Mukesh - The Unparalleled Monarch Of Sad Songs

(Oh,departed soul, if possible come back…)

Mukesh, the unparalleled Monarch of sad songs rendered this tragic number some half a decade back. Today, paradoxically, it serves well as the cry from millions of his fans spread all over the globe. Mukesh’s greatness can be judged from the fact that while his contemporaries recorded a whopping 15,000 to 20,000 songs, Mukesh in contrast recorded an infinitesimal number of just 1000 (one thousand ) songs in a career spanning over three decades and more! Yet it’s the quality of his song that his Pygmy size tally, towers large over the gigantic quantities of others!!!

July 22 is the birth anniversary of the legendary singer Mukesh, Raaga.Com, pays him homage and remembers the great.

Born on 22nd July, 1923, as Mukeshchand Mathur, he made his entry into Mumbai from his native New Delhi in the early 40’s, on the soul strength of his uncle, Motilal, who was a big star in Bollywood.

The handsome looks of the youngster and the heavy weight influence of Motilal did help Mukesh in procuring movies as an actor cum singer in Nirdosh (1941) and Dukh Sukh(1942). But the disastrous failure of both the movies compelled Mukesh to concentrate on his singing, which truly was his forte.

He underwent intense training under Pandit Jagannath Prasad and imbibed the art of an exquisite blend of torment and anguish in his voice that later became his hallmark leading him to his crowning as the King of Tragedy Songs in tinsel town. Mukesh