Mumbai: Legendary singer Suman Kalyanpur was laid to rest with full state honours at Pawan Hans crematorium in Juhu on Monday afternoon. The 89-year-old singer passed away at her residence in Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri, on Sunday. Her remains, draped in the national flag, were accorded a gun salute by police guards.
Musical Tributes and Mourners
A group of fans paid a live musical tribute by singing her iconic songs, including ‘Ajahoon na aaye baalma’, ‘Omkar pradhan roop Ganeshache’, and the immortal number ‘Rahein na rahein hum, mehka karenge’ from the film ‘Mamta’, which also features a version by Mohd Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur, apart from the well-known solo by Lata Mangeshkar.
Given her reclusive nature, the film industry was largely absent from the funeral, except for singers Suresh Wadkar and Mandar Apte. However, online tributes poured in from President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Kalyanpur was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2023 and the Lata Mangeshkar Award in 2009.
Legacy of Timeless Melodies
Kalyanpur’s tracks were infused with timelessness. One of her haunting melodies, ‘Mere mehboob na jaa’ (lyrics: Saba Afghani, composer: Jani Babu) from the little-seen film Noor Mahal (1965), stands tall alongside Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Kahin deep jale kahin dil’ and ‘Naina barse rimjhim, rimjhim’. The irony of Kalyanpur’s career is that millions loved the songs she sang, but many did not know she was the singer.
Rise to Prominence
When Suman began singing for films in the 1950s, Lata Mangeshkar was the industry’s premier vocalist. However, Kalyanpur made significant inroads between 1962 and 1967, when Lata and Mohd Rafi stopped singing duets after a dispute over royalty payments. Music directors had to choose between the two. When they felt Lata was irreplaceable, they paired her with Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, or Mahendra Kapoor. When they could not do without Rafi, they sought an alternative female voice.
Rafi and Suman’s biggest chartbusters included the title track of ‘Dil Ek Mandir’ and ‘Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche’, which ruled Binaca Geet Mala. According to Sujata Dev’s biography of Rafi, Suman sang 141 duets and 14 group songs with him.
Multilingual Contributions
Kalyanpur recorded in Marathi, Assamese, Bangla, Kannada, and other languages. Her ‘bhav geet’ and ‘bhakti geet’ had dedicated listeners. She also sang ‘Ab to lagal mora solwan saal’ in ‘Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo’ (1962), the first Bhojpuri film. One of her last songs was ‘Zindagi imtehan leti hai’ in Manmohan Desai’s ‘Naseeb’ (1981).
(Inputs by Bella Jaisinghani)
