28th January 1937-31st May 2026
Part 1 Her solos
I feel very bad for not having written about Suman Kalyanpur much earlier. I have a huge list that contains the names of great artists yet to be covered in my blogs and I had even thought of writing about her on one or two occasions earlier. Somehow it could not happen and now , sadly, I have to write this as a tribute after she unfortunately left this world on 31st May 2026 , at the age of 89 years.
Nature had given her a voice that had a remarkable resemblance to Lata Mageshkar and that turned out to be a blessing and, unfortunately , a curse also for her. In the early years , when most of the radio channels never announced the name of the singer while playing film songs, her voice was thought to be that of Lata. This resulted in her name not getting the popularity she deserved. Only after the credits were given to singers, people realised that some of the songs they thought was sung by Lata was actually that of Suman Kalyanpur . Fate played a role in giving her a great break between 1963 to 1967 , when Lata did not sing duets with Rafi over that infamous spat over royalty issue. Most of the music directors, who preferred Rafi as the male singer in a duet started offering songs to Suman as an alternative to Lata. Even discerning listeners , sometimes , cannot make out the difference between Lata and Suman in few songs. They were so similar in some songs. Once Lata and Rafi started singing together, although this combination became rare , some music composers thankfully gave Suman few songs now and then. Of course, she was always active in Marathi music-both film and non-film and had made a great name for herself in the Marathi music world.
Born at Kolkata , on 28th January 1937 , to Shanker Rao Hemmady and Seeta Hemmady as the eldest among six children, she was three years old when the family shifted to Dhaka. Her father was working in a bank at a senior position. Later, in 1943 they shifted to Mumbai and Suman had her training in music and painting . She completed her studies at St. Columbia High School and pursued her interest in painting at the J J School of Arts. Her initial grooming in music was with her guru Pandit Keshav Rao Bhole-who was associated with the famous Prabhat Film Company of Pune. She also honed her music skills with two other gurus-Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Guruji Master Navrang.
Like most families those days, an active career in music was not encouraged , but when an opportunity came to her with All India Radio, in 1952, Suman could not refuse. At the same time , she sang for a Marathi film in 1953-Shukrachi Chandini . For the Hindi film Magnu, film maker Sheikh Mukhtar gave an opportunity to Suman , being impressed with her songs in Shukrachi Chandini. The original music director was Mohammad Shafi and due to some reasons, half-way through the film he was replaced with O P Nayyar. Out of the three songs she sang, only one -Koi Pukare Dheere Se Tujhe was retained in the film.
Despite singing some good songs for the prominent music directors in her early career, luck did not smile upon her . With other singers like Shamsahd Begum, Lata, Asha & Geeta Dutt going strong, it was a struggle for her in the Hindi film industry. Then that infamous rift over the royalty issue between Rafi sahab and Lata happened in 1963 and that turned out to be a blessing for Suman. Since Rafi & Lata did not sing any duets together during this period, music directors who were determined to have Rafi as the male playback singer, started using Suman for the duets.
The unbelievable resemblance of her voice to that of Lata was both a boon and a bane for her. Boon -because she got many memorable duets to sing with the great Rafi sahab and bane because in the days when singers’ name was not announced many times in radio, many wrongly thought it was Lata’s voice. And more sadly, in 1967, when Rafi & Lata started singing together, opportunities for Suman dwindled. However , few music directors like Shankar Jaikishan and Roshan gave her songs, even solos , after 1967 also and Suman had also made a great name for herself in Marathi films.
Even though the number of songs Suman had sung may not be as large as that of Lata or Asha, the percentage of hit songs were very high and so it is again going to be a difficult task for me to select few for this article. I shall break this into two parts-one on her solos and the other , on her more popular duets.
For a casual listener, it may be a bit difficult to make out the difference between her voice and that of Lata, but when we listen carefully , it is possible to make out the difference. At very high notes, Suman’s voice may not have that razor-sharp precision that Lata had. But that very fact endeared to Suman’s fans as that slight tremor in her voice had its own charm. Added to this , there was a child-like simplicity and sweetness in her voice , with a tinge of sadness. Of course, despite knowing all these factors, in few songs, I have been totally under the false impressions that it was Lata singing, when it was actually Suman. That was the closeness in some songs-God might have had two identical sets of vocal cords with him!!
Like many other artists , who, despite being immensely talented , remained unrecognized during their times, Suman never got any National award or Filmfare awards in her prime. It was only in 2023, just three years before she passed away, our government conferred the Padma Bhushan award. She was recognized earlier , 2017, by the Madhya Pradesh state government by honouring her with the Lata Mangeshkar Award.
