Legendary singer Mukesh's wife passes away

Mumbai, Feb 26 (IANS) The legendary singer Mukesh's wife Saral is dead.

Saral, who had married Mukesh on July 22, 1946, passed away here Monday, thereby drawing to a close a golden period in the history of Hindi film music.

Neil Mukesh Mathur, who debuted in last year's crime thriller 'Johnny Gaddaar', was very close to his grandmother Saral and was inconsolable.

'I spent a lot of time with my grandmother who lived in the same building as my parents and I did,' he said.

'While we occupy the first floor, Daadee stayed on the seventh floor. As a child I'd look forward to weekends. Every Friday my sister and I would rush to her floor. And since there was no school on Saturdays and Sundays we were allowed to sleep with her,' Neil said.

'She would tell us so many stories about my grandfather (Mukesh), his friendship with Raj Uncle (Raj Kapoor). I'd stare at the pictures of my grandfather and Raj Uncle and at the Filmfare trophies lined up on her shelf, hoping that one day I'd get one too,' he said, remembering his grandmother.

'It's strange but I danced at the Filmfare award for the first time just two days before Daadee died.'