Fact Check

Fact Check: Video claiming to feature the only English song sung by Mohammed Rafi at UN is FALSE

Mohammed Rafi is a popular Indian playback singer who sang predominantly in Hindi movies but he also sang songs in languages like Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, etc. No other singer has sung in as many languages as Mohammed Rafi had sung.

By 30 Oct 2023 5:49 AM GMT
Indian playback singer, Mohammed rafi, singing english song, viral video

  • Claim :

    The video features the only English song sung by Mohammed Rafi at the UN in 1970.

  • Fact :

    There is no evidence of Rafi performing at the United Nations, and Rafi has sung 2 songs in English.


Mohammed Rafi is a popular Indian playback singer who sang predominantly in Hindi movies but he also sang songs in languages like Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, etc. No other singer has sung in as many languages as Mohammed Rafi had sung.

A video featuring an English song sung by Mohammed Rafi, with the lyrics of the song captioned is in circulation with the claim that it is the only English song sung by him and also that it was sung by him at the United Nations Organisation in the year 1970.

The claim is shared virally on Facebook.

Video 1,
Video 2,
Video 3

This claim was viral in July 2023 on X (Twitter) too.


Fact Check:

The claim is Misleading. The playback singer not only sang songs in English but also in other languages like Persian, Dutch, and Creole. He sang 2 English songs.

When we searched for Mohammed Rafi’s performance at the UN, we found no links to confirm his performance. There is no record of the United Nations hosting the singer on any occasion.

According to the article in Scroll.in, when music composer Shankar-Jaikishen approached him to sing English numbers for a non-film music album in 1968, the singer was hesitant. Maverick actor-writer Harindranath Chattopadhyay, an ardent fan of the singer, wrote the lyrics. He convinced Rafi to take up the assignment, helping the singer perfect his diction for the recording. The two songs were Although we hail from Different Lands, based on the same composition as Baharon phool barsao (Suraj, 1966), and The she I love, based on the composition Hum Kaale Hain Toh Kya Hua (Gumnaam, 1965).

Here are the links to his English songs- song1, song2

Therefore, even though the playback singer of the yester years has sung songs in several languages including English, the song performance did not take place at the United Nations. Rafi sang 2 songs in English which were featured in non-film albums. The claim is Misleading.



Claim :   The video features the only English song sung by Mohammed Rafi at the UN in 1970
Claimed By :  Facebook Users
Claim Reviewed By :  Telugupost Fact Check
Claim Source :  Facebook
Fact Check :  Misleading
News Summary - Fact Check: Video claiming to feature the only English song sung by Mohammed Rafi at UN is FALSE
Subhash

Satya Priya BN

A motivated professional with a zeal to learn with more than 7 years of experience as a Content and Digital manager in Press, Electronic, and Digital media. Fact checker with more than 4 years of experience in fact checking. Trained by Google News Initiative India Training Network. Fact check trainer, Factshala Trainer, BBC Young Reporter India Trainer and also participated in Trauma literacy training. Worked in Newsmeter.in as a Fact Check Lead from September 2019 to October 2021. Worked as a Freelance Senior Researcher with BBC World Service, Investigations Unit from January 2022 to Aril 2022 and also as Freelance Fact Checker for Newsmeter.in Also Conducting workshops on Fact Checking for various communities including Media students etc. Conducted fact checking workshops for school students as part of pilot project – BBC Young Reporter India in the past few months. Participated in Workshop on Countering Disinformation for Telugu Television Reporters conducted by US Consulate General and Osmania University in 2022 as Trainer. Trained the journalists on several topics of Fact checking such as Types of misinformation, Tools and Techniques of photo and video verification, Geolocation, writing fact checks, Health fact checking etc. Co-authored the first Fact check manual- “How to write Fact-checks” in Telugu language as part of the workshop. Presently working as Fact check lead in Telugupost.com.
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