The unique thing about Geeta Dutt’s singing that strikes anyone who hears her is that she just glided through a tune. Although her musical training was negligible, she made up for it with her ability to breathe life and emotion into her songs.
Geeta Dutt, born Geeta Roy, was first discovered by director Hanuman Prasad, who offered her two lines to sing in the movie Bhakt Prahlad in 1946. This led to her major break the following year in the movie Do Bhai, when she was signed on by S D Burman. The songs of that film, particularly Mera sundar sapna beet gaya, skyrocketed Geeta to fame.
Geeta ruled the Bollywood music scene till 1949, when she was upstaged by the arrival of Lata Mangeshkar. Though relegated to the second spot, Geeta managed to hold her position for more than a decade. She and Lata were the premier female playback singers of the 1950s. Geeta had become popular as a singer of bhajans and sad songs. But Baazi (1951), the debut venture of her future husband Guru Dutt, changed all that. The jazzy music of the film revealed the hidden sex appeal in her voice, especially in the song Tadbeer se bigdi hui. Geeta worked with a host of music directors, but the two who brought out the best in her were S D Burman and O P Nayyar.
On the personal front, her marriage was an unhappy one and resulted in her becoming an alcoholic. She passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver in 1972 and the music community suffered an irreplaceable loss as her vivacity, spontaneity and sense of rhythm remain unmatched even to this day.
