Renowned Indian Singer Suman Kalyanpur Passes Away at 89 in Mumbai

Mumbai. India's senior and renowned singer Suman Kalyanpur passed away in Mumbai on Sunday evening at the age of 89. According to media reports, the cause of her death has been stated as age-related health problems.

According to information given by her close friend Mangala Khadilkar, Suman breathed her last around 8 PM on Sunday. In the last days of her life, she used to spend time listening to old songs sung by herself, and she has departed from this world very peacefully. 

Her last rites are being prepared to be performed on Monday at Pawanhans crematorium. Her family includes a daughter, Charu. In recognition of her incomparable contribution to the field of music, the Government of India honored her with the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2023.

In the music world, Suman's voice was often compared to that of the nightingale of melody, Lata Mangeshkar. According to a Filmfare report, she has lent her voice to more than 3,000 film and non-film songs in 11 different languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Kannada, Bengali, and Odia. 

Especially in the 1960s and 1970s, she carved a strong and distinct identity in the music world with her melodious voice. Even with the strong influence of great singers like Lata Mangeshkar in that era, Suman succeeded in securing her own separate place. Evergreen songs sung by her such as 'Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche', 'Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhin Se', and 'Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye' are still equally popular today.

Although many compared her voice to Lata Mangeshkar's voice, Suman herself never accepted this comparison. In an interview given in 2022, she stated that Lata was a very close friend of hers and meeting her always felt like the closeness of a dear friend.

Due to the similar singing style and command over notes of both, listeners often got confused in identifying their voices. It was because of this characteristic that when some dispute arose between Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi in the 1960s, Suman became the first choice of the music composers. She sang many blockbuster songs with Rafi Sahab.

Talking about this, Suman had said in an interview, 'I was very influenced by her, I used to listen to her songs in college days, my voice was thin and delicate, what could I do.' In the initial days, Radio Ceylon used to play her songs without mentioning her name, which caused even more confusion among people. In some cases, her name was even written incorrectly on her records. 

At one time, when HMV released a recording of 50 best songs, the maximum number of songs included were Suman's. However, the cover of the cassette only featured pictures of Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood, and Kishore Kumar. She has left behind a golden chapter in music history, always to be remembered for her original identity and singing.