Mukesh Chand Mathur

Mukesh Chand Mathur (Mukesh) was born on 22-07-19232, in Punjab, in a small middle class family. Mukesh was the sixth in a family of ten childrens. Father Lala Zorawar Chand Mathur was an Engineer. His mother was Chand Rani. The Music teacher who came home to teach Mukesh's sister Sundar Pyari, found a pupil in Mukesh who would listen from the adjoining room. He had a younger brother Parmeshwari Das. Mukesh left school after the 10th standard and worked briefly for the Delhi Department of Public Works. Mukesh experimented with voice recordings during his employment in Delhi and gradually developed his singing abilities.

Mukesh got married in 1946 to Sarla Trivedi (1928 - 26 February 2008) in a temple in Kandiwali, at the residence of Mr. R. D. Mathur. Sarla was daughter of millionaire Gujarati Brahmins. With him having no proper house, an erratic income and a supposedly "immoral" profession. Thus Mukesh and Sarla eloped. Everyone made dire predictions of unhappy days and divorce but both weathered the lean days and celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary on 22 July 1976, five days before his departure for the U.S.A. on 27 July 1976. The couple had five children as Rita, Nitin, Nalini (d. 1978), Mohnish (Taboo - nick name) and Namrata (Amrita).

Mukesh's voice was noticed by Motilal (a popular actor in Hindi films, also a distant relative of Mukesh) when he sang at his sister's wedding. Motilal took him to Bombay, let him stay with him and even arranged for singing lessons for him. During this period, Mukesh managed to bag a role in a Hindi film, Nirdosh (Innocent) (1941). His first song was 'Dil hi bujha hua ho to' as an actor and singer for Nirdosh. He got his break as a playback singer in 1945 with the film Pehli Nazar (First Look). The first song he sang for a Hindi film was 'Dil Jalta Hai to Jalne De' (If the heart burns, let it burn), which was incidentally picturised on Motilal.

Initially, his voice did seem to be imitating K.L. Saigal, but he acquired his own style in Andaz (1949). The film, a passionate love triangle, became a runaway hit and so did all its songs, especially the Mukesh solos. As well as launching Mukesh's career, it created an association with the renowned Raj Kapoor that would last throughout their lives. Starting with Aag (1948) all the way through to Dharam Karam (1975), Mukesh sang for Raj Kapoor and together they produced some of the greatest film songs in Bollywood history, most notably in Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Anadi (1959), Sangam (1964) and Mera Naam Joker (1970).

Life was not always that good, however. Encouraged by his success as a Singer, he made a few more attempts to make it as a star and acted in two films - Mashooka (1953) and Anuraag (1956). They sadly sank at the box-office. To make matters worse, when he returned to singing he found that offers had dried up and his financial affairs became that, unable to afford their school fees, his two children were thrown out of school.

Fortunately, he came back with a bang in Yahudi (1958) and two other hits from 1958 - Madhumati (1958) and Parvarish (1958) - put him back on top as a Singer to be reckoned with. Even Sachin Dev Burman, who had not used him for a decade, composed two classic songs for him from the films 'Bambai ka Babu' (1960) and Bandini (1963). He flourished throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with soulful hit songs, most notably from Anand (1971), a classic about a dying man. Rajnigandha (1974), a middle-class love story and Kabhi Kabhie - Love Is Life (1976), a cross-generation romance.

Mukesh died of a heart attack on 27 August 1976 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, where he had gone for a concert. His body was carried back to India with Lata Mangeshkar, where a grand funeral ceremony took place as many famous actors, personalities of the Indian film industry and fans paid tribute to the late singer. When the news of his death reached Raj Kapoor, he remarked, "I have lost my voice," which is a testimony to the timeless and unforgettable association of Mukesh's voice (in playback) to the immensely popular songs of Raj Kapoor's films.