Nirmala Devi: A singer with a difference

BIOSCOPE

Nirmala Devi aka Nirmala Arun was born on June 7, 1927 in the Benares State of British India. Her father was a renowned table player, Sri Vasudev. Nirmala grew up in a house filled with music and with the support of her father who wanted her to become an artiste. She began her musical training at the age of seven under the guidance of Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan of the Patiala Gharana and continued it till the age of fourteen. Nirmala Devi chose to migrate to Bombay and work there. She entered Hindi Cinema and acted and sang for more than 20 films. It is interesting to note, all the women singers who came from the courtesan tradition, surely dabbled in cinema, even if for a brief stint. Her noteworthy films are ‘Savera’, ‘Sharda’, ‘Gaali’, ‘Chaalis Karod’ and ‘Janmashtami’. Nirmala Devi got married to actor Arun Kumar Ahuja with whom she worked too. She supported her family single-handedly after the death of her husband.

After a decade in films, Nirmala Devi once again turned her attention to music and returned under the tutelage of Ustad Rahman Khan. With her devotion and sincere practice, very soon she developed a new form of singing. Combining the beauty of the Benaras style of thumri and the fastpaced novelty of the Punjab style, she reinterpreted thumri exclusively as her own. Gradually, she came to be known as one of the foremost semi-classical singers of the country. Her singing was inspired by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Ustad Amir Khan in musical intonation.

‘Maine lakhon ke bol sahe’, ‘Ro ro nain ganwaye’ and ‘Ehi thainya motiya heray gaeli’ are some of her landmark bandish. In the film ‘Bawarchi’ (1972), her voice is used in the song ‘Bhor aayi gaya andhiyara’ with Lakshmi Shanker, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. Owning to her immense popularity she was a favourite with HMV and other

Records Companies of the time. Her duet LP record ‘Sawan beeta jaye’ with Lakshmi Shanker was a big hit. Her sons Kirti Kumar (film director) and Govinda (actor) are established artistes. She passed away in Mumbai in 1996. hankaya’ fame-actor and ace-director Chandraprakash Dwivedi will be felicitated with Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy’s coveted BM Shah Award. The Safdar Hashmi Award will be given to Vipul Krishna Nagar (acting-direction).

Also, academy’s Ratan Sadasyta will be awarded to Dr Purmina Pandey (kathak), Ustad Yugantar Sindoor (light singing), Kunwarji Agarwal (theatre review) and Urmila Srivastava (folk singing).

After a meeting held at UPSNA in the state capital it was announced that in all 17 awards will be given this year during the ceremony. SNA secretary Tarun Raj informed that the names were approved during the meeting held under academy’s president Padma Shri Dr Rajeshwar Acharya.

“In all we had 344 recommendations. Besides, BM Shah and Safdar Hashmi Award which carries prize money of Rs 25,000 each, we also give 11 SNA awards with (Rs 10,000 each) along with the four memberships that will be awarded this year. The awardees will also be given a special certificate and shawl,” said Raj.

Other SNA awardees list includes Dr Brijeshwar Singh (drama), Dr Shardmani Tripathi (singing), Brahmapala

Nagar (folk singing), Rameshwar Prasad Mishra (classical singing), Vishal Krishna (kathak), Bhura Yadav, Tidouli Mahoba (folk dance), Anil Mishra (theatre), Ashtabhuja Mishra (nautanki), Pt. Vinod Lele (tabla playing) Fateh Ali Khan (shehnai) and jointly to Prof Vishambharanath Mishra and Anant Narayan Singh (music).

The secretary added that the Sant Gadge Auditorium on the premises has undergone a major renovation and will be reopened very soon. The award ceremony is expected to happen in the month of March.

Nirmala Devi with sons Kirti Kumar and Govinda

UP Sangeet Natak Academy