Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering GEETA DUTT-The Nigtingale of Bollywood on her 86th Birth Anniversary

Geeta Dutt a legendary singer was born on 22nd Nov 1930.Before her marriage with Guru Dutt she was known as Geeta Roy.She was born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema. She also sang many modern Bengali songs, both in film and non-film genre.
In 1942, her parents moved to an apartment in Bombay. Geeta was twelve and continued her schooling at the Bengali High School.K. Hanuman Prasad took Geeta under his patronage, trained and groomed her in singing and later launched her into singing for movies. In 1946, she got the first break with an opportunity to sing in the mythological film Bhakta Prahlad for which Prasad was the music director. She was given only two lines to sing for a few songs.
In the initial stages of her career, Geeta's voice seemed suitable for devotional songs. In fact in the Dilip Kumar-Nargis starrer, Jogan, many devotional songs, including ones written by Meera Bai were sung by Geeta, the most popular being Ghoonghat ke pat khol re, tohe piya milenge and Mai toh Girdhar ke Ghar Jaaungi.

In 1947, she got her break with Do Bhai. The music of Do Bhai became a hit with "Mera sundar sapna beet gaya" topping the charts. The song touched the pulse of thousands of music lovers. She was popularly nick-named "Bangal ka jadu" (the magic from Bengal). In the same film she sang the evocative "Yaad karoge, yaad karoge, ik din humko yaad karoge." It was remarkable for a teenager to sing with such maturity.

Mera sundar sapna beet gaya

In 1949 with the release of Mahal and the runaway success of Aayega Aanewala made Lata Mangeshkar the Voice of India and she became an undisputed leader in Hindi Films.but during that period Geeta Dutt emerged as another female voice.The uncanny ability of Geeta Dutt that made her race past her contemporaries was her unique versatility to sing any kind of song with the authentic tone, feeling, passion and emotion

Geeta Dutt's chart-busting "Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le" in Guru Dutt's directorial debut Baazi (1951) was the turning point S D Burman fully exploited Geeta's potential across the spectrum. "Aan milo shyam saanware" (Devdas, 1955), the duet with Manna Dey, has the unmistakable touch of the Baulfolk music of Bengal. "Nanhi kali sone chali" (Sujata, 1959) is one of the most popular and heart-touching lullaby ever where Geeta Dutt's voice rings maternal love in every note. The bubbly exuberance of "Aye dil mujhe bata de" (Bhai Bhai, 1956) is in sharp contrast to the pathos of "Waqt ne kiya" in (Kaagaz Ke Phool, 1959).

Babuji Dheere Chalna

Geeta Dutt also sang for other Music directors also gave many hit songs,In Aar Paar she sang for O P Nayyar gave memorable songssuch as Babuji Dheere Chalna and Yeh Lo Main Haari Piya.
During Geeta's recording of songs for the movie Baazi, she met its young and upcoming director, Guru Dutt. Their romance culminated in marriage on 26 May 1953

Geeta Dutt's singing career began to get affected. As her husband got involved with his new leading lady, Waheeda Rehman, the singer's career too took a dive. Ironically, she continued to be the playback singer for the actress.Geeta Dutt came up with one of her best renditions in the heart-rending "Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam," composed by S. D. Burman and penned by Kaifi Azmi where she poured out her pain, anguish and pathos in every word.

With Guru Dutt's demise in 1964, Geeta suffered a nervous breakdown. It is said when she recovered, she realised her place was taken by other singers. However, the fighter that she was, she fought her way back, delivering a stunning performance in Anubhav, which also turned out to be her last performance. She ultimately succumbed to cirrhosis of liver and passed away on 20th July 1972.She was only 42 years old that time.

My tribute to Geeta Dutt
You are the darling of the nation,you are not physically present but we know that your voice remains,your songs remain at the heart among the millions of your fans all over the globe for all the times to come.

Milestone Songs of Geeta Dutt