Veteran playback singer of Hindi and Marathi films, Suman Kalyanpur, breathed her last yesterday (31st May) in Bombay due to age-related issues. She was 89. A Padma Bhushan awardee, Suman was one of the best singers of her time and she made a special place for herself in the hearts of lovers of film music with her sheer genius and versatility. She is survived by her son.
Her last rites were performed with full state honours today (1st June) at 2 p.m. at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Bombay. The ceremony included a guard of honour and floral tributes from police personnel. Several Union ministers, political leaders and members of the cultural fraternity paid tributes to Kalyanpur.
Suman sang songs mainly from 1954 to 1988. She also lent her voice to Bengali and Oriya songs. One of the best singers of her time, Suman Kalyanpur had lent her voice to a number of hit Bollywood songs like Na na karte pyar tumhi se kar baithe (Jab Jab Phool Khile), Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche (Brahmachari), Na tum humein jaano (Baat Ek Raat Ki), Tum ne pukara aur hum chale aaye (Rajkumar), Tumse o haseena (Farz), Dil ek mandir hai (Dil Ek Mandir), Behna ne bhai ke kalai se (Resham Ki Dori) and Chhod de saari duniya kisi ke liye (Saraswatichandra).
She was reportedly discovered by ghazal singer Talat Mahmood who heard her singing at a public event. He was so impressed by her voice that he invited her to sing with him for a film song.