playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

, and many other genres. He was the recipient of two National Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and was popularly known as the "voice of God". He Completed his B.E &

M.Tech A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, M.E. or M.Eng.) is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering. International variations Australia In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research deg ...

Engineering Degree from Jadavpur University.

Early life and education

Hemanta was born in Varanasi, in the house of his maternal grandfather who was a physician. His paternal family originated from the town of

Jaynagar Majilpur Jaynagar Majilpur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the town is within the ar ...

, and migrated to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in the early 1900s. Hemanta grew up and attended the Nasiruddin School and later the Mitra Institution school in the Bhowanipore area, where he met his longtime friend Subhas Mukhopadhyay who later became a Bengali poet. He also developed a friendship with the noted writer Santosh Kumar Ghosh during his studies. Hemanta joined the Bengal Technical Institute at Jadavpur (now Jadavpur University) to pursue Engineering Diploma. However, he quit academics due to health problem and to pursue a career in music, despite objections from his father. He experimented with literature and published a short story in a Bengali magazine Desh, however he focused on music by the late 1930's.

Early music career

Hemanta's first film song was in the Bengali film ''Rajkumarer Nirbbasan'' released in 1940 which was scored by

S.D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

. This was followed by ''Nimai Sanyas'' in 1941, in which music was scored by Hariprasanna Das. Hemanta's first compositions for himself were the Bengali non-film songs "Katha Kayonako Shudhu Shono" and "Amar Biraha Akashe Priya" in 1943. The lyrics were by Amiya Bagchi. His first Hindi film songs were in ''Meenakshi'' in 1942. followed by ''Irada'' in 1944, with music composed by Amar Nath. Hemanta is considered the foremost exponent of

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

. His first recorded Rabindra Sangeet was in the Bengali film ''Priya Bandhabi'' (1944). The song was "Pather Sesh Kothaye". He recorded his first non-film Rabindra Sangeet disc in 1944 under the Columbia label. The songs were "Aamar Aar Habe Na Deri" and "Keno Pantha E Chanchalata". Prior to that, he had recorded the song "''Aamaar mallikabone'' " on All India Radio/Akashvani but, unfortunately, the record has passed into oblivion. His first movie as a

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

was the Bengali film ''Abhiyatri'' in 1947. Although many of the songs Hemanta recorded during this time received critical acclaim, major commercial success eluded him until 1947. Some contemporary male singers of Hemanta in Bengali were Jaganmay Mitra, Robin Majumdar, Satya Chowdhury,

Dhananjay Bhattacharya Dhananjay Bhattacharya (September 10, 1922 – December 27, 1992) was an Indian Bengali singer and composer. He was a versatile Shyama Sangeet singer. Career He started his career by singing modern Bengali as well as Hindi songs. His first s ...

, Sudhirlal Chakraborty, Bechu Dutta and

Talat Mahmood Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the popular male Indian film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in actin ...

.

Family

Hemanta had three brothers and a sister Nilima. His younger brother Tarajyoti was a Bengali short story writer. His youngest brother Amal composed music as well as sang for some Bengali movies, most notably for

Abak Prithibi ''Abak Prithibi'' is a 1959 Bengali film directed by Bishu Chakraborty. This film was produced by Tarun Kumar, who was also a Bengali film actor. This film was written by Bishu Chakraborty. The music was composed by Amal Mukherjee. This is a c ...

and ''Hospital''. Amal recorded a few songs in the 1960's as well with Hemant as music director, most notably the song ''Jiboner Anekta Path Eklai''. In 1945, Hemanta married

Bela Mukherjee Bela Mukherjee (1921 – 25 June 2009) was an Indian singer and the wife of singer and music director Hemanta Mukherjee. She recorded a number of songs with her husband. Mukherjee died in a private hospital in South Kolkata Kolkata ( ...

