Hemanta Mukhopadhyay

Biography

Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Bengali pronunciation: [hemont̪o mukʰopad̪ʱːae̯]; 16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other Indian languages, including Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, Tamil, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Konkani, Sanskrit and Urdu. He was an artist in Bengali and Hindi film music, Rabindra Sangeet, and various other genres. He was the recipient of two National Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and was popularly known as the "Voice of God".

Early life and education

Hemanta was born in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, at the residence of his maternal grandfather, who served as a physician. His paternal family originated from Jaynagar Majilpur and had migrated to Kolkata in the early 1900s. Growing up in Kolkata, he received his early education at Nasiruddin School before transferring to Mitra Institution School in Bhowanipore. During his school years, he formed lasting friendships with Subhash Mukhopadhyay, who would later become a celebrated poet, and writer Santosh Kumar Ghosh.
Hemanta enrolled in the Bengal Technical Institute at Jadavpur (now Jadavpur University) to pursue an engineering diploma. However, he left academics due to health issues and to pursue a career in music, despite his father's disapproval. He briefly experimented with literature and published a short story in the Bengali magazine Desh, but by the late 1930s, he had decided to dedicate himself entirely to music.

Early career

Hemanta's debut as a playback singer came in 1940 with the Bengali film Rajkumarer Nirbbasan, where he sang under the musical direction of S.D. Burman. This was followed by Nimai Sanyas (1941), scored by Hariprasanna Das. In 1943, he composed his first original songs, "Katha Kayonako Shudhu Shono" and "Amar Biraha Akashe Priya", with lyrics by Amiya Bagchi. His entry into Hindi cinema occurred in 1942 with the film Meenakshi, followed by Irada (1944), under composer Amar Nath's direction.
Hemanta established himself as a prominent exponent of Rabindra Sangeet with his first recorded piece in the genre appearing in the Bengali film Priya Bandhabi (1944). The song "Pather Sesh Kothaye" marked the beginning of his journey with Tagore's compositions. That same year, he recorded his first non-film Rabindra Sangeet album under the Columbia label, featuring "Aamar Aar Habe Na Deri" and "Keno Pantha E Chanchalata". An earlier recording of "Aamaar mallikabone" for All India Radio/Akashvani has been lost to time.
His directorial debut as a music director came with the Bengali film Abhiyatri in 1947. During this period, he worked alongside contemporary male vocalists including Jaganmay Mitra, Robin Majumdar, Satya Chowdhury, Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Sudhirlal Chakraborty, Bechu Dutta and Talat Mahmood. While his early recordings garnered critical acclaim, major commercial success eluded him until 1947.

Emergence as a national artist

In the mid-1940s, Hemanta became actively involved with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), where he formed a significant collaboration with fellow member and composer Salil Chowdhury. The devastating Bengal famine of 1943 and the inaction of both British authorities and wealthy Indians had been instrumental in IPTA's formation.
His 1947 recording of "Gayer Badhu" ("The rural bride"), composed and written by Salil Chowdhury, marked a turning point in his career. This unconventional six-minute composition, recorded on both sides of a 78 rpm disc, departed from traditional Bengali song structure and romantic themes. Instead, it portrayed the tragic transformation of an idyllic rural life devastated by famine and poverty. The song's unprecedented success established Hemanta as a leading voice in eastern India, elevating him above his male contemporaries. This successful partnership with Salil Chowdhury continued through numerous popular collaborations in subsequent years.
During this period, Hemanta received increasing opportunities as a music composer for Bengali films, notably working with director Hemen Gupta. When Gupta relocated to Mumbai, he invited Hemanta to compose for his Hindi directorial debut Anandmath under the Filmistan banner. This led to Hemanta's migration to Mumbai in 1951, where he joined Filmistan Studios. He named his Mumbai residence in Khar after Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. Anand Math (1952) achieved moderate success, with its standout contribution being Lata Mangeshkar's rendition of 'Vande mataram', which Hemanta set to a stirring martial tune.
Following Anandamath, Hemanta composed for several Filmistan productions, including Shart, gaining modest popularity. Simultaneously, he established himself as a prominent playback singer in Mumbai. His collaborations with S. D. Burman for Bollywood actors produced numerous hits, like Dev Anand for (Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan from Jaal, Chup Hai Dharti and Teri Duniya Mein Jeene Se from House No. 44, Hai Apna Dil To Awara from Solva Saal, and Na Tum Humen Jano from Baat Ek Raat Ki). Pradeep Kumar for (Nagin, Detective), Sunil Dutt for (Savle Salone Aaye Din from Ek Hi Rasta, O Neend Na Mujhko from Post Box 999, Ghumsum Sa Yeh Jahan from Duniya Jhukti Hain) and Biswajeet for (Bekarar Karke Hume from Bees Saal Baad, Ek Baar Zara Phir from Bin Badal Barsaat, Ye Nayan Dare Dare from Kohra) and Dharmendra for Anupama. He also served as the music composer for these films.

