Remembering Hemant Kumar

​( 16th June 1920 to 26th  September 1989 )

ना तुम हमें जानो..... 

Yes, it is difficult to understand Hemant Kumar as he is to be analysed  on two counts; first as a Singer and then as a Music Composer.

As a singer he is considered as foremost exponent of Ravindra Sangeet.  But Hemant Kumar  also learned Classical Music in his youth from Fanivasun Ganguly .He  initially  started singing Bengali songs in 1937 and thereafter switched   to singing for Hindi films. He became popular for playback songs for Devanand in the movies  Solvan Saal, Baat ek Raat ki, Jaal, House no 44 under the music directorship of  S D Burman.

He started  composing music in 1947 for Bengali films. His first Hindi film as a music composer was ' Anand Math'. The song ' Vande Mataram , Vande Mataram  by Lata Mangeshkar still arouses the feelings of patriotism.

But his best as a music composer came in 1955, for the film Nagin. He reached to the height of a fame by the song, ' Man dole mera tan dole' in which he used the clavioline for the effect of 'Been ' bagging his first Film fare award for the best Music Composer. Thereafter the music composition for Gurudatta's film  ' Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam ' added another feather in his cap(न जावो सैंया चुराके बैंया , कोई दुरसे आवाज दो चले आओ ). He was successful  in Bengal film industry  as a singer and music composer. But due to the presence of stalwarts like S D Burman and Madan Mohan, Hemant Kumar was not getting  the big banner films in Bollywood. He therefore turned to Production and started producing and composing music for  his own films. His first film was ' Bees Saal Baad ' featuring Lata's one of the best solos कहि दिप जले कहि दिल and thereafter ' Kohra ' giving his one of his best solo ' ये नयन डरे डरे '. His career reached at zenith with the film ' Khamoshi ' with the unforgettable songs हमने देखी है उन आंखोकि महकती खुशबु & तुम पुकार लो. The song वो शाम कुछ अजीब थी from Khamoshi marked the beginning of the legendary combination of  Kishor kumar for the  Superstar Rajesh Khanna for emotional songs.  

Early 70s witnessed the shift in Bollywood Music from melody to rhythm under the leadership of R.D. Burman. Somehow Hemant Kumar could not sense this  changing pulse of music lovers. Devoid of any work in Bollywood , he returned to Culcutta and continued his career in  Bengli Music where his contribution still  stands unmatched. Hemanat Kumar passed away in 1989. But even today his song   बेकरार करके हमें युं ना जाईये   from बीस साल बाद is being utilized in tv  ad of Secret temptation perfumes. No other proof is needed to confirm   that fragrance of his melody is still alive !