Remembering the legendary singer Mukesh on his 44th death anniversary — 27.8.1976

By Dr. M.S. Natashekar

Mukesh Chand Mathur, popularly known as Mukesh, was a great fan of singer K.L. Saigal. “Dil Jalta Hai Toh Jalne De” from film ‘Pehli Nazar’ released in 1945, was his 1st superhit song. When K.L. Saigal heard this song, he expressed “I don’t remember having sung this song”. Such was the striking similarity of Mukesh’s voice to that of K.L. Saigal. 

The earlier songs of Mukesh were sung in Saigal’s style. It was music director Naushad, who was instrumental in moulding Mukesh to develop his own style of singing which remained till the end. Mukesh wanted to become an actor (acted in a few films), but destiny made him a singer. “Great singers are born, not made,” holds good to Mukesh. 

The combination of actor Raj Kapoor, lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, music directors Shankar and Jaikishan, brought out unforgettable songs from “Kisi ki muskurahaton pe,” till “Jaane kahan gaye who din,” which made the singer the voice of Raj Kapoor. 

In his 30 years of singing career, Mukesh has rendered his voice to all heroes of yesteryears. Even though the total number of songs sung by Mukesh is approx 1,000, almost all songs became superhits, not to forget his last song “Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal,” recorded for film ‘Satyam shivam sundaram,’ picturised on Shashi Kapoor. Even today Russians sing “Awarahoon” and “Mera jootah ai Japani.”

“Dard” in his voice made the songs soulful. Mukesh and melancholy were synonymous. The vast majority of songs by Mukesh were in blue moods, touching the hearts of connoisseurs of music. Mukesh has come out with variety of songs like Jovial song “Dum dum diga diga” from film ‘Chaliya,’ Romantic song “Chandansabadan” from film ‘Saraswati Chandra,’ Patriotic song “Hotonpe sacchai rehti hai” from film ‘Jis desh mein ganga behti hai’ and many more. Even though, there were established singers like Md. Rafi, Hemanth Kumar, Manna Dey and Talat Mehmood, Mukesh made his niche in 50s and 60s.

Mysureans were fortunate to witness Mukesh’s live performance in mid November 1972, organised at J.K. Grounds. I had joined Mysore Medical College just then and being an ardent fan of Mukesh, occupied the front seat with great joy. Amongst the several nominations and awards he won, his song “Kayi baar yunhi dekha hai” won him the ‘National Filmfare Award’ for best playback singer in 1974 for film ‘Rajneegandha.’ His singing career was not a bed of roses, and hence at one particular time, this sentence came from his mouth — “Music is a great passion, but a painful profession.” 

Regarding the duets, Mukesh has sung maximum number of songs with Lata Mangeshkar, the superhits being “O mere sanam” from the film ‘Sangam’, “Sawan ka maheena” from ‘Milan’, “Ek pyaar ka nagma” from ‘Shor’; and the list goes endless. Other singers like Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Geetha Dutt, Sharda, Kishore and Rafi, also have sung duets with the legend.

Tragedy struck, fate took an ugly turn and snatched the life of a promising singer, leaving a big lacuna in Hindi Film Industry. Mukesh collapsed and left this world, due to a massive heart-attack, during a concert on 27th August 1976 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The vocal-cords of the legend stopped vibrating permanently. When Raj Kapoor received the bad news, he lamented, “I have lost my voice, I’m just flesh and bones, Mukesh was my soul.” 

Nation lost a great voice and definitely 53 years of age, is not an age to die. With this, we can hum the dulcet notes of “O janewale, ho sake toh lautke aana.”

[About the author: A senior ENT Surgeon and one of the main singers of ‘Geeth Gaatha Chal’ musical event in city, Dr. M.S. Natashekar has organised musical nites in memory of Legendary Singer Mukesh, Melody King of the South Dr. P.B. Srinivas, Indian Charlie Chaplin Raj Kapoor and many more.  He has also shared stage with Dr. S. Janaki, the Nightingale of South India.]