Apart from Hindi and Marathi , she sang in other languages like Bengali, Odiya, Assamese , Gujarati , Kannada etc. Her close associate , Mangala Khadilkar , writer and compere, has written a biography on Suman Kalyanpur , titled Suman Sugandh in Marathi.
In this first part, I am listing twenty solo songs of Suman, in chronological order of the year of the film in which they featured and have given the song -film-year-music director and lyricist in that order. I shall come out with part 2 with her fabulous duets.
- Koi Pukare Dheere Se-Mangu-1954-Mohammad Shafi-Saba Afghani
After singing in Marathi films, Suman got her first chance to sing in Hindi under the music direction of Mohammad Shafi for the 1954 film Mangu. Unfortunately , due to reasons not exactly known, after having recorded three songs in the voice of Suman, the music director was replaced with O P Nayyar and except for this one song-Koi Pukare Dheer Se , the others were discarded. Still Suman made her mark with this one song and it is a sweet , melodious song.
2. Dil gham se jal raha hai-Shama-1961-Ghulam Mohammad-Kaifi Azmi
I could not see many hit songs in her early years ( my own limited knowledge about her could also be a reason) , but it was only in 1961 , that she got a superb song , composed by the veteran Ghulam Mohammad that is remembered even today.
3. Beet hue din kuchh aise hi hain -First Love-1961-Dattaram Wadkar-Gulshan Bawra
In the same year , we have another gem of a song , by the long-time percussion assistant of Shankar Jaikishan-Dattaram Wadkar , who independently composed some great songs.
4. Na tum humein jano na hum tumhe jane-Baat Ek Raat Ki-1962-S D Burman-Majrooh Sultanpuri
The year 1962 gave one of Suman’s most famous songs and despite there being a male version sung by Hemant Kumar that was even more popular, Suman’s version also is well-remembered. I do not know if this version is so short-I could get only this in YouTube. As usual S D Burman’s compositions are always great.
5. Ab To Lagat Mora Solvwa Saal -Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadaibo-1962-Chitragupt-Shailendra
This film was the first ever Bhojpuri film made and had music by the melody master Chitragupt, with the greatest lyricist Shailendra penning some gems like Sonwa Ke Pinjara Mein sung by the one and only Mohammad Rafi . Suman shows her skill in rendering songs in other languages also.
6. Apne Piya Ki Main Tho Bani Re Joganiya-Kan Kan Mein Bhagwan-1963-Shivram-Bharat Vyas
This song was an eternal favourite of Vividh Bharati in good old days, but I never knew it was composed by a relatively lesser-known music director Shivram. A lilting melody , fast paced and having that unique charm of a sweet-sounding Suman.
7. Yun hi dil ne chaha tha-Dil Hi Toh Hai-1963-Roshan-Sahir Ludhianvi
I do not have any official statistics on Suman’s songs, but I think among the many music directors , Roshan and Shankar Jaikishan gave her truly great songs. This has that trademark twists and turns in the tune that Roshan is famous for, rendered brilliantly by Suman.
8. Juhi Ki Kali Meri Laadli – Dil Ek Mandir-1963-Shankar Jaikishan-Shailendra
In a film, otherwise dominated by Lata and Rafi, this song by Suman ( for a long time I was under the wrong impression this was sung by Lata-the usual mistake when it comes to Suman’s songs|!) could find its own place for its simple , but catchy tune of SJ.
9. Hal-E-Dil Unko Sunaya Tha-Fariyad-1964-Snehal Bhatkar-Kidar Sharma
Snehal Bhatkar composed some out-of-the-world compositions and that is why despite having very few songs in Hindi films, his name is still remembered by film music connoisseurs. This song remains one of Suman’s most identified songs. The way she has rendered this song , shows her strong training in classical music. She glides over the higher notes with an innate ease .
10. Bhuja Diye Hain Khud Apne Hathon-Shagoon-1964-Khayyam-Sahir Ludhianvi
It is my personal opinion that Khayyam’s songs in his early years were outstanding , but he never got much fame and after a decade long gap , in 70’s he got much fame , but those songs are not of the class he composed earlier. This one by Suman shows how she can convey the emotions so poignantly. One of my personal favourites.
11. Chand Kanwal Mere Chand Kanwal – Sanjh Aur Savera-1964-Shankar Jaikishan-Hasrat Jaipuri
To be honest, despite being a great fan of Shankar Jaikishan, I had not heard this song -though other songs from this film are well-known. While selecting songs of Suman for this blog, I came across this and it is a pity that songs like this remained in obscurity.
