power in his voice make him the most difficult singer to sing. Rafi was undoubtedly a fabulous singer but Kishore Kumar was pure genius. Here is an anecdote (story) I would love to share with you all.
I had always been a Mohd. Rafi fan, since I was a kid. Like my parents and friends, I, obediently followed the tradition to listen and admire Rafi and only Rafi. His “Makhmali awaaz” was always a treat to my ears. I would sing his songs at the school and with friends. People liked me because I was eventually, if not easily, able to sings those classical numbers. I was admired.
But, then I had a chance to listen to Kishore da`s songs. I was moved! His voice was uniquely LARGE. The base in his voice was incredibly deep, unlike any other singer. His voice was inimitable. Such strong voice, reflected pronounced masculinity. His songs like ‘Hal Kya Hai Dilon Ka’, ‘Phoolon ke rang se’, ‘Aapke Anurodh Pe’ ‘Kuch to log kaheinge’ and many others, are great examples of his talent. Kishoreda`s ability to sing such diverse moods and styles can clearly be witnessed in above songs!! Interestingly, just notice the change in timber and texture he brings singing these diverse songs- something which Rafi never did; he just sang with the same timber/texture. Kishore could sing all the way from his upper part of the chest like in “Aapke Anurodh Pe” (where his voice comes out with so much depth and yet, he doesnt run out of air!!), then his throat like in Hal Kya Hai Dilon (his vocal chord sounds like this huge rod with incredibly high radius!) and all the way up to his mouth in Pyaar Manga Hai Tumhi Se(where he just whispers and the romance spreads in the air!!). I challenge anyone to do justice to these songs! Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet just copy one little “pehlu” or “style” of Kishore`s versatilty (just make Kishoreda`s voice thinner by 50% and add some nasality in it and you get Kumar Sanu, Yodell-ish singing style that too with erratic consistency and you get Abhijeet). One little Rang of multi-coloured Kishoreda has made their lives!! Just think about it. You would see many singers singing Rafi`s songs, giving him a good enough tribute. There are Sonu Nigam, Shabbir, Mohammad Aziz and many others who are fairly good at it (who have even sung O duniya ke rakh wale, the hardest song Rafi ever recorded and infact, Sonu has done considerable justice) But Kishore Kumar was UNIQUE. No one ever had such a tremendous throw and solidarity. AND now we can just imagine what Kishoreda could have done if he was classically trained from his childhood. His voice would have broken the boundaries and CONQUERED the world!!
The khanak in kishoreda`s voice was a god-gift and the almighty has not given even one-tenth of that charismatic resonance that kishoreda was rewarded with, to anyone else.
Kishoreda, sadly, recoginzed his talent quite late, way after he was already dragged into acting by his elder brother, Ashok Kumar– and surprisingly enough, his acting skills are still admired. What a multi-talented individual he was indeed. But its sad that we lost him early.

Conclusively, I hope and pray that the Rafi`s fans break their old bias for an hour and just listen to the songs I have recommended above! And as for Rafi, he has been my guru and idol and I always will be his fan.
Thank you.

Dear musiclovers,

All gentlemen on this thread who are reading me, I want to bring something to light. You must have noticed that the kind of songs and music that are being made today. Its a shame. Quality music is dissapearing.
I think the only way we can help improve the quality of music today is to educate our children with good quality songs. We should expose them to the khazana of music that our predecessors legends have left us with . I have noticed that youth today does not even know about legends like Rafi saab, Kishoreda and Mannadey. I mean, literally young generation doesnt even know the “names” of our legends. Infact, they find it old-fashioned when an old melody is played in front of them. Why? Thats because they have never been taught about these legends by their parents. Its very shameful.

I think the only way is to expose our children with this quality music at an early age, so that they develop an interest and love for these legends. Its then that they would be able to understand that whats quality music.
I hope all of you gentlemen here are with me for this cause. If we want to preserve our music and prevent it from getting effected by westernization then, we all need to do our duty and propagate this into the life of today`s generation.

Thanks!!

Dear Fazal Ahmad i respect both the singers Rafi sb & Kishoreda.Rafi sb”voice is so flexible that anyone can feel it as his own voice.No singer in world has such range & versetility.Actually he had not pay attention to his health as well as a true GOD-fearing person starts to concentrate his relegious activities after 50years of his age.Other clone singer can only copy him to some instant but when a fresh tune is given to him the quality of voice is disclosed his originality.If he were professional till last of his age no ghazal singer no classical singer in world can be matched to him . Thanks

I have always loved Mohd Rafi and also Kishore Kumar. I never had a radio in my younger years. Recently i started downloading songs of both from the internet. After some time I noticed that in the case of Mohd Rafi, even songs which i did not use to think much of earlier, on hearing now, i wanted to download and keep them for listening to again. On the other hand, in the case of Kishore Kumar even with songs that had been very popular and i had admired earlier, i was passing over now thinking in my mind – kuchh khaas nahi hai. Secondly, there are many many Rafi songs that you can listen to the whole day, repeating the same song over and over again, but i do not think there are even a handful of such Kishore Kumar songs. After listening to two or three times you want to change the song.

Fazal bhai,
Very good article. It is futile to compare both as both had different styles and both were great. The only difference I found was the tonal quality which in case of Kishoreda deterorated – listne to his songs in eighties and we can understand – where as Rafi’s remained intact till he died. Other aspect is while Rafi got opportunity from music directors to explore his range, Kishore was used mostly in playful songs. Kishore was excellent in serous songs too but got lesser opportunity. The best example is Guide when Dada Burman finalised Rafi for all the songs except one
Eventhough Kishore was close to him and was considered as Dev’s voice. We are fortunate that we had these great singers in our life time.

I totally agree both Kishoreda and Rafi were Great Singers but Kishore da is step ahead. with no formal training in music he could sing all type of songs and without a doubt 70’s was the Golden Period of Hindi Cinema where Kishoreda and RD ruled the nation.

Both Rafi & Kishore are legends but still i believe that the changing moods and styles what kishore had was amazing. Kishore was the voice of great Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor – just see the spread of the era. Sad song like Yeh Jeevan hai is jeevan ka yahi rang roop, Qubwalli like Haal kya hai dilon ka, Romantic like Kya Yahi Pyaar Hai to enchanting like Woh Shaam Kuch ajeeb thi yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai will always be liked and praised.

It is difficult to compare Rafi Saheb and Kishore da. Each had their inimitable style but personally I rate Rafi head and shoulder above the rest in bollywood though I may find it hard to ignore the other great singer T.M.Soundarrajan of tamil if I were to consider the entire country. It is a pity most of the hindi speaking people of India have such a narrow view of India that they have poor perception of the whole couontry.

rafi saab has touched every genre present in music. his BADAN PE SITARE is still one of the fastest and unforgettable songs. Not to forget CHAHE KOI MUJHE JUNGLEE KAHE and GULABI AANKHEIN. He sung great patriotic songs like AB TUMHARE HAWALE WATAN SAATHIYON and AYE MERE PYARE WATAN, which are still an inspiration to us. Sober songs such as AYE DUNIYA KE RAKHWALE and JAANEWALON ZARA are still unbeatable. Melodious songs like TERE MERE SAPNE, CHHALKAYE JAAM and AE PHULON KI RANI and nostalagic songs like AAJ PURANI YAADON SE and DIL KE JHAROKE ME TUJHKO BITHAKAR were a treat to listen. Maverick songs such as HUM KAALE HAIN TO KYA HUA and EK BECHARA PYAR KA MAARA. No one in that era was as proficient as Rafi saab when it comes to qawwali as PARDA HAI PARDA and SHIRDI WALE SAI BABA were one of their kind. Along with the qawwali hits, his romantic side was still breathing even in the 70’s (which are not called his heydays) in the form of TERI BINDIYA RE, TUM JO MIL GAYE HO, CHAND MERA DIL etc.
So, it would be wrong to say that Rafi saab was behind Kishore Kumar. Infact it is always wrong to compare the legends against each other. it was just the fact that in 70’s, rajesh khanna, Amitabh bachchan became the youth icons and they switched their voices to kishore kumar and indirectly representing kumar’s voice as the voice of youth. It could also be called as a reason for which Dev Saab changed their voice permanently to kishore da’s voice as he wanted to look young and youthful amidst growing age. Although legends of the 60’s, ie, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Dilip Kumar used to take up their voice as Rafi saab voice and people along with youth used to love it and admire it.
There was no downfall or a rise of any of them against each other. It was just the CHANGE in the trend of actor’s image in front of audience and audience’s demand and choice. Hence, both are Rank 1 for me … and Rank 2 doesn’t exist.

