Somehow, I always felt that if there is one voice which resembles Geeta's the closest, it is the voice of Meena Kapoor! Meena Kapoor, incidentally, is the wife of Anil Biswas.

These days, Vividhbharati is airing an interview with this musical couple, recorded a few years back.

In that context, today, I got to hear Meena Kapoor's solo, "Rasiya Re Man Basiya Re" from Film:Pardesi(1957) composed by Anil Biswas. I felt even Geeta would have sung that song much the same way!!

Actually, I think the sum total of Geeta Dutt's voice/style have an unmistakable Bangla Chaap. I would tend to think that one can find similar style/voice in many Bengali female singers.

In case of Meena Kapoor, it must be the influence of her very Bengali husband, Anil Biswas!

Just my musings!

Venkat

meena kapoor's mother was assamese and her father was punjabi.she grew up in assam and bombay and knows bengali quite well.

regards,
mahesh

Thank you, Mahesh Ji, for the information.

Venkat

Venkat ji, here are my 2 cents about the "similarity of voices between Meena ji and Geeta ji". These are purely my personal views with a strict IMHO (In my humble opinion) written all over it:

I feel that Geeta ji's voice was very expressive one and had a "third dimension" to it. Apart from the length and the breadth, it had a width. Hers was not a sweet sugar like plain straight voice, but had a "firak" , a special lilt, a light swing so gentle, yet so pleasing. Listen to the non-film song "Haule haule hawa dole". In the opening lines she sings it "Haule haule..haayein.. dole". The word "haayein" has that special swing effect.

About the expressiveness, I always keep thinking about these 3 songs from the film Toofan Aur Diya (1956). Its not a Guru Dutt film and does not have music by either S D Burman (Geeta ji's mentor), or O P Nayyar or Hemant Kumar. Its Vasant Desai for whom she has sung relatively less songs. All the 3 songs are for a child artist played by Satish Vyas.
1) Meri chhoti si behen (duet with Lata ji) : With all the due respect to Lata ji, the most popular female playback singer of HFM, this song clearly shows what Geeta ji could do when pitted against Lata ji. The "chulbulaapan" in her voice is unmatched.

2) Phal ki bahaar hai : A simple song for a fruit vendor turns out such a rhythmic and enjoyable one! Listen to the way she sings "khat pat khat pat" and "ohh ho ho..lutadi hai humne foolwaari"

3) Meri aan bhagwaan : A perfect song for the situation, great lyrics and great singing with passion. Geeta ji demonstrates she can go to higher scales if the song demands it and still be expressive!

Regards
Parag

Very true, Parag.

I just wanted to say that Meena Kapoor's voice/style almost matched those of Geeta Dutt, probably in some songs of Meena Kapoor.

There is, however, no doubt that Geeta Dutt is a far bigger singer than Meena Kapoor and has much greater achievements than the latter.

Venkat

venkatji and parag,
geetaji influence on the popular music of the subcontinent from 1947 to 1952 has not been assessed properly.she has the highest number of songs to her credit during the period 1947 to 1950; more than any other singer of the sub-continent.she did influence a lot of singers during this period as well as later.
meena kapoor,sandhya mukerji,sulochana kadam,sudha malhotra,asha bhosle,zubaida khanum,nahid niazi did sound like her in lot of their songs.amongst the later singers preeti sagar,sanjeevni and sapna mukerji have openly acknowledged her influence.



regards,
mahesh

Mahesh,

You're so right! Geeta Roy's impact and influence as the leading playback singer from 1947-49 has not been properly assessed. Very few people known that she was such a dominant force in the HFM industry during that period.

However, you might not be correct that she has more songs to ger credit during the period 1947-1950 than any other singer. I think Shamshad Begum had the highest number of songs in this period, followed by Lata Mangeshkar and Geeta Roy (though Lata's number would just be a handful higher than Geeta Roy's or maybe just the same). My estimate of numbers is Shamshad Begum (440-450 songs), Lata Mangeshkar (360-370 songs) and Geeta Roy (360-370 songs). Of course, this is based on some information I have collected over the years and I might be completely wrong here.

Aditya

No doubt, in that 'Haule Haule Hawa Dole" song, the starting line along with the accompanying electric guitar clip is very special. It takes you into a world of "solitude, loneliness, tanhaayi"!!

Sure enough, during my childhood, Vividhbharati used to broadcast this song mostly in the afternoon when our residential area in Hyderabad used to be pin-drop silent!! That is how I cherish and remember this great song till date!!

And yes, I think Mahesh and Aditya are right in that Geeta Dutt was not given her due, to the extent that even Suman Kalyanpur got a higher profile than Geeta! All in all, tragedies chased Geeta Dutt all through her life. Not only an unfaithful and indifferent husband, but even a disloyal and fair-weather Music Director!!!

How sad it was that Geeta was ringing up OPN around 1959/60 and pleading with him for songs, by which time OPN was firmly in the grip of Asha Bhosle!! Geeta Dutt was a great singer, but unfortunately was no match to the famous sisters in the ways of the world!! But, despite all the odds, she has achieved quite a lot in HFM and left an indelible mark.

Open to correction!!

Venkat

Thanks for this rare information Mahesh.

Best Regards
Parag

I do think that Meena Kapoor's voice does have a similar "jalak" to Geeta Dutt's voice but I think the voice that comes closest to geeta dutt's voice is that of the Pakistani singer Nahid Niazi. I had never heard of her about ten years ago and bought her cassette for one song. I got intoxicated by her voice as much as I get drunk on Geetaji's voice.

I have converted the cassette to mp3 and uploaded it in the Legendary Artists of Pakistan forum. You can check out her voice for yourself. If you want to download just one track to compare I suggest "Mohe Piya Milan Ko Jaane De"

Ashwin

very true Ashwin.

I know one beautiful song of Nahid Niazi from Film:Gul Farosh (1961) composed by her husband, Masleduddin. "Ae Chand Tu Bhi Chup Jaa, Sitaron Ko Bhi Chupa Lo".

But, I find that her similarity to Geeta Dutt in this song is much less than Meena Kapoor's similarity with Geeta Dutt in that "Rasiya Re Man Basiya Re" song from Film:Pardesi (1957)! But, then that one song of Nahid Niazi may not be representative!

Just my humble view!

Venkat