Talat Mahmood (Urdu: طلعت محمود) (February 24, 1924 – May 9, 1998) was a popular Indian playback singer and film actor. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1992, he was famous for singing ''ghazal''s. For this quality he was known as the King of ''ghazals''.

Biography

Early life

Coming from a conservative Muslim background, singing was not encouraged. Talat had to choose between working in films and staying at home. Despite his parental objection he opted for the former, though his family accepted the fact only about a decade later when he gained respect in the industry.

Singing career

His reputation as a ''ghazal'' singer was not limited to his hometown of Lucknow, but it reached the city that proved to shape his destiny - Calcutta. The then famous ''ghazal'' singers were Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, K.L. Saigal and M.A. Rauf. The classical songs he sang were " Sapnon Ki Suhaani Duniyaa Ko " for film Shikast and " Laage Tose Naina " for Chaandi Ki Deewar.

In 1944 came the hit ''Tasveer teri dil mera behela nah sake gi''. Its popularity was so phenomenal and unrivalled that even today it remains one of the top selling non-film discs. This disc brought Talat the fame throughout India and soon he was beckoned by the Calcutta film industry. Talat made cameo appearances and starred in about 16 movies, for both the Calcutta (film hub of the 1940s) and Bombay Film Industry. The three movies in which he starred were regional hits in Calcutta. Initially, in Calcutta, he recorded a lot of Bangla songs under the assumed name "Tapankumar". Several of his Bangla numbers were super hits in Bengal and still aired on All India Radio old song reminisces.

In 1949 Talat moved to Bombay, to sing for the Bombay film industry. His name and fame had already preceded him and soon he was flooded with offers. His big break came with the song ''Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho'' composed by music director Anil Biswas for the soundtrack of the movie ''Arzoo''. The song proved to be extremely popular.

Acting career

Talat acted in the following Hindi films :

The advent of rock-n-roll in the late 1960s sidelined singers like Talat. As long as he was top box-office draw, the movie producers insisted on including his songs in their movies. Talat's velvety vocals posed a special challenge to the music-composers, most of whom leaned towards the deep baritones of Mohammad Rafi and Mukesh. The resultant demise of his movie career led to the decline of his singing career. At the same time, the social changes and happiness brought about by increasing prosperity in India meant that blue mood ghazals and heart-rending ballads were not popular any more. Talat continued to record good songs, but less in number. His last soundtrack recording, in 1985, is the song "Mere Shareek-e-Safar", a duet sung with Miss Hemlata, from the movie "Wali-e-Azam" composed by Chitragupt and written by Ahmed Wasi.

However, Talat who was the first Indian singer to go on foreign concert tours in 1956 to East Africa found eager fans awaiting his arrival in other foreign countries. Jam packed audience in the United States, the UK, West Indies and other countries awaited his arrival enthusiastically. He performed in famous Royal Albert Hall in London, Madison Square Garden in the States and Jean Pierre Complex in the West Indies. He continued singing in the packed auditoriums until 1991 when he toured Holland. Talat sang about 800 songs in his long career. His songs are still popular among the music lovers as they were in the days these were released.

Personality

Available Work

Singles

External links

Category:1924 births Category:1998 deaths Category:Indian film singers Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Category:Ghazal singers Category:Indian ghazal singers Category:People from Lucknow

:''Not to be confused with Shamshad Begum (classical singer) (d. 1998), mother of Naseem Banu, and grandmother of actress Saira Banu.

Shamshad Begum (born April 14, 1919) is an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry.

Begum was born in Amritsar, Punjab. She was a big fan of K.L. Saigal and watched ''Devdas'' 14 times. She earned 15 rupees per song and was awarded 5,000 on the completion of the contract on Xenophone, a renowned music recording company.

Sometime back, a controversy erupted in the media, when several publications gave the false news of her death, before it was clarified that the Shamshad Begum who died in 1998 was Saira Banu's (Dilip Kumar's wife) grandmother with the same name. The singer has been living with her daughter Usha Ratra and son-in-law in Mumbai, ever since her husband Ganpat Lal Batto died in 1955. Recently, she celebrated her 89th birthday at her elder sister's house and now she stays at - Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai She was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

Career

Begum sang for the All India Radio (AIR) through her musical group 'The Crown Imperial Theatrical Company of Performing Arts', set up in Delhi. The then ''AIR Lahore'' helped her entering the world of movies as they frequently broadcast her songs, which induced music directors to use her voice for their films. Shamshad also recorded ''naats'' and devotional music for a couple of gramophone recording companies.