i think rafi was a good singer but Kishore a divine singer. in depth, zest, softness, dard rafi could not match kishore “yeh Keevan hai ” aanewala pal “, “zindagi ka safar”, “jeevan se na har jeenewale”, “kuch toog kahenge”, “kaha tak andhere chalate rahenge”, “chhokar mre man ko ” are gr8 examples of his. kishore’s “maine tumse kuch nahi manga” from Katha is worth listening. kishore even exceled ghulam alis version when he san “jiska koi nahi uska to khuda hai yaro”. kishore took “Neele Neele amabr pe ” to new eights as compared to s p balsubramaniam Tamil version. all these sons re available on yet. also noteworthy is kishore’s rendition of “Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare ” in a live show avalable on u tube.

Md. Rafi could sing anything that Kishore could, but the vice-verca is probably not true. A few songs which nobody on the planet could sing.
1) Man tarapat harii darshan ko aaj
2) Teri ankhon ke siwa
3) Theheriye hosh mein aa loon
4) All songs of Mere Mehboob
5) All songs of Ek Musafir Ek hasina
6) Din dhal jaye haye raat na jaye
Kishore was undoubtedly a great. Not knowing the nuances of music, it’ll be futile for me to judge who is greater. But one thing is certain, Rafi takes you to a region of bliss which no other singer, including Lata, can. Rafi is reason enough for me to live.

a few songs which kishore sang which rafi or nobody on planet would be able sing marvellously
1 Aanewala Pal janewala Hai
2 chal jat hu kisiki dhun me
3 thandi hwa ye chandani suhnai
4 All songs of mar prem
5 All songs of dur gagan ki haao me
6 All songs of zumro
7 yeh jeevan hai
8 zindagi ka safar hai ye kaisa safar
9 ruk jana nahi
10 hume tumse pyar kitana
11 mere naina sawn bhadi

I would also like to put my two cents in..
While I personally prefer Rafi, there’s no denying that Kishore Kumar too was a brilliant singer.
I belive that some difference is also due to the actors prevalent in respective eras. If one carefully listens to the voices of the actors, it becomes somewhat clear why Rafi ruled till the sixties and Kishore in 70s. Most of the actors prior to Rajesh Khanna had a relatively high pitched type of voice…rajendra kumar, bharat bhushan, dilip kumar. The only person whose voice was a little bassish was Dev Anand and most of the early kishore songs are for Dev Anand. With Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, one required a voice towards the bass end of the octave and kishore’s voice suited them well. If one listens to Gulabi Aankhen jo teri dekhin….the song is quite brilliant, but somehow the voice seems unnatural on Rajesh Khanna. Another difference is that during 50s and 60s, most of the music directors were purists than experimental and the ‘trained in classical music’ Rafi was a natural choice over formally untrained Kishore. During 70s with the advent of RD that focus was diluted and Kishore fit well into that mould. the example would be “mere naina saavan bhadon” from Mehbooba. Kishore wasn’t able to sing the song until Lata had sung it first.

In fact the movies which actually propelled RD Burman to stardom didn’t have any Kishore songs….Teesri Manzil (maybe because of shammi kapoor) and Caravan (all duets are Asha Rafi).

Also about “Tum Bin Jaun Kahan” I’ve listened to the songs continuously all the 4 versions and this is whaat I believe….
1. They had to use 2 singers because songs are sung by father and son
2. Rafi’s voice has been used on the Hero — Shashi Kapoor and Kishore’s for the secondary character of Bharat Bhushan as the Hero’s father
3. One version has a really high notes part and Rafi’s voice does not quaiver at all…I don’t think I’ve ever heard Kishore sing that high with that kind of control

Also, while Kishore was able to modulate his voice according to the mood of the song he didn;t really master the ability to modulate individual words to express emotions which Rafi did almost as a second nature. The foremost example would be from Nai umar ki nai fasal..the song Karavan Guzar Gaya Gubar Dekhte Rahe.

Another reason for Kishore probably seeming to be more popular is because most of his songs are easy to sing. Whereas a lot of Rafi’s songs are quite difficult to sing–even the seemingly playful gulabi aankhen .

The debate would go on forever but there’s no denying that both have sung wonderful songs and at some point of time in one’s life, these songs are the ones that help us get by.

another thing comes to mind…the younger lot tend to prefer kishore songs but when they start exploring older music and/or get older, they tend to lean towards Rafi songs…is this worthy of note?

Talking about the ‘greats’ in hindi film of the years gone by while I, as already mentioned, rate Rafi Saheb head and shoulder above the rest, have always enjoyed the other great voices Mukesh, Hemant, Asha, Geeta Dutt. I will keep Lata’s name in some sacred separate group, few woud be able to match her accomplishment. Strangely Asha has captivated me most -perhaps it was the amazing O.P magic. But then there were Roshan (the ‘perfect’ music composer if ever there was one!), S.D.Burman the unforgettable, so on. May be my age, I feel we reached the end of the road by the late sixties and went on to another era as far as hindi film music is concerned.

@ Fazal Ahmad

I had read all that you have written and then only put my comments in. I have also listened to all the songs you mention—before your having recommended them. But it seems to me that you actually did not read my post. you just skimmed over it saw the last line and assumed that i am denigrating kishore kumar and therefore put up your last comment. In fact it seems that you have also not read Shiva talwar’s comment which I have tried to extend.

I have said in my post that both of them are fabulous singers.
And I fail to understand which points you refer to which you apparently have already clarified.

The way you began and put up the last post it seems that you want everyone to just agree with you regarding Kishore’s voice. I never said it was not good. All I said was that It is more towards the Bassish octave and that it is easier to “SING” NOT “REPRODUCE” Kishore-RD Burman songs.
You also say that Rafi fans should break their bias—would they not already have done so in order to compare the two. By what you say it seems that it is you who needs to break out of his bias for Kishore and Kishore only. I do not–repeat–DO NOT deny that Kishore Kumar has sung songs which are brilliant. I also DO NOT deny that Kishore was able to modulate his voice according to the mood of the song. In fact I expressly mention it–
“while Kishore was able to modulate his voice according to the mood of the song he didn’t really master the ability to modulate individual words”

And I stand by what I said. I will give you an example
1. Rafi sings ” Hum Bekhudi mein tumko pukare chale gaye” –it is as if a drunkard is mouthing the words.

2. Listen to the Kishore Drunk song – “Yeh Jo Mohabbat hai”–apart from a slightly yodled voice, the expression is not there—not to say that it has been sung badly-its been sung beautifully and fits rajesh khanna’s voice to the T

There are many songs that the two have sung together
1. jaanu meri jaan from shaan I believe rafi does a better job. Kishore sounds bored–as if he’s thinking–lets just get it over with

2. Hum Premi Prem Karna Jaanein – from Parvarish the song itself is mediocre but their voices stand out

3. Humko Tumse Ho gaya hai pyaar – Amar Akbar Anthony – Rafi sings for 2 ppl Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor. Kishore sings only for one -Amitabh bachchan. It wasn’t until i read the cover that i realised there were only 2 male singers

4. Yaadon ki baraat – it is clearly a case for matching actors’s voices

Another thing is that why are there so few qawwalis by kishore. In fact even RD Burman chose Md Rafi for his first and all other qawwalis never kishore.

