Subject: Suman Kalyanpur: A Voice Remarkable for Its Purity and Exceptional Expressiveness
Written by: Yogesh Gogwekar, Mahim, Mumbai
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Very recently, I was listening to the duet song ‘Yeh Mausam Rangeen Sama’ from the film Modern Girl (1961), whose music was composed by Ravi and lyrics written by Gulshan Bawra. Even though this is a duet song, I felt that the female voice is highly impressive and confidently creates the mood of romantic sentiment. Similarly, the same confidence in the female voice can be heard in the playful song ‘Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche’ from the film Brahmachari (1968), composed by Shankar–Jaikishan with lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri.
I can quote one more example of the same female voice in the duet song ‘Na Na Karte Pyar’ from the film Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), whose music was composed by Kalyanji–Anandi and lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. In this song, the female voice beautifully expresses bright and innocent love with casual involvement and without any commitment. While singing duet songs, her voice remains remarkable for its purity and consistently reaches a high level of expressiveness. She is none other than Suman Kalyanpur, whose mellifluous voice bears resemblance to the Nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. She sang ‘Yeh Mausam Rangeen Sama’ with Mukesh, while the other two songs were sung with Mohammed Rafi.
Suman Kalyanpur was born on 28 January 1937 in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh) as Suman Hemmady, into an orthodox Saraswat Brahmin family, to Shankar Rao Hemmady and Seeta Hemmady. She was the eldest among four sisters and one brother. Originally, the family hailed from Mangalore, Karnataka, but shifted to Mumbai in 1943 when Suman Tai was five years old. She completed her schooling at St. Columba High School in Mumbai.
From childhood, she developed a deep interest in painting and music. Therefore, she decided to pursue further studies in painting and joined J. J. School of Arts. However, she had to discontinue her education due to an allergy to paints.
During her studies in painting, she began learning music under classical vocalist Pandit Keshavrao Bhole. Later, she received training from Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Guruji Navrang. Besides Keshavrao Bhole, she also received valuable guidance in light music from Marathi music director Yeshwant Deo, who taught her the subtleties of Marathi lyrical music. She learned the moulding of songs and embellishments such as khatkas and murkis from eminent composer-singer Sudhir Phadke.
Apart from music and painting, she developed interests in embroidery, flower arrangement, and gardening. In 1958, she married Ramanand Kalyanpur, an entrepreneur from Mumbai. The couple was blessed with a daughter, Charu Agni, who later settled in the USA. Her granddaughter, Aishani Agni, returned to India and runs an NGO in the name of Suman Kalyanpur.
Even though her family permitted her to learn music, she was not allowed to perform publicly. Nevertheless, she accepted an offer to sing for All India Radio in 1952. Following her performance on All India Radio, she got an opportunity to sing for the Marathi film Shukrachi Chandani (1953) under music director Yeshwant Deo.
After her work in Shukrachi Chandani, Sheikh Mukhtar offered her playback singing in his Hindi film Mangu under music director Mohammed Shafi, and three songs were recorded in her voice. However, due to unknown reasons, Mohammed Shafi was replaced by O. P. Nayyar, who rejected most of her songs and retained only ‘Koi Pukare Dheere Se Tujhe’.
Although she entered Hindi films through Mangu, her real breakthrough came with Shahid Latif’s film Darwaza, whose music was composed by Naushad. The duet ‘Ek Dil Do Hain Talabgar’, sung with Talat Mahmood, became very popular.
She felt deeply hurt when her recorded songs for Mangu were rejected and was further disappointed when O. P. Nayyar used her voice as part of the chorus in ‘Mohabbat Kar Lo Ji Bhar Lo Aji Kisne Roka Hai’ with Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt for the film Aar Paar. Later in her career, Suman Kalyanpur sang for almost every major music director, including Shankar–Jaikishan, Roshan, Madan Mohan, S. D. Burman, N. Datta, Hemant Kumar, Chitragupta, Naushad, S. N. Tripathi, Ghulam Mohammed, Kalyanji–Anandji, and Laxmikant–Pyarelal, but never for O. P. Nayyar. Interestingly, Lata Mangeshkar also never sang for O. P. Nayyar.
Suman Kalyanpur possessed not only a wide-ranging, tuneful, and transparent voice but also the ability to express delicate tonal colours with many emotional shades. Because of this, she could effortlessly explore a broad emotional spectrum. One can experience this in songs such as ‘Na Tum Hume Jano’ from Baat Ek Raat Ki and ‘Yuhi Dil Ne Chaha Tha’ from Dil Hi To Hai, where she expresses emotions in a subtle yet deeply effective manner.
