Happy birthday to Mahendra Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Mahendra Kapoor.

The listeners of music all over the world wish happy birthday to Mahendra Kapoor on 9th January, 2011. Few years ago the great singer had left the listeners. But he is alive in his numerous brilliant basic discs and film songs.

He came to limelight in bollywood music with the resemblance of classical singer Mohammad Rafi. In fact Rafi is the idol and guru and Mahendra Kapoor learned singing from the musical giant. Mahendra Kapoor became a big contributor in BR Chopra’s films in the 50s and 60s. In Rajender Kumar’s film Dhool Ka Phool Mahendra Kapoor’s songs were very successful.

During that period, Mahendra Kapoor sang a brilliant Bengali modern song “ekti e raat katena” which made viewers spellbound. The song had pathos feeling, romantic appeal, classical touch everything embedded in it. He was unblemish in Sunil Dutt’s film Gumraah. His song “chalo ek baar bhir se” became super hit in the early 60s. Composer Ravi had composed many brilliant tunes for Mahendra Kapoor in his illustrious career which included the songs “neele gagan ki tale” in the film Humraaz for which he received filmfare award for the best singer, “in baharon me in ghatayon me tujhko mera dil pukare” in the film Gumraah to name a few.

Mahendra Kapoor also sang many songs under composition of OP Nayyar which included “one two three” in Biswajeet’s film Kismat, “lakhon hai mera dilwala” in Biswajeet’s film Kismat, “baharen phir bhi ayegi” in Dharmender’s film Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi.

Mahendra Kapoor started a new innings with Manoj Kumar’s film Upkaar. He sang numerous number of patriotic songs for Manoj Kumar including “rang de basanti chola” in the film Shahid, “mere desh ki dharti “ in the film Upkaar, etc. He contributed in films like Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Kranti, etc.
It is not possible to highlight the contribution of Mahendra Kapoor who had contributed in bollywood films for more than 40 years in a small article. Numerous listeners miss Mahendra Kapoor but remember him in his melodious songs. His songs and films should be restored.

The music of Gumraah stormed bollywood in 1963.

The music of Gumraah stormed bollywood in 1963.

Many films in the 60s were known for their everlasting music. The tunes had remained immortal in the minds of the viewers and for those reason the film also did brilliant business. Gumrah was one of those films released in 1963 whose music had remaining evergreen.

It was a film of BR Chopra who had given thoughtful films like Kanoon and Dhool Ka Phool before. His films used to have very strong social messages. In this film Sunil Dutt, Mala Sinha and Ashok Kumar played the lead roles.

Although Sunil Dutt loved Mala Sinha and both met each other in hill station, their relationship did not end up in marriage. Mala Sinha married a famous lawyer played by Ashok Kumar in the film. Sunil Dutt was a painter in the film.

Shashikala approached Mala sinha and said that she was the wife of Sunil Dutt. She wanted to inform Ashok Kumar about the intimacy of Sunil Dutt and Mala Sinha. On that issue she blackmailed Mala Sinha. At the end of the film Mala Sinha came to know that Shashi Kala was Ashok Kumar’s secretary and Ashok Kumar did the act to convince Mala Sinha to restore matrimonial home. He did not like her intimacy with Sunil Dutt.

The music composed by Ravi in the film was of very high class. His soft romantic tunes were given adequate expression by Mahendra Kapoor. The landmark songs included “chalo ekbaar phir se ajnabee ban jaye humdono”, “in hawawo me in fizayon me tujhko mera pyar pukare”, “ yeh hawa yeh hawa ye hawa”, etc.

Probably Mahendra Kapoor sang the best songs of his life in the films of BR Chopra including Gumrah, Humraaz and Waqt. Almost all those songs were composed by Ravi who received a number of filmfare awards for his excellent music during the 60s. The film did excellent business too. The film and the songs should be restored.

Remembering Mahendra Kapoor

Remembering Mahendra Kapoor.

