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Golden Voice

TALAT MAHMOOD

'KING OF GHAZALS'.........

'MAN WITH THE GOLDEN VOICE'........

'A PERFECT GENTLEMAN'.........

'VELVET VOICE OF INDIA'.........

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MANY ACCOLADES SHOWERED ON THE MAN HISTORY KNOWS AS TALAT MAHMOOD......   AN ENORMOUSLY TALENTED SINGING STAR WHO BECAME A LEGEND IN HIS LIFETIME !   EVERY SONG THAT TALAT MAHMOOD SANG POSSESSED A HUSHED MAJESTY AND AN ABIDING GRACE WHICH ARE FOREVER EMBEDDED IN THE HEARTS OF HIS MILLIONS OF FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD.   TALAT MAHMOOD WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST SINGING STARS OF ALL TIMES


'King of Ghazals' Talat Mahmood was born in a highly cultured but conservative family in Lucknow, India, on Feb. 24, 1924. He was one amongst six children. His father Manzoor Mahmood owned an electrical curio store. Talat showed his musical leanings from a very young age and would enjoy sitting through all-night music soiree's listening patiently to some of the biggest names in Indian classical music. Later, for a very short period of time Talat studied music at Marris Music College, before people began noticing his natural singing talent and offers to sing began to pour in.


Talat Mahmood began his music career at the young age of 16 when he began singing the ghazals of Ghalib, Dagh, Mir and Jigar on All India Radio, Lucknow. His voice had a quality distinct from all other singers. HMV was quick to notice this and offered Talat his first disc in 1941, "Sab din ek samaan nahin tha, ban jaoonga kya se kya main, iska to kuch dhyan nahin tha". Indeed how prophetic were these words. Little did Talat know that he was soon to rise to become the greatest name in ghazals on the Indian sub-continent !


In 1944 came the smash hit "Tasveer teri dil mera behela na sakegi". It took the country by storm. It's popularity was so phenomenal and unrivalled that even today it remains one of the biggest non-film hits! This disc brought Talat fame throughout India and soon he was beckoned by the Calcutta Film Industry, which was then the premiere hub of film production in the 40's. Apart from singing many hits, Talat also acted in the first 3 of his 13 films there - "RAJLAXMI", "TUM AUR MAIN" and "SAMAPTI".

But fate had even bigger things in store for Talat and in 1949 he came to the Hollywood of India - Bombay. His name and fame had already preceded him and people in the Bombay Film Industry were already aware of this handsome and talented young singer and soon he was offered the song "Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho" composed by the then reigning music director Anil Biswas and picturised on the great Dilip Kumar. The combination was electrifying ! The record was an overnight success and set the trend for the filmi ghazal.



In Talat Mahmood, the music directors found the perfect voice for ghazals. His diction and intonation were word perfect. His expressive style and emotional nuances were unparalleled. The mellowness, sweetness and pathos in his voice set him apart from all the other singers. Here was a voice that was fresh ! The style absolutely new !! He was unanimously hailed as "The King Of Ghazals", a title he consolidated over the period of years to become the greatest name in ghazals !!! His film solo's and romantic duets numbered in hundreds as hit after hit followed. Talat soon grew into a living legend.

However, the handsome young 'King of Ghazals' did not go unnoticed by the film producers, who besieged him with offers to act in their films. Such was Talat's aura, that for his film 'Dil-e-Nadaan', producer-director A.R. Kardar, (who launched showman Raj Kapoor's film career) launched an 'All India Beauty Contest' to hunt for a beautiful girl who would play the heroine opposite this young and immensely talented superstar - Talat Mahmood !!! Talat was to finally accept 13 films with top heroines like Nutan, Mala Sinha, Suraiya, Shyama, Nadira and others before he decided that acting was not his forte. And hence, Talat gave up acting to concentrate on singing.

Towards the late 60's the filmi ghazals and good romantic songs gave way to the electronic rhythms of the disco generation. Disliking the new trend towards loud meaningless music, Talat decided to cut down his film singing assignments but continued his non-film ghazal recordings.

