Tuntun

Infobox actor
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name = Tun Tun


imagesize = 150px
caption =
birthdate = birth date|1923|7|11
location = Uttar Pradesh, IND
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deathdate = Death date and age|2003|11|23|1923|7|11
deathplace = Mumbai, IND
yearsactive =
birthname = Uma Devi Khatri
othername =
homepage =
awards =

Tun Tun (11 July, 1923 – 24 November, 2003) [http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rnov2003/25112003/r251120035.html ...THE DEATH OF ACTRESS TUN TUN] Press Release, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 25 November, 2003.] was the screen name of Indian playback singer and actor-comedienne, Uma Devi Khatri, who is often called the 'first woman comedienne of Hindi cinema' .

Biography

Uma Devi Khatri, was born on July 11, 1923, in a conservative Punjabi family, in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, where after the premature death of her parents while she was still her teens, she was raised by her uncle.

She arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) at the age of 13, having run away from home, and knocked on composer Naushad’s door. She told him that she could sing and that she would throw herself in the ocean if he didn’t give her a chance. He auditioned her, and hired her on the spot. She made her debut as a solo playback singer, in Nazir's " Wamiq Azra" (1946) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jan/08/guardianobituaries.india Obituary - Tun Tun] The Guardian, January 8, 2004.] , working with legends like Naushad Ali, soon she signed a contract with the producer-director A.R. Kardar, who used Naushad as music director, and went on make a place for herself amidst music stalwarts like, Noor Jehan, Rajkumari, Khursheed and Zohrabai Ambalewali.

In 1947, she had huge hits with " Afsana likh rahi hoon dil-e-bekrar ka" ("I Am Writing My Saga of desperate heart"), "Yeh Kaun Chala Meri Aankhon Mein Sama Kar" ("Who is This My Love?") and "Aaj Machi Hai Dhoom Jhoom Khushi Se Jhoom", which she sang for actress, Munawar Sultana, in A.R. Kardar's production, Dard (1947), again under the music direction of Naushad; she also sang a duet, "Betaabhai Dil Dard-e-Mohabat Ke Asar So", with Suraiya [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmtcvDnnAUg “Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon”] ] In fact, a Pakistani gentleman, got so enamoured by her song, " Afsana likh rahi hoon", that he never went back, and later married her, the couple had two daughters; her husband, whom she called Mohan, died in 1992 [ [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031213/mailbag.htm Tun Tun (Uma Devi)—a tribute] The Tribune, December 13, 2003.] .

Success of "Dard", meant that she next received Mehboob Khan's, " Anokhi Ada" (1948), which again had two hit numbers, "Kahe jiya dole" ("Why the Heart Throbs") and "Dil ko lagake humne kuch bhi na paya" ("I Got Nothing by Falling in Love"). This brought her into the league of highly rated playback singers . She reached her peak as a vocalist in, director S.S. Vasan’s, "Chandralekha" (1948), made by Gemini Studio, Chennai, her seven songs, which include hits like, "Saanjh ki bela" ("These Moments of Evening"), remain her most accomplish work in her singing career; though signing the film also meant a breach of contract with producer-director, Kardar, which lead to her dwindling fortunes in the industry.

Moreover, in coming years, owing to her older style of singing and limited vocal range, she found it difficult to compete with the rising singing stars, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Eventually Naushad suggested that she take up acting, because she had a very bubbly personality and wonderful comic timing. He asked his friend Dilip Kumar to cast her in one of his films, and she appeared in Babul (1950) with him , which had Nargis as the lead actress; it is he who renamed her as 'Tun Tun' to suit her comic persona [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031207/spectrum/main6.htm Hindi cinema's first-ever comedienne] The Tribune, December 7, 2003] , and name stayed with her, and a comedic legend was born.

She and went to act in Guru Dutt’s classics like Aar Paar, (1954), Mr & Mrs 55 (1955) and Pyaasa (1957) [ [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060827/spectrum/main5.htm Unfair fun] The Tribune, August 27, 2006.] . In the 1960s and 1970s, she remained as a permanent comic relief in numerous Bollywood films, a few years down the line, she most notably starred in Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Namak Halaal (1982), a Prakash Mehra's blockbuster [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20031217/ai_n12717193 Obituary: Uma Devi] The Independent (London), December 17, 2003.]

In her career spanning five decades, she acted in around 198 films, pairing with top comedy actors of her times like, Bhagwan Dada, Agha, Sunder, Mukri, Dhumal, Johnny Walker to Keshto Mukherjee [imdb|0876553|Tun Tun] , and was last seen in Hindi film in 'Kasam Dhande Ki' (1990); she died on 24 November, 2003 in Andheri, Mumbai [ [http://www.lifeinlegacy.com/2003/WIR20031129.html#P43 Tun Tun] www.lifeinlegacy.com.] , after a prolonged illness, at the age of 80, and was survived two daughters.

References

External links

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* [http://radjesh3.tripod.com/ List of Songs under music director, "Naushad"]