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Remembering today on her 59th Birthday as one of the most versatile and technically gifted female singers in the music-reliant Indian film industry.She was born on 25th Jan 1958 as Sharda Krishnamurthy in the South Indian family of Delhi, she came from an artistic background: Her father worked for the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry, and her mother loved classical Indian music and dance, making sure that Kavita began taking lessons at a young age.
Her Bengali aunt and uncle -- with whom young Kavita spent a great deal of time, to the point where she looked upon them as second parents -- influenced her to learn the Bengali style Rabindra Sangeet as well.
At the age of nine, she got an opportunity to record a Tagore song in Bengali with Lata Mangeshkar under the auspices of the music composer and singer Hemant Kumar. Later on she moved to Bombay when she was 14 to try her luck as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry.
She studied from  St. Xavier's College, Bombay from where she did her BA Honors Economics. She was very active in the St. Xavier's Music Group during her college days. During the annual college festival (Malhar), she met Ranu Mukherjee, the daughter of Hemant Kumar. Ranu took the initiative of reintroducing Kavita to her father.He was impressed by her grounding in music, so he began using her as a singer during his live performances. In one such performance, playback singer Manna Dey spotted her and employed her to sing advertisement jingles. Through her aunt's strong contacts, she met Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actress Hema Malini, who later took the initiative of introducing Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (one of the composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal) in late 1976.
It was Laxmikant Pyarelal,who gave her first break in hindi films from the film Maang Bharo Sajana, (1980) unfortunately the song was dropped from the final cut of the film.Next year in 1981 she was given a chance to sing a duet with Rafi in a film Ladies Tailor,that got unnoticed.She was getting songs every year in hindi films but her real Break came with Mr India's song "Hawa Hawai" and "Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se" in 1987.
Late 80s and 90s was the era of Kavita Krishnamurthy,she gave many hit songs during this period.Her performance as a singer in the film 1942: A Love Story, composed by R.D. Burman won her much popular acclaim.After that she was a leading Female Singer of Bollywood, Yaraana, Agni Sakshi, Bhairavi, and Khamoshi are notable films in which she gave hit songs.During this period she had tough competition with other female singers such as  Alka Yagnik, Anuradha Paudwal and Sadhana Sargam.
She got married to the famous Violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam in Bangalore on 11 November 1999, after that she got extremely selective and cut down on her film singing.
She  started expanding her artistic range to areas which were never explored. She was the main featured soloist in the Global Fusion album released by Warner Bros., featuring musicians from five continents. Although primarily a playback singer, Kavita has sung with orchestras as a soloist; she collaborated with Western artists from jazz, pop and classical fields.
She won four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Awards, including three consecutive awards in the period 1994�1996, and the Padmashri which she received in 2005.
Let's Celebrate her Birthday with enjoying some of her memorable songs.

Song from Mr India 1994

Song from 1942: A Love Story (1995)

Song from Yaraana (1995)

Song from Khamoshi (1996)

Song from Agni Sakshi 1996

Song from Dil Se 1998

Song from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 1998

Song from Saaz 1998

Song from Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam 1999

Song from Gaja Gamini 2000

Song from Kya Kehna 2000

Song from Pukar 2000

Song from Zubeidaa 2000 (Audio)

Song from Devdas 2001

Song from Koi... Mil Gaya 2003

Today on his 70th Death Anniversary we remember him as the greatest Singer of Hindi Cinema. In his era there was no playback singing A hero or a heroine has to sing his or her own song.He was the first Super Star of Bollywood.
Saigal's distinctive singing was revered and idolised by the first generation of post-independence Hindi Film playback singers, including Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, and Mukesh. Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar have even gone on record in an interview that they consider Kundan Lal Saigal to be their musical guru.
In a career of fifteen years, Saigal acted in 36 feature films� 28 in Hindi, seven in Bengali, and one in Tamil. In addition, he acted in a short comedy Hindi film, Dulari Bibi (three reels), released in 1933. In 1955, B.N. Sircar released a documentary film based on the life of K.L. Saigal, Amar Saigal. In the film, G. Mungheri performed the title role of Saigal. The film contained 19 songs lifted from Saigal's films. In all, Saigal rendered 185 songs which includes 142 film songs and 43 non-film songs. Of the film songs, there are 110 in Hindi, 30 in Bengali and two in Tamil.
His dependence on alcohol had begun affecting his work and his health. It was said that he could only record a song after being fortified with liquor. He survived ten years of drinking; however, his alcoholism was too advanced for even a single attempt at abstinence, and Saigal died in his ancestral city of Jalandhar on 18 January 1947, at the age of 42.
My TRIBUTE to the First Super Star of Bollywood-K L SEHGAL
Prem Nagar Mein Banoungi

