Nostalgic Nuggets:The pioneer of playback singing in Indian cinema

Tollywood: Eighty-five years ago, in collaboration with Rai Chand Boral, (1903-1981) considered the father of Indian film music, a young musical composer, writer and actor by name Pankaj Kumar Mullick (1905-1978) introduced playback singing in India for the first time ever. The year was 1935 and the film's name was 'Dhoop Chhaun' and it was an all-women chorus picturised as part of a dance sequence. The effort was the culmination of New Theatres, an Indian film studio, which had begun work in the silent era for supporting the stage with live music. May 10 happens to be Mullick's 115th birth anniversary.

From 1931, Mullick's career spread over more than three decades in which he served not just Bengali and Hindi films but also those made in Tamil and Urdu. He was the music director to a whole range of iconic singers like K L Saigal at one end and Hemanta Kumar, Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhonsle at the other. He also acted with many legends like Kanan Devi.

Another highlight of his illustrious career was that when Doordarshan was launched in 1959 at a national level, the inaugural programme had an event in which he was featured with leading actress and Bharatanatyam danseuse Vyjayantimala.