Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur- Bangladeshi Natives?

Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur - Bangladeshi Natives?

I cam across an article on the net and according to this article published by Fakhruddin Ahmed ,a Rhodes Scholar and a Daily Star columnist , the late Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur, are Bangladeshi natives.....

To quote Fakhruddin Ahmed from his article "MOST Bangladeshis do not know that two famous playback singers of Hindi movies in the 1950s and 1960s, the late Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur, are Bangladeshi natives. Geeta Dutt (Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri) was born into a rich Zamindar family in Faridpur on November 23, 1930 and stayed there until 1942. Suman Kalyanpur (Suman Hemadey) was born in Dhaka on January 28, 1937 and lived there until 1943..

Who can forget Geeta's immortal Bengali songs, Tumi Je Amar ("Harano Shur,"1958), Ei Shundar Shwarnali Shandhyay ("Hospital," 1960) and Nishi Raat Baka Chand Akashey. Geeta could sing all types of songs, "soft, snappy, teasing, sad," seductive or western. Geeta developed her talents under the tutelage of Sachin Dev Burman and O. P. Nayyar. Her famous Hindi songs include: Mera Sundar Swapna Beet Gaya, ("Do Bhai," 1947), Babuji Dhire Chalna, ("Aar Paar," 1954), Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De, ("Bhai Bhai," 1956) and Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo ("Pyasaa," 1957). Geeta's disastrous marriage with the director of "Pyasaa," Guru Dutt, who was in love with Waheeda Rahman, destroyed them both. Guru Dutt committed suicide in 1964; Geeta died of liver cirrhosis on July 20, 1972, at the age of 41!

Although Lataji was a fan of Geeta Dutt, that was not the case with Suman Kalyanpur. The reasons were many . First of all , Suman's voice sounded very similar to Lata Mangeshkar's,so that people confused the two. More important, in the early 1960s, Lata had a falling-out with singer Mohammad Rafi. As the two dominant playback singers, Lata wanted Rafi to back her demand that if a movie was a box office hit because of its songs, the singers should get a percentage. Rafi Saab took the opposite view: once a singer is paid for a song, he has no further claim. (Clearly, Lata was right.) Lata and Rafi Saab stopped talking, and singing duets.

When it came to choosing between Lataji and Rafi Saab, in those days the music directors preferred Rafi Saab. Because Geeta was running into marital and alcohol problems, up and coming Asha Bhonsle benefited; but the real beneficiary was Suman, because she sounded like Lataji. Music directors successfully substituted Suman for Lataji without missing a beat.
Suman sang several memorable duets with Rafi Saab: Parbaton Ke Petron Par, ("Shagun," 1964), classical Ajahunaa Aaye Baalaama, ("Sanjh Aur Saveera," 1964) Aaj Kaal Tere Mere ('Brahmachari," 1968). Other famous Suman Hindi songs include: Na Tum Hamen Jano, ("Baat Ek Raat Ki," 1962), Mere Mehboob Na Ja ("Noor Mahal," 1965) and Sharaabi Sharaabi, ("Noor Jehan," 1967). Thrice, she won the prestigious Sur Sringar Samsad award for the best classical song in a Hindi movie. Suman's Bengali hits include, Tomar Akash Theke, Mone Karo Ami Nei, and Shudhu Swapno Niye.

Some believe that Lataji never forgave Suman, believing that her rift with Rafi Saab would have ended sooner had Suman not been picking up the slack. When the rift finally ended four years later, through the mediation of actress Nargis and music director S. D. Burman (who had his own run-in with Lataji in 1958), reticent and shy Suman's sojourn as an elite singer was effectively over."

Coming to this observation, I can well believe that, Geeta dutt might have had her origins in Bhangla Desh which was afterall a part of Greater Bengal before its independence as late as the seventies..
But, Suman Kalyanpur comes from a Saraswat Brahmin family from Karnataka - Maharashtra border. Her father was in services at Dhaka and that's how she spent her early years there. She is Suman hemmadi, not Suman hemadey as the author claims..

However the rest of the article and observations make interesting reading...