Legendary singers

Shamshad Begum (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was a popular personality who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. She had a distinctive voice and was a versatile artist, who sang over 6,000 songs in Hindi and the Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Punjabi languages. Her significant breakthrough came when she began singing on All India Radio (AIR) in Peshawar and Lahore from 1937. Soon after, she became a well known artist in the Hindi film industry and was at the peak of her career from 1940 to 1955 and again from 1957 to 1968. Shamshad Begum was an artist of extraordinary talent and abilities, and the songs she has left behind in her long career; continue to enthral music lovers even today.

Geeta Dutt (23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was a prominent singer in the Hindi film industry who found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema. She also sang many Bengali songs. She got her first break in 1946, in the mythological film Bhakta Prahlad. However, it was the film Do Bhai, in 1947, where her rendition of “Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya” composed by S.D. Burman touched the pulse of thousands of music lovers. Geeta Dutt was blessed with a rich voice that was tailored for both classical and non-classical songs. Her voice and her rendition were known to enthrall listeners and mesmerized and enamored her listeners. Even today, her numerous songs some of which are extremely popular, continue to enthrall music lovers.

Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) is considered one of the greatest male non-classical and semi-classical singers India has ever produced and innumerable ghazals and other soulful songs sung by him are considered timeless and are remembered and cherished even today by music lovers. He is particularly admired for his rendition of soft and sombre semi-classical and non-classical ghazals, the film songs sung by him are also considered critically flawless and outstanding. Talat Mahmood was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992, in recognition of his profound artistic contributions in the spheres of cinematic and ghazal music.

Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was one of the most popular playback singers of the Hindi film industry. He was notable for his versatility and he sang a wide range of songs including classical numbers, patriotic songs, sad lamentations, highly romantic numbers, qawwalis, ghazals and bhajans. Between the years 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought after singer in the Hindi film industry. His style was smooth and his range varied from Bhajans and Ghazals to light hearted romantic songs including Yahoo. Mohammed Rafi was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1967.

Mukesh (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) is known for his rendition of soulful and melodious songs and was one of Hindi film industry’s most celebrated figures in the field of playback singing. Unlike Chand Mubarak, popularly known as Mukesh often called his own singing style. He delivered across melodious songs in the Hindi film industry in movies like Aah (1954), Mera Gaon (1964) and Rajnigandha (1974). He also lent his voice to many songs sung for actor Raj Kapoor. He remained as the voice of actor Raj Kapoor since the 1950s to 1970s. He was awarded the National Film Award for the Best Male Playback singing. Mukesh received Filmfare Best Male Playback Singer awards for the films ‘Anari’, ‘Pehchan’, ‘Beimaan’ and ‘Kabhi Kabhie’.

Manna Dey (1 May 1919 – 24 October 2013), a legendary figure in Indian Music, started his career in playback singing with the Hindi film Tamanna in 1943. Manna Dey established his versatility between 1954 by singing in not only classical based songs but also romantic and rhythmic numbers and Qawwalis and composed music occasionally too. His experiments with western music and fusion with Indian classical music won him accolades. He sang in all major regional Indian languages, though his primary work was in Hindi and Bengali. He sang in over 3,500 films and was also one of the most celebrated playback singers from India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. He remained popular throughout his career and was active from 1953 to 1969 where he is said to have rendered 758 Hindi songs of which 631 came between 1957 and 1969. His music has enthralled the audience throughout the world. he was honoured by tha Padma Shri in 1971, the Padma Bhushn in 2005, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2007.

Kishore Kumar (4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian film playback singer, actor, lyricist, composer, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the most successful playback singers in the history of Hindi cinema. Apart from Hindi, he sang in many Indian languages including Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Odia, and Urdu. He was famous for singing light songs and light comedy acting roles. Kishore was not afraid to borrow unusual techniques. He was inspired by “yodeling” and he adapted and used it in a number of films, such as “New Delhi” (1957) and “Pyar Ka Mausam” (1969).

Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) was a singer, composer, and producer in the Hindi and Bengali film industry. Even though he is most known for his hindi films during the 1950’s and 1960’s, he was also a singer in Bengali, and also composed music in Bengali films. He had recorded approximately 2000 songs during his career. Hemant Kumar’s first film was in the Bengali film industry where he released a number of non-film songs. His compositions himself were the Bengali non-film songs “Katha Kayanoi” “Shudhu Shono” and “Amar Bhair Akashe Priya” in 1944. His first Hindi film songs were in Irada in 1944. He is considered a foremost exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. In the hindi film industry he is known for his work in the films Bees Saal Baad (1962), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and Anupama (1966).

T.M. Soundararajan (24 March 1922 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was a playback singer in Tamil films for over six decades. He sang over 20,000 film songs and over 3,000 devotional and classical songs. In a career spanning over 6 decades he recorded film songs in eleven other languages including, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and even other Indian languages. He also composed music for several of the early genre devotional songs which he recorded. He was the most popular male playback singer in South India from the 1950s till 1991. His robust and full-throated singing perfectly suited two mega stars of South Indian Cinema—M.G. Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan, who had their roots in stage theatre. A versatile singer, he modulated his voice to suit the two stars perfectly. He also acted in a few films.

Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was a poet, music composer, singer, actor, journalist, author and film-maker of high repute born in Assam. Bhupen Hazarika began his career in films as a child actor in the second talkie film to be made in the pioneering years of 1939, Indramalati. After completing his education and leaving his job as a teacher, he went to Kolkata where he established himself as a successful music director and singer. During that period, he made several award winning Assamese films such as Shakuntala, Pratidhwani, etc. and composed evergreen music for many Assamese films. He was also considered as a trend setter in Bengali music. As a singer, he was known for his baritone voice and diction; as a lyricist, he was known for poetic compositions and parables which touched on themes ranging from romance to social and political commentary; and as a composer, for his use of folk music. Ek Pal (1986), Rudaali (1993) and Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001) are some major hindi films to his credit. Bhupen Hazarika also composed music for films from Bangladesh which got international acclaim. He was awarded the Padamshree in 1977 for his outstanding contribution to the field of culture in India.