Rajkumari Dubey

Rajkumari Dubey (1924–2000), better known by her first name, Rajkumari was an Indian playback singer who worked in Hindi cinema of 1930s and 40s. Best known for her songs, "Sun Bairi Baalam Sach Bol Re" in Bawre Nain (1950), "Ghabrekar Ke Jo Hum Sir Ko Takraayan" in Mahal (1949) and "Najariya Ki Maari" in Pakeezah (1972).

Born in Benaras (Varanasi), She joined the Hindi cinema at age 11, as a child actor in Radhe Shyam aur Zulmi Hans (1932), thereafter she worked in theatre for few years, before returning to films, joining Prakash Pictures as actor and singer. She had much higher voice than the leading singers of time, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki and Shamshad Begum. In the next two decades she sang for 100 films, till early 1950s, when Lata Mangeshkar changed the scene.

Biography

Rajkumari was born in 1924. She never really had the opportunity to learn to sing, but was always supported by her family. She was just 10 years old when she recorded her first song for HMV in 1934 and she started her career as a stage artiste. Vijay Bhatt and Shankar Bhatt of Prakash Pictures spotted her during one of her shows. They liked her voice and persuaded her to discontinue acting on stage as it would spoil her voice (In those days, there were no mikes and you had to shout to be heard). So she quit theatre, and became an employee of Prakash Pictures as an actress and singer.