Mukesh Chandra Mathur: Visit to Trinidad and Tobago in 1967
About Mukesh
Mukesh Chandra Mathur was born on July 22, 1923 in Delhi, India. He is considered to be one of the most popular and acclaimed playback singers of the Hindi film industry. He was known as the voice of Raj Kapoor since he was a playback singer for Raj Kapoor in many of his movies.
Mukesh won four Filmfare awards in his 36-year singing career. The first was in 1960 for the song, “Sab Kuch Seekha Humne” (Anari) and the last was in 1977 for the song “Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein” (Sometimes in my heart) from the movie, Kabhi Kabhie. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could receive the latter award.
Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein
Mukesh toured the West Indies in 1967, one year after the memorable tour of Mohammed Rafi. This would be his first and only visit to the Caribbean. He was 44 years old at the time. On New Year’s Day 1966, the blockbuster movie Sangam was released in Trinidad. The movie had several hit songs by Mukesh, singing as usual for the male star, Raj Kapoor. One of the famous songs from Sangam was “Dost Dost Na Raha” (My friend is no longer my friend):
Dost Dost Na Raha
The Performers
Mukesh was accompanied on the tour by Usha Kotmis, the only female singer in the troupe. She was described as “a young talented playback singer who is coming up in the film business in India” (Trinidad Guardian, August 27, 1967). However, very little is known about Usha Kotmis today. She performed several solos and duets with Mukesh. Mukesh was also accompanied by Hansraj Somaiyaa, a four-foot tall musician who played six instruments; Manohari Singh, music director and saxophonist; Dhiraj Kumar, accordionist; and Mahendra Bhavsar, who played the mandolin.
Mukesh and his troupe passed through Piarco International Airport on Saturday, August 5, 1967 en route to Guyana and Suriname for a series of concerts. Mr. Moean Mohammed met the singers at the airport. Harry Mahabir went with the troupe to South America. He had recently returned from India after pursuing a course in Indian art and music. According to the Trinidad Guardian of August 8, 1967, this was the first time in the history of Indian singing in the Caribbean that a local artiste appeared together with musicians from abroad.
Here is an advertisement in the Sunday Guardian of August 27, 1967 announcing the upcoming performances of Mukesh and his troupe in the first week of September.
Mukesh and his troupe returned to Trinidad from Guyana on August 30, 1967. On Independence Day, they were honoured guests at the first presentation of the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Association held to mark Independence Day celebrations. It was held at the Town Hall in Port-of-Spain.
Mukesh told the gathering that music was a vast ocean, but all he had tasted in his 27 years of singing was just one drop of the ocean. He also remarked that he was impressed with the talents of the people in the West Indies. Shri Muni Lal, the Indian High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago also addressed the gathering. Mr. Kamaluddin Mohammed, Minister of West Indian Affairs attended the presentation and was high in praise for the programme. Mukesh and his troupe gave several performances at the Globe Cinema in Port of Spain and at the Naparima Bowl in San Fernando between September 1-7.
We conclude this article by featuring one of the earliest hit songs by Mukesh from another blockbuster movie Andaz which was released in India in 1949, “Tu Kahe Agar” (If you asked why):
Tu Kahe Agar
