ukesh was a popular film vocalist who held his own until his death, somewhat prematurely, in the mid-1970s.

Film had cast a wide net for musicians and vocalists. Many with ambitions to join the field found the situation amenable. Those with little or no musical background, or with varied training, could enter the profession and make a name for themselves in a genre that was flexible and growing at an unprecedented rate.

KL Saigal, too, had had a varied background, not solidly rooted in the riwayat of music. He emerged as the leading male vocalist of the 1930s, helping define the emerging genre of the film song. His career was hugely successful but short. After his death, Anil Biswas discovered a new voice.

Mukesh initially imitated KL Saigal. According to Naushad, he helped him move beyond the Saigal mould and find a place for himself in the sonic space of film music.

This was the time when younger vocalists were making their presence felt – Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Mukesh. It was Mukesh who convinced Naushad that Lata was a more suitable voice for heroines than Shamshad Begum. Once he gave her precedence, the die was cast in her favour. She became the leading voice of the film song for the next four decades.

In those early years, Mukesh’s voice became the singing voice of Raj Kapoor. It remained so until Mera Naam Joker, almost 20 years later. Mohammed Rafi became the singing voice of Dilip Kumar. For Dev Anand it was both Mukesh and Rafi. Later, Mukesh lent his voice to many other actors, some of whom became hugely popular.

Mukesh recognised his limits as did the composers. What he did within those limitations was commendable.

Mukesh, like so many others, also wanted to become an actor and a hero. Fate had other things in store for him. His singing took precedence and he became a leading film vocalist.

Unlike radio, which had become functional by the mid-1930s, film music was more varied and encouraged non-professionals. Radio favoured kheyal, thumri, dadra and, later, the ghazal; so pedigreed vocalists and composers found a home there.

At the same time, 78 rpm records favoured the film-song format over the much longer formats of kheyal and thumri, and therefore worked against them. Khula gana, which was the benchmark of a vocalist, took a back seat to the tightly structured, three-minute song format of one asthai and two antaras.

Mukesh sang many evocative compositions by some of the leading composers of the golden age of the film song and was hugely popular with people on the street.

He also sang non-film ghazals by some of the leading Urdu poets and left his imprint there as well.

Mukesh recognised his limits, as did the composers. What he did within those limitations was commendable. He further strengthened the position and stature of the film song.

The writer is a culture critic based in Lahore.