As a singer, Talat has already secured a place in history. Over the years, the King of Ghazals has created a catalogue of songs for generations to come. His fan following straddles the globe. He strides like a colossus in the field of ghazals - a KING whose name is surpassed by none !!!



Posted on 7/7/2003 8:11:54 PM




   'PADMABHUSHAN'

   TALAT MAHMOOD

Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar are the only two Indian playback singers to be honoured
with the prestigious PADMABHUSHAN AWARD by Government of India.
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:15:40 PM
TALAT MAHMOOD

A SUPERSTAR AMONG STARS !


Dilip Kumar and Talat Mahmood, two of the greatest and most respected names of the Indian film industry pose for press photographers

ALL TIME GREATS !

TALAT, MUKESH, LATA, RAFI

Talat Mahmood & 'comedy king' Johnny Walker in London during concert tour

India's nightingale Lata Mangeshkar chats with 'King of Ghazals' Talat Mahmood

Dilip Kumar, Talat, Mukesh backstage at a charity concert

Talat Mahmood with Bengal's heartthrob Uttam Kumar

Asha Bhosle warmly greets
Talat Mahmood

Talat Mahmood, Nadira, Suraiya at the premiere of their hit film "WARIS'


Talat Mahmood with Shammi Kapoor at a film premiere

Mukesh, comedian Mehmood, tragedy queen Meena Kumari and Talat Mahmood


Mehdi Hassan pays his respects to the majestic 'Shahenshah of Ghazals' Talat Mahmood


Guru of the Beatles ! Sitarist
Ravi Shankar with Ghazal King
Talat Mahmood

Talat with 'villain' Pran

Talat Mahmood with his favorite music director Anil Biswas

Two legends come together!
Talat Mahmood rehearses a song for composer Naushad
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:28:14 PM

Shankar, Lata, Jaikishan and Talat

                            Three Cheers for the KING !
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:31:34 PM

THE RELEASE OF TALAT MAHMOOD'S "GHAZAL KE SAAZ UTHAO" WAS A GRAND AFFAIR. OLD FRIEND DILIP KUMAR AND HIS WIFE SAIRA BANU WERE ON HAND TO RELEASE THE GHAZAL ALBUM AT A 5 STAR HOTEL IN BOMBAY WITH THE GLITTERATI OF THE CITY GRACING THE OCCASION.
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:33:07 PM

Shahenshah-e-Ghazal Talat Mahmood

with

Jagjit & Chitra Singh, Bhupinder, Talat Aziz

Pop singers Gary Lawyer, Alisha Chinai, Ila Arun, Mitali, Nandu Bhende.
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:34:25 PM

Sathya Saran, editor of FEMINA magazine, who hand-picked and groomed Aishwariya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Yukta Mookhy, Priyanka Chopra- all winners of the Miss Universe and Miss World Titles, wrote in FILMFARE magazine JULY 1998 :

"Talat Mahmood was the quintessential romantic. His gentle good looks, his chivalrous manners and his quiet reclusivity had all the elements of high romance ! "
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:35:42 PM
TALAT MAHMOOD

THE STAR !


TALAT MAHMOOD HAS STARRED IN 13 FILMS MAKING HIM ONE OF BOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST SINGING STARS !

"RAJLAXMI"   1945    KANANBALA
"TUM AUR MAIN" 1947 KANANDEVI
"SAMAPTI" 1949 BHARTI DEVI
"ARAAM" 1951 MADHUBALA , DEV ANAND
"DIL-E-NADAAN" 1953 SHYAMA, PEACE KANWAL
"DAK BABU" 1954 NADIRA
"WARIS" 1954 SURAIYA, NADIRA
"RAFTAAR" 1955 NADIRA
"DIWALI KI RAAT" 1956 ROOPMALA, SHASHIKALA
"EK GAON KI KAHANI"      1957 MALA SINHA
"LALA RUKH" 1958 SHYAMA
"MAALIK" 1958 SURAIYA
"SONE KI CHIDIYA" 1958 NUTAN
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:38:54 PM


AN ALL INDIA BEAUTY CONTEST WAS LAUNCHED
TO FIND A HEROINE TO STAR OPPOSITE
MEGA-STAR TALAT MAHMOOD !!!

ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY OF INDIA - DEC '87

        ' For Talat's film 'DIL E NADAAN', producer A.R. Kardar ( who launched the great Raj Kapoor ) launched an 'All India Beauty Contest' to hunt for a new heroine to act opposite this immensely popular and much sought after Singing Star. The contest was sponsored by "Kolynos" the then leading brand of toothpaste. The winner was beautiful Peace Kanwal and she did the romantic lead opposite Talat. It was a dream come true for her ! Which girl in those days would not have given her right ear to come face to face with this handsome King Of Ghazals !!! '


[/red]

( The under-production name 'Nashaad' was later changed to 'DIL E NADAAN'
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:47:46 PM

The stunning good looks that had women swooning ....
whether in a concert hall or in a cinema hall !
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:49:41 PM

Talat & Suraiya in 'WARIS'

Talat & Nutan in
"SONE KI CHIDIYA"

Talat Mahmood & Nadira in 'RAFTAAR'

'DIWALI KI RAAT'       
Talat Mahmood & Roopmala

      'RAJLAXMI'
Talat Mahmood's first film

Dev Anand, Talat, Madhubala in 'ARAAM'

Talat in
"TUM AUR MAIN"

Talat and Suraiya in "MAALIK"

DIWALI KI RAAT"
Posted on 7/7/2003 8:57:24 PM

Talat Mahmood was so popular that the
American 555 State Express Cigarette Company
used Talat in their Indian advertisements way back in the 1950's !!!


The 50's was the era of the Singing Star. America had Elvis Presley, England had Cliff Richard and India had Talat Mahmood ! Handsome, good looking men with fantastic voices and a distinguished style of singing that was all their own. The mere mention of their names on the silver screen was enough to pull in female crowds looking for gentle romantic fare, with clean cut story lines. Whether Elvis, Cliff or Talat, these singers were packaged and presented on the silver screen with the utmost of care. Nothing was left to chance. For them, it was nothing but the biggest producers, the biggest banners, the topmost heroines and of course, hand picked music composers to create those scintillating musical scores !
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:00:02 PM
***   When producer Sohrab Modi (the Cecil B. DeMille of Indian Cinema) conceived the film 'WARIS' for the reigning singing superstar Talat Mahmood, he decided to bring in the highly respected Director Nitin Bose, renowned for introducing playback singing to Indian Cinema and later for directing the great Dilip Kumar's magnum opus 'Ganga Jamuna'. Not just one, but two top heroines were signed up to play the lead opposite Talat Mahmood - Suraiya, the highest paid heroine of her time and the beautiful Nadira ! Apart from being the top stars of the day, they were also great fans of this handsome singer and welcomed the chance to team up with the Ghazal King. 'WARIS' of course, was a hit!

***   Talat Mahmood starred with the actress par excellence, Nutan, in Sone Ki Chidiya. Nutan always referred to Seema and Sone Ki Chidiya as her careers two most memorable films !

***   Famous producer - director A.R. Kardar, who launched Raj Kapoor, signed up Talat Mahmood for his musical venture Dil e Nadaan. An all India beauty contest was then launched to find a heroine to star opposite mega star Talat Mahmood for this film ! The winner was lovely Peace Kanwal. After acting in Dil e Nadaan, she got married to a well known industrialist and gave up acting completely.

***   Talat Mahmood starred in the 1957 hit Ek Gaon Ki Kahani with the lovely Mala Sinha as heroine, directed by well known director Dulal Guha and produced by Satyen Bose ( who has also produced one of the biggest hits and highest box office grossers of all time - 'Dosti' )

***   Producer S.U. Sunny, who had earlier made the Dilip Kumar starrers Babul and Udan Khatola, cast the striking singer-duo of Talat Mahmood and Suraiya for his film Maalik.

***   Despite the presence of Dev Anand and Madhubala in Araam, the star appeal of Talat Mahmood was used to boost the box office ratings of the film !

***   Director Nitin Bose, whose credits include the great Dilip Kumar's magnum opus Ganga Jamuna, directed Talat Mahmood in Waris !

***   At a Suraiya retrospective in Bombay in 1994, a much-acclaimed film was the late Sohrab Modi's Waris. This film starred handsome Talat Mahmood as hero.