I also refuse to accept that Rafi sang with the same texture/timber
1. Jane chaman shola badan – Gumnaam
2. Hum Kale hain to kya hua – Gumnaam
3. Jaan Pehchaan ho – Gumnaam
and these are just from the same movie

Those songs that you mention about kishore using different parts of the respiratory tract to sing. One of the reasons is the difference in composers. This also I have clearly mentioned. 50s and 60s songs were more classical based. therefore the songs needed to be mouthed very clearly. in the 70s those restrictions were gone. and let us be honest all those ppl writing music for movies also have commercial interests therefore when rafi was selling they used him and when the kishore experiment worked they started using him.

One of the reasons for Kishore’s meteoric rise in the 70s (which perhaps u fail to notice) is rajesh khanna. The movie aradhna became a hit not only bec of the music but the star rajesh khanna was born. And since the combo of Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar worked it was emulated by everyone around. Its the same concept in the industry–Sridevi gives a hit with Nagina and a slew of snake movies are released in the next 4-5 years.

I agree that at the time which you are talking about, Kishore must have seemed like this breath of fresh air and everything that he did you found it awesome. The same thing happened to me with A. R. Rahman starting with 90s and till now i find myself unable to want to hear most songs coming out these days except Rahman’s.

I am not an expert on music but even I can tell that the voice of Rafi was clearer while Kishore’s voice was heavier—therefore it might seem more pleasant to others.

I don’t deny that he was a multitalented genius but if we are going to compare him as a singer to rafi, we must focus on that. I agree that had he been trained he might have been a much better singer than he already was. But could he have been better than Rafi is a question open only to speculation and I as a layman would not try to answer it even.

I shall now try and make myself more clear on what I wanted to convey through my previous post

1. Rafi was a GREAT singer

2. Kishore was a POPULAR singer

Both were the greatest singers ever. Rafi’s dependence on music was much lesser as compared to kishoreda. The article compares popular songs of both the singers but not all the good songs of Rafi are mentioned which will certainly outnumber that of kishore. Without formal training of classical music, kishore a genius could sing effortlessly for all popular actors. Rafi’s distinction is in singing for all types of actors, some good, some mediocre and many forgettable actors with equal ease. People could listen to rafi songs repeatedly and try the same with kishore songs and then decide who was better. Rafi sang in almost every language and different type of songs be it ghazals, dance numbers, bhajans, qawallis, while we cannot say the same about kishore in terms of quality and quantity. If we have to give marks for acting and popularity of actor for whom the song is sung, then kishore has an edge over rafi. But, purely as a singer, Rafi was undoubtedly better than kishore. It is certainly easier to understand and sing kishore songs and hence he was and is more popular than Rafi.

i think there cannot be any argument on this topic.. kishore is great but RAFI MILES AHEAD. music is what comes from heart and not what looks good on screen. kishore’s success is attribuatable to rajesh khanna and amitabh bacchan. he sang a large number of songs for dev anand too, they were great but rafi’s songs for dev anand are unmatchable. one reason for kishore’s popularity is that his songs were simple and any teenager could hum them and win over his girl friend. you try singing rafi’s song in front of your gal friend and you will lose her for ever because, rafi’s songs are difficult to copy.
KISHORE had a great voice but RAFI was undoubtedly better..
Imagine kishore singing.. duniya ke rakhwale…aise to na dekho.. din dhal jaye par rat na aye..Koi son eke dilwala.. and the list is endless… I am sure now both of them being in heaven, kishore is listening to rafi, day and night on his i- pod.

very well written piece, keep it up and the best part was you didnt force your opinion

@sham
the song is from the movie ….PARIVAR …. the link is ……

Interesting comments. While Kishore Kumar was an amazing all rounder—singer, composer, actor etc.—Rafi was a complete singer. To be fair to Kishore, though, even he knew his limitations. For example, the song, Man Mora Bawara, in the movie Raagini, was sung by Rafi for Kishore! Having said that, there was a certain raw sex appeal in Kishore’s voice that was incomparable.

Rafi had the most melodious voice. He was a versatile singer. He could sing all types of songs- Classical, Ghazal, Bhajan, Qawali etc. His singing skills was unparalleled. People noticed him first time in 1947 for the song yahan badla wafa ka…in the film Jugnu and he became popular after singing suhani rat dhal chuki…for the film Dulari in 1949. But after Baiju Bawra in 1952, there was no looking back in his career. He ruled playback singing fot next 18 years. He has rendered his voice to all actors from Dilip Kumar to Rishi Kapoor. He has the most numbers of hit songs. It is very difficult to write about his all hit numbers, but some of his real gems are- Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj, O dur ke musafir, Chal ud ja re pancchi, Kah do koi na kare yahan pyar, Husnwale tera jawab nahin, Sathi na koi manjil, Ehsan tera hoga mujhpe, Madhuban me radhika, Kitna hai tum se pyar, Fir miloge kabhi, Mai to tere haseen Khayalon me, Diwana huwa badal, Tumhare pyar me ham, Ai husn jara jag tujhe, Chhu lene do najuk hoto ko and ye duniya ye mehfil. We still enjoy Rafi Sahab’s evergreen songs. Kishore, though a good singer was way behind Rafi.

The comparison is strange, but also inevitable. Born in early 60s, at the moment, I have a faint or no memory about how or when I got interested in bollywood songs but I know for sure that all my elder family members were loving bollywood classics and were enjoying, preferring Rafisa’ab. And I am aware that at 5 or 6 years their (1943- 1957) of age, they might have grown up with Talatji. And they saw Rafi effect do to Talatsah’b what Kishorda did to Rafisah’b.
But I remember that at that time their ‘favourite’ did not change. Rafisah’b remained a favourite, and I remember around Aradhana and till today my favourite remains Rafisahaab.
But there is definitely a difference happening with the time- in my way of thinking- comparison is worthless. Both are superb. Almost all Music directors have many times mentioned that they could expect Rafi to sing whatever they conceived, and for Kishoreda, Mukeshji et. al. they had to be very conscious while making a tune.

Please stop writing more -there is no more to be said. Mohd Rafi will remian the greatest ever for ALL TIME TO COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kishore Kumar was no doubt a multifaceted genius and proved his worth in acting, singing, writing lyrics and story, music direction, movie direction and production. I would still call him a jack of all trades. He was only lucky to snatch number one position from Rafi in post-Aradhana era but he could never reach the timber and sweetness of Rafi, nor his range. Listen these songs and think, why O.P. Naiyar, Shankar-Jaikishan and Bipin Babul chose Rafi to sing for Singing Star Kishore?
1. Mann Mora Baawra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br9Xra3TbUA
2. Ajab hai dastan teri aye zindagi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhnVzlY_5rg
3. Main is masoom chehre ko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yShjtsP4fa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yShjtsP4fa8

Those of you who would like to listen, again and again, to all the great melodies of the legend Mohd Rafi should visit this site –
http://musicindiaonline.co/album/20-Hindi_Compilations/28475-The_Best_Of_Mohd_Rafi/#/album/20-Hindi_Compilations/28475-The_Best_Of_Mohd_Rafi/
this is a fantastic site and such wonderful songs!!!!!!!!!!!

Sivakumar

Rafi saab sang for Kishore kumar (Sharaarat) and so……..

Without a doubt Kishore Songs are still Very Popular. Even today after 25 years of his death Kishoreda’s songs are young and energetic. It is still the voice of the youth . There can be no one like Kishore and there cannot be for sure.

An excellent piece.

I would, however, make one comment. Just read between the lines and you will find that ascendancy of Kishor Kumar and decline of Mohd Rafi coincided with decline in quality of Hindi film music. This is all the more evident from the fact that the best songs of these two legends happened in 1950s and 1960s which is rightly called Golden Era.

