The man with the golden voice - Page 2

Originally posted by: Barnali

With Geeta Dutt

B Di, thanks you so much. I am so fortunate to sit in front of him and listen to him.

Download some songs of Hemant Kumar.

zindagi pyar ki 2-4 ghari: Anarkali

yaa dil ki suno duniyaa - Anupama

mai garibon ka dil: A-be-hayat 1956

na tum hame jano - Baat Ek Raat Ki

rula kar chal diye ek din - Badshah

bequaraar kar ke - Bees Saal Baad

zaraa nazron se - Bees Saal Baad

door ka rahi - Door Ka Rahi

insaaf ki dagar pe - Gunga Jamuna

dil cher koi aisa nagma - Inspector

keh rahi zindagi - Jalte Nishaan

tum pukaar lo - Khamoshi

ye nayan dare dare - Kohra

raah banee khud manzil - Kohra

jaane wo kaise log thay - Pyasa

hai ye duniya kaun si - Sailaabh

Some of Hemant Kumar as MD

ya dil ki suno duniyawalo - Anupama tum pukaar lo - Khamoshi raah banee khud manzil - Kohra ye nayan dare dare - Kohra beqaraar kar ke - Bees Saal Baad zara nazron se keh - Bees Saal Baad jab jaag uthe - Bin Baadal Barsat zindagi khubsurat: Bin Badal Barsat gori chori chori jaanaa - Ek Jhalak bahaaye chaand ne aansuu - Lagan dil ched koi aisa nagma - Inspector o zindagi ke dene waale - Nagin tere dwar khada ek jogi - Nagin bas ek chup si lagi hai - Sannata na ye chaand hoga na taare - Shart gori bulaaye tera saanwariyaa - Taj

Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay

Hemant Kumar songs wth SDBurman Music.

na tum hamen jano - Baat Ek Raat Ki

chup hain dharti chand - House # 44

teri duniya mei jeene se: House #44

ye raat ye chandni phir kahan: Jaal

jaane wo kaise log thay - Pyasa

hai apna dil to awara - Solwa Saal

Duets of Hemant Kumar.

with Geeta Dutt

jab se mili tose ankhiyaan - Amanat

jai jagdish hare - Anand Math

ye mast nazar shokh adaa - Bandi

mujhko tum jo mile - Detective

gum sum se ye - Duniya Jhukti Nahin

tum aur hum - Fashion

dil ki umangen hai jawan - Munim Ji

chale hum kahaan - Police

jadu bhora bansi - Sathitara Bangla

HEMANT KUMAR AND SALIL CHOWDHURY

Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee (1920-1989)

Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee (1920-1989) Aka Hemant Kumar. Bengali-Hindi composer and singer. Born in Varanasi. Left school to become a professional singer. Studied under Phani Banerjee and Shailesh Duttagupta. Early songs for All India Radio. Released his first record in 1937, with the still popular Bengali number Janite jadi go tumi and Balo go balo more. One of the most popular Rabindrasangeet singers of his time, starting under the tutelage of Anadi Dastidar, initially singing mainly in the tradition of Pankaj Mullick. Changed his style in context of a brief but fruitful collaboration with Salil Chowdhury(1949-52) associated with the Indian People's Theatrical Association(IPTA). Debut as singer in Bengali film with Phani Burma's Nimai Sanyasi(1940) and in Hindi with Iraada(1944). Early compositions for Hemen Gupta (Bhuli naai, '42, Anandmath, Kashti). Established himself as a Bengal composer with Ajoy Kar's Jighansa. Although he went on to become one of the most popular Bengali composers, his main fame derives from playback singing for Uttam Kumar, his baritone becoming a key ingredient of the star's romantic dramas; e.g., classic hits like 'Jhor uthechhe' in Sudhir Mukherjee's Shapmochan; 'Nir chhoto khati nei' in Niren Lahiri's Indrani; 'Ei path jadi na shesh hoi' in Ajoy Kar's Saptapadi; etc. Often partnered Sandya Mukherjee, female playback usually for Suchitra Sen. From the 50's onwards his voice incarnated Bengali middle-class romanticism, having an enduring influence on all male playback singers in that language since. Became a star singer in Hindi with 'Ye raat ye chaandni' in Guru Dutt's Jaal(1952) picturised on Dev Anand on the beach among the fishing nets. Collaborated extensively with Dutt, e.g. 'Jaane vo kaise log the' in Pyaasa and scored the hauntingly beautiful numbers of Sahib, Biwi aur Ghulam. First hindi hit as composer is Nagin adapting a tune from Bijon Bhattacharya's play Jivan kanya for the sinous snake dance number Man dole a landmark in the introduction of electronics into Hindi film music. Composed extensive for Tarun Majumdar and the early Mrinal Sen, producing Sen's Neel Akasher Neechey. As producer he often worked with set designer turned director Biren Nag, showing a penchant for thrillers like Bees Saal Baad (adapted from The Hound of the Baskervilles) and Kohraa borrowed from Daphne du Maurier's(and Hitchcock's) Rebecca. Also produced Pinaki Mukherjee's Faraar, Tarun Majumdar's Rahgir and Asit Sen's Rajesh Khanna psychodrama Khamoshi. Autobiography Amar gaaner swaralipi(1988).

WITH UTTAM KUMAR AND SUCHITRA SEN

Salil Chowdhury (1925-95)

Salil Chowdhury was born on 19th November 1925 (date of birth is disputed) and died on September 5, 1995, just before his 70th birthday.To me Salil was a true genius. His untimely and sudden death on September 5, 1995 was a great shock to many and a great loss to India.

He was one of the greatest musical talents India ever had. A man of many talents. He was not only an outstanding composer, an accomplished and gifted arranger, poet and writer but above all an intellectual. A master multi-instrumentalist, he played excellent flute, Esraj, violin and piano , with a deep and well-studied understanding of several other instruments as is evident from their creative use in his music.
He spent many years of his childhood in the Assam tea gardens where his father was a doctor. He grew up listening to his father's large collection of western classical music and the folk songs of Assam and Bengal. This influenced him considerably and shaped his musical thinking. Young Salil could sing very well and played excellent flute from tjhe age of eight. In fact his expertise in flute brought him in contact with the outside musical world. He was very fond of his father. Salil remembered how his father once hit one of the British managers and broke his three front teeth after he called his father 'dirty nigger'. Salil's father organised and staged plays with the tea-garden coolies and other lowly paid workers . Salil remembers his father's strong anti-British feelings and his concern and love for the oppressed tea garden workers. After graduating from Bangabaashi College in Calcutta, during his university years his political ideas were fast maturing along with his musical ideas. Living through the second world war, the Bengal famine and the hopeless political situation of the '40s, he became acutely aware of his social responsibilities. This is when he joined IPTA (Indian Peoples Theater Association) and became a member of the communust party. During this period he wrote numerous songs and with IPTA took his songs to the masses. They travelled through the villages and the cities and his songs became the voice of the masses.These songs were very powerful indeed. Songs of protest which made people aware of the rampant social injustice which surrounded them. These songs became very powerful and stimulating. In fact, Salil always retained his strong feelings for the social injustice and very often wrote songs which reflected this feelings. He called these songs the 'Songs of consciousness and awakening'. These mass songs became a part of the independence movement and they are still performed all over Bengal after all these years. In a way they have now become an integral part of the Bengali heritage.