Producer Sohrab Modi, Suraiya, Nadira, Mrs Talat, Talat Mahmood and Director Nitin Bose at premiere of 'WARIS'
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:02:31 PM


"Co-starring with Talat Mahmood in LALA RUKH was a dream come true for me. Even though this was my second film with him, my heart would still miss a beat whenever we acted together ! He was my heart-throb for as long as I can remember and I made it a point never to miss a song of his on the radio. One thing about Talat was that he was almost perfect, hardly troubling his directors with
re-takes".

CINE BLITZ magazine - MARCH '85
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:05:11 PM

Talat Mahmood is the only singing star of the Indian film industry to
have such a huge female fan following !


Talat with the vivacious Nadira in "RAFTAAR"

Talat playing a dashing prince in "LALA RUKH"

Talat with lovely Shyama in "LALA RUKH"

Handsome and debonair Talat in "DIL E NADAAN"
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:09:20 PM
TALAT MAHMOOD'S

FILM POSTERS



                            



Posted on 7/7/2003 9:13:22 PM
DID YOU KNOW THAT ......

.......... Music Director Naushad says in INDIAN EXPRESS 20.9.81 :"I have a very high opinion of Talat Mahmood. He has a fine style. When he sings ghazals it is in his own unique inimitable sweet style. Sweetness is indispensable to a proper singing of the ghazal. Besides, he has mastery over the language. He knows which words to emphasize and which not to. You will never hear any lines misread from Talat Mahmood's lips !"

    .......... Radio singer Suman Hemmadey's ( later Suman Kalyanpur ) first film song was a duet with Talat Mahmood in "Darwaza". A rank newcomer, her career hit the big league when Talat agreed to sing the duet with her, making the film industry sit up and take notice of her.

    .......... Talat Mahmood and Dilip Kumar would meet regularly for a game of badminton at Bandra Gymkhana during the sixties. Dilip Kumar and his entire family of brothers and sisters were very close to Talat and his wife and they would meet often.

    .......... Doordarshan's documentary on Talat Mahmood "Sham e Gham Ki Qasam" was to have been the first color documentary by Doordarshan after television went color in early 80's, but it got delayed by a few months and was released a little later than scheduled. Viewers loved "Sham e Gham Ki Qasam" and Doordarshan was flooded with requests for repeat telecasts of this show. Even today it is shown on TV due to a public demand for it ! This documentary on Talat was of one and half hour duration and it's budget could rival that of a small budget commercial film ! This was Doordarshan's first color documentary on any playback singer !

    .......... On Talat's US Concert Tour, Talat's popularity prompted famous New York television host Joe Franklin to invite Talat on his hugely popular programme "The Joe Franklin Show" watched by over 25 million Americans. He introduced Talat to American audiences as "The Frank Sinatra Of
India !"

    .......... Bombellis restaurant on Breach Candy was a one time favorite haunt of Talat and his close friends music directors Madan Mohan and Jaikishan (Shankar-Jaikishan). Being bachelors, they would compete to see who had the largest following of girls by counting how many came to ask each one for autographs ! Talat usually won hands down, as being a singer and star he was a more recognizable face, much to the 'dismay, annoyance and chagrin' of Madan and Jaikishan ! Talat would never stop pulling Jaikishan's and Madan's leg over this !

    .......... Talat first met music director Madan Mohan when Madan came to live in Lucknow for a while. Their love for ghazals made them good friends. In a friendly gesture, Madan promised Talat that once he went back to Bombay and signed on films as a music director he would definitely use Talat's voice. Madan was true to his promise and Talat and Madan teamed up for many hits in many films including Jahan Ara, Madhosh, Ashiana, Haqeeqat and others. They enjoyed a close bond of friendship throughout their lives.

    .......... Talat loved cars and driving. His line up of cars through the years included Morris Minor, Hillman, Ambassador, Maruti Van, Maruti 1000, Automatic Cielo. He would enjoy long drives out of Bombay with his family.

