Mahendra Kapoor (9 January 1934 – 27 September 2008) was an Indian

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 ...

. In a long career spanning decades, his repertoire included popular songs such as ''Chalo ekbaar phir se Ajnabi ban jayen hum dono'' ( Gumrah) and ''Neele Gagan ke tale'' (

Hamraaz ''Hamraaz'' () is a 1967 Indian Bollywood suspense thriller film, produced and directed by B. R. Chopra and written by Akhtar-Ul-Iman. It stars Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Vimi, Mumtaz in lead roles, with Balraj Sahni, Madan Puri, Jeevan, Iftekh ...

). His name however became most closely associated with patriotic songs including

Mere Desh Ki Dharti "Mere Desh Ki Dharti" () is an Indian Hindi song from the Bollywood film ''Upkar'' (1967). The lyrics of the song were written by Gulshan Kumar Mehta, and the music was composed by Kalyanji–Anandji. Mahendra Kapoor was the playback singer. Th ...

in Manoj Kumar's film Upkaar. He always considered Mohammad Rafi as his guru and cited many times that he was the best singer to be ever born. In 1972, he was awarded the

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, ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. He lent his voice to actor

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

in most of his films and had a lengthy association with director-producer

Baldev Raj Chopra Baldev Raj Chopra (22 April 1914 – 5 November 2008) was a famous Indian director and producer of Bollywood industry and television series . Best known for directing Hindi films like ''Naya Daur'' (1957), '' Sadhna'' (1958), ''Kanoon'' (1961) ...

Biography

Mahendra Kapoor was born in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

, but soon moved to

Bombay 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- ...

. At an early age, he was inspired by legendary singer

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

and considered him his mentor. He started learning classical music under classical singers like Pt. Hussanlal, Pt. Jagannath Bua, Ustad Niaz Ahmed Khan, Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Pt.Tulsidaas Sharma. Kapoor created a style of his own moulded largely on Rafi and won the Metro Murphy All-India singing competition, which led to his debut as a playback singer in

V. Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

Navrang Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut wi ...

in 1958, singing ''Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi'', under the musical direction of C. Ramchandra.
Mere desh ki dharti' will always be with us Some of Kapoor's most notable songs were the ones he performed in

B.R. Chopra Baldev Raj Chopra (22 April 1914 – 5 November 2008) was a famous Indian director and producer of Bollywood industry and television series . Best known for directing Hindi films like '' Naya Daur'' (1957), '' Sadhna'' (1958), '' Kanoon'' (196 ...

's films (

Dhool Ka Phool ''Dhool Ka Phool'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by B. R.'s brother Yash Chopra, being his first movie as a director, having been an assistant director in B. R.'s earlier film '' Naya Daur''. The ...

, Gumrah, Waqt,

, Dhund,

Nikaah In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...

and

Awam (film) ''Awam'' () is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed and produced by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Raj Babbar, Smita Patil, Poonam Dhillon, Nana Patekar, Shafi Inamdar in pivotal roles. Plot Ca ...

and TV series

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

; and for

( Upkaar,

Purab Aur Paschim ''Purab Aur Pachhim'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language drama film. The movie was produced and directed by Manoj Kumar, and it stars Manoj Kumar, Saira Banu, Ashok Kumar, Pran and Prem Chopra in the lead roles. The music is by Kalyanji Anandji. ...

). Kapoor had a very large vocal range, and he is sometimes known as ''The Vibrant Voice of India''. He was the first Indian playback singer to record music in English. He was asked by the group

Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...

to sing their songs in Hindi with Musarat from Pakistan, which resulted in the Pop Album ''M-3''. Some of the songs on the album are ''Chori Chori Chalo!!'' (Original, Hoorray! Hoorray! by

), ''O Meri Champe Ki Daali''. Most of the hit songs sung by Mahendra Kapoor which are famous, are from B. R. Chopra movies or Manoj Kumar's movies. His song from ''Bandhan'', ''Shakti'', ''Doli'', ''Ek Nazar'', ''Admi Aur Insaan'', ''Sangam'' and ''Tawaif'' are also quite popular. Mahendra Kapoor also sang a duet with

. The song was ''Kaisi Haseen Aaj Baharon Ki Raat'' from the 1967 film Aadmi, which was originally recorded as a duet with Rafi and

Talat Mehmood 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 acti ...

, one of the lead stars refused to use Talat's voice for him and the song was re-recorded with Kapoor replacing Talat. Kapoor sung in a large number of Indian languages and is the playback singer who has performed in the largest number of in

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 ...

