Documentary filmmaker and producer Rajni Acharya began researching his ambitious feature on the late singer-composer Mohammed Rafi in 2011. Five years later, he is ready to roll with a film, Dastaan-e-Rafi, on the legend's life, partly based on Sujata Dev's book, Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen, for which he has purchased the rights to 60 Rafi hits, including “Kya Hua Tera Wada“, “Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe“, “Baharo Phool Barsao“ and “Aaj Mausam Bada Beimaan Hai“. The first look will be unveiled on Rafi's death anniversary, July 31.

“I got in touch with Rafi sahab's son, Shahid, first, and eventually spoke to all seven of his children who readily came on board. We began filming in Karachi and Lahore, and also shot in Kotla Sultan Singh, Rafi's birthplace in Punjab. I ended up with 200-hours of footage, but something was still missing,“ admits Acharya.

He then came up with the idea of getting Pakistani ghazal singer, Ghulam Ali, who belonged to the same Patiala gharana, as the narrator. After an eight-month chase, he finally agreed. “There were issues, especially after his tours in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi were cancelled. Ghulam Ali saab was supposed to perform in Gujarat last Wednesday but he was not allowed there either. I knew he was in India but only 10-15 people knew his whereabouts and he did not wish to communicate with me,“ informs Acharya, who after four long phone conversations and post sharing a list of all the members of his unit and a personal profile of himself, finally won the maestro's trust and time. “We shot a one-hour-long sequence in Delhi yesterday.“

With a docu feature-like approach, the film also has real-life footage of Khayyam, Shamshad Begum, Shammi Kapoor, Pandit Jasraj and Ravindra Jain.