QUOTE
Last week was renowned singer Mukesh’s death anniversary. Screen pays a homage to the legend
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His was a voice that could, on one hand, be deeply melancholic and on the other, exude a profoundly innocent and mellifluous sweetness. Mukesh’s voice was an exquisite blend of torment and anguish, tenderness and joy.
Mukesh Chand Mathur was born on July 22, 1923 in a small middle-class family in Delhi. The first person to notice Mukesh from the film industry was actor Motilal. A distant relative of the singer, he had attended Mukesh’s sister’s wedding in Delhi and was deeply impressed by the young man’s voice. Motilal brought him to Bombay, kept him in his own house and arranged for Pandit Jaganath Prasad to groom him.
Mukesh even did a Hindi film during this period as singer and hero, Nirdosh (1941) but it flopped miserably. His first real break as a playback singer came under the baton of Anil Biswas in the film Pehli Nazar (1945). The song was `Dil jalta hai to jalne de ...’ and was picturised on Motilal! Though a huge hit, admittedly it sounded as if the young man was just another KL Saigal imitator.
It was under Naushad with Mela (1948) and particularly Andaz (1949), that Mukesh finally discovered his own style. Andaz was a major triumph for Mukesh. All his four solos were raging hits - `Tu kahe agar ...’, `Jhoom jhoom ke naacho aaj ...’, `Hum aaj kahin dil kho baite ...’ and`Toote na dil toote na ...’. It is interesting to note that though Mukesh was later to be regarded as the voice of Raj Kapoor, in Andaz, Mukesh’s songs went on Dilip Kumar while Mohammed Rafi sang for Raj Kapoor. The partnership with Raj Kapoor started with Aag (1948) where Raj Kapoor’s feelings of despondency and despair were vividly caught by Mukesh in Ram Ganguly’s composition `Zinda hoon iss tarah ...’ and ended with RD Burman’s `Ek din bik jaayega ...’ from Dharam Karam (1975). In its course was an endless list of hits. Among them are the evergreen songs of Awara (1951), Shri 420 (1955), Parvarish (1958), Anari (1959), Sangam (1964) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). The inimitable team of Mukesh-Raj Kapoor-Shankar-Jaikishen-Shailendra-Hasrat Jaipuri was responsible for producing one memorable hit after another for almost two-and-a -half decades starting from Barsaat in 1949. From `Mera joota hai japani ...’ (Shree 420) to `Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nissar ...’ (Anari), from `Dost dost na raha ...’ (Sangam) to `Jaane kahan gaye woh din ...’ (Mera Naam Joker), the emotions conveyed by the depth and intonation of the voice of this master-singer was unparalleled. However, life was not always that easy and smooth. Following Awara’s success, Mukesh almost ruined himself when he sidelined his singing career to pursue acting - to try and make it as a singing star. Mashuqa (1953) with Suraiya and Anuraag (1956) with Usha Kiron, both sank at the box-office. He also did a small role as a tangewala enacting his own song `Chhoti si zindagani ...’ in Aah (1953).
Wiser by the ordeal, Mukesh returned to playback singing only to find that offers had dried up. The situation reached a point that his children Nitin and Ritu were turned out of school as they were unable to pay their fees. It was finally with `Yeh mera deewanapan hai ...’ from Yahudi (1958) that Mukesh finally came back with a bang. Other hits that year like Madhumati, Parvarish and Phir Subah Hogi meant there was no turning back. Even SD Burman, who had not utilised Mukesh’s services for over a decade, composed those two masterpieces for him - `Chal ri sajni ...’ from Bambai Ka Babu (1960) and `O jaanewaale ho sake to laut ke aana ...’ from Bandini (1963). Mukesh, thereafter, flourished right through the 1960s and mid 1970s with soulful hits like `Main to ek khwab hoon ...’ (Himalay Ki God Mein - 1965), `Jeena yahaan marna yahaan ...’ (Mera Naam Joker), `Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune ...’ (Anand - 1970), `Main na bhoolonga ...’ (Roti, Kapada Aur Makan - 1974)) and the unforgettable `Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon ...’ and `Kabhi kabhi mere dil ...’ (Kabhi Kabhie - 1976).
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In 1974, Mukesh received the National Award for the song `Kai baar yoon bhi dekha hai ...’ from Rajnigandha (1974). His last recorded song was `Chanchal, sheetal, nirmal, komal ...’ from Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978).
In his illustrious career, Mukesh worked with several music directors, lyricists and co-singers and was the on-screen voice for several actors - notably, Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar. Mukesh sang a good number songs with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Salil Choudhary, Usha Khanna, RD Burman and SD Burman.
