Cineplot Music

Hemant Kumar – Part 1

Hemant Kumar

“Listening to Hemantda I feel as though a sadhu sitting in a temple is singing a Bhajan,” comments the nightingale Lata Mangeshkar about the unique unvanquished Hemant Kumar” who was not only a fabulous singer but also an equally indomitable composer. As Lataji astutely tells us, in Hemant Kumar’s voice one could experience an amalgamation of Rabindra Sangeet, Bengali folk music, modern and classical elements.

Every distinguished creative artiste is born with one gift. But Hemantda was born with several gifts. As a singer he reigned supreme in Calcutta and Mumbai. As a composer his versatility and staying – power in the charts were astonishing. From Nagin and Jaal to Bees Saal Baad and Kohraa the 50s and 60s were decades that `belonged’ prominently to the unique talents of Hemant Kumar.

Hemant Kumar Mukherjee was born on 16th June, 1920 in Varanasi. Music seemed to be an inherent part of his life from the outset. Why else did he leave school to become a professional singer at the age of 17 ?? !! At an age when young Hemant’ friends were taken up with teen sensations, the earnest boy studied music under stalwarts like Phani Baneerjee and Shailendra Prasad Gupta. The early training stood Hemant in good stead. He could impart a luminous but light – weight classicism to his film music without making his tunes cumbersome or over-erudite.

While fellow Bengali musician Said Chowdhary couldn’t quite master the popular idiom Hemantda could set aside his learned antecedents to infuse a freshness and modernity into his songs.And that too without sacrificing tonal propriety.

Let’s take an immortal solo like Yeh raat yeh chandni. The tune contains jolting jazz-tinged interludes which fit into the overall design of the song like a hand in glove.

When we listen to Hemant Kumar’s songs, we relive the most cherished and choicest moments from our film music. We marvel at the melodist’s mastery over the language of the heart and the secrets of the soul with such rapid fire explosions of hugely successful chartbusters that we often forget decades, eras and generations have passed by since Hemantda’s period of popularity.

The sound of Hemant Mukherjee is the sound of today. The past translates effortlessly into expressions of tuneful emotions. If Man doley in Nagin had audiences throwing coins at the screen in Mumbai, in Calcutta Hemantda regaled audiences as the legendary Uttam Kumar’s voice singing such all-time hits in Bengali as Nir chotto khati nei and Ei path jadi na shesh hoi.

Hemantda virtually had the best of both worlds. And yet his head remained firmly on his shoulders. Friends were floored by his utter simplicity and genuineness as a human being and his generosity of spirit. The distinguished filmmaker – composer – singer Bhupen Hazarika who was closely associated with Hemantda remembers him as one of the most generous human beings he had ever met.

Bhupenda still recalls his first encounter with Hemant Kumar. “I had the opportunity of knowing what a great man Hemantda was.”

Bhupenda recalls going to Calcutta as a student to collect royalty for songs he sang as a child artiste from a private music company. Suddenly a tall handsome man appeared in front of Bhupenda. By then Hemant Mukherjee was nationally famous as Hemant Kumar, singing both film and non-film songs. Bhupenda saw the famous singer composer approaching him. After introducing himself Hemantda offered to take Bhupenda to his own recording company HMV.

Bollywood . Music Directors