12. Mere Sang Ga Gungunaa Koi Geet -Janwar-1965-Shankar Jaikishan-Hasrat Jaipuri
One more classical gem from Suman and SJ combination. Contrary to the general view that SJ used Suman only for duets with Rafi (when Lata was not singing with him), I find many good solos for her composed by SJ.
13. Mere mehboob na ja-Noor Mahal-1965-Jane Babu Qawwal-Sabah Afghani
Although composed & written by relatively lesser-known composer & lyricist, this is one of Suman’s most famous songs. The film was not a great commercial success, and I have intentionally selected a ‘ remastered’ version ( normally I do not prefer them) as the sound quality is much better. Suman had excelled herself in this song by giving out her best in terms of emotions, traversing those high notes and that is why despite being a lengthy song , you feel like listening to it again and again. The haunting melody created by Jane Babu Qawwal and superb lyrics by Sabah Afghani also adds more charm.
14. Jo ham pe guzarti hai tanha kise samjhayen- Mohabbat Isko kahte hain-1965-Khayyam-Majrooh Sultanpuri
What I wrote about Khayyam’s early compositions get more validated by songs like this. As much as the tune is so soft and sublime, Suman’s velvety voice equally caresses you like a breeze.
15. Sharabi Sharabi Yeh Sawan Ka Mausam-Noor Jehan-1967-Roshan-Shakeel Badayuni
One more very popular song of Suman, that has Roshan’s mastery in full flow . Set in raag Kamod with shades of Gaud Malhar also combined so beautifully, at least this song should have fetched her an award. One more unique aspect of this song is the rare combination of Shakeel Badyuni writing for a Roshan composition. Truly a masterpiece that will remain etched in our memory for centuries.
16. Chale Ja Chale Ja Chale Ja – Jahan Pyar Mile-1969-Shankar Jaikishan-Hasrat Jaipuri
Shankar Jaikishan might have composed the most ‘ tandem songs’ ( a term predominantly used mostly in context of our films songs)-i.e the ones which had at least two different singers singing the same song at two different situations in a film. There is a Rafi version of this song -both are too good , with that typical SJ style orchestration and melody combined.
17. Kamdev Jaise Teri Suratiya- Tum Haseen Main Jawan-1970- Shankar Jaikishan-Indeevar
If not for this blog, I might have never known about this song! I always keep writing about this aspect-most of the ‘experts’ on Hindi film music, who have a bias against some artists , dismiss the compositions of Shankar Jaikishan in their later years as not good ( they have even used more stronger words!) , but I personally differ from them. It was a myth that got propagated with everyone getting carried away. All the four songs being listed now are from that period of SJ and they break that myth and also one more myth that Shankar kept promoting only Sharada-he has used Suman also in many of his later compositions.
18. Tose Najariya Ladaayi Jawani Haaye -Patanga-1971-Shankar Jaikishan-Neeraj
This song is a hidden gem-just observe that way Suman renders this song with a superb alaap in each antara and glides through those high notes ( typical of SJ) so easily.
19. Bezubaan Dil Shor Na Maacha – Door Nahin Manzil-1973-Anjaan
It was a joyful discovery for me , searching for Suman’s solos for this blog-I could find so many rare songs that have completely vanished from our memory. Once again, remember this is from that ‘ so-called’ lean period of SJ-rather Shankar as in 1973 he was plodding along alone. There are two versions of this song-happy and sad- I have provided links to both.
Happy version:
Sad Version:
20. Behna Ne Bhai Ki Kalayi Se -Resham Ki Dori-1974-Shankar Jaikishan-Indeevar
I am happy to conclude this short tribute of mine on Suman Kalyanpur’s solo songs with an evergreen song from the year 1974. This song is always played in radio on the Raksha Bandhan day. Proves Shankar ‘s creativity was still going strong contrary to the popular myth. This also shows Suman was singing even in mid 70’s and as per her own comment in an interview, she stopped singing in Hindi films due to some personal reasons that she did not reveal. However she continued to sing in Marathi -mainly for non film devotional and light music albums and carved out a great place for her in Marathi music .
I will continue this blog in next part with her fabulous duets .
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
I sincerely thank the publishers of following Internet sources for the information that I could gather for this article:
- You Tube
- Wikipedia
The songs mentioned are from the popular, public domain and have been embedded here only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. The photograph is taken from the internet, duly recognizing the full copyrights for the same to the original creator or the site where they were originally displayed .This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.
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