Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche‘ and a famous Marathi lullaby ‘N
imbonichya jhada mage‘ sung by the late Lata Mangeshkar? If your answer to this question is ‘yes’, you are confused just like millions of other listeners who couldn’t differentiate between the voice of the two yesteryear singers. Yes, we are talking about Suman Kalyanpur, whose voice was often mistaken for that of the late legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. ETimes contacted the veteran singer, Suman Kalyanpur, who was saddened by the demise of the melody queen. “Although I knew Latatai was unwell when I heard the sad news I felt a kind of emptiness. I just couldn’t imagine that melodious voice not being amongst us,” said a heartbroken Suman ji.
Despite the similarity between their voices, Suman ji stayed strong throughout her career and never bothered about the comparisons. “My voice is similar to Lata tai’s. But, if keenly listened to, a connoisseur can tell them apart. I sang every song to the best of my capacity. I never bothered about any comparisons people made. I never imitated anyone since I firmly believed in sticking to my own style of singing,” she admitted.
Like millions, Suman ji too admired Lata didi‘s singing. “I always admired Lata tai’s sweet and melodious voice since I listened to her before I began singing professionally. I was impressed by her
Taannas,
Harkati and
Murki in her songs. ‘
Suron ki nazakat bahut acchi lagti thi‘,” she explained.
It was earlier said that producers would approach Suman ji if they couldn’t afford Lata ji‘s remuneration or her unavailability of dates, to which Suman ji clarified, “I really don’t know about that. I just sang all songs that came my way.” Not only this, she also sportingly answered about her collaboration with Mohammad Rafi. “I enjoyed singing with all my co-singers. Rafi saab was a very soft-spoken person. We sang many songs together which became very popular,” she said.
Suman ji walked down the memory lane and recalled some memories, her first and the last meeting with Lata ji. “Lata didi and I first met at the recording of the song for the film, ‘Mangu’. I believed she had heard me sing. And while passing by the recording room, she said that I sang well. I met didi a few times mostly towards the beginning of my career. Whenever we met, I felt a strange closeness like I knew her from another life. I remember after one of my very early recordings, my father (who used to accompany me before my marriage) had to leave for work. Lata tai offered to drop me home. She was very warm and friendly in the car. To this day, I remember the ride vividly. Later on, if we happened to be in the same studio, I would always find her busy talking to someone. I would then refrain from disturbing her. Also invariably I would be in a hurry to reach home to my daughter, and my husband needed to get to work. The last time I met Lata didi was at the premiere of the film ‘Lekin’ but for just a few minutes.”
The singer also shared how she started her singing career and spoke about her first project, “I used to sing well since I was very young. But never thought of it as a career. When I was thirteen, I performed in small programs held during Ganpati and Diwali. I was learning fine arts at Sir JJ School of Arts but in the second year realised that I was allergic to turpentine. During this time, I had sung a few songs for the radio. In 1953, I had sung in a program and Talat Mahmood ji was present there. I believe he recommended me to HMV for non-film songs. I got an offer from HMV for Marathi songs which I recorded. Music director, Mohammed Shafi heard me there and offered me a couple of songs for ‘Mangu’. Due to some issues, the music director changed and only one song was retained in the film. This was the one sung with Hemant da and his wife, and it was ‘Koi Pukare’ which became quite popular. After that, I started getting offers to sing songs one after the other. I accepted them as they came along. I have sung songs of all genres. But, I was very selective so as not to embarrass my family in any manner,”Sumanji concluded the conversation with a smile.