Neither I agree, with Rajesh nor with Mahender D. Sundriyal.
I would say, the Golden period of Indian Music started with Rafi Sahab
in the 1950s & ended in the late 1980s with Kishore Kumar. The words
“ascendancy of Kishor Kumar” & “decline of Mohd Rafi” used by
Mohender D. Sundriyal, is completely wrong. Rafi Sahab remains in his own place (i.e. No. 1) when in the 1970s the change in Indian music was brought by R.D.Burman with Rajesh Khanna on the screen & Kishore Kumar as his playback voice. Rafi Sahab still has great hits in the 1970s which I think I don’t have to mention, in the music of Shankar Jaikishen, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, S.D. Burman & R.D.Burman. Kishore Kumar made his own place as a playback singer by not only working for R.D. Burman, but with all of the music directors mentioned above.

Rafi is best that ever was. Who is to decide. The music director, ofcourse. Check out here the link below of the interview of OP Nayyar, and also here is what Manna Dey says – “Rafi and I could sing everything, and he was such a gentleman. He was a better singer than me, and I will say this – that no one came even close to him! ”

http://my.opera.com/rafisaab/blog/2007/11/03/interview-of-op-nayyar-by-d-mandar-for-cinema-sangeet

Case closed.

and i have to say, the best comments here is from Dharamjeet…….. very well said…..instead of fighting for signers, enjoy the singing…….all of them were gems in their own way………and thank God, that we have playback singing in bollywood….unlike the boring hollywood 🙂

When in doubt elect to bat. Just came off listening to Gambler. Mera Man Tera Pyaasa. It is like Ek lohar ki against Kishore’s sau sonar ki comprising of rest of the sound track of the movie. I had discovered Rafi long after I had done every Kishore gem to death on my cassette collection. It was my dad who said “You like Kishore, but listen to Rafi too”. A gentle nudge towards Rafi. That was almost 21 years ago. Today, I still retain all the Kishore song list. But when in doubt, I play Rafi. So let the debate rest with Rafi.

My friend…. Sonar produces real golden Gems and the golden Gem from Dev Sahab’s Gambler is Dil aaj Shayar Hai…Sang by Kishoreda…Sau Sonar ki…right Kishoreda has Sang hundreds of Golden Gems..Ek Lohar ki..may be others have sang very few gems… Kishore Kumar is a diamond who had a long list of Golden Gems.. The Fact remains..Let us treat it as a final verdict…Kishore rules and will remain to do so …

Thanks for coming up with such an in-depth and balanced article about the topic which is very close to the heart of music lovers. Equally interesting was reading all these comments!! In my honest opinion, it is impossible to crown either one of them as the greatest singer. There is no doubt about Rafi’s voice quality or Gayaki; but when it comes to versatality and expressions then KK is the king.

the comnet is not correct. not Shanker but Jaikishan had died in 1970. S.D buran was very active but he used kishore in wonderful numbes on dev anand in prepujari, tere ere sapne and his greatest musical hit comparabble to guide that is sharmille. it is not based on heroes. even in aradhana and do raste rafi had sung for Rajesh Khanna . S.D Burman always preferred Kishore over rafi a fact clear fro the fact that in fifities and sixties that ost fast and hit numbtrs were alloted to Kishore. R. d Burman preferred Kishore but also liked Rafi more than S.D burman. K.A did not prefer rafi uch .Rajesh roshan ostly used kishore for best songs. Lp ainly used rafi but the songs were dull. Rafi sang popular songs but the voice lacked depth, zest in coparison to Kishore

@Anil

Anil Bhai, I accept that Jaikishan died in 70. But I don’t agree that SD preferred Kishore than Rafi. Though SD liked Kishore, but not more than Rafi. It is evident from the fact that most of the SD gems like Khoya Khoya chand, Tu kahan ye bata, Din dhal jaye, tere mere sapne, Hum bekhudi me, Mera man tera etc. were in Rafi’s voice. Fulon ke rang se and Gata rahe stands no where in compare to Khoya khoya chand and Din dhal jaye. SD was less active in 70s in compare to 50s and 60s. But yes he gave more chance to Kishore in 70s.

kishore got much less chance in fifities and sixties yet ipressed with all time hits like hu matwale naujawan, mana janab ne pukara nahi, duki man mere, ai u zroo, koi humdu na raha. frankly the rafi songs listted above are much less depp and less soft than kishore serious numbers. in ganbler both sng kishores “dil aaaj shayar hai” outshines rafi’s “erea an tera pyasa”. in aradhna both sang ishore nubers outshined rafi. in ghar both sang kishores duet ” apaki aakhoe ” is an all time classic as compared to good rafi duet ” botlse i baat chali hai” when both sang kishores ye duniya ke balte rishte ” outshines oth rafi and lata part. kishores ae yyar teri ari outshines rafis part. kishores “gadi bula rahi hai” outshines Rafis kawwali in Dost,”aa bata fe ki tuze kaise juya jata hai”. in yaarana kishores sara zamana chookar ere mano , ter jaisa yar aha outshine rafi’s bishan chacha”. In kudrat ishores “hume tse pyar itna” chdo sana kahe ka gu outshine rafi’s “sukh dukh i badi ik ala ” and even parvenn sultanas rendition. Frankly rafi numbers in guide are dull as copared to the zestful ” gata rahe ” and latas “aaj phir jeeneki taan and ” ose chal iye ja ” . at that time kishore was not preferred. Jidaev had done agnificient score for “hu dono” and s.d buran had to compromise for navketan banner and stil he insisted with “dev anand ” that gata rahe will be sung only by kishore and it was the ost hit song from guide. sd burman particularly preferred zestful singing of kishore and oulded hi into this mode . so soulful kishore is ore proinently with rd buran rajesh roshan lp and ka. as soe body has put up kishore songs were “tadafdar” songs as opposed to dull rafi in guide etc. the person was referring “karvate badlti rahe ” and comented that rd burans kishore is not as tadfadar as s d burman. kishores “phooloka taro ka ” and “dil aaj shayar” are best male solos on Dev, in contrast to excellent but not zestful solos composed solos composed by jaidev

Gata rahe mera dil of kishore is a good song. But this song does not outshines Din dhal jaye and Tere mere sapne of Rafi in Guide(1965). Din dhal jaaye and Tere mere sapne are very good songs that suits to different moods of Dev in film Guide.

I like both Rafi sahab and Kishore da songs. Dukhi man mera, Mere mehboob qayamat hogi, Koi Hamdam na raha, Shokiyon me ghola jaye etc. are indeed very good songs. But that does not mean that Rafi songs are any way inferrior to these songs.

If we talk about Dev Anand songs, Rafi Sahab has sung all types of song for him- both zestful and sad songs. If Rafi has sung Din dhal jaaye, Sathi na koi manzil, Teri zulfo se, Kabhi Khud pe and Kya se kya ho gaya, then he has also sung Khoya Khoya chand, Tujhe jeevan ki dor se, Mai zindagi ka saath, Sun le tu dil ki sada, Chheda mere dil ne, Diwana mastana hua dil, Dil ka bhawar, Tasveer teri di me, Sau saal pahle, Ek but banaunga, Aise to na dekho and Mera man tera pyasa for Dev sahab.

Dev Anand songs of 70s are not as popular as those of 50s or 60s.

Reading the comments of the subscribers, I have the feeling that a few of them have assumed the position of judges. Some of these comments seem personal bias that has reflected in a very critical opinion.

However, we are human beings and we carry some weaknesses that we become referees, without acquiring adequate expertise in the subject
In this matter, we could better seek opinions of the music composers who had chosen Rafi/Kishore for any song composed by them.

Kindly forgive me for my humble remark that their celestial/divine voices are beyond our scope for judgement.

Kishore da was a great singer but not better than Rafi sahab. Sun le tu dil ki sada of Rafi has more depth than koi humdum na raha of Kishore. If anyone want to see the depth of Rafi songs, he should hear songs like Man tarpat, O duniyan ke rakhwale, Duniyan na bhaye mohe, Chal ud ja re panchhi, Diwana hua badal, Sun le tu dil ki sada, Tere bin suni nain hamare, Aise to na dekho, zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi, Jane bahar husn tera, Aaj purani rahon se, ye isq isq hai, yaad na jaye, Madhuban me radhika and Din dhal jaaye.