    .......... Talat's favorite foreign singers were Nat 'King' Cole, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Connie Francis. His favorite stars were Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Rock Hudson, John Wayne, Richard Burton and Sean Connery. He immensely enjoyed the antics of Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin and possessed a good collection of 8mm movies of the two ! On a concert tour, Talat would relax by reading novels of authors like Arthur Hailey, Harold Robbins, Jacqueline Susann, Ian Flemming and James Hadley Chase. He was very fascinated by the 'UFO' or Unidentified Flying Objects theory and loved reading about them ! He was a regular subscriber to Newsweek, Time and Life magazines. Well informed on World events, Talat could hold his own in any discussion on World matters.

    .......... Asked by 'The Metropolis' 27.2.93 : You sang many duets with Lata, Geeta, Asha. How would you compare them ? Talat replied - " Lata was musically far ahead of the rest. She was a perfectionist, working hard on each song. Geeta was very good at catching the mood of a song, she could do it spontaneously. Asha, I would say, had the maximum variety. She could sing any kind of song effortlessly. Singing duets with them was always a challenge - each singer tried to outdo the other. It was great fun ! "

    .......... Producer-Director-Studio Owner Mehboob Khan of 'Mother India' fame, would always put his finger on Talat's throat and tell him " Khuda ka noor tumhare gale mein hai ! "

     .......... Amongst the playback singers, only Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar have been honoured by the prestigious and highly respected PADMABHUSHAN AWARD by the Government of India. ( Mohd. Rafi, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor are recipients of the lesser PADMASHREE AWARD) This award is not given by any private organization or magazine but by the Government of the country itself. This should go a long way in proving who the really great singers of the Indian film industry are !!!

     .......... Talat loved sweets and no meal was complete without a sweet dish. His favorite sweets were things like rasgoola, kheer, phirni, gaajar ka halwa, pastries, imported chocolates, etc.

     .......... Among the many gifts Talat received through his lifetime was a beautiful Persian carpet presented to him by King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan who was a great fan of Talat's. Another preserved gift was a beautiful white marble statue of a woman presented to him by the Maharani of Rajpipla. King Birender of Nepal gifted Talat with a beautiful ornate 'bell'.

    .......... Talat was very fond of electronic gadgets and was always the first to buy them the moment they hit the market - things like video player, electric shaver, the first Phillips cassette player, electric toothbrush, the Walkman, 8mm camera and Projector etc.

    .......... Talat was to perform at a public concert in Khatmandu, Nepal, which was to be attended by King Birender and his family. Knowing that the King wrote poetry, Talat procured a book of poems written by the King, composed a tune for it and sang it as a surprise item at the concert, much to the delight of King Birender and his family !

    ......... World renowned classical flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia's very first film recording was for Talat Mahmmod's hit song 'Phir wohi shaam wohi gham....' from the film JAHAN ARA. Hari Prasad Chaurasia cherishes memories of this first recording even today !

    .......... During the 80's ghazal "boom" when every bathroom singer felt he could sing ghazals and
cut discs by the dozens, music companies had got into the cheap publicity gimmick of generously "gifting" these singers gold / platinum/ double platinum/ triple platinums, ( even for sales as paltry as 500 copies ! ) to stimulate album sales. The popular women's magazine SAVVY - Feb. '86, calling Talat "The God of Ghazals" asked him this question: 'What do you think of all these gold and platinum discs these singers have been getting?'   To which Talat replied : " It's very amusing. At every twist and turn they seem to be getting discs. Even Elvis Presley ( Guinness Book's world record holder ) would have got a complex !!! ".

    .......... In his lifetime, Talat Mahmood had completed two Umrah's to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The first time with his wife Nasreen and the second time with his son Khalid and daughter Sabina

    .......... Raju Bharatan, well known journalist and human encyclopedia on cricket and music, writing an article in Times of India - 17.12.89, paying tribute to India's finest "touch artiste supreme" - cricketing legend Mushtaq Ali, headlined his article with : "MUSHTAQ IS TO CRICKET WHAT TALAT IS TO GHAZALS !"

    .......... The extremely popular group ' West Indies Steel Band' created a song to welcome Talat to Trinidad for his 1968 West Indies Concert Tour: "Talat Mahmood we are proud and glad - to have a personality like you here in Trinidad". This song, composed in Calypso style, was played over and over on the radio, at the airport and in all music shops in West Indies to welcome the immensely popular, loved and admired singing star Talat Mahmood to their country !    

