Mukesh (singer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mukesh
Born	Mukesh Chand Mathur (1923-07-22)22 July 1923 Delhi, India
Died	27 August 1976(1976-08-27) (aged 53) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Voice of the Millennium, Tragedy King
Occupation	Playback singer
Years active	1940–1976
Spouse(s)	Saral Trivedi Raichand ​ (m. 1946)​
Children	5, including Nitin Mukesh
Relatives	Neil Nitin Mukesh (grandson)
Awards	1 National Film Awards 3 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards 4 Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer
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Mukesh Chand Mathur (born July 22, 1923 – died August 27, 1976), known simply as Mukesh, was a famous playback singer from India. A playback singer is someone who sings songs for actors to lip-sync (pretend to sing) in movies. Mukesh is remembered as one of the most loved and respected singers in the Hindi film industry. He won many awards, including the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for his song "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai" from the movie Rajnigandha (1973).

Mukesh was also well-known as the singing voice for popular actors like Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Feroz Khan, Sunil Dutt, and Dilip Kumar.

Early life and beginnings

Mukesh was born in Delhi, India, into a Mathur Kayastha family. His father, Zorawar Chand Mathur, was an engineer, and his mother was Chandrani Mathur. He was the sixth of ten children. Mukesh became interested in music by listening to his sister's music lessons from another room. After finishing 10th grade, he worked briefly for the Public Works Department. During this time, he practiced recording his voice and improved his singing and musical skills.

Singing career highlights

Mukesh's unique voice was first noticed by Motilal, a distant relative, when Mukesh sang at his sister's wedding. Motilal brought him to Mumbai and arranged for him to have singing lessons. Mukesh even acted and sang in a Hindi film called Nirdosh (1941). His first big hit as a playback singer was "Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne De" in 1945 for the film Pehli Nazar.

In his early days, Mukesh admired and copied the famous singer K. L. Saigal. It's even said that when K. L. Saigal first heard "Dil Jalta Hai...", he thought it was his own song! Later, music director Naushad Ali helped Mukesh develop his own special singing style. Naushad gave him songs for the film Andaz.

Mukesh sang many hit songs for Naushad in films like Anokhi Ada (1948), Mela (1948), and Andaz (1949). He also sang for Dilip Kumar in songs like "Jeevan Sapna toot gaya" and "Ye Mera Diwanapan hai." Later, Mukesh became the main singing voice for actor Raj Kapoor. He recorded the most songs (133) with the music directors Shankar–Jaikishan. He also sang 99 songs with the duo Kalyanji Anandji.

Mukesh received the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1974 for "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai." He also won Filmfare Awards for songs like "Sab Kuch Seekha Humne" (1959), "Sabse Bada Naadan Wahi Hai" (1970), "Jai Bolo Beimaan Ki" (1972), and "Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" (1976). He sang about 1,300 songs in total. Mukesh focused on singing high-quality songs rather than a large number of them. He sang fewer songs in the 1970s because of his heart problems.

Some of his most famous songs include "Kahin door jab din dhal Jaaye" from Anand (1971), "Ek Pyaar ka Nagma hai" from Shor (1972), and "Jeena yahan marna yahan" from Mera Naam Joker (1971). He sang 110 songs for Raj Kapoor, 46 for Manoj Kumar, and 19 for Dilip Kumar.

As an actor and producer

Mukesh began his career as an actor and singer in the 1941 film Nirdosh. He also appeared in Adab Arz (1943) and had a guest role in Raj Kapoor's film Aah (1953). He played the main hero in Mashooka (1953) and Anurag (1956). In Anurag, he was also a co-producer and composer. Mukesh also produced a film called Malhar (1951).

Appreciation and legacy

Mukesh was a favorite singer of the famous Indian cricketer Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. When Mukesh's songs played during matches, it would make the crowd cheer! Another cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, even hummed Mukesh's tunes to inspire Chandrasekhar during games.

In 2016, Google honored Mukesh on his 93rd birthday with a special Google Doodle.

Personal life

Mukesh married Saral Trivedi on July 22, 1946, which was also his 23rd birthday. Saral's father was a millionaire and didn't approve of the marriage because Mukesh didn't have a steady income and was in the movie business, which was seen differently back then. So, Mukesh and Saral eloped and got married in a temple. Many people thought their marriage wouldn't last, but they stayed together through tough times and celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary just before Mukesh passed away. They had five children: Rita, Nitin (who also became a singer), Nalini, Mohnish, and Namrata. The actor Neil Nitin Mukesh is Mukesh's grandson.

Death

Mukesh passed away from a heart attack on August 27, 1976, in Detroit, USA. He was there to perform in a concert. He was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved. The rest of his concert was completed by singer Lata Mangeshkar and his son Nitin Mukesh. Lata Mangeshkar brought his body back to India, where a large funeral was held with many actors and fans paying their respects. When actor Raj Kapoor heard the news, he cried and said, "I have lost my voice," showing how much Mukesh's singing meant to his films.

Even after his death, many of Mukesh's unreleased songs were featured in films like Dharam Veer, Amar Akbar Anthony, and Satyam Shivam Sundaram. His last known song was "Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal" for the film Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978).

Awards and recognition

Mukesh on a 2016 postcard from the series Legendary Singers of India

National Film Awards

• 1974 – Won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai" from the film Rajnigandha.

Filmfare Awards

Awards won

Nominations

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Winner

• 1967 – Best Male Playback Singer for Teesri Kasam
• 1968 – Best Male Playback Singer for Milan
• 1970 – Best Male Playback Singer for Saraswatichandra

Filmography

As an actor:

As a singer:

See also

In Spanish: Mukesh para niños