Editing Hemant Kumar (section)

==Early career==
Hemanta's debut as a playback singer came in 1940 with the [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali film]] ''Rajkumarer Nirbbasan'', where he sang under the musical direction of [[S.D.Burman|S.D. Burman]]. This was followed by ''Nimai Sanyas'' (1941), scored by Hariprasanna Das. In 1943, he composed his first original songs, "Katha Kayonako Shudhu Shono" and "Amar Biraha Akashe Priya", with lyrics by Amiya Bagchi. His entry into Hindi cinema occurred in 1942 with the film ''Meenakshi'', followed by ''Irada'' (1944), under composer [[Amar Nath]]'s direction.

Hemanta established himself as a prominent exponent of [[Rabindra Sangeet]] with his first recorded piece in the genre appearing in the Bengali film ''Priya Bandhabi'' (1944).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171205182037/http://faculty.ist.unomaha.edu/pdasgupta/hemanta/discography/tagore.html Tagore Songs by Hemanta Mukherjee]. faculty.ist.unomaha.edu</ref> The song "Pather Sesh Kothaye" marked the beginning of his journey with Tagore's compositions. That same year, he recorded his first non-film Rabindra Sangeet album under the Columbia label, featuring "Aamar Aar Habe Na Deri" and "Keno Pantha E Chanchalata". An earlier recording of "''Aamaar mallikabone''" for All India Radio/Akashvani has been lost to time.<ref>Debashis Dasgupta, ''Desh'', Bengali weekly magazine from [[Anandabazar Patrika]] Ltd., Calcutta, 11 November 1989. P. 36</ref><!-- The songs were ''prangane mor shirishh shakhay'' and ''he nirupama''.]] {{fact|date=June 2009}} -->
His directorial debut as a [[music director]] came with the Bengali film ''Abhiyatri'' in 1947. During this period, he worked alongside contemporary male vocalists including Jaganmay Mitra, Robin Majumdar, Satya Chowdhury, [[Dhananjay Bhattacharya]], Sudhirlal Chakraborty, Bechu Dutta<ref>S. Bhattacharya, ''Amar gaaner swaralipi'', A. Mukherjee Press, Calcutta, 1988. Pp. 82,83,84</ref> and [[Talat Mahmood]]. While his early recordings garnered critical acclaim, major commercial success eluded him until 1947.<!-- {{fact|date=June 2009}} -->