One of the stars in the golden era of hindi film music was Mukesh. His voice didn't have the versatility that could change from one actor to another, but it was a beautiful blend of sadness, innocence and melody.
Mukesh Chand Mathur was born on 22nd July 1923 in Delhi. Like all music enthusiasts of his time, Mukesh was a great fan of K.L. Saigal. The talent of Mukesh was first spotted by the actor Motilal when he sang in his sister's wedding in 1940. Motilal invited Mukesh to Bombay in 1940 and looked after him while he got trained under Pt. Jagannath Prasad. Mukesh's career started in 1941 in the film Nirdosh, in which he acted and sang. But the first time that the audience stood up to take note of his voice was in 1945 when he sang Dil jalta hai to jalne de for the film Nirdosh.
The innocence in Mukesh's voice suited beautifully for tragic films which
the audience loved during those days. Mukesh was initially identified with
Dilip Kumar for whom he had sung in the (Naushad composed) film Andaz.
However, quite soon the Mukesh-Raj Kapoor combination turned out to be a
"perfect fit" and the duo started to carve out a new dimension to hindi music.
Raj Kapoor's was a personality which gave little regard to the material aspects
of life and this was what he tried to portray in his movies. Mukesh's was the
ideal voice that consummated the Charlie Chaplin image of Raj Kapoor. The
hearts of the audience wept and tapped with Mukesh's voice when his innocence
cried out -
zakhmon se bhara seena hai mera
hansti hai magar ye mast nazar
Though it is said that Mukesh was a tragedy king, the innocence of Mukesh's voice gave a mysteriously pleasant touch to fun songs like Mere man ki ganga aur tere man ki jamuna ka.., Dum dum diga diga.., semi-classical songs like chandan sa badan.., matwaali naar.. and of course a number of philosophical songs like Kisi ki muskuraahaton pe ho nisaar...
The great Shankar-Jaikishan duo were the music directors who exploited the symphony between Mukesh and Raj Kapoor. The lyricists during those days were of the top rank. Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri were the ones who generally penned the lyrics for Raj Kapoor's films. Another great music director who used Mukesh's voice to its potential was Salil Chaudhary. The choice of Mukesh for his compositions in Madhumati and Anand made the songs in these films immortal. And later on, Sahir and Qayyam teamed up with Mukesh to produce some of the greatest numbers of the golden era of hindi music - Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein.. and Main pal do pal ka shayar hun...
Mukesh may not match the versatility of Rafi Saab or Kishore da, but when things are down and all that you need is a motherly lap to get some peace of mind, nothing gives me as much solace as Mukesh's voice. Be it a heart broken Chandi ki deewar na todi or a carefree Mera joota hai japani, the sheer touch of Mukesh makes my heart dance gently.
On 27th August 1976, Mukesh breathed his last in Detroit when he was there for a concert. Cried Raj Kapoor - Meri awaaz kho gayi, Main goonga ho gaya hun (I have lost my voice, I am dumb now). Mukesh was a great human being too, always encouraging newcomers and often singing without fee for music directors who couldn't afford him.
Today after more than two decades his fans are as much enchanted by Mukesh's
voice as they were during that golden era. Sometimes when my admiration for him
gets highly nostalgic, it appears as if he is singing to me...
hum chor chale hain is mehfil ko
yaad aaye kabhi to mat ronaa...