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 ...
(then Calcutta) – 23 November 2017) was an Indian playback singer.
She was the daughter of actor Bikram Kapoor who worked with the New Theatres studio. Her family was also related to famed filmmaker PC Barua. Meena's singing was noticed at a young age by composers like Ninu Mazumdar and SD Burman. She was a playback singer in Hindi cinema, during the 1940s and 1950s, singing hits such as "Rasiya Re Man Basiya Re" from ''Pardesi'' (1957), Ek Dharti Hai Ek Gagan from Adhikar (1954) and 'Kachhi hai Umariya' picturised on
Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...
in ''
Char Dil Char Rahen
''Char Dil Char Rahen'' (English title: ''Four Hearts, Four Roads'') is a 1959 Hindi film directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and starring two big stars of the era, real-life brothers Shammi Kapoor and Raj Kapoor. The movie is based on a novel of ...
'' (1959). She was a friend of the singer
Geeta Dutt
Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian playback singer and a famous Hindi and Bengali classical artist, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a ...
; the two had similar vocal styles.
She married music composer Anil Biswas in 1959, who later left Hindi cinema and shifted to Delhi as he became director of the National Orchestra at the
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 4 June 2003. Anil Biswas died in Delhi in May 2003. The couple did not have any children. But Anil Biswas had 4 children with his first wife, Ashalata Biswas (née Mehrunnisa).
One of Kapoor's most famous songs is "Aana meri jaan sunday ke sunday", a duet with C. Ramchandra and
Shamshad Begum
Shamshad Begum (Hindi: शमशाद बेगम, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and r ...
from the movie ''
Shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.
Naa Illu
''Naa Illu'' ( en, italic=yes, My Home) is a 1953 Telugu-language film produced and directed by V. Nagayya. The story was written by Devulapalli Krishnasastri.
The film had two dance sequences and full-length Hindi songs sung by Meena Kapoor.
...
'' (1953)
* ''Ghayal'' (1951)
* ''Aadhi Raat'' (1950)
* ''Anokha Pyar'' (1948)
* ''Ghar Ki Izzat'' (1948)
* ''Nai Reet'' (1948)
* ''Shehnai'' (1947)
Death: She died in the early hours on Thursday, 23 November 2017 in Kolkata home.