Other singers were master of one or two types of song, but Rafi could sing all types of song – classical, gazal, qawali, folk, Romantic songs, Bhajan etc.

RD was a good music director. He assisted SD in many films and learned from him. He has composed some very good songs. But his too much focus on western music took a toll on Hindustani Sangeet. Quality of Hindi songs started deteriorating from mid 70s.

Songs like Man tarpat and O duniya ke rakhwale are gems of Hindi film music. Even great music directors and singers have appreciated Rafi Sahab for these songs. No other singer, except Rafi Sahab could sing O duniyan ke rakhwale. Because Rafi was superb at both high as well as low notes. Rafi’s voice did not crack in this song.

Lyricists and not singers write songs. 70s is known for philosophical songs. That is why Kishore has sung more philosophical songs than Rafi. But Rafi has also sung many great philosophical songs like Mai Zindagi ka saath, Chal ud ja re panchhi, Janewalo jara mudke dekho mujhe, Rahi manwa dukh ki chinta, Ye zindagi ke mele, Aye mohabbat zidabad, Na mai bhagwan hun, Man re tu kahe na dhir dhare, Dekhi zamane ki yaari, Karwaan guzar gaya, Sun le tu dil ki sada, Dil ek mandir hai, Jina to hai usika, Aaj purani raahon se, Nafrat ki duniyan ko, pochh kar ashk, Dil ka suna saaz, Hum to chale pardes and Admi musafir hai.

Had Rafi not a great singer, most of the great music directors, such as Naushad, Madan Mohan, Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar and Lakshmikant and Pyarelal would not have preferred him for their songs. These great Music Directors always praised Rafi for his singing. We do not know more than Manna de, who said that Rafi was the best singer.

please refer ppost nuber 137 for quwaali and patriotic songs sung by kishore very humable and beautiful the songsof rafi entioned nin 138 have uch lesser depth. besides the voice has cracked in o duniya ke rakhwale. o duniya ke rakhwale is a forgotten song and not amny people like it.

The quwaalli is worth listening .it is very lengthy and full of allaps. it is one of the finest quaawali but could not get due popularity as the movie “Deedar ae yaar” flopped miserably. however best quwwali with a single singer is ” yaari hai iman era” by Manna de. also Aziz Naza “chadhata suraj dhire dhire chadhata jayega” is a faos quwwaalli. similarly “bai bai tuz pe kurban meri jaan ” by kishore rafi is beautiful. Moreover quwwalli is not an elite form of singing . many people prefer eotional depp sad and romantic songs to quwwalli, ghazal, bhajan. The young generation has discarded these forms to a large extent. if classical singing is the criterion then Mann de and Yesudas excel. Mahendra kapurs “ere desh ki dharati ” is the ost popular patriotic song and requires a high pitch. High pitch is not the only criterion. ishore was excellent and bettewr than anybody else on lower notes. Vani Jairam excel ed in high pitch singing over Lata but people regard Lata as better singer.

http://entertainment.in.msn.com/bollywood/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3128473#page=5
today’s post on MSN on top ten patriotic songs of bollywood.
will give an indication what ‘ young generation’ likes

in y opinion top patriotic song is ” a mere watan ke logo”. patriotic songs and quawwalis are not yardsticks. the song sung by kishore “hu hai hindosta ke is marvellous” and very humable. only thing is that movie flopped. he did not get uch opportunity. but his song “jeevan se na haar jeenewale” was played repetaedly during kargil war and it has all flavor of patriotc song. one can refit patriotic words if one wants. This is a true otivational songs for soldiers. there are interviews of manna de available on net listinng kishorre as number one rafi as number 2 and himself after the. thewre ae interviews of lata on net orre than one where she always said that aongst all “kishore was the best and she likes her duets with rafi.
wani jairam and geeta dutt are spelendid singers.the only point in bringing Mana de etc in discussion was that real king of quwwalis was Manna de and eal experts at classical songs are yesudas and manna de as well as Asha Bhosale. Rafi si not regarded as expert i these areas. Rafi was excellent in romantic numbers fast numbers his patriotic song is excellent . kishore has sung a classical based sad soig “mere naina sawan hado ” better than Lata and sung anoither classical song “paayal wali dekh na ” undwr the baton ofchitragupta.

Rafi Sahab and Lata ji were best male and female singers. Both had great voice. But so far ‘sur’ and expression are concerned, Rafi was better. I realised this when I heard same songs sung by Rafi and Lata. There are songs like Ehshan tera hoga mujhpar, Mere mehboob tujhe and Aji hum se bachkar that both has sung in their voice. But Rafi’s version is better than that of Lata. Even in duets like Lagi chhute na, Jo wada kiya and Bekhudi me sanam, Rafi looks better. There is a duet song ‘Chalo dildar chalo’. Rafi sings only mukhda but stands out. His aalap hooo… is better than that of Lata.

I admired both Rafi Sahab and Kishore Da. Though I knew that Rafi was better, once I decided to listen to them in same song. I listened to them in Ham premi prem karna jane, Ab tak chhupaye rakkha and Bane chahe dushman jamana hamara. I realised that Rafi outshines Kishore in these songs.

all songs of asha were sung by rafi except the bhajan ” uze prem ka rog laga ” was sung by kishore. all songs of karavan were sung by rafi with the exception of “hum to hai rahi pyarke ” by kishore. all songs of guide were sung by rafi except “gata rahe dilmere” as s. d buran did not find rafi suitable for this song. all the songs of do raste were sung by rafi except the sad song “khiza ke phoolpe aati kabhi bahar nahi by kishore.
all songs of duniya were sung by afi except that shanker jaikishan called kishore for ” duriya najdikiya ban gayi”.

Correction: aaye na balam is from Yesudas

i a born before 61. my dad born in 1928 and worked with S. d.
burman said me music should be zsetful tadafadar like mere sapnoki rani aradhana.he comented that rafi really sang only one song good in life ” khoya khoya chand” and sd burman discovered kishore in “jeevan ke sagfar me arhi”. He stopped kishore while singing and said if u always sing like this all our songs wll be hit. thewre was acarmic relationship and very diplomatically though rafi ruled s. d buran always used kishore but he had to considewr rafi as he was ruling the usic industry. he did not want his usical carrear to stop .ike anil biswas. no body said that kishore was better than rafi in quwallis. but in all sad songs philospophical songs , life songs , sonnets, happy mood songs kishore outshined rafi and mukesh as well. latas interview saying kishore was best was in all newspapers on hewr eightieth birth day. in the sae interview she entions that here duets with rafi were best. o duniya ke rakhwale rafis voice has cracked written by raju bhartan and any other journalists. anyway it is avery ordinary song not having enough depth only shouting period!

i have discovered one more reason for kishore being better than rafi
IN SOMEONE’S KEY BOARD, letter ‘M’ IS MISSING.
obvious that Mohamad rafi is not in his scheme of things 🙂

sir when song “O duniya ke rakhwale ” was recorded there was a rumor that blood came out of rafi saheb’s mouth. This song has the highest notes ever recorded in the hindi films . This rumour was so strong that both Naushad saheb and Rafi had to appear on TV and rebutted these rumors . To prove this he organized a show of Rafi on Doorsarshan where rafi saheb sang same song and other songs of ” Baiju Bawara” live in Doordarshan. That clip is available on you tube. This song is a bench mark for every singer to check his range and class. Any singer check where he stands this song can give him that idea it is barometer to check your range . It was S P Ba
lasubramaniam who after hearing this song uttered only one word “Impossible”.

Songs listed above are no doubt very good songs, but these songs are are not better than top Rafi numbers. Rafi songs like saathi na koi manzil, teri aankhon ke shiva, tere bin suni nain humare, husnwale tera jawab nahin, madhuban me radhika, kitna hai tum se pyar, zindagi bhar nahin bhulegi, hum bekhudi me tumko, chal ud jaa re pancchi, o dur ke musafir, etc are much better than above mentioned songs.

