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Mohammed Rafi My Abba - a Memoir
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204 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 27, 2021
Biography
This is a biography of one of legendary signers in early indian cinema. He has sung in multiple languages.
It's very sweet of being narrated by a fan cum family member, his daughter in law.
Also though major changes in his career including his learning is narrated, I would say the family love has reduced the technical part.
This is a biography of one of legendary signers in early indian cinema. He has sung in multiple languages.
It's very sweet of being narrated by a fan cum family member, his daughter in law.
Also though major changes in his career including his learning is narrated, I would say the family love has reduced the technical part.
August 1, 2018
An average account of a great singer
The rating was in response to the bare minimum description about Rafi sahab. It was more or less a family memoir, whereas the readers may be looking for his professional endeavors which were present but not adequate enough. In case you are interested in his London trips and authors (Rafi Sahab's daughter in law) life before and after marriage, then you may go for it.
The rating was in response to the bare minimum description about Rafi sahab. It was more or less a family memoir, whereas the readers may be looking for his professional endeavors which were present but not adequate enough. In case you are interested in his London trips and authors (Rafi Sahab's daughter in law) life before and after marriage, then you may go for it.
July 22, 2017
A warm and touching biography by Mohammad rafi Saab 's daughter in law. It focuses more on Rafi the person than Rafi the singer par excellence .
December 19, 2017
An intimate portrait of one of the best singers the world has ever seen. The book has many interesting facts - In 70s, he started spending a lot of time with his son Khalid in London and his absence from Mumbai forced music directors to work with budding playback singers - Kishore Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor. Mohammad Rafi had planned for a live concert in London in 1981/82 but it never happened - he died in 1980 of heart attack at the age of 55. Those who love Rafi and his songs would relish reading about his life. Thoroughly enjoyed!
October 27, 2020
It is an intimate memoir of the finest singer of Indian music industry- Mohd Rafi, by his daughter-in-law. Though she always appears to be in admiration of him, but could manage to narrate quite a few anecdotes of his likes-dislikes and family life. It makes a good reading, but , at no stage, tries to analyse his craft and talent. I was expecting a few insides on his creative process and his profession, but there were hardly any.
January 13, 2019
Mohd Rafi Biography
A must read for all Rafi fans. Wonderful tribute , a true account of his life , written with a lot of love and respect.
Thank you for this delightful book.
A must read for all Rafi fans. Wonderful tribute , a true account of his life , written with a lot of love and respect.
Thank you for this delightful book.
January 12, 2014
My Abba has been written by one of Mohammed Rafi's daughter-in-law Yasmin Khalid Rafi [It has been translated from Hindi by Rupa Srikumar & A.K.Srikumar]
The book's blurb reads, "Famed music director Naushad Ali described Mohammed Rafi as India's new 'Tansen'. In a singing career spanning 35 years, Rafi came to be regarded by many as the greatest playback singer the Hindi film industry has ever known. Apart from Naushad, Rafi worked with all the well-known music directors of his time, including S D Burman, Shankar-Jaikishen, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and O P Nayyar. He became the 'voice' of most of the leading stars of the day including Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan. He also playbacked for superstar Rajesh Khanna ['Gun guna rahen hain bhanware khil rahi hai kali kali' and 'Baagon mein bahaar hai, kaliyon pe nikhaar hai' in the film Aradhana]. It was songs like these and countless others like 'O Duniya ke Rahwaley' [Baiju Bawra], 'Yeh Zindagi ke Meley' [Mela], 'Naseeb Dar pe Tere Azmaney Aaya Hoon' [Deedar] and 'Shabaab pe mein zara si sharab phekoonga' [Amar Akbar Anthony], that have made Mohammed Rafi live on in the hearts of millions long after he passed away in 1980.
Yasmin Rafi grew up as a devoted fan of Mohammed Rafi, little knowing that she would one day meet and marry his son, Khalid. This transition from 'fan to family' as she puts it, led to this heartwarming memoir of an artiste who was an icon for the world, but for his family, a simple, caring and loving man who delighted as much in good food, flying kites with his children, and driving his parrot-green Fiat through the streets of Mumbai, as he did in the numerous awards that came his way, including six Filmfare awards and the Padma Shri in 1967."
