On Geeta Dutt and others
When I came into the Hindi film industry, Ameerbai Karnataki (actor) and Zohrabai Ambalewali (playback singer) were extremely popular. I liked Zohrabai's voice very much. It was a heavy voice, but it had more melody in it than the other voices of the 1940s. Her song Akhiyaan milaake that I sang for Shraddhanjali is my favourite.
Geeta Dutt (singer and actress)and I came at the same time, though she became popular with the songs of Do Bhai before I did. Geeta's voice was very charming, with a distinctive Bengali lilt to it. She had good enunciation and diction too. She relied more on instinct than practice, so her songs had a lot of spontaneity. But since she was not trained, I feel the range of songs she could sing was somewhat limited. Also, after I became popular in 1950, most composers gave their better songs to me. So Geeta did not have the advantage of getting the kind of compositions I did. But whatever she got, she sang really well. Not just as a singer, Geeta was a very sweet person too. I had a good personal equation with her.
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