Suman Kalyanpur, a shy girl, has fragile and thin voice as sweet as the honey. She carved herself a secure niche as a singer with her sonorous voice and accurate use of vocal octaves. Her soft warbling voice suited to the romantic ditties. Her singing of melodies like ‘Dil Gham Se Jal Raha’ (Shama), ‘Mere Mehboob Na Ja’ (Noormahal) and ‘Haal-e-Dil Unko Sunana Tha’ (Fariyad) reminds us of an era when songs were sublime and filled with purity. She has a mild tremolo in her voice which made her singing huskier and more enchanting. Her skills and tastes were both towards soft, melody-based numbers. She never sang Cabarets, Mujras or any songs with lyrics or situations wherein the visuals would have offended one’s sensibilities. She has a special knack for folk based songs. Even with a relatively limited repertoire, she has given some evergreen nuggets: The zingy ‘Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche’ (Brahmachari), the dreamy ‘Theheriye Hosh Mein Aa Loon’ (Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain), The
Spotlight on Indian Cinema