Noted for his voice, versatility and
range, Mohammed Rafi’s songs brought out various emotions in the hearts of his
listeners. From fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly
romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs Mohammed
Rafi was an Indian playback singer who is considered as one of the greatest and
most influential Indian singers. His popularity had an impact on Goa music
lovers too and Janeiro Fulgencio Gaunkar from Arlem, Raia is one of the great
fans.
A humble man, 70 year old Janeiro was
introduced to the music of the legend when he started working at the age of 16
at Cine Metropole in Margao in
1964. “Late Mohd Rafi saab was a singer par excellence. A king of melodious
voice, he has no parallel in the Indian Hindi cinema. I joined Cine Metropole
in 1964 and the first movie I watched there was ‘Kohinoor’, a Dilip Kumar
starrer. Rafi Saab’s voice fitted well for Dilip Kumar. I was employed by Tajden
Mavani for Rs 50 and Rs 5 was deducted as provident fund,” says Janeiro. His
work gave him the opportunity to listen to Mohd Rafi’s songs over and over
again, imprinting on his mind the beauty of the simple lyrics.
“From
1964 to 1974 during my spell at Cine Metropole, Cine El Dourado and Cine El
Monte, I happened to listen to numerous songs of Rafi Saab. Besides, Dilip
Kumar his voice suited perfectly to that of Shammi Kapoor. In fact, Rafi had an
ability to adopt the voices of the actors on whom the particular song was
picturised on screen. Some of Rafi’s everlasting songs which I like are ‘Aaj
Purani Raahon Se’ from the film ‘Aadmi’, ‘Chhoo Lene do Nazuk Hoton Ko’ from ‘Kaajal’
starring Raj Kumar, ‘Khoya Khoya Chand Khula Aasman’ from ‘Kala Bazar’ starring
Dev Anand, ‘Patthar Ke Sanam Tujhe Humne’ from ‘Patthar Ke Sanam’ starring
Manoj Kumar and many others,” he says.
Back then in the 1960s, very few films would be
screened in theatres in Goa and some film would release over a year back in
Bombay before making its way to a theatre in Goa. “Sometimes, a film would
release once a year in a theatre and would be repeated for many shows. Some
coming soon trailers would be shown before the film begins almost a year in
advance. We would wait to see the entire credits list. An English film was
screened every Sunday morning. Now the charm is not like before with films
being screened frequently and some for a very short period,” he adds.
His last
film while working at Cine Metropole before its closing was ‘Sita Gita’.
There was a booklet in Hindi, ‘Sangeet’ priced
at 17.5 Paise which had songs of the new films with the lyrics and details like
the name of the film, actors, singers and music producers, which was released
every month. Screen magazine had articles and pictures of the actors and this
gave an insight into the world of Bollywood,” explains Janeiro, a father of
five children.
Till date, one has to just hum a line of the
song and he will tell which Rafi song it is and from which film and who was the
actor starring in it and who did the music. He has catalogued each film of Mohd
Rafi and knows it by heart. That is one trait that hmakes him stand out among
other Mohd Rafi fans. He makes it a point to visit Mumbai especially for the
borth anniversary celebrations of the late singer and attends the musicals
playing tribute to Mohd Rafi. He doesn’t shy away to answer questions about
Mohd Rafi’s songs. “I didn’t meet him in person when he was alive and I only
travelled to Mumbai for the first time for his first birth anniversary in 1980
at a show in Byculla. Most prominent among them was live concert by ‘Expressions
of Love’ by playback singer Saud Khan with yesteryear Bollywood singer Sharda
in 2017,” he says. Janeiro also volunteers for the Old Goa Feast of St Francis
Xavier since 2014.
To
conclude, he says, “When I joined Cine Metropole theatre on April 4, 1964, I
was 16 and Rafi Saab was 33 years old. Since then I watched altogether 650
movies mostly containing songs sung by Rafi Saab. It is difficult to wipe out Rafi’s
name from the Hindi cinema.”
