Pakistan’s Rafi remembered

One of the most prolific playback singers in Pakistan, Masood Rana, was remembered on his death anniversary on Thursday. Masood Rana was born on August 6, 1941, in Mirpurkhas, Sindh. He began his singing career in 1962 with the film Inqilab and became one of the top male singers in both Urdu and Punjabi films for more than three decades. Although he sang in a great deal of films, his flight to fame came from his second film Banjaran, in 1962. He was proudly introduced as “Pakistan’s Rafi” and always lived up to his reputation. He was a specialist in singing difficult songs in high pitch and was the first choice for title and theme songs. Rana soon became the most dominating male singer in both Urdu and Punjabi films when his six songs in film Hamarahi (1966) became mega hits. To date, he is the only male singer in Pakistani films who sang more than 300 songs in each of two languages, Urdu and Punjabi. He sang in more than 550 films and worked continuously from his first film in 1962 till his death on Oct 4, 1995.