Archive for the ‘About Geeta Dutt Website’ Category

My Rangadi by Babul : Milan Roy remembers his sister

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Geeta Dutt and Milan Roy

All these years we have been trying to get in touch with a member of Geeta ji’s family. Finally through social networking website Facebook we were able to connect with Shri Milan Roy ji, younger brother of Geeta ji. We are highly grateful to Shantu ji, Milan ji’s wife for connecting us with him.

Milan ji lives in the state of Arkansas, USA since 1961. Since it was not possible to meet with him in person, Parag Sankla from our team used video conferencing technique to speak with him. The interview has been recorded with permission from Milan ji and is being shared here.

Here are some of the questions we asked Milan ji.

1) Please tell us about your childhood or early memories of Geeta ji
2) Please tell us about the Roy family and the affection between the siblings. Please tell us more about the family group photo

Family photo

Sitting from L to R: Debendranath Roy (Father), Geeta Roy, Amiya Roy (Mother)
Standing from L to R: Roma Dutta Roy (cousin) , Mukul Roy (brother), Pabitra Roy (brother) and Milan Roy (brother)

3) We have read that Geeta ji helped you to go abroad (USA) for studies. Please tell us more about it
4) How were your initial years in the USA? How often did you get a chance to meet her during your stay in the USA. Please tell us more about the photo with you and Geeta ji together
5) Please tell us about Mukulda who composed such wonderful songs for Geeta ji
6) We have read that Geeta ji was a very jovial and kind-hearted person. Please tell us more about this aspect of her nature
7) What are some of her songs which you personally like
8) While you were in India did you get a chance to attend some recordings or rehearsals with her. Please tell us more about it
9) When you go down the memory lane what your feelings about all the wonderful memories of your Ranga di you cherish.
10) We launched the website dedicated to Geeta ji in the year 2008. This was a little tribute to the immense talent from her fans. Please share your thoughts about it

Milan ji’s responses were straight from the heart, just like Geeta ji’s singing. He talked about so many wonderful memories during this 50 minute interview. It was truly a trip down memory lane.

We hope you will enjoy seeing to this interview as much as we enjoyed speaking with him.

During the interview, Milan ji mentioned that he played a small role in the film Jaal (1952) starring Dev Anand and Geeta Bali, directed by Guru Dutt. This is the link for the small role Milan ji played in Jaal (1952) ?t=2m50s

We spoke about a particular color photograph of Geeta ji with Mohd Rafi sahab. It was taken when they were visiting London for a musical concert. The same is being shared here:

Mohd Rafi, Geeta Dutt

During the interview, Milan ji mentioned that he had gone to Madras (now Chennai) for the recording of this song sung by Geeta ji and Manna da. The song is Humne sapne dekh liye from the film Sitamgar (1958). It is a dubbed film from a south Indian film. It had music by G Ramanathan and B N Bali.

A fan’s tribute : Priya Lakshmi

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

Geeta Dutt

GEETA DUTT FANS – Also called a GEETA ROY aficionados or supporters, are people like us who are enthusiastically devoted to HER & constitute her fanbase or fandom. We show our enthusiasm by being members of a group formed for her called THE MAGICAL VOICE OF GEETA DUTT holding fan conventions, creating fanzines or creating an awesome website , promoting her all the time marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion by posting her songs on various music groups on Facebook .

The degree of devotion to her ranges from a simple crush to the deluded belief that we have a special relationship with her . In a nutshell we ALL suffer from the CELEBRITY WORSHIP SYNDROME !.Aaaah ! what a wonderful suffering it is to be associated with our beloved singer thus ! Over a period of time on Facebook music groups [ though my role is often limited to enjoying the hardwork & efforts of the REAL people behind the forming of her website or uploading her songs on you tube etc.

I simply enjoy these benefits like a gift given to me on a platter] I have observed a few of us Geeta Roy worshippers like Parag Sankla, Tushar Bhatiaji, Sounak Gupta[ god bless this boy!] etc. All of us share the same feeling towards her in different degrees of passion. Here are a few lines , [all taken from her the lyrics of songs ]which apply to us – all done in a light hearted manner not meant to offend anyone or anything …

GEETA DUTT-[ SHARARAT] Dekh aasmaan mein chaand muskuraaye Woh keh rahe hai pyaar kar lo pyaar kar lo
Dekh woh sitaare gagan mein jhilmilaaye
Woh keh rahe hai pyaar kar lo pyaar kar lo


PRIYA-{ JAAN PEHCHAAN ]
Araman bhare dil kee lagan tere liye hai
Luta hai mere dil ne mohabbat kaa khajana
Jo teree kahanee hai vahee mera fasana
Yeh phul yeh khushbu yeh chaman tere liye hai


GEETA DUTT-[ PARINEETA ]
Chaand hai wohi, sitaaren hain, wohi gagan
Phir bhi kyon udaas hai, udaas meraa man
Kaun thaa milaa mujhe, jo mil ke kho gayaa
Kaun mere paas aa ke, door ho gayaa
Aaj mere man ki baansoori bhi maun hai
Jis ko dhoondhate mere nayan woh kaun hai
Raag hai wohi, paraag hai wohi pavan
Phir bhi kyon udaas hai, udaas meraa man
Udaas meraa man, chaand hai wohi


PARAG SANKLA-[ LAL PARI]

Kah rahee hain dhadakane pukar kar
Chupake chupake dhire dhire pyar kar
Tum ko paya apane dil ko har kar
Chhup naa jana jindagee sanvar kar
Tu jo kahe la du abhee aasaman se chand ko utar kar
Chhup naa jana jindagee sanvar kar


GEETA DUTT-{ DO BHAI]
Mera sundar sapna bit gaya, mai prem me sab kuchh har gayee
Bedard jamana jit gaya, mera sundar sapna bit gaya
Kyun kalee badariya chayee hai, kyun kalee kalee muskayee hai – (2)
Meree prem kahanee khatm huyee, mere jivan kaa sangit gaya
Mera sundar sapna bit gaya


TUSHAR BHATIA-{JOGAN]

Mat ja, mat ja, mat ja jogee, panv padu mai toree
Prem bhaktee ko panth hee nyaro, ham ko gyan bata ja
Chandan kee mai chita rachau, apne hath jala ja
jal jal bhayi bhasm kee dheree, apne ang laga ja jogee

GEETA DUTT –[ JOGAN]
Pyare darashan dee jo aaye, tum bin raho na jaye
Jal bin kamal chandra bin rajanee, aise tum bin sunee sajanee
Aakul byakul phiru mai birahan, biraha kalejo khaye
Pyare darshan dee jo aaye
Kyon tarasao antarayamee, aan milo kripa karo swamee


SOUNAK GUPTA –[ From Thandee Thandee Hava Puchhe Unaka Pata –film Johnny Walker]
Tum ho aisee ada jis pe duneeya fida
Hai woh kitana hasin jis pe tum ho fida

Dil se puchhu mere uss me kya bat hai
Woh umango bharee chandanee rat hai
Chand jab jab utha usako dekha kiya
Har sitare ka dil phir toh dhadaka kiya
Yu na tadapao jee abb bata do hame
La ke tasavir hee tum dikha do hame
Dard badhane laga sina jalane laga
Dil hamara bhee dekho machalane laga

Acknowledgements:

We are grateful to our dear friend Priya Lakshmi for this wonderful tribute to Geeta ji.

