How velvety-voiced Geeta Dutt's signature songs had an uncanny reflection of her life

New Delhi, Nov 23 By some unhappy coincidence, three of her most iconic songs aptly reflect her spectacular -- but unfortunately short and ultimately tragic -- life. 'Mera sundar sapna beet gaya', which brought her to prominence, seemed to presage her future, 'Tadbeer se bigdi taqdeer', proved that she was capable of much more than weepy songs or bhajans, and 'Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam' seemed to echo Geeta Dutt's later life.

If Meena Kumari was Hindi films' tragedy queen -- and could not shake the tag off the screen, then Geeta Dutt was her singing counterpart. There were many uncanny points of resemblance between the two contemporaries, who were born three years apart but departed the world around three months apart in the same year.

Fittingly, Geeta Dutt's swan song was for Meena Kumari -- 'Na jao saiyan churha ke baiyan' in 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam' (1962) where both proved that they were unmatched in portraying hapless pathos -- and let down by those they adored.

Geeta Dutt was born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri into a wealthy Zamindar family in what is now Bangladesh, on this day (November 23) in 1930. However, her family left all this behind in the early 1940s and moved to Calcutta, and then Bombay. It was in the latter place that a man passing her house heard her crooning in her room and was overwhelmed by her voice. He met her parents and convinced them to get her to learn music.

She made her singing debut in Hindi films in 1946 when composer Hanuman Prasad gave her a few lines in songs of his mythological film 'Bhakta Prahlad', and went on to do almost 10 films that year, including Chetan Anand's 'Neecha Nagar', whose music was scored by Pandit Ravi Shankar. She impressed S. D. Burman, who chose her for 'Do Bhai' (1947) though producer Chandulal Shah was sceptical of her ability -- till he heard her sing. He was so captivated by her velvety voice, with the multiple emotional layers that spoke straight to the heart, that he signed her on the spot.

The plaintive 'Mera sundar sapna...' from this film brought Geeta Dutt to fame, and she went on to sing for an average of 30 films each in the next two years, under the batons of Ghulam Haider, Anil Biswas, Chitragupt, C. Ramchandra, Sajjad Hussain, S. D. Batish, Husnlal–Bhagatram, Naushad, Roshan, Hemant Kumar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and others.

A high point was 'Tu Mera Chand Main Teri Chandni' from 'Dillagi' (1949) -- where she sang for Suraiya, the sole surviving singing superstar of Hindi films.

Geeta Dutt left a marked impression on connoisseurs and commoners alike with the rare sensitivity and restrained anguish she rendered Meera's bhajans, like 'Ghunghat ke pat khol', 'Main to Girdhar ke ghar jaon', 'Mein to prem diwani', and 'Mat ja mat ja jogi' (her own personal favourite) in 'Jogan' (1950), and 'Jai Jagdish hare' in 'Anandamath' (1952).

S. D. Burman then gave her a makeover with 'Tadbeer se bigdi taqdeer' from 'Baazi' (1951), converting a ghazal into a jazzy cabaret number and Geeta Dutt went to showcase how her forte also ranged to foot-tapping songs.

'Baazi' was a game-changer for her in more ways for it was here that she met her future husband -- the film's upcoming director Guru Dutt, and they got married in 1953.

Her career also flourished as music directors like O. P. Nayyar, Madan Mohan, and Ravi, began choosing her for upbeat songs. She would go on to sing over 1,400 songs in more than 250 films, displaying a lilting playfulness verging on impishness, a brief hint of calibrated coquetry, but above all, an undefinable appeal to the listener.

Her songs are still fresh -- take 'Babuji dheere chalna', or duet 'Mohabbat kar lo' from 'Aar Paar' (1954), 'Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji', 'Thandi hawa, kaali ghata', and 'Udhar tum haseen ho' from 'Mr & Mrs 55' (1955), 'Jaata kahaan hai dewaane', and 'Ankhon hi ankhon mein' from 'CID' (1956), 'Ae dil mujhe bata de' from 'Bhai Bhai' (1956), the Baul music-imbued 'Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo', 'Jaane kya tune kahi', or waltz 'Hum aap ki aankhon mein' ('Pyaasa', 1957), and 'Mera naam chin chin chu' ('Howrah Bridge', 1958), among others.

However, the dream soon soured -- an insecure Guru Dutt not only tried to restrict her to his own productions but also engaged in an affair with a leading lady, that drove her into a vortex of despair and made her turn to drinks.

Then, his accidental death/suicide in 1964 and the debts he left, forced Geeta Dutt to do stage shows to sustain herself and her family but the tensions and consequent health problems led to her untimely demise in 1971, aged only 41.

"Tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum..."

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)