Rajkumari Dubey

Rajkumari Dubey was the first Hindi playback singer. She was born in 1924 in Benares, United Province during British rule in India. When she was ten years old, her recorded her first song for HMV in 1934 and started her career as a stage artist. Soon she was spotted by Vijay Bhatt Vijay Bhatt was an Indian producer and director. H >> Read More... and Shanker Bhatt for her melodious voice and they advised her to quit acting as that can ruin her voice. During that time microphones were not used and thus actors had to say their dialogues in their bare voice.

Her first film was a Hindi-Gujrati bilingual film, Sansar Leela Nayi Duniya. She played major roles in films like Aankh ka Tara and Turki Sher. She played the lead role in Bhakt Ke Bhagawan and Insaaf Ke Topi. She often acted opposite to Zakaria Khan, who was the father of Amjad Khan Amjad Zakaria Khan was born on 12th November, 1940 >> Read More... . She sang for the famous music director Lallubhai who gave music to the films starring her, namely Nayi Duniya, Laal Chitthi, Bambai Ki Sethaani and Shamsheer-e-Arab. She quitted the acting world for constantly being compelled to be figure conscious and switched to the world of music. She became the first playback singer for actresses like Ratnamala, Shobhana Samarth etc.

She sang numerous Gujrati and Punjabi songs and established herself as a classical singer excelling in singing and voice production within the framework of thumri and dadra. She was characterized with a soft and sweet voice within a small range. She sang songs with well-known contemporary singers like Mukhesh and Noor Jahan Noor Jahan is a famous Pakistani Urdu television d >> Read More... . She sang songs composed by K.C. Dey and his nephew Manna Dey Manna Dey is one of the greatest Indian classical >> Read More... . Her songs were used in Neel Kamal and Hulchul. Her two most famous works are Sun Bairi Baalam Sach Bol Re in Bawre Nain (1950) and Chun Chun Gunguruna Baje Jhumba in Mahal(1945). In 1952 she sang her only song in Aasman, Jab Se Pee Piya Aan Bhase. She was spotted by Naushad in singing in the chorus for his background score for Pakeezah(1972).

Therefore she was given an entire song to sing, Najariya Ki Mari in Pakeezah. RD Burman recorded her last song , Har Din Jo Beeta in Kitaab. She also appeared in a British TV channel program Mahfil on Channel 4, a Samandar film production, produced by Firdous Ali and Mahmood Jamal. There she sang a set of her famous songs and ghazals. The program was aired on twenty-fourth March, 1991. She has been active for the years ranging between 1934 to 1977. She died at the age of about seventy-five in the year 2000.