Remembering Pushpa Hans, noted singing actress of Hindi and Punjabi cinema in the 1940s and 50s, on her 101st birth anniversary today.

Pushpa Hans, a heart-throb of millions of cinema fans in the 40s and the 50s, acted in movies as a singing star and also did playback singing for actors of yesteryears. Her acting added laurels and dimensions to movies of V. Shanta Ram’s Apna Desh (1949), Sohrab Modi’s Sheesh Mahal (1950).

Hailed from the small town of Fazilka in Punjab, Pushpa Hans sang playback for the Music Director Vinod’s Punjabi first super-hit film “Chaman” and later for many other Hindi and Punjabi films. The melodious compositions like “Channa kithan guzari raat wey”, are still sung by contestants especially in “Awaz Punjab Di” sponsored by several agencies on TV channels. Older generation still makes it a point to recollect her melodious songs which they still hum at the time of marriages and social functions.

Pushpa Hans was conferred the most prestigious and coveted Padmashri Award.

Pushpa Hans passed away on December 9, 2011, at the age of 94.

(Image: Pushpa Hans with Lata Mangeshkar and C.Ramchandra)