Showing posts with label Nitin Mukesh interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nitin Mukesh interview. Show all posts
Mukesh - The voice that made heartbreak sing, 50 years on
10:37 AM
Renowned playback singer Mukesh died on this day in 1976, hours before a Detroit concert. Half a century later, his son Nitin recalls the haunting final days of a voice that continues to comfort millions
Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 27, 2026)
For anyone nursing a heartbreak, his voice fell like gentle rain on parched earth. With every note rendered, the heart seemed to heal to its touch.
Even now, exactly 50 years after his passing on August 27, 1976, Mukesh, the master of melancholy, continues to comfort millions on aching afternoons and vagabond nights.
The Delhi-born singer passed away following a fifth heart attack, shortly before a sold-out musical show with the peerless Lata Mangeshkar in faraway Detroit. The two singers, who shared a close bond, were on a series of shows across cities in the US and Canada.
The Delhi-born singer passed away following a fifth heart attack, shortly before a sold-out musical show with the peerless Lata Mangeshkar in faraway Detroit. The two singers, who shared a close bond, were on a series of shows across cities in the US and Canada.
Last days, final moments
Mukesh’s son, Nitin Mukesh, who was with him in his room at Hotel Pontchartrain during the fatal heart attack, remembers that three days earlier, his father had asked Lata in Montreal if Nitin could sing a few songs at the show.
“I don’t know why he said that. He had never done that before,” says Nitin, who would go on to become a popular playback singer in his own right.
Introduced by Lata to the audience, Nitin sang the chartbuster Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein. Mukesh played the harmonium. After the show, Nitin received accolades from the audience.
But when he asked his father about his performance, Mukesh simply said, “Bahut achha tha (it was very good), but there is room for improvement.”
“He didn’t praise me to the skies,” Nitin says. “But my mother told me later that he called her and said, ‘Tumhare bete ne to apne baap ko bhi peeche chhod diya (Your son has left his father far behind)’.” The next day, Nitin again crooned a few songs, this time in Toronto. The father-son duo sang Jaane Kahan Gaye Woh Din from Mera Naam Joker as a duet.
Nitin got to sing a lesser-heard stanza: “Is dil ke ashiyaan mein bas unke khayal reh gaye / Tod ke dil woh chal diye, hum phir akele reh gaye.” The words turned out to be strangely prophetic. “It’s been 50 years since I sang those lines, but they still haunt me,” Nitin says.
That was to be the last time Mukesh sang on stage. They took the train to Detroit on August 26, a day before the scheduled show. Father and son shared a room at the hotel. On August 27, the fateful day, Nitin stepped out for lunch.
“When I returned, I saw him peacefully asleep. I let him be and dozed off,” he says. Nitin remembers being woken up by his father, who teased him: “Aaj mera gala ekdum theek hai, aaj tujhe nahi gaane doonga (My voice feels perfect today, so I won’t let you sing at all).”
Mukesh then stepped into the shower. “Suddenly, I had an awful vision. I did something which I had never done before. I knocked on the door and said, ‘Papa’. He was almost irritable. ‘Kya hai? I am getting ready.’”
Nitin started feeling more relaxed. But when Mukesh took more time, he called him a second time — only to get a similar response.
A couple of minutes later, the door opened and Mukesh emerged, panting. He took a cushion and sat on the chair. “I instantly sensed something was wrong, and started patting his back gently. He said, ‘Don’t touch me, I am feeling uncomfortable.’ He was also sweating.”
Nitin called Lata and the hotel reception. The paramedics arrived within minutes, but before them came Lata with her ‘bhabhi’. She applied a tika on Mukesh’s forehead. “Lata didi was scared and aghast,” says Nitin.
“My father scolded me, ‘Why did you have to call her, main theek ho jaoonga (I’ll be alright),’ he said.” Before the paramedics put him on a wheelchair and took him down to the ambulance, Mukesh asked for the Ramayan, which he read and recited every day. “In the ambulance, he was calling out to his own mother,” says Nitin.
The ambulance reached Detroit General Hospital in about 10 minutes. Nitin was relieved to see an Indian doctor among the medical staff. “I knew that at least one of the doctors would know who he was treating,” he says. Mukesh was wheeled into emergency. The Ramayan was returned. That was the last Nitin saw him alive.
Mukesh was only 53. Sadly, two other singing greats — Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar — also died in their 50s.
The importance of no. 9
Nitin says the number nine held a special significance in Mukesh’s life. Nitin Mukesh was born on July 27 — the numerals adding up to nine. When his father travelled to Kenya and Mauritius for shows in 1963, he chose June 27 as the travel date. In 1976, they left for the US-Canada tour on July 27. In Detroit, after Mukesh saw that the hotel room number was 2007, he said: “Sabse achha show hoga (It’ll be the best show).” The Detroit performance would have been the ninth show of the tour. Ironically, Mukesh also passed away on August 27.
