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1. Can you say something about Talat Mahmood’s family background and early childhood?
He was born in the romantic city of Lucknow in 1924 when it was part of the province of Awadh during the British Raj. He belonged to a traditional Muslim household which gave utmost importance to education and the arts. He was exposed to the best of Urdu poetry and classical music at his aunt’s (father’s elder sister) home where top artists and poets of the time were invited for baithaks, mehfils and mushairas. His brothers and him were sent to the boarding school in Aligarh Muslim University to receive the best of modern education in English and sciences as well as be exposed to the ethos of Urdu literature and arts.
2. How and when did he take to singing?
Talat’s father had a booming voice. He used to sing patriotic and Islamic songs in meetings held by the Congress during the freedom struggle. Talat’s brothers and sisters all had singing voices. But Talat’s soft voice was exceptional. He got extremely interested in becoming a professional singer during his senior school days. But taking up professional singing was frowned upon at home. The family was a patron of the arts but his father drew a strict line of not allowing any commercial work in arts. But his aunt was supportive of Talat’s dream and played a pivotal role in helping him become a singer.
3. Tell us something about his early days as a singer for All India Radio, Lucknow?
In 1940, when Talat was 16 years old, he decided to meet someone in charge of the music department at All India Radio in Lucknow. But his first day at the recording studio was a disaster. It took him 6 months of training to finally record his first AIR song, ‘Chhaani jo khaak humne uss but ki rehguzar mein, apne ko kho ke baithe paayayeh umar bhar mein’ (In my perfect pursuit of the callous one, I plunged deep, and life was done). These early recordings were a blessing but it also meant taking time away from school. He would earn Rs 5 per recording, a huge amount those days. Soon he became a sought-after recording artist, not just for his unique voice but for an exemplary command over Urdu. He could effortlessly sing couplets of Ghalib and Iqbal and the poetry of Mir and Daagh.
4. Which singer and music director was Talat most influenced and impressed by?
His favourite singer was Kundan Lal Saigal. My book describes two incidents in detail when Talat meets his idol for the first time. First time as a young school boy and second time as a young singer in the recording studio of New Theatres in Calcutta. He described Saigal’s voice as one drenched in emotions, which could neither falter in notes nor ethos. Talat was never trained by Saigal, but he called the actor-singer of Devdas (1936) his spiritual guru. His favourite music director was Anil Biswas who played an important role in promoting Talat’s unique vibrato in 1950s Hindi films. He called him his Godfather. Biswas staunchly supported Talat’s talent and gave him great songs during his struggling days in Bombay. It was Biswas’ composition in Arzoo (1950), ‘Aye dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal’ that sealed the Dilip Kumar-Talat Mahmood partnership in films. He became the one and only voice during the actor’s phase of Tragedy King.
5. Why was he also known as Tapan Kumar?
When Talat started his singing career, the film industry was mainly based in Calcutta. Apart from recording Urdu ghazals, Talat also started singing ‘modern (aadhunik) Bangla’ songs. It was his first music director, the legendary Pankaj Mullick’s idea that whenever Talat sang in Bengali, it would be in the name of Tapan Kumar. It was a challenge for Talat to learn a new language from scratch but he aced it. His voice became a rage for many decades. His fans believed that Talat was a local Bengali boy! It’s important to note that, apart from being a pillar of the Golden Era of music in Hindi films, Talat was also an important voice for the Modern Bangla movement in music.
6. As a singer what was Talat’s breakthrough song, the first song that brought him to national notice and prominence.
The first commercial hit which made Talat an overnight sensation was the non-film Ghazal in 1945 called, ‘Tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakegi / Yeh teri tarah mujhse to sharma na sakegi’ (Your photograph cannot comfort my heart / Like you, it cannot be bashful). The song became a smash hit and made Talat a celebrity at the age of 20. Talat’s voice that took the country by storm. Pankaj Mullick had promised to give Talat his debut hit and that is exactly what it was.
7. In the early 1950s, Talat was the preferred voice of Dilip Kumar? Do you recall any interesting anecdotes about a song he sang for Dilip Kumar?
‘Mitwa’ that he crooned for Devdas (1955) was sung under extremely difficult circumstances. He was grieving the loss of his father and had just returned to Bombay after his father’s burial. What you hear is raw grief. And with music director S D Burman’s decision to barely use instruments further accentuates the feeling of that grief. It’s a soul-stirring performance by Talat which perfectly epitomises Devdas’ helplessness combined with Dilip Kumar’s unparalleled depiction of loss and despair.
8. What, according to you, are his three best films as an actor and why?
In my view, the film ‘Sone Ki Chidiya’ with co-star Nutan best displays his skills as a mainstream hero and actor. His handsome looks gave him a chocolate boy image but the role had shades of grey. It was the negative role of a scheming and untrustworthy character. I’m amazed how he pulled it off. He always maintained he was comfortable in front of the mic but not in front of the camera. Despite that, he was flooded with acting offers and ended up playing the main hero in around 13 films. By the time ‘Lala Rukh’ was released with co-star Shyama, he had dropped his shy mannerisms and was very comfortable playing the light-hearted role of a flirtatious and romantic prince. The other film which comes to mind was ‘Waris’ opposite singing sensation Suraiya. The film, a silver jubilee hit, was a much-awaited pairing since both were singing stars.
9. Did Talat Mahmood start musical tours abroad among Hindi films playback singers. Can you recount any interesting incidents during those tours?
He was the first playback singer from India to start world tours. And he did that in the prime of his career in 1956. He used to have multiple recordings and shoots but decided to spare a few months to travel abroad and meet the demand of his fans outside India. During his East Africa tour in 1956, his train was once stopped midway because people were upset that their town was not listed in his itinerary. He was then asked to have an unplanned stopover to especially perform for them. Also, during his 1968 tour to Trinidad, the mass hysteria was so high that he was unable to enter the venue for his performance. The mount police and the helicopter had to be called to control the crowd. He also gave top priority to perform for the armed forces. He did so in Ladakh while wearing gloves. He went to Chittagong to sing for the Indian Army soon after the 1971 War of Bangladesh to boost their morale.
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