Geeta Dutt - Musical Association with Various Composers

(1930 - 1972)

Pandit Hanuman Prasad

Not much is known about the composer Pandit Hanuman Prasad except that he was married to the famous actress Lalita Pawar and the fact that he discovered the singing talent of young Geeta Roy (who later on became Geeta Dutt after marrying Guru Dutt).

Geeta's family had moved to Bombay (now Mumbai). In the building she lived in, the famous Pandit Gowri Shankar had his Kathak dancing school. Pandit Hanuman Prasad was a regular visitor to this dancing class. One day while on a visit he heard Geeta practicing. He traced the voice and thus the composer went to her flat. After discussing with her father, he gave her a song (actually a couple of lines in a song) in his film Bhakta Prahlad (1946).That is how Geeta Roy was discovered at the age of 16.

In fact Pandit Hanuman Prasad gave her few lines in as many as four songs in the film Bhakta Prahlad. The songs were –

1) Suno suno binti hamari prabhuji bhool hui mujhse bhari
2) Ab jani re,pehchani re mana.
3) Suno suno hari ki leela sunayein,
4) Jaag uthe hum jaag uthe

She sang for him for films like Rasili (1946), Hip Hip Hurray (1948) and Usha Kiran (1951). Some posts on the internet mention that he used Geeta ji's voice in the film Nai Maa (1946) as well but song listings are not available.

List of songs sung by Geeta Dutt

Please note that this list may not be complete

Year	Song	Film	Co-Singer
1946	Nainon ki pyaali se hothon ki madira	Rasili	Narayan
1946	Kyon neh laga mukh mod gaya	Rasili	Sharmaji (Khayyam)
1948	Chubh gaye naina baan more dil mein	Hip Hip Hurray	-
1951	Chhin jaaye na aankhon se mere dil ke ujale	Usha Kiran	-
1951	Jago bhor suhaani aayi	Usha Kiran	Asha Bhonsle, G M Durrani, Zohrabai Ambalawali

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