Rajkumari
Rajkumari Dubey began recording at ten and was a leading playback singer by the mid-1940s — Mahal, Bawre Nain, Pakeezah's Najariya Ki Maari came much later. Her career, like those of the other 1940s singers, was cut short by the arrival of Lata and Asha, and she spent her last working years in the chorus; Naushad brought her back for one song in Pakeezah.
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Life
She was born in Benares in 1924 and taken to Bombay as a child; she recorded for HMV at ten and sang in films from 1934, acting in a few. By the 1940s she was a regular for Khemchand Prakash, Roshan, Shyam Sundar and Naushad: Ghabrake Jo Hum Sar Ko Takrayen in Mahal (1949), Sun Bairi Balam in Bawre Nain (1950), the Neel Kamal songs.
Work dried up in the 1950s. She sang in the chorus to earn a living, and in the early 1970s Naushad gave her Najariya Ki Maari in Pakeezah, a song that was noticed and praised. She died in Bombay in March 2000.
The voice
Rajkumari's voice was clear, high and a little plaintive, with an easy grace in the thumri-style film song; Sun Bairi Balam and Najariya Ki Maari are the best demonstrations.
Composers
- Khemchand Prakash
- Roshan
- Naushad
- Shyam Sundar
- Bulo C. Rani
Sang with
More film songs 1 songs, by year
1950s
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