Rafi in the 70s.

Rafi in the 70s

In the 70s, although a number of new singers had sung in bollywood films including Yesudas, Chanchal, Shailendra Singh and huge numbers of songs were sung by Kishore Kumar; Rafi had glorified bollywood films with his golden voice. His songs in Andaz, composed by Shankar Jaikishan including “dil use do jo jaan de de”, “re mama”, “haina bolo bolo” were hits.

His songs in Raj Kumar’s Maryada, composed by KA, were successful. Also the songs in Dilip Kumar’s Gopi, including “sukh ke sab sathi”, became hit. Rafi had sung successful songs in Abhimaan and Chupke Chupke, composed by SD Burman , including “teri bindiya re”.

The songs in Laila Majnu, like “barbad muhobbat”, “tere dar pe aya hoon”, “likh kar tera naam” composed by Madanmohan and Jaidev became hit. Also the songs in Hum Kishi Se Kum Nahi, including “hai agar dushman zamana”, “kya hua tera wada” became landmark hits.

All the songs in Amar Akbar Anthony, composed by LP, including “humko tumse”, “parda hai parda”, “shirdiwali saibaba”, created a separate impact for the viewers. Similarly all the songs of Sargam like “dafliwale”, “ramjiki nikli sawari”, “koel boli”, were all successful.

The other notable films where Rafi contributed in the late 70s, include Bairaag, with songs like “saari shahar me”, Qurbani, with songs like “kya dekhte ho”, Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, with songs like “sochenge pyar kya hua”, etc.

Rafi even sang hit songs in less known films. His song “aadmi musafir hai” became very successful. Also the songs “ashaoke sawan me” from the film Asha, “pal do pal ka” from the film Burning Train, “jaanu meri jaan” from Shaan were all big hits.

Had Rafi survived for a longer period, he would have sang songs from new composers, too. All his songs and the films are rich assets and should be restored.