Geeta Dutt - The Talented Playback singer

Geeta Dutt was one of the most talented play back singers from the Hindi film Industry. Geeta dutt simply glided through a tune. Her singing was effortless and after listening to her once the listener was hooked forever..

Geeta Dutt was born Geeta Roy in a well to do Bengali family based in Bangla desh ( formerly part of greater Bengal, India). She loved singing and her initial foray into singing was through Bhajans or prayer songs in Calcutta. Her voice had many admirers and she got her break in some Bengali films as a co-singer. Her big break came in Hindi films with the soulful " Mera sundar sapna beet gayaa ", which became a major hit with the films audience and listeners across the country. Thus began her singing career which saw many ups and downs over the years.

Geeta dutt's potential was recognized by the legendary composers of those days and she became one of the most popular singers of the fifties and the sixties. Legendary Music Directors S.D.Burman , O.P.Nayyar and Chitragupta were instrumental in shaping her career and tapping her potential to the maximum. Geeta Dutt emerged as a hep , sultry singer who did justice to every kind of song that was offered to her . Be it romantic, sad, emotional or seductive- her range was complete. She mesmerized the listeners with her husky voice and she became the favorite of all the top composers of that time. But going by all accounts Geeta Dutt was an extremely emotional person, given to quick changes of moods, and had many ups and downs in her personal life, which in turn had a disastrous impact on her career. She was going through a troubled marriage with Guru Dutt, who had married her against his family's wishes. Guru Dutt, himself was a temperamental, moody intellectual, and this only complicated the relationship further.

Guru dutt had emotionally got involved with Actress Waheeda Rehman , who was introduced to films by him. This only further complicated the already troubled marriage and worsened the relationship between Guru Dutt and Geeta . Geeta is supposed to have gone to Calcutta and lived with her family there when she came to know about her husband's involvement . But with the help of some of the family members and friends , the two patched up with Geeta coming back and things seemed to be working out , they had 3 children, she resumed her singing career with gusto and came up with some superb songs .

But Guru Dutt went back to his moody self as he began conemplating his career and commitments , and, in a fit of depression

committed suicide over what was supposedly a minor misunderstanding with the 2 women in his life namely Geeta and Waheeda Rehman. Geeta dutt was shattered by this turn of events which was totally unexpected. Her career suffered after Guru Dutt's demise and she never was able to recapture her earlier success.

Geeta dutt was addicted to Liquor and drugs. Going by all accounts, she was also being financially fleeced by her own family. Her life must have been miserable during those last few years, when she had no fame and not many friends. She was being blamed by Guru dutt's family on the one hand for the tragic happenings, while her own family seemed to be interested only in what she could do for them.

She became more and more addicted to Liquor and cocaine, a deadly combination which took its toll. She was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and eventually succumbed to it on 20th July 1972.

Geeta dutt has left a wealth of memories with all those everlasting melodies . She has been part of some of the greatest films ever made on Hindi screen and at one time gave tough competition to the Mangeshkar sisters, both Lata and Asha .

When I think of Geeta dutt some memories and images automatically come into my mind..Bubbly Geeta bali challenging Devanand in ' Baazi ' Tadbeer se bighdi huyi taqdeer banale' in Geeta dutt's voice, and Chanda chandni mein jab chamke, or the Sensuous club song from Coffee House

' Jhoom jhoom ke cham choom ke' .. Geeta's voice suited Geeta Bali to perfection. They both had the same huskiness, Innocence in thier voices. There were many songs picturised on Geeta bali in Geeta dutt's voice, that have gone on to become collector's items..

Another actress who was able to do complete justice to Geeta Dutts voice was Shyama. Some great numbers were picturised on her , prominently among them' Yeh dil mujhe batade' ' Yeh lo mein haari piya' ' Tum se hi meri zindgi' 'Ja ja ja ja bewafa' 'Dekhoji dekho meethi ada se'..

Meena Kumari too had some memorable songs sung by Geeta picturised on her. 'Sahib bibi aur ghulam ' had some of the best songs of Geeta dutt picturized on Meena kumari and a rare gem of a song 'Tehro zara si der' from the little known film 'Savera'.

Another image that comes to mind is that of Lovely Madhubala singing some of the most melodious and sensuous songs of Geeta Dutt..' Tandi hawa kaali ghata' Udhar tum hasseen ho' Oh Oh Oh baby, Chup jaa tu mere dil mein' , Aankhon mein tum' and the soft romantic ' Chale hum kahaan...

It is difficult to list out a few songs of Geeta dutt , because if one were to look back almost all her songs need a mention. Her contribution has been tremendous and she was a vivacious person, beautiful- one of her friends described her as ' looking like a Princess much more beautiful than some of the leading ladies for whom she lent her voice..But life was not fair to Geeta and she lived a life of Tragedy, unfulfilled dreams and betrayal. When Geeta sang all those soul stirring melodies " Mera sundar sapna beet gaya' , Saanj hai wohi' , 'Jab tum nahin toh chand sitare mein kya karoon' , one felt like crying with her , feeling extreme sadness at the way life treated such a lovely, talented person !

Today she is adored and respected by all her fans

and the present day singers try to emulate her singing with ofcourse little success. She is one of the Great legends of the Hindi Film Industry and one of the Pillars of the Music Industry , and one who will be remebered with a lot of love, respect and a little bit of pain...

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...

Pyaasa(Eternal thirst) - Guru Dutt's Classic

PYAASA (Eternal Thirst)

PYAASA is undoubtedly GURU DUTT'S Masterpiece and one of Indian cinema's Greatest films ever made, it is considered a Classic today......
But in 1957, when it was just released, these were some of the comments it drew....

Filmfare, 1957

The pace is considerably slower than the theme demanded, owing mainly to the somewhat heavy-handed treatment and direction, and the effect of this tempo is intensified by the sombre photography. The sets and décor are appropriate and the lyrics are most pleasing and the songs are very well sung. But the music is poor......(Today the music of Pyaasa is considered to be one of S.D.Burman's best compositions.)

Filmindia, 1957

For all Guru Dutt's desperate efforts to be taken seriously and for all the picture's thematic pretensions, Pyaasa emerges as little more than a lump of confusion. It is a picture which lacks coherence, a clear and cognizable theme and consequently any emotional appeal whatsoever. One cannot be moved by a thing which one finds incapable of conveying some definite meaning and in Pyaasa even after giving the picture all thought, one really fails to understand what precise thought it is trying to provoke, what exact message to convey and what definite theme to put across. Pyaasa leaves one confused because it is a confused product of a confused brain.( The same confused man is considered a genius today, and all the new generation of directors swear by him....)...

Perhaps one can understand these impressions by the media ,taking into account that the 50's were the Golden period of Hindi cinema, and it had the best of the best....quality films, directors, composers and actors...

Pyaasa despite all criticisms at the time of its release has gone on to become a much loved Classic with a large cult following and Guru Dutt remains one of the Greatest and Charismatic Directors ever seen on Hindi cinema...

And today, Pyaasa is rated as one of the best 100 films of all-time by Time Magazine....And it is a Time readers choice top 10 movie of all times..There are takers for the magical black and white cinema of Guru Dutt even some four decades after his death....