The Ramayan album
Mukesh’s seven-album magnum opus, Tulsi Ramayan, remains an evergreen classic. One of the albums, Sundarkand, has 6.6 million plays on YouTube, along with more than 3,500 emotional comments.
Old-timers recall how the devotional tracks would play in temples near their homes, becoming a part of their daily lives.
Many singers have since recorded the Ramayan, but Mukesh was “the pioneer”, Nitin points out. “So many people come and talk to me about the Ramayan. And, till date, the album fetches royalty,” he says.
Mukesh’s rendition of the epic is rich, resonant and filled with a devoutness that comes from deeply feeling the words. The seven albums were recorded over seven to eight years, during which the singer survived four heart attacks. The album’s composer and Mukesh’s friend, Murli Manohar Swaroop, once reassured Nitin after his father’s fourth attack:
“Chinta mat kar, Nitin, papa ko kuchh nahi honewala hai. Ramayan baaki hai, bhai (Don’t worry, Nitin, nothing will happen to your dad. The Ramayan is still left).”
The recording of the final Ramayan album was completed just a few days before Mukesh and Nitin flew out for the tour. “When he came back home that night, he sobbed like a child and said, ‘My mission is complete’.”
A special duet with Salil Da
Many of Mukesh’s signature tracks were recorded with Shankar-Jaikishan. But several of his unforgettable numbers, including the song for which he received the National Award, Kai Baar Yun Bhi Dekha Hai from Rajnigandha, were composed by Salil Chowdhury.
“So many male singers sang for him. But he handpicked the songs that he gave Papa. They sat and sang together, ate and drank together,” says Nitin.
Nitin also recalls that Salil da ruffled feathers when he gave the Anand song Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye to Mukesh.
The original Bengali version, Aamaye Proshno Kore Neel Dhrubotaara, had been sung by Hemant Kumar. “But he insisted that Mukesh would sing the number,” Nitin says.
He also remembers the forgotten Kaise Manaoon Piyawa from the 1961 film Chaar Diwari — a song that “perished like an unseen desert flower” when it was first released. “But in America, the audience still asks for that song.”
Salil Chowdhury’s tunes for Madhumati and Anand were chartbusters. But Nitin points to two other Salil classics sung by Mukesh — Zindagi Khwab Hai from Jagte Raho and Nain Hamare from Annadata. “They are perennial favourites,” he says.
A great match
Leg-spinner B S Chandrashekhar, who fashioned a bunch of unforgettable Test victories for India in the 1970s, was perhaps Mukesh’s greatest fan.
Journalist Raju Bharatan once wrote in the Weekly that the ace spinner possessed more than 100 records of K L Saigal and over 300 albums of Mukesh.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has recalled how Chandra would be fired up by a Mukesh song playing on a transistor radio in the stands.
When Ajit Wadekar’s team returned after winning India’s first Test series in England in 1971, Chandrashekhar was the toast of the nation. His leg-breaks and googlies had produced a dream spell of 6/38 and destroyed England at The Oval. Mukesh was in hospital at the time, having suffered his second heart attack. Chandra drove straight from the airport to meet his idol.
“He was India’s man of the moment. But he came to the hospital to meet Papa. My father was also thrilled and humbled. The doctors took care to ensure that he wasn’t too excited. Both were in tears,” recalls Nitin. “Chandra could hardly speak Hindi. But he knew every Mukesh song.”
Over the years, the singer and the cricketer developed a strong mutual admiration society. Every time Chandra was in Bombay, he would visit Mukesh at his residence. “On different occasions, he brought Gavaskar, Vishwanath, and Syed Kirmani home,” Nitin says.
In 1973, against Tony Lewis’s visiting team, Chandrashekhar scalped a record 35 wickets at Bombay’s Brabourne Stadium. “Chandra signed and gifted the record-breaking ball and a bat signed by the Indian cricket team to my younger brother, Mohnish,” he recalls.
Chandra was in Bangalore when Mukesh passed away. The story goes that the flights were fully booked and Chandra barely managed to get himself onboard. “He was heartbroken, absolutely uncontrollable,” says Nitin. Chandra later named his son Nitin as a mark of respect to the singer.
The voice that never left
Mukesh may have been gone for five decades, but the emotional intimacy of his voice has never really faded.
His songs continue to find listeners in moments of loneliness, nostalgia and heartbreak. His Ramayan continues to play in homes and temples. And the memories of the man behind that unmistakable voice continue to live on through those who knew him.
