When legend with baritone made music for Tamil films

In 1955, the hiccup is said to have created history. The song “Unnai Kan Thaedudhae” in the Gemini Ganesan starrer Kanavane ‘Kan Kanda Deivam’ featuring a drunk ‘vamp’ Lalitha on screen, created a mood with the sound. While the improvisation went on to become a popular trend, not many remember the men behind it — music directors A Rama Rao and Hemant Kumar. Those were the early years of the Bengali with the baritone, trying to find inroads in territories beyond the comforts of his homeground — a legend in the making.

While the Tamil film industry has failed to mark the birth centenary of Hemant Kumar, the hiccup song that created waves all over south India and gave a boost to singer P Susheela’s career is still remembered. The film, a huge success, was re-made in Hindi a year later as ‘Devta’, with Gemini Ganesan in the lead, and the vamp played by Vyjayantimala. But the task of music direction was not given to Hemant Kumar but to C Ramchandra. The Hindi version by Lata Mangeshkar, without that slight nuance failed to be as effective as the Tamil one. Actress-singer Bhanumathi revealed later that she had sung the original song with the hiccup (before she walked out of the film) and her hiccup was mixed with the final Susheela version.

For the man who had stepped out of his well-established fort in Bengal in 1951 to score music for films in Bombay, it was a time of experimentation. As a music director he had hits like “Man dole tera tan dole” from Nagin (1954), featuring Vyjayanthimala and probably that made film producers from Tamil Nadu hire him for bilinguals and to infuse fresh melodies into film songs. His tryst with the Tamil industry began with ‘Samrat’ (1954), a Hindi film for which he made the music, dubbed into Tamil — ‘Kaadhal Parisu’. Hemant Kumar composed six songs for the Tamil version which were sung by Lakshmi Shankar with lyrics by Ku Ma Balasubramaniam.

Hemant Kumar’s connection with the Tamil film industry continued when he was asked to compose music for ‘Miss Mary’ (1957), the Hindi remake of ‘Missiamma’, a hit both in Telugu and Tamil in 1955 with S Rajeswara Rao as music director. Hemant Kumar insisted on creating fresh tunes for ‘Miss Mary’ but retained one song from the original — “Brindaavanamadi Andaridi” (Telugu), “Brindavanamum Nandakumaranu” (Tamil) sung by A M Rajah and P Susheela. The Hindi version, “Brindaavan Ka Krishna Kanhaiya”, rendered by Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, went on to be a big hit.

Hemant’s bhajan “Darshan Do Ganshyam”, sung for music director Ravi, in the film Narsi Bhagat (1957) played a prominent part in the film Slumdog Millionaire which went on to bag the Oscars. The question was who wrote the song, and the answer by Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) was Surdas. Right answer, screamed Anil Kapoor. The funny thing was that the song was written by Gopal Singh Nepali, and did not even figure in the four options given — Surdas, Tulsidas, Meerabai or Kabir. The song was rendered by Hemant Kumar with Sudha Malhotra and Manna Dey, in raag Kedar.

In the nearly five years that he worked with the Tamil industry, he left an indelible impression on contemporary and young composers from the south. From P B Sreenivos to Ilaiyaraaja, his inspiration was felt strongly in the tunes that were created thereafter.

Another leading production house, Modern Theatres, Salem, too turned to him for its first Hindi production ‘Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan’ (1957), with I S Johar as director. The entire cast was transported from Mumbai, Ajit and Nalini Jayawant playing the lead roles. The shooting took place in Salem in the Modern Theatres complex and nearby locales. Though the film had a tepid response, Hemant Kumar’s music in Geeta Dutt’s voice, “Tum Naheen Tho”, became very popular.

Those were the times, when people in Tamil Nadu may not have understood Hindi but could hum these evergreen numbers effortlessly. “Wo Kaise Log Thae Jin Ke Pyaar Ko Pyaar Mila (Pyaasa), “Kuchh Dil Ne Kahaa” or “Bekaraar Karke” (Bees Saal Baad), songs of love and longing would have been incomplete without his touch.

(The writer is president of Chennai 2000 Plus Trust)