Mohammad Rafi, the fabulous playback singer, who regaled music-lovers for over three decades, will soon be getting a public museum in his memory in Kozhikode (also known as Calicut) district in Kerala.While a private museum in Rafi mansion in Mumbai is being run by his family for a few years and another one by a die-hard Rafi fan Mansoor Ahmad Faarooqui, is functioning in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, the upcoming one is probably the first of its kind in the South.
In Kozhikode, which has a large population of Muslims and Gujaratis, the singer continues to have a huge fan base, even almost forty years after his demise.
There is no dearth of talent in this country and these days, social media plays a crucial role in discovering that talent for us. The most recent one to win over our hearts, is Saurav Kishan, a young 23-year-old singer from Kozhikode, Kerala, who has enchanted his audience with his melodious Mohammed Rafi songs. Even I, an avid pop song listener, could not get over the uncanny resemblance of the man’s voice to the iconic singer Mohammad Rafi.
There are plans for a museum being erected in honour of the singer. Talking to The Federal, Hashir Ali, President of the Mohammad Rafi Foundation (MRF), says that the museum will be functional in one year. It will try to cover the vast work of the singer who has sung over 7,000 songs in Hindi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Telugu, Marathi, and Maithili. His work traverses the genres Sufi, Hindu devotional, patriotic, peppy, sad, and the romantic.
He says, “It will have his rare photos, rare collection of songs and gramophones, along with a replica of all the awards he has won. We will also put up the entire song collection and details of his works in the museum.”
The museum is an ode to not just his music but also to his generosity. The people of Malabar in Kerala (which includes Kozhikode) who were working in Bombay, were instrumental in establishing the link between Rafi and the city by organising concerts and fund raisers. Ali said, “Rafi Saab had visited Calicut several times during the peak of his career. One of my uncles had arranged a fund-raising show in which he performed. He didn’t charge him a penny and helped build a school and college through the concerts. He was a great singer no doubt, but he was also a great human being.”
Due to his tangible presence being reflected in a new undiscovered singer, Saurav’s Rafi videos were shared without delay on Twitter by a user, Judish Raj (@JudishRaj), including- ‘Teri Aankhon Ke Sivaa’ from the 1969 film Chirag, starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh in the viral video. Reportedly, the young man is known as “Chota Rafi” locally. The video posted by Judish Raj has garnered over a million views in just two days. He also posted another video of the man singing another iconic song ‘Chaudhvi ka Chand’ from the 1960 film of the same title produced by Guru Dutt. Raj has stated that Saurav’s family cannot thank the internet enough for making him an internet sensation.
Due to his immense popularity in the state of Kerala, each year, Kozhikode has been marking the singer’s birth and death anniversaries. This year too, on December 24 (Tuesday), with the city decking up for the 95th birthday celebration, there are at least three programmes being held. MRF’s show on the beach will have an audience of over 10,000 people, Ali says.
Nayan J Shah, a music show organizer from Kala, an organization curating shows in Kozhikode, says the assortment of cultures make the city a congenial space for enjoying the rich music of Rafi.
Mohamad Koya or Hydroos Koya, 60, a resident of Kozhikode, as he is widely known, has in his collection, every song sung by Rafi. In the form of gramophones, the ardent Rafi fan who has been listening to music since he was five years old, is an avid collector. He says, “I have travelled as far as Coimbatore, Chennai and even Mumbai to get my hands on these items,” he says proudly. Among his collections of songs by prominent playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar and T.M. Soundararajan, he treasures the songs by Rafi the most. “I have been a big fan of his since the days of Radio Ceylon. Even today, on the occasion of his birthday, I am set to travel to Mumbai to get some more records,” he says. The singer has left an indelible mark on the cultural fabric of the country, and in particular, the Kerala state.
Saurav is one of the proponents of the late Punjabi star. He is presently pursuing his degree in Medicine from China, talked to ScoopWhoop about his music journey.
“Surrounded by music, mostly old Hindi and Malayalam, I began humming when I was just four. Soon I was participating in competitions and programmes and Rafi’s songs were part of my repertoire.”
Saurav had performed at the Rafi Night 2019 in Kochi, and has shared several videos of himself singing some iconic tracks of Mohammad Rafi, on a YouTube channel by the name Saurav Kishan. Saurav has been singing since he was quite young. In a fun fact posted by Raj, when Saurav was 10 years old, he sang a Rafi song on the stage. A famous Malayalam music director had approached his father and told him that he should concentrate only on Mohammed Rafi’s songs and nothing else.
Even Anand Mahindra tweeted the video with the caption, “We have been waiting for decades for a new Mohammed Rafi. It sounds as if we may have to wait no longer… I couldn’t switch this clip off…”. This indeed is a mark of respect along with being a great acknowledgement. Earlier this month a shorter version of this song was posted on Facebook. People now impressed by his singing have started following him on his YouTube channel for their daily dose of Rafi hits.
After his video was shared, Twitterati took to the comments section to shower praises. One of the users thanked Saurav for sharing this during such tough times which lifted everyone’s mood, “Sharing this beautiful heart-taking singing, you have cheered up my mood.”
A soothing balm and a trip down memory lane could not be mor comforting in this time of uncertainty and panic. All the best to Saurav Kishan!