    ......... In the wake of the record breaking 58,000 attendance at Talat Mahmood's concert at Karachi in 1961, Pakistan's 'Mallika E Tarannum' Noorjehan, called up Talat from Lahore requesting him to join her in a concert at Lahore. Talat politely refused and expressed to her his inability to do the concert as he had to get back to Bombay for his scheduled film recordings and other engagements. Feeling that maybe Talat's refusal was on account of her not offering him the correct remuneration, she then offered to send him a blank cheque, to fill in any amount he desired ! But Talat once again very politely refused her offer ! Talat and Noorjehan met once again many years later, in 1982, when Noorjehan, as guest of honour, came down to Bombay to attend the "Mortal Men Immortal Melodies" concert where all the major names in Indian music performed. Meeting Talat warmly she said to him "Talat bhai, aap ki awaaz mein wohi kashish ab bhi hai !"
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:15:47 PM

Popular Music Director O.P.Nayyar picks his TOP 10 songs for Filmfare magazine and
Talat Mahmood's "Pyar par bas to nahin hai" from 'SONE KI CHIDIYA' tops his list !
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:18:23 PM

Receiving the highly respected PADMABHUSHAN AWARD
from President of India Shri Venkataraman


Posted on 7/7/2003 9:20:44 PM
Talat's son Khalid who had accompanied his father to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the Investiture Ceremony has this interesting recollection........

Talat had been briefed by Protocol, as to how, once his name is announced, he should walk straight up to the President, get the award, then without looking left or right, step back, turn around and go back to his seat. The Ceremony began and the invitees were giving each awardee a polite but short round of applause. But the moment Talat's name was announced, the entire hall erupted into a frenzy of clapping and cheering ! The invitees began turning around in their chairs and craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the man whose music had been a part of their lives for so many decades ! Talat got up from his seat and amidst this enormous cheering and clapping finally reached the President. But the moment he reached the President the Press photographers corner began calling and shouting his name "Talat sahab, this way, this way, please one photo... please look this way...." Talat did not look in their direction as he remembered Protocol telling him not to look away from the President. But the Press corp was persistent and kept up the chant of "Talat sahab, please... this way...one photo" Finally, a smiling President, realising that the photographers were not going to let go of their beloved Talat Mahmood so easily, graciously held Talat's hand and gently turned him towards the Press photographers so that they could click to their hearts content and finally get their photo of their much loved much respected and much admired Talat Mahmood !

With Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru,

President of India Dr. Radhakrishan
being introduced to the singing superstar of the country

With former Defence Minister, Home Minister and Maharashtra's first & most powerful Chief Minister, Y.B. Chavan - who was a great fan of the silken voiced Talat Mahmood


Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ghulam Nabi Azad present Talat Mahmood with SANGEET SHIROMANI AWARD.      Superstars Talat Mahmood and Amitabh Bachchan were presented with 'Lifetime Achievement' Awards at this function.

Talat performed in Kabul at the personal request and invitation of King Zahir Shah himself ! Here King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, a great fan and admirer of Talat, congratulates the mega-star after the concert in Kabul.

Talat with Prime Minister Ramgoolam of Mauritius at the luncheon party hosted in Mauritius in his honour by the
Prime Minister.




Talat Mahmood at felicitation of Chinese premiere Chou En Lai in Delhi.

Talat with the Lord Mayor and Lady in Manchester, England.
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:27:06 PM
GOPAL SHARMA
famous radio announcer

Ameen Sayani and Gopal Sharma are the 2 most recognizable voices on the radio apart from the singers whose songs they have played by the hundreds. Gopal Sharma has said in Times Of India - Jan 5/2000 :

" The most popular singer is not one who has sung the most, but one whose songs became more popular in quantity than another singer. If Talat Mahmood sang 800 songs and they all became popular then he is definitely more popular than another singer whose songs number in thousands ! "
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:29:02 PM







