#Viral Chhota Rafi aka Saurav Kishan: I plan to learn Hindi soon, it’s a beautiful language
After this Kerala-based youngster’s singing videos went viral on social media, people started complimenting him, and said it reminds them of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi’s soulful renditions.
“It’s nothing less than an honour to be compared to Rafi sa’ab. His songs used to play in my house along with the likes of Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Talat Mahmood; when I started singing at the age of three and a half. Music is something that I’ve inherited from my grandfather and father, both of whom are music aficionados,” says Saurav Kishan, whose soulful rendition of the music maestro Rafi’s songs, in a video, have taken over the internet by storm, decorating him with the epithet of Chhota Rafi.
The 23-year-old resident of Kozhikode, Kerala, is a fifth year medical student at a university in China, and has been homebound since February. As he speaks to us over phone, he continues to remain in disbelief over the amazingly positive response that has come his way for his video.
Narrating that the epithet isn’t new for him, he says it was acquired soon after he started participating in programmes where Rafi’s songs were part of his repertoire. “Music is my passion; I remember singing at a music reality show when I was 10, where late Johnson Master (music composer who worked in Malayalam cinema) said my singing sounded like listening to a Chhota Rafi sa’ab!”
The panache with which he croons Hindi songs easily fools one to believe he knows the language. “Teri Aankhon Ke Sivaa duniya mein rakha kya hai (he hums) and adds, I don’t know Hindi, but I’m in love with this language. I listen to Hindi songs all day! I plan to learn Hindi, it’s a beautiful language. I’m hoping to master it soon. But this is the beauty of music; you don’t need to know a language to understand the emotions,” says Kishan, who is fan of old hits as much as he admires work of musician AR Rahman, and the voice of singers Sonu Nigam and Arijit Singh.
“But Mohammed Rafi continues to remain my idol,” says Kishan, who is trained in Carnatic as well as Hindustani music. He adds, “I recorded a few songs at home amid the pandemic, and put them on social media from where they got picked and were shared on social media. And even today when I pick one of Rafi sa’ab songs to sing, I walk away with multiple lessons in a single song. That is how brilliant his music is!”
So what does the future hold for this Chhota Rafi? “I’m busy studying since online classes are going on in full swing. In my free time, I sit and practice at a small makeshift home studio. I aim to make medicine my profession and music my passion,” says Kishan. But, what if a music director asks him to lend his voice to a song? “That is my dream... nothing would be better,” he confesses.
Author tweets @bhagat_mallika
