Mumbai: Weeks after Asha Bhosle passed away April 12, India lost another stalwart singer Suman Kalyanpur at age 89 on Sunday May 31. Her voice bore such striking similarity to that of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar that common listeners sometimes mistook one for the other.

Born Suman Hemmady on January 28, 1937, in Dhaka (undivided India), she went on to make a glorious career as a playback singer in Hindi and Marathi apart from a few other Indian languages. Her non-film songs span bhajans, ghazals and Marathi abhang and bhavgeet.

After completing school from St Columba, Mumbai, an artistic Suman enrolled in the JJ School of Art to learn painting. She went on to learn vocal music from Pt Keshavrao Bhole, Ustad Khan Abdul Rehman Khan and Master Navrang.

Her early successes came in two films Shukrachi Chandni and Mangu (1954) followed by a colourful pyramid layered with Sharaabi sharaabi yeh saawan ka mausam, Rahein na rahein hum, Aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche, Na na karte pyaar, Na tum hamein jaano, Parbaton ke pedon par and Nimbonichya zhaada maage. Her duets with Mohammed Rafi peaked in the early 1960s, driven by the Lata-Rafi rift.

As news of her death broke Sunday, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and singer Fayyaz were among the first to express condolence.

Pawar said, "The news of the passing of Suman Kalyanpur is extremely heartbreaking. With her sweet, melodious, and soul-stirring voice, she enriched the world of Indian music. Her immortal songs in Hindi, Marathi, and numerous other regional languages have reigned supreme over the emotional realms of generations. With her demise, the curtains are drawn on an era of gold in Indian classical and light music. I offer my heartfelt tribute to her and extend my condolences to her family."

Suman had married businessman Ramanand Kalyanpur in 1958. She is survived by her daughter Charu Agny and son-in-law Manoj Agny.

--------------------------------------

After news of singer Suman Kalyanpur’s death came in on Sunday night, one noticed two common reactions. One was that she was the closest to sound like Lata Mangeshkar, and the other was that she didn’t get the accolades she deserved. 

Both responses may be justified, but the fact remains that Kalyanpur had some iconic hits in the 1960s. Even today, songs like Na Tum Hamein Jaano (Baat Ek Raat Ki, 1962), Tumne Pukaara (Rajkumar, 1964), Na Na Karte Pyar (Jab Jab Phool Khile, 1965), and the super-hit Aajkal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche (Brahmachari, 1968) rule radio shows and talent competitions.

The Padma Bhushan awardee passed away in Mumbai at the age of 89, following old age-related issues. Her death comes seven weeks after that of Asha Bhosle, and is thus seen as the definitive end of the Golden Era. Though Kalyanpur is best remembered as a Hindi playback singer, she was also admired for her Marathi bhavgeet and bhajans, Punjabi shabd and wedding songs, and tunes in Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, and other regional languages. Her rendition of the Marathi devotional song, Keshava Madhava, is an audience favourite.

Born Suman Hemmadi in Dhaka on January 28, 1937, she moved to Mumbai with her family when she was six. She took formal training in singing and painting. She got an offer from All India Radio in 1952, and sang in the Marathi film Shukrachi Chandni the following year. In 1954, she sang in Mangu and Darwaza.

After marriage, her husband Ramanand Kalyanpur encouraged her to pursue her singing career. The hits came in the first half of the 1960s, with Garjat Barsat, a duet with Kamal Barot in Barsat Ki Raat (1960), the Dil Ek Mandir (1963) title track, Ajahun Na Aaye Balma in Sanjh Aur Savera (1964), and Mere Mehboob Na Ja in Noor Mahal (1965).

During this time, many had noticed how similar Kalyanpur’s voice texture and style of delivery was to Mangeshkar’s, and often listeners found it difficult to differentiate between the two. It began when they sang Kabhi Aaj Kabhi Kal in Chand (1959), but became more noticeable when Kalyanpur got many songs with Mohammed Rafi after his four-year fallout with Mangeshkar in 1964. In Mamta (1966), Mangeshkar was hugely admired for Rahen Na Rahen Hum, and very few people knew the alternate version was sung by Kalyanpur.

She slowed down in the 1970s, and subsequently kept a low profile. In the few interviews she gave, she attributed her destiny for not getting the attention she may have deserved, also saying her songs were dropped from some films. Of course, the melodies she has left behind fill a treasure trove.