Tun Tun
| Tun tun (Uma Devi Khatri) | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Uma Devi 11 July 1923 Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Died | 24 November 2003 (aged 80) Mumbai, India |
| Years active | 1946–1990 |
Tun Tun (11 July 1923 – 24 November 2003) was the screen name of Indian playback singer and actress-comedian, Uma Devi Khatri, who was called "Hindi cinema's first-ever comedienne".
Uma Devi was born in a conservative North Indian family in a small village in Uttar Pradesh. After the untimely death of her parents while she was in her teens, she was raised by her brother and later by her uncle.
She arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) at the age of 23, having run away from home, and knocked on composer Naushad Ali's door. She told him that she could sing and that she would throw herself in the ocean if he didn't give her a chance. He auditioned her, and hired her on the spot. She made her debut as a solo playback singer, in Nazir's Wamiq Azra (1946). Soon she signed a contract with the producer-director A.R. Kardar, who used Naushad as music director, and went on make a place for herself amidst music stalwarts like Noor Jehan, Rajkumari, Khursheed and Zohrabai Ambalewali.
In 1947, she had huge hits with "Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon Dil-e-beqarar ka", "Yeh Kaun Chala Meri Aankhon Mein Sama Kar", and "Aaj Machi Hai Dhoom Jhoom Khushi Se Jhoom", which she sang for actress Munawar Sultana in A.R. Kardar's Dard (1947), again under the music direction of Naushad; she also sang a duet, "Betaab Hai Dil Dard-e-Mohabat Ke Asar Se", with Suraiya In fact, a gentleman from Delhi was so enamoured by her song, "Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon", that he stayed with her in Bombay. They got married, and the couple had two daughters and two sons; her husband, whom she called Mohan, died in 1992.
Success of Dard meant that she next received Mehboob Khan's Anokhi Ada (1948), which again had two hit numbers, "Kahe jiya dole" and "Dil ko lagake humne kuch bhi na paya". This brought her into the league of highly rated playback singers. She reached her peak as a vocalist in director S.S. Vasan's "Chandralekha" (1948) made by Gemini Studios, Chennai. Her seven songs, which include hits like, "Saanjh ki bela", remain her most accomplished work in her singing career; though signing the film also meant a breach of contract with producer-director Kardar, which led to her dwindling fortunes in the industry.
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