Google dedicates doodle to legendary singer Mukesh on his 93rd birth anniversary

On the occasion of his 93rd birth anniversary on Friday, Google has dedicated a special doodle to one of Bollywood’s most acclaimed playback singers, Mukesh.

The doodle features a smiling face of the singer with a microphone in one hand, inspired from him his hit song ‘Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein’ from the movie Kabhie Kabhie (1976).

“Decades before single-name stars Madonna and Prince became superstars, there was the mononymous Mukesh, one of Bollywood’s most acclaimed playback singers,” wrote Google in his remembrance.

Born Mukesh Chand Mathur in Delhi, India on 22 July, 1923, Mukesh was discovered by Motilal, an actor and distant relative, when he sang at his sister’s wedding.

Mukesh first rose to fame as the singing voice of actor Raj Kapoor in the smash hit Andaz (1949), a film about a tragic love triangle. It also earned him the nickname ‘The Man with the Golden Voice’.

In 1974, Mukesh won the National Film Award in India for Best Male Playback singer for his song ‘Kai baar yuhi dekha hai’ from the film Rajnigandha (1974). He followed that up with wins in 1976 at the Filmfare Awards for four songs, most notably ‘Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein.

Bollywood lost one of its most revered singers on 27 August 1976 in Detroit, US, when Mukesh died of a heart attack. He had gone to the US to perform at a concert.