This great singer was really known as Hemanta Mukherjee. He was born on the 16th of June 1920 in Varanasi. Right from his childhood he was in love with music. He has written his autobiography "Anand-dhara" where he mentions " I would always be on the lookout for a chance to sing . Hemanta Mukherjee sang his first song on the AIR in 1933 at the age of 13. Six years later he cut his first gramophone disc for HMV.

Recognition soon followed in the elite music circle of India. In 1940 he sang his first Hindi geet 'Kitna dukh bhulaya tumne'. But commercial success was yet to come. In his own words "I would wait at soirees for organizers to call on me, but singers of the stature of Pankaj Mullick and K.L. Saigal would arrive and I would have to remain content listening to them." Jaal, Nagin, Anarkali, Solva Saal, Baat Ek Raat Ki, Bees Saal Baad, Khamoshi, Anupama all are bedecked by jewels carved by this master craftsman. Hemant's jovial number from Solva Saal 'Hai Apnaa Dil to Aawara' finished as the chartbuster in the 1958 Binaca Geetmala. Every Dev Anand number to which Hemant lent a voice became an instant super-hit. ' Yeh raat yeh chaandni phir kahan - Sun jaa dil ki daastan' - the romantic Dev Anand singing his heart out to heroine Geeta Bali saw the emergence of a young singer with a rich mellifluous voice on the firmament of the Indian Music industry- Hemant Kumar - whose deep voice and lilting melodies enthralled numerous music lovers for more than half a century. Hemant Kumar was also a music director. In 1955, Hemant Kumar received the prestigious Filmfare Award for the Best Music Director for the film 'Nagin'. 
Hemant Kumar received an offer to compose music for the Bengali movie Shapmochan starring the rising star Uttam Kumar . This again proved to be a runaway hit and the Uttam-Hemanta combination became part of a legend which continued for the next 20 years.