After finishing school in Aligarh, Talat acquired musical education at the Morris College of Music, Lucknow. At the young age of 16 or so, he had sung on the A.I.R. at Lucknow and Lahore. H.M.V. promptly signed him up. So he had to leave his musical education half way and go to Calcutta. He remained there, singing Hindi and Bengali songs. In 1942 or so he cut the disc of the song "Tasveer Teri Dil Mera Behla Na Sakegi" with lyrics by Faiyyaz Hashmi and music by Kamal Dasgupta. Nearly 2 lakh copies of that disc were sold, catapulting Talat to instant fame. Talat returned to Lucknow and continued his musical studies, acquiring a degree therein. He decided to opt for a career in singing and acting. At that juncture he decided to try his luck in Bombay which was the nerve-centre of film industry..
Veteran music director Anil Biswas noticed him and gave him a break in the film "Arzoo" in 1950. The first song he sang for Anilda was "Ae Dil Mujhe Aisi, Jagah Le Chal". Naushad also spotted Talat and got him to sing most of the numbers in "Babul" which was also released in 1950. From then on there was no looking back for Talat. Music directors vied with one another to sign him up. This run of good luck lasted till about 1958