Singer Sonu Nigam paid tribute to legendary singer Mohd Rafi at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa recently, and while at it, Sonu gushed over how the late singer would convincingly sing bhajans, despite being Muslim. He stated that Rafi would undergo ‘dharam parivartan’ and seamlessly sing bhajans and Hindu devotional songs.
“When he sings bhajan, lagta hai koi pakka Hindu gaa raha hai. Hain vo musalmaan, namaazi aadmi. Inka dharam parivartan kaise hojaata hai gayaki mein?” Sonu wondered at the event.
He added that it was a huge deal because there are singers who can sing sufi songs beautifully but cannot sing bhajans with the same conviction. “He would sing for Ramzan, Raksha Bandhan, he would sing happy songs, sad songs, even the most famous Happy Birthday song. There is nothing that he hasn’t done. Yeh kaun aadmi hai?” Sonu gushed.
He also said how Rafi would adapt his voice and mannerisms so that his songs would suit almost every actor, including Dilip Kumar, Mehmood and Rishi Kapoor, and yet sound perfect and unique for each one of them.
Meanwhile, Mohd Rafi’s son, Shahid Rafi, announced that a biopic is being made on the life of his father at IFFI 2024. He said that the biopic will be officially announced on December 24, marking the birth centenary of Rafi.
“We have made a contract with Umesh Shukla, director of ‘OMG – Oh My God!’ and ‘102 Not Out’. It will be a full-fledged feature film,” Shahid Rafi said.
Some of Rafi’s popular songs are ‘Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya’, ‘Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya’, ‘Aaja Aaja’, ‘Parda Hai Parda’, ‘Gulabi Aankhein’, ‘Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya’, ‘Sukh Ke Sab Saathi’, among others.