She also had the rare ability to adjust effortlessly to slower tempo transitions within fast-moving compositions. Her capacity to express the excitement of love in songs, even with minimal orchestration, is remarkable. This can be experienced in ‘Mere Mehboob Na Ja’ from Noor Mahal. Such songs reveal her deep understanding of music. She sang effortlessly due to her perfection in pronunciation and her remarkable control over vocal modulation.
Suman Kalyanpur has sung more than 850 Hindi film songs. Apart from those already mentioned, I especially enjoy listening to songs such as ‘Saathi Mere Saathi’ (Veerana), ‘Chhodo Chhodo Mori Baiyan’ (Miya Bibi Razi), ‘Mere Sang Ga’ (Janwar), ‘Zindagi Imtehan Leti Hai’ (Naseeb), ‘Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Mein’ (Resham Ki Dori), ‘Tumse O Haseena’ (Farz), ‘Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya’ (Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya), ‘Mera Pyar Bhi Tu Hai’ (Saathi), ‘Tujhe Pyar Karte Hain Karte Rahenge’, ‘Keh Do Keh Do’, ‘Jahan Se Keh Do’ (April Fool), ‘Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye’ (Rajkumar), and ‘Zindagi Doob Gayi Dard Ke Toofanon Mein’ (Ek Saal Pehle).
Suman Kalyanpur sang duet songs with Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. She recorded the highest number of duets—around 140 songs—with Mohammed Rafi. Speaking about him, she once said that Rafi Saab was affectionate and cooperative and never tried to overshadow her despite possessing an extraordinary vocal range. According to her, singing with Rafi Saab was always an experience to cherish.
She was also very close to Manna Dey, whom she described as jovial. She sang with Lata Mangeshkar as well. When asked about the similarity between her voice and that of Lata Mangeshkar, she humorously remarked that perhaps both had gone to Goddess Saraswati and received similar blessings, which may explain why they shared the same birth date, though in different months and years. One may listen to ‘Kabhi Aaj Kabhi Kal’ from the film Chand, composed by Hemant Kumar, to appreciate their voices together. Reflecting on playback singing, she once said: “Humein suron mein acting karni padti hai.”
Apart from Hindi cinema, she also sang in Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Punjabi. I have heard some of her Bengali songs and enjoyed them immensely. Songs such as ‘Aakash Ajana Tobu’, ‘Aamar Swapno Dekhar Duti Nayon’, ‘Mone Karo Aami Nei’, and ‘Byatha Hoye Keno Phire Ele Bondhua’ are delightful to listen to.
There are truly no words to express the beauty of her Marathi songs. Her devotional songs ‘Savalya Vithala Tuzya Dari Aale’ and ‘Nanda Ghari Nandanvan Phulale’, composed by Dasharath Pujari, are unforgettable. Other memorable Marathi songs include ‘Shabda Shabda Japun Theva’, ‘Rimjhim Jharati Shravan Dhara’, ‘Keshava Madhava Tuzya Namat Godava’, ‘Omkar Pradhan Roop Ganeshache’, ‘Jithe Sagara Dharani Milate’, ‘Navika Re Vara Vahe Re’, ‘Sang Kadhi Kalnar Tula Bhav Majhya Manatla’, ‘Ketkichya Bani Tethe Nachala Ga Mor’, and ‘Nimbonichya Zada Mage’. These songs will forever remain in our memory.
She rarely performed classical music publicly except on one occasion, when she sang two thumris for HMV under Abdul Rehman Khan’s music direction. She began her career in 1953 and gained immense popularity during the 1960s and 1970s. Living in a conservative joint family, she avoided film parties, stage shows, and media interviews.
Although she never won a Filmfare Award, she received a nomination for ‘Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Mein’ from Resham Ki Dori. When asked about her philosophy towards music, she said that all music, including light music, is serious work. According to her, light music is also an art whose essence lies in portraying poetic ideas through musical imagination, requiring a distinct and difficult technique.
It is true that Suman Kalyanpur’s songs continue to give immense pleasure to music lovers. Her contribution to music is invaluable. It is indeed sad that she stopped singing for Hindi films after 1981. A gifted romantic and devotional singer, she sustained her music with emotional depth and energetic expression, giving listeners both joy and insight through her songs.
