By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On Her Birth Anniversary
हम आपके कदमों पर
गिर जायेंगे गश खा कर
इस पर भी न हम अपने
आँचल की हवा दें तो
हम आप की आँखों में
इस दिल को बसा दें तो
Geeta Dutt, the renowned singer was noticed by ace composer S. D. Burman & was at one time one of the highest salaried singers. She rose to recognition with her song ‘Mera sundar sapna’ ( Do Bhai 1947) & reached the summit of popularity in Guru Dutt’s ‘Aar Paar’ (1954) singing ‘Babuji dheere chalna, pyaar mein jara sambhalna’ to dance straightway into the hearts of millions of cine goers. Her song in 1951 release “Baazi” starring Dev Anand & Geeta Bali ‘Tadbeer se bigdi hui’ added to her popularity.
She sang a few popular numbers ‘Jane kya tune kahi’ & ‘Aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo’ (Pyaasa-1957), ‘Aankhon he aankhon mein ishara ho gaya'(C.I.D.), ‘Ae dil mujhe Bata de tu kis pe aa gaya hai'(Bhai Bhai 1956), ‘Waqt ne Kiya kya'(Kagaz Ke Phool 1959), ‘Na jao Saiyaan chuda ke’ (Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962) & ‘Bachman ke din Bhi kya din the’ (Sujata 1959) were her other notable songs.
She married Guru Dutt in 1953. She was the first choice to sing one of the most popular numbers ‘Aaiye meharbaa,baithiye Jane jaan’ picturized on Ashok Kumar & Madhubala in film “Howrah Bridge” but composer O.P.Nayyar did not like her vainglorious attitude & made Asha Bhosle sing the song which is still a most popular number. However, Nayyar asked her to sing ‘Mera Naam chin chin choo’another song from the same film picturized on Helen.