Career rise

By the mid-1950s, Hemanta had consolidated his position as a prominent singer and composer. In Bengal, he was one of the foremost exponents of Rabindra Sangeet and perhaps the most sought-after male singer. In a ceremony organized by Hemanta Mukherjee to honor Debabrata Biswas (1911–1980), the legendary Rabindra Sangeet exponent, in Calcutta in March 1980, Debabrata Biswas unhesitatingly mentioned Hemanta as "the second hero" to popularise Rabindra Sangeet, the first being the legendary Pankaj Kumar Mullick. In Mumbai, along with playback singing, Hemanta carved a niche as a composer. He composed music for a Hindi film called Nagin (1954) which became a major success owing largely to its music. Songs of Nagin remained chart-toppers continuously for two years and culminated in Hemanta receiving the prestigious Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1955. The very same year, he scored music for a Bengali movie Shap Mochan in which he played back four songs for the Bengali actor Uttam Kumar. This started a long partnership between Hemanta and Uttam as a playback singer-actor pair. They were the most popular singer-actor duo in Bengali cinema over the next decade.
In the latter part of the 1950s, Hemanta composed music and sang for several Bengali and Hindi films and recorded several Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali non-film songs. Almost all of these, especially his Bengali songs, became very popular. This period can be seen as the zenith of his career and lasted for almost a decade. Salil Chowdhury and Lata Mangeshkar stated Hemanta as the Voice Of God. He sang songs composed by the major music directors in Bengal such as Nachiketa Ghosh, Robin Chatterjee and Salil Chowdhury. Some of the notable films Hemanta himself composed music for during this period include Harano Sur, Marutirtha Hinglaj, Neel Akasher Neechey, Lukochuri, Swaralipi, Deep Jwele Jaai, Shesh Parjanta, Kuhak, Dui Bhai, and Saptapadi in Bengali, and Jagriti and Ek Hi Raasta in Hindi.

Production

In the late 1950s, Hemanta ventured into movie production under his own banner: Hemanta-Bela Productions. The first movie under this banner was a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen, titled Neel Akasher Neechey (1959). The story was based on the travails of a Chinese street hawker in
Calcutta in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle. The movie went on to win the President's Gold Medal — the highest honour for a movie from the Government of India. In the next decade, Hemanta's production company was renamed Geetanjali productions and it produced several Hindi movies such as Bees Saal Baad, Kohraa, Biwi Aur Makaan, Faraar, Rahgir and Khamoshi all of which had music by Hemanta. Only Bees Saal Baad and Khamoshi were major commercial successes.
Back in Bengal, Hemanta scored music for a movie titled Palatak in 1963 where he experimented with merging Bengal folk music and light music. This proved to be a major success and Hemanta's composition style changed noticeably for many of his future films in Bengal such as Baghini, and Balika Badhu. In Bengali films Manihar and Adwitiya, both of which were major musical as well as commercial successes, his compositions had a light classical tinge. In 1961, for commemorating Rabindranath Tagore's birth centenary, the Gramophone Company of India
featured Rabindrasangeet by Hemanta in a large portion of its commemorative output. This too proved to be a major commercial success. Hemanta went on several overseas concert tours including his trip to the West Indies. Overall, in the 1960s decade, he retained his position as the major male singer in Bengal and as a composer and singer to be reckoned with in Hindi films.
In the 1960s he was the predominant and lead male voice in many of Tagore's musical dramas like Valmiki Pratibha, Shyama, Sapmochan, Chitrangada and Chandalika. With Kanika Bandopadhyay (1924–2000) and Suchitra Mitra (1924–2010), who were the lead female voices in these, he was part of the Rabindra Sangeet triumvirate that was popular and respected. It was referred to as 'Hemanta-Kanika-Suchitra' and, with Debabrata Biswas, this quartet was and continues to be the most heard exponents of Tagore compositions. Asoktaru Bandopadhyay, Chinmoy Chattopadhyay, Sagar Sen, Sumitra Sen, and Ritu Guha were the other leading exponents of Rabindra Sangeet at that time.

