Editing Hemant Kumar (section)

==Later career==
In the 1970s, Hemanta's contribution to Hindi films was nominal. He scored music for a handful of his home productions, but none of these movies nor their music were successful. In Bengal, however, he remained the foremost exponent of [[Rabindra Sangeet]], film and non-film songs. His output continued to be popular for most of the decade. Some of them are ''Jodi Jante Chao Tumi'' (1972), ''Ek Gochha Rajanigandha'', ''Aamay Prasno Kore Nil Dhrubatara'', ''Sedin Tomay Dekhechilam'' (1974), ''Khirki Theke Singho Duar'' (Stree, 1971), ''Ke Jane Ko Ghonta'' (Sonar Khancha, 1974), ''Jeona Daraon Bandhu'' (Phuleswari, 1975) and popularised Rabindra sangeet using them beautifully in films as per situations. A very popular and classic example is the song ''Chorono Dhorite Diyogo Amare'' in [[Dadar Kirti]] (1980). In 1971, Hemanta debuted as a film director in for his self-produced Bengali movie [[Anindita]]. It didn't fare exceedingly well at the box office. However, his rendition ''Diner Seshe Ghumer Deshe'' was one of his best and most popular Rabindra Sangeet renditions. In the same year, Hemanta went to [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] by responding to film director [[Conrad Rooks]] and score the music of Conrad's [[Siddhartha (1972 film)|Siddhartha]] and played back ''O Nadire'' (composed and sung by him earlier in [[Neel Akasher Neechey]] (1959) in that film. He was the first Indian singer to playback in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. The [[US government]] honored Hemanta by conferring him with the citizenship of [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]]; the first-ever singer of India to get [[US citizenship]]. In the early to mid-1970s, two major music composers in Bengal, [[Nachiketa Ghosh]] and [[Robin Chatterjee]], who had worked closely with Hemanta, since the early 1950s, died. Simultaneously, music composed by Hemanta for Bengali films like ''Phuleswari'', ''Raag Anurag'', ''[[Ganadevata (film)|Ganadebata]]'' and ''[[Dadar Kirti]]'' established him as the major film music composer in the Bengal movie scene. In 1979, Hemanta re-recorded some of his earlier works with composer [[Salil Chowdhury]] from the 1940s and 1950s. This album, titled ''Legend of Glory, vol. 2'', was a major commercial success.

In 1980, Hemanta had a heart attack that severely affected his vocal capabilities, especially his breath control. He continued to record songs in the early eighties, but his voice was a shade of its rich baritone past. In 1984, Hemanta was felicitated by different organizations, most notably by the Gramophone Company of India, for completing 50 years in music. That very year Hemanta released his last album with Gramophone Company of India — a 45 rpm extended play disc with four non-film songs. Over the next few years, Hemanta released a few non-film songs for small-time companies that had cropped up in the nascent cassette-based music industry. Only a few of these were commercially successful. He composed music for a handful of Bengali movies and one Bengali and one Hindi tele-series. However, by this time he had become an institution, a beloved and revered personality who was a courteous and friendly gentleman. His philanthropic activities included running a homeopathic hospital in memory of his late father in their native village in Baharu, in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. He continued to feature regularly on All India Radio, Doordarshan (TV), and live programs/concerts during this period.

In a television interview, recorded in the early 1990s, to noted elocutionist Gauri Ghosh, his wife Bela Mukherjee recalled that she never knew during his lifetime the number of families and persons he helped to put up financially or otherwise; it was only after his departure that this truth gradually unveiled.

In 1987, he was nominated for [[Padma Bhushan]] which he refused, having already turned down a previous offer to receive [[Padma Shri]] in the 1970s. In this year, he was publicly felicitated in [[Netaji Indoor Stadium]] in Calcutta for completing 50 years in the musical journey, where, Lata Mangeshkar presented him with the memento on behalf of his fans and admirers. Despite his aging voice, he became the Best Male Singer in 1988 for his rendition in the film "Lalan Fakir".

In September 1989 he traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award, as well as to perform a concert. Immediately after returning from this trip he suffered another heart attack on 26 September 1989 and died at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta.