Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay

There is a similarity between P.G.Wodehouse and Hemanta Kumar.
You read any book of Wodehouse any number of times and you will continue to laugh hysterically.
You hear Hemanta's songs any number of times and you are bound to go into ecstasy every time.
Hemanta's journey into fame has not been a bed of thorns. He was born in a fairly affluent family. Hemanta recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1935 when he was just 15 years old. From there he had a long and colorful journey for 54 years until his death. He cut his first disk in 1937 (age 17) with a couple of non-filmy songs. His first movie as a music director was the Bengali film Abhiyatri in 1947 when he was just 27. He married Bela in 1945 and the marriage lasted till his demise and beyond. He had a son and daughter. His son married Moushumi Chatterjee, a very well known actress.
When he migrated from Bengal to Mumbai, he started his career as a singer. He sang several popular songs under the direction of S.D.Burman.
Nagin, a movie starring Vyjayanthimala was his first major success. He won the FilmFare Award for Music for this film. In 1986, he won the National Award for the Best Male playback singer. He was honored by Sangeet Natak Academy in 1986. He passed away in 1989 and his wife died twenty years later.
Now take time to listen to some of my favorites:


A fascinating song from Nagin sung by Lata for Vyjayanthi. The hero was Pradeep Kumar.


From the film Ek hi Rastha (1956). Hemant sang for Sunil Dutt and Lata for Meena Kumari.


From the movie Sahib Bibi aur Gulam. Sung by Geeta Dutt for Meena Kumari. The male star is Rehman


From the film Anupama sung by Lata for Sharmila Tagore. Watch the slim and youthful Dharmendra.


From the movie Chumpa Kali. Lata sings for the beautiful Suchitra Sen.

 

@GeetaKashyap
Waheeda Rehman! I am a great fan of hers. She was born in a small village near Chennai (it was Madras then) in 1938. Her first appearance was as a dancer for a single song in the Telugu movie Rojulu Marayi (1955) when she was 17. It was remade in Tamil in the following year as Kaalam Maari Pochu in the following year in which she did the same dance.


At the 100th day celebration of this movie, Guru Dutt spotted her and took her to Mumbai to train her to act in Hindi movies. Her first movie was with Dev Anand who became her favourite. The movie was C.I.D (1956) She has done beautiful movies with Guru Dutt and Dev Anand. She played both lover and mother of Amitabh Bacchan, as lover in Adalat (1976) and as mother in Trishul (1978) She is now associated with Rang De, an organisation that helps poor to fight against poverty. Born in Chennai as a Tamil girl, appeared first for a dance in a Telugu movie and became a highly successful actress in Hindi!

 

@iyerviji

That's why you are my dear sister, Viji

 

@Mistt
Waheeda Rehman in both movies selected by you!

I entirely agree with you. Today music has become a cacophony of sounds. The Music Directors use not less than 50 instruments to make as much as possible. Most of them are electronic instruments. Sad really!