Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay (Bangla: হেমন্ত কুমার মুখোপাধ্যায় Hemonto
Kumar Mukhopaddhae) also known as Hemanta Mukherjee (June 16, 1920 - September 26, 1989) was an
Indian singer, composer and
producer. He sang in Hindi films under the name Hemant Kumar.
Early life
Hemanta was born in the city of Varanasi, India. His
family hailed from a village named Baharu in West Bengal and migrated to Calcutta in the early 20th century. Hemanta too grew up
in Calcutta and attended a school in South Calcutta(Bhawanipore) named Mitra Institution. There he met his longtime friend, a
celebrated Bengali poet, Subhas Mukhopadhyay. After passing the intermediate examinations (12th grade) Hemanta was admitted to
Jadavpur University to study engineering. However, despite parental objection, he quit academics to pursue a career in music.
Hemanta briefly tried his hand at literature and also published a short story in a prestigious Bengali magazine called 'Desh',
but by the late-1930s he was committed entirely to music.
Early music career
Under the influence of his friend Subhash Mukhopadhyay, Hemanta recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1933. The first
line of the song was 'aamaar gaane te ele naba ruupe chirantanii'. Hemanta's music career was mentored by the Bengali musician
Sailesh Duttagupta. In an interview on television in the early 1980-s, Hemanta had mentioned that he had also received training
in classical music from Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, but his tutelage was cut short by Ustad-ji's untimely death. In 1937, he cut his
first gramophone disc under the Columbia label. The songs (non-film) on this disc were 'jaanite jadi go tumi' and 'balo go balo
more'. Lyrics were by Naresh Bhattacharya, music by Hemanta's mentor Sailesh Duttagupta. Thereafter, every year Hemanta continued
to record non-film discs for the Gramophone Company of India(GCI) right till 1984. Hemanta's first Hindi songs were 'kitanaa dukh
bhulaaya tumane' and 'o priit nibhaabewaalii', released in 1940 under GCI's Columbia label. Music for these songs were composed
by Kamal Dasgupta, lyrics were by Faiyaz Hashmi. Hemanta's first film song was in the Bengali film 'Nimai Sanyas' released in
1941. Music for this film was scored by Hariprasanna Das. Hemanta's first compositions for himself were the Bengali non-film
songs 'katha koyonako shudhu shono' and 'amar biraha aakaashe priyaa' in 1944. Lyrics were by Amiya Bagchi. His first Hindi film
songs were in Iraadaa in 1944 under Pt. Amarnath's music direction. Lyrics were by Aziz Kashmiri. Hemanta is considered a
foremost exponent of Rabindrasangeet(Tagore song) - songs (and lyrics) composed by the India's first Nobel laureate, Rabindranath
Tagore. Hemanta recorded his first Rabindrasangeet disc in 1944 under the Columbia label. The songs were 'prangane mor shiriishh
shaakhaay' and 'he nirupamaa'. His first movie as a music director was the Bengali film 'Abhiyatri' in 1947. Although many of the
songs Hemanta recorded in during this time received critical acclaim, major commercial success still eluded him, right until
1947. Some contemporary male singers of Hemanta in Bengali around that period were Jaganmoy Mitra(also called 'Jagmohan'), Robin
Majumdar, Satya Chowdhury, Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Sudhirlal Chakraborty and Talat Mahmood.
Family
Hemanta had three brothers. Elder brother Tarajyoti was a short story writer in Bengali. Youngest brother Amal composed music
for some Bengali movies, most notably 'Hospital' and 'Abak Prithibi'. He also recorded a few non-film Bengali songs in the 1960s.
In 1945, Hemanta married Bela Mukherjee, a singer from Bengal. Although Bela had sung several popular songs in a Bengali movie
titled 'Kashinath'(1943) with music by Pankaj Mullick, she did not actively pursue her musical career after marrying Hemanta.
They had two children - son Jayant and daughter Ranu. Ranu pursued a music career in the late 1960s and early 1970s with limited
success.
Hemanta Mukherjee's son Jayant is married to Mousumi Chatterjee, an Indian film actress who
was most prolific in the 1970s.
Success and Migration to Bombay
Hemanta in the early 1950s
In the mid 1940-s, Hemanta became an active member of the Indian People's Theatrical Association (IPTA) and started an
association with another active IPTA member - songwriter and composer - Salil Chowdhury. 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 from happening. In 1948, Hemanta recorded a non-film song called 'gaaNyer badhu' (literally translates to '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 four years and 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 of
these films were for a director named Hemen Gupta. When Hemen moved to Bombay 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 Bombay in 1951 and joined the Filmistan Studios. The music of Anandmath(1952) was a moderate success.
