Dastaan-E-Rafi, the award winning documentary film based on the life of Mohd. Rafi and directed by Rajni Acharya has won accolades at a number of film festivals including Jodhpur Film Festival, NEZ film festival at Kolkatta, Pulotsac Cultural Festival at Pune and Shan – E – Awadh film festival at Lucknow. It is now being released on DVDs by Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. The DVD was launched by the legendary actor Dharmendra who is a self-confessed fan of Mohd. Rafi and for whom Rafi sang several popular songs.
Recalling his struggling days, Dharamji shared that he always wished for Rafi saab to sing for him. His happiness knew no bounds the day Rafi Saab sang his first song for him in “Shola Aur Shabnam”. He actually wanted to shout from roof tops telling the world that Rafi Saab sang for him. He always found him to be a saintly and a simple man. In fact, when other singers started to give playback for him, Dharmendra used to become very uncomfortable and took a long time to adjust. Such was his unconditional love for Rafi Saab.
Dastaan-E-Rafi was subsequently presented to Anandji (of Kalyanji Anandji fame), Pyarelal (of Laxmikant Pyarelal fame), singers Anuradha Paudwal and Usha Mangeshkar at their respective residences.
Dastaan-E-Rafi features Bollywood persons who have worked closely with Rafi Saab including Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Jeetendra, Khayyam, Pyarelal, Shamshad Begum, Ghulam Ali, Pandit Jasraj, Bappi Lahiri, Uttam Singh, Amit Kumar, Udit Narayan, Adnan Sami, Kersi Lord, Lekh Tandon, Sanjeev Kohli, Mubarak Begum, Usha Timothi, Anuradha Paudwal, Raju Naushad, Rehman Naushad, Ruhan Kapoor, Amar Haldipur and many more. His brother and children also share their memories about the great man.
It is an introspective attempt to discover the real human being behind the glory of legendary singer Rafi as industry celebs and his dear ones recall his life journey. The film traces his beginnings, right from his birth in Amritsar to his entry in Bombay; his days of struggle to his achieving stardom; the various ups and downs in his life including differences with Lata Mangeshkar over royalty issue; his being sidelined after the emergence of Kishore Kumar as a playback singer post 1969 to his powerful comeback in the mid-1970s and then his untimely and sad death in 1980. Even decades after his death, Rafi is fondly loved and remembered by fans all over the world and that proves his genius and greatness.