, a singer from Bengal. Although she had sung some popular songs in the movie Kashinath, she did not actively pursue her musical career after marriage. They had two children, a son Jayant, and a daughter Ranu. Ranu also pursued a music career in the late 1960's and early 1970's, with somewhat limited success. Jayant is married to Moushumi Chatterjee, a Bengali film actress.

Success and migration to Mumbai

Hemanta Mukherjee with Rajendra Prasad and Jwaharlal Nehru, 1950

In the mid-1940s, Hemanta became an active member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and started an association with another active IPTA member — songwriter and composer

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

. One of the main driving forces behind the establishment of IPTA was the Bengal famine of 1943 and the inaction of the British administration and wealthy Indians to prevent it. In 1947, Hemanta recorded a non-film song called "Ganyer badhu" ("The rural bride") that had music and lyrics by Salil Chowdhury. The six-minute song recorded on two sides of a 78 rpm disc was sung at a varying pace and lacked the conventional structure and romantic theme of a Bengali song. It depicted an idyllic, prosperous and caring rural woman's life and family and how it gets ravaged by the demons of famine and ensuing poverty. This song generated an unforeseen popularity for Hemanta and Salil in eastern India and, in a way, established Hemanta ahead of his male contemporaries. Hemanta and Salil paired again in several songs over the next few years. Almost all these songs proved to be very popular. Around the same period, Hemanta started receiving more assignments for music composition for Bengali films. Some were for director

Hemen Gupta Hemen Gupta was an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi language films and Bengali language films. Early life Hemen Gupta was born on 21 March 1914, in Rajmahal, Jharhand, India. His father, Purnanand Gupta, worked in the ...

. When Hemen moved to Mumbai a few years later, he called upon Hemanta to compose music for his first directorial venture in Hindi titled Anandmath under the Filmistan banner. Responding to this call, Hemanta migrated to Mumbai in 1951 and joined Filmistan Studios. To remain linked to his roots, he named his new house which he built in Mumbai's Khar after one of his favorite works of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali. The music of Anand Math (1952) was a moderate success. Perhaps, the most notable song from this movie is '

Vande mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the ...

' sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

, which Hemanta set to a marching tune. Following Anandamath, Hemanta scored music for a few Filmistan movies like Shart in subsequent years, the songs of which received moderate popularity. Simultaneously, Hemanta gained popularity in Mumbai as a playback singer. His songs for actor

Dev Anand Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand (26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011), better known as Dev Anand, was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema, through a career that spanned over six decades. He was ...

under the music direction of

S. D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

in movies like

Jaal (1952) Jaal may refer to: * ''Jaal'' (1952 film) * ''Jaal'' (1967 film) * ''Jaal'' (1973 film) * ''Jaal'' (1986 film) * ''Jaal'' (TV series), a 2019 Pakistani Urdu-language drama television series * '' Jaal: The Trap'', a 2003 film * ''Jaal'', a 2012 ...

("Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan"), House No. 44 (1955) ("Chup Hai Dharti" and "Teri Duniya Mein Jeene Se"), Solva Saal (1958) ("Hai Apna Dil To Awara"), and Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962) ("Na Tum Humen Jano"), attained popularity. In the 1950s, he also play-backed for other heroes of Hindi films like Pradeep Kumar (Nagin, Detective) and

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1929 — 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director and politician. Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful film ...

(Duniya Jhukti Hain) and later in the 1960s for Biswajeet (Bees Saal Baad, Bin Badal Barsat, Kohra) and Dharmandra (Anupama); he was the music composer for all these films.

Career rise

By the mid-1950s, Hemanta had consolidated his position as a prominent singer and composer. In Bengal, he was one of the foremost exponents of Rabindra Sangeet and perhaps the most sought-after male singer. In a ceremony organized by Hemanta Mukherjee to honor Debabrata Biswas (1911–1980), the legendary Rabindra Sangeet exponent, in Calcutta in March 1980, Debabrata Biswas unhesitatingly mentioned Hemanta as "the second hero" to popularise Rabindra Sangeet, the first being the legendary

Pankaj Kumar Mallick Pankaj is a Hindu given name, common in India and Nepal. It has its roots in the Sanskrit word ' which refers to the lotus flower. The word is a compound of ' 'mud' and the suffix ' 'born from, growing in'.This is a shortened form of the root ' 't ...

