Playback singers are the voices of the heroes when they want to woo their love on screen or want to vent their woes through a heart-wrenching song. Actor Amitabh Bachchan recalls how music has played such an important part in his films and the legendary singers who have given voice to his emotions on reel.

Giving credit to the singers of the past when technology was not at their disposal to cover their flaws, he says that they were the true measure of talent. “Today anyone can modulate their voice and a group of technicians play a larger part in the final outcome of a song.

Even if you are, you can get away with it,” he said at the launch of Mohammad Rafi’s book that’s a tribute to his life. “But the singers in my heydays did not have this option. They had to do constant retakes until they had the perfect rendition,” he adds.

Sharing his fondest memory of the legendary singer Rafi, who has given voice to a lot of his favourite numbers, Bachchan shares how his humility had touched his heart. “Members from the film fraternity had gone to Siliguri to perform at a musical concert in which Rafi was the leading voice for the first day.

The second day another singer was supposed to fill his shoes but then at the last moment we got the news that the second singer will not be able to make it and by then Rafiji had already left for the airport,” he recalls and adds, “Finally after breaking all the airport protocol, we caught up with Rafiji when he had boarded the aircraft. When I explained our predicament, without any hesitation, he cancelled all his plans and came back to perform for the second day!”