Intoxicated by Music

One can, to some extent, define the voice quality of exemplary singers such as Asha Bhonsle, Lata ji,  however it is not easy to classify the voice of the supremely talented Geeta Dutt. Her voice - as sweet as honey and yet the depths of her voice carried the pain of broken heart like none other. Her voice has the quality of taking the listener through the same emotion that the song represented. When she sang 'Thandi Hawa Kali ghata', one can feel the playful breeze or in the song - 'Koi door se aawaz de', the listeners can feel the haunting sadness of a woman. It was the amazing 'Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya' in 1947 that made Geeta Dutt a household name. While she sang for many composers, her songs with Dada Burman, O.P.Nayyar and Hemant Kumar continue to be the immortal flame, filling my world with their glow. Her voice was breezy and fresh, filled with love and pensiveness.  It is said that her singing style was highly influenced by her tumultuous relati...

The legendary artist Salil Chowdhury once said - 'If God could sing, he would have a voice like Hemant Kumar'. Hemant Kumar needs no introduction. His is the voice of devotion and it touches those depths inside your heart that perhaps you were never even aware of. Lovingly referred to as Hemant Da, he was not just an exceptional singer but also a highly gifted composer. While he was studying Engineering at Jadavpur University, he was always lost in music and quit midway to pursue his passion. He got his first break in 1940 with a Bangla song and in 1942 for a Hindi song. Musical success though continued to elude him until 1947 when his composition in Bengali film 'Purba Rang' got the attention of S.Mukherjee, owner of the very popular Filmistan Studios in Bombay (Mumbai). This association gave music lovers the gift of 'Anand Math' in 1952, the album that also has the rousing 'Vande Mataram'.  The real fame came with the 1954 movie 'Nagin' and he ...