An endless feud between the fans of Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar..
Mohammed Rafi was born at Kotla Sultan Singh, near Amritsar . Rafi displayed his talent for singing at the tender age of 13. The lure of movies beckoned him to Bombay in 1944. His first hit was the Tera Khilona Toota Balak from Anmol Ghadi in 1946. India lost this jewel on July 31, 1980.
Abhas Kumar Ganguly, better known as Kishore Kumar was born on August 4, 1929 in Kandwa. Following the footsteps of his elder brother Ashok Kumar he too ventured into movies. But he soon realised that his heart was in singing. Under the patronage of RD Burman he soon flourished. He would at times compose and write songs himself. Sadly he passed away in October,1987.
The debate as to who was the greater singer carries on even today, even decades after their death. Both of them left an indelible mark in the world of Indian film music, a void that still cannot be filled today. No wonder that their fans are at constant feud with one another trying to prove that their hero was better.
It is a no secret that Mohammed Rafi was a trained classical singer and that Kishore Kumar had a natural talent. Hence Rafi’s fans feel that he was the more accomplished and skilful of the two. Kishoreda’s fans are of the opinion that though he may not have been trained, he had purity and sheer quality of voice. The fact that he wasn’t trained, and could still sing anything, both classical and non classical songs with equal magic rendered him more superior than Rafi.
Fans claim that Rafi was the most favoured singer for many veteran composers while Kishore Kumar was preferred by few and was a playback mainly for Dev Anand and later for Rajesh Khanna. Rafi on the other hand balanced his melodious voice for diverse stars like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Shammi Kapoor.
In support of Rafi’s greatness, many of his fans say Rafi sang for Kishore Kumar in films that Kishore himself acted. They also draw the attention to Rafi’s song Darde Dil in Karz which was based on a single note and proved that he was indeed blessed with God-gifted melody. Mohammed Rafi’s fans also claim that Sonu Nigam and Udit Narayan who belong to the Rafi school are technically better than Kumar Sanu, Babul Supriyo etc.
On the other hand, Kishore Kumar’s fans remind people of songs which he sang by melodiously incorporating his inimitable yodelling. Those numbers are extremely popular even today. They further claim that in the 70’s and 80’s, it was he who sang for a number of heroes.
This debate can go on endlessly. However it must be stated that both were great singers of their times and each had his own distinctive style.
There was no feud between the two and the immense respect that Kishore Kumar had for Mohammed Rafi is clearly seen in the photo during Rafi’s funeral. A silent, sad and grief-struck Kishore in the newspapers portrayed very well that no one except him understood what an irreparable loss had taken place in Indian film music.
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August 27th, 2010 at 11:56 am
1907 - Mr. Dhaniram
Your post is simply absurd, absurd, absurd. Rafi’s talents are purely limited. Both kishore and ghantasala were quite ahead of rafi, one was a gem without training and other was a gem with training, they were two different gems. For your kind information rafi was no match for ghantasala, not even close if we listen to similar songs sung by both of them. Just see one post of Mr. Surajit bose in the divine voice of devotional kishore here, limitations of rafi from classical view has been brought out, you were pointing out at kishore’s classical skills - what is the use, if perfection is not there, despite being trained as highlighted in that post on limitations of rafi. Just go to ghantasala songs for classical perfection of filmy songs my dear dhaniram, you will know what is beauty of classical film songs. The mangeshkar sisters are good classical performers in hindi.
Mr. Murali - Yes SPB cannot fit in the list of greats, agreed.
August 26th, 2010 at 6:21 am
May please write any name except SPB because it is not befitting here with great songsters
August 20th, 2010 at 3:28 am
Folks,
If Kishoreda cannot sing ‘O duniya ke rakhwale sun dard bhare mere nale’, or ‘Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai, or if one thinks so. I challange if someone could sing ‘Kitne Atal The Tere Iraade’ ‘Log Kehte hain main sharaabi hoon’ ‘Chingari Koi Bhdake’ and loads of other high and low pitch songs with the same rendition and feel. Kishoreda was not a trained singer at all and most of others including Rafisab were highly trained in classical so their singing was more like following conventions of classical singing that any one could do after learning for few years. On the contrary Kishoreda had his own inimitabls style that could never be imitated or matched by any other singer as he was very unconventional and just followed his heart in singing any song. In fact who could mix yodeleying with songs in such a beautiful manner that it feels to be a part of the song….one and only Kishoreda could dare do that and do it with utmost conviction. In the end I would like to say that a Geniuses are not trained….they are just born to show what they are. And Kishoreda was a brilliant Genius who had the versatility that none had or will ever have in generations to come. He is always imitated……but never equalled.
August 16th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Anirban Saha, Post 1920. i have heard Kishore Kumars Tagore songs. They were really beautiful. But I was thrilled when I heard K.L. Saigal’s Tagore songs. I think no one can sing “Ami tomaye joto shunieye chchilem gaan” better than K.L.Saigal, not even Debabrata or Hemanta.