Perhaps, the most notable among 'Anandmath' songs is 'vande mataram' sung by Lata Mangeshkar, which Hemanta set to a marching
tune. Following Anandmath, Hemanta scored music for a few Filmistan movies like 'Shart' in subsequent years, the songs of which
received moderate popularity. Simultaneously, Hemanta also gained popularity in Bombay as a playback singer. Hemant's songs
playbacked for actor Dev Anand under music director Sachin Dev Burman in movies like 'Jaal', 'House No. 44', and 'Solva Saal'
became quite popular.
Career Rise
By the mid-fifties Hemant had consolidated his position as a prominent singer and composer. In Bengal, he was one of the
foremost exponents of Rabindrasangeet and perhaps the most sought after male singer. In Bombay, along with playback singing,
Hemant also carved a niche as a composer. A Hindi film called Nagin(1954) with music
by Hemant became a major success owing largely to its music. Songs of Nagin remained chart-toppers continuously for two years and
culminated in Hemant receiving the prestigious Filmfare Award for best music director in 1955. The very same year, Hemant scored
music for a Bengali movie called 'Shapmochan' in which he also played back four songs for the Bengali actor Uttam Kumar. This
started a long partnership between Hemant and Uttam as a playback singer-actor pair that contributed to their becoming the most
popular singer and actor respectively, in Bengal, over the next decade.
In the latter part of the fifties decade Hemanta composed music and played back for several Bengali and Hindi films; recorded
several Rabindrasangeets and Bengali non-film songs. Almost all of these, especially his Bengali output became very popular. This
period can be termed as the zenith of his career and lasted for almost a decade. He sang songs composed by the major music
directors in Bengal such as Nachiketa Ghosh, Robin Chatterjee and Salil Chowdhury. Some of the notable films Hemanta himself
composed music for during this period include 'Harano sur', 'Marutirtha Hinglaj', 'Neel Akasher Nichey', 'Lukochuri',
'Swaralipi', 'Deep jwele jaai', 'Shesh Parjanta', 'Kuhak', 'Dui bhai', and 'Saptapadi' in Bengali, and, 'Jagriti' and 'Ek hi
raasta' in Hindi.
Movie Production
In the late fifties, 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 Nichey'(1959). The story of this film was based
on the travails of a Chinese street hawker in Calcutta in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle. The movie went onto win the
President's Gold Medal - the highest government honour for a movie. In the next decade, Hemanta's production company was renamed
Geetanjali productions and it produced several Hindi movies such as 'Bees Saal Baad', 'Kohraa', 'Biwi Aur Makaan', 'Faraar',
'Rahgir' and 'Khamoshi' - all of which had music by Hemanta. Almost all of these, except 'Bees saal baad' and 'Khamoshi', weren't
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 'Monihar' and 'Adwitiya', both of
which were major musical as well as commercial successes, Hemanta's compositions had a light classical tinge. In 1961, for
commemorating Rabindranath Tagore's birth centenary, Gramophone company of India featured Tagore songs by Hemanta in a large
portion of its commemorative output. This too proved to be a major commercial success. Hemanta also went on several overseas
concert tours in this period including his trip to the West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago. Overall, in the sixties decade
Hemanta retained his position as the major male singer in Bengal, and, as a composer and singer to be reckoned with in Hindi
films.
Latter Part of Career
By the seventies decade, Hemanta's output in Hindi films had become nominal. He scored music for a handful of his home
productions, none of which were successes movie or music-wise. In Bengal, however, he remained the foremost exponent of
Rabindrasangeet. His non-film output was popular in the early part of the decade. In 1971, Hemanta debuted as a film director in
for his self-produced Bengali movie titled 'Anindita'. The movie didn't fare exceedingly well at the box office. In the early to
mid 1970s, two major music composers in Bengal, Nachiketa Ghosh and Robin Chatterjee, who had worked closely with Hemanta(for
playback and singing non-film songs) since the early 50's passed away. Simultaneously, music composed by Hemanta for Bengali
films like 'Fuleswari', 'Raag Anurag' and 'Dadar Kirti' established Hemanta 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 from the 1940s and 1950s. This album
titled 'Legend of Glory, vol. 2' was a major commercial success, despite Hemanta's aged and slightly tired voice.
In 1980, Hemanta suffered a major cardiac arrest 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.
Ironically, 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 non-film songs under various small-time labels 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 Hemanta had become an institution, a beloved
personality, courteous and friendly and gentleman, and, for his voice and songs of the fifties through the seventies decade. He
continued to feature regularly on All India Radio, Doordarshan(TV) and live programmes/concerts during this period.
In September 1989, Hemanta travelled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award. He performed a concert in
Dhaka as well. Immediately after returning from this trip, Hemanta suffered a major cardiac arrest on September 26th and breathed
his last at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta. Interestingly, even 15 years after Hemanta's death, Gramophone Company
of India releases at least one album by Hemanta every year, repackaging his older songs, because of the commercial viability of
his songs. Hemanta's legacy still lives on through the numerous songs he has recorded, music he has composed and through many
male singers in Bengal and the rest of India who continue to imitate his singing style.
