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Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service
Kolkata, June 3
Singer Kishore Kumar’s first wife Ruma Guha Thakurta died in sleep on Monday morning at her Kolkata residence. She was 84.
Ruma, an acclaimed singer, was founder of the Calcutta Youth Choir, a Left-wing cultural organisation which specialised in folk songs and mass songs. Ruma played character roles in a number of Bengali movies. She had also acted in some Hindi movies.
Jwar Bhata (debut film of Dilip Kumar), Afsar (directed by Chetan Anand), Mashaal (directed by Nitin Bose) are some of the Hindi movies featuring the actress.
Ruma’s repertoire of Bengali films consisting of 37 movies includes two films by Satyajit Ray (‘Abhijan’ and ‘Ganashatru’), two by Tapan Sinha (‘Nirjan Saikate’ and ‘Wheel Chair’) and one by Aparna Sen (‘36 Chowringhee Lane’).
She also did playback in at least 10 Bengali films. Bengali film ‘Lukochuri’ (1958) featured two duets by Kishore and Ruma.
Ruma was born in Kolkata in 1934 to Satyen and Sati Ghosh. Her mother was elder sister of filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s wife Bijoya Ray. Actress Zohra Segal, in an interview published posthumously, reminisced how, as a select guest, she witnessed two “almost secret weddings” at Sati Ghosh’s flat in Mumbai’s Bandra area.
“One was Ruma’s wedding to Kishore Kumar and the other Satididi’s sister Monku’s (Bijoya) wedding to Satyajit Ray,” reminisced the Padma-Vibhushan Awardee Segal. Ruma’s mother was a member of Prithvi Theatre and was living in Mumbai.
Ruma was only 18 when she married Kishore who was then 23. This was in 1952. The marriage lasted six years. The couple’s only child Amit Kumar later became a well-known singer.
Ruma remarried in 1960. Her second husband’s name was Arup Guha Thakurta. Ruma had two children, a son and a daughter, with Arup. The daughter Shramana Chakraborty is also a singer.
Kishore Kumar also got married to actress Madhubala in 1960.
Ruma’s brother-in-law Sudeb Guha Thakurta said she lived mostly in Mumbai with son Amit. Last month only, she had come to Kolkata from Mumbai.