Mohammed Rafi: God’s Own Voice

Before Mohammed Rafi, there could only be bzero,ro, and after h,im thercould only be a btwowo. That should describe the legendary singer of four decades whose rise to stardom was phenomenal. Indeed, Rafi was bigger than many of the stars who lip-synched to his golden voice. For a man who came from a very humble and conservative background, it was his hard work, naturally blessed talent and godly nature that made him stride like Colossus in an industry known for its crassly commercial values. Before the writers embarked upon this historic sojourn of encapsulating this simple man’s life history and career—stuff folklores are made of—they were well aware of the magnitude of the task. Thirty-five years after his death, Rafi’s popularity continues to grow, and each day brings new anecdotes about his exceptional singing prowess and nobility as a human being. Years of painstaking research and experience went into the compilation of this book, apart from the 7,000-plus songs he sang and the hundreds of shows he performed at home and abroad. The authors have attempted to assemble most of them and piece together a spellbinding account of a professional pilgrimage that cannot be said to be complete by any stretch of the imagination, given the events—and the new ones that keep unfolding—that go into the making of this extraordinary folk-story-like narrative. The biographers feel humbled and rewarded to chronicle a personality rightly acknowledged as among the “Best 50 Indians” ever born. More so, this is the first attempt that delves into the stupendous life and times of a titan in such comprehensive depth.