Talat Mehmood Made People Fall In Love With “Ghazal Gayaki”

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It is mandated to enlist TALAT MEHMOOD SAHAB at the top of the list if someone ever tries to name the best Ghazal singers of all time. He used to sing with such ease and so flawlessly–it left the listeners in awe of his singing.

1. Born in 1924, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to Manzoor Mahmood. Talat was fascinated by music from a very young age. He used to spend whole nights sitting through music concerts.

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2. Talat Mehmood belonged to a very conservative Muslim Family, where singing was not allowed. He made a very strenuous choice of working in films rather than continue living at home.

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3. He worked in the film industry, where he gained some recognition for himself through a decade. Then, he got accepted by his family.

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4. Talat learned music under Pandit S.C.R Bhat at Bhatkhande Music Institute. He began singing at the age of 16 on All India Radio. There he sang the ghazals of Mir, Jigar, Ghalib, Momin, Daag etc.

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5. HMV signed Talat for the song “Sab din ek samaan nahin tha, Bun jaon ga kya se kya main, Iska to kuch dhyan nahin tha”. It was Talat’s first song on such a level for which he got paid Rs 80.

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6. After completing his musical education, he moved to Calcutta. In 1944, he sang a song called “Tasveer teri dil mera behela nah sake gi,” which still is one of the most famous non-Bollywood songs.

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7. After getting immense fame for Tasveer, the song was beckoned by the Calcutta film industry. He made appearances and starred in about 16 films. He also recorded a lot of Bangla songs under the name “Tapan Kumar”.

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8. In 1949, Talat Mehmood moved to Bombay, where many artists were already aware of his work. Because of this, he had to make a very minimal effort and was signed by music director Anil Biswas. The song “Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho” became a big hit and was for the soundtrack of the film Arzoo(1950).

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9. In 1951, Talat married a Bengali girl from Calcutta. She was a great fan of his, named Latika Mullick, an actor by profession.

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10. ‘Woh Din Yaad Karo’ was Talat’s last song, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal, which Talat sang alongside Lata Mangeshkar in 1971.

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11. Talat Mahmood acted in over a dozen films with actresses like Nutan, Mala Sinha, Suraiya and others. After that, he decided to give up acting to focus on singing.