याद रखना मुझे याद रखना

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

Geeta Dutt

“कोई दूर से आवाज़ दे चले आओ “………………..

ऐसा लगता है जैसे किसी ने ख्वाब के बीच में ही नींद से जगा दिया हो। अभी तो उस मखमल से भी अधिक मुलायम आवाज़ में कुछ और तराने सजने बाकी थे। गीता दत्त जी को हमारे बीच से गए हुए चालीस बरस बीत गए, लेकिन ऐसा लगता है कि वे कहीं आस-पास ही मौजूद हैं और उनकी कसक भरी आवाज़ हर वक़्त कानों में शहद घोलती सी लगती है। गीता जी गले से नहीं दिल से गाती थीं और इसीलिए उनके गीत हमेशा सोज़ भरे होते थे और एक एक शब्द से मानो दर्द और पीड़ा रिसती थी।

गीता जी ने संगीतकार हनुमान प्रसाद जी के निर्देशन में फिल्म “भक्त प्रह्लाद” में एक कोरस गीत में दो पंक्तियाँ गाकर संगीत के अपने सफ़र की शुरुआत की। उनके इसी गीत को सुनकर संगीतकार एस. डी बर्मन दा ने उन्हें फिल्म “दो भाई” में गाने का मौका दिया और पहली ही फिल्म से इस रेशमी आवाज़ ने सुनने वालों को दीवाना सा कर दिया। इस फिल्म के गीत “मेरा सुंदर सपना बीत गया” ने तो रिकॉर्ड बिक्री के अगले पिछले सारे कीर्तिमान ध्वस्त कर दिए. इसके बाद तो गीता जी ने एक के बाद एक कर्णप्रिय गीतों की झड़ी सी लगा दी। “जोगन”, “बावरे नैन”, “शर्त”, “बाज़ी”, “जाल”, “आनंदमठ”, “अनारकली”, और “आर पार” गीता जी के शुरूआती दौर की कुछ फिल्में हैं, और इन फिल्मों के गीत गवाह हैं उनकी बेमिसाल गायन प्रतिभा के। गीता जी की संगीत साधना ने सिने दर्शकों को “देवदास”, “साहिब, बीवी और गुलाम”, “प्यासा”, “हावड़ा ब्रिज”, “अदालत”, “कागज़ के फूल”, “कला बाज़ार”, “सुजाता” और “अनुभव” जैसी सुंदर संगीत से सजी फिल्मों की अनुपम सौगात दी है।

गीता जी ने अपने फ़िल्मी सफ़र में 1500 से भी अधिक गीत अपने नाम किये हैं। उनकी ख़ास बात यह थी कि वे हर तरह के गीत गाने के लिए खुद को तैयार कर लेती थीं। चाहे भक्ति गीत हो, नृत्य गीत हो, ग़ज़ल हो अथवा लोरी गीत, गीता जी की आवाज़ में ढलकर हर गीत कुछ ख़ास बन जाता था। यह गीता जी की गायन प्रतिभा का कमाल ही है कि उन्होंने हिंदी और बंगला के अतिरिक्त अन्य भारतीय भाषायों में भी खूबसूरत गीत गाये हैं। साथ ही कई गैर फ़िल्मी गीत भी उन्होंने गाये हैं। किसी ठंडी बयार की तरह बहती गीता जी की आवाज़ में सजा हर गीत सुनने वाले को शीतलता का अहसास करा जाता है। संगीतकार ‘ओ. पी. नय्यर जी ने गीता जी के बारे में एक बार कहा था कि ” पश्चिमी और भारतीय ध्रुपद संगीत, दोनों को ही अपनी दिलकश आवाज़ से गीता जानदार बना देती थीं। कैबरे संगीत से लेकर तो पॉप गीत तक, अपनी गायकी की इस विविधता के चलते गीता हर संगीतकार की ज़रुरत बन बैठी थीं। वे हमारे लिए एक संपत्ति की तरह थीं”.

लेकिन फ़िल्मी दुनिया एक माया नगरी की तरह है और कोई नहीं जनता कि यहाँ कब किसका पलड़ा दूसरे से भारी पड़ जाये। 1947 से 1959 तक, सिने जगत पर एकछत्र राज करने वाली गीता जी को भी प्रतिद्वंदिता और परिस्थितियों ने परास्त कर दिया। वैवाहिक जीवन की जटिलता और पति गुरु दत्त की असमय मृत्यु ने गीता जी को तोड़कर रख दिया। उसी दौर में लता मंगेशकर और आशा भोसले जैसी गायिकाओं के आने से गीता जी के फ़िल्मी करिअर पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ा। इसे पेशेवर जगत की विडम्बना ही कहिये कि कभी उनकी आवाज़ के दीवाने रहे सचिन देव बर्मन और ओ पी नय्यर जैसे संगीतकारों ने भी उन्हें बिसरा दिया।

गीता जी की असमय मृत्यु ने एक कालजयी कलाकार को हमेशा के लिए हमसे दूर कर दिया। जीवन के महज़ 41 वसंत देखने वाली इस फनकार ने इतने कम समय में भी सुमधुर गीतों का ऐसा अनमोल खज़ाना संगीत प्रेमियों को बख्शा है, जिसे पाना और सहेजना हर संगीत प्रेमी के लिए गुरूर का सबब है।

आभार : इस हृदय लेख के लिए हम अजित सिधु जी के हार्दिक आभारी है

Koi door se aawaaz de..

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

Geeta Dutt

Geeta Dutt : 23rd November 1930 – 20th July 1972

Chale Aa Rahein Hain Lutaane Ko Jaan
Kaise Kaise Hamare Bhi Hain Mehrbaan …

{Geeta Dutt…Film:Ladaaki (1950s, unreleased), Music: Vinod}

As the above lovely song plays in the background it also revives so many beautiful memories of songs that over the years have been an inseparable part of my life. These were friends in my joys, sharing every moment of my happiness, and also my inspiring force during spells of distress, confusion, and loneliness. No wonder music is one of the most beloved human experiences containing all the emotions and sentiments of life. It is the precious gift of God that sustains, shelters, heals and elevates the soul.

20th July, 2013 marks the 41st death anniversary of one of the most beloved singers of Indian cinema, Geeta Dutt, who left us prematurely at the age of 42 in the year 1972 after suffering liver failure. She possessed an elegantly attractive appearance and kept a humble profile throughout her life. A versatile songstress, she was much more than a gifted artiste to whom music was as natural as breathing. The sweetness and agility of her voice, and her captivating musical interpretations were extraordinary.

