Mohammed Rafi 2003

May 15, 2003

A commemorative postage stamp on Mohammad Rafi, an Indian playback singer, 1977 National Film Awardee for Best Male Playback Singer [a part of the series ‘Golden Voices of Yesteryears‘] :

Issued by India

Issued on May 15, 2003

Issued for : The Department of Posts is issuing a set of postage stamps to honour four such great legends of yesteryears: Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi and Hemant Kumar.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Four Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Overall size : 2.90 x 3.91 cms.

Printing size : 2.90 x 3.91 cms.

Perforation : 13.5 x 13.5 with elliptient hole on each 39.1 mm sides

Paper : Matt Chromo

Stamps Printed : 0.8 million

Miniature Sheet : 0.1 million

Number per issue sheet : 40

Printing Process : Photo Offset

Printer : Calcutta Security Printers Ltd.

Name : Mohammad Rafi

Born on Dec 24, 1924 at Kotla Sultan Singh, Punjab, British India
[now Punjab, India]

Died on Jul 31, 1980 at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

About :

Film music is omnipresent in India. Songs in different languages, sung by talented singers and set to catchy tunes fill the urban and rural landscapes of the country, emanating from radio sets, public address systems and cassette players. They bring to the common man everything ranging from the classical to semi-classical mode, and folk music from different parts of the country to the new sounds of fusion. Marriage parties, political rallies, cultural functions – whatever be the occasion, the songs keep the gathering engaged for the most part. It is not surprising then, that film music is often described as the ‘folk music’ of the present generation.
Songs are a crucial ingredient of Indian films. The allure of the films, even if they have melodramatic and escapist recipes, is often due to the songs. The technique of playback i.e. using a voice ‘double’ to sing for the actors has been in use since the 1930s. The popularity of the songs ensured that some of the singers went on to become cult figures and cultural icons.
Mohammed Rafi (1924-1980) rose to prominence with Baiju Bawara’s Tu Ganga ki mauj, mai Jamuna ki dhara…. in the early fifties and became the favourite of many millions of music lovers throughout the country. Variety was Rafi’s forte and he had sung different genres of songs for almost all the music directors of his era. His style was smooth and easy and he could hold the melody unchanged even at a high pitch. His range could cover emotions from Bhajans to Ghazals to ‘Yahoo’. Rafi was adjudged the best playback singer by the National Film Awards Jury for the song Kya hua tera vaada…
Text : Based on material received from the proponents of the stamps.