Most of the great music directors( Naushad, Shnkar Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar, Lakshmikant Pyarelal) prefered Rafi to record their songs. This is a proof of Rafi’s greatness

there are some guys who are trying to reignite the fire by giving senseless analogy.
if you start counting good songs by rafi, you will need one full life.
if someone doesnot like rafi, he doesnot have music sense.
there is only one benchmark in hindi singing and that is rafi.
and that is despite the fact that kishore is a great singer and may be more popular than rafi….

sir I thought the debate is quite good no body has gone beyond the Agni rekha and all comments are within acceptable limits . while at other places i have seen people writing all nonsense about the singer they don’t like. Here I have seen none writing bad about the other singer . We know these two are the best we had how can we ay other one w very bad.
There may have been time period when one was up and other was down . But it these two who have ruled the bollywood singing. even today no match for these two so my salute to these two great artist.

Some of the good reasons music directors select a particular singer is that it is easy to compose a song with that singer, his voice may be influencing, his voice may suit the hero , the singer may be famous, bias attitude of the music director, influence of the Hero regional bias , public response to s singer , etc . In 1950,1960 most of the Music directors preferred Md Rafi Saheb. In 1970 also some music directors preferred Kishore Da also .Kishore Da had lot of talent and also influence in the industry but did not apply much concentration on music as he was interested in other fields also was not and Md Rafi had only but talent and was not from India also .his hard work and morning to evening devotion was recognized by some music directors and later by all music directors.Kishore Da diverted all is energy in singing in 1970s added to that Rafi saabs low notes were somewhat lost and everything fades with time and use.. Listen to YAD NA JAAYE from Dil Ek mandir to Pardah Hai Pardah and Shirdi song Sai baba song from Amar AkbarAnthony . Yet he could manage to sing correctly for all heroes which nobody could do.

I love rafi sahab by heart.

Rafi sahab is another face of god,his voice is the voice of almighty. Rafi sahab ke naam ko chhuna na mumkin hai,un tak pahunchna to door ki baat hai,rafi sahab jaisa na koi tha,na hai ,aur na koi hoga,agar koi 10 crore baar bhi janam lega tab bhi rafi sahab ke naam tak nahi pahunch payega.

Shahid seems to be possessive to Rafi’s Voice . Though Rafi too had a good voice but Kishore da is Ultimate. No one on this Universe can ever match Kishore Da’s Voice. He is still the heart throb of millions of people across the globe as fresh and as youthful as ever.

It is strange how people cannot judge .It is not right to compare Md Rafi to other singers The songs Mere naina saawan bhaadon, ,Zindagi ke Safar me guzarjaathe makaan , Tere saamne wali khidki me , Kehna hai aaj thumse ye pehli baar ete are only for their beautiful meaning which appeals . Any body above average can sing .Amitabh bachan ,RD Burman, Aaamir Khan also sang hit songs.Kishore Da was multi talented singer , writer , poet , actor .He proved he could also sing good songs like Md Rafi in Pyaar ka Mausam. These are all far far different from the voice Duniya ke rakhwale which reaches God, Man Tarpat which gives strength to a sick soul. Koi pyaar ke Pankh pasare which energises a sick Meena Kumari.Uta Arjun Dhanush uta in Beta Beti which holds off the Police complaint In todays science and communication , a beautiful striking on the Guitar in North pole will make one to shake his legs in South pole that is music which has no language .So also when Md Rafi says O O O in Kohinoor from one end Jeevan hears OOO from Lata from the other end That is voice which has no language.
God s voice made ordinary stones into Stars .
Rafis voice made ordinary actors into big Stars .
Kishore Da became famous singing for Big B and Rajesh Khanna who were big heroes in those days unlike Md Rafi whose voice makes us to remember so many film heroes long forgotten .

Mera to jo bhi kadam hai wo teri raah mein hai,ki tu kahin bhi rahe dost meri nigaah mein hai. Love you very much Rafi Sahab..

Pal Pal Dil ke paas tum Rehte ho… Aur hamesha Rahoge …Kishore Da…We Miss u always. U will remain alive in our hearts till theWorld of Music Lives…Pal Pal Har Pal Tum Dil ke paas aap rehte ho

Tum ko na bhool paayenge rafi sahab,you are the universal ratna,and you are the greatest human being of all time.

There is no comparison with kishore as kishore himself said while paying tributes to Rafi Saab “Mein to Ek ya do tarah se gaata hun aur woh sau tarah se gaate hain isiliye woh Amar hain”. he knew his limitations. He knew who Rafi was. The matter was already settled in 2001 when biggest survey of all the times declared Amitaabh Bachchan as The Best Actor of the million so was Rafi Saab Chosen as The Best singer of the million . Rafi Saab had no contest at all he won by securing 70 % of the total votes polled.Rest all Lata , Asha , Kishire,Mukesh, Talat ,Manna Dey combined got 30 % of total votes, Ther was no competition at all. Matter was decided then and there with the Title of Best Singer of the Million. So Rafi Saab is the boss. But yet very humble and humane that is what made him superstar of all the superstars. Even Amit ji Admitted saying Rafi Saab used to mold his voice for the actor he was singing for a quality a very rarely found in play back singers. He would sing differently for Dilip Saab, Differently for Shammi kapoor and Dev Saab or for that matter Johny walker or Mehmood. Listener would immediately recognize yes it is Dilip kumar singing, Yes it is Shammi kapoor or Johny walker. He taught what is real play back singing.

TO THE LEGENDARY .MOHAMMED RAFI SAHAB.Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you Mohammed Rafi sahab. You are the one who are still alive in billions trillions hearts. I love you and love you always Rafi Sahab. You are the GOD OF SANGEET , SURON KE BETAAJ BAADSHAH AND THE SPECIAL GIFT OF GOD TO THE UNIVERSE. YOU ARE 100% COMPLETE AND PERFECT PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE.AAP JAISA NA KOI THA NA KOI HAI AUR NA KOI HOGA. YOU ARE THE UNIVERSAL RATNA.LOVE YOU FOREVER RAFI SAHAB.

First I would like to make you clear one thing that It was not only Aradhna’s song which made Kishore da number 1 singer.Let me clear it first which most of you might not be aware.At the same time Rafi sahab had to go for HUZ not for any tour that is the main reason rest of the songs of this movie was recorded by Kishore Da as Rafi Sahab was not available at that time.Now when he came to HUZ then most of the Maulvies told him not sing filmi songs as it’s sin to sing fimli songs.Then he stopped singing and took retirement from plaback singing and did not record any song for 8 months and went back to US to stay there.It’s obvious that if Rafi was not available for 8 months all songs would go to Kishore da as He was the 2nd leading playback singer after Rafi due to Aradhna’s song.These 8 months period established Kishore da number one singer in 70’s not by only 3 songs of Aradhna.Because before Aradhna Kishore da had already sparked in Padosan,Pyar kiye jaa,Chalti Ka naam gadi,Fantoosh,Jwel Thief and many foot taping Dev Sahab’s song. However when Naushad sahab convinced Rafi then he returned back to playback singing but It was too late as Kishore da was at his pic and in full flow and it took 6 years for Rafi sahab to get back his number one postion in 1977.But unfortunately He died in 1980 could not go ahead other wise result would have been different in 80’s as well.However it was such a big loss to the industry that people were not able to forget Rafi sahab’s song.You could feel the affect of Rafi sahab’s demise(he was at the top) that even Kishore da had a tough competition with Rafi sahab’s clone Shabbir kr and Mohd. Aziz…and in early 80’s Shabbir kr dominated and in mid 80’s Md.Aziz ruled the industry.

Now I would like to ask the author what’s your observation that at what basis you quoted that Kishore da ruled the industry till his death almost 20 years.Kishore da’s output was less during 1977-1980 as compared to early 70’s and even during 1983-1987(till his death) as market was captured by Rafi Sahab, Shabbir kr & Md.Aziz respectively.

well researched comment sudhir…the new book on rafi by his daughter in law , recently launched mentions the HAJ thing.

where was kishore when Amyabh was given a new boys voice “Shabbir kumar” in coolie . Where was Kishore when R D Burman chose “Shabbir kumar ” over kishore for Sunny deaol launch “Betaab”. Where was kishore when in “Mard” Mohd Aziz was given chance to sing for Amitabh over kishore. The fact is that after the death of Rafi Saab Rafi Saab’s voice was so much sought after that his clones got much bigger assignments than kishore . Even in “Shaan” released in 1980 last movie of RAfi with R D Burman. There was a song “Yama Yama” which R D burman was to sing and R d burman instead of kishore asked Rafi to sing this .WHy ? because as he him self said while paying tributes to RAfi Saab that “I told Rafi Saheb that i will sing this song and you will sing with me and you have to sing it in my range the way I use a special vocal chord”. He knew that only Rafi could do it any variety, any range it is only Rafi who can match it. So the song was recorded but could not be refined as Rafi Saab died and the song was released as it is . There some one pointed who compared Rafi to mannad Dey, Mahindra kapoor , Mukesh , even Bhim sen joshi. Is ther any other singer with whom you can compare all these. He was one such singer who could sing classical as good as Pt Bhim sen Joshi, Sad songs Better than Mukesh, Qawwalis and classical better than Manna Dey and High pitch songs better than Chanchal and he matched them all with an edge of the heavenly voice which none of the of the other singer possessed. And for that song “nafrat ki Duniya”. This kishore himself has said while paying tributes to Rafi that “I told LP that this song has so many variations and only Rafi can sing this song”. Kishore can neither be considered as classy as Bhim Sen or Manna Dey or High pitch songs he never sang. For high pitch songs even Lata used to have fights with Shankar jaikishan ” he used to give me high pitched songs which Rafi Saab had already sung for the females version he used to give me same notes and i used to fight with him how can you be so cruel to me it pains me”. The problem with all of them was none of them was master of all It was Rafi only who sang Classical Bhajans like “Man Tarpat Hari Darshan ko Aaj ” and Rock song “Jaan pehchan ho “, and comedy song “Sar toh tera chakraye”, and philosophical song “Yeh Duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai”, Qawwali song “Yeh Ishq Ishq hai ” or “Hai agar dushman” and romantic song like “Ajaja re AA zara AA”. where he experimented with his voice when he sand all antras in his trembling voice. Desh bhakti songs made him idol of the youth “Jahan Daal Daal par sone ki” , Ai wattan Ai wattan hum ko teri kasam so many i have listened to since i was a child made and build the national character of the youth then these songs we used to sing in our college and school functions made us proud. There is no one and there will be no one like him again. He is a true Bharat ka Ratan.

Praveen…. Kishore is not Ashish Nehra ..he is Sachin Tendulkar who is far better than Sunil Gavaskar.. Kishore is Great Singer who could not be matched and can never be. And Mr. Sunil for your information if Shabbir and Mohd Aziz had sang few songs for Kishore that is because in Mid Eighties Kishoreda refused to sing for Amitabh and not Amyabh since Amitabh refused to act in Kishore’s Film Mamta Ki chaon Mein.. Pls Keep urself Updated before posting … Anyhow this wont change the fact that Kishore is and will always remain The BEST

correctly said rajesh. R.d. burman did not opt for Aziz.. he gave a break to amitkumat in love story . betab score was not class. but it was decided by the producer to ive break to new voice. since shabir was unnecesarily promoted y lp t was amove to get another clone of rafi in play. as far as coolie etc manmohan movies are concrned kishore and Manmohan desai were not on god terms and hence shabir was opted. yes kishore boycoted amiabh and ths wy sns were recorded by rdb, and Ka in voice of yesudas. plase let us remeber one god song from songs sung by rafi or shabair or aziz for maith. just passable are joh jani and mere deshpeiyo. no song of suhag was a hit . on the contrary manzil, yaarana, don mukadar ka sikandar,had god memorable songs by kishore for amitabh. as far as yamma yamma is considered it was a dute of kishore and rafi but due to sore throat ishore could not come for recording so rd burman sang in place of ishore . this is sai by rd brmn in an interview. plase get the things correct before posting. yes one could be a afi an and thats nice tre rafi sang many memorable songs ur personaly i d not fid o duinya ke rakhwa;e or man tarpat hari darshan o that reat and come on he had to take a backseat after 1969 and this is a fact there should be o exccuses. true sudsdenly parda hai parda hai kya a era wada, hai agar dushman and lalla majnu ongs together became hit in 1977 and rafi’s carear got a new lease as t was on the verge of extinctio in 1974.75. 76. But rafi tried to play olitics ater that and using Lp as aweapon tried to ct smart with kishore. Kishore had respect for his coolleague and he also did not want rafi carrear to be extinct after all he had a family to look after and it was film inustry’s garce that he did see to it that rafi gets his share . But when one comes to recoledt onecan recolect some god rafi numbers til 1976 like”ye duniya ye mehfil” , “gulabi aa nkhe “, “wadia era daaman ,”pattta pata “, “ye reshmi julfe” but nit mAN AFETER 1976 WITH SLE EXCEPTIONS OF THE “PARDA HAI PADA”( EVEN ISHORE SANG TWO LINES I VERY HIGH PITCH IN HIS KAAALI), YA UA TERA WADA , ” BOTALSE I BAAT “, “ROTE UE”, “ahaniya suanti ha “, , but these songs were of lesser quality tha”aaap ki aaakhome “, “phir vahi “, “anewala pal “, “gulmohar agar tumara na hota “, “o sathi re “, “pyaer managa hai tumhi se”, “kaha tak ye manke andhre”.
true there wwee more rafi songs in final binaca of 1980 but it was in two parts . first part had mostly kihore numbers an second part he topper songs had rafi numbers more but f u count amitkumars two songs from love story which were in the second part with kishore numbers then ishore and rafi had equal number of songs and movies of kishore songs weree nt released in that year but imediately one had all time graet ishore songs” hume tumse payar kitana”, amd”chookar mere anko ” next yaer. It was ony politics of Lp who had scoe music of most films that made rafi songs more in number but most of the songs wee below quality. it waqs very clear that lp had messed with quality by capuring most producers and they could not do justice. most of the musical score was dull and flop. can somebody say music of amitabh starrer nasib ” mere nasib me tu hai ” is of same staqndard as that of yaarana or mukadar ka sikanadr or don or sharbi or khudar ? people ned to be objective in their assesment.

@Anil mind ur language before writing any rubbish.How could u say that Rafi sahab and lp played politics.When Kishore da’s song were banned by Sanjay gandhi during emergency (1975). It was Rafi shab who went to Delhi and asked Indra gandhi to lift the ban on Kishore da.Dont be blind come out with real facts.Kishore da was no doubt a great singer and I respect him but Rafi sahab was the greatest singer ever born .Read my previous comments you will come to know about the real picture.

100 % agree with the comments of KB.

Look, the fact of the matter is that everyone plays politics for their own benefits, Aradhana was no exception. It was nothing more than a artificial hype created, in the 70s cinema become highly commercial with greedy producers and music directors everywhere being vested by business/personal interests and this trend still continues today. In the early 70’s, film-makers jumped on the band-wagon. They banked on the overnight popularity of Kishor’s songs and “invested” heavily on him. 70s was dark era in the history of HFM as the melody was dying a slow death in that era. Kishor Kumar’s popularity at that time was at a very high due to various reasons. Even stars like Rajesh Khaana and Dev Anand were promoting his voice. RD Burman went out of his way to give Kishor Kumar the exposure. Each and every song he sang was liked by people. So what could the music companies do, they want more of Kishor Kumar everywhere. For the producers even a mediocre limited singer like Kishore was a money making machine for them at that point, they werent concerned about quality which the greatest singer of all times RAFI SAHAB has brought the most in music. And regarding RAFI SAHAB well he was a FARISHTA and infinite miles away from dirty politics, he could have never even thought about this sinister stuff. They had made their money from the versatile GOD RAFI SAHAB in last 2 decades, and thats why that era was considered the golden era. Seeing Kishor’s popularity in the early 70s charts were being manipulated, radio programs like binaca geetmala radio ceylon etc so music companies could sell more Kishor which was their aim. Music was meant to support and promote a film in those days. So, it was a reason that the charts were being manipulated to protect the investments of film-makers. And regarding RAFI SAHAB’s so called ‘lean phase’ well that was made to look more like it than it actually was. RAFI SAHAB went on a hajj in early 1972 and came back in late 1972 after roughly 6-8 months. This was the time that Kishor had truly permanently planted his voice on Rajesh Khanna with Amar Prem. Even Kishor had to wait 3 years after Aradhana to completely become the voice of Rajesh, this means that the Aradhana phenomenon alone didnt automatically make him the leading singer and it also means the ‘Aradhana effect’ was artificial as we observe RAFI SAHAB singing most for Rajesh from 1969 to 1971. If we go by research than the difference in the number of songs these both legends sang from 1970 to 1973 is 110 songs in favour of Kishor which is not much considering RAFI SAHAB did not sing for 6-8 months after the hajj. It was a blatant lie that RAFI SAHAB was eclipsed it is also a blatant lie that his absence allowed Kishor to become a star. Aside from the commercial league average or biased/nepotist music directors (including RD, KA, Bappi, Rajesh etc) who only generated mediocre wholesale and situational crap. All other QUALITY HARD WORKING music directors preferred RAFI SAHAB all the time even in 70s (includng Madan Mohan, Usha Khanna, Sonik Omi etc etc etc) and did not bow to producer pressure also to just think of Kishor Kishor Kishor. Not to mention the smaller unknown music directors who RAFI SAHAB has given immortal songs with. Quality surrounded RAFI SAHAB where ever he went that is why career remained constant even during the early 70s. And by the late 70s his commercial popularity was also restored that is why both were pretty much consistent in their output and RAFI SAHAB only ended up singing roughly 200 songs less than Kishor at the of the decade. Commercially Kishor may have been no 1 in early 70s in terms of popularity and everything but RAFI SAHAB also regained that and his popularity was also restored for the same during that period until his death and no one can really deny that fact. Thats why I am stating the fact that the 70s belonged to both RAFI SAHAB and Kishor, they both had their monopoly during this era (just like Mukesh and RAFI SAHAB did in 50s and RAFI SAHAB had in 60s). If you honestly make the unforgivable naive mistake of writing out RAFI SAHAB from the 70s then dont forget that you also take away half the hits. Without RAFI SAHAB the 70s would be standing on ‘one leg’ but in the case of pre-Aradhana Kishor phase he didnt have much of a contribution at all. So it can be said that RAFI SAHAB is most popular, versatile and successful singer till date overall by a wide margin. Kishor brought change with the mediocre combo he formed RD no doubt it appealed to the aggravated youth in those days but he himself acknowledged RAFI SAHAB as the most versatile genius ever and he could never ever touch his singing ability. Kishor had a unique voice but he knew his limitations as far as ability is concerned, and that is why I regard him as a great crooner suiting different situations rather than a proper seasoned playback singer. It is futile to compare him with the mighty RAFI SAHAB who still remains the greatest SINGER of all times male or female IN ALL ASPECTS.

It is blatantly foolish to compare Rafi Sahab with Kishore Kumar. Did Kishore ever sing a Bhajan, a patriotic number, a Qawwali or a classical song or an intricate Ghazal? No, because not even one music director felt that he could do justice to the genres and it is precisely for this lack of versatility that none gave Kishore any non-film songs in Hindi. So that ends the debate.

Rafi Sahab was a versatile genius whom we have been hearing everyday since last sixty years. Yet you never get exhausted with his voice, Why? Because it is God’s own voice embalming our souls, soothing our hearts and enlightening our visions. The sheer dexterity of his rendition is spell binding; be it any genre, range, pitch, mood, texture or style, Rafi Sahab makes singing a pristine act of God and listening becomes an act of devotion. No male or female singer has ever come near him anywhere in the world of any country!

Frankly, no singer of any kind anywhere has the ability to make images, moods, events, seasons, personalities and emotions come alive into your soul the way Rafi Sahab does while crooning into your ears! Music was, and is, blessed to have had Rafi Sahab for company!

(Why isn’t my message being posted?) Way too much crap in this article!! I think everyone universally accepts the reality that RAFI gave countless hits until his last breath and Aradhana only boosted the popularity of Kishor the most without harming other singers, this film served no other purpose this is the reality! Seems like the author (AK) has wrote up this article with fandom for Kishor in mind, with the intent of pushing his personal views. It is quite easy to see that this article is cleverly biased against RAFI from the get go, there is nothing factual or of substance in this article. It is a shame really for music lovers to waste time reading an article with zero credibility. Better for everyone to ignore these kinds of articles.

AK, seems like you want to downplay criticism with diplomacy because I think you know very well as the author of the article, that how biased the article really is against RAFI ji from the get go. Fine by me because ignorance is bliss, but me like many intelligent music lovers here feel the same thing as proven by majority of the comments: THAT THE ARTICLE IS FULL OF CRAP AND FALSE PROPAGANDA! Such a fictitious article full of bias written by a blind fan cannot be of much substance to any music lover and will not be well received either, unless it is for entertainment purposes of course lol. I appeal to everyone here turned off by this garbage article to kindly ignore and dismiss it swiftly.

Ak, hahahaha sure we will move on to ‘better things’ but I just forgot to point out a few things before I go. Your article was quite entertaining to be honest so thank you for that lol and I loved how you pretended to act all neutral, but then again as I said before there is NOTHING FACTUAL or of SUBSTANCE in this article. I have lived through that era of music and I can CLEARLY see that you are a blind Kishor fan looking for opportunities to BELITTLE the great RAFI ji at every turn, and that’s the impression a sane person gets from reading this garbage article. According to you ‘tum jo mil gaye ho,’ ‘teri aankhon ke siwa’ and ‘yeh duniya yeh mehfil’ all Madan Mohan classic compositions set in different moods and ragas sound the ‘same’ apparently lol; do you have FUNCTIONING EARS or do you just happen to be MUSICALLY IMPAIRED? On top of that you said that ‘tum bin jaoon kahan’ was superior as Kishor’s version, with both versions set to different moods that’s nothing but your biased opinion, plus since when did you begin SPEAKING for the population of RAFI ji’s ‘inveterate fans’ haha? Most music lovers on YouTube are only listening to the rendition of RAFI ji not Kishor. On the other hand you swiftly dismissed the song ‘dard e dil’ from Karz, but it was a chart-buster that was nominated at the Filmfare awards in 1981 and was extremely popular with the youth when it was released. It still is and is a regular at most music concerts and even most music experts have accepted that it is the MOST EVERLASTING song of the entire album.

So I think you should just accept the BASIC FACT if you are intelligent enough musically that RAFI gave immortal songs even post 1969 instead of digging out as much CRITICISMS as possible to appease the GRUDGES you hold towards the great RAFI ji. I know you were trying your level hardest to try and wrongly typecast RAFI ji as a ’60s singer only’ and write him off in the 1970s but it can never be possible, otherwise why has RAFI ji given countless classics until his death and why was he back at the COMMERCIAL top slot in 1977? Just answer this question for me logically otherwise it would confirm for me that you are just wasting your time and have no more LIES left in your kitty lol. Kishor maybe your favourite singer as obvious the way this article is written, but criticising RAFI ji will never glorify Kishor but it is definitely showing him in more of a BAD LIGHT. I have already given three instances of your CLEAR bias in this FICTITIOUS article. I can probably point out plenty more but not worth it, I don’t want to waste my time with such a LOW STANDARD article written for personal interests. All I can say is that poor knowledge and poor music taste impaired by blind fandom worship has affected your perceptions completely, but then I also wonder why the perceptions of music lovers are also impaired in making your blog decently POPULAR when it is full of this kind of PROPAGANDA? Your article is toxic and highly controversial to say the least.