In an interview the Legend Lata Mangeshkar said that the King Of Melodies Mohammed Rafi refused to sing with here and later apologised.
Normally reclusive Rafi’s family dubbed it as non sense , so also Rafi’s Confidante.
Though I am a Fan of Lata Mangeshkar, it is sad that her arrogance as a Singer has come out Public for the first time.
It is no secret that Lata Mangeshkar was arrogant and insulting in her professional Life, contrary to the Public image she built around her.
We know what she did to Vani Jairam behind the scenes.
But she met her match, least of all ,in her sister, Asha Bhonsle.
Very unseemly on the part of Lata to insult a Great Singer like Rafi.
‘My father was national property. I am hurt and so are his fans. His fan following is much bigger than any other artist. If she can prove that my father had written an apology letter to her, then I am ready to apologise. But the main thing is that she should come forward and produce that letter. All I want is that the truth should come out,” Shahid Rafi told reporters here at the press conference.
Shahid Rafi said that Lata Mangeshkar made these claims because she is insecure. “I think this is a publicity stunt as she is insecure with the huge fan following my father has, even after his death,” he said.
Shahid Rafi said that before calling the press conference, he did not feel the need to call Lata Mangeshkar because she seemed always “busy”, when he had called her up in the past.
In an interview to Mumbai Mirror yesterday, Lataji said she and Rafisaab fought over royalties and that when he proclaimed he would not sing with her at a meeting attended by other singers, she retaliated by saying that it was she who would not sing with him.
Lataji went on to say that peace was brokered by the composer Jaikishen, who got Rafisaab to write her a letter of apology. “I got the letter and ended the cold war. But whenever I’d see him, the hurt would return,” Lataji told Mumbai Mirror….
Mamu is Aamiruddin Ahmed Bari, Rafi’s then personal secretary, and a person with anincredible memory for a 74-year-old. He regales you with stories of back then, and also recalls the incident that led to a spat between Rafi and Lata. “Yeh baat 1961 ki hai. It was the Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. After a recording, this meeting happened. There was Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, a singer called Balbir, Talat Mehmood, and Mubarak Begum. Baat royalty ki ho rahi thi, and then Rafi saab said, ‘I don’t want any royalty.’ He also explained why.
I remember one line clearly, because it affected the way I think, ‘hamein apne mehnat ke paise mil jaate hain, fees ke taur pe’ said Rafi. It would be wrong to demand royalty from the producers according to Rafi saab, because he felt that that will put a lot of financial strain on those whose films fail at the box office. Iss par Talat saab naraaz ho gaye, aur kehne lage, ‘aapka kya hai Rafi saab, Hyderabad mein distribution business toh tagdi chal rahi hai aapki.’ So Rafi got angry, and retorted that agar baat royalty ki ho rahi hai toh hamare business pe kyun nigaah daal rahe ho?’ and he stormed out. I walked with him, and said aap rehne dijiye, I will take care of it, because I knew Rafi was very soft, and wouldn’t say anything else. I was his aide, secretary, business manager and closest person. I was his sister’s husband also, and used to live with them only.
This incident put a rift between Rafi and Lata, and they didn’t sing together for three years. Those duet projects that were left, were done alag-alag. Dummy portions were sung by Mahendra Kapoor for the duets, and then later, replaced with Rafi’s while mixing, after Lata had sung her bits. And then, Lata began to get lesser and lesser assignments. I remember someone had told me from 230 odd songs in a year, she began to get about 140. Also, Suman Kalyanpur was coming up in a big way, and she’d sing for half of Lata’s price – for as less as `5,000. That was when Jaikishan intervened. Ek din, recording ke baad, unhone Rafi saab ke kandhe pe haath rakha aur kaha, ‘tum dono achche singers ho, aur yeh jo ho raha hai, theek nahi hai.’ Rafi said, ‘Humne kuch galat kaha ho toh aap humko bolo’.
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