In response to the article titled ‘Class act’ (http://www.screenindia.com/20011102/mcover.html) in the Screen issue dated November 2, we received the following feedback:

1) How could you make a comparison between Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar, which doesn’t exist? You have written that both singers matched each other in versatility. A statement like this shows that you don’t have any knowledge of Indian music. Why didn’t you mention songs like ‘O duniya ke rakhwale...’ or ‘Suno suno ai duniyawalon Bapuji ki amar kahani...’. Where was Kishore Kumar then? Speaking of versatility, how many bhajans and bhaktigeets did Kishore Kumar sing? Rafi has sung most of them.

Roy Bachnoe
Roy—Bachnoe@yahoo.com

2) How can anybody in the right mind compare Kishore Kumar to Mohd. Rafi, or put Kishore on the same platform as the great Rafi Saab. Please listen to Rafi classics and see if any singer in India can do a better job then him. I have seen both Rafi and Kishore in live concerts, and there is absolutely no comparision between these two artistes. Stop playing the moderate game, and be realistic and honest! I am not saying this because I am a die-hard fan of Rafi Saab. I enjoy listening to Kishore Kumar’s songs too. But the work of both artistes is in front of us to make the judgement. Please clarify your stand in the next issue. I would like to read more articles on these legends in future, but please don’t put them in the same bracket.

Rabia Khan
garam71@hotmail.com

Rajiv Vijayakar, who wrote the article, clarifies:

Dear Editor,

With reference to my feature ‘Class Act’, in the issue dated November 2, the idea was not to compare Kishore and Rafi, but to show that the two titans were less of rivals than colleagues, who held each other in high esteem. The idea was to examine their long professional association and relationship.

As for the whole controversy about who is better, the Pyar Ka Mausam affair was precisely a take-off point to highlight how pointless the controversy was. There are not only lay music buffs, but men who are learned in musical matters who swear by Kishore over Rafi, and in fact none other than Anil Biswas had implied that Kishore was superior and had ignited a major controversy in the 70s when there was a Kishore wave. R.D.Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji and S.D. Burman would swear by Kishore, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Naushad and O.P. Nayyar by Rafi. The ‘judgement’ on who’s better seems to rest entirely on subjective opinion as each was a legend, and in fact had areas of superiority over the other.

But once again, I must reiterate that the idea was to showcase their joint ouevre, and I stand by my contention that, all things considered, to compare them was pointless and unnecessarily provocative.