. In

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, along with playback singing, Hemanta carved a niche as a composer. He composed music for a Hindi film called ''Nagin'' (1954 film) which became a major success owing largely to its music. Songs of Nagin remained chart-toppers continuously for two years and culminated in Hemanta receiving the prestigious Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1955. The very same year, he scored music for a Bengali movie called Shapmochan in which he played back four songs for the Bengali actor Uttam Kumar. This started a long partnership between Hemanta and Uttam as a playback singer-actor pair. They were the most popular singer-actor duo in Bengali cinema over the next decade. In the latter part of the 1950s, Hemanta composed music and sang for several Bengali and Hindi films, recorded several Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali non-film songs. Almost all of these, especially his Bengali songs, became very popular. This period can be seen as the zenith of his career and lasted for almost a decade.

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

stated Hemanta as the Voice Of God.He sang songs composed by the major music directors in Bengal such as Nachiketa Ghosh,

Robin Chatterjee Robin Chatterjee was an Indian music director and sound recordist who scored music for about ninety films. Starting from the 1942 film '' Parineeta'', he has composed music for evergreen soundtracks such as ''Godhuli'', '' Bipasha'', ''Sagarika' ...

and

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

. Some of the notable films Hemanta himself composed music for during this period include Harano Sur,

Marutirtha Hinglaj ''Marutirtha Hinglaj'' (''English: Hinglaj, the Desert Shrine'') is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film directed and produced by Bikash Roy. This was based on a same name travelogue of Bengali novelist Kalikananda Abadhuta. The film was ma ...

, Neel Akasher Neechey,

Lukochuri ''Lukochuri'' (Bengali: লুকোচুরি) is a Bengali romantic comedy film directed by Kamal Majumdar and produced in the banner of Kishore Kumar Films. The film stars Kishore Kumar, Mala Sinha and Anita Guha in lead roles. The film wa ...

, Swaralipi,

Deep Jwele Jaai ''Deep Jwele jai'' () is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Asit Sen. The film is based on Bengali short story titled ''Nurse Mitra'' by Ashutosh Mukherjee. It was remade in Hindi in 1969 by Sen himself as '' Khamoshi''. Before t ...

, Shesh Parjanta, Kuhak, Dui Bhai, and

Saptapadi Saptapadi () is regarded to be the most important rite (Sanskrit: ) of a Hindu wedding ceremony. After tying the sacred knot known as the Mangalsutra, mangalasutra, the newly-wed couple takes seven steps together, during which the marriage is so ...

in Bengali, and, Jagriti and Ek Hi Raasta in Hindi.

Movie production

In the late 1950s, Hemanta ventured into movie production under his own banner: Hemanta-Bela productions. The first movie under this banner was a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen, titled

Neel Akasher Neechey ''Neel Akasher Neechey'' (Bengali: নীল আকাশের নীচে ''Nil akasher niche'', "Under the Blue Sky") is a 1958 Bengali language drama film directed by Mrinal Sen and produced by Hemanta Mukherjee, starring Kali Bannerjee, Man ...

(1959). The story was based on the travails of a Chinese street hawker in alcutta in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle. The movie went on to win the President's Gold Medal — the highest honour for a movie from Government of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the next decade, Hemanta's production company was renamed

Geetanjali productions __NOTOC__ ''Gitanjali'' ( bn, গীতাঞ্জলি, lit='Song offering') is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature, for the English translation, Gitanjali:''Song Offer ...

and it produced several Hindi movies such as Bees Saal Baad, Kohraa, Biwi Aur Makaan,

Faraar ''Faraar'' () is a 1975 Bollywood crime film drama. The film is produced by Alankar Chitra and directed by Shanker Mukherjee. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjeev Kumar, Sulochna, Sajjan, Agha and Bhagwan Dada. The m ...

, Rahgir and Khamoshi all of which had music by Hemanta. Only Bees Saal Baad and Khamoshi were major commercial successes. Back in Bengal, Hemanta scored music for a movie titled Palatak in 1963 where he experimented with merging Bengal folk music and light music. This proved to be a major success and Hemanta's composition style changed noticeably for many of his future films in Bengal such as Baghini, and Balika Badhu. In Bengali films

Manihar The Manihar ( ur, مَنِہار) are a Muslim community, found mainly in North India. History and origin The word is derived from ''man'' ( hi, मणि), meaning 'jewel' in Urdu, and the agentive suffix . Their traditional occupation is ban ...

and

Adwitiya ''Adwitiya'' was a Bengali television series that was aired from 13 June 2011 to 2 March 2012 on Star Jalsha channel. It was the production of Ideas Creations and the concept was initialized by Prosenjit Chatterjee. The show was directed by Joy ...

, both of which were major musical as well as commercial successes, his compositions had a light classical tinge. In 1961, for commemorating

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

's birth centenary, the Gramophone Company of India featured Rabindrasangeet by Hemanta in a large portion of its commemorative output. This too proved to be a major commercial success. Hemanta went on several overseas concert tours including his trip to the West Indies. Overall, in the 1960s decade, he retained his position as the major male singer in Bengal and as a composer and singer to be reckoned with in Hindi films. In the 1960s he was the predominant and lead male voice in many of Tagore's musical dramas like

Valmiki Pratibha ''Vālmīki-Praṭibhā'' ( bn, বাল্মীকি-প্রতিভা, ''Balmiki Protibha'', lit. ''The Genius of Vālmīki'') is an opera by Rabindranath Tagore. The Bengali libretto was written by Tagore himself based on the legend of ...

,

Shyama Shyama may refer to: * Shyama (Hindi actress) (1935–2017), Indian actress in Hindi films * Shyama (Malayalam actress) (?–1996), Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films * Shyama (Jain monk) ( 247 BC–151 BC), Jain monk * Shama Dulari ( 1940 ...

, Sapmochan, Chitrangada and Chandalika. With Kanika Bandopadhyay (1924–2000) and

Suchitra Mitra Suchitra Mitra (19 September 1924 – 3 January 2011) was an Indian singer, composer, artist exponent of Rabindra Sangeet or the songs of Bengal's poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, professor, and the first woman Sheriff of Kolkata. As an acad ...

(1924–2010), who were the lead female voices in these, he was part of the Rabindra Sangeet triumvirate that was popular and respected. It was referred to as 'Hemanta-Kanika-Suchitra' and, with Debabrata Biswas, this quartet was and continues to be the most heard exponents of Tagore compositions. Asoktaru Bandopadhyay, Chinmoy Chattopadhyay,

Sagar Sen Sagar Sen (15 May 1932 – 4 January 1983) was a Bengali people, Bengali singer. Though primarily known as an exemplary Rabindrasangeet artiste, he had recorded numerous Music of Bengal, Bengali modern songs and directed a few as well. Career ...

,

Sumitra Sen Sumitra ( sa, सुमित्रा, IAST: Sumitrā) is a princess of Kashi in Hindu mythology. The wise Sumitra is the third queen consort of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala, who ruled from Ayodhya. She is the mother of the twins Lakshman ...

, and

itu Guha The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

were the other leading exponents of Rabindra Sangeet at that time.

Later career

In the 1970s, Hemanta's contribution to Hindi films was nominal. He scored music for a handful of his home productions, but none of these movies were successful nor their music. In Bengal, however, he remained the foremost exponent of

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

, film and non-film songs. His output continued to be popular for most of the decade. Some of them are Jodi jante chao tumi... (1972), Ek gochha rajanigandha, Aamay prasno kore nil dhrubatara..., Sedin tomay dekhechilam... (1974), Khirki theke singho duar... (Stree, 1971), Ke jane ko ghonta... (Sonar Khancha, 1974), Jeona daraon bandhu... (Phuleswari, 1975 ) and popularised Rabindra sangeet using them beautifully in films as per situations. A very popular and classic example is the song Chorono dhorite diyogo amare.. in

Dadar Kirti ''Dadar Kirti'' ( bn, দাদার কীর্তি; ) is a 1980 Bengali romantic drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film was based on an unpublished novel of the same name by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It stars Tapas Paul, Mahua Roych ...