Talat Mahmood, standing 2nd from left, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi. Also in the group one can spot Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Home Minister S.B. Chavan, Ex Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Vice President Sanjeeva Reddy and President R.Venketaraman.
Posted on 7/7/2003 9:32:34 PM
TALAT MAHMOOD 'FACT FILE'
TALAT'S FIRST RECORDING : " Sab din ek samaan nahin tha " a non film (HMV) song in 1941
TALAT'S FIRST FILM RECORDING : " Jago musafir jago " for film RAJLAXMI in 1945
TALAT'S LAST RECORDING : Ghazal album titled "GHAZAL KE SAAZ UTHAO" in 1986-HMV
TALAT HAS SUNG 747 HITS IN 12 INDIAN LANGUAGES :
Urdu/ Hindi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Gujrati, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sindhi, Awadhi, Marwari, Assamese.
TALAT HAS STARRED IN 13 FILMS MAKING HIM ONE OF BOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST
SINGING STARS :

"RAJLAXMI"   1945    KANANBALA
"TUM AUR MAIN"   1947 KANANDEVI
"SAMAPTI"   1949 BHARTI DEVI
"ARAAM" 1951 MADHUBALA , DEV ANAND
"DIL-E-NADAAN"   1953 SHYAMA, PEACE KANWAL
"DAAK BABU"   1954 NADIRA
"WARIS"   1954 SURAIYA, NADIRA
"RAFTAAR" 1955 NADIRA
"DIWALI KI RAAT"   1956 ROOPMALA, SHASHIKALA
"EK GAON KI KAHANI"       1957 MALA SINHA
"LALA RUKH"   1958 SHYAMA
"MAALIK"   1958 SURAIYA
"SONE KI CHIDIYA"   1958 NUTAN
TALAT HAS RECEIVED INNUMERABLE AWARDS ALL THROUGH HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER :

Padmabhushan Award by Government of India

Maharashtra State Govt. Film Award

The Ashirwad Award

The Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar

The Alami Urdu Conference Award

The Bombay Film Critics Award

The Ghalib Award

The Naushad Ali Award

The Film Journalists Award

The Cinegoers Association Award

The Begum Akhtar Award

EMI Lifetime Achievement Disc

The Lions Club Award

The Rotary Club Award ....... and many , many , more .



TALAT HAS SUNG PLAYBACK FOR MOST OF THE MAJOR STARS OF INDIAN CINEMA :

Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Manoj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Bharat Bhooshan, Premnath, V. Shantaram, Ashok Kumar, Sanjay Khan, Guru Dutt, Pradeep Kumar ...... and many more.



THE GOLDEN AGE OF MUSIC IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE 50's WHEN TALAT RULED AS KING. Some of the music directors TALAT has sung for are :

Shanker Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, Naushad, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khaiyam, Ravi, Anil Biswas, Chitragupt, O.P.Nayyar, Kalyanji Anandji, Khemchand Prakash, Ghulam Mohmmad, Jaidev, Roshan, Vasant Desai, S.D.Burman, Sajjad, Salil Choudhury, C. Ramchander, Husnlal Bhagatram ...... and many more.



TALAT HAS SUNG HIS MOST POPULAR DUETS WITH :

Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, Sudha Malhotra, Suman Kalyanpur, Hemlata, P. Sushila, Mubarak Begum .....and many more.



TALAT WAS THE ONLY SINGER IN THE FILM INDUSTRY WHOSE URDU DICTION WAS FLAWLESS AND PERFECT. NO OTHER SINGER COULD MATCH HIM ON THIS COUNT ! SOME OF THE GIANTS OF THE POETIC WORLD (SHAYER'S / POETS ) WHO HAVE SPECIALLY PENNED SOUL STIRRING AND HEART WARMING LYRICS FOR TALAT:

Majrooh Sultanpuri, Hasrat Jaipuri, Sahir Ludhyanvi, Shakeel Badayuni, Rajinder Krishan, Zia Sarhadi, Asad Bhopali, Jan Nissar Akhtar, S.H. Bihari, Prem Dhawan, Qamar Jalalabadi, Indeewar, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi, Bezad Lukhnavi, Naqsh Lyallpuri, Nakshab, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Khumar Barabankvi, Bharat Vyas, Gulshan Sufi, P.L. Santoshi, D.N. Madhok, Ahmad Wasi ...... and so many more


