Remembering Singer Mukesh Fondly On His Death Anniversary!

“It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple”. These were the golden words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

Today, 27th August is the death anniversary one of India’s greatest ever singer Mukesh. He was a simple soul who through brought joy to the hearts of millions.

Let us go on a trivial journey of the signing superstar who along with Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey ruled the musical world of Hindi cinema.

Son of an engineer, Mukesh (full name Mukesh Chand Mathur) 1st started as a singer after being inspired from K.L. Saigal. His 1st song was “Dil jalta hai to jalne do” and he got the ultimate compliment from K.L.Saigal who said when he heard it that he did not remember singing the song.

Mukesh was the voice of Raj Kapoor, so much so that when he moved on at the young age of 53, Raj Kapoor broke down and said,”mein ne apni awaaz kho diya hai” ( I have lost my voice). They were part of a group of close friends and Raj Kapoor was devastated that his third close friend had moved on. In his words “When Shailendra left us (lyricist Shailendra) I felt that i lost an arm. When Jaikishen ( One half of music director duo Shankar Jaikishen) passed away, i lost another arm. But when Mukesh passed away, meri jaan hi chali gayee, ( I lost my life). I am the body, my soul was Mukesh.”

Kidar Sharma’s Neel Kamal was the first movie of Raj Kapoor and Mukesh sang in it. He was just 24 and Raj Kapoor was just 23. Mukesh sang in Raj Kapoor’s 1st movie as director, Aag and also in Barsaat. Reportedly, the song Chhod gaye Balaam in Barsaat bonded them together and they were inseparable thereafter.