There is a delightful song “Alif Zabar Aa” in Love in Simla (1960) composed by Iqbal Qureshi. Its one of the extremely rare songs, if not the only one, whose theme is the Urdu alphabet (Rajender Krishan had penned it). I saw the song in the movie when I was a child, fascinated by the unfamiliar words. Rafi was singing for Joy Mukherjee, but who was the lady singer giving her voice to the child artist. Sudha Malhotra, my mother informed me. We were both in All India Radio in the early 50s, she said. She sounds so much like Asha Bhosle, I told her. Yes, she does but she has a different style, my mother replied.
Then I saw Dhool Ka Phool (1959) and saw “Apni Khatir Jeena Hai “in which Sudha sang for the child artist (with Mahendra Kapoor doing the honours for Mohan Choti). The peppy number had been written by Sahir Ludhianvi and tuned by N Datta. I saw Zameen Ke Tare (1960) and was bowled over by the songs “Oh Mere Pyaro Zameen Ke Taaron “, “Deep Gagan Ke Tum Ho “, and “Chunnu Patang Ko Kehta Kite” – all duets, with Sudha/ Asha singing for the child artists – the Irani Sisters; all beautiful melodies from S Mohinder. Sudha again sang for Daisy Irani in the OP Nayyaresque “Aankhon Pe Bharosa Mat Kar” (with Rafi) in Detective (1958) composed by Mukul Roy.
In Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957) she sang yet again for the child artist – “Maalik Tere Jahan Mein” and the poignant “Maata O Maata” (which would drive me to tears), composed by Dattaram.
Did Sudha have a monopoly over songs picturised on children? I wondered.
Wait, there were more songs sung by Sudha for child artists – “Haath Pasare Raste Raste “with Geeta Dutt (Ek Ke Baad Ek, 1960, music SD Burman), and “Gham Ki Badli Mein” with Rafi (Kal Hamara Hai, 1959, music Chitragupt).
And the list goes on and on. While these songs sung on children were not her bread and butter, they certainly were a significant part of her limited oeuvre.
But Sudha was much more. She’s was, and is, a hugely talented singer who in the extraordinarily short time she chose to work, has left behind a repertoire of melodious and evergreen songs. She would have probably have had a longer innings but for the fact that she was born in the wrong era, became a target of gossip, and eventually given a body blow by a venerable newspaper. More of that, later.
She could just easily be crowned the Bhajan Queen. Just consider her bhajan collection. “Na Main Dhan Chahun” with Geeta Dutt from Kala Bazar (1960), music SD Burman; “Darshan Do Ghanshyam” with Hemant and Manna Dey , and “Radha Ke Rasiya, Gokul Ke Basiya “ from Narsi Bhagat ( 1957), music Ravi ; “Maiya Mori Main Nahi Maakhan Khayo” from Gokul Ka Chor ( 1959) , music Sudhir Phadke; “Tum Meri Raakho Laaj Hari” from Dekh Kabira Roya ( 1957) , music Madan Mohan ; “Tu Apne Man Ka Deep Jala” from Jaldeep ( 1956) , music Snehal Bhatkar. In “Kaliyon Mein Ram Mera” from Pawan Putra Hanuman(1957), Sudha playbacks for Amirbai Karnataki, who was one of the main singers of the early Hindi cinema. It was composed by Chitragupta, who was once assistant to music director SN Tripathi, who played the role of Hanuman in the film. Rafi did the same when he sang “Unke Khayal Aaye Toh Aate Chale Gaye” from Lal Pathar (1971) for GM Durrani (who was a big singer during his heyday) on the tanpura.
She has a large number of non-films bhajans to her credit, most of them recorded after she took leave of the film industry.
She has done folk too.” Kaune Rang Mungwa Kawan Rang Motiya”with Suman Kalyanpur from Heera Moti(1959), music Roshan; and the non-film “Nimbua Tale Dola Rakh De”, which tune was used by SD Burman for “Ab Ke Baras Bhej Bhaiya Ko Babu”, stand out.
