Talat Mahmood - The Definitive Biography

His was a voice like the rustling of winds on a full-moon night. At a time in the Hindi film industry when three men dominated the screen, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, Talat Mahmood's was a voice which layered their romantic and tragic personas. Sunil Dutt singing 'Jalte hain jiske liye' to Nutan over the phone, Dilip Kumar singing 'Sham-e-gham ki kasam' at the candle lit dinner, Dev Anand sitting at Juhu beach murmuring 'Jayen to jayen kahan' and Raj Kapoor flirting with Nargis over the piano with 'Dil matwala lakh sambhala'. His good looks also made him Independent India's first singing star. The Definitive Biography tracks the very start of his career from his first few Ghazal recordings in AIR Lucknow as a teenager that made his voice a rage. The 1940s bustling town of showbiz in Calcutta where he broke into the Modern Bengali music as Tapan Kumar. And finally, the Golden Era film star for Hindi films in Bombay. He also acted opposite top heroines such as Nutan, Suraiya and Mala Sinha. A pioneer who also helped establish the independent Ghazal music industry of the country and fondly called the Ghazal Shahenshah ! The book covers all highlights of his global concerts since he was the first singer from India to start world tours in 1956. There is also Talat, the activist, who took a tough stand on royalty payment for playback singers. This is the journey of tracing the Padma Bhushan legend's legacy by his own grand-niece, Sahar Zaman.