Why Mohammad Aziz is indebted to Laxmikant Pyarelal

Mohammad Aziz, the alternative for Mohammad Rafi may not have filled the void created by the legendary singer Mohammad Rafi but he did made dint in the mid 80’s and 90’s by giving several hits and has the prestige of working under eminent music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Rahul Dev Burman, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik and what’s more he even has the distinction of singing under music maestro Naushad.

Munna better known as Mohammad Aziz is one of the many clones of Mohammad Rafi, who made his living singing Mohammad Rafi songs in hotels, bars and stage shows. He began singing Mohammad Rafi songs since childhood and won huge accolades. Though Anu Malik gave him his first super song Mard Tangewala Mein Hoon Mard… (MARD) yet Mohammad Aziz consider Laxmikant Pyarelal his best.

Wanna know why? Well in an interview Aziz said, “ I shall always remember indebted to LP (Laxmikant Pyarelal) not because they played an important role in enhancing my career but because they chose me to sing the song Na fankaar tujhsa tere baad aaya Mohammed Rafi tu bahut yaad aaya… the inimitable tribute given to Rafi Sahab by Anand Bakshi in the movie KRODH and picturised on Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.”

He added, “Laxmikant Pyarelal wanted to give a befitting tribute to the legendary Mohd. Rafi Sahab on his tenth death anniversary hence Anand Bakshi ji was asked to pen a soulful lyric that would fill the eyes of every Rafi fan. Bakshiji did a fantastic job. But the million dollar question was who would do justice to the songs. Thus the hunt began for a singer who with his melancholious voice could put across the emotion and pathos excellently. Many name cropped up. Finally voting was done to choose the best singer and to my luck my name won maximum votes.”

He concluded, “When LP informed me that I was chosen to sing the song, tears of joy rolled my cheeks because Rafi Sahab, whom I idolized for years and used his songs to make a living, LP gave me the opportunity to pay back all my debts to the greatest singer of all time.”