Lata Mangeshkar is often regarded as the greatest female playback singer in the history of the Indian music industry. She will always be remembered as ‘the queen of melody’ for generations to come. However, not everyone is aware of the fact that when Lata Mangeshkar was making a name for herself in Indian cinema with her voice, she faced relentless and stiff competition from Suman Kalyanpur.
For the unversed, Suman Kalyanpur is one of the most respected singers ever. The singer was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan award in March 2023 from the government of India. Apart from Hindi, Suman sang songs in 10 different languages, like Bhojpuri, Marathi, Rajasthani, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Maithili, and Punjabi.
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The legendary singer, Suman Kalyanpur was born on January 28, 1927, in Dhaka (Now in Bangladesh). While Suman’s father worked at the Central Bank of India in a top position, her mother was a homemaker. It was in 1943 when Suman came to Mumbai with her parents, and it changed her life completely. After coming to the city of dreams, Suman told her parents about her interest in music and singing. Her parents were quite supportive, and as a result, she started taking music classes in Mumbai.
When Suman Kalyanpur was getting formal training in music, she was also completing her education at the prestigious St. Columba High School. Apart from her immense interest in singing, Suman was also interested in painting, and in order to explore it more professionally, she took admission to Sir J. J. School of Arts. While she was polishing her brush, she also started learning classical vocals from Pandit Keshav Rao Bhole. Soon, she started learning music from the icons like Ustad Khan, Abdul Rehman Khan and Guruji Master Navrang.
It was back in 1952 when All India Radio gave a chance to Suman Kalyanpur to sing, and she grabbed the massive offer in seconds. Her first performance on All India Radio made her reach to the makers of the Marathi film, Shukrachi Chandni, and they offered her a chance to sing in their film. Soon, she got noticed by Hindi cinema, and it was the film, Darwaza with which she started her singing career. After which, she went on a journey that had so many highs and a few lows.
The legendary singer, Suman Kalyanpur sung a series of songs in her illustrious career and even so many decades after their release, they’re still buzzing in people’s minds. Some of her iconic songs include Sathi Mere Sathi, Tum Agar Aa Sako To, Yun Hi Dil Ne Chaha Tha, Zindagi imtehan leti hai, Sharabi Sharabi Yeh Sawan Ka Mausam, Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Main, Aajkal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche, Na Na Karte Pyar, and so on.
Lata Mangeshkar and Suman Kalyanpur belonged to the same era. Both the singers were hitting new heights with the release of their every song. However, the sheer resemblance in their voices made them rivals in the eyes of media and listeners. Not just listeners, even Radio Ceylon got confused between their names when they used to play their respective songs.
Not only this, but for a long, long time, people used to think that the iconic song, Aajkal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche, was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. But Suman Kalyanpur sang it, and it was one of her career’s most famous tracks. As per some reports, when the clash between Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi over royalty fees divided the music industry into two groups, Suman Kalyanpur became the first choice of so many producers.
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Also, not everyone was financially sound to sign Lata Mangeshkar back in those days when she was ruling the industry. As a result, Suman started getting a lot of work from the people who couldn’t match Lata Mangeshkar’s fee. For the unversed, when Lata and Mohammed Rafi had a clash and they stopped singing together, at that time, it was Suman, who sang 140 duets with the male singer.
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If the reports are to be believed, Suman Kalyanpur became a victim of the film industry’s dirty politics, which did everything to diminish her contribution to Indian cinema. In the beginning, Suman Kalyanpur received a lot of work, but with time, as Lata Mangeshkar’s stature grew, producers refrained from singing Suman.
As per reports, producers didn’t want to upset Lata Mangeshkar by giving so much work to Suman, whose voice was identical to the iconic singer. Despite so many unfair practices done by some people in the film industry, Suman Kalyanpur kept on going. The iconic singer received a series of awards and accolades, but it is heartbreaking to see how she never got the stardom she deserved.
Talking about Suman Kalyanpur’s personal life, she was married to a Mumbai-based businessman, Ramanand Kalyanpur. It was in 1958 when Suman and Ramanand got married, and they welcomed a daughter, Charul Agni, after some years of their marriage. After bidding farewell to her singing career, Suman devoted her life to her family.
What are your thoughts on Suman Kalyanpur’s life and success? Let us know.
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