Later career

In the 1970s, Hemanta's contribution to Hindi films was nominal. He scored music for a handful of his home productions, but none of these movies nor their music were successful. In Bengal, however, he remained the foremost exponent of Rabindra Sangeet, film and non-film songs. His output continued to be popular for most of the decade. Some of them are Jodi Jante Chao Tumi (1972), Ek Gochha Rajanigandha, Aamay Prasno Kore Nil Dhrubatara, Sedin Tomay Dekhechilam (1974), Khirki Theke Singho Duar (Stree, 1971), Ke Jane Ko Ghonta (Sonar Khancha, 1974), Jeona Daraon Bandhu (Phuleswari, 1975) and popularised Rabindra sangeet using them beautifully in films as per situations. A very popular and classic example is the song Chorono Dhorite Diyogo Amare in Dadar Kirti (1980). In 1971, Hemanta debuted as a film director in for his self-produced Bengali movie Anindita. It didn't fare exceedingly well at the box office. However, his rendition Diner Seshe Ghumer Deshe was one of his best and most popular Rabindra Sangeet renditions. In the same year, Hemanta went to Hollywood by responding to film director Conrad Rooks and score the music of Conrad's Siddhartha and played back O Nadire (composed and sung by him earlier in Neel Akasher Neechey (1959) in that film. He was the first Indian singer to playback in Hollywood. The US government honored Hemanta by conferring him with the citizenship of Baltimore, Maryland; the first-ever singer of India to get US citizenship. In the early to mid-1970s, two major music composers in Bengal, Nachiketa Ghosh and Robin Chatterjee, who had worked closely with Hemanta, since the early 1950s, died. Simultaneously, music composed by Hemanta for Bengali films like Phuleswari, Raag Anurag, Ganadebata and Dadar Kirti established him as the major film music composer in the Bengal movie scene. In 1979, Hemanta re-recorded some of his earlier works with composer Salil Chowdhury from the 1940s and 1950s. This album, titled Legend of Glory, vol. 2, was a major commercial success.
In 1980, Hemanta had a heart attack that severely affected his vocal capabilities, especially his breath control. He continued to record songs in the early eighties, but his voice was a shade of its rich baritone past. In 1984, Hemanta was felicitated by different organizations, most notably by the Gramophone Company of India, for completing 50 years in music. That very year Hemanta released his last album with Gramophone Company of India — a 45 rpm extended play disc with four non-film songs. Over the next few years, Hemanta released a few non-film songs for small-time companies that had cropped up in the nascent cassette-based music industry. Only a few of these were commercially successful. He composed music for a handful of Bengali movies and one Bengali and one Hindi tele-series. However, by this time he had become an institution, a beloved and revered personality who was a courteous and friendly gentleman. His philanthropic activities included running a homeopathic hospital in memory of his late father in their native village in Baharu, in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. He continued to feature regularly on All India Radio, Doordarshan (TV), and live programs/concerts during this period.
In a television interview, recorded in the early 1990s, to noted elocutionist Gauri Ghosh, his wife Bela Mukherjee recalled that she never knew during his lifetime the number of families and persons he helped to put up financially or otherwise; it was only after his departure that this truth gradually unveiled.
In 1987, he was nominated for Padma Bhushan which he refused, having already turned down a previous offer to receive Padma Shri in the 1970s. In this year, he was publicly felicitated in Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta for completing 50 years in the musical journey, where, Lata Mangeshkar presented him with the memento on behalf of his fans and admirers. Despite his aging voice, he became the Best Male Singer in 1988 for his rendition in the film "Lalan Fakir".
In September 1989 he traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award, as well as to perform a concert. Immediately after returning from this trip he suffered another heart attack on 26 September 1989 and died at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta.

Personal life

Hemanta had three brothers and a sister Nilima. His younger brother Tarajyoti was a Bengali short story writer. His youngest brother Amal composed music as well as sang for some Bengali movies, most notably for Abak Prithibi and Hospital. Amal recorded a few songs in the 1960s as well with Hemant as music director, most notably the song "Jiboner Anekta Path Eklai". In 1945, Hemanta married Bela Mukherjee, a singer from Bengal. Although she had sung some popular songs in the movie Kashinath, she did not actively pursue her musical career after marriage. They had two children, a son Jayant, and a daughter Ranu. Ranu also pursued a music career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with somewhat limited success. Jayant is married to Moushumi Chatterjee, a Bengali film actress.

Death and legacy

On 26 September 1989, Hemant fell ill after returning from a concert in Dhaka. He died shortly after, due to a massive cardiac arrest. According to his daughter-in-law Moushumi Chatterjee, his last words were "Ki koshto, ki koshto ('such pain, such pain')."
Hemant's legacy still lives on through the songs that he has recorded during his lifetime, as well as the music he has composed. Due to the commercial viability of his songs, the Gramophone Company of India (or Saregama) still releases at least one album of his every year, repackaging his older songs. The Kolkata Metro's Hemanta Mukhopadhyay metro station is named after him. A Mumbai square is also named after him as Hemant Kumar Square.