Suman Kalyanpur – Bollywood’s Popular Playback Singer of 1960s Whose Voice is Very Often Mistaken to be Lata Mangeshkar’s

Suman Kalyanpur  (28 January 1937 – 31 May 2026) was a former playback singer who predominantly worked in Bollywood. Suman Kalyanpur’s voice is very often mistaken for Lata Mangeshkar’s, and their voice quality and singing style perfectly match. As she remained a contemporary singer to Lata in the 1960s who had almost the same voice during the decade, an average music fan can’t distinguish between the two.

Despite owning a beautiful voice with matchless talent and quality in singing, with a voice so close to Lata’s, she received comparatively fewer opportunities in Bollywood. Yet she owns many hit songs in Bollywood during the 1950s-1970s, alongside several hit songs in Marathi and Bengali, where she established herself as a playback singer. Shankar-Jaikishen gave her maximum opportunities in Bollywood. She was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2023, the Lata Mangeshkar Award by the Government of Maharashtra in 2009 and many more honours.

Suman Kalyanpur – Bollywood’s popular playback singer of the 1960s & 1970s

Suman Kalyanpur’s real name is Suman Hemmady. She was born in Dhaka in 1937. Her ancestral roots are from Mangalore, Karnataka. Her father was a banker from Karnataka who was posted in Dhaka. She was the eldest of 7 siblings in her family. Her family moved to Mumbai in 1943 for higher studies. As she was interested in painting, she enrolled at Sir J. J. School of Arts, and simultaneously started her musical classes under Pandit Keshav Rao Bhole. Initially, music was only a hobby, but later she became attracted to it and started taking it seriously. She also took advanced training in music from a few Gurus later.

In 1952 she got her first opportunity to sing for AIR. As she belonged to a conservative Saraswat Brahmin family, she was restricted from making public appearances for performances initially. Marathi film Shukrachi Chandni, released in 1953, marked her debut in playback singing. 1954 release ‘Mangu’ composed by O. P. Nayyar marked her debut in Bollywood, where she sang the lullaby, Koi Pukaare Dheere Se Tujhe. Very soon, Naushad recorded 5 songs in her voice for the movie, Darwaza (1954). Many people believe it to be her debut work in Hindi cinema.

Her uncanny resemblance to Lata Mangeshkar’s voice got noticed in the late 1950s

With late 1950s, she started getting noticed for her uncanny resemblance to Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. She got her first major break through Baat Ek Raat Ki in 1962. She sang Na Tum Hamen Jano for Waheeda Rehman, which also had a male version in Hemant Kumar’s voice. From then on, she started receiving more offers from Bollywood. Read in detail here (Suman Kalyanpur’s top hit songs).

In the early 1970s, the careers of many romantic onscreen pairs started to fade. As 1960s heroines grew older, a few retired, and with many great composers gone, Suman Kalyanpur’s career, too, virtually came to a halt. Many music lovers of today would definitely agree with me on the point that her talent was not fully utilised by our legendary composers, and for the same reason, she lost many good songs that would have had her fingerprints.

Some of the big hits of her career are Aaj Kal Tere Mere from Brahmachari, Rhimjhim Ke Geet from Anjana, Na Na Karte from Jab Phool Khile, Tujhe Dekha Tujhe Chaha from Choti Se Mulaqat, Tumne Pukara Aur from Rajkumar, Thehriye Hosh Mein Aa Loon from Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain, Raat Suhani Jaag from Jigri Dost, Mere Mehboob Na Ja from Noor Mahal, Mera Pyar Bhi Tu Hai from Saathi, Tumse O Haseena from Farz, Behana Ne Bhai Ke Kalai Se from Resham Ki Dori, Tujhe Pyar Karte Hain from April Fool, Ye Kisne Geet Chheda from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen etc.

Suman Kalyanpur – Some interesting and lesser-known facts

1. Her most popular song – ‘Aaj Kal’  from Brahmachari was an initially rejected tune composed by Shankar Jaikishen. Later, Shammi Kapoor, who was impressed by the tune, approved it, and it became the biggest chartbuster from the album.

2. Suman Hemmady is her maiden name, and Hemmady is a village of Karnataka where her ancestral family belongs.

3. During her college days, she was very much influenced by Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. Later, she always remained uncomfortable with drawing comparisons with Lata’s voice.

4. During her early days, Radio Cylon used to relay her songs without giving her credit as a singer. Some records were also given the wrong names.

5. When there was a royalty issue between Rafi and Lata in the 1960s, they refused to sing together, and Suman benefited from this. She recorded 140 duets with Rafi in this period of around 6 years in the golden era of Hindi music. Read their best 10 duets.

6. She recorded a total of 140 duets with Rafi in a time period of 6 years when he was not working with Lata.

7. She also owns many hit songs with Mukesh. She sang a total of 857 Hindi songs.

8. Apart from Hindi, she recorded songs in Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Gujarati and Assamese languages.

9. Apart from music, painting is her passion.

10. Initially, she was offered three songs for her debut Hindi film, ‘Mangu’. But when the composer changed, she got the opportunity to sing a lullaby only.

11. Those composers who couldn’t afford Lata Mangeshkar’s high fees for singing often used to hire Suman Kalyanpur. Yet as a playback singer, she remained largely unexposed.

12. Popular singer Sushma Shreshta (Poornima) recorded her first song with Suman Kalyanpur and Rafi as a child artist. The movie was Andaz, released in 1971, and the song was ‘Hai Na Bolo‘.

13. Behana Ne Bhai Ke Kalai Se Pyar Bandha Hai from Resham Ki Dori (1974) gave her the single Filmfare nomination for best female singer in her professional career.

14. She has recorded a duet with Lata Mangeshkar in Hemant Kumar’s composition – “Kabhi Aaj, Kabhi Kal, Kabhi Parson” for the movie Chand.

15. A duet with Mangeshkar ‘Unse Nazaren Mili to Hizab Aa Gaya’ for the movie ‘Ghazal’ was recorded by Madan Mohan. It was a dance sequence. But later her voice was replaced by Minoo Purushottam for the best reasons known to the composer.

The Paradox of Similarity

There is one less-known playback singer of Bollywood in the 1960s, a contemporary of Suman Kalyanpur. Her name is Usha Timothy. If you closely listen to the song, Tu Raat Khadi Thi Chhat Pe from Himalay Ki God Mein, it’s hard to recognise it as Usha’s voice. Many people still believe that it’s Lata Mangeshkar who sang this duet with Mohammed Rafi in Kalyanji Anandji’s music. Yes, it’s not the case of Usha Timothy or Suman Kalyanpur alone. Despite having immense talent and amazing voice quality, these singers couldn’t make it big in Bollywood, solely because they lacked originality. They end up with a few or no songs. Sad, but true!

Please go through Suman Kalyanpur’s gallery to read a couple of posts. Click on the images to read.