Hyderabad: City-based Karaoke group feted by Rafi family

Hyderabad: Dakshin Dhwani, a city-based Karaoke group conducting filmi musical programmes in Hindi and other regional languages since 2016, was on Sunday appreciated for its latest event – Mohammed Rafi: Music, Melodies, Memories by none other than the Kuwait-based family members of the legendary singer’s family for its marathon performance.

Nearly a dozen singers crooned some of the finest songs of the icon whose centenary birth anniversary falls on Tuesday. Earlier, in a four- part series (beginning on September 15 to coincide with the 100-day period till December 24), 25 top songs of the titan of Hindi film music were taken up and performed by members of Dakshin Dhwani, month after month for four months since then till the grand finale on December 22.

Ramesh Pillai, a member of Dakshin Dhwani in Kuwait and a close family friend, facilitated the interaction by keeping them informed of this Hyderabad-based tribute to the stalwart. The Kuwait-based granddaughter of Mohammed Rafi, Tasneem and her husband Firoz Ahmed watched the programme live on YouTube and shared their feedback as the eight-hour programme went on since noon.

Firoz Ahmed said: ‘Very nice. Congratulations to Dakshin Dhwani Karaoke Group for putting this event together and thank you for your love for Rafi Sahab’. He also informed the participants that ‘Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki’ which was sung one of the members was the musical genius’s personal favourite song. Ahmed added: ‘Sahab’s songs go beyond the barriers of languages, countries and religion. In fact, I have always found people from south India to be extremely passionate fans of him.’

Delirious fans of Rafi in the Group promptly thanked the family members for watching their event. As T Balakrishnan, an avid Rafi fan and co-founder of the Group said, “We could not have got a better response than this, that too from the family of Rafi Saab. It is our great fortune that one of our members was at the right place at the right time to enable this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”. Notably, the century-mark was touched in style during the same event when the 100th song was sung soon after the message was shared among the singers and the audience.