Rafi@100: When Amitabh Bachchan paid tribute to Mohammed Rafi in 1990 movie 'Kroadh'

The film was “Kroadh”, the song “Na Fankaar Tujhsa”, the situation random but the heart of the makers was in the right place when Amitabh Bachchan paid homage to legendary singer Mohammed Rafi in a guest appearance in the 1990 movie starring Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt.

The track, sung by Mohammed Aziz, comes in the first half of the movie during a concert that has been organised in the memory of Rafi who passed away in 1980, a decade before the film was released.

In “Kroadh”, the cast — including Amrita Singh, Sonam and Jagdeep — attend the concert titled “Ek Shaam Rafi Ke Naam”.

Bachchan, who had voice acted in “Naseeb” on the song “Chal Mere Bhai” with Rafi which released a year after Rafi’s death, appears as himself to give a musical tribute to the singer in the movie.

“‘Mujhko Mere Baad Zamaana dhundhega’, Rafi saab said this once. He also said, ‘Karwaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe’. Rafi saab left us and left behind a fog of memories. Everyone who loved him is trying to find him in that fog.

“People will keep searching for him till the world exists because artists like him, who make a home in every heart through their art, are rarely born. When they leave, they leave behind a pain, a wound and whenever that wound throbs, there is only one emotion that comes up,” Bachchan says in the emotionally-worded introduction to Rafi before he lip-syncs to “Na Fankaar Tujhsa”.

The opening lines of the song, written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, are: “Na fankar tujhsa tere baad aaya, Mohammed Rafi tu bahut yaad aaya…” The video of the song includes Rafi-related memorabilia and the footage of the surging crowds at the singer’s funeral procession.

There are different versions to how the song came to be if one goes by the lore online. Some say it was Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s idea to include the tribute to mark the 10th death anniversary of the singer, others say that Bachchan readily agreed to play the cameo and even wrote the introduction himself.

Rafi’s son Shahid Rafi is also unsure about the origins of the song.

“I know very little about how the song came about. All I know is that they came up with the song in dad’s remembrance,” he said.

Bachchan, 82, has often spoken fondly about the singer in his blogs and posts, calling him a “generous” soul.

“My great privilege to have had the temerity to sing with him in Naseeb – ‘chal mere bhai’. What an incredible voice and even more incredible was his gentle nature (sic)” Bachchan wrote in a Facebook post back in 2019.