Nonsense, Lataji is getting old: Rafi’s son

Lata Mangeshkar telling a tabloid that she demanded an apology from Mohammad Rafi to sing with him has made Rafi's family angry. They say it was the other way round Lata Mangeshkar's statements in an interview about her having a fight with Mohammad Rafi, walking out of a meeting and demandeding an apology letter from him when he requested a patch up, have made the otherwise quiet and reclusive family of Rafi see red. They aver that what happened is the complete opposite, and are now demanding that Lata Mangeshkar produce that apology letter as proof of what she said. "This is utter nonsense. Lataji, with all due respect, is getting old, and I think is unable to recall things correctly. Reading her say all this has upset me, as it is totally false. I'm thinking of issuing a legal notice to her. Royalty was an issue - I am not denying ki aisi koi baat nahi hui thi. But when she says she demanded an apology letter, that's wrong. At that time, Lataji ki haisiyat thi, mere daddy ko naa bolne ki, ya kuch demand karne ki? She was losing her space to talented newcomers like Mubarak Begum and Geeta Dutt, and daddy was at the top. Also, my dad was illiterate; he never wrote anything. Agar letter hai Lataji ke paas, let her prove it. Why raise this issue 32 years after he passed away? Why didn't she speak of the letter back then? Any letter written by such a legend should be preserved as a memento. So, agar daddy ne poora apology letter likha hai, toh kahaan hai woh? Sawaal hi nahi uthta. I can bet my life that there's no letter. If there is, let her show it as proof, kasam se, main chup ho jaunga. My father was a much, much greater person than her, and I'll not have any Tom Dick and Harry talking about him like that," says an angry Shahid Rafi, Rafi's son. Rafi's son-in-law Meraj Ahmed goes a step further, and says, "She was the one who wanted a patch-up. She went to composer Jaikishan, and requested him to intervene and get a compromise done. Uss darmiyan good singers were giving Lata Mangeshkar stiff competition. There was Suman Kalyanpur, who was threatening to take over Lata's mantle at the top, toh unka career weak ho gaya tha. Rafi saab was a very soft person, the whole industry and the world knew he was a very generous person. I remember, people in the industry would say, 'Rafi saab ke ghar pe jaate toh kabhie khaali haath nahi aate hum log'. Once again, these days, Lata's era is getting over, so, she's looking for publicity, and wants to be in the limelight again. If you don't believe me, ask Mamu." Mamu is Aamiruddin Ahmed Bari, Rafi's then personal secretary, and a person with an incredible 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'. That was when Rafi also said he never had any issues, and doesn't care for all such things. A few days later, Lataji came to our office with flowers, and they began to sing together again."