He entered in the music field in the year 1944. He as sung approximately 7500 songs in his entire career working with music directors like OP Nayyar, Laxmikant Pyarelal and RD Burman, Rafi delivered some evergreen hits including Yeh Duniya yeh mehfil, Chura Liya hai tumne, O Hasten, Tum jo mil Gaye ho and Aaj Mausam bada beimaan. Man tadpat Hari darshan ko Aaj…’.
Based on classical Raag Malkauns from Naushad’s movie Baiju Bawra (1952), it turned into a great hit, this song made Rafi an international star. This legendary singer not only sang in Hindi but also in other languages like Kokani, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Sindh, Telugu, Kannada, Maithili, Gujarati, magazine and Urdu. He is very well known for his versatility as his singing ranges from patriotic to the sad song to romantic hits and also qawwali.
He was awarded the national film award once. He has also received six film fare awards in his lifetime. Besides from his contribution to the Hindi music industry he also sang some English, Dutch, Arabic, Persian songs. Rafi displayed his musical inclination from a very young age and his talent was recognized by his elder brother’s friend Abdul Hameed. He convinced Ravi’s family to nurture his musical talents. Mohammed Rafi started taking Hindustani Classical music from Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo who taught him the intricacies of Raag Shastra and Punjabi folk ragas Pahaadi, Bhairavi, Basant and Malhaar. With his amazing voice and mesmerizing personality, he ruled the music industry for years as a true legend. He left us in the year 1980 with his sweet songs that we will cherish forever. Many great singers might come and go but a true legend like Mohammad Rafi is very rare to find.