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News |  22 Jul 2013 19:15 |  By RnMTeam

Mukesh - A man with a golden voice

MUMBAI: He was merely 16 years old when he came to the city of dreams, Mumbai along with his relative Motilal in order to hunt for fame and success. He got his first break as an actor in the film Nirdoosh, in 1941. However, the youngster wanted to pursue playback singing and he got his first break with the song, ‘Dil Jalta Hai Toh Jalne Do’, from the film Pehli Nazar in 1945. The song went on to be an instant hit and he rose to glory. Yes, we are talking about the man with the golden voice, the legendary singer Mukesh Chand Mathur better known as Mukesh.

Radioandmusic.com celebrates the birthday of the singer and takes you down the memory lane of the golden era. Born on 22nd July, 1923, Mukesh was sixth in a family of ten children. His father Zooravar Chand Mathur was an engineer. Since childhood, he was fond of acting and singing. He attended school till tenth standard. After leaving school, he worked in Delhi Department of Public Works for some time. During this time, Mukesh conducted few voice recording tests. His singing abilities progressed slowly and steadily after this. Once, when Mukesh sang a song at his sister's marriage, his voice came into the notice of Motilal, a famous actor in Hindi movies. Mukesh went to Mumbai with Motilal and the latter aligned training in singing for him. At this time, Mukesh got his first break in acting with the Hindi movie 'Nirdosh' (1941). He got a chance to sing, for the first time in 'Pehli Nazar' (1945). 'Dil Jalta Hai to Jalne De' was the first song that he sang for a Hindi movie and was picturised on Motilal fortuitously. This song brought a drastic change in the career-graph of Mukesh. He became popular overnight.

According to an interview by Mukesh to BBC, before the release of the movie, this song was not received well by the film's distributors because they felt that Mukesh's voice did not suit the hero, Motilal. Producer Mazhar Khan wanted to delete the song but when a tearful Mukesh pleaded, he agreed to keep the song in the film on the condition that he would remove it after the first show, if it was not received well. The song was liked by the audience so much that the producer retained it in the film and the song became a big hit. He registered his name amongst the contemporary singers like Rafi, Talat Aziz, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar.

According to RJ Anmol, Radio Mirchi the first thing that comes to our minds is  Simplicity and a voice filled with dard.

The songs like ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam hai’, ‘Jane Kaha Gaye who Din’, ‘Awara hu’ still reside in the archives of our memories. More than anything else the voice behind these songs soothes your heart. Mukesh had the voice of a common man. One could easily feel the pain or the joy of the song through his voice.

Renowned music composer and singer Anu Malik praising the singer said, “He had the voice of God and was music personified. One cannot imagine the music of Shankar Jaikishan coming to life without the voice of Mukeshji. You can write a line, Sab Kuch Sikha Humne’ but you ought to have the voice of Mukheshji only then the song comes to life.  One can easily sense the emotion when he sings the song and the same is portrayed by Raj Kapoor beautifully on the screen, merely because of the way it was sung. “

The way he sang, with the perfect tone and diction, he was considered as second to none. The pain that he had in his voice could not be imitated by anyone else. One could feel the tenderness and joy with doses of hidden anguish in his voice that was presented in a raw manner. He went on to command a huge fan following and was counted as a legend among legends. The music maestro Salil Choudhury praised Mukesh with following quote:

"Each word from his lips was a pearl. No one could sing the way Mukesh did, with the right diction, inflexion and intonation. His vocal timbre was out of this world."

Explaining his style of singing as a composer, Malik said, “I feel as a composer I feel he had one advantage, which his voice could connect with the masses due to his mid octave. A normal man is not a singer and hence they could easily make his songs their songs.  And the warmth, devotion and honesty is never going to come back.”

According to RJ Anmol, “Mukeshji’s voice was full of simplicity. The texture of his voice was one of its kinds. It was full of dard. It was simple yet had a little touch of folk. Mukeshji's voice depicted the voice of an honest and simple man. That is why it suited all the characters Raj Kapoor played in his earlier days.”

It was on August 27, 1976 in Detroit, USA that the singer passed away when he was suipposed to perform with Lataji. Malik rightly describes him as ‘A gem that will keep sparkling even after the world is gone.” There is no better way that our hearts can describe him, simply humming the song.

Kisiki muskuraahaton pe ho nisaar

Kisika dard mil sake to le udhaar,

Kisike waaste ho tere dil mein pyaar

Jeena issi ka naam hai...

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