Google remembers Mohammed Rafi on 93rd birthday

Google on Sunday celebrates the 93rd birthday of legendary playback singer, Mohammed Rafi with a specially-curated doodle.

Born on December 24, 1924 in Punjab, Rafi is remembered as one of the most versatile singers of India, as his songs ranged from classical numbers to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans.

Further, Rafi is known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona of the actor, lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie.

Rafi is primarily noted for his songs in Hindi, over which he had a strong command. He sang around 7,405 songs in many languages. He sang in other Indian languages including Konkani, Bhojpuri, Odia, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu, Magahi, Maithili and Urdu.

Apart from Indian languages, he also sang songs in English, Farsi, Arabic, Sinhalese, Creole and Dutch.

Among his noteworthy numbers include "Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho", "Baharo Phool Barsao", "Kya Hua Tera Wada" and others.

Mohammed Rafi died at the age of 55 on 31 July 1980 in Mumbai, following a massive heart attack.

Rafi has six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award to his kitty. In 1967, he was also honoured with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India.