Written by: Yogesh Gogwekar, Mahim, Mumbai
Blog ID
Very recently, I was listening to the duet song ‘Yeh Mausam Rangeen Sama’ from the film Modern Girl (1961), whose music was composed by Ravi and lyrics written by Gulshan Bawra. Even though this is a duet song, I felt that the female voice is highly impressive and confidently creates the mood of romantic sentiment. Similarly, the same confidence in the female voice can be heard in the playful song ‘Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche’ from the film Brahmachari (1968), composed by Shankar–Jaikishan with lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri.
I can quote one more example of the same female voice in the duet song ‘Na Na Karte Pyar’ from the film Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), whose music was composed by Kalyanji–Anandi and lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. In this song, the female voice beautifully expresses bright and innocent love with casual involvement and without any commitment. While singing duet songs, her voice remains remarkable for its purity and consistently reaches a high level of expressiveness. She is none other than Suman Kalyanpur, whose mellifluous voice bears resemblance to the Nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. She sang ‘Yeh Mausam Rangeen Sama’ with Mukesh, while the other two songs were sung with Mohammed Rafi.
Suman Kalyanpur was born on 28 January 1937 in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh) as Suman Hemmady, into an orthodox Saraswat Brahmin family, to Shankar Rao Hemmady and Seeta Hemmady. She was the eldest among four sisters and one brother. Originally, the family hailed from Mangalore, Karnataka, but shifted to Mumbai in 1943 when Suman Tai was five years old. She completed her schooling at St. Columba High School in Mumbai.
From childhood, she developed a deep interest in painting and music. Therefore, she decided to pursue further studies in painting and joined J. J. School of Arts. However, she had to discontinue her education due to an allergy to paints.
During her studies in painting, she began learning music under classical vocalist Pandit Keshavrao Bhole. Later, she received training from Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Guruji Navrang. Besides Keshavrao Bhole, she also received valuable guidance in light music from Marathi music director Yeshwant Deo, who taught her the subtleties of Marathi lyrical music. She learned the moulding of songs and embellishments such as khatkas and murkis from eminent composer-singer Sudhir Phadke.
Apart from music and painting, she developed interests in embroidery, flower arrangement, and gardening. In 1958, she married Ramanand Kalyanpur, an entrepreneur from Mumbai. The couple was blessed with a daughter, Charu Agni, who later settled in the USA. Her granddaughter, Aishani Agni, returned to India and runs an NGO in the name of Suman Kalyanpur.
Even though her family permitted her to learn music, she was not allowed to perform publicly. Nevertheless, she accepted an offer to sing for All India Radio in 1952. Following her performance on All India Radio, she got an opportunity to sing for the Marathi film Shukrachi Chandani (1953) under music director Yeshwant Deo.
After her work in Shukrachi Chandani, Sheikh Mukhtar offered her playback singing in his Hindi film Mangu under music director Mohammed Shafi, and three songs were recorded in her voice. However, due to unknown reasons, Mohammed Shafi was replaced by O. P. Nayyar, who rejected most of her songs and retained only ‘Koi Pukare Dheere Se Tujhe’.
Although she entered Hindi films through Mangu, her real breakthrough came with Shahid Latif’s film Darwaza, whose music was composed by Naushad. The duet ‘Ek Dil Do Hain Talabgar’, sung with Talat Mahmood, became very popular.
She felt deeply hurt when her recorded songs for Mangu were rejected and was further disappointed when O. P. Nayyar used her voice as part of the chorus in ‘Mohabbat Kar Lo Ji Bhar Lo Aji Kisne Roka Hai’ with Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt for the film Aar Paar. Later in her career, Suman Kalyanpur sang for almost every major music director, including Shankar–Jaikishan, Roshan, Madan Mohan, S. D. Burman, N. Datta, Hemant Kumar, Chitragupta, Naushad, S. N. Tripathi, Ghulam Mohammed, Kalyanji–Anandji, and Laxmikant–Pyarelal, but never for O. P. Nayyar. Interestingly, Lata Mangeshkar also never sang for O. P. Nayyar.
Suman Kalyanpur possessed not only a wide-ranging, tuneful, and transparent voice but also the ability to express delicate tonal colours with many emotional shades. Because of this, she could effortlessly explore a broad emotional spectrum. One can experience this in songs such as ‘Na Tum Hume Jano’ from Baat Ek Raat Ki and ‘Yuhi Dil Ne Chaha Tha’ from Dil Hi To Hai, where she expresses emotions in a subtle yet deeply effective manner.
