Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay (English: Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, born- 16 June, 1920, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; died- 26 September, 1989, West Bengal) was a great playback singer and musician of the Hindi film world. He was famous as ‘Hemant Da’, whose songs still mesmerize the listeners.
Hemant Kumar, a well-known personality of Bengali and Hindi film music, was not only a master of music but also a great film producer. Hemant Kumar, who gave voice to many non-film albums in Bengali language, also gave his melodious voice to many famous Hindi songs. Along with this, he also produced a film which was awarded the ‘President’s Gold Medal’. According to film critic Jyoti Venkatesh, Hemant Kumar was one of the most talented artists of his time. This artist, who was adept at understanding the pulse of music, was also considered an expert of ‘Rabindra Sangeet’.
Hemant Kumar was born on 16 June 1920 in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). He completed his primary education from ‘Mitra Institute’ in Kolkata. After passing his intermediate examination, Hemant Kumar took admission in engineering at ‘Jadavpur University’. Hemant Kumar left his engineering studies midway. The reason for this was that by that time he had become inclined towards music and he was eager to become a musician. Meanwhile, Hemant Kumar also wanted to make his mark in the literary world and one of his stories was published in a Bengali magazine ‘Desh’. But by the end of 1930, Hemant Kumar started focusing his entire attention on music. With the help of his childhood friend Subhash, he got a chance to sing his first Bengali song for Akashvani in 1930.[1]
Hemant Kumar had three brothers and a sister ‘Neelima’. His elder brother ‘Tarajyoti’ was a Bengali short story writer. Younger brother ‘Amal Mukhopadhyay’ also composed music for some Bengali films. In 1945, Hemant Kumar married Bela Mukherjee, who was also a singer from Bengal. Hemant Kumar also became the father of son Jayant and daughter Renu. Later, his son Jayant married the famous Hindi actress Mousumi Chatterjee, who was famous in the 1970s.
Hemant Kumar received his initial musical education from a Bengali musician Shailesh Dutt Gupta. Apart from this, he also learnt classical music from Ustad Faiyaz Khan. In 1937, Hemant Kumar sang non-film songs for a foreign music company ‘Columbia Label’ under the music direction of Shailesh Dutt Gupta. After this, Hemant Kumar lent his voice for the ‘Gramophonic Company of India’ almost every year. For the ‘Gramophonic Company’ itself, Hemant Kumar got a chance to sing his first Hindi song ‘Kitna Dukh Bhulaaya Tumne’ in 1940 under the music direction of Kamaldas Gupta, while he lent his voice for a Bengali film released in 1941. In the year 1944, he also composed music for a non-film Bengali song. In the same year, he got a chance to sing in his first Hindi film ‘Irada’ under the music direction of Pandit Amarnath. Along with this, in 1944, Hemant Kumar recorded songs for Rabindranath Tagore’s Rabindra Sangeet for ‘Columbia Label Company’. In 1947, he worked as a composer for the Bengali film ‘Abhiyatri’. Meanwhile, Hemant Kumar also started working as an active member of ‘Bharatiya Jan Natya Sangh’. Gradually, Hemant Kumar succeeded in making his mark as a composer in Bengali films.[1]
Hemant Kumar also composed music for many Bengali films, including many films directed by Hemen Gupta. After some time, Hemen Gupta came to Mumbai and invited Hemant Kumar to come to Mumbai. In 1951, Hemen Gupta offered Hemant Kumar to compose music for his first Hindi film ‘Anandamath’ to be made under the banner of ‘Filmistan Studio’. After the success of the film ‘Anandamath’, Hemant Kumar became established as a music composer in the film industry. ‘Vande Mataram’ sung in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar in ‘Anandamath’ still fills the listeners with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the songs sung by Hemant Kumar for films like ‘Jaal’, ‘House No. 44’ and ‘Solahvan Saal’ under the music direction of S.D. Burman also became very popular among the listeners. In 1954, the film ‘Nagin’ adorned with his music achieved immense success. After the success of this film, Hemant Kumar reached the pinnacle of heights. A song from the film ‘Nagin’ ‘Man Dole Mera Tan Dole’ is still very popular among the listeners. Along with this, Hemant Kumar was awarded the ‘Filmfare Award’ for the best music director for the film ‘Nagin’.
In the fifties, Hemant Kumar not only composed music for Bengali and Hindi films but also sang songs. In 1959, Hemant Kumar also entered the field of film production and established a film company named ‘Hemanta Bela Production’. A Bengali film ‘Nil Akasher Neeche’ was produced under this banner under the direction of Mrinal Sen. This film received the ‘President Gold Medal’. After this, Hemant Kumar also produced many Hindi films under his banner like ‘Bees Saal Baad’ (1962), ‘Kohra’ (1964), ‘Bibi Aur Makaan’ (1966), ‘Faraar’ (1965), ‘Raahgir’ (1969) and ‘Khamoshi’ (1969). In the seventies, Hemant Kumar reduced his work for Hindi films. However, he continued working for Bengali films. In 1971, Hemant Kumar also directed a Bengali film ‘Anandita’, but this film failed at the box office.
Hemant Kumar also received many awards and honors in his successful career. He received the ‘President Gold Medal’ for the Bengali film ‘Nil Akasher Neeche’. In 1989, he went to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the ‘Michael Madhusudan Award’.
In 1979, Hemant Kumar re-recorded his songs sung in the forties and fifties under the music direction of Salil Chaudhary and released it as ‘Legend of Glory-2’ and this album was quite successful. In 1989, Hemant Kumar went to Dhaka to receive the ‘Michael Madhusudan Award’, where he also participated in a music festival. When he returned to India after the festival, he suffered a heart attack. This great musician and playback singer, who gave immense pleasure to the listeners with his melodious music for almost five decades, died on 26 September 1989.[1]