The singer is long gone. The songs endure.
Music begins and ends with Lata Mangeshkar, she is the greatest there ever will be-Nitin Mukesh
7:58 AM
Lata Mangeshkar during a live performance in Mumbai (1977)
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 28, 2019)
Nitin Mukesh, son of the late singer Mukesh (right), has known Lata Mangeshkar, who turns 90 today, since before he was born. The Melody Queen was clicked with the Mathur family during a concert in Delhi when he was still in his mother’s womb, forging a bond, which he believes is pre-destined. When he was born, Lata ji’s mother presented him with a gold chain and by the time he was around five, little Nitin was trailing behind his papa to song recordings. It was a year or two later that he realised the legend his father was, as also this enchanting goddess who was always warm and affectionate towards him. And once he did, he was in love with her, for life.“It’s the purest emotion I can feel,” Nitin ji rhapsodises, pointing out that he has a playlist of Lata ji’s songs, around 400 of them, which he listens to every day, from “Kuchh Dil Ne Kaha” (Anupama) and “Kai Din Se Jee Hai Bekal” (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki) to “Kya Janu Sajan” (Baharon Ke Sapne) and all the Raj Kapoor film songs, among others. “There are times when my beloved father’s songs make me depressed because I lost him too soon, but Didi’s songs always elevate my spirit.”
He flashbacks to August 24, 1976, when he made his stage debut with Lata ji at the age of 25. He had accompanied his father on a concert tour. They were in Toronto and Mukesh ji had a slight cold. A concerned Lata ji suggested that since he wasn’t feeling too well, she could sing a couple of duets with Nitin. When the boy was told this, he was aghast. “Papa, will I be able to do it?” he wailed. In her gentle way, Lata ji assured young Nitin that he would do great, and introduced him on stage. His first song as a performer was “Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein” which ironically turned out to be his papa’s last one.
It was encore in Montreal and Nitin ji remembers Mukesh ji crying like a baby in the wings as he watched him sing with Lata ji. Then, leaving him to enjoy the adulation alone, he rushed back to the hotel to call his wife, telling her proudly that their son “papa ki chutti kar di”.
Before this Mukesh ji would keep seeking assurance from Lata ji, “Nitin, apni dal roti kama lega na?” After seeing him perform with her he was convinced the boy would do well. “Meri pension pakki,” he exulted.
Three days after his son’s glorious debut, Mukesh ji succumbed to a sudden heart attack on August 27, and the Detroit and Philadelphia shows had to be cancelled. “But in December, Lata ji graciously returned to the two cities with me, pointing out that papa had never hurt anyone during his lifetime, so it was our responsibility to honour his commitment and ensure the promoters of these shows did not suffer. ‘Tu chal unka adhura sapna pura karne,’ she urged, leading me by the hand again and introducing me to the world as her Mukesh bhaiyya’s son. My father gave me his name, but without Didi, I might have got lost in the mists of anonymity and not been able to take his legacy forward. She gave me a career,” Nitin ji says, his voice cracking with emotion.
Today, he proudly claims that among male playback singers, except for her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar, he’s done the maximum stage shows with Lata ji. They have travelled across the world, from the UK, US, Canada and Europe to Africa, UAE, Russia, West Indies and even Swaziland in South Africa till she took the curtain call. In her heydays, she went on at least three-four foreign tours every year, and everywhere they went, she got a rousing reception.
Nitin ji recalls a visit to Georgetown when they drove from the airport to the hotel in an open car for around 60 kms at a snail’s pace, with screaming fans lining both sides of the road. “It was as if all of Guyana had descended for a glimpse of this petite, unassuming lady who stood all the way, smiling and shyly waving out to the fans. I was told later that not even heads of state, including the Queen of England, had ever drawn such euphoric crowds,” recounts Nitin ji, sharing that no matter what time a concert ended, Lata ji was the first to be ready for sightseeing next morning. Her devotion to music still leaves him awed as he recalls how the songstress never stepped on stage wearing footwear. Also, on the morning of every concert, she’d insist on an hour or two of rehearsals, going over the 30-odd songs in the set. “If show time was 7 pm, she was in the hotel lobby a minute before 6 pm, and two minutes before the curtains went up, she was at the mic. Didi is so disciplined, you can set your watch by her,” he asserts.
They stay in touch through Whatsapp texts, Lata ji responding to his emotional, “Missing you Didi,” with “God bless you, I love you too” and every now and then, sending him a rare song of hers in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia or Bengali. “For me music begins and ends with Lata Didi, she is the greatest there ever will be,” Nitin ji signs off.