, Punjabi,

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

and

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 * * ...

movies. In Marathi, he was very popular for being the voice of

Dada Kondke Krishna "Dada" Kondke (Marathi pronunciation: ̪aːd̪a koːɳɖke 8 August 1932 – 14 March 1998) was an Indian actor and film producer. He was one of the most renowned personalities in Marathi film industry, famous for his double entendre d ...

in all his movies. In spite of being associated with Dada Kondke's colloquial style his singing for Marathi movies was not limited to Dada Kondke's movies only. Kapoor was married and had three daughters and one son. His son

Rohan Kapoor Rohan Kapoor (or ''Ruhan'', born 1965) is a Hindi actor and singer, son of Mahendra Kapoor. He started his film career at the age of 16 as an assistant director with Manoj Kumar for the film ''Kranti''. After that, he became active on the stag ...

is an actor and singer, who acted in a few films in the 1980s such as

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian people, Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chop ...

Faasle ''Faasle'' is a 1985 Bollywood film produced and directed by Yash Chopra. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Rekha, Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval, Rohan Kapoor, Farah, Raj Kiran, Sushma Seth and Aloknath. The film is the debut film for Rohan Kapoor, s ...

(1985) and

Love 86 Love 86 (Hindi: लव Urdu: ) is a 1986 Bollywood romantic drama film directed by Esmayeel Shroff, starring Tanuja, Govinda, Rohan Kapoor, Farha Naaz and Neelam. It was a remake of the 1982 Tamil film '' Ilanjodigal''. This was Govinda's ...

(1986), and Prakash Mehra's ''Imandaar'', and later did stage shows together with his father. On September 27, 2008, Kapoor died following a

cardiac failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, an ...

at his home in Mumbai, aged 74. He was survived by his wife, children, children-in-law and grandchildren. Mahendra Kapoor is one of the golden era singers. He remained as one of the most popular singers in Bollywood who has given his voice to almost all of the popular heroes and leading well known actors. For Punjabi movies, he has given his voice to Varendra, Mehar Mittal, Prem Nath and many more.

Notable songs

Hindi

*"Tere Pyaar Ka Aasra" –

(1959) *"Aap Aaye Tho Khayal" - Gumrah (1963) *"Chalo Ek Baar" – Gumrah (1963) *"Chhod Kar Tere Pyar" -

Woh Kaun Thi ''Woh Kaun Thi?'' () is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film directed by Raj Khosla, starring Sadhana, Manoj Kumar and Prem Chopra. Though the screenplay was written by Dhruva Chatterjee, parts were later rewritten, wherein Manoj K ...

(1964) *"Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega" - Sangam (1964) (trio with

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 ...

and

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

) *"Mera Pyar Woh Hai" – Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1965) *"Badal Jaaye Agar Maali" – Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966) *"Ye kali jab talak phool banke khile" –

Aaye Din Bahar Ke ''Aaye Din Bahar Ke'' () is a 1966 Indian Hindi-language film produced by J. Om Prakash. The film stars Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Sulochana Devi, Balraj Sahni, Nazima and Rajindernath It became a box office hit and stood 7th in box office colle ...

(1966) *"Kisi Pathar Ki Moorat Se" –

(1967) *"Na Muh Chupa Ke Jiyo" –

(1967) *"Neele Gagan Ke Tale" –

(1967) *"Tum Agar Saath Dene Ka Wada Karo" –

(1967) *"Tu Husn Hai Main Tujmein" –

(1967) *"Mere Desh Ki Dharti" – Upkar (1967) *"Lakhon Hain Yahan Dilwale" – Kismat (1968) *"Jiske sapne humen roz aate rahe" –

Geet Geet may refer to: Media * geet (song), a traditional Hindi or Urdu song * ''Geet'' (1944 film) * ''Geet'' (1970 film), a Bollywood film directed by Ramanand Sagar * ''Geet'' (1992 film), a Bollywood film directed by Parto Ghosh * ''Geet'' (TV ...

(1970) *"Iktara Bole" – Yaadgar (1970) *"Bharat Ka Rahnewala Hoon" –

(1970) *"Hey Ramchander keh gaye Siya se"-

Gooi The Gooi () is an area around Hilversum, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants, and its villas. The Gooi is known in the Netherlan ...

(1970) * "Sansar ki har shae" - Dhund (1973) *"Aur Nahin Bas Aur Nahin" –

Roti Kapada Aur Makaan ''Roti Kapada Aur Makaan'' (; occasionally written as ''Roti Kapda Aur Makaan'') is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language action drama film written, directed, and produced by Manoj Kumar. The title of the movie is based on the Hindi phrase, which refers ...

(1974) *"Fakira Chal Chala Chal" –

Fakira ''Fakira'' is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language crime action film produced by N.N. Sippy and directed by C.P. Dixit. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Asrani, Aruna Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Asit Sen (actor), Asit Sen, Ramesh Deo and Madan ...

(1976) *"Ab Ke Baras" –

Kranti ''Kranti'' () is a 1981 Indian historical drama film, produced and directed by Manoj Kumar, with the story and screenplay written by Salim–Javed. It stars an ensemble cast, consisting of Dilip Kumar in the title role along with Manoj Kumar, ...

