Who was superior singer Lata Mangeshkar or Mohammed Rafi?

Answer 1

Both are accurate, melodious, divine and possess extremely good raw material in the form of their voice. Doing comparison is not fair.

Range of Rafi was more wider which made Lata uncomfortable. The different style of rolling his voice is also a unique feature of rafi. Listen to the following songs :

a. Rut hai milen ki saathi mere AA re

b. Tasveer teri dil mein jis din se basai hai ( feel the elasticity in voice of Rafi , which

Lata missed)

c. Dhire-Dhire Chal Chand gagan mein

d. Main chalee main chalee pichhe-2 Jahan, yeh na puchho kidher , yeh na puchhoh

kahaan.......... Rafi superseeded un-questionably.

Of course there are songs where Lata did better.

but overall, I give Rafi 9.8 out of ten ; and 9.65 to Lata.

If you want more proof then listen to Rafi's solo songs, Islamic qualees, Non-film ghazals and Bhajans.

Because duets were made keeping in mind style of both singers.

Listen to rafi's non-film song " Maine socha tha agar maut se pehle pehle...." or the un-released song " Bite dino ki yaad satati hai aaj bhi..."

and the film song " saj rahi gali meri maa chunar gote mein...." No one else could have attempted such a singing.

No one could copy rafi 10%, as the basic raw material is missing.

Today's singer who copy Rafi lack the raw material, the melody, the feel and the accuracy, and most important , a very strong classical base, which he used in playback singing. In a simple looking song, if you listen carefully, you find the murkys taken effortlessly which equals the grade of Mehdi Hassan ( and yet it sounds simple due to Rafi's effortless but very difficult singing). Now, who-ever copied Rafi sounds like screaming at higher pitch, or they have feminine voice ( Sonu Nigam) and less accuracy. Divinity is out of question at all.

I listened Asha commenting recently that she sang a song better than Rafi.

She is a great singer, but does not fall in category of Lata and Rafi. Listen to a song " "Roka Kai baar mene dil ki umang ko..." ( Film: Mere Sanam)Listen Rafi singing the line " O Jane jaan..." in 3 various styles ( the last one superb") which asha lacked. The ornaments made of Silver will never match Gold ornaments. That is the difference. Rafi and Lata have golden voice, but Rafi little more golden.

Anurag Malhotra......... trafowork@Yahoo.com