Posted on 7/8/2003 6:47:34 PM
TALAT MAHMOOD
ON CONCERT TOUR
TALAT HAS HAS GONE ABROAD SEVERAL TIMES ON ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL CONCERT TOURS. AT EVERY CONCERT HIS FANS TURNED UP BY THE THOUSANDS, TEARY EYED, TO FINALLY GET TO SEE THEIR IDOL. EVERYWHERE THEY WELCOMED HIM WITH OPEN ARMS, OPEN HEARTS AND STANDING OVATIONS !
- In 1956, Talat became the first ever Indian playback singer to go abroad for commercial concerts. It was for a concert tour of 6 shows to East Africa, but his popularity and demand were so great that he finally stayed to do 25 concerts !

- In 1961, a record crowd of 58,000 fans packed the Karachi Stadium, mostly women, to listen to The King sing ! EMI, Karachi, honoured Talat with a Silver Disc, making Talat the first singer in the Indian sub-continent to recieve a Disc.

- In 1968, Talat landed to a hero's welcome in Trinidad for the West Indies Concert Tour. Thousands of fans thronged the airport. Wearing Talat Fan Club badges, waving Talat Flags and Talat Photo's, they lined the roads leading from the airport to the city. An open limousine drove Talat through a sea of his fans. The local papers headlined the concerts at Naparima Bowl, where not even boxing matches had witnessed such a frenzy for the purchase of concert tickets. The extremely popular group ' West Indies Steel Band' composed a Calypso style song " Talat Mahmood we are proud and glad, to have a personality like you here in Trinidad " to welcome Talat to Trinidad. This song was played over and over on the radio, at the airport and in all music shops in West Indies to welcome Talat to their country ! Talat's concerts at Skinner Park and Jean Pierre Complex are still talked of even today !


- In '69, '73, '82, '83, '87, '90, '91, Talat toured USA and Canada, packing such prestigious venues as Madison Square Garden and others :-

*** Talat's popularity prompted famous New York television host Joe Franklin to invite Talat on his hugely popular programme "The Joe Franklin Show" watched by over 25 million Americans.

*** New York's 'Daily News', then America's third largest selling newspaper of 3 million copies a day, sponsored Talat's New York concert.

*** A ballet based entirely on Talat's songs, was created by The Joel Jay Fisher Ballet Company in New York.

*** Cleveland's Mayor, George V. Voinovich, on behalf of his city, honoured Talat with a Citation for his incomparable and outstanding contribution to music.

*** Mayor Anthony J. Guinta , on behalf of the Euclid Community presented a similar honour to Talat.


- In 1979, Talat performed at the world renowned Royal Albert Hall, London, selling out all tickets 2 weeks before the concert date ! Talat was the second Indian playback singer after Lata Mangeshkar to be given permission to perform at this historical venue.

- In 1984, the gigantic Al Nasr Leisureland, Dubai, was host to The Talat Mahmood Show, where thousands of Talat's fans were thrilled to see him perform. The show was sponsored by Cathy Pacific Airlines, who headlined Talat as "the greatest name in Indian music history"!

- Over the years, Talat has also toured Holland, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Muscat, Afghanistan, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia, where the Indian Embassy acquired special permission to host a sell-out concert by the King of Ghazals !
- Talat has always obliged the Armed Forces of India by performing free of charge for them. He has even traveled to the Nathula Pass in Himalaya, the highest and most dangerous Pass in the world, to sing for the Jawans ! He has performed innumerable shows for charitable causes and was always ready to help the needy. He was a regular donor to several charitable institutions, but always very anonymously, never making a show of it.
Posted on 7/8/2003 6:49:16 PM

Mayor Anthony J. Guinta's honour for Talat

Mayor George V. Voinovich's honour for Talat

Daily News of New York sponsors Talat Show

The Joe Franklin Show's invitation letter to Talat

The Begum Akhtar Award for Talat
Posted on 7/8/2003 7:03:43 PM
Aisa lagta hai kay talat sahib ka koi fan naheen hai is forum mein
Posted on 7/12/2003 7:49:06 PM
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