The audience of bollywood films remember Mahendra Kapoor, the dignified playback singer of the golden age on 9th January, 2009. He learned music from the giant singer Mohammad Rafi and had a very strong background to sing complex tunes made during the 50s and 60s.

He mainly contributed in BR Chopra’s films and attracted the attention of the audience who were used to hear the voices of legendary singers like Rafi, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Kishore, Talat Mehmood, etc. In Sunil Dutt’s film Gumrah, Mahendra Kapoor’s song “chalo ekbaar phir se” composed by Ravi became super hit. From that time the team of BR Chopra, Mahendra Kapoor and Ravi had provided many memorable hits.

In the film Waqt, Mahendra Kapoor’s duet song with Asha titled “dil je sahare aja pyar Karen” became super hit. His songs were picturised on both Sunil Dutt and Shashi Kapoor in the film. He even received the filmfare award for the best singer in the late 60s for his song “nile gagan ke tale” composed by Ravi and picturised on Raj Kumar in the film Humraaz.

Manoj Kumar gave a different dimension to the singing career of Mahendra Kapoor by asking him to sing patriotic songs in his films. His song “rang de basanti chola” in the film Shahid became extremely popular along with Rafi’s song “aye watan aye watan”. The most popular song in the career of Mahendra Kapoor was “mere desh ki dharti” from the film Upkar.

Manoj Kumar made the film with Lal Bahadur Shastri’s vision for the country with the slogan “jai jawan jai kisan”. Mahendra Kapoor addressed the farmers of the country, the military personnel and the freedom fighters with the song “mere desh ki dharti” composed by Kalyanji Anandji. The film became super hit and Mahendra Kapoor became a legendary singer of the contemporary generation.

The partnership of Manoj Kumar with Mahendra Kapoor continued in following films like Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti, etc. With increase of age more maturity was witnessed in the voice of Mahendra Kapoor.

Mahendra Kapoor sang many romantic songs in his illustrious career including “har dil jo pyar karega” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Sangam. His song was picturized on Rajender Kumar when Lata Mangeshkar sang the same song for Vaijayantimala and Mukesh sang it for Raj Kapoor. Mahendra Kapoor kept his mark amongst the other established singers.

His contribution cannot be expressed in a small article taking account of his presence over 40 years in bollywood industry. The viewers want to pay respect to the noble soul on his birthday on 9th January, 2009.

Mahendra Kapoor – the talented singer of bollywood.

Mahendra Kapoor – the talented singer of bollywood.

Mahendra Kapoor had created a place for himself in bollywood singing during the age when there was tough competition. Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Kishore Kumar were all established during the golden age when Mahendra Kapoor had to show his capability.

He did well in the film Dhool Ka Phool, where most of his songs were picturised on Rajender Kumar. Songs like “tere pyar ka” composed by Ravi and sung by Mahendra Kapoor became landmark hit in 1959.

He had mainly contributed in BR Chopra’s films, where his singing talent was utilised very well. His songs in the film Humraaz, titled “neele gagan ki tale” picturised on Raj Kumar and composed by Ravi became a big hit. Similarly his songs in the film Waqt, picturised on Shashi Kapoor became successful.


In the mid-60s, Mahendra Kapoor contributed a lot in Manoj Kumar’s films. His song “mere desh ki sharti” in the film Upkaar, composed by Kalyanji Anandji almost became a national song over the years. He sang notable songs in the other films of Manoj Kumar including Purab aur Paschim. He had the capability of stretching his voice in devotional songs. He also sang songs composed by OP Nayyar in films like Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi, picturised on Dharmender and Kismat picturised on Biswajeet.


At the same time he sang melodious songs in the film Gumraah, for Sunil Dutt, replicating the style of his guru Mohammad Rafi. With the advent of new types of films and coming up of new singers in the 80s, Mahendra Kapoor faded out of the industry. Even then his songs in Nikah, released in the early 80s, caught the attention of music lovers. He is one of the most humble singers who had acknowledged the contribution of his composers. His songs should be restored and preserved with the films.

By: Rumi Chatterji.