Song from 1934 film Chandidas

Balam Aaye Baso More Man Mein

Song from 1936 film Devdas

Ek Bangla bane Nyara

Song from 1937 film President

Mein kya Janoo kya Jadu Hai

Song from 1940 film Zindagi

So Ja Rajkumari Soja

Song from 1940 film Zindagi

Kahe Ko Raad Machai

Song from 1941 film Lagaan

Diya Jalao Jagmag

Song from 1943 film Tansen

Do Naina Matware

Song from 1944 film My Sister

Thukra Rahi Hai Duniya

Song from 1944 film Bhanwaraa

Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Ruhi

Song from 1946 film Shenshah

Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya

Song from 1946 film Shenshah

Aye Dil e Bekraar Jhoom

Song from 1946 film Shenshah

Mohabbat Mein Kabhi Aisi

Song from 1947 film Parwaana

Mahendra Kapoor (9 January 1934 � 27 September 2008) was an Indian playback singer.Best known for the song MERE DESH KI DHARTI from Upkar.He started his career as a playback singer in V. Shantaram's Navrang in 1958, singing Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi, under the musical direction of C. Ramchandra.
At an early age he was inspired by singer Mohammed Rafi but he started learning classical music under classical singers like Pt. Hussanlal, Pt. Jagannath Bua, Ustad Niaz Ahmed Khan, Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Pt.Tulsidaas Sharma.
He is perhaps most notable for lending his voice to actor Manoj Kumar in most of his films, mainly in patriotic genre of music.He was a favourite singer for B R Chopra's films.Some of the films of BR Chopra camp were Dhool Ka Phool, Gumrah, Waqt, Hamraaz, Dhund and Nikaah
He sung in a large number of Indian languages, and was the playback singer who has performed in the largest number of in Gujarati, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and Marathi movies.He also performed the title song for the TV series Mahabharat. In Marathi he was very popular for being the voice of Dada Kondke in all his movies. In spite of being associated with Dada Kondke's colloquial style his singing for Marathi movies was not limited to Dada Kondke's movies only.

Mahendra Kapoor with his son Rohan in a stage show

He was one of the pillars of Golden Era of Hindi Music,he had his own style of singing and was different from other singers of his time.He remained a respected and popular figure across his five-decade cinema career.During his singing career he sang more than 2500 songs in various languages.In 1972, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
On 27 September 2008, Kapoor died following a cardiac failure. He was survived by his wife, children, children-in-law and grandchildren.
Mahendra Kapoor had a very large vocal range, and he is sometimes known as The Vibrant Voice of India.He was the first Indian playback singer to record music in English. He was asked by the group Boney M to sing their songs in Hindi with Musarat from Pakistan, which resulted in the Pop Album M-3.

Song from Album M-3

Some of Hit Songs of Mahendra Kapoor

Aadha Hai Chandrama from Navrang 1958

Song from Dhool Ka Phool (1959)

Song from Ghunghat 1960

Song from Gumrah (1963)

Song from Woh Kaun Thi 1963

Song from Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1965)

Song from Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966)

Song from AAYE DIN BAHAAR KE (1966)

Song from Bharosa 1966

Song from Upkar (1967)

Song from Hamraaz (1967)

Song from Kismat (1968)

Song from Sambandh 1969

Song from Gopi (1970)

Song from Purab Aur Paschim (1970)

Song from Yaadgar (1970)

Song from GEET (1970)

Song from Fakira (1975)

Song from Kranti (1981)

Maat Ang Chola Saaje

The niche singer of the Golden Era

Who can forget Tum mujhe bhool bhi jaao to ye haq hai tumko, which was also composed by her. This was a duet with Mukesh,

Sudha Malhotra was born on November 30, 1936 in New Delhi. She spent her childhood in Lahore, Bhopal and Firozpur. She has been singing on the radio from the age of five. She was discovered by Ghulam Haider at a programme at Firozpur in the aid of Red Cross. She completed her graduation in music from Agra University. Her family moved to Bombay in 1948 where she was trained in classical music by Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale. Her first break in playback singing was in 1949 in the film The Last Message in which she sang Chal raha swaraj ka jhagda with Vinod and others.

She was discovered as a child artist by Ghulam Haider (a prominent music director of the 1940s). She debuted in the movie Arzoo. She retired from film industry in 1960, following her marriage with businessman Giridhar Motwani (whose family owned the Chicago Radio Mike Company). She recorded for a few albums in the following years, including for Jagjit Singh's In a Mood of Love. She also sang for Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog in 1982.

I present some of her songs, including some that are not so well known, as my felicitation on her 80^th birth anniversary today.

Mila gaye nain from Arzoo (1950), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Anil Biswas

Song from from Arzoo 1950

Awaz de raha hai koi from Gauhar (1953)

Song from from Gauhar 1953 (Audio only)

Na Woh Hamare Na Dil Hamara from Dill e Nadaan 1953

Song from Dil e Nadaan 1953

Maalik Tere Jahan mei from Ab Dilli Door Nahin 1957

Ab Dilli Door Nahin 1957

Aaj apna Ho Na Ho from Kal Hamara Hai (1959)

Song from Kal Hamara Hai (1959)

Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao from Didi (1959)

Song from from Didi (1959)

Hum tumhare ho chuke hain humko tumse pyar hai from Rangeela Raja (1960)

Song from Rangeela Raja (1960)

Na main dhan chaahun with Geeta Dutt from Kala Bazar (1960)

Song from Kala Bazar (1960)

Salame Hasrat Qubool Kar Lo from Babar 1960

Song from Babar 1960

Kashti ka khamosh safar hai with Kishore Kumar from Girl Friend(1960),

Song from Girl Friend(1960), Audio only

Dekho Ji Mera Haal Re from Solva Saal

Song from Solva Saal 1958

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