Among the several memoirs to Rafi, this one is quite delightful coming as it does from a close family member. Yasmin was not just Rafi's daughter-in-law; she was his ardent fan much before that. And, thus the book captures lots of tidbits about the famous singer including his large heartedness and his willingness to enjoy the pleasures life had to offer.
The book takes us through Rafi's journey from his birthplace in Amritsar, Punjab to the Hindi film industry and how he came to be one of the most revered and respected playback singers. While Kishore Kumar was known to sing light & cheerful songs, Rafi usually sang melancholic numbers with amazing intensity. That is not to say, he didn't sing happy songs; in fact, 'Yeh ladkaa hai Allah kaisa hai deewana' from Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin was a duet he sang with Asha Bhosle.
His friendship with music director O P Nayyar has been discussed in great detail in the book. Rafi sang some of his most memorable songs under O P Nayyar's baton including movies such as CID, Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Taxi Driver.
The book also has some never before seen pictures of Rafi with friends and family including one with all his grand-children and one with Mohammed Ali. Since the book is written by his daughter-in-law, it is written in a matter-of-fact and almost conversational style.
I enjoyed reading about one of Bollywood's most loved but sometimes under-rated playback singer. Among my favourite Rafi songs are 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' from Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin for which he won both the Filmfare & National Award in 1977 and 'Dard-e-dil Dard-e-jigar' from Karz.
Read the book to know more about Rafi - the man behind the singer - who unfortunately died quite young when he passed away of a heart attack in 1980.
This review first appeared on my blog www.pallosworld.com.
The book's blurb reads, "Famed music director Naushad Ali described Mohammed Rafi as India's new 'Tansen'. In a singing career spanning 35 years, Rafi came to be regarded by many as the greatest playback singer the Hindi film industry has ever known. Apart from Naushad, Rafi worked with all the well-known music directors of his time, including S D Burman, Shankar-Jaikishen, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and O P Nayyar. He became the 'voice' of most of the leading stars of the day including Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan. He also playbacked for superstar Rajesh Khanna ['Gun guna rahen hain bhanware khil rahi hai kali kali' and 'Baagon mein bahaar hai, kaliyon pe nikhaar hai' in the film Aradhana]. It was songs like these and countless others like 'O Duniya ke Rahwaley' [Baiju Bawra], 'Yeh Zindagi ke Meley' [Mela], 'Naseeb Dar pe Tere Azmaney Aaya Hoon' [Deedar] and 'Shabaab pe mein zara si sharab phekoonga' [Amar Akbar Anthony], that have made Mohammed Rafi live on in the hearts of millions long after he passed away in 1980.
Yasmin Rafi grew up as a devoted fan of Mohammed Rafi, little knowing that she would one day meet and marry his son, Khalid. This transition from 'fan to family' as she puts it, led to this heartwarming memoir of an artiste who was an icon for the world, but for his family, a simple, caring and loving man who delighted as much in good food, flying kites with his children, and driving his parrot-green Fiat through the streets of Mumbai, as he did in the numerous awards that came his way, including six Filmfare awards and the Padma Shri in 1967."
Among the several memoirs to Rafi, this one is quite delightful coming as it does from a close family member. Yasmin was not just Rafi's daughter-in-law; she was his ardent fan much before that. And, thus the book captures lots of tidbits about the famous singer including his large heartedness and his willingness to enjoy the pleasures life had to offer.
The book takes us through Rafi's journey from his birthplace in Amritsar, Punjab to the Hindi film industry and how he came to be one of the most revered and respected playback singers. While Kishore Kumar was known to sing light & cheerful songs, Rafi usually sang melancholic numbers with amazing intensity. That is not to say, he didn't sing happy songs; in fact, 'Yeh ladkaa hai Allah kaisa hai deewana' from Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin was a duet he sang with Asha Bhosle.
His friendship with music director O P Nayyar has been discussed in great detail in the book. Rafi sang some of his most memorable songs under O P Nayyar's baton including movies such as CID, Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Taxi Driver.