He died on August 27, 1976 of a sudden heart attack in Detroit, while on a concert tour of the US. He is survived by three daughters and two sons including noted singer Nitin Mukesh.
screen
His was a voice that could, on one hand, be deeply melancholic and on the other, exude a profoundly innocent and mellifluous sweetness. Mukesh’s voice was an exquisite blend of torment and anguish, tenderness and joy.
Mukesh Chand Mathur was born on July 22, 1923 in a small middle-class family in Delhi. The first person to notice Mukesh from the film industry was actor Motilal. A distant relative of the singer, he had attended Mukesh’s sister’s wedding in Delhi and was deeply impressed by the young man’s voice. Motilal brought him to Bombay, kept him in his own house and arranged for Pandit Jaganath Prasad to groom him.
Mukesh even did a Hindi film during this period as singer and hero, Nirdosh (1941) but it flopped miserably. His first real break as a playback singer came under the baton of Anil Biswas in the film Pehli Nazar (1945). The song was `Dil jalta hai to jalne de ...’ and was picturised on Motilal! Though a huge hit, admittedly it sounded as if the young man was just another KL Saigal imitator.
It was under Naushad with Mela (1948) and particularly Andaz (1949), that Mukesh finally discovered his own style. Andaz was a major triumph for Mukesh. All his four solos were raging hits - `Tu kahe agar ...’, `Jhoom jhoom ke naacho aaj ...’, `Hum aaj kahin dil kho baite ...’ and`Toote na dil toote na ...’. It is interesting to note that though Mukesh was later to be regarded as the voice of Raj Kapoor, in Andaz, Mukesh’s songs went on Dilip Kumar while Mohammed Rafi sang for Raj Kapoor. The partnership with Raj Kapoor started with Aag (1948) where Raj Kapoor’s feelings of despondency and despair were vividly caught by Mukesh in Ram Ganguly’s composition `Zinda hoon iss tarah ...’ and ended with RD Burman’s `Ek din bik jaayega ...’ from Dharam Karam (1975). In its course was an endless list of hits. Among them are the evergreen songs of Awara (1951), Shri 420 (1955), Parvarish (1958), Anari (1959), Sangam (1964) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). The inimitable team of Mukesh-Raj Kapoor-Shankar-Jaikishen-Shailendra-Hasrat Jaipuri was responsible for producing one memorable hit after another for almost two-and-a -half decades starting from Barsaat in 1949. From `Mera joota hai japani ...’ (Shree 420) to `Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nissar ...’ (Anari), from `Dost dost na raha ...’ (Sangam) to `Jaane kahan gaye woh din ...’ (Mera Naam Joker), the emotions conveyed by the depth and intonation of the voice of this master-singer was unparalleled. However, life was not always that easy and smooth. Following Awara’s success, Mukesh almost ruined himself when he sidelined his singing career to pursue acting - to try and make it as a singing star. Mashuqa (1953) with Suraiya and Anuraag (1956) with Usha Kiron, both sank at the box-office. He also did a small role as a tangewala enacting his own song `Chhoti si zindagani ...’ in Aah (1953).
Wiser by the ordeal, Mukesh returned to playback singing only to find that offers had dried up. The situation reached a point that his children Nitin and Ritu were turned out of school as they were unable to pay their fees. It was finally with `Yeh mera deewanapan hai ...’ from Yahudi (1958) that Mukesh finally came back with a bang. Other hits that year like Madhumati, Parvarish and Phir Subah Hogi meant there was no turning back. Even SD Burman, who had not utilised Mukesh’s services for over a decade, composed those two masterpieces for him - `Chal ri sajni ...’ from Bambai Ka Babu (1960) and `O jaanewaale ho sake to laut ke aana ...’ from Bandini (1963). Mukesh, thereafter, flourished right through the 1960s and mid 1970s with soulful hits like `Main to ek khwab hoon ...’ (Himalay Ki God Mein - 1965), `Jeena yahaan marna yahaan ...’ (Mera Naam Joker), `Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune ...’ (Anand - 1970), `Main na bhoolonga ...’ (Roti, Kapada Aur Makan - 1974)) and the unforgettable `Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon ...’ and `Kabhi kabhi mere dil ...’ (Kabhi Kabhie - 1976).
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In 1974, Mukesh received the National Award for the song `Kai baar yoon bhi dekha hai ...’ from Rajnigandha (1974). His last recorded song was `Chanchal, sheetal, nirmal, komal ...’ from Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978).
In his illustrious career, Mukesh worked with several music directors, lyricists and co-singers and was the on-screen voice for several actors - notably, Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar. Mukesh sang a good number songs with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Salil Choudhary, Usha Khanna, RD Burman and SD Burman.
He died on August 27, 1976 of a sudden heart attack in Detroit, while on a concert tour of the US. He is survived by three daughters and two sons including noted singer Nitin Mukesh.