Path: ns1.cc.lehigh.edu!netnews.cc.lehigh.edu!netnews.upenn.edu!msuinfo!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: MAVANI@KGNVMT.VNET.IBM.COM (Mavani, Jagat N. (295-8920)) Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.misc Subject: MUKESH, The Legend Date: 4 Feb 1994 13:41:59 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 154 Sender: daemon@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: <9402041941.AA23065@cs.utexas.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu Hi everyone, Here is an article on Mukesh. Hope that it will be a useful source of information for all his fans.... --------------------------------begin----------------------------------------- MUKESH : The legend EK DIN BEEK JAYEGA MAATI KE MOL JAG ME RAHE JAYENGE YAARE TERE BOL Mukesh Chandra Mathur was born on 22nd July, 1923, in a small middle class family in Delhi. He was interested in acting and singing right from childhood and was a great fan and admirer of Kundan Lal Saigal. In spite of the fact that he only studied till the 10th grade (metric exam), he was able to obtain a good job as an assistant surveyor in the department of public works, where he worked for seven months. However fate had other plans for him. His younger brother parmeshwaridas recalls that in 1940 Mukesh had recorded some non filmi songs in Delhi. Then, Mukesh like scores of other young people before and after him, arrived in Bombay with the hope of becoming a movie star. He stayed with his relative who was the famous actor Motilal. With Motilal's help, Mukesh got a role as an actor in the film 'Nirdosh' (1941). Then in 1941-42 he acted in the films 'Dukh-Sukh' and 'Aadab Arz'. He also acted in some other films that did not complete. Years later, he was to act again in the film 'Aah' (1953). His debut as a singer came in the film 'Nirdosh'. The song was "Dil hi buja hua ho to...". Then in 1944 he followed with a duet with singer Kusum for the film 'Us paar'. The song was "Jara boli ri ho...". In 1945 he sang with Khursheed "Badariya baras gayi us paar..." for the film 'Murti'. By this time he had established a small place for himself in the hearts of his audience. Then came an important mile-stone in his life. The year was 1945 and Anil Biswas asked him to record a song for the film 'Pehli Nazar'. The raag was darbari and the song "Dil jalta hai to jalne de..." brought a still relatively unknown Mukesh to the altar of public fame. A legend was born and in the coming decades the golden voice of this young 22 year lad would be heard across the entire nation and spread far beyond its boundaries. By 1948, the streets of the sub continent were humming with his songs from Aag, Anokhi Ada, Mela, Veena, Vidha. In 1949, came another mile-stone in his life. In the studios of the great actor Prithviraj Kapoor (the father of Raj, Shashi and Shammi Kapoor) there were two young musicians shanker and Jaikishen. The young Raj Kapoor asked them to provide music for his own films. Shanker-Jaikishen asked Mukesh to sing for them and the films 'Aawara' and 'Shree 420' spread the voice of Mukesh all the way to Russia where in the streets of Moscow you could hear people singing "Aawara hoon..." and "Mera joota hai japani...". Raj Kapoor who was a successful commercial film producer knew that the success of a hindi film was influenced by the quality of it's songs. Besides he also had a personal interest in music. He would review every tune with Shanker or Jaikishen and his personal approval was needed before a tune was selected for final recording. Raj Kapoor was present at the studio during the recording of all his songs, personally cheering the orchestra. The result of such dedication can be seen years later when every new generation freshly discovers the gems that lie embedded on the sound-tracks of such movies as Aah, Aawara, Barsaat, Shree 420, Anadi, Jis desh me ganga behti hai, sangam, Mera Naam Joker and many more. With the success of Raj Kapoor was intertwined the success of Mukesh. Among the other recent music directors for whom Mukesh sang a good number of his songs were Laxmikant Payrelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Salil Chowdhury, Usha Khanna. S.D. Burman who was a true professional would not typically use a singer if his voice did not match the actor in the movie. However on occasions when he needed a singer for a song that was to play in the background he did not hesitate to turn to Mukesh. Two such occasions are "Chalri sajni ab kya soche..." and "O Jane wale ho sake to laut ke aana...". from 'Bombai ka Babu' and 'Bandini'. He also had a Mukesh song in the film 'Barud' and 'Dr Vidha'. His son R.D. Burman used the voice of Mukesh in the following films, Challia (new), Chandi Sona, Dharam Karam, Phir Kab Milogi, Hangama, Teesra Kaun, Raja Rani, Karma, Kati Patang, Mukti, Naukri. O.P Nayyar amongst all music directors had the lowest personal opinion of Mukesh. He could not understand the appeal of Mukesh. On one occassion he experimented with Mukesh when he asked him to sing for the film 'Sambandh'. As was the custom in those days the songs of the film started playing on the radio before the film was released. As the song "Chal akela Chal akela.." was heard, post cards with requests started pouring in at the local radio stations and the song went on to become a hit. The popularity of this song surprised O.P. Nayyar. He was not expecting it. This went on to become the only popular and hit song from 'Sambandh' even when the movie had some other good songs. Other films in which O.P. Nayyar had a Mukesh song were Ek Baar Muskurado, Miss Coca Cola. Another music director was Khaiyyam. The lyrics of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Khaiyyam's music and Mukesh's voice created some master pieces for the film 'Phir Subah Hogi'. Years later Khaiyyam was to bring back the voice of Mukesh in the film 'Kabhie Kabhie'. In 1965 he lend his voice for the film 'Choti choti baaten' based upon the life story of Motilal. This was Motilals last film. It was the songs that were based on the serious ragas darbari and yaman that the dard of Mukesh's voice and the power of the raag itself came together to produce some classic songs. An example would be the song "Aasoon bhari hai ye jeevan ki rahe...." based on raag yaman. In 1946 he had married a young gujarati girl Saral. This love marriage had resulted in two boys, Nitin and Manish, and three girls, Rita, Nalini and Nimitra. In 1974 he received a National award for the song "Kahi baar yoon bhi dekha hai..." sung in the film 'Rajinigandha' and the music director was Salil Chowdhury. Two years later on the 27th of August 1976, Mukesh died of a heart attack in Detroit while on an American tour. Ten years later in 1986, the citizens of Bombay erected a statue of Mukesh near his residence where Napansea Road and Warden Road intersect. The intersection was named Mukesh Chowk. Today the statue still stands and around it on the street corners, paan shops, small restaurants, apartments and the general hustle and bustle of Bombay you can still hear the golden voice floating in the air from those countless radios and cassette players. KE MAR KE BHI KISI KO YAAD AAYENGE KISI KE AASOON O ME MUSKURAYENGE KAHE GA PHOOL HAR KALI SE BAAR BAAR JINA ISI KA NAAM HAI ---------------------------------end------------------------------------------ Jagat Mavani ****************************************************************************** Mai bombai ka babu, Naam mera anjana English school me gaon, Me hindustani gana ******************************************************************************