Singer Mukesh Birth Anniversary: Many great singers came in Hindi cinema but the names of some were recorded in the history of Indian cinema. One of them was Mukesh Chand Mathur whom we all know as Mukesh. Mukesh ji started his career as an actor but later made a name for himself as a singer. Mukesh’s son is also a singer and his grandson is an actor.
Singer Mukesh sang thousands of songs in his life and his songs were superhit. Today is Mukesh ji’s birth anniversary and on this occasion let us tell you some unheard things about him.
Mukesh’s family background
Born on 22 July 1923 in Delhi, Mukesh belonged to a Hindu Kayast family. Mukesh had 10 siblings and was the sixth among them. Mukesh did not want to become a singer since childhood but singing was somewhere in his mind. Mukesh’s elder sister was interested in singing and a guru used to come to teach her. It is said that Mukesh used to watch all this secretly and often hummed film songs.
Mukesh married Saral Trivedi, who was the daughter of Raichand Trivedi, a millionaire businessman of that time. He had 5 children with Saral, one of whom is Nitin Mukesh, who became a popular singer in the film industry. Nitin Mukesh’s son is Neil, who chose acting as a profession.
Mukesh’s struggle and first song
Mukesh’s elder sister was getting married and his distant relative Motilal, who lived in Mumbai and was a big filmmaker and actor, had also come. He heard Mukesh’s voice and brought him to Mumbai. In those days, the actor had to sing himself and the use of playback singers was very rare.
Mukesh was good looking so he got some films but they flopped. Then Motilal thought that he should sing and he was made to practice. Mukesh’s first superhit song was ‘Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne Do’ which was from the film Pehlein Nazar (1945) and Motilal was the actor in it.
Mukesh became the voice of Raj Kapoor
Mukesh had not practiced since childhood, so his voice did not have that grip. You will hear his voice different in his first song, second song and all his early songs. Mukesh worked a lot on his voice and started singing for Raj Kapoor as a playback singer in Raj Kapoor’s film Aag (1948) but most of Raj Kapoor’s songs were sung by Manna Dey.
Raj Kapoor found a voice in the name of Mukesh. Mukesh sang hundreds of superhit songs for Raj Kapoor as a playback singer like ‘Sab Kuchh Seekha Humne’, ‘Awara Hoon’, ‘Duniya Banane Wale’, ‘Dum Dum Diga Diga’, ‘Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe’, ‘Bol Radha Bol Sangam’. Mukesh’s last song as Raj Kapoor’s voice was sung for the film Dharam Karam (1975) whose lyrics were ‘Ek Din Bik Jayega Mati Ke Mol’ which became a superhit.
How did Mukesh die?
Mukesh had recorded some of his songs for the film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. After this he had to go to America for a concert where he also went. On 27 August 1976 his health suddenly deteriorated and when he was taken to the hospital the doctors declared him dead and the cause of death was told to be a heart attack. At the age of just 53, Mukesh ji said goodbye to the world and left behind many memorable songs.