Suman Kalyanpur: A bitter legacy
ian
Sometime having a good voice as a singer can be a bane. And worse will
be matters if yours' resembles one of the best in the industry. Not
only will you be expected to play second fiddle by the trade and called
upon to sing only if the other singer isn't there or has had a fallout
with the music director or her co-singer, but you would also be
short-changed in terms of getting to playback for songs meant for you.
Or a music composer will not work with you simply because he 'prefers'
other singers.
Suman Kalyanpur is one such living example. Born on January 28, 1938 in
Dacca, Bangladesh, Kalanypur got her first break at the age of 18, in
the film Mangu (1956) with the music director Mohammad Shafi. However,
the film wasn't destined to kickstart her career yet, for midway
through the film, Shafi was replaced with O P Nayyar, who though he
didn't have problems with Suman preferred Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt
for his kind of music. And though he did retain her for one song, he
gave the rest away to them. She did lend her voice to Koi pukaare
dheere se tujhe...
The song got her work in subsequent films like Darwaza (1957) and a
chance to work with the legend Naushad. He allowed her many songs in
the film including a duet with Talat Mehmood - Ek dil do hain
talabgaar, but the film's music did not register with the audiences.
Suman Kalyanpur nee Hemadi waited until her big break came through
later the same year, with Miss Bombay (1957). It was the first of her
memorable duets with Mohammad Rafi - Din ho ya raat, hum rahen tere
saath, yeh hamari marzi, that made the listeners finally tune in
Despite being short-changed because her voice resembled Lata
Mangeskar's too closely, Suman did manage to pick up a lot of work from
various composers, including renowned ones like Ghulam Mohammad, Pt.
Shivram, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishen (who simply loved Lata but made
the exception nonetheless), Roshan, Dattaram, Madan Mohan (again, whose
love and 'affair' with Lata is rather well documented), Khayyam,
Kalyanji-Anandji, C Ramachandra and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
Films like Pyaase Panchhi (Tumhi mere meet ho - a duet with Hemant
Kumar), Shama (Ek jurm karke and Dil gham se jal raha...), Barsaat Ki
Raat (Garjat barsaat sawan aayo..), Zindagi aur Khwaab (Na jaane kahan
tum the... ), Baat Ek Raat Ki (Na tum hame jaano, na hum tumhe jaane),
Dil Ek Mandir (Juhi ki kali meri laadli and the title song Dil ek
mandir hai...), Jehan Ara (Baad muddat ke yeh ghadi...), Shagun
(Parbaton ke pedhon par and Bujha diya hai khud apne haathon...), Jab
Jab Phool Khile (Na, na karte pyar tumhi se), Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya
(the title song Dil ne phir yaad kiya...), Modern Girl (Yeh mausam
rangeen sama...) and several others became huge sensations.
Lata's differences with Mohammad Rafi which lasted over two years got
Suman some of her most memorable songs, including Aajkal tere mere pyar
ke charche har zuban par... (from Bramchari picturised on Shammi
Kapoor and Mumtaz) and Ajhun na aaye balma saawan beeta jaye (from
Sanjh aur Savera with music by Shankar Jaikishen), Farz (Tumse O
Hasina mohabbat na maine karni thi...) and from Mohabbat Isko Kehte
Hain (Thaheriye hosh mein aa lun to chale jaaiyega...).
Composers like Khayyam have retained tremendous respect for Suman for
the professionalism she brought to her work. He has gone on record to
state that she was "hardworking and totally devoted to her work and
didn't mind as many rehearsals as it took (to render a song perfect)."
Which was rather unlike her more notable colleague Lata Mangeshkar who
has been known to come in last for her recordings after all the
musicians have stepped in, for canceling her recordings at the last
minute and scuttling the careers of those she considered competition -
including Suman Kalyanpur.
At times, Suman was vindicated too but that didn't happen too often.
For instance, in the film Noorjehan (music by Roshan and lyrics penned
by Shakeel Badayuni), Suman got to sing more songs than Lata. And her
solo from the film is undoubtedly a classic, Shaarabi, sharaabi yeh
sawan ka mausam.
Today, Suman Kalyanpur is a recluse. She prefers to be out of the
public eye, rarely gives interviews and is deeply suspicious of
strangers who get in touch with her. States Manek Premchand, the
well-known radio jockey and writer of a book on Indian playback
singers, "She is quite bitter and suspicious about people in general.
If you want to interview her, she wants to know who gave you her
number, what are your bonafides etc.." Even after all this, "she will
not meet you." Now whether this difficult persona has been created
because the industry used her, or they ignored her precisely because
she was a difficult person remains to be fathomed.
Kamalakar Pasupuleti
news:1110177915.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com
> The song got her work in subsequent films like Darwaza (1957) and a
> chance to work with the legend Naushad. He allowed her many songs in
> the film including a duet with Talat Mehmood - Ek dil do hain
> talabgaar, but the film's music did not register with the audiences.
Nashaad not Naushad
- kp
--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Satish Kalra
Mr./Ms. ian:
Being a regular on RMIM, you should check/double check the accuracies of the
statements in your article/s.
{If the article/s are not written by you and reproduced from wherever, you
should quote and refer to that author/source.}
Mangu was a 1954 film, and so was Darwaza. Though Suman claims Mangu to
have her first recorded song for Hindi films, it was released nearly six
months after Darwaza. And the first film to have been released with her
voice in a song was Guru Dutt's Aar Paar, which came a few months earlier
than Darwaza even.
--
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
Abhay Jain
>
I take this opportunity to annouce (earlier this time)
of upcoming Suman Kalyanpur special on radio/internet.
