MILPITAS, CA: Nitin Mukesh, son of the legendary Bollywood singer, Mukesh and father of actor Neil Nitin Mukesh, was in the Bay Area last weekend. He performed at two back-to-back shows held at India Community Center (ICC) in Milpitas, California.
A press conference was held with him on Thursday, May 4, at the Royal Palace Banquet Hall in Fremont, California.
Nitin Mukesh charmed the assembled guests and media persons with his humble demeanor and graceful answers. A few members of the audience requested their favorite Mukesh songs for the upcoming concerts.
There were a few particularly touching episodes that he narrated. The first was his concert in the US with his father, the late Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar, the most celebrated of Hindi cinema’s playback singers.
When Nitin sang his father’s very first Hindi film song, “Diljaltaahai to jalne do…”,Mukesh’s eyes filled with tears. Later, the audience requested an encore. Mukesh rendered the heart-wrenching number,”Jaanekahaangayewoh din…”. Alas, he passed away three days later.
Another episode was when Mukesh and his family lived in a small apartment in Mumbai (then known as Bombay), and they received a sudden call from Raj Kapoor, the late actor for whom Mukesh rendered many a melody. One such song was “Dost dostnarahaa…”.
Raj Kapoor called up the only florist on Napean Sea Road at that odd hour and instructed her to reserve every flower in her store for a bouquet. He then brought that bouquet to Mukesh’s place and both men sang that song and wept.
When this reporter asked Nitin Mukesh when he knew that music was his calling, he narrated how he had always accompanied his father to the recording studio since he was three or four years old and he never missed a concert of his even while in school. The father knew that his son had a special talent.
When Nitin was fifteen, Mukesh sent him off to London to study, hoping that he would go to the London School of Economics, earn a prestigious degree and thereby get a stable job. Mukesh had accompanied his son there. When he left, Nitin was miserable. The long, dreary winter added to his misery.
Finally, in December, he wrote to his father, saying that he could not stay any longer and wanted to return home to pursue singing. When Nitin landed at the airport in Mumbai, Mukesh received his son, saying that he was now convinced that at least, he was now assured that his son wanted to be a singer. The father bade the son to be serious about his career choice.
Another wonderful episode was when a promoter from Mauritius paid Mukesh a hefty amount of cash in advance for an upcoming tour. The father gave the money to his son, entrusting him with it, and telling him to safeguard it and return the money to the promoter in case he were unable to fulfill his obligation.
The promoter was touched and became a great friend and visited their home regularly.
Mukesh was a simple, spiritual man with no hang-ups about fame.
When asked about the adaptation of old Hindi songs to create modern remixes, Nitin Mukesh replied that it was a compliment to the original.
He said that he hoped God would take the life out of his body in the event of him not being able to sing. Music is truly his life-blood.
In the end, he regaled the audience with his lovely voice, singing a few lines and graciously posed for pictures with the guests who formed a line to take photos.
Lakshmi Iyer
India Post News Service
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