Salil's Bengali songs changed the whole course of Bengali modern music. Bengalees were thrilled and amazed to hear his songs with completely new melodies, new lyrics and totally new musical arrangements. A new wave came sweeping accross Bengal in the '50s and continued for at least three decades. While his musical message reached almost all parts of the country as the multifaceted composer set even Telegu numbers to music, the rest of India was denied access to his poetic abilities.
We can see two main phases of Salil. The first phase starts in the pre-independence era of the '40s and goes up to '54-'55 and the second phase is after that. Basically, the first phase was the non-professional in it's intent. His professional phase started around the mid-fifties. One has to study both these phases to understand and appreciate Salil Chowdhury's music. We see Salil as a brilliant lyricist, a song writer and a poet in his first phase and a very matured and exceptionaly talented composer in his second phase. The composer Salil reached the greatest heights in his second phase which basically started when he arrived in Bombay to compose for the film 'Do Bigha Zameen'. This was the Hindi version of the successful Bengali Film 'Rikshawalla' . The story of 'Rikshawala' was written by him and the music was composed by him. It was a tremendous success and so was 'Do Bigha Zameen'.
Since then he had composed for over 75 Hindi Films, around 23 Malayalam Films and several Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Gujrati, Marathi, Assameese and Oriya Films. He had also composed for several Tele-Films and Tele-Serials.
Salil was arguably the most versatile musician in the world of Indian cinema. To the music connoisseurs he was better known as the non-conformist music composer whose unceasing search for perfection towered above everything else in his life.His meticulous attention to details, a scrupulous ear for musical content, an insatiable desire for improvisation - it all remained with him till his last days. His phenomenal flair for instruments prompted even an expert like Jaikishen to refer to him as a 'The Genius'. Raj Kapoor once said 'He can play almost any instrument he lays his hands on, from the tabla to the sarod, from the piano to the piccolo'. He was in fact a composer's composer, because unlike his market-driven counterparts, he never really set prose to music. To him the melody was sacrosant and had to precede the words. The situation could then be adapted.
Salil's music was a unique blending of the east and the west. He had once said 'I want to create a style which shall transcend borders - a genre which is emphatic and polished, but never predictable'. He dabbled in a lot of things and it was his ambition to achieve greatness in everything he did. But at times, his confusion was fairly evident - 'I do not know what to opt for. Poetry, story writing, orchestration or composing for films'. I just try to be creative with what fits the moment and my temperament' he once told a journalist.

Duets wth lata

jaag dard-e-ishq jaag - Anarkali

nayi manzil nayi rahen: Hillstation

ye raat ye chandni phir kahan: Jaal

chhupa lo dil mei pyar mera - Mamta

aree chhod de patang meri - Nagin

yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho - Patita

neend na mujhko aaye - Post Box 999

tumhein yaad hogaa - Satta Bazar

chandan ka palna resham ki - Shabab

badli mei chhupa chaand - Shatranj

aa neele gagan tale pyar - Badshah

saanwale salone din - Ek Hi Rasta

nain so nain - Jhanak-2 Payal Baje

aajaa o jaane wafa - Shireen Farhad

halke halke chalo - Tangewaali

muskuraati hui chaandni - Albeli

chalo chalen re sajan dhire - Payal

itnaa to kah do hum se tum - Saheli

dekho wo chaand chhup ke - Shart

Remembering Hemanta-da
Salil Chowdhury's tribute to Hemanta Mukherjee
I came to know of Hemanta Mukherjee in the mid 40's. We did have a few casual encounters, but I had never had the oppurtunity to know him closely. I had met Hemanta Mukherjee for the first time at George-da(Debabrata Biswas)'s house. We exchanged common courtesies and that was just about it. Then came 1948. The Communist Party of India(CPI) was declared illegal. I should mention here, that I had actively involved myself with the workings of CPI from 1946. Most of my days were spent underground. In Calcutta, 'Jashoda Bhavan', located near Golpark, was our frequented hideout and a hub for political meetings. In one such meeting, Krishno Bandyopadhyay, a pupil of Bhismadev Chattopadhyay, and a member of our discussion group, suggested to get Hemanta Mukherjee to sing my songs.
Meanwhile Hemanta Mukherjee and Suchitra Mitra had started singing for the IPTA. Under Binay Roy's leadership and Georga-da's influence they had involved themselves with the people's movement.
So one day, some time around 1948-49, I visited Hemanta Mukherjee's residence at Indra Roy Raod in South Calcutta. I met him, got acquainted with him and soon he became my Hemanta-da. By that time a few of my songs written for the IPTA had become popular. I sang some of them to Hemanta-da and he greatly appreciated them. But he was apprehensive, "These songs cannot be recorded in these times.
If you have any other songs I might sing them." I did not have any other songs ready at that moment. So we decided to meet some other time, think about new themes for songs, etc. As I came halfway down the stairs, I suddenly remembered a new song that I had just begun composing. I mentioned it to him and he instantly called me back. He heard half the song and was ecstatic. "This is the appropriate song to be recorded, complete it and I will record it." And thus was born 'Kono ek gayer bodhu'. I returned home, wrote the second part of the song and set the tune. Within a couple of days I returned to Hemanta-da with the complete song and he picked it up immediately. That very night 'Yashoda Bhavan' was raided and I had to flee to Sandeshkhali. Once again I had to go underground.
That year, August 1949 I believe, I heard that Hemanta-da had recorded 'Gayer bodhu' as a Puja number. And surprisingly, he himself had arranged the orchestration. The song became a smash hit as soon as it was released. What we call super-duper hit nowadays - maybe more than that.
How old was I then? Hardly twenty or twenty-one. My short build made me look younger. Nobody believed that I had written and composed the music for Hemanta-da's super-hit song. I remember an amusing incident from that time.
Hemanta-da, Suchitra Mitra and myself were touring Gauhati with the IPTA troupe. At one function, the principal of Cotton College refused to believe that I was Salil Chowdhury - the composer of Hemanta Mukherjee's path-breaking song. Hemanta-da had come forward that day and saved me from an embarassing situation.

Hemanta-da had also arranged the orchestration for 'Runner'. When I had sang the song to Hemanta-da, I had just given him a few hints about the orchestration. The rest was all his creation. It was the same story again - I was underground, the song got recorded and released in my absence, and once again we had a super hit. Hemanta-da recorded two more songs composed by me that year(1950), 'Abak Prithibi' and 'Bidraha aaj'. Earlier George-da and Priti Sarkar used to sing these songs. George-da sung them to Hemanta-da one day and said "Hemanta, why don't you record these songs? They (Gramophone Co.) won't allow me to sing them." Hemanta-da picked up the songs that very day.
Between 1950 and 1952 my contact with Hemanta-da got strained. He had left for Bombay. I was working on Satyendranath Dutta's 'Palkir gaan' at that time. It took more than three months to compose. Right at that time, my father expired.
On hearing about my loss, Hemanta-da not only paid his condolences, he even offered me a job as his assisstant music director in Bombay. But by then I had got busy with music direction in Bengali films and had to decline his offer.
My film music was gaining popularity in Bengal. Amidst his busy schedule, Hemanta-da flew to Calcutta one day and sought me out. 'Palkir gaan' was ready by then. Hemanta-da was very happy when he heard the song. Here I should mention a quality of Hemanta-da which set him apart from the rest - to accept and recognize new trends. Few people possess this ability. I mean, he had the courage to accept a novel endeavour as a challenge. He was overjoyed to hear 'Palkir gaan' - a new experiment, a risk only he could dare to partake. Palkir gaan was recorded in 1952. It opened a new vista in Bengali modern songs.
The following year I set off for Bombay in response to Bimal Roy's request for making a film, based on my story "Do Bigha Zameen". I was also the MD for the movie. The songs for this film were sung by Manna De, Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. These songs did not exactly suit Hemanta-da's voice, which he also understood and there were no hard feelings. In my very next movie, Bimal Roy's 'Biraj Bahu', Hemanta-da sang all the four songs for the hero. Then both of us got busy in our own spheres of work. But whenever we met, Hemanta-da would hasten "Salil, compose a song for the Pujas". A couple of years after that Hemanta-da once again recorded two of my songs - "Pathe ebar naamo sathi" and "Dhitang Dhitang bole". Our combination for Bengali Puja numbers continued unparalled for a number of years.
But our alchemy instigated a group of people to cause a rift between us. And they were successful. They went to Hemanta-da and complained "Salil Chowdhury is saying - 'Hemanta Mukherjee would not have been popular if he had not sung my songs'". And the very same people came to me saying "Hemanta-da says - 'If I had not sung Salil's songs who would have know him today?' This created a misunderstanding between us. Hemanta-da refrained from singing my songs for a few years. Lata recorded some of my Bengali songs and they gained popularity. Hemanta-da became very touchy on this. So one day I directly spoke to him "Hemanta-da, I heard that you commented 'Who is Salil Chowdhury without me?'. Hemanta-da was furious. "What are you saying? On the contrary, I heard that it was you who said 'Who is Hemanta...'" Immediately the truth dawned on us. Misunderstandings and prejudices sorted, Hemanta-da recorded two new songs 'Amay proshno kare' and 'Shono kono ek din'. After the recording session Hemanta-da remarked, "Salil, you have given words to expressions of my heart." Hemanta-da continued recording with me after that.
Back in Bombay, following the success of 'Madhumati' I had become overly busy. I could not devote enough time to Bengali music. Around that time I also got involved with the 'Bombay Youth Choir'. Although Hemanta-da and I remained close, our musical connection almost got severed. Then, about eight years back Hemanta-da re-recorded ten of our old hits on LP. I was busy in Bombay and Samir Seal did the orchesration for some of the songs. I was not upset, but I felt bad about it. The entire project had been executed in my absence. Anyway, when I came across Hemanta-da he reasoned "Salil, you must have heard I have re-recorded your songs. Do you know something? All along I had been singing your songs without understanding their meaning. Now with age I find a new meaning in them. But my voice may betray me, so I decided to record them at the first oppurtunity. I am sure you will not mind.". I might mention here that the re-recorded songs were a bit less lustrous than the original versions. The orchestrations had also been altered in some cases. A few years before this incident Hemanta-da had recorded 'Thikana' in Bombay. The year was 1970. Soon after that Hemanta-da settled in Calcutta. I remained in Bombay. In the meantime we had worked together in the Bengali movie "Rai Bahadur" (1964)- his songs were superb. Time passed, we did not work together for a long time. Then in 1980 we again got together on an LP 'Anek gaaner pakhi', featuring six of my compositions.
Personally I feel that this was an outstanding album. Unfortunately, Hemanta-da fell ill right before the recording. Consequently, the songs weren't very popular. But just three months back, we again teamed up for a song for the Bengali movie "Haraner nat-jamai". The song goes "O aay re, o aay re". In fact this is my old composition - 'Dhan katar gaan'. Hemanta-da was sick, his voice was failing. But we still went ahead with the recording - dubbing on the track-recording. The song took six recording sessions to complete. This song is one of my treasured possessions now.
Today I feel very happy to say that there was not a single interview where Hemanta-da had not praised me exuberantly. This was a great source of encouragement for me. Recently Hemanta-da used to tell my friends,"What's Salil upto nowadays? Recording studios are not meant for him. (Hemanta Mukherjee was referring to the recording studio started by Salil Chowdhury). Business does not suit him. Tell him to concentrate on his real work." These were Hemanta-da's last words for me - not only an advice from an elder brother but a divine
blessing.
[This article was written by Salil Chowdhury (in Bengali) in 1989]

With Asha Bhonsle

chal baadalon se aage - Ek Jhalak

With Sandhya Mukherjee

gup chup pyar kar - Sazaa

With Manna Dey and Sudha Malhotra

darshan do ghanshyam - Narsibhagat