Geeta Dutt is one of my most favourite singers. Even though she had passed away long before I was born, her music continues to live long after. Her voice has a beauty which shall linger on long after one has heard it. Her repertoire is huge. She has sung bhajans, love songs, patriotic songs, club songs, sad songs, kirtans and what not. Name a genre in which hindi film music is sung and she has sung in it. She has sung for almost all major music directors of her age. She has produced hits with almost all singers of her era as well. She has the most beautiful, youthful and energy filled voice. She has sung the full gamut of songs. As one person has said, she could sing for the doll one minute and for the moll the other! That was the kind of variety she had. Not many people know that she has sung over 1200 songs in hindi films. She has also sung songs in other languages including her mother tongue Bengali, Gujrati, Bhojpuri, Nepali and Marathi.Her voice hits you like a thunderclap. One famous critic had said once, "Singer XYZ gale se gaati hai par Geeta Dil Se Gaati Hai." When one hears the big variety of her songs one realises this very well. Be it the cabaret style Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo, the sadly lilting Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam or the wonderful Ched Chaad songs like Reham Kabhi to Farmao from Society, She does them wonderfully and lending the "Geeta touch" to all of them. It is a pity that due to her bad personal life She could not reach the even greater heights she could have reached. Her voice was thandi hawa and kaali ghata rolled into one.
It would be foolish of me to even think of listing which are my favourite songs of hers. There are simply too many. Most people are familiar with a few popular ones but her range is much more than that. The more I listen to her the more enamoured I am by her voice. Maybe I'll discuss some songs in later posts if it generates interest.
Recently, few fans of www.hamaraforums.com have got together and made the first website dedicated to her. Yours truly has also contributed to it in some small ways. The website chronicles her life, her times and music in a way not seen till now. Her fans would love surfing through it and perhaps discover more about our beloved singer. The URL for the website is www.geetadutt.com . Request all to enjoy the site. Do send in your comments to the Geeta Dutt Fan team by mailing to geetaduttfans@gmail.com . Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed making it.
