Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hemant Kumar’s contribution in bollywood films.


Hemant Kumar’s contribution in bollywood films.

By: Supriya Chatterji.

Hemant Kumar, the legendary singer of Bengal, had made a notable contribution in the film songs in bollywood during 50s, 60s and 70s. He composed music for the film Nagin, in 1955, where Pradeep Kumar and Vaijayantimala played the leading roles. The instrument used to tame snakes was used very well in the film. Hemant Kumar also received the filmfare award for the best composer in that year.

He composed music for Dilip Kumar’s film Paigam. In Bees Saal Baad, he started his career as a producer. The film was based on the story The Hound of Baskervilles written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Biswajeet and Wahida Rehman were the leading performers in the film and the songs composed by Hemant Kumar including “kahin dep jale kahin dil”, sung by Lata became a big hit.

Hemant Kumar composed music for Biswajeet’s film Kohra where the song “yeh nayan dhali dhali”, became extremely popular. He composed music for Guru Dutt’s film Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam, which was based on the story of royal families in Kolkata who lost their zamindari during the colonial rule. Most of the songs in the film including “bhaora bara nadan hai”, “na jao saiwa”, sung by Geeta Dutt, became successful. Meena Kumari and Wahida Rehman provided brilliant performance in the film.

Hemant Kumar also composed songs for Biswajeet’s film Do Dil, where Rafi’s song “tera husn rahe mera isq rahe”, became very successful. Hemant Kumar also composed songs for the film Khamoshi, where Dharmendar and Rajesh Khanna were the leading actors opposite Wahida Rehman.

The songs in the film Khamoshi were all melodious including “woh shaam kuch ajeeb thi”, sung by Kishore Kumar. Hemant Kumar was very busy in Bengali films where he sung majority of his songs for Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengali silver screen. Although bollywood music during the 50s, 60s and 70s, was filled with immortal songs of Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Hemant Kumar made his presence felt in the national arena. The songs and the films should be restored.

No comments: