Mohammed Rafi was perhaps the most popular male playback singer ever and maybe the second most popular singer of Indian Cinema after who else Lata Mangeshkar!

Rafi could sing for anyone in any style. At one stage in the 1960s Rafi was the voice of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Johnny Walker, Sunil Dutt, Biswajeet, Joy Mukherjee, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Raaj Kumar! From the classical Madhuban Mein Radhika Nachi re to the swinging Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera, from the soulful Hum Bekhudi Mein Aapko Pukaren to the comic Sar jo Tera Chakraye, from the philosophical Dekhi Zamane ki Yaari to the frivolous Aiaiya Karoon Main Kya Sookoo Sookoo, he could sing anything! In fact Rafi was blessed with such a range that he could easily sing in three octaves without veering out of control.

Born in 1923 in Kotla Sultan Singh village in Amritsar District in Punjab, Rafi moved to Lahore when he was 14. There he studied music under Khan Abdul Waheed Khan, Jeevanlal Matto and Ghulam Ali Khan. He was introduced to Radio Lahore by composer Feroz Nizami and made his film debut as playback singer in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (1944) singing under the baton of composer Shyam Sunder.

He then moved to Bombay in 1944 where he was first given a break by Naushad in Pehle Aap (1944). Naushad gave him more chances in Anmol Ghadi where he effectively sang the minor atmospheric song Tera Khilona Toota Balak and in Shah Jehan where he sang 2 lines in a duet with Kundan Lal Saigal! Rafi broke through first under Feroz Nizami with the Dilip Kumar - Noor Jehan starrer, Jugnu (1947) where he sang the duet Yahan Badla Wafa ka Bewafai ke Siva Kya Hai with Noor Jehan. Jugnu was also the big breakthrough film for Dilip Kumar being his first hit film.

Rafi's earlier singing style appeared heavily influenced by GM Durrani. This is apparent in his rendering of songs like Ek Dil ke Tukde Hazar Hue from the Suraiya - Rehman starrer Pyar ki Jeet (1948). His career really took off with the all-time hit Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki from Dulari (1949) starring Madhubala and Suresh with superb music by Naushad. From then there was no looking back and Rafi ruled as the undisputed king of playback singing till the early 70s when Kishore Kumar took over.

However, it took Rafi much of the 1950s to establish his superiority over rest of the competition. Some critics feel it helped Rafi that Kishore Kumar and to a lesser extent Mukesh and Talat Mahmood were preoccupied by their acting, that Hemant Kumar saw a decline in his singing career by the end of the 1950s while Manna Dey never really got the breaks his talent deserved. But that is grossly unfair to Rafi. He made it to the top strictly on merit and from 1960-1970, he was virtually unchallenged. But in spite of his superstardom he remained humble and soft-spoken and never forgot his riyaaz. Rafi has sung some of the best songs for heroes under the influence of alcohol (Din Dhal Jaaye in Guide (1965) and Chhoo Lene Do Nazuk Hothon ko in Kajal (1965)) but never touched alcohol himself!

While Rafi has sung with every top music composer and co-playback singer there was always something special when he sang under the baton of Naushad and SD Burman. Rafi is at his best in films like Deedar (1951), Aan (1952), Udan Khatola (1955), Kohinoor (1960), Mughal-e-Azham (1960), Ganga Jumna (1961) and Mere Mehboob (1963) among others under Naushad and in Pyaasa (1957), Nau Do Gyarah (1957), Kala Pani (1958), Kala Bazaar (1960) and Guide (1965) under SD Burman.Aradhana (1969) and the Rajesh Khanna wave saw Rafi displaced by Kishore Kumar as the top male playback singer of Hindi cinema and the early seventies was a creative nadir for him.

But Rafi was not one to quit and made a grand comeback with the Nasir Hussain musical Hum Kisi se Kum Nahin (1977) and Amar Akbar Anthony the same year even winning the National Award for Kya Hua Tera Vada for the former.

Sadly however, this comeback phase did not last very long as on 31st July, 1980, Rafi succumbed to a heart attack. However, by then Rafi had established that his was one of the most recorded voices in Indian cinema and till date not a single day goes by without Rafi being heard on radio or television.

Besides Hindi cinema, Rafi was extremely nostalgic about his Punjabi roots and has also sung in all important Punjabi films made during his lifetime. His songs in films like Bhangra (1959), Yamla Jatt (1960), Jijaji (1961), Kankan De Ohle (1971) and Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh (1974) were extremely popular.