#GoldenFrames: Geeta Dutt - Soulful Singer of Indian Cinema

Geeta Dutt was the only singer Lata Mangeshkar was said to be wary of! She had a rare gift and was able to do full justice to every type of song: sad, emotion-filled, light, joyful, romantic and boisterous. Geeta sang 72 songs for S D Burman of which 43 were solos. She was well-known for devotional and sad songs. Geeta had an ear for music from her childhood. She was only 12 when the passion for music had already taken hold of her. Music director Hanuman Prasad gave her the first break to sing in his movie 'Bhakta Prahlad' (1946) and then SD Burman made her into a singing star of Bollywood when she was just 17. Geeta played a pioneering role in the music world with her jazzy songs scored by S.D. Burman in 'Baazi' (1951). ‘Suno gajar kya gaye’ and ‘Taqdeer se bigdi hui’ from ‘Baazi’ are still famous. It was during the recording of these songs that she met the film director Guru Dutt whom she married in 1953. Later in her career, Geeta went on to sing some of her best songs in Guru Dutt's movies like ‘Babuji dheere chalna’, ‘Thandi hawa kali ghata aa hi gayi jhumke’ and ‘Jata kahan hai deewane’. Her popular songs for actress Waheeda Rehman include ‘Aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo’, ‘Jane kya tune kahi’, ‘Na jao saiyyan chhuda ke bayyian’ among others.