(1981) *"Andhere Mein Jo Baite" - Sambandh (1982) *"Beete Hue Lamhon Ki Kasak Saath" –

(1982) *"Chehra Chupaliya Hai Kisi -

(1982) *"Dil Ki Yeh Arzoo Te Koi -

(1982) *"Mangi Thi Ek Duajo -

Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...

(1982) *"KAB TALAK SHAMA JALI" –

Painter Babu ''Painter Babu'' is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Ashok V. Bhushan, starring Rajiv Goswami, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Neelima in lead roles. Cast * Rajiv Goswami *Meenakshi Sheshadri * Neelima *Rakesh Bedi Soundtrack *''Kab Tal ...

(1983) *"JAB YAAD KI BADLI CHAHTI HAI" – Painter Babu (1983) *"Dil Hi Dil Mein Le Liya" -

Aaj Ki Awaaz ''Aaj Ki Awaaz'' () is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra. The film stars Raj Babbar, Smita Patil, Nana Patekar, and Vijay Arora. The film's music is by Ravi. The film is based o ...

(1984) *"Tere Pyar Ki Tamanna" -

Tawaif A ''tawaif'' was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance ( mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradi ...

(1984) *"De Daru De Daru" -

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

(1986) * Title Song of

(1988)

Marathi

* Var dhagala lagli khala pani themb themb gala वरं ढगाला लागली कळं....पाणी थेंब थेंब गळं.... * Ti Yete Aneeka Jate..Yetana kadhi kalya aneete ती येते आणिक जाते,येतांना कधि कळ्या आणिते, * He Chincheche zad dise maj chinar vrukshapari हे चिंचेचे झाड दिसे मज चिनार वृक्षापरी * Ratris khel chale ya gudh chandanyacha, sampel na kadhihi ha khel savalyancha रात्रीस खेळ चाले या गूढ चांदण्याचा संपेल ना कधीही हा खेळ सावल्यांचा * Abol Zalis ka saajani.. अबोल झालीस का साजणी * Saang kadhi kalanar tula.. सांग कधी कळणार तुला * Sur tech chhedita.. सूर तेच छेडीता, गीत उमटले नवे * Madhu ithe ana chandra tithe.. मधू इथे अन् चंद्र तिथे झुरतो अंधारात * Swapnaat pahile je te roop hech hote.. स्वप्‍नात पाहिले जे ते रूप हेच होते * Nako menaka nako urvashi ... * Anjanichya suta tula Ramacha Vardaan

Gujarati

*"Dhuni Re Dhakhavi Beli Ame Tara Namni ધૂણી રે ધખાવી બેલી અમે તારા નામની" -

Jesal Toral ''Jesal Toral'' is a 1971 Indian Gujarati devotional film written and directed by Ravindra Dave. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of Gujarati cinema and ran for 25 weeks in theatres. Cast * Anupama as Toral * Upendra Trivedi as Jesal * A ...

(1971) *"Pela Pela Jug Ma raani" - "પેલા પેલા જુગ માં રાણી તું હતી પોપટી ને" *" Bhiksha De Ne Maiya Pingda" - "ભિક્ષા દે ને મૈયા પિંગળા"

Other languages

* "Saagarakanyaka" - ''

Priya Priya may refer to: * Priya (given name), a given name of Indian origin * Priya (actress) Karpagavalli better known by her stage name Priya is an Indian actress who worked on South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the ...

Awards

* 1972 –

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 ...

** 1968 Won – "Mere Desh Ki Dharti" – Upkar *

Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer The Filmfare Best Male Playback Singer Award is given by Indian film magazine ''Filmfare'' as a part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. ...

** 1964 Won – "Chalo Ek Bar" – Gumrah ** 1968 Won – "Neele Gagan Ke Tale" –

** 1968 ''Nominated'' – "Mere Desh Ki Dharti" – Upkar ** 1975 Won – "Aur Nahi Bus Aur Nahi" – Roti Kapda Aur Makaan ** 1977 ''Nominated'' – "Sunke Teri Pukar" –

Others

** 1967 Won – "Mian Tansen Award" – Sati Nari – Tum Nacho Ras Barse ** 2000 Won – "Bollywood Music Awards- New York" – Life Time Achievement Award ** 2002 Won – "Lata Mangeshkar Puruskar" – Madhya Pradesh State Award ** 2008 Won – "Dada Saheb Phalke Academy Award" – Phalke Golden Voice Singer ** 2008 Won – "Maharashtra State Award" – Life Time Achievement

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Mahendra 1934 births 2008 deaths Indian male playback singers Bollywood playback singers Musicians from Amritsar Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Punjab, India Best Male Playback Singer National Film Award winners Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian male singers