हेमंत कुमार

Hemant Kumar, born Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, was one of Indian cinema's most versatile figures — a playback singer, music director, and film producer renowned in both the Bengali and Hindi film industries. Known for his deep, resonant baritone, he earned the epithet "Voice of God." He made his playback singing debut in the 1940 Bengali film Rajkumarer Nirbasan under S.D. Burman, and entered Hindi cinema in 1942, gradually building his reputation as a composer through the 1940s.

After relocating to Mumbai in 1951, Hemant Kumar became one of Hindi cinema's leading music directors, composing the score for Nagin (1954) — including the classic "Man Dole Mera Tan Dole" — which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in 1956. As a singer, his voice defined songs such as "Ye Raat Ye Chandni Phir Kahan" and "Na Tum Jaano Na Hum," and he lent his voice to enduring melodies through the 1950s and 1960s in films including Anand Math, Jagriti, Bees Saal Baad, Kohra, and Anupama. He also ran his own production house, Hemanta-Bela Productions (later Geetanjali Productions), which made films such as Bees Saal Baad (1962) and Khamoshi (1970).

In Bengali cinema and music, Hemant Kumar was equally towering — he became the foremost male voice of Rabindra Sangeet and won acclaim for songs in films like Harano Sur (1957) and Saptapadi (1961). In 1971 he became the first Indian singer to provide playback for a Hollywood film (Conrad Rooks' Siddhartha). He won two National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer (1971 for Nimantran, 1986 for Lalan Fakir) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1986), and declined both the Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (1987). He died in Calcutta on 26 September 1989.