Some forgotten voices....

This write-up is purely my personal point of view and I realize that I am neither competent enough nor adequately knowledgeable to give accurate details about the people I am mentioning. But I take pride in the fact that I have been an avid listener of Hindi as well as Assamese songs since my childhood. I would like to mention a few melodious voices which had and continue to make my days and nights very very beautiful with their soulful rendition.

A few years ago, I was taken aback when I realized that “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charchey har zubaan par..” from the Hindi film “Brahmachari” was sung by Suman Kalyanpur and not Lata Mangeshkar ! Suman Kalyanpur has sung many a popular numbers which includes “na tum hamein jano”, “behna ne bhai ki kalai main”, etc. Astonishingly, inspite of the fact that she had one of the best voices in the Hindi film industry, Suman Kalyanpur did not get the popularity she deserved. I read in some old film magazine that the Mangeshkar sisters had monopoly in the Hindi film music industry in those days, and hence many voices like Suman’s were pushed to the oblivion.

I guess every music lover has listened to “tujhse naraaz nahin zindagi..” (male version) from the film “Masoom”. The singer is Anoop Ghoshal. Though he has achieved accolades in the Bengali music industry, he had limited success in the Hindi music industry. Though I am not trying to equate the Hindi music industry with national scenario, the fact cannot be ignored that quite a vast proportion of our country‘s population listens to Hindi songs.

Then there is this lovely song from the film “Daddy” with which actress Pooja Bhatt made her debut; the film had a song “kabhi khwab mein ya khayal mein…” which was sung by Talat Aziz and Dilraaz Kaur. Talat Aziz had a good enough voice, but he switched over to try his luck in daily soaps, while Dilraaz Kaur got confined in the Punjabi genre of music.

The lovely title song “Aparupa” of the Assamese film that goes by the same name was sung by Usha Mangeshkar, the younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar. Usha Mangeshkar has sung quite a few Hindi songs too (“Mungda” being one of the most popular ones). She could not quite achieve the success that her siblings Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle did.

In my school days, the options to celebrate the New Year were limited, and we used to wait impatiently for the programmes that were aired on television at night. In those days, songs by Pinaz Masani and Sharon Prabhakar were a must in the New Year Eve. Pinaz Masani had sung a few songs with Bappi Lahiri too. More than her voice, I remember Pinaz for her mop of curly hair. As for Sharon Prabhakar, I guess she gave up singing after marrying Alyque Padamsee.

And any person of my generation who has attended college cannot forget “Purani jeans” by Ali Hader. A song bathed in nostalgia, “Purani jeans” was an anthem of sort to reminisce about the college days; in fact, it still is. Ali Haider sang quite a few songs like “Gore rang ka zamana”, “ Chand sa mukhda”, etc. I wonder where is he now…

“Pari hoon main” by Sunitha Rao..In school, this song was enough to send my heart racing. Sunitha Rao had a very nice, husky voice. It would not be wrong to call her a one song wonder. I will be really happy if she makes a comeback.

Nearer home in Assam, many of us still yearn for the lovely voice of Munmi Bora. “Xarodi kumol junak mayare”, “Ei junali rati”, “Ei Nijaan rati”…. Munmi is now settled in a comfortable domestic bliss, but we do miss you a lot Munmi. How I wish you would come back with your magic!! I definitely have missed a few other names in this description, but one thing is certain - soulful, melodious voices echo forever………..