Producer Gulshan Rai, director Yash Chopra, Lata Mangeshkar, Nitin Mukesh and composer Khayyam during a Trishul recording in 1978
Raj Kapoor was at the airport, inconsolable, when I returned with papa’s body-Nitin Mukesh
7:55 AM
Nitin with father Mukesh, Raj Kapoor, Jaikishan, Randhir and Rishi Kapoor and recordist Minoo Kartik at the song recording for the film Mera Naam Joker
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 14, 2017)
With a cheer, not a tear in your eye, Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye, Give me a smile, I can keep for a while, In my heart while you are away, Till me meet once again, you and I, Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye...
These were the first lines Nitin Mukesh recorded for Mera Naam Joker at Mumbai’s Famous Studio. He was then about 15, and he was recording for Rishi Kapoor, younger by two years, who played the young Ranbir Raj aka Raju in the 1970 film. Rishi was present on the occasion along with his older brother Randhir and father Raj Kapoor as also was Nitin’s own papa, the legendary singer Mukesh.“Raj uncle decided on the spur of the moment that he wanted Mukesh’s son to sing for his son. Papa asked me if I could and I assured him I would. Jaikishan saab (of the composer duo Shankar-Jaikishen) rehearsed the popular song during World War II with me for a couple of days before I recorded it live with the other children singing in chorus,” recalls the singer. He chuckles and says that his father was more nervous than he was. Raj Kapoor was emotional, and showered him with blessings. He predicted he’d become as famous as his father. “I’d later joke with Chintu that my voice made him a star while he would attribute his success to papa who sang 'Teetar Ke Do Aage Teetar' for him in the same film.”
The actor-filmmaker was a permanent fixture in Mukesh’s life and when rehearsing or recording with him, Raj Kapoor’s Chevrolet Impala would often land up outside the singer’s one-room-kitchen apartment in Napean Sea Road in the middle of the night and bring gawking neighbours to their doors. Mukesh’s five children, who would be sleeping on the floor, would be hurriedly woken up, and his wife would rush to the kitchen to rustle up dinner for the showman who’d relax with Mukesh over a drink.
“When we moved to a three-BHK close by, he was the only outsider present at the house-warming and after walking through the rooms, he announced that he liked the children’s bedroom best but it needed an air-conditioner. The next day his gift arrived, making us feel like little emperors in our palatial bedroom, because air-conditioners were a luxury those days,” says Nitin.
He says that while most people referred to Mukesh as Raj Kapoor’s voice, the filmmaker himself admitted to Simi Garewal in her documentary that after Jaikishen passed away he felt like he’d lost an arm and after Shailendra’s demise the other, but after Mukesh succumbed to a sudden heart attack in Detroit on August 27, 1976 while on a concert tour, he realised he had lost his soul. “Raj uncle was with us at home till we left for the airport. Little did he know then that this was the last time he’d see his Mukesh Chand alive (Kapoor always addressed him by his full name). He was at the airport, inconsolable, when I returned with papa’s body. He’d been filming the flood sequences for Satyam Shivam Sundaram near Pune when he got the news and despite knowing how difficult it would be to get a busy Shashi Kapoor’s combination dates with Zeenat (Aman), and without a thought for the losses he’d incur, he drove down to be with our family for the next 10 days,” says Nitin Mukesh. Kapoor kept in touch via frequent phone calls and his wife Krishna would drop by to ensure that the singer’s family was doing well.
The times were tough for Mukesh’s family, and Nitin Mukesh would accept show offers for as little as Rs 100 to keep the kitchen fires burning. So, when Swami Chidanand Maharaj, for whose Divine Light Society his father had done a fund-raiser every year for free, offered to organise a show for him for which he was willing to pay him Rs 50,000, he was delighted. The only condition was that Raj Kapoor had to present Nitin Mukesh.
“Raj uncle had returned to shoot Satyam Shivam Sundaram but since the money would make things easier for us, I went to meet him and sounded him out. He agreed immediately and put the RK Studio machinery to work to invite the entire film industry for the show. The Kapoor family was present, along with Amitabh Bachchan, several actors and other big names from the music fraternity. It was a full house and it set the ball rolling for me,” acknowledges the grateful singer.
“Chanchal Sheetal Nirmal Komal” was the last song my father recorded for Satyam Shivan Sundaram before we left for the US. On his return he was to sing “Woh Aurat Hai Tu Mehbooba”, but I ended up crooning it with Lataji and after that I never looked back,” says Nitin Mukesh. As a tribute to his ‘Raj uncle’, who would have turned 93 on December 14, he begins every show with Mukesh’s Mera Naam Joker song, “Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan” and ends the show with his own, “With A Cheer, Not A Tear…”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)