Legendary Bollywood singer Mohammed Rafi’s biography has been released by publishing house Om Books International. Titled ‘Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen’, penned by author Sujata Dev, that includes enriching anecdotes about the singer’s life.
The book presents Rafi’s musical journey and what made him an utter delight to work with for every music director.
Author Sujata Dev had to face many challenges as she went about researching the book.
“It was the toughest part of the research as those days had no computers and records were hard to find. Many stories and figures came to me from different sources but to authenticate them was not easy,” said Sujata, who has been an avid fan of the legendary singer since her childhood.
In her book, Sujata mentions that Mohammed Rafi, was a music director’s delight. She stated that Rafi sang for directors like Naushad, OP Nayyar and Madan Mohan, amongst many others, who were perfectionist and never failed to satisfy them.
The author adds that tracking his footsteps were extremely difficult as most of his relatives and associates had passed away. “But then I met Pyarelal ji, the renowned music director who had closely worked with Rafi sahab and when I told him about this biography and the challenges I was facing he said – you are the blessed one. You have a great task ahead of you,” stated Sujata.
This statement instilled a lot of confidence in Sujata’s heart and she knew she had a tough task ahead of her but it came with the blessings of Rafi Sahab himself and the good wishes of all his admirers.
The author said she was lucky enough to trace the details of Siddique Chacha, Rafi Sahab’s younger brother, who is hale and hearty even today, and lives in Lahore. She met over a hundred people from the industry before she could complete this book. The DVD accompanying the book has many of these interviews.
Through the book, the author plans to popularize Indian music amongst the younger generation.