Her crystal-clear voice caught the attention of ''sarangi'' maestro Ustad Hussain Bakshwale Saheb, who took her as his disciple. Lahore-based composer Ghulam Haider used her voice skillfully in some of his earlier films like ''Khazanchi'' (1941) and ''Khandaan'' (1942). When he moved to Bombay in 1944, Shamshad went with him as a member of his team, leaving behind her family and staying with her ''Chacha'' (paternal uncle). She is credited with singing one of the first Westernised songs, ''Meri jaan...Sunday ke Sunday'' by C. Ramchandra. O.P. Nayyar describes her voice as that of a "temple bell" for its clarity of tone. Begum became a national rage between the 1940s and the late 1950s, having a voice different from her peers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Geeta Dutt and Amirbai Karnataki.

Songs

References

External links

Category:1919 births Category:Living people Category:Indian film singers Category:Indian female singers Category:Bollywood playback singers Category:People from Amritsar Category:Assamese playback singers Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Category:Indian Muslims

Mohammed Yusuf Khan () () (born 11 December 1922), popularly known with nickname Dilip Kumar (), is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament. He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King", and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray.

Starting his career in 1944, Kumar's career has spanned five decades and over 60 films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest actors in the history of Hindi Cinema. Kumar was the first actor to receive a Filmfare Best Actor Award and holds the record for the most number of Filmfare Awards won for that category along with Shahrukh Khan; 8 wins. He starred in a wide variety of roles such as the romantic ''Andaz'' (1949), the swashbuckling ''Aan'' (1952), the dramatic ''Devdas'' (1955), the comical ''Azaad'' (1955), the historical ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960) and the social ''Ganga Jamuna'' (1961). In 1976, Kumar had a five-year break from film performances. In 1981, he returned with a character role in the film ''Kranti'' and continued his career playing central character roles in films such as ''Shakti'' (1982), ''Karma'' (1986) and ''Saudagar'' (1991). His last film was ''Qila'' in 1998. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Early life

In 1943, actress Devika Rani, who was also the wife of the founder of the Bombay Talkies film studio, Himanshu Rai, helped Khan's entry into the Bollywood film industry. Hindi Author Bhagwati Charan Varma gave him the screen name Dilip Kumar and gave him the leading role in his film ''Jwar Bhata'' (1944). Devika Rani and her husband Svetoslav Roerich spotted Khan in one of Pune's Aundh military canteens.

Career

He also played lighthearted roles in films such as ''Aan'' (1952), ''Azaad'' (1955) and ''Kohinoor'' (1960). In 1960 he portrayed Prince Salim in the historical film ''Mughal-e-Azam'' which as of 2008 was the second highest grossing film in Hindi film history.

In 1961 he produced and starred in ''Ganga Jamuna'' in which he and his real-life brother Nasir Khan played the title roles. This was the only film he produced. In 1962 British director David Lean offered him the role of Sherif Ali in his 1962 film ''Lawrence of Arabia'', but Kumar declined the part. The role eventually went to Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor. His next film ''Leader'' (1964) was below average at the box office. In 1967 Dilip Kumar played a dual role of twins separated at birth in the hit film ''Ram Aur Shyam''. His career slumped in the 1970s with films like ''Dastaan'' (1970) and ''Bairaag'' (1976) where he played triple roles failing at the box office. He took a five year hiatus from films from 1976 to 1981.

In 1981 he returned with the multi-starrer ''Kranti'' which was the biggest hit of the year. He went onto play character roles in hit films including ''Shakti'' (1982), ''Vidhaata'' (1982), ''Mashaal'' (1984) and ''Karma'' (1986). In 1991 he starred alongside veteran actor Raaj Kumar in ''Saudagar'' which was his last successful film. In 1993 he won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1996 he was attached to make his directorial debut with a film titled ''Kalinga'' but the film was shelved. In 1998 he made his last film appearance in the unsuccessful film '' Qila'' where once again he played dual roles as an evil landowner and his twin brother investigating his death. His films ''Mughal-E-Azam'' and ''Naya Daur'' were fully colorized and re-released in 2004 and 2008 respectively.

Public life

He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. In 1998 he was awarded the ''Nishan-e-Pakistan'', the highest civilian award conferred by the government of Pakistan. He is the second Indian to receive the award. At the time of the Kargil War, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray demanded Kumar return his ''Nishan-e-Pakistan'', arguing that "He must return ''Nishan-e-Imtiaz'' following that country's blatant aggression on Indian soil." Kumar refused, saying:

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"This award was given to me for the humane activities to which I have dedicated myself. I have worked for the poor, I have worked for many years to bridge the cultural and communal gaps between India and Pakistan. Politics and religion have created these boundaries. I have striven to bring the two people together in whatever way I could. Tell me, what does any of this have to do with the Kargil conflict?"

Personal life

Legacy and awards

He received in 1997 the NTR National Award. He was also awarded CNN-IBN Indian of the Year - Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Filmography

References

External links

Category:1922 births Category:Living people Category:Indian actors Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian film directors Category:Indian film producers Category:Nishan-e-Imtiaz Category:Indian Muslims Category:Hindkowan people Category:Pashtun people Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Sheriffs of Mumbai Category:Members of the Rajya Sabha Category:Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Category:Indian actor-politicians Category:People from Mumbai