Sudha was born on November 30, 1936 in New Delhi, and spent her childhood days in Lahore, Bhopal and Ferozpur. She began her musical career at the age of five. Her talent was discovered by music director Ghulam Haider, at a programme in Ferozepur. With her melodious voice she carved out her career as a child artist in All India Radio, Lahore. Her first break in playback singing was in 1949 in the film The Last Message (Aakhri Paigham) in which she sang “Chal Raha Swaraj Ka Jhagda”with Vinod. Impressed by her singing in a party, Anil Biswas had her sing “Mila Gaye Nain” in Arzoo(1950), in which she showed great promise. She sang “Vande Mataram” with Manna Dey and Parul Ghosh in Andolan(1951). But she hit big time with her songs in Dil-e-Nadan(1953) – “Mohabbat Ki Dhun” (with Talat Mehmood and Jagjeet Kaur) and “Na Woh Hamare Na Dil Hamara”. She had arrived. She went on to sing a number of outstanding songs in films thereafter. This was in large part due to her efforts not to get typecast into a child artist singer, or other such slots. She showed her versality in all genres including mujra songs such as “Hum Tumhare Hain Zara Ghar Se Nikal Kar Dekho”with Asha Bhosle from Chalti Ka Naam Gadi(1958), music SD Burman; classical compositions such as “Kase Kahun Main Dil Ki Baat” from Dhool Ka Phool (1959), music N Datta; and qawwalis such as “Na Toh Karvan Ki Talash Hai” from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), music Roshan. She sang ghazals too.
She showed that she was equally talented behind the mike, as she was in front. During the making of the film Didi (1959), music director N Datta fell ill and the track was needed urgently. Sudha, who was the singer, stepped in and took over. She composed the song “Tum Mujhe Bhool Bhi Jao”, and recorded it with Mukesh. It was a huge hit.
– Tum Mujhe Bhool Bhi Jao
Besides singing in Hindi films, Sudha sang in many regional languages too. Her Marathi duet song “Shukratara Mand Vara” with Arun Date is an evergreen classic melody, still enthralling music lovers.
Her last film song was “Yeh Pyar Tha Ya Kuch Aur Tha” for the musically fastidious Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog (1982).
Sudha’s voice closely resembled Lata’s in Sudha’s initial years, and later Asha’s. Just listen to “Bansuriya Kahe Bajai Bin Sune Raha Na Jaye” with Lata Mangeshkar from Aagosh(1953), music Roshan. (Roshan, Sudha and my mother were all AIR, Delhi alumni; perhaps the reason why she sang many of his songs). Sudha matches Lata note for note in this stunning song. This similarity became a big hindrance in her career. Sudha has claimed that all the songs in Uran Khatola (1955) were recorded by Naushad in her voice, only to be removed later. Naushad had done this with Talat Mehmood too in Aadmi (1968). Naushad (who had a very successful run with Talat) was arm-twisted by Manoj Kumar to take Mahendra Kapoor as his playback singer in the song “Kaisee Haseen Aaj Baharon Ki Raat Hai”, even though Talat had done the recording and the album had been released. So bizarrely, the film had Mahendra Kapoor, while the album had Talat.
Unlike the male department, where each singer of that era had a unique voice and style, the distaff side in that era had very few singers who had a unique signature, like Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum. Other singers who sounded like the Mangeshkar sisters faced a huge challenge. It was a herculean task to get the leading music directors of the time to look beyond the Mangeshkar sisters. Suman Kalyanpur only succeeded, and that too in duets, because of the differences between Lata and Rafi over royalty issues, which led to them not singing together. Had Rafi accepted Lata’s stand on royalty, Suman may also have landed up with a modest turnover like Sudha (264 songs in 155 films).
