{"id":1883,"date":"2015-06-16T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T08:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2019-06-16T07:17:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-16T01:47:22","slug":"hemant-kumar-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/hemant-kumar-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Music Director Knows which Voice would do Full Justice to his Composition’ – In Conversation with Hemant Kumar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Hemant

Hemant Kumar\u00a0(June 16, 1920 – September 26, 1989)
(Pic courtesy: From the collections of SMM Ausaja)<\/p><\/div>\n

What a God gifted, velvet smooth, romantic voice this man had! To date, I love hearing his Hindi and Bengali songs. Not only had he this excellent voice, but was also a gifted music composer. I must admit, I have been a fan of his compositions. They were pretty much a reflection of his personality, smooth, melodious, easy to remember, hummable, no loud jerks or irritating sounds, sat so very sweetly on our hearing sense.<\/p>\n

I had met Hemant Kumar in Calcutta in the month of January of 1989. I used to live in Bangalore and was visiting my parents and my in-laws in Calcutta. I went to his house opposite Menoka Cinema, besides Rabindra Sarobar in south Calcutta and said I wished to see him. Our group of Vintage Hindi Music Lovers Association in Bangalore had just paid a glorious tribute to Anil Biswas and we were looking for our next possible personality for another tribute. He asked me a few questions as to why, and who I was etc. and then said he would see me next week on a Thursday at 10 am.<\/p>\n

On the appointed day my mother and my wife accompanied me. I carried a tape recorder to record our talk and asked his permission before recording our interview.<\/p>\n

During my meeting with him, on his question to pick my favourite from among his music composed films, he was visibly surprised when I mentioned Anand Math<\/em> and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam<\/em>, he retorted in a low voice, \u201cSabai to Nagin ee boley\u201d<\/em> (Everyone talks about Nagin<\/em>).<\/p>\n

We discussed other music directors. He held S D Burman and C Ramchandra in very high esteem.\u00a0\u00a0 Very close third was Shankar Jaikishen. He also shared his views on some personalities that we spoke about. The entire talk was in the Bangla language.\u00a0 Some excerpts, translated into English.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a>

(L to R) Bappi Lahiri, Aparesh Lahiri, Mukesh, Lata Mangeskar and Hemant Kumar.
Pic courtesy: From the collections of Dibyendu Dey<\/p><\/div>\n

Peeyush Sharma: <\/strong>Dada, you sang some of your finest Hindi songs for Sachin Dev and probably his Sazaa and Jaal songs were your first real popular numbers in Bombay.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hemant Kumar:<\/strong> Yes, Jaal<\/em> was. Why only that, each and every one of those 11 songs that I sang for Sachin Babu were my biggest hits in my entire career. Even now, every time, when I do public performance on stage, people request me to sing those songs. They are magical.<\/p>\n

Peeyush Sharma: <\/strong>Last one was for Baat Ek Raat Ki.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hemant Kumar:<\/strong> Yes, but all huge hits.<\/p>\n

Peeyush Sharma: <\/strong>Let me put it in a chronological order. First, Aa gup chhup gup chhup pyar karen, with Sandhya Mukherji in\u00a0 Sazaa was in 1951 and last was in Baat Ek Raat Ki in 1962, Na tum hamen jaano. So in eleven years, eleven songs. Not a very high output.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hemant Kumar: <\/strong>No, No. How many songs other male singers each had with Sachin Babu during the same years, I am sure not too many. Manna probably and Rafi for sure had more songs, but not Talat or Mukesh. Kishore, yes, also had a few songs more than I had. But, that is not the point.\u00a0 All of us had songs composed by Sachin Babu that we could call genuine and huge hits. After singing his compositions a singer\u2019s prestige and popularity went sky high, both, with general public as well as with other music directors and producers.<\/p>\n

Aa gup chhup gup chhup pyar karen<\/strong><\/em> (with Sandhya Mukherji in\u00a0Sazaa<\/em>, 1951)<\/span><\/p>\n