Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), born Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, was an Indian singer, composer and film producer who worked extensively in Bengali and Hindi cinema. A leading figure of the post-Rabindra Sangeet generation in Bengal and a prominent playback singer of the 1950s and 1960s in Bombay's film industry, he was known for his rich baritone voice and an understated, melodic style of composition. He recorded songs in several Indian languages and became a major interpreter of Rabindra Sangeet.
| Born | 16 June 1920, Varanasi, United Provinces, British India |
|---|---|
| Died | 26 September 1989, Calcutta, West Bengal |
| Other names | Hemanta Mukherjee, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay |
| Occupations | Playback singer, music director, film producer |
| Languages of work | Bengali, Hindi, and others including Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Sanskrit |
| Genres | Film music, Rabindra Sangeet, modern Bengali songs |
| Spouse | Bela Mukherjee |
| Children | Jayant Mukherjee, Ranu Mukhopadhyay |
| Notable awards | Padma Shri (1970), Padma Bhushan (1987), National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer |
Hemant Kumar was born into a Bengali family in Varanasi and grew up in Calcutta, where he attended Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore and later Jadavpur Vidyapith. He briefly studied engineering at Jadavpur College before turning to music full-time. His early mentor was the composer Sailesh Duttagupta, and he was encouraged by his friend, the writer Subhas Mukhopadhyay.
Hemant Kumar made his first gramophone recording for the Columbia label in 1937 with two non-film Bengali songs. Through the 1940s he recorded for HMV and emerged as a notable voice in Bengali modern songs (adhunik gaan) and Rabindra Sangeet. He trained in Rabindra Sangeet under Sailen Das Gupta and was associated with Visva-Bharati's catalogue of Tagore's compositions.
His Hindi film debut as a playback singer came in the 1940s, but his major breakthrough was as music director for Filmistan's Anand Math (1952), which featured "Vande Mataram" sung by Lata Mangeshkar in his composition. He went on to compose for and sing in films such as Shart (1954), Nagin (1954) — whose score, including "Man Dole Mera Tan Dole", made him a household name — Jagriti (1954), Bandi (1957), Miss Mary (1957), Bees Saal Baad (1962), Kohraa (1964) and Khamoshi (1969).
As a singer in Hindi films he is identified with songs such as "Hai Apna Dil To Awara" (Solva Saal, 1958), "Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan" (Jaal, 1952, composed by S. D. Burman), "Tum Pukar Lo" (Khamoshi) and "Na Tum Hamen Jano" (Baat Ek Raat Ki, 1962).
In Bengali films he composed for and sang in productions such as Harano Sur (1957), Deep Jwele Jaai (1959), Shesh Anka, Lukochuri and Palatak. He frequently collaborated with director Ajoy Kar and with Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, the leading screen pair of Bengali cinema. Through his production company Hemanta-Bela Productions and Geetanjali Productions, he produced several films, including Bees Saal Baad and Kohraa in Hindi.
Hemant Kumar's recordings of Rabindra Sangeet are regarded as a benchmark of the genre. He also recorded a large body of Bengali modern songs written by lyricists such as Gauriprasanna Majumdar, Pulak Bandyopadhyay and Salil Chowdhury, with whom he had a long association. He performed extensively abroad, including concerts in the United States, the United Kingdom, the West Indies and East Africa.
Hemant Kumar's vocal style was characterised by a deep, resonant baritone, restrained ornamentation and clear diction, qualities that made him equally suited to devotional songs, romantic ballads and Tagore's compositions. As a composer he favoured uncluttered orchestration built around melody, often using folk-derived motifs, as in the famous been-inspired theme of Nagin. He is widely considered one of the principal architects of the "golden age" of Bengali film music alongside Salil Chowdhury, Sudhin Dasgupta and Nachiketa Ghosh, and one of the leading male voices of Hindi film music in his era. Satyajit Ray reportedly described his Rabindra Sangeet as the voice of God reading Tagore.
He married Bela Mukherjee, a singer, in 1945. Their son, Jayant Mukherjee, also became a singer and music director, and their daughter, Ranu Mukhopadhyay, was briefly a playback singer in the 1970s. The actor Babul Supriyo's father is among the artistes who have cited Hemant Kumar as a guiding influence.