Date: Monday, Feb 14, 2005
Time: 8-10 PM EDT USA
Place: radio: 89.3 FM in NJ area
internet: www.dhoomfm.com
AJ
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
me - who wrote this *gem*?
Sanjeev
ian
Pulkit Sharma
ian wrote:
> Suman Kalyanpur: A bitter legacy
>
> the professionalism she brought to her work. He has gone on record to
> state that she was "hardworking and totally devoted to her work and
> didn't mind as many rehearsals as it took (to render a song
perfect)."
> Which was rather unlike her more notable colleague Lata Mangeshkar
who
> has been known to come in last for her recordings after all the
> musicians have stepped in, for canceling her recordings at the last
> minute and scuttling the careers of those she considered competition
-
> including Suman Kalyanpur.
Well, I kind of tend to believe that though there are many people
seriously wronged by mainstream and dominant ones, still the 'helpless
victims' have a role to play, even if a minor one in their own plight.
No doubt that Suman was a talented singer, I'm very fond of her songs
like- ye mausam ra.ngiin samaa, garajat barasat saavan aayo re,
sharaabii sharaabii ye saavan ka mausam, etc.
I once read an interview of music director Ravi who mentioned that he
liked working a lot with Suman. Once he wanted to record a song in
Lata's voice but as she was sick, he called on Suman. Suman agreed but
didn't turn up for recording and these people kept calling her. She
mentioned that there were guests at her home and as soon as they'll
leave, she would make it for the recording. Ravi and his team kept
waiting throughout the day but Suman didn't turn up. Later they learnt
that she had called up Rafi and found out that she was not the original
choice for the song and therefore decided to ditch Ravi.
After this incident Ravi became really angry and he pledged never to
work with Suman again. The particular song was later recorded in Asha
Bhosle's voice. As Ravi lamented- 'there could have been many more
songs that Suman could have sung for me, but she chose otherwise.'
Regards
Pulkit
Prithviraj Dasgupta
I am sure you mean Mar 14 there. Last time I missed Aish's
interview on David Letterman because of a mistyped month
by a poster on RMIM.
Abhay Jain
"Prithviraj Dasgupta" <prith...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1110260402.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
Good catch.
AJ
shri37
Buzaa Diye hain apne haathon-- from Shagun Music director Khaiyam.
naniwadekar
"Vish" <vish...@hotmail.com> wrote -
>
> + choDo choDo mori baiyyan ..saawarey .. (from
> Miya Bibi Raazi)
>
'choDo choDo'? Now what type of curious word is that?
I am reminded of the occasion when an NZ player named
Cunis walked in to bat in a Test match. The commentator
dead-panned : 'Cunis'? A curious name that, neither one
thing nor the other.
>
> Its a shame Suman got boxed in as the poor-man's-Lata (by none other
> than Raju Bhartan, the journalist who wrote the worst biography of Lata
> one could write) .. and never recovered ..
>
If you want to analyse what affected Suman's career, all
power to you; but please don't give in to rush impulses
of the sort which try to find any and every, real and imagined
scapegoat for it. That way points to trivial and shallow
reasoning. Roughly speaking, 1956-1970 was the span
when Suman could possibly have made a bigger impact;
Raju Bharatan was just a fringe player in those years, and
indeed he has never been anything more than that when
it comes to making or breaking film careers.
- dn
Vish
example :
+ haseeno ki savari hai ..(with Rafi in Love in Simla ..which had some
more Suman songs)
+ choDo choDo mori baiyyan ..saawarey .. (from Miya Bibi Raazi)
+ meri preet mera pyaar bole aaj baar baar, bole kya ...bole jaaney do
jo dil gaya ... tera saajan tujhe mil gaya ... (from Teerth Yatra ...
I have tried in vain to find this song for over 30 years ..so if some
has it , pls let me know) ..
+ and the little 'hmm hmm' she does for Rafi in 'theheriye hosh mein
aaooN, to chaley jaayiyegaa' is noteworthy .. though imho Rafi's 'haay'
when he gets to that line is better ..
Its a shame Suman got boxed in as the poor-man's-Lata (by none other
than Raju Bhartan, the journalist who wrote the worst biography of Lata
one could write) .. and never recovered .. I got weary of her Noormahal
song (tum agar aa sako to aa jaao..) because it was played too often
and had too many antaras .. went on and on ..
The Radio Internet interview should be interesting .. hope some one can
post the transcript for this ..
Vish
Asif
Chale jaa chale jaa chale jaa jahaan pyaar mile (Jahaan Pyar Miley,
1969)
Anyway, no matter how much we discuss and argue about her career,
status, popularity, and opportunities, the fact is she was an excellent
singer and had a fairly illustrious career studded with several hits.
She sang with almost all big composers of her time and handled her
assignments and career moves well. She was also diplomatic and
professional and never had any problem with anyone, as far as I know.
She must be satisfied and happy with whatever she achieved in the face
of such stiff competition from Mangeshkar sisters. She did her best
and could not have done any better, and I am happy for her.
I remember a black-white advertisement by HMV in Filmfare in late '70s.
I guess it was about some to-be-released albums and it featured
photographs of all great singers in a cluster. The singers were Rafi,
Mukesh, Lata, Kishore, K.L. Sehgal, Suraiya, Asha, Geeta Dutt, Hemant
Kumar, Manna Dey, Talat, Shamshad Begum, Mahendra K, and Suman. That
HMV chose Suman as one of the singers for their tribute albums in those
days bears testimony to her greatness and appeal.
Asif