Famous songs, Not-so-Famous Faces: The Magic of Mohammad Rafi

Some days back, in celebration of the birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi, I posted a list of ten Rafi songs, picturized on ten different actors. Each of those men—Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, even Johnny Walker—were immediately recognizable. Big names in their own ways (yes, even Johnny Walker, whom I personally think of as the greatest comedian to have lit up the Hindi silver screen). But even as I was compiling that list, I was thinking of all the many other times I’ve listened to a Rafi song, and have been unable to put a name to the man who’s lip-syncing to his voice.

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Lata Mangeshkar: Ten Solos, Ten Composers – Part 4

Last year, when Lata Mangeshkar passed away, I did a series of posts featuring songs she’d sung for different composers. This post, the fourth and final one, had been lying waiting to be published for the past several months.

I began the first list as a tribute to Lata when she passed away, but that, I realized, was too little; there were too many very talented composers, too many wonderful songs, which had perforce been left out of that list. I therefore ended up making another list. And then another.

Here, I cover ten more composers, most of them unfortunately either forgotten now or never really given their due. But, as can be seen (or heard?) by this list, they were not short of talent. These ten solos are all, as always, from pre-1970s Hindi films that I’ve seen. Plus, these songs do not overlap with the very first Lata Mangeshkar post I had published on this blog, here.

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