(1980). In 1971, Hemanta debuted as a film director in for his self-produced Bengali movie

Anindita Anindita is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Anindita Bose (born 1986), Bengali actress * Anindita Ghosh, British historian * Anindita Nayar (born 1988), Indian actress * Anindita Paul (born 1975), Indian singer * Anindita Ra ...

. It didn't fare exceedingly well at the box office. However, his rendition Diner seshe ghumer deshe was one of his best and popular Rabindra Sangeet renditions. In the same year Hemanta went to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

by responding to

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Conrad Rooks and score the music of

Conrad Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washington ...

's Siddhartha and played back O Nadire... (composed and sang by him earlier in

Neel Aakasher Neechey Neel may refer to: Given name * Neel Akasher Neechey, Bengali language film director * Neel Doff (1858–1942), Dutch author * Neel E. Kearby (1911–1944), military pilot * Neel Jani (born 1983), Swiss race car driver * Neel Kashkari, Interim A ...

(1959) in that film. He was the first Indian singer to playback in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. The

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

honored Hemanta by conferring him with the citizenship of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

; the first-ever singer of India to get USA citizenship. In the early to mid- 1970s, two major music composers in Bengal, Nachiketa Ghosh and

Robin Chatterjee Robin Chatterjee was an Indian music director and sound recordist who scored music for about ninety films. Starting from the 1942 film '' Parineeta'', he has composed music for evergreen soundtracks such as ''Godhuli'', '' Bipasha'', ''Sagarika' ...

, who had worked closely with Hemanta, since the early 1950s, died. Simultaneously, music composed by Hemanta for Bengali films like Phuleswari,

Raag Anurag Raag may refer to * Rāga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music * ''Raag'' (film), a 2014 Assamese language drama film * Raag (surname) * Radio Amateur Association of Greece * Right-angled Artin groups, a class of groups studied in geometr ...

, Ganadebata and

Dadar Kirti ''Dadar Kirti'' ( bn, দাদার কীর্তি; ) is a 1980 Bengali romantic drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film was based on an unpublished novel of the same name by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It stars Tapas Paul, Mahua Roych ...

established him as the major film music composer in the Bengal movie scene. In 1979, Hemanta re-recorded some of his earlier works with composer

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

from the 1940s and 1950s. This album, titled Legend of Glory, vol. 2 was a major commercial success. In 1980, Hemanta had a heart attack that severely affected his vocal capabilities, especially his breath control. He continued to record songs in the early eighties, but his voice was a shade of its rich baritone past. In 1984, Hemanta was felicitated by different organizations, most notably by the Gramophone Company of India, for completing 50 years in music. That very year Hemanta released his last album with Gramophone Company of India — a 45 rpm extended play disc with four non-film songs. Over the next few years, Hemanta released few non-film songs for small-time companies that had cropped up in the nascent cassette-based music industry. Only a few of these were commercially successful. He composed music for a handful of Bengali movies and one Bengali and one Hindi tele-series. However, by this time he had become an institution, a beloved and revered personality who was a courteous and friendly gentleman. His philanthropic activities included running a homeopathic hospital in memory of his late father in their native village in Baharu, in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. He continued to feature regularly on All India Radio, Doordarshan (TV) and live programs/concerts during this period. In a television interview, recorded in the early 1990s, to noted elocutionist Gauri Ghosh, his wife Bela Mukherjee recalled that she never knew during his lifetime the number of families and persons he helped to put up financially or otherwise; it was only after his departure that this truth gradually unveiled. In 1987, he was nominated for Padmabhushan which he refused politely, having already turned down a previous offer to receive Padmashree in the 1970s. In this year, he was publicly felicitated in Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta for completing 50 years in the musical journey, where, Lata Mangeshkar presented him with the memento on behalf of his fans and admirers.Despite his aging voice, he became the Best Male Singer in 1988 for his rendition in the film "Lalan Fakir". In September 1989 he traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award, as well as to perform a concert. Immediately after returning from this trip he suffered another heart attack on 26 September,1989 and died at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta.

Awards

* 1956 : Filmfare Best Music Director Award: '' Nagin'' * 1971 :

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer The following is a list of winners of the National Film Awards, National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback singer. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in the year 1967. The singers whose performances have won awar ...

: ''Nimantran'' * 1962 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Swaralipi": Won * 1963 : BFJA Best Music Director Award (Hindi): "Bees Saal Baad":Won * 1964 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Palatak": Won * 1967 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Monihar": Won * 1968 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Balika Badhu":Won * 1970 :

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

(Refused) * 1972 : BFJA Best Male Playback Singer Award: ''Dhannyee Meye'': Won * 1975 : BFJA Best Male Playback Singer Award: ''Phuleswari'': Won * 1975 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Phuleawari": Won * 1976 : BFJA Best Male Playback Singer Award: ''Priya Bandhobi'': Won * 1986 :

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer The following is a list of winners of the National Film Awards, National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback singer. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in the year 1967. The singers whose performances have won awar ...

: ''Lalan Fakir'' *1986 :

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

for Creative and experimental music. * 1986 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Bhalobasa Bhalobasa":Won * 1987 : Padma Bhushan (Refused) * 1987 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Pathbhola": Won * 1988 : BFJA Best Music Director Award: "Aagoman": Won * 1985 : Honorary D.Litt. by Visva-Bharati University * 1986 :

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

* 1988 : Honorary D.Litt. by The

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

* 1989 : Michael Madhusudan Award * 2012 :

Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War were decorations which were bestowed by the major warring parties during the years of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all issued awards and decorations during ...

, * 2012 :

Friends of Liberation War Honour Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War were decorations which were bestowed by the major warring parties during the years of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all issued awards and decorations during ...

(Posthumously) * 1971 : The US government honored Hemanta by conferring him with the citizenship of Baltimore, Maryland; the first-ever singer of India to get USA citizenship.

Death and legacy

On 26 September 1989, Hemant fell ill after returning from a concert in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. He died shortly after, due to a massive

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. According to his daughter-in-law Moushumi Chatterjee, his last words were "''Ki koshto, ki koshto" ('''so much of pain, so much of pain'). Hemant's legacy still lives on through the songs that he has recorded during his lifetime, as well as music he has composed. Due to the commercial viability of his songs, the Gramophone Company of India (or

Saregama Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...

) still releases at least one album of his every year, repackaging his older songs. Hemant Kumar 2016 stamp of India

Discography

English discography (as composer)

Bengali discography (as composer)

Total number of films: 147

Hindi discography (as composer)

Discography in other languages (as a composer)

Discography (as playback singer)

Bengali film songs

Bengali non-film songs

References

Sources

# Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, "Ananda dhara", Deb Sahitya Kutir Press, Calcutta, 1970. # A. Rajadhakshya and P. Wilhelm, "An Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema", 2nd ed., British Film Institute, 1999. # S. Bhattacharya, "Amar gaaner swaralipi", A. Mukherjee Press, Calcutta, 1988. #https://web.archive.org/web/20100108062601/http://www.bfjaawards.com/legacy/pastwin/198952.htm

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Hemant 1920 births 1989 deaths Bengali musicians Singers from Kolkata Filmfare Awards winners Musicians from Varanasi Asutosh College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Bollywood playback singers Bengali playback singers Hindi film score composers 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian singers Best Male Playback Singer National Film Award winners Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers People from Jaynagar Majilpur