HEMANT KUMAR

Name                                     Hemant Kumar Mukhopadhyay

Date of Birth                         16^th June, 1920

Birth Place                             Varanasi, India

Father’s Name                     
 

Mother’s Name                    

Brothers                               1) Tarajyoti

                                              2) Amal

                                              3) Abak Prithibi

Sister                                    Nilima

Spouse                                 Bela Mukherjee (Singer from Bengal)

Children                               (Son) Jayant, and (Daughter) Ranu

Training in Classical           Ustad Faiyaz Khan

Music

First Hindi Songs                Kitana Dukh Bhulaya Tumne

Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay also known as Hemanta Mukherjee was an Indian Singer, Composer and Producer.

After passing the intermediate examinations (12th grade), Hemanta was admitted to Jadavpur University to study Engineering. However, he quit academics to pursue a career in music, despite parental objection. He briefly tried his hand at literature and also published a short story in a prestigious Bengali magazine called Desh, but by the late-1930s he was committed entirely to music.

Under the influence of his friend Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Hemanta recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1933. The first line of the song was amar ganete ele nabarupi chirantanii. Hemanta's music career was mentored by the Bengali musician Sailesh Duttagupta. In 1937, Hemanta cut his first gramophone disc under the Columbia label. The songs (non-film) on this disc were janite jadi go tumi and balo go balo more whose lyrics were by Naresh Bhattacharya and music was composed by Sailesh Duttagupta.

Hemanta’s first film song was in the Bengali Film Nimai Sanyas released in 1941. Music for this film was scored by Hariprasanna Das. His first Hindi film songs were in Irada in 1944 under Pt. Amarnath's music direction. Lyrics were by Aziz Kashmiri. His first movie as a music director was the Bengali film Abhiyatri in 1947. Although many of the songs Hemanta recorded in during this time received critical acclaim, major commercial success still eluded him, right until 1947.

In the mid 1940s, Hemanta became an active member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and started an association with another active IPTA member - songwriter and composer - Salil Chowdhury. When Hemen moved to Bombay a few years later, he called upon Hemanta to compose music for his first directorial venture in Hindi titled Anandmath under the Filmistan banner. Responding to this call, Hemanta migrated to Bombay in 1951. Hemanta also gained popularity in Bombay as a playback singer. His songs playbacked for actor Dev Anand under music director Sachin Dev Burman in movies like Jaal, House No. 44, and Solva Saal became quite popular. He is rememberd for classics songs like Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahaan Ho Tum (Patita), Jaane Woh Kaise Log The (Pyaasa), Jagat Ki Roshni Ke Liye (Harishchandra Taramati). He composed music for a Hindi film called Nagin (1954) which became a major success owing largely to its music. Hemant receiving the prestigious Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1955.

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. The movie went onto win the President's Gold Medal - the highest honour for a movie from 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. Almost all of these, except Bees Saal Baad and Khamoshi, weren't major commercial successes.

In September 1989, he travelled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award. He performed a concert in Dhaka as well. Immediately after returning from this trip, he suffered a major cardiac arrest on September 26 and breathed his last at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta. Interestingly, even 15 years after his death, Gramophone Company of India releases at least one album by him every year, repackaging his older songs, because of the commercial viability of his songs. His legacy still lives on through the numerous songs he has recorded, music he has composed and through many male singers in Bengal and the rest of India who continue to imitate his singing style.