Mumbai: Fans from all over the country fondly wished the late playback legend Mohammed Rafi on his 95th birth anniversary on December 24, but there was not a single greeting for the music idol on social media from Bollywood celebrities till Tuesday afternoon.
All through Tuesday, #MohammedRafi trended as netizens took to Twitter to remember the late maestro. Some fans shared video clips of his songs while others paid tribute by posting his photo. Still others shared links to their blog posts about the music legend.
One user shared a black and white photo of Rafi and wrote: “Remembering the singer with the golden voice today on his birth anniversary. Mohammed Rafi would have been 95 today. Now and forever… #MohammedRafi”.
A fan shared the link to his popular number “Gum uthane ke liye main to jiye jaunga” from the 1968 movie “Mere Huzoor” and tweeted: “The immortal #MohammedRafi would have turned 95 today. A link to one of my favourite songs”.
Another fan shared a collage of black-and-white stills capturing various moods of the singer and tweeted: “Remembering #MohammedRafi on his 95th birth anniversary. He was widely considered to be one of the greatest and influential singer in the Indian subcontinent. He received 6 filmfare awards and 1 national awards. He was awarded with Padma Shree in 1967. Tribute to the legend.”
Another user tweeted: “Tributes to #MohammedRafi Saab on his 95th birth anniversary. In a singing career spanning 35 years, Rafi was regarded as the greatest playback singer of Indian cinema.”
A fan of the singer shared the rare song “Main is masoom chehre ko” from the 1964 film “Baghi Shahzada”, where Rafi lent his voice for another late playback legend, Kishore Kumar.
Another fan shared: “#MohammedRafi Happy happy 95th birth anniversary #RafiSahab..A singer whose singing touches to the soul.”
Mohammed Rafi was born in Kotla Sultan Singh of Punjab’s Amritsar district in 1924. The Padma Shri recipient ruled the Bollywood playback scene in the fifties and the sixties, and recorded unforgettable songs till his death on July 31, 1980.
His iconic hits include “Deewana hua badal”, “Ehsan tera hoga mujh par”, “Woh jab yaad aaye”, “Raat ke humsafar”, “Aaj mausam bada beiman hai” and “Khoya khoya chand” among countless others.
His immensely popular track “Kya hua tera wada” from the movie “Hum Kisise Kum Naheen” fetched him the National Award in 1977.
Mohd Rafi breathed his last in Mumbai at the age of 55.