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Echoes of Rafi

Azad Yusuf Mohammed's brings alive the immortal melodies of Rafi

HIS MASTER'S VOICE Azad Yusuf Mohammed, seen here at his salon, sings Rafi's golden oldies quite like his idol Photo: H. Vibhu

Similarities between the legendary singer Mohammed Rafi and the unsung crooner Azad Yusuf Mohammed extend well beyond the voice. Listen to Azad singing Rafi Saab's hits and you find the expression in the voice almost the same, the cadences that get you hooked to Rafi hits can be detected here and there when Azad sings. Azad runs a modest hairdressing salon in one of the crowded by-lanes of Mattancherry in Kochi.

A part of his life

A music system that keeps playing Rafi's immortal songs, a couple of pictures of this great singer and brochures of Azad's local programmes glare at you from the glass cupboards. Even as he goes about his work, Azad is heard humming softly, following Rafi's voice from the recorder.

"I remember listening to my father, (Yusuf Mohammed) who had his own salon, sing with a whole crowd of customers as his audience. I was never trained to sing but picked up the art of singing from those hours spent in my father's salon," reminisces Azad.

The story is that Mohammed Rafi used to spend many of his childhood days at his brother Mohammed Deen's barbershop in Punjab. It was some of the patrons of the shop that first listened to this golden voice. Young Rafi used to sing the songs of a `fakir' with perfect `sur.' The elders who used to frequent the shop used to ask Rafi to sit in the shop and sing for them. The barbershop was Rafi's first stage, the customers his first audience.

"Almost everyone who frequent my shop don't really mind waiting and listening to Rafi Saab's songs."

After his schooling, at the Haji Isa Haji Moosa School, Azad slipped into his father's profession.

"I was just average in studies. In 1977, I migrated to Bahrain and assisted my brother in his salon there. For nearly 23 years I stuck on there."

The Gulf was really where Azad's musical talent blossomed. And very soon this unassuming singer became a hot favourite. He was featured on television and even had a ghazal album recorded there.

What makes Azad's singing so special is his accent, diction and pronunciation that matches Rafi's closely.

"By now I know more than 300 of Rafi Saab's songs by heart. But I always rely on my notes when on stage, just to be safe." Recently Azad sang a song in the Malayalam album `Dik Dik' and is now hoping to make a career in this field. "It is not yet very late, I think. I'm now trying to make up for lost time. Inshah Allah, I think I'll be able to do it."

K. PRADEEP

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