Suman Kalyanpur dies at 89 in Mumbai

Veteran Indian playback singer Suman Kalyanpur has died in Mumbai at the age of 89. She recorded around 740 songs in 11 languages and was widely known for her work in Indian cinema.

MUMBAI: Veteran playback singer Suman Kalyanpur, whose voice featured in some of Indian cinema's best-known songs, died at her residence in Mumbai on Sunday at the age of 89.

According to author Mangala Khadilkar, who wrote the Marathi biography Suman Sugandh, Kalyanpur died at her home in Lokhandwala at around 8pm due to age-related ailments. Khadilkar also said the singer spent her final days listening to her own songs.

Kalyanpur emerged as a prominent figure in Indian film music during the 1960s and 1970s, building a career in an industry marked by some of the era's biggest names. Her songs included Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche, Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhin Se and Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye, which helped earn her admirers across South Asia.

Over the course of a career spanning several decades, she recorded about 740 songs in 11 languages. Her work covered Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Assamese and Odia, and extended beyond film songs to devotional music, ghazals and thumris.

She also recorded around 140 duets with Mohammed Rafi, a body of work that remains popular with listeners. Her voice was often compared with that of late playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, and many listeners were said to have mistaken one for the other, though Kalyanpur consistently declined such comparisons and chose instead to focus on her own artistic path.

Tributes were paid by several Indian political leaders after news of her death. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was anguished by her passing and praised her contribution to India's cultural heritage, saying her soulful renditions had won a special place among music lovers and admirers.

Among others who paid tribute were Devendra Fadnavis, who said her death was the loss of a divine voice that had enriched Indian music for more than six decades; Sharad Pawar, who said her passing marked the end of a golden era; and Eknath Shinde, who remembered her as a lasting symbol of Indian light classical and film music.

Kalyanpur is survived by her daughter, Charu.