The book also has some never before seen pictures of Rafi with friends and family including one with all his grand-children and one with Mohammed Ali. Since the book is written by his daughter-in-law, it is written in a matter-of-fact and almost conversational style.
I enjoyed reading about one of Bollywood's most loved but sometimes under-rated playback singer. Among my favourite Rafi songs are 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' from Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin for which he won both the Filmfare & National Award in 1977 and 'Dard-e-dil Dard-e-jigar' from Karz.
Read the book to know more about Rafi - the man behind the singer - who unfortunately died quite young when he passed away of a heart attack in 1980.
This review first appeared on my blog www.pallosworld.com.
March 9, 2021
This book is more of a personal diary of Rafi's daughter in law. I was hoping for insights about his personality, anecdotes etc. But there were very few such illustrations in the book.
Author sometimes gets carried away in bragging about how prosperous her father's side was and how many bollywood families she knew (even before she married to Rafi's son). Johny Walker, Salim Khan etc.
The fact that author was lived in London after marriage also limits her ability to detail on Md Rafi's personality. Whatever comes out in the book, is very generic account of Rafi's personality. Kind hearted, emotional, sentimental, generous, family loving are traits which are very common among people of that generation.
However one good thing that came out of this book is, it reminded me of some of the soulful, devotional songs Rafi saab has sung. Although he is known more for romantic songs. So I am giving 2 stars.
Author sometimes gets carried away in bragging about how prosperous her father's side was and how many bollywood families she knew (even before she married to Rafi's son). Johny Walker, Salim Khan etc.
The fact that author was lived in London after marriage also limits her ability to detail on Md Rafi's personality. Whatever comes out in the book, is very generic account of Rafi's personality. Kind hearted, emotional, sentimental, generous, family loving are traits which are very common among people of that generation.
However one good thing that came out of this book is, it reminded me of some of the soulful, devotional songs Rafi saab has sung. Although he is known more for romantic songs. So I am giving 2 stars.
August 4, 2013
A daughter-in-law's honest and loving tribute to a legend.
That Mohd Rafi was a genius at his craft is well-known. That he was also a genuinely good human in an industry known for its cut-throat and back-stabbing competition is what makes him an awe-inspiring legend, even thirty three years after his death. This book collects together his daughter-in-law's reminiscences of Mohd Rafi - her idol, her father-in-law, interspersed with her life before and after marriage, in Indore and later in London. A brief index of songs referenced in the book and twelve pages of black-and-white photographs add to the appeal of this short book.
Full review at my blog at http://blog.abhinavagarwal.net/2013/0...
That Mohd Rafi was a genius at his craft is well-known. That he was also a genuinely good human in an industry known for its cut-throat and back-stabbing competition is what makes him an awe-inspiring legend, even thirty three years after his death. This book collects together his daughter-in-law's reminiscences of Mohd Rafi - her idol, her father-in-law, interspersed with her life before and after marriage, in Indore and later in London. A brief index of songs referenced in the book and twelve pages of black-and-white photographs add to the appeal of this short book.
Full review at my blog at http://blog.abhinavagarwal.net/2013/0...
November 20, 2015
A must read for all Rafi fans.
A journey through the legend's life from PoV of one of his DiL, who was his fan since her childhood and went on to become part of Rafi's family.
A good thing is that at the end of the book there is a detailed index of all the songs referred during the narration, which is a good reference for all Rafi's fans to look up to ensure they have heard of all his hits.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading it, a very quick & easy read.
A journey through the legend's life from PoV of one of his DiL, who was his fan since her childhood and went on to become part of Rafi's family.
A good thing is that at the end of the book there is a detailed index of all the songs referred during the narration, which is a good reference for all Rafi's fans to look up to ensure they have heard of all his hits.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading it, a very quick & easy read.
November 4, 2015
A nice memoir about a person who was quite distant from the public. Not too deep but still gives you some idea about the person he was.
April 2, 2016
Fantastic book on my all time fav.Singer.......But DIL MAANGE MORE
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews