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Rafi vs Kishore vs Mukesh

marlonbrowndo

marlonbrowndo

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Three of the greatest male Bollywood playback singers. Who would you say is the best out of the three? Although Mukesh has sung my favourite Bollywood song, I would say Rafi is the greatest, followed by Kishore and then Mukesh.
 
aliasad1998 said:
Three of the greatest male Bollywood playback singers. Who would you say is the best out of the three? Although Mukesh has sung my favourite Bollywood song, I would say Rafi is the greatest, followed by Kishore and then Mukesh.
Click to expand...

Best? You can't go wrong with either one of Rafi or Kishore.
 
Mukesh was nasal. Rafi had feminine voice, though his voice suited the era when men were shown as tender and with delicate sensibilities. Kishore Da had a deep voice and was a natural talent and wipes the floor with every other play back singer.
 
I did not at all like the voice of Mukesh finding it incredibly irritating. Kishore was probably more versatile where as Rafi the complete all rounder who could sing all kinds of songs. He could make even a crap and meaningless song like "John Jaani Janardhan" to be ever so popular. Another unique thing about Rafi was his ability to sing for the actor, just by listening to the song you could accurately guess what actor would be lip reading to it.
 
There is no comparison to Rafi . He was greatest.

Singers like Yesudas , Balasubramaniam , manna Dey etc all accept this fact. rafi sahab was a gharana himself , none can copy him.
 
As a singer Rafi, but Kishore defn has some of the most iconic songs of bollywood.

I would like to give a shout out to the lyricist and music composers as well,one of the reasons why singers make it is huge is also them.

Music directors-Kalyanji-Anandji,Laximikant-Pyarelal,SD Burman and ofcourse RD Burman

Lyricist- Anand Bakshi,Sahir Ludhianvi,Majrooh Sultanpuri,Kaifi Azmi,Shailendra

Missing many here.
 
Kumar Sanu is really underrated tbh. He's right up there with the best imo.
 
Mohd rafi has to be the most overrrated singer in bollywood history.i would put even hemant kumar,manna dey over him.he is nowhere the versatility of kishore kumar.
 
TM Riddle said:
Rafi.Greatest male singer to come out of south asia.
Click to expand...

There have been other greats too like K.J Yesudas and SPB, with more awards/critical acclaim a far greater range of languages, number of songs sung and genres covered, and the fact that they've been active since the 60's as contemporaries. They have had their attempts in hindi/urdu as well, but the Southern accents would play a part in songs not having the same level of acceptability.

If you consider Hindi/Urdu language alone , then i'd agree with you .
 
SandyB said:
There have been other greats too like K.J Yesudas and SPB, with more awards/critical acclaim a far greater range of languages, number of songs sung and genres covered, and the fact that they've been active since the 60's as contemporaries. They have had their attempts in hindi/urdu as well, but the Southern accents would play a part in songs not having the same level of acceptability.

If you consider Hindi/Urdu language alone , then i'd agree with you .
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Yeah I had Hindi/Urdu in mind when I made that comment.
My top 3 singers from subcontinent
1.Rafi
2.Lata
3.Nusrat
 
TM Riddle said:
Yeah I had Hindi/Urdu in mind when I made that comment.
My top 3 singers from subcontinent
1.Rafi
2.Lata
3.Nusrat
Click to expand...

I personally prefer Asha on par with Lata. There have been a lot of articles about their extreme rivalry and that Lata being older and established 1st, would always command the best songs , with Asha being relegated to singing "Vamp" songs and B-Grade films.

I also love how Asha had a strong comeback in the mid 90's with rangeela and such ARR songs.
 
hussain123 said:
Mohd rafi has to be the most overrrated singer in bollywood history.i would put even hemant kumar,manna dey over him.he is nowhere the versatility of kishore kumar.
Click to expand...

Kishore is more versatile than Rafi ?

What genre Rafi has not sung ? What does versatility mean ?
 
SandyB said:
I personally prefer Asha on par with Lata. There have been a lot of articles about their extreme rivalry and that Lata being older and established 1st, would always command the best songs , with Asha being relegated to singing "Vamp" songs and B-Grade films.

I also love how Asha had a strong comeback in the mid 90's with rangeela and such ARR songs.
Click to expand...

Asha was more versatile than lata , but Lata till 1950 and 1960 was really good.
 
Justcrazy said:
Asha was more versatile than lata , but Lata till 1950 and 1960 was really good.
Click to expand...

Would be true. But I wasn't alive at that point, and am pretty unfamiliar with 50's/60's music. Apart from "Aey mere watan ki logon", dunno any of the songs from that era.

Asha showed tremendous versatility and adaptability as we transitioned to modern Bollywood music under people like Rahman. "Tanha Tanha", "Rangeela re", "radha Kaise na jale" etc come to mind. She also put outr a lot of albums in the period too .
 
SandyB said:
Would be true. But I wasn't alive at that point, and am pretty unfamiliar with 50's/60's music. Apart from "Aey mere watan ki logon", dunno any of the songs from that era.

Asha showed tremendous versatility and adaptability as we transitioned to modern Bollywood music under people like Rahman. "Tanha Tanha", "Rangeela re", "radha Kaise na jale" etc come to mind. She also put outr a lot of albums in the period too .
Click to expand...

After 70 s Rafi was not good any more , but because of reputation kept going on.
 
1) Kishore (Best ever along with Sonu Nigam)
2) Rafi
3) Mukesh (I would pick several ahead of him. Udit Narayan, Arijit, Kumar Sanu to me are better than Mukesh.)
 
JaDed said:
As a singer Rafi, but Kishore defn has some of the most iconic songs of bollywood.

I would like to give a shout out to the lyricist and music composers as well,one of the reasons why singers make it is huge is also them.

Music directors-Kalyanji-Anandji,Laximikant-Pyarelal,SD Burman and ofcourse RD Burman

Lyricist- Anand Bakshi,Sahir Ludhianvi,Majrooh Sultanpuri,Kaifi Azmi,Shailendra

Missing many here.
Click to expand...

RD Burman and Ilayaraja are music Gods. The best ever. I am still in awe of these 2 greats and how they were so much ahead of their competition.

I still listen to ilayaraja songs from 80's and early 90's and it gives me goose bumps listening to them.
 
I enjoy Rafi's and Mukesh's songs the most. Manna Dey should be in the list too.
 
This debate is pointless in my opinion but it does remind of an Indian Uncle I know of who is a huge Rafi fan.

Every thanksgiving he holds a house party in the tradition of the yearly dinner party for all friends and family. He sits every down in the living room in front of the big screen TV. Snacks are offered and while we are waiting for the actual dinner, he puts in a DVD, one after another from a selection of Rafi song compilation that he has accumulated over the years. He probably has hundreds of such DVD's and tapes.

Now, if it was being played to serve as part of the background music and visuals to accompany the general party atmosphere than I would understand. But he demands everyone (very politely) to stop discussing whatever they are discussing and focus on the video and the song playing in front of them, while he provides commentary, which is mainly just die hard praise and adoration over his beloved singer.

This continues throughout the party with a brief break during the time dinner is served. This yearly ritual has become an interesting exercise in my development in understanding Rafi and his impact on people. I am sure Mukesh and Kishore has similar die hard and uncompromising fans as well, but this gentleman truly takes the cake when it comes to Rafi's adulation and worship.
 
Justcrazy said:
Kishore is more versatile than Rafi ?

What genre Rafi has not sung ? What does versatility mean ?
Click to expand...

Was speaking in relative terms bro.rafi is versatile but more monotonous.kishore kumar's range is at a different level.
 
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Most of the old singers were absolute peach, be it the trio(rafi,kishore,mukesh),or manna De, mahendra kapoor, hemant Kumar, m.s subbalakshmi, yesudas,asha,shamshad begum, lata.have given memorable gifts, I feel hemant,manna and mehandra were underrated never got their due.
 
troodon said:
1) Kishore (Best ever along with Sonu Nigam)
2) Rafi
3) Mukesh (I would pick several ahead of him. Udit Narayan, Arijit, Kumar Sanu to me are better than Mukesh.)
Click to expand...

Then my friend u haven't heard Mukesh's song the most underrated of the trio.
 
Rafi was probably the best classical singer of a song

Kishores versatility was brilliant He could sing all types of song

Both were class and its hard to picl them apart
 
hussain123 said:
Was speaking in relative terms bro.rafi is versatile but more monotonous.kishore kumar's range is at a different level.
Click to expand...

Manana Dey himself said in interview , that Rafi was best. When asked about Kishore , he said he never sang difficult songs or complicated ones, like Rafi or Himself ( Manna Dey )
 
Lol at rubbish arjit being better than mukesh. Arjit can't sing Mukeshs best songs even if you give him his whole life to do it. Sonu Nigam and Udit Narayan have a case.
 
Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore were all pretty great and there's no denying that. Out of the three, my pick would be Rafi because of "Likhay jo khat tujhay".

However, a singer who I hold equally great to the three is the forgotten Ahmed Rushdi. He was one of the greatest singers of the 60's and 70's to have come out of the Sub Continent and it is really a pity how no one even mentions him.

What a classic "Akelay na jana" was..
 
As far as the debate for the greatest musician or singer to have emerged from the Indian subcontinent is concerned, I think there is no doubt about the fact that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is the undisputed KING. He is a candidate for the greatest singer of all time, all over the world.

This isn't about an India vs Pakistan thing. In my opinion, music has no borders or boundaries. Everyone has the right to their own opinion but NFAK easily trumps anyone else from Asia. The way his music has lived on to this day and the generations of people that worship him, I don't think his title to the throne is under any threat.
 
Kishore for me. Probably the only Bollywood singer along with A.R. Rahman I still listen to.
 
Hasan2K8 said:
Udit Narayan
Click to expand...

He's sung some gems . But even as a non-native hindi speaker, I've felt that his pronunciation of certain Hindi/Urdu words are suspect. Him being a nepali and all.

My favourites are 'Ae Ajnabi' (Dil Se) and Duniya Haseeno Ka Mela (Gupt)
 
Rafi's voice had that inherent playfulness, the kind of feminine exuberance that was a sign of changing eras in Bollywood. The scene was shifting from Saigol or Punkaj Malik like deep voices to more youthful kind. That is the reason that Rafi had more success than say Talat or Mukesh in 50s & 60s. Others though great in their own generes never matched the versatility of Rafi in singing of that era.

Kishore was another beneficiary of changing era. This time Bollywood was heavily being influenced from western pop & disco in the 70s. Kishore through his versatility in singing funky kind of songs or his awesome yodeling pretty much ruled in 70s to the mid eighties.

The greatest of the three nonetheless would vary from person to person. Though Rafi for me remains undisputed king.
 
i'll go with either manna dey or hemanta.if you bring classical into the scene,pt bhim sen joshi is probably the best
 
Arijit Singh performing Bangladeshi songs

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WvBZKNwm8oY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Legend.
 
Dios said:
Arijit Singh performing Bangladeshi songs

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WvBZKNwm8oY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Legend.
Click to expand...

That song was one of my favourite song, from a early 90s BD film. Arjit Singh is now making his Bangladeshi cinema debut.

Sounds good
https://youtu.be/dve9mUwWZNI
 
Wanna bump this following the current discussion happening around Rafi here. I would say that Kishore is the greatest but it’s very difficult to choose
 
marlonbrowndo said:
Wanna bump this following the current discussion happening around Rafi here. I would say that Kishore is the greatest but it’s very difficult to choose
Click to expand...

An intriguing discussion with plenty of interesting points from the contributors.

Marlonbhai in the first post you said Rafi Sahab is the greatest and in your latest response your stance has changed to Kishoreda. I was wondering how this change came about; have your experiences over the passage of time caused you to reevaluate your stance?

In my 40+ years of following HFM and from the 100s of interactions I've had with avid followers, its always been the reverse of your experience; i.e. it's a one way road with the traffic flowing in the direction of Rafi from Kishore. Your stance represents a contraflow and one which is counterintuitive to everything I've witnessed.

Also what criterion are you employing to come to the conclusion that Kishoreda is the greatest? Please don't take this as an attempt to put you on the spot or as an insidious trap to catch you out; my interest has genuinely been piqued and I'm intrigued to know your reasons.

Ordinarily, I try to avoid these discussions due to the toxicity it tends to generate. In my experience, virtually every person who argues for Kishoreda is relying on non-sequiturs, red herrings and strawmen to back their assertions. And when one presents the facts and figures to back up Rafi's status, the opposing side often resort to hubris and/or ad hominem attacks against the messenger. Conversely, if we go by the established indicators, there is no debate on who the leader of the pack was - it's Rafi Sahab by a country mile and then some. In fact, going by those same indicators, Rafi's closet competitor was actually Lataji..
 
Kishore

He had the funk, sounded more "pop" in an era when it was classically tinted, easy on the ear

The only guy I'll listen to for fun

other guys I'll listen to if I am forced to do so by my dad...

Other guy imho are probably good singers but the whole package

That guy was just terrific!!

Although this was a hard choice considering I just found out Rafi was a Lahori and due to my extreme biases for Lahoris I was close to picking him

But hell nah, Kishore's music was just way too palatable for me and I won't be surprised if the newer post 2000s generation (who didn't grew up on the classical music or music inspired by it) would pick Kishore over both of em
 
sadida97 said:
atif aslam
Click to expand...

Pakistanis are trash at playback singing...

We are great at doing versatile things like metal, bands, hip hop, the new style of jazz (although in last couple of years indian artists are killing it but Pakistanis started it and pushed it into the mainstream or a level just below that and indians took it from there)-for hip hop

Don't know about Edm tho...
 
marlonbrowndo said:
Wanna bump this following the current discussion happening around Rafi here. I would say that Kishore is the greatest but it’s very difficult to choose
Click to expand...

Manadey , Rafi , Hemant all sand when Kishore was on the screen for him , still he is greatest! You see the limitations he had.
 
Another thing

Rafi was Shammi Kapoor's voice. His voice also suited Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar among others

Mukesh's voice suited Raj Kapoor

Kishore's voice suited Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna
 
For me they rank as follows:

Rafi
Mukesh
Kishore

Kishore whilst a great singer, his voice didn't appeal to me. Rafi and Mukesh, different class.
 
PakLFC said:
I did not at all like the voice of Mukesh finding it incredibly irritating. Kishore was probably more versatile where as Rafi the complete all rounder who could sing all kinds of songs. He could make even a crap and meaningless song like "John Jaani Janardhan" to be ever so popular. Another unique thing about Rafi was his ability to sing for the actor, just by listening to the song you could accurately guess what actor would be lip reading to it.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Here it seems like Dharmendra is singing himself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOyNlOzBRQ
 
Some of my Kishore and Mukesh favourites

KISHORE
Chalte Chalte Mere Yeh Geet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzYGh5-2sc4

Chehra Hai Ya Chand Khila Hai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzdkxnU4mU

Chal cinema dekhan ko jayen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qcd20cKRAs

All songs of much underrated movie 'yeh wada raha'

and many others..


MUKESH

Awara houn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi-OKRuBbI8

Shree 420 - Mera Joota Hai Japani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdQwPwmsUC0

Sab Kuch Seekha Humne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLZoBJxlQBA
 
Napa said:
Hemanta Mukherjee in my opinion... the best looking of the lot too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o4t-FKQ9gw

Best singer is obviously very subjective. The quality of a singer is the response he/she elicits from the listener, and every listener is different.

Expanding the list to singers to include classical, Bhimsen Joshi could be the one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekL-mN67Ejo
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Hemantda was indeed a tall, handsome man with plenty of charisma.

With his charming looks, he could have easily gone into acting but thankfully he wasn't bitten by the bug that afflicted both Mukesh Sahab and Talat Mahmood Sahab. When those two began acting it was still a four horse race between the singer's for the number one spot, which included Mannada and Rafi Sahab. Ultimately, they both had a poor run as actors and when they returned to the world of HFM solely as singers, Rafi was comfortably ahead of the pack.

Have you heard the song Mohabbat Choome Jinke Haath in Hemantda's voice? It has a wholly different vibe to Rafi's version. I gather Hemantda was the original singer but was replaced on Mehboob Khan's insistence..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FI3Q_Vue3H8
 
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Pascal Gambit said:
Hemantda was indeed a tall, handsome man with plenty of charisma.

With his charming looks, he could have easily gone into acting but thankfully he wasn't bitten by the bug that afflicted both Mukesh Sahab and Talat Mahmood Sahab. When those two began acting it was still a four horse race between the singer's for the number one spot, which included Mannada and Rafi Sahab. Ultimately, they both had a poor run as actors and when they returned to the world of HFM solely as singers, Rafi was comfortably ahead of the pack.

Have you heard the song Mohabbat Choome Jinke Haath in Hemantda's voice? It has a wholly different vibe to Rafi's version. I gather Hemantda was the original singer but was replaced on Mehboob Khan's insistence..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FI3Q_Vue3H8
Click to expand...

I hadn't heard this version before, thanks for the link.
 
To me, the list will be like this

1) Rafi sahab/Kishore da (Its really really difficult to separate these 2)
2) Talat Mehmood (Had a very underrated and soothing voice)
3) Mukesh/Hemant Kumar/Mannada
 
MP2011 said:
One of my all time Mukesh favorites,

Yeh Mera Deewanapan Hai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gw4PBmtU-o
Click to expand...

When Yeh Mera Deewanapan was conceived by Shankar-Jaikishan, they were in a tizzy whether to give it to Mukeshji or to Talat Mahmood. The arbiter was a coin and the toss' result fell in Mukeshji's favour. Personally, I'm glad it went to Mukesh as I much prefer him over Talat.

My favorite Mukesh song is Husn-e-Jaana Idhar Aa, composed by Naushad. If I remember correctly, Mukesh had hitherto been absent from Naushad's recording room for close to two decades. I wish Naushad had utilised Mukesh a lot more; virtually every song flowing from their association is a gem.

This song sounds pretty straightforward but it's actually a very difficult song to sing. Mukeshji falters slightly a couple of times in the song but his overall singing and the beauty of the composition means one can overlook that (I'll leave it to those of you with a discerning ear to pinpoint where this occurs)..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FVMqLoLEWXs
 
AZulfi said:
Another thing

Rafi was Shammi Kapoor's voice. His voice also suited Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar among others

Mukesh's voice suited Raj Kapoor

Kishore's voice suited Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna
Click to expand...

Rafi voice suited every actor , he sang for Rajesh Khanna as well and those were big hits as well. Its RD burmans hatred for Rafi that he got him out.

RD was so much obssessed that he lightened his compositions of taaans , murkis , alaaps to make sure Kishore could sing them.

I tell you one incidence , once I was debating about Lata and Rafi , one anti Rafi guy said that Lata sang for 3 female characters alone in one song .

I told him that firstly that is not a criteria of a singer been better , but if Lata has done for 3 , Rafi sang for 5 different characters in one song .
 
Pascal Gambit said:
When Yeh Mera Deewanapan was conceived by Shankar-Jaikishan, they were in a tizzy whether to give it to Mukeshji or to Talat Mahmood. The arbiter was a coin and the toss' result fell in Mukeshji's favour. Personally, I'm glad it went to Mukesh as I much prefer him over Talat.

My favorite Mukesh song is Husn-e-Jaana Idhar Aa, composed by Naushad. If I remember correctly, Mukesh had hitherto been absent from Naushad's recording room for close to two decades. I wish Naushad had utilised Mukesh a lot more; virtually every song flowing from their association is a gem.

This song sounds pretty straightforward but it's actually a very difficult song to sing. Mukeshji falters slightly a couple of times in the song but his overall singing and the beauty of the composition means one can overlook that (I'll leave it to those of you with a discerning ear to pinpoint where this occurs)..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FVMqLoLEWXs
Click to expand...

Talat had a tremor in his voice which suited certain songs , but no doubt Mukesh vocal range was better than him.
 
MP2011 said:
To me, the list will be like this

1) Rafi sahab/Kishore da (Its really really difficult to separate these 2)
2) Talat Mehmood (Had a very underrated and soothing voice)
3) Mukesh/Hemant Kumar/Mannada
Click to expand...

If it is difficult to separate then I do not think you have much knowledge of Music.

I give you one example , there is a song Humme tumse payar kitna , kishore has sung it. There is a female version as well which Praveena sultana has sung , just hear that one , and you would know why as a singer Mr Kishore was limited.
 
Justcrazy said:
If it is difficult to separate then I do not think you have much knowledge of Music.

I give you one example , there is a song Humme tumse payar kitna , kishore has sung it. There is a female version as well which Praveena sultana has sung , just hear that one , and you would know why as a singer Mr Kishore was limited.
Click to expand...
That's your choice, not necessarily the latter song being the better version of that song.

I liked Kishore's version better, doesn't make Parveena's version any inferior.
 
As for difficult to separate between Rafi and Kishor, I meant for me as a fan. I love them both equally so for me, its really difficult to say which one was better between the two.
 
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