Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan – Who Sang it Better – Rafi or Kishore?

When it comes to male playback singing most people are either Rafi fans or Kishore fans and they think that their favorite singer is the better singer or the greatest singer. Comparing two singers over different songs is difficult because a song might have better lyrics or better music and so on and people might confuse the better song for having been better sung. So the best way to decide who sang a song better is when both sing the same song. Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan is one such song which both Rafi and Kishore sang. And what’s special about this song is that there are both happy and sad versions of the song. That’s four versions of the same song. The Rafi versions are picturized on Shashi Kapoor and the Kishore versions are picturized on Bharat Bhushan

Here is the Rafi happy version.

Here is the Kishore Kumar happy version.

Here is the Rafi sad version.

Here is the Kishore Kumar sad version.

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15 Comments
  1. Sandeep Loyalka 8 years ago

  2. Ritz 8 years ago

    Both are different to compare. I ofcourse prefer rafi for his clarity in pronunciation and smooth voice. Kishore does his yawdling a bit here.

    • Author
      sputnik 8 years ago

      I think Rafi is the best when it comes to clarity in pronunciation. I don’t think I have ever heard a song where Rafi has mispronounced or not clearly pronounced a word. There are some songs where Kishore either mispronounces the word or does not pronounce it properly.

      Yeah Kishore does his yodelling in the happy version. I prefer Rafi in the happy version. As @aryan said Rafi sang in low pitch sweet voice whereas Kishore sang in high pitch voice. I prefer Kishore’s sad version as it feels like there is more pain. I think Kishore’s acting background helped him in sad songs.

      • Anonymous 6 years ago

        Sorry, you haven’t been wronger in your life. Look at the technical aspect of the singing. You will never hear KK taking a brief breath between the lines unlike the case of Rafi who cannot hold his breath for more than 6 secs not for this song but for every song he has ever sung. I love Rafi too, KK happens once in a millenia

        • Rohan 6 years ago

          Rafi is way better in this song, KK not suiting in hindi version but he sung it better in the original bengali version in his mother tongue. This debate and controversy over the song is pointless. It is not about who sung it better, the fact that this debate continues only due to popularity factor. When this film was released Rafi version was far more popular on Shashi Kapoor and than after the Rajesh Khanna wave started KK version came in limelight, but no way KK sung it better than Rafi. Anonymous you should look at technical aspect of singing too, Rafi has biggest range and longest breath in his songs so you have never been wronger in your life either. In fact when due to KK course untrained hoarse rough voice you can always hear him struggling for breaths when switching between notes and pitches, in every song he sung. KK goes around and unnecessarily yodels in every song because he is not a versatile singer and has serious limitations/range problems. Hear the pronunciation also in this song KK butchers the beauty of this song when he goes off-key after finishing his yodelling as he fails to deliver the clear expressions in the lyrics. I dont have anything against KK he is a legendary multi talented personality but when it comes to singing it is 1 to 100 Rafi then others come. Rafi is the versatile GOD who expresses every lyric in a song, no other singer is every capable of this.

  3. aryan 8 years ago

    Happy Version
    Both sung equally good Mohd Rafi sung in low pitch sweet voice.
    Kishore Kumar sung in high pitch voice

    Sad Version

    Excellent sung by Kishore Kumar in sad version with painful voice.

  4. aryan 8 years ago

    @Sputnik
    Thanks for sharing very interesting post.

  5. Koushik Majumder 7 years ago

    Both sung good but i thik Rafi sahab is a bit ahead of kishore da in this song ..i like Rafi’s version most

  6. Shahid Javed 6 years ago

    In my opinion in this case Kishore is a winner to be honest as his yawdling put beauty in this song. However Rafi must be given the credit for singing it in a difficult way. They way he says “Ke Dunya Mein Aa Ke” is so different that it can’t be copied easily.

    • Rohan 6 years ago

      Rafi blew KK outta the park in this song. Sorry but this truth 🙂

  7. Chinu 6 years ago

    Both are genius in field of music. They are legends. Don’t compare betn them. Because we people are nothing to evaluate them.

  8. Anjan 6 years ago

    Ridiculous comparison as lyrics are different, time, situation everything is different. So how can anyone compare? Both the singers are legend. Beautiful song. Lyrics in both songs equally superb. So stop unnecessary debate.

    • Author
      sputnik 6 years ago

      Yeah the lyrics are different. Time/Situation will obviously be different because they cannot picturize the different songs at the same time/situation.

      Yes they both are legends but Rafi fans and Kishore fans have been fighting over who is the better singer forever. They do so while comparing completely different songs sung by them.

      Here at least the songs are same – music, mukhda , two happy and two sad versions – albeit the antaras are different.

  9. Nitin Veer 5 years ago

    Kishor Kumar is a class apart. Mohammad Rafi sahab was just another formula- trained singer who never know how to step out of his training boundary whereas Kishor Kumar’s golden rule was “NO RULES BARRED”

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