She also had the rare ability to adjust effortlessly to slower tempo transitions within fast-moving compositions. Her capacity to express the excitement of love in songs, even with minimal orchestration, is remarkable. This can be experienced in ‘Mere Mehboob Na Ja’ from Noor Mahal. Such songs reveal her deep understanding of music. She sang effortlessly due to her perfection in pronunciation and her remarkable control over vocal modulation.
Suman Kalyanpur has sung more than 850 Hindi film songs. Apart from those already mentioned, I especially enjoy listening to songs such as ‘Saathi Mere Saathi’ (Veerana), ‘Chhodo Chhodo Mori Baiyan’ (Miya Bibi Razi), ‘Mere Sang Ga’ (Janwar), ‘Zindagi Imtehan Leti Hai’ (Naseeb), ‘Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Mein’ (Resham Ki Dori), ‘Tumse O Haseena’ (Farz), ‘Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya’ (Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya), ‘Mera Pyar Bhi Tu Hai’ (Saathi), ‘Tujhe Pyar Karte Hain Karte Rahenge’, ‘Keh Do Keh Do’, ‘Jahan Se Keh Do’ (April Fool), ‘Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye’ (Rajkumar), and ‘Zindagi Doob Gayi Dard Ke Toofanon Mein’ (Ek Saal Pehle).
Suman Kalyanpur sang duet songs with Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. She recorded the highest number of duets—around 140 songs—with Mohammed Rafi. Speaking about him, she once said that Rafi Saab was affectionate and cooperative and never tried to overshadow her despite possessing an extraordinary vocal range. According to her, singing with Rafi Saab was always an experience to cherish.
She was also very close to Manna Dey, whom she described as jovial. She sang with Lata Mangeshkar as well. When asked about the similarity between her voice and that of Lata Mangeshkar, she humorously remarked that perhaps both had gone to Goddess Saraswati and received similar blessings, which may explain why they shared the same birth date, though in different months and years. One may listen to ‘Kabhi Aaj Kabhi Kal’ from the film Chand, composed by Hemant Kumar, to appreciate their voices together. Reflecting on playback singing, she once said: “Humein suron mein acting karni padti hai.”
Apart from Hindi cinema, she also sang in Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Punjabi. I have heard some of her Bengali songs and enjoyed them immensely. Songs such as ‘Aakash Ajana Tobu’, ‘Aamar Swapno Dekhar Duti Nayon’, ‘Mone Karo Aami Nei’, and ‘Byatha Hoye Keno Phire Ele Bondhua’ are delightful to listen to.
There are truly no words to express the beauty of her Marathi songs. Her devotional songs ‘Savalya Vithala Tuzya Dari Aale’ and ‘Nanda Ghari Nandanvan Phulale’, composed by Dasharath Pujari, are unforgettable. Other memorable Marathi songs include ‘Shabda Shabda Japun Theva’, ‘Rimjhim Jharati Shravan Dhara’, ‘Keshava Madhava Tuzya Namat Godava’, ‘Omkar Pradhan Roop Ganeshache’, ‘Jithe Sagara Dharani Milate’, ‘Navika Re Vara Vahe Re’, ‘Sang Kadhi Kalnar Tula Bhav Majhya Manatla’, ‘Ketkichya Bani Tethe Nachala Ga Mor’, and ‘Nimbonichya Zada Mage’. These songs will forever remain in our memory.
She rarely performed classical music publicly except on one occasion, when she sang two thumris for HMV under Abdul Rehman Khan’s music direction. She began her career in 1953 and gained immense popularity during the 1960s and 1970s. Living in a conservative joint family, she avoided film parties, stage shows, and media interviews.
Although she never won a Filmfare Award, she received a nomination for ‘Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Mein’ from Resham Ki Dori. When asked about her philosophy towards music, she said that all music, including light music, is serious work. According to her, light music is also an art whose essence lies in portraying poetic ideas through musical imagination, requiring a distinct and difficult technique.
It is true that Suman Kalyanpur’s songs continue to give immense pleasure to music lovers. Her contribution to music is invaluable. It is indeed sad that she stopped singing for Hindi films after 1981. A gifted romantic and devotional singer, she sustained her music with emotional depth and energetic expression, giving listeners both joy and insight through her songs.
She will be remembered forever in the music world of Hindi Cinema. Heartfelt tribute to a great singer.
Thank you
Yogesh Gogwekar
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