Bengali Filmography as composer
Total number of films: 138
- 1947: Abhiyatri, Purbaraag
- 1948: Bhuli Naai, Padma Pramatta Nadi, Priyatama
- 1949: Diner Par Din, '42, Sandipan Pathshala, Swami
- 1951: Jighansa
- 1955: Shapmochan
- 1956: Suryamukhi
- 1957: Shesh Parichay, Taser Ghar, Harano Sur
- 1958: Lookochuri, Shikar, Surjotoron, Joutuk, Neel Akasher Neechey
- 1959: Deep Jweley Jai, Khelaghar, Marutirtha Hinglaj, Sonar Harin, Kshaniker Atithi
- 1960: Baishey Shravan, Gariber Meye, Kuhak, Khoka Babur Prayabartan, Shesh Paryanta
- 1961: Dui Bhai, Agni Sanskar, Madhya Rater Tara, Punashcha, Saptapadi, Sathi Hara, Swaralipi
- 1962: Atal Jaler Ahwan, Agun, Dada Thakur, Hansuli Banker Upakatha, Nabadiganta
- 1963: Badshah, Barnachora, Ek Tukro Agun, High Heel, Palatak, Saat Pake Bandha, Shesh Prahar, Tridhara
- 1964: Arohi, Bibhas, Natun Tirtha, Pratinidhi, Prabhater Rang, Swarga Hotey Biday, Sindoore Megh
- 1965: Alor Pipasa, Ek Tuku Basa, Ek Tuku Chhonya Lage, Suryatapa
- 1966: Kanch Kata Hirey, Monihar
- 1967: Balika Bodhu, Dushtu Prajapati, Nayika Sangbad, Ajana Shapath
- 1968: Adwitya, Baghini, Hansamithun, Jiban Sangeet, Panchasar, Parisodh
- 1969: Chena Achena, Mon Niye, Parineeta, Shuk Sari
- 1970: Deshbandhu Chittaranjan, Duti Mon
- 1971: Kuheli, Malayadaan, Nabaraag, Nimantran, Sansaar
- 1972: Anindita, Shriman Prithviraj
- 1974: Bikele Bhorer Phool, Thagini, Phuleshwari
- 1975: Agniswar, Mohan Baganer Meye, Nishi Mrigaya, Raag Anuraag, Sansar Simantey
- 1976: Banhi Sikha, Datta, Sankhabish, Pratisruti
- 1977: Din Amader, Hatey Roilo Tin, Mantramugdha, Pratima, Proxy, Rajani, Sanai, Shesh Raksha, Swati
- 1978: Ganadevta, Nadi Theke Sagare, Pronoy Pasha
- 1979: Shahar Theke Dooray, Nauka Dubi
- 1980: Bandhan, Dadar Kirti, Paka Dekha, Pankhiraj, Shesh Bichar
- 1981: Kapal Kundala, Khelar Putul, Meghmukti, Subarna Golak
- 1982: Chhoto Maa
- 1983: Amar Geeti, Rajeshwari
- 1984: Agni Shuddhi, Ajantay, Bishabriksha, Didi, Madhuban
- 1985: Bhalobasha Bhalobasha, Tagori
- 1986: Pathbhola
- 1987: Pratibha, Tunibou, Agaman, Boba sanai, Parasmoni, Surer Sathi
Hindi filmography as Composer(Alphabetical)
- A: Anand Math, Anjaan, Anupama, Arab Ka Saudagar
- B: Bahu, Bandhan, Bandi, Bandish, Bees Saal Baad, Bees Saal Pehle, Bhagwat Mahima, Bin Badal Barsaat, Biwi Aur
Makaan
- C: Chand, Champakali
- D: Daku Ki Ladki, Do Dil, Do Dooni Char, Do Ladke Dono Kadke, Do Mastane, Durgesh Nandini
- E: Ek hi Raasta, Ek Jhalak
- F: Ferry, Faraar, Fashion
- G: Girl Friend
- H: Hamara Watan, Hill Station, Hum Bhi Insaan Hai
- I: Inspector, Insaaf Kahan Hai
- J: Jagriti
- K: Khamoshi, Kohraa, Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan
- L: Lagan, Laalten, Love in Canada
- M: Maa Beta, Majhli Didi
- N: Nagin, Nayakeenicha Sajja
- P: Payal, Police
- R: Rahgeer
- S: Sahara, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Samrat, Sannata, Shart
- T: Taj
- U: Us Raat Ke Baad
- Y: Yahudi Ki Ladki
References
- 1. Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, "Ananda dhara", Deb Sahitya Kutir Press, Calcutta, 1970.
- 2. A. Rajadhakshya and P. Wilhelm, "An Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema," 2nd ed., British Film Institute, 1999.
- 3. S. Bhattacharya, "Amar gaaner swaralipi," A. Mukherjee Press, Calcutta, 1988.
External links
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