In the late 50s, when Sudha was 23, rumours started swirling of her romance with Sahir, then 38. She was still looking for a foothold in the industry. Her fault – she had made a mark in a short time with a few songs, most of them Sahir’s. It started with “Mere Nadeem, Mere Humsafar” from Bhai Behen (1959). Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), Baabar (1960), Girl Friend (1960) followed. Even” Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein” was originally sung by Sudha and Geeta Dutt for a Chetan Anand film Kafir which got shelved in 1962. The tune by Khayyam was almost similar to the song that came later.
But why would Sahir writing her songs have mattered? It wouldn’t save for the fact that Sahir was a bachelor boy, a failed romantic writing songs for Sudha which the public thought was suggestive of a budding intimacy between the two.
In Baabar’s “Salam-e-Hasrat”, he wrote: “Salaam-e-hasrat qabool kar lo, Meri mohabbat qabool kar lo” and later in the song – “Meri parastish ki laaj rakh lo, Meri Ibaadat qabool kar lo”. In Girl Friend’s “Kashti Ka Khamosh Safar Hai” (which Sudha sang with Kishore Kumar under the baton of Hemant Kumar), he wrote – “Dil ne dil ki baat samajh li, ab munh se ya kehna hai, Aaj nahi toh kal keh lenge, ab toh saath hi rehna hai “. The fertile collective imagination of the public was set in motion. Sudha has admitted that Sahir must have liked her voice and was very enamoured of her. He gave her good songs to sing. Every morning, he would call her up, but it was all work related. She was a young girl and enjoyed the attention.
- Kashti Ka Khamosh Safar Hai
However, she never entertained the idea of a romantic liaison with him. He was older, from a different background.
The gossip persisted and even created a myth that “Chalo Ik Baar Phir Se Ajnabi Ban Jaayein Hum Dono” from Gumraah (1963) was written by Sahir for her, as a vicarious cry of torment by him for her, ignoring the fact that this song was first published as a poem “Khubsoorat Modh” in his book “Talkhiyaan” in 1944/1945 when Sahir was a student in Lahore. Also, Sudha had got married in 1960, 3 years before the release of the film.
As if this was not enough, after her marriage to Giridhar Motwani, whose family owned the Chicago Radio, in 1960, photographs of her with Sahir were published in the Blitz magazine. She repeatedly denied their relationship, and later, Blitz released an apology. These innuendos made Sudha very upset. She stopped singing in films and did not meet Sahir thereafter.
Looking back, she has no regrets.
Despite retiring from film playback, she continued to record private albums, of bhajans, ghazals (including under the direction of Jagjit Singh,Khayyam and Jaidev)and other genres. He also did concerts. Her non-film catalogue is as impressive as her film catalogue. Her dulcet voice, her command over the craft, her stage presence continued to make an extraordinary artist who deserved so much more. Be that as it may, she leaves behind beautiful songs for every situation.
-Sudha’s private ghazal composed by Jagjit Singh
Today is Sudha’s 89th birthday.
I have presented her a song she recorded in AIR in the 50s which was composed by my uncle Satish Bhatia who also worked in AIR. Its a very rare recording , recorded on a disc by AIR ( on Aakashwani label) which was subsequently ( along with hundreds of such discs , many of them my mother’s too ) disposed off by AIR to scrap dealers, who in turm sold them to old disc collectors. I have got Sudha’s song from one such collector who had earlier given me my mother’s songs too. I am sure this 70 year old song will rekindle her memories of AIR.
The mukhra of one of her most famous songs may have been – “Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao toh yeh haq hai tumko, Meri baat aur hai maine toh Mohabbat ki hai”, but the reality is that the music lovers are not ready to forget her and her songs.
(Cover Photo Credit: tasweermahal.com)
BhajanBollywoodChild Artistgolden eraHindi cinemaIndiaMusicPlayback SingerSingersongsSudha MalhotraSuperstar