Suman Kalyanpur, one of the most celebrated playback singers in Indian music, died on Sunday evening (31 May 2023) in Mumbai. She died at home in Mumbai of cancer.
Her death brought waves of grief to the Indian film and music industry, and the stars of those industries are grieving and mourning the death of a singer who personified Indian cinema. The exact reason for her death has not yet been resolved, but people from all over the country came to her aid with tributes.
A Remarkable Journey in Music
Suman Kalyanpur was born on 28 January 1937 in Bhawanipur, then part of undivided India and now Bangladesh. She was born in the Hemmady family and started to enjoy music at an early age, and was trained in singing as a teenager.
She started her musical career with performances for All India Radio in 1952. Years later, she got her first break in the Marathi film industry with the movie *Shukrachi Chandni* and went on to become one of the most famous playback singers in Hindi and Marathi movies.
In her long career, she worked with some of the greatest music composers in Indian cinema, such as Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Madan Mohan, S. D. Burman, Hemant Kumar, Naushad and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
Comparisons with Lata Mangeshkar
Suman Kalyanpur was often compared to Lata Mangeshkar in her career. In several interviews, Kalyanpur admitted that the comparisons made her uncomfortable, even though she greatly loved Lata and was influenced by her singing style during her college days.
One of the most significant stages in her career came when Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi stopped recording together over royalty-related disagreements. During this time, Suman Kalyanpur performed more than 140 duets with Mohammed Rafi, and the songs that made up that collection are still popular today.
She also shared the microphone with legendary singers such as Mukesh and Kishore Kumar, cementing her place among the golden voices of Indian cinema.
Honoured with Padma Bhushan
As a result of her contributions to Indian music and fine arts, in 2023, the government of India awarded her Padma Bhushan for her decades-long contribution to the country’s musical heritage.
Personal Life
Suman Kalyanpur married Mumbai businessman Ramanand Kalyanpur in 1958. He was always a support for her, and she went to recording sessions with him all throughout her career.
The couple had a daughter, Charul Agny, who settled in the United States. Suman also had a granddaughter, Aaishanni Agny, who returned to India and established an NGO in Mumbai named after her grandmother.
An Enduring Legacy
Suman Kalyanpur’s death marks the end of a golden era in Indian playback singing. Her soulful voice, melodies that go on forever and her contributions to Hindi and Marathi cinema will remain in the history of Indian music forever.
She’s not here today, after all, but her music will live on with music fans forever. When people of this world lose a great artist, her music will live forever in the millions of songs she has created for all of us.
May her soul rest in peace.
