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Mukesh (singer)

Overview

Mukesh Chand Mathur (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976), known mononymously as Mukesh, was one of the most popular playback singers of Hindi cinema. With a soft, plaintive baritone, he became closely identified with the on-screen voice of Raj Kapoor and was equally celebrated for his renditions of melancholic songs, devotional bhajans and ghazal-influenced melodies. He is regarded, alongside Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Talat Mahmood, as among the foremost male playback voices of Hindi cinema's classical era.

Key facts

Birth name Mukesh Chand Mathur
Born 22 July 1923, Delhi, British India
Died 27 August 1976, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Occupation Playback singer
Years active 1941–1976
Languages Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali
Spouse Saral Trivedi Raichand
Children Includes Nitin Mukesh (singer)
Grandchild Neil Nitin Mukesh (actor)
Notable awards National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer (1974); Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer (four times)

Background

Mukesh was born into a Mathur Kayastha family in Delhi to Zorawar Chand Mathur, an engineer, and Chand Rani. He was one of ten children. His early exposure to music came through a tutor engaged for his sister, whose lessons he absorbed by listening from the next room. He attended school in Delhi but did not complete higher education, taking up a brief job with the Public Works Department before turning to music.

A distant relative, the actor Motilal, heard him sing at a family wedding and was struck by his voice. Motilal brought him to Bombay, arranged for vocal training under Pandit Jagannath Prasad and helped launch his film career.

Career

Early years (1941–1948)

Mukesh made his debut as an actor-singer in the Hindi film Nirdosh (1941), in which he sang "Dil Hi Bujha Hua Ho To". His first major recognition came with Pehli Nazar (1945), composed by Anil Biswas, in which he sang "Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne De". The song, modelled in style on K. L. Saigal — Mukesh's early idol — established him as a distinctive new voice. Saigal himself reportedly remarked on the resemblance.

Association with Raj Kapoor

From the late 1940s, Mukesh became the established singing voice of actor-director Raj Kapoor, beginning with Aag (1948) and consolidated by Barsaat (1949) and Awaara (1951). The pairing, set largely to compositions by Shankar–Jaikishan, produced enduring songs such as "Awaara Hoon", "Mera Joota Hai Japani" (Shree 420, 1955), "Sab Kuchh Seekha Humne" (Anari, 1959), "Dost Dost Na Raha" (Sangam, 1964) and "Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan" (Mera Naam Joker, 1970). Raj Kapoor later described Mukesh's death as the loss of his own voice.

Other collaborations

Mukesh worked extensively with composers including Naushad, S. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Roshan, Kalyanji–Anandji and Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Notable songs outside the Raj Kapoor canon include "Suhana Safar Aur Ye Mausam Haseen" (Madhumati, 1958), "Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo" (Teesri Kasam, 1966), "Jaane Kahan Gaye Woh Din" (Mera Naam Joker, 1970), "Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" (Kabhi Kabhie, 1976) and "Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon" (Kabhie Kabhie, 1976). He also recorded a celebrated rendition of Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas released in multiple volumes by HMV.

Later years and death

Mukesh undertook several overseas concert tours, often with Lata Mangeshkar. While on a concert tour of North America, he died of a heart attack in Detroit, Michigan, on 27 August 1976, aged 53. His body was flown back to India, accompanied by Lata Mangeshkar, and last rites were performed in Bombay. Several of his songs, including those from Kabhi Kabhie and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), were released posthumously.

Awards and recognition

  • National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer (1974) for "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai" from Rajnigandha.
  • Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer:
    • 1959 – "Sab Kuchh Seekha Humne" (Anari)
    • 1970 – "Sabse Bada Naadan" (Pehchan)
    • 1972 – "Jai Bolo Beimaan Ki" (Beimaan)
    • 1976 – "Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" (Kabhi Kabhie)
  • The Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour in 2013.

Style and significance

Mukesh's voice was characterised by a restrained, slightly nasal timbre and an unforced emotional directness, qualities that suited songs of pathos, philosophical reflection and idealistic romance. He sang relatively fewer songs than several of his contemporaries — by most accounts well under 1,000 film recordings — but achieved an unusually high proportion of enduring hits. He carried forward, in modified form, the Saigal-influenced ghazal-and-bhajan idiom into the orchestral playback era, and his close identification with the screen persona of Raj Kapoor shaped the popular memory of post-Independence Hindi cinema's romantic and humanist phase.

Family

Mukesh married Saral Trivedi in 1946. Their son Nitin Mukesh followed him as a playback singer, and grandson Neil Nitin Mukesh became a Hindi film actor.

References

  • Filmography and discography records maintained by The Gramophone Company of India (HMV/Saregama).
  • Archives of the Filmfare Awards and the National Film Awards (Directorate of Film Festivals, Government of India).
  • Bhattacharya, Rinki. Bimal Roy: A Man of Silence, and other histories of Hindi film music referencing Mukesh's collaborations.
  • Raju Bharatan, writings on Hindi film music in Screen and other publications.