It was velvety, rich, varied and soulful; it had clarity and depth and it was unfailingly pure. In her relatively short but a very eventful career she had experienced nearly every facet of life: the crisis ridden humble childhood grappling with migration, resettlement, and destitution; the perpetual spirit to see things through and rise to any challenge; the chance discovery of her prodigious skill and initial grooming by musicians; the abrupt rise to professional fame; a troublesome love-marriage with a maverick filmmaker; the tragic struggle for survival, and a persistent willpower to combat adversity till her unfortunate demise.

Although her personal life has been much explored, sensationalized, discussed, debated and argued I somehow feel her melodious and meritorious singing contribution has failed to stimulate the same thoughtful responsiveness. This may be because when she left the scene she was partly forgotten by the film world and her leaving was not much noticed in the cine world and it didn’t disturb the ever changing music scenario. Occasional feature on this wonderful artist via Radio, TV and literature was inadequate, conflicting and confusing; the focus swiftly shifting on to her personal life.

A peek into her career will indicate her phenomenal contribution to the Indian music and the inconceivable void that her premature demise has left. From 1945 to 1972 she had recorded approximately 1500 plus songs under different categories working under various composers in languages like Hindi, Bangla, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Nepali, Bhojpuri etc. This is a huge body of work and a keen exploration into her songs will reveal a remarkably wide range.

She had the natural ability to express a myriad of emotions adapting to the mood of the song delving deep into depth of lyrics, displaying maturity beyond her years. One feels an amazing enchantment upon tuning into her flawless, delectable and infallibly seductive voice. It felt as if she had the emotional connect with the character emoting those lines on-screen. She made up for her lack of classical training with near-precise breath control and an outstanding ability to adjust the pitch appropriately while singing. Blessed with a distinct voice, immense stamina, and unique ability to perceive subtle changes between moods and emotions she would leave a special mark on her songs performing with artistic sensitivity. Tuning into her light/semi-classical, western influenced, and folk & traditional songs one would witness great variety and a distinct flavor in each song, something with catches the attention of the listener. She was spontaneous with clean intonation and a tremendous sense of rhythm, and a decent vocal range. One may seldom find her screaming/going loud in her songs.

One interesting aspect of her songs was that they always sound fresh and non-repetitive even though most film/song situations were same. So where she had sung extremely pathos-ridden sad songs she had given us lively sad numbers in medium to fast rhythm. Similarly she had given us variety of musical entertainment in her romantic numbers, western styled club songs, lullabies, devotional songs, sensuous and teasing numbers etc. In western based melodies and club songs she was (and is) unparalleled. Her vibrant and seductive voice texture was just perfect for such songs which had the power to enthrall listeners. Club songs lost its melody and became loud once she left the scene.

A majority of her songs with some very talented but unremembered composers has failed to reach the average listener. She had recorded some of her best songs for these brilliant yet rarely discussed composers viz Chitragupt, Master Ghulam Haider, Hansraj Behl, Avinash Vyas, Bulo C Rani, Gyan Dutt, S.N. Tripathi, N.Dutta, Husnlal Bhagatram, Vasant Desai, Snehal Bhatkar, Vinod Eric Roberts, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar etc. They not only gave her memorable melodies but also shaped her singing style.

Thanks to the selfless efforts of the rare collectors, researchers and her devout fans many of her unheard melodies are being made accessible to the music lovers via various web and musical forums and social networking sites. It would be a wonderful tribute to her and these forgotten composers if music companies come up with compilations on her rare and lesser heard recordings.

Exploring her previously unheard melodies has been a wonderful and satisfying experience for me which helped put things into right perspective. It was a pleasant surprise to discover so many cheerful, fun-filled and lively songs at the initial part of her career i.e late 1940s. It has truly busted several myths like before mid-1950s she was chiefly considered safest choice for extremely sad songs and devotional singing. It was pleasing to discover that she was amongst the top choices of composers since the initiation of her career and by early 1950s she was already well established and immensely popular singer with an enormous variety in her work. During such exploration I discovered some of the most beautiful and previously unheard songs sung by this greatly gifted singer. I am mentioning a few of them as under:

1940s

1. Tumhe Sajan Manaye Tum Rooth Jaana …. Milan 1946, Music: Anil Biswas
{Extremely sweet song with reflects her young, pure and unadulterated voice with negligible instrumental intervention}


2. Ho …Nayeen Baharein Aayeen Tum Hee Na Aaye …. Raasta 1947, Music: Zafar Khursheed
{A lively and cheerful rendition sung by for a character waiting in anticipation of her beloved. Her youthful and vivacious charm is mesmerizing}

3. Main Hoon Phoolon Ki Rani …Pehli Pehchaan 1947, Music: Bulo C Rani
{A sprightly rendition of this delicate composition by the singer wherein she glides though the mukhda and antara, each one composed in a different rhythm, with effortless ease.

4. O Raja Re Mujhe Apni Bana Le Re …Leela 1947, Music: C. Ramachandra
{A fun-filled and jovial solo radiating once more the youthful charm of the singer’s wholesome voice. I really loved the way she uses the teasing tone to entreat her beloved}

5. Mujhe Bawari Bawari Log Kahein Main Geet Piya Ke Gaati Hoon … Film: Mere Bhagwan (1947), Music: Sajjad Hussain
{While the innocence in voice is but natural at such a young age what is simply unbelievable is the ease with which she puts passion and devotion into demanding compositions. Her singing truly touches the soul}

6. Aaja…Aaja Re Pardesi Ho Baalama Ghata Chhayi Hai … Movie: Padmini 1948, Music: Master Ghulam Haider
{An exquisite singing exhibiting such a mastery of rhythm with an overflow of passion in this beautiful song of longing. The hardest of hearts would melt hearing the grief-ridden “aajaa..” in the beginning and end}

7. Sun Sun Ri Bulbul Deewani ….Film: Jeene Do 1948, Music: Nashaad
{Sweet and lively song of love, secrets and promises}

8. Rhum Jhum Matwale Baadal Aa Gaye …Film: Suhaag Raat 1948, Music: Snehal Bhatkar
{A mesmerizing folk inspired duet with Rajkumari wherein both singers captivates the listeners with their vocal charm}

9. Bulbul Ko Mila Phool Toh Nadi Ko Kinara … Film: Meri Kahaani 1948, Music: K.Datta
{A lively melodious duet with Surendra Nath about love in a simple yet an arresting composition}

10. Yeh Kaun Mere Ghar Aaye …Film: Zevrat 1949, Music: Hansraj Behl
{A lively solo sung upon arrival of the beloved}

1950s

1. Kaisi Murali Bajaayi Shyam Ne …Film: Nishana 1950, Music: Khwaja Khursheed Anwar
{A sweet, passionate and mature rendition of an alluring bhajan like composition with melodious flute accompanying pleasant vocal all through the song}

2. Dil Ka Pehle Pehl Chhot Khana..Haaye…Bhula Nahi Mujhko Yaad Hai Film: Pyar Ki Baatein 1951, Music: Bulo.C.Rani
{She had sung some of her most beautiful songs under Bulo C Rani and combination creates magic once more in this sweet song. The spontaneous “haaye” is extremely pleasing to the ears}

3. Thee Aur Mulaqat Who Ab Aur Mulaqat Hai …Ho Re ….Film: Nirmal 1952, Music: Bulo C Rani
{An enticingly appealing composition … the fillers like “Ho Re” and “Aa Ja..” creates the magical effect}

4. Kisi Ke Pyar Ko Hans Hans Ke Thukrana Nahi Accha… Film: Nishan Danka 1952, Music: Basant Prakash
{Soft and slow melody which adds to the variety in her sad numbers}

5. Dekh Duniya Kahegi Tujhe Bewafa … Film: Haar Jeet 1954, Music: Pandit S D Batish
{A lively western styled composition that opens on a poignant and pleading yell at the beloved who is about to leave. The singer shifts into a cheerful but persuasive note to prevent her beloved from leaving.}

6. Thandi Hawaon Mein Taaron Ki Chhaon Mein … Film: Bahu 1955, Music: Hemant Kumar
{A sweet, happy, and melodious Romatic duet with Talat Mahmood. Her ability to effectively portray the passionate emotions of a person in love is simply amazing}

7. Jaan Gayi Hoon Pehchaan Gayi Hoon …Film:Teen Bhai 1955, Music: Arun Kumar
{A complex composition with fast and peppy rhythm in mukhada and semi-classical/ghazal styled antaras which she glides through smoothly}

8. Ye Shokh Ada Ye Mast Hawa …Movie:Son of Alibaba 1955, Music: Sardul Kwatra
{A melodious romantic duet with Shaminder}

9. Jiyara Baat Nahi Maane Kisi Ki … Film: Sailaab 1956; Music: Mukul Roy
{A sublime and lively solo depicting the restless emotions of a person in love composed by her brother}

10. Main Tere Dil Ki Duniya Mein Aake Rahungi …Film: Naya Paisa 1958, Music: S Mohinder
{A beautiful and lively solo with yodeling as filler]

1960s

1. Bheegi Bheegi Mehki Mehki Raat Hai …Do Aadmi 1960, Music: S.N. Tripathi
{A refreshing club styled song with great melody. She sounds spirited as ever even though her personal life was going through turbulent times. This speaks volumes about her exceptional vocal gift and perhaps her desire to break free from the unnerving struggles of life}

2. Yeh Chand Yeh Sitare Yun Kar Rahe Ishare …Film: Mohabbat Ki Jeet 1960, Music: Mohd Shafi
[A lively melody displaying emotions of a person falling in love}

3. Ek Dil Tha Mera Jo Tera Ho Gaya …Film:Chhupa Rustam 1965, Music: Bulo C Rani
{A song recorded perhaps post turmoil period in her life when she was trying to give her life and career a second chance. The song shows that the passion, emotions and the lively voice was still intact and it needed only love, support and encouragement to survive which the indifferent film industry perhaps couldn’t extend}

4. Aaj Ki Kaali Ghata …Film: Uski Kahani 1966, Music: Mukul Roy
{Extremely reflective and thoughtful rendition with poignant lyrics perhaps touching upon an unsteady part of her life}

5. Tumsa Meet Mila Dil Ka Phool Khila … Film: Midnight 1972, Music: Subir Sen
(A romantic duet with Talat Mahmood and perhaps the last duet of film career. Their voices had changed but not the spirit)

Acknowledgements:

We are grateful to our dear friend Manoj Tripathi for this wonderful write-up as a tribute to our beloved Geeta ji.

Great discoveries – Great songs

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Discoveries

Through our parent website Hamara Forums, our main website and with help from various kind music lovers, we have “discovered” or re-discovered some very rare and melodious songs of our beloved singer Geeta Dutt ji. These songs were recorded more than fifty plus years ago. Some of them even did not see the light of the day. Through the collaborative effort of our mentors, guides, friends, record collectors and SIRC we have unearthed these hidden gems. This is an effort to compile some of them in the form a single post so that we all can enjoy them in a convenient manner.

1) Vande Mataram : Geeta Roy, G M Durrani, Pramodini Patkar – Vande Mataram, Non film recording, MD: Gyan Dutt, Lyrics: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ji. The song was recorded by H.M.V. on record number N 36170 in the year 1950.

2) Badhubaran song:Geeta Dutt got a role in a Bengali film titled Badhu Baran in the year 1967. The film was direceted by Dilip Naag. The film introduced Rakhee (who later became Rakhee Gulzar and went on to become a popular actress in Hindi films) to the film world. The film was made by D.S. Productions and was released at Rupabani, Bharati and Aruna theaters in Kolkata. The story, the screenplay and the lyrics of the film were by Shyamal Gupta. Tne cinematographer of the film was Soumendu Roy. The film’s art direction was done by Satyen Roy Choudhury. The film was edited by Haridas Mahalanbis and Harinarayan Mukherjee. The film was distributed by Chandimata Films Pvt. Ltd.

The film had an impressive star cast in Pradeep Kumar paired with Geeta Dutt. The film also starred Ajoy Biswas, Rakhi Biswas, Bikash Roy, Jahar Ray, Geetali Ray, Jibe Bose, N. Viswanathan, Gita Dey, Amar Ganguly, Abhi Bhattacharya, Bharati Devi etc. Based on the available information, the film did not do to well at the box office. A good amount of interest was among the music and film lovers who watched this film to see their favorite singer Geeta Roy acting in a film. The film ran for about 5 or 6 weeks or so in Kolkata.

The music of the film was composed by the legendary and brilliant composer Kamal Dasgupta and had songs sung by leading Bengali singers Manna Dey , Feroza Begum, Shyamal Mitra, Arati Mukherjee , Arun Datta and of course Geeta Dutt herself. It is a pity that the composer chose to have Geeta sing just one song for this film. The song she sang is “Amar alor o shishu o andhar ja” and was released on record number N 77083. This turned out to be Geeta Dutt’s last recording in a Bengali film (she did sing some non-film Bengali songs till 1971 though).

3) Hindi song in Bengali film: Tere Liye Aaya Hai Le ke Koi Dil – Hindi Song in Bengali Film, Gali Theke Rajpath (1959), Singer: Geeta Dutt, Composer: Sudhin Dasgupta, Lyrics: Naqsh Lyallpuri, Picturised on: Helen, Uttam Kumar

Better quality audio from the 78 RPM record is here

4) Rare Marathi non-film songs: Song number one – Ambabai cha jogwa – Marathi non-film – Geeta Dutt , Lyrics – Anant Gogte , MD – Nishikant Bharti.

Song number two – Jai maartand jai malhaar – Marathi non-film – Geeta Dutt , Lyrics – Anant Gogte , MD – Nishikant Bharti.

5) Un-released song from the film Gauri: This is our biggest discovery so far. Geeta Dutt : Jaani bhromara kaino – Song from the unreleased film Gauri. Only if the film Gauri was made, we would have seen our beloved Geeta ji on the screen singing this song “Jaani Bhromora Keno” recorded on the 13th Nov 1957.

6) First song with Naushad sahab: This is the first song Geeta ji sang for Naushad sahab. It is filmed on Shyama for the film Dillagi (1949). This is a tandem version of the more famous version of the same song sung by Suraiya and Shyam.

7) Video of the Parineeta song: We searched for this video and recently found it on the VHS tape.


We will keep updating this post as more and more songs (audio and video) are discovered.

The stalwarts behind the databases..

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Geeta Dutt

Geeta ji had a 25 year long career as a leading playback singer singing songs in many languages. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Gujrati, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Udiya, Nepali, Maithili and many other languages. Majority of her work is in Hindi followed by Gujrati and Bengali. Several persons have estimated the total number of songs in a wide range from a thousand to close to five thousand. There was no place to find some realistic data about the songs Geeta ji sang in the above three languages.

As a part of an important mission for our website dedicated to Geeta ji, having a database of her songs was of utmost importance for us. With a lot of efforts and with help and inputs from various resources, we finally came up with the databases of her songs in Hindi, Bengali and Gujrati. The following menu path on our website shows where one can find the databases.

Database page

The direct link to the database page is here. Earlier the databases were provided as direct downloads in MS Excel format. Now, We have them available in Adobe PDF format for the benefit of those who do not have the proprietary MS office installed.

Hindi Songs Database:

Geeta ji migrated to Mumbai at a very young age and got her first break to sing for a Hindi film at the tender age of 16. She continued to stay in Mumbai and sang for Hindi films (and several Hindi non-film songs) till she breathed last. Among all the databases, compiling the Hindi songs database was the most challenging and the most compelling task.

Shri Har Mandir Singh “Hamraaz”

The necessary groundwork for building this database for Hindi film songs was already done by Shri Har Mandir Singh “Hamraaz” ji. As all the music lovers are aware, Har Mandir Singh ji has published the volumes of Hindi Film Geet Kosh (HFGK) after intensive research. His volumes were the primary resource for our database.
Harminder Singh Hamraaz
We are extremely grateful to Har Mandir Singh ji for his pioneering work in putting together the Hindi Film Geet Kosh. His Geet Kosh volumes will continue to serve as the “Encyclopedia” for people interested in the Hindi film music.

Dr. Mahesh

Although it is true that the HFGK had most of the information on the Hindi film songs, there are a few cases where some of the rare songs are not listed in the HFGK. When it comes to songs of Geeta ji in the forties, there are several songs which were either missed in HFGK or the HFGK did not have the singer names listed against them. In addition to the above cases, there are some more songs where
– the song was released on the records but the film was not released
– the song was on the film soundtrack but not released on the records
– the song got deleted from the film due to censor problems or other reasons
– the song was recorded by Geeta ji as a version song
– the song was released on the records and later on re-recorded in the voices of other singers
…and many such cases !

There is one music lover who has been collecting and researching on the songs of Geeta ji (in all the languages). It is because of his research, analysis, facts and shared information that we could identify so many more songs of Geeta ji over and above the ones found in the HFGK.
Dr Mahesh ji
We are extremely grateful to our dear friend Dr Mahesh ji for his path-breaking and pioneering work regarding the songs of Geeta ji. His passion and willingness to share the information has in fact inspired us to add so many features to our main website. The rarest of the rare songs of Geeta ji and so much of information about her songs (and her life) he has shared with us is absolutely priceless. Dr Mahesh, we are so thankful to God that you are one of the mentors of this website (and the blog) dedicated to our beloved Geeta ji.

Shri Romesh Vohra

It is one thing to say that a lot of information is available in the HFGK (spread across as many as four volumes) and in many posts on our parent website Hamara Forums, but it takes one “Bhagheerath” effort to compile the information together. “Bhageerath” was instrumental in bringing the river Ganga on the earth, in our case, it is our dear friend Romesh ji who brought the Hindi songs database in its current format to its life.

Romesh ji
Romesh ji is another passionate music lover who loves a wide variety of songs (mostly from the golden era of the Hindi film music). He kept his personal interests aside and dedicated himself to just one cause : compiling the database of Hindi songs of Geeta ji by taking help of the four volumes of HFGK and all the information shared in various threads on our parent website Hamara Forums plus many other resources. It is a humongous task and it has taken over three months of dedicated and focused efforts by Romesh ji to make this happen. Even now, it is possible that the Hindi songs database is not one hundred percent complete. The amount of efforts put in by Romesh ji in compiling this information and the passion in which he has done this to help us is simply unparalleled. Romesh ji, we can not thank you enough for your sincere, dedicated and selfless efforts in making this database a reality.

Gujrati Songs Database:

When we began our research for our website, we were surprised to find out that Geeta ji has sung close to a hundred songs in Gujrati. The information we provided on our website on the Gujrati songs section was not only unique but was also shared for the first time on the internet. This definitely aroused our interest in attempting at putting together the database of Geeta ji’s Gujrati songs (film songs and non-film songs).

Shri Harish Raghuvanshi
Just like the HFGK compiled by Shri Har Mandir Singh ji, we came to know that Shri Harish Raghuvanshi ji had compiled the Gujrati Film Geet Kosh (GFGK). Harish ji is a very famous film music historian from Surat in Gujarat. He is the compiler of “Mukesh Geet Kosh”, “Gujarati Film Geet Kosh” and the writer of “Inhe Na Bhulana”.

Harish Raghuvanshi ji
We are extremely grateful to Harish ji for his untiring efforts in putting together the information on Gujrati film songs. Since most of the Gujrati songs of Geeta ji are from the late forties and the fifties, it is in difficult to get information about the films. It was with the help of the pioneering work done by Harish ji that we were able to compile the database of Gujrati songs of Geeta ji. Our sincere thanks to Harish ji for giving us the permission to use the information from his work and reviewing our database.

Chetan Vinchhi

Even though most of us enjoy Gujrati (and Bengali for that matter) songs of Geeta ji we do not understand the language fully. We are not familiar with the Gujrati script (even though it is very close to that of Sanskrit/Hindi/Marathi). The GFKG is in Gujrati script and obviously none of us could not read the script to gather the information on Geeta ji’s songs from there. So, we went back to our dear friend Chetan ji who has been helping us right from the time of the inception of our website. In spite of busy work schedules and personal commitments, Chetan was more than willing to help us with this noble cause.

Chetan Vinchhi
He not only compiled the database of Gujrati (film and non-film) songs of Geeta ji, he also requested Harish ji to review the same. It was so nice of Chetan and Harish ji doing so much for us. Without help from these two greats, we would have never been able to compile this database. Chetan, you are a true friend, who has always helped us in whichever way you could. We are extremely grateful to you.

Bengali Songs Database:

This is one language where Geeta ji has sung almost equal number of film songs and non-film songs. Since there is no “official” Bengali Film Geet Kosh available (to the best of our knowledge), compiling this database was probably the most difficult task. Getting information on Geeta ji’s non film songs was going to be even harder. We all are a persistent force when it comes to doing something related to our beloved Geeta ji. So we did not give in.

Dr Jyoti Prakash Guha

Music lovers know Guha ji as the force behind the lovely website on the legendary actress-singer Kanan Devi ji. Guha ji has been associated with us right from the inception of the website and is one of our mentors. So it was natural that we approached him for his help on the database of Bengali songs of Geeta ji. Based on his research and his personal collection of songs, Guha ji compiled this information for us in the shortest amount of time.

Dr Jyoti Prakash Guha ji
Guha ji not only got the information on the songs but also the record numbers for those songs. Once again, getting information on Geeta ji’s non-film songs was a much tougher task. Guha ji patiently kept on searching for the relevant information. He kept on improvising on the information he was compiling. Finally after several iterations, the database of Bengali songs of Geeta ji is ready.

Guha ji has been another mentor for our website and has guided us in every possible way in bringing it to what it is today. His passion, enthusiasm, dedication and affection for us is what we cherish the most. We are indebted to him forever.

We also take this opportunity to thank our friends Saunak Gupta, Debabrata (Indydave), Aditya Pant, Exon , Waheed Dehelwar and of course Prof Surjeet Singh ji, Mahesh Sharma ji and every one who contributed in building these databases.

We ourselves are confident that there could be some more undiscovered songs of Geeta ji in the above three languages. So we will keep searching and exploring them. We will keep updating these databases on regular basis (subject to availability of new information). Please feel free to reach out to us at geetaduttfans [AT] gmail [DOT] COM with suggestions/corrections etc.

Finally, looking back at whatever we have been doing for past two years or so. These little things we are doing are our small tributes to the singer par excellence who has enriched our lives through her voice. Geeta ji, we will always have you in our hearts.

Na yeh chaand hoga, na taare rahenge
magar hum hamesha tumhaare rahenge…

====

The authors:

Our technical wizard Gajendra N.K (aka “hildebrand”) has always been there for us wherever we needed his help. He not only helped in identifying many rare songs of Geeta ji through this wonderful post but also helped us in uploading these databases on the server.
Gajendra

His technical expertize combined with his passion for bringing out the past glory of the legendary artists is unparalleled. We are so honored to have you on our team.

And here is yours truly (Parag) who has been a mere catalyst behind all these activities of building the databases of songs of Geeta ji.

Parag

Geeta Dutt & Meena Kumari – Mirrored Lives!

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Meena Kumari and Geeta Dutt

When it comes to listing the all time great actresses of Hindi cinema, Meena Kumari’s name would surely figure prominently. Known as the Tragedy Queen for her mastery in portraying sad roles, Meena Kumari demonstrated her acting prowess in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s. Born Mahjabeen Bano on August 1, 1932, Meena Kumari’s acting career started as a child artiste in the film Leatherface in 1939. After a few mythological and fantasy films as an adult, Meena Kumari’s big break came with the film Baiju Bawara in 1952. The film earned her the first Filmfare Award for Best Acress and established her position as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema.

On watching a teenaged Meena Kumari lip-syncing to barely-out-of-her-teens voice of Geeta Roy in Sri Ganesh Mahima (Shri Krishna Vivah) in 1950, little would anyone in the audience have realized that that the lives of these two remarkable ladies would uncannily mirror each other over the next two decades.

When Geeta Roy sang for Meena Kumari for the first time, she was already a star, while Meena Kumari was just managing to gain a foothold as an adult actress. In the beginning, Meena Kumari did a lot of mythological films like Veer Ghatotkach, Shri Ganesh Mahima, Laxmi Narayan, Hanuman Patal Vijay, where Geeta Roy sang a number of songs. It is not sure how many of Geeta Roy songs in these films were picturised on Meena Kumari.

We do have one song from Shri Ganesh Mahima available here. An absolute beauty of a song, Sakhi Re Mera Man Nache, exemplifies perfect sync between what you hear and what you see. The emotions associated with the first flush of love coming alive wonderfully both in Geeta Roy’s voice and Meena Kumari’s enactment.

A similar song also appeared in Tamasha, two years later, where the character played by Meena Kumari seemed absolutely on the seventh heaven because her beloved appeared in her dreams. Geeta Roy’s voice captured the nuances of love wonderfully in her rendition. Could it be that real life events in the lives of the two ladies somehow made their presence felt in their performances?

It was in the early 1950s when both Meena Kumari and Geeta Roy’s lives started mirroring each other’s. During the recording of a song of Baazi, Geeta Roy met Guru Dutt for the first time and this meeting apparently blossomed into love and ultimately culminated in their marriage in 1953. Meena Kumari’s experience was no different. She too met her future husband, Kamal Amrohi, at work i.e. on the sets of a film. Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi eventually got married in 1952.

With the success of Baiju Bawara in 1952, Meena Kumari established herself as one of the top actresses of that time. In the following year, with her strong performance in Bimal Roy’s Parineeta (based on Sarat Chandra’s eponymous novel) won she won her second consecutive Filmfare award. Musically speaking, the highlight of the film in my opinion was Chand Hai Wohi, sung with great feeling by Geeta. The nuances of a woman unflinching devotion to the man she has secretly married and her inability to reveal her ‘secret’ is brought out brilliantly in this song.

The film Baadbaan (1954) had a stellar star cast of Dev Anand, Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar and Usha Kiran. The film’s music was composed by the the legendary Timir Baran and S K Pal. The lyrics were penned by Indeevar. Though we do not have the video of this which can be a conclusive evidence that this song was indeed filmed on Meena Kumari, it surely reflected the state of their minds a few years later.

Although Meena Kumari got closely associated with the epithet of “Tragedy Queen”, she did a number of light-hearted roles all though her career. One such film was with the King of Comedy, Kishore Kumar. The film Shararat had two songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Meena Kumari – both duets with Kishore Kumar. These songs are a rarity because Geeta Dutt has sung very few duets with Kishore Kumar, and even fewer songs under the baton of Shankar Jaikishan.

The coincidental similarities between the lives of Meena Kumari and Geeta Dutt continued. In the second half of the decade of 1950s, their husbands conceived two films with their wives in the lead role. Guru Dutt planned Gauri, which unfortunately did not progress beyond a few days of shooting. Kamal Amrohi planned his magnum opus Pakeezah, which again went into cold storage for many years, apparently due to the troubled relationship between Meena Kumari & Kamal Amrohi. Thankfully, the project was revived and released almost 15 years after it was first conceived.

As the years progressed, the married lives of both the artistes were in shambles. It was at this time that Guru Dutt offered Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam to Meena Kumari. This tale of a woman’s desperation to gain her husband’s love and attention, and eventually finding solace in drinking, couldn’t have been closer to her real life. Geeta Dutt’s personal situation at this time was no different. When Geeta Dutt sang Na Jao Saiyan for Meena Kumari on screen, the resultant feeling was uncannily real, almost as if the actress and the singer were reliving their own lives.

This one song sums up the unique characterization of Chhoti Bahu in the film – a woman who is traditional at the core, but liberated enough to make sexual demands of her wayward husband. Nobody but Geeta Dutt could have brought alive the poignancy of the situation.

Listen to what Shashi Kapoor and Shabana Azmi have to say about the film in general, and the song in particular.

Video not available

The year 1964 turned out to be an emotionally devastating year for Meena Kumari as well as Geeta Dutt. Geeta Dutt lost her husband under tragic circumstances, while Meena Kumari got a divorce. Both women found solace in alcohol and this fatally messed up their health. Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi did get together again, and Pakeezah was revived. Geeta Dutt had no such luck as her husband was gone forever. She found herself in dire straits soon after and her life got caught in a downward spiral.

Fans of Meena Kumari and Geeta Dutt cannot erase the year 1972 from their memories. First Meena Kumari succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver in March 1972, followed by Geeta Dutt who died of the same ailment a few months later. And like a candle that shines the brightest before extinguishing, Meena Kumari gave us Pakeezah, and Geeta Dutt gave us poignant songs in Anubhav, before leaving the world forever.

Note :

Bappa Chatterjee

This post is a specially dedicated to the memory of HF member late Bappa Chatterjee who was one of the most ardent fans of these two great artists, Meena Kumari and Geeta Dutt.

About the author:

Aditya Pant is a film and music buff from Ghaziabad, India. A die-hard Lata Mangeshkar fan, Aditya’s considers himself a ‘secular’ music buff who enjoys good music irrespective of the vintage or language. In his free time he loves to write about his passions – music, films and poetry on his bog http://urgetofly.blogspirit.com

We are grateful to Aditya for contributing this special article on the occasion of 23rd November, the birth anniversary of Geeta Dutt and the first birthday of our website http://www.geetadutt.com/ dedicated to her.

Sharing gadgets added on our website..

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Sharing Gadgets

We have added a “Share” feature to the homepage of our website http://www.geetadutt.com.

With this feature, the site visitor can easily add a bookmark for our website, share it on community websites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. with a single click. We hope the music lovers will find this feature useful to share the link to our website with your friends.

Thanks Hildebrand for adding this feature in such a short time. You rock!

Best Regards
Parag

Coming soon…First birthday of our website

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Website

With help from music lover friends, we launched the website http://www.geetadutt.com on 23rd November 2008. All these days we have got great responses and feedback from so many persons from all over the world.

We all are committed to keep this site active and updated with fresh content on regular basis. We will be celebrating the first birthday of our website along with the birth anniversary of Geeta ji this year on 23rd November 2009. We have planned to add some more interesting features to our main website as well as many interesting posts on this blog section to celebrate this great occasion.

Any one interested in helping us with the various activities planned for this day, please contact us at geetaduttfans [AT]gmail [dot] com

Looking forward to hear from music lovers.

Best Regards
Geeta Dutt fans team

Geeta Dutt : Life story of a lengendary playback singer..

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Geeta Dutt

Geeta Dutt (nee Roy) was blessed with a rich voice that was like an interacting instrument that at once mesmerized her listeners. She had such magic in her voice that charmed her listeners like a snake is charmed to the music of a been. She rendered songs from her heart making them so endearingly heart rendering. When she sang “Thandi Hawaa Kaali Ghata” you can feel the cool breeze of an overcast day. When she sang “Koi Door Se Awaaz De” you can sense the feelings of a hauntingly disturbed soul celebrating the resplendence of life on one side and yet lamenting setbacks on the other. As critic Subhash K. Jha puts it aptly “Geta Dutt’s voice conveys the sweetness of honey and the pain of the bee sting.”

She sang over 1500 songs in her life in many languages like Hindi, Gujrati, Bengali, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Nepali etc. She sang with almost all the singers of the 40s, 50s and 60s and worked with over 100 composers. She is known as “Queen of Bhaav Gayaki” for her ability to fuse the right emotions in the songs she sang.

Early years:

Geeta Roy was born into a rich zamindaar’s family as Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri in Faridpur, East Bengal on 23rd November 1930. In 1942, her parents shifted to a Dadar apartment in Bombay when she was twelve. Over there in their modest flat at Dadar, composer Pandit Hanuman Prasad, overheard her singing and agreed to take her under his wings to provide her training with nuances of singing. Soon after this, he launched her in a chorus song in the movie “Bhakta Prahlad (1946)”, where she had only a couple of lines to sing. She sang as many as four songs for this mythological film. She sang them with the chorus but had some lines all by herself to her.

That singing of two lines in “Bhakt Prahlad” did a lot of good for Geetaji. She kept herself busy singing in several movies that year (1946). But her biggest breakthrough was yet to come and fortunately for Geetaji and music lovers it didn’t take long.

Young Geeta Roy

She was just sixteen at this time. But those two lines mesmerized everyone in the recording studio. In a matter of another year, in 1947, she got her break with “Do Bhai”. S.D. Burman heard Geeta ji’s voice and immediately decided to have her sing in “Do Bhai”. Geeta ji had this unconventional way of singing. The time was when most singing styles had origins of ghazals. Geeta ji who had this innate talent, with no formal training in singing of the type of songs that were in vogue at that time, introduced her own brand of appealingly fresh and free flowing style of singing. Her singing was based on instincts and spontaneity, guts and feelings, and love and pensiveness that resulted in breathing life and emotion into each song she sang.

The big break:

The music of the film Do Bhai (1947) was a major hit. In particular, her song “Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya” became an overnight sensation. Her voice was so fresh, unique and ethereal it appeared to have breathed life into those songs. With the stardom achieved from the success of “Do Bhai”, Geetaji became extremely busy. Almost as if by magic, an obscure singer not known to many people across the country became a celebrity and a household word overnight. Even though she did not know any language other than her mother tongue Bengali, she was singing songs in fluent Hindi and even in Gujrati now.

With two great years in succession, Geetaji became the undisputed number one singer in the nation in 1949. She was virtually unchallenged at this juncture in her career. The hitherto established singers like Rajkumari and Shamshad Begum were relegated to lower spots. She sang memorable songs for Ranjit Movietone’s Jogan (1950) starring Nargis and Dilip Kumar. The music of this film was composed by Bulo C Rani for whom she sang several melodious songs in the 40s and 50s.

The fifties:

The year 1951 was a very eventful year in Geetaji’s life. When S.D. Burman had her sing songs of “Baazi”, sort of a complete metamorphism happened. With the thundering success of the songs and its music, the movie “Baazi” changed Geetaji’s life forever. Geeta Roy found herself extremely busy in 1952. She had assignment after assignment that kept her singing career in a high gear. She delivered hit after hit that year. Amidst all this, she found time to continue her romantic relationship with upcoming director Guru Dutt.

Geeta Roy and Geeta Bali

During the romance and early years of her marriage she sang some of her best songs for pictures involved with Guru Dutt in one capacity or another. Some of the most beautiful romantic songs Geeta ji sang were during these days and they were spilled and richly splashed with her youthfully exuberant voice. On one side she sings “Babu Ji Dheere Chalna” and the next moment she scolds her lover by singing “Jaa Jaa Bewafaa”. Next she entices her lover with the song “Hoon Abhi Main Jawaan”. When he is crossed with her she begs by singing “Yeh Lo Main Haari Piya”. This whole gamut of romantic spectrum emotional rainbow was never repeated with such vibrant verve of vocals and velvety velocity of spells of splendor by anyone else before or after Geeta Ji.

Clearly early fifties were her best years as a playback singer supreme. During these years, she still maintained the status as an influential vocalist of Hindi film world because she kept singing song after song delighting millions of moviegoers throughout India. The young and famous Geeta Roy and the struggling director Guru Dutt tied knots on May 26, 1953. Because of the wedding and the new responsibilities of a new household Geetaji found herself with not much time to sing in as many songs this year as before.

Geeta with her son

Being wed for two years and raising a son who already was a year old, Geetaji found little more time in the year 1955 to participate in singing. Her husband Guru Dutt made “Mr. and Mrs. ‘55” during 1955. It had Madhubala and Guru Dutt in the leads and was directed by Guru Dutt himself. Its music once again was composed by O.P. Nayyar. By this time, the Geetaji-OP tandem were in sync as the pair delivered hit after hit. “Mr. & Mrs. ‘55” was no different. This had nine songs and Geetaji sang six of them.

Year 1956 was another eventful year in Geetaji’s life. She gave birth to her second son, Arun, on July 10. With her first son growing up, with the arrival of newly born, and her husband Guru Dutt busy with the production of “C.I.D.” and laying groundwork for his groundbreaking “Pyaasa”, she still managed to find time to sing. In “Toofan Aur Diya” released in 1956, she sang three songs for Vasant Desai (two solos and a duet). One of the outstanding song from this was the solo Geetaji sang “Meri Aan Bhagwan”. She continued to sing for almost all the major composers of that era. In her career spanning 26 years, she sang for more than 100 composers.

Geetaji was back singing for Burmanda in two movies in 1957. These were “Nau Do Gyarah” (two solos and a duet) and “Pyaasa” (three solos and a duet). Guru Dutt’s “Pyaasa” was a landmark in Indian movie history. It was voted as one of the top 100 movies in the world by the Time magazine. In spite of many personal problems she was having, Geetaji, a phenomenon she was, still found time to keep her singing career intact as late as 1958 and 1959. Singing was her love. She wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. In her husband’s “Kaagaz Ke Phool” Geetaji sang the song of her life. “Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam”.

Geeta Dutt

The troublesome sixties:


Her marital problems were taking a heavy toll on Geetaji by the early sixties. It appeared on the surface that this may slow down her singing assignments, but she still managed to sing in the movies. In 1961, in spite of all the problems they were having Geetaji and her husband, Guru Dutt, were still living together. There was still something left between the two. These brief moments of harmony were giving her enough strength to continue with her passion, singing.

Year 1962 was another eventful year in Geetaji’s life. The proof that there was love still existed between Geetaji and Guru Dutt, their third child, a daughter named Nina, was born in August. This however did not solve their problems. The impending gloom and doom was fast nearing. The decadence was now completely set in by 1963. Geetaji’s fortunes were on the fast decline. She was withdrawing herself from everything. She got separated from her husband. The year 1964 was a devastatingly eventful year in Geetaji’s life. On October 10, Guru Dutt died of an overdose of sleeping pills. He was only 37.

By early 1965 Geetaji recovered from the mental breakdown she suffered after her husband’s unexpected death. Shattered and devastated, she was slowly trying put her life together again. There is so little activity went on for Geetaji during the years of 1966 to 1969. It is so hard to believe that a great talent like Geetaji, who ruled the world of singing, who mesmerized music loving people all over India, went into obscurity and oblivion during these last years of her singing.

The last flicker of the lamp:

In 1970 Geetaji sang in only one movie, a solo in Ratandeep Hemraj’s “Insaan Aur Insaan” . Geetaji sang in three movies in 1971. These were Kanu Roy’s “Anubhav” (three solos), a duet in Salil Chowdhury’s “Raat Ki Uljhan”, and a triplet in Shankar – Jaikishan’s “Jwala” .

Geeta Dutt

A note about the songs of “Anubhav”. Geetaji sang these so beautifully with plenty of melody that surprised even her worst critics. She once again proved to the music world that she still has it in her. Everybody thought she will now bounce back because they represented some of her finest work. But life takes many unexpected and tyrannical turns. It is so hard to believe that these songs would also be almost her swan songs. Talking about melody, take for example, the song “Koi Chhup Ke Se Aake” from “Anubhav”. Here is one music lover wrote about this song (the quote is not exact but is reworded). “… The soft, romantic type of songs like these flowered in Geetaji’s melodious and expressive voice… Geetaji’s singing in “Anubhav” demonstrates how much she still had to offer even at the fag end of her life. In this song, she is soft, teasing, whimsical, romantic all at once and the ever so slight tinge of pathos in her voice highlights the enigma that was Geeta Dutt…”.

The tragic end:

1972 was an eventful year in Geetaji’s life and in the history of Hindi film world. She sang in only one movie that year, Subir Sen’s “Midnight”. These were a solo and a duet. But on July 20, 1972, Geetaji passed away as a result of continuing and declining bad health. She was just 41. The voice that thrilled and filled with joy for millions of music lovers was gone forever. Here she was whose voice stopped aging as proven from the songs of “Anubhav”, sang only the previous year, finally succumbed to ill health. The voice that had the youthful joie de vivre was completely quelled. The ease and spontaneity that were the hallmarks of Geetaji’s singing could never sing another song. The voice that defied convention with its enthralling tonal quality, that was sumptuous in expression, that was enticing with melody, that was sweet like honey, that had soothing mellifluous quality, that was enchantingly dulcet, and that explored a gamut of emotions from subtle enticement to wistful longing was extinguished forever.



Geeta ji in a short and glorious span of only few years left us with a rich legacy of thousands of songs into which she breathed life with her unique ethereal voice that have stood the test of time and continue to enthrall generations after generations of fine music lovers all over the world.

A small tribute to the legend:

Please visit our website dedicated to this legendary playback singer to know more about her life and her singing. You can also listen to her songs and see videos of her songs as well.

Note:

Many thanks to our friend “Swarpriya” ji for the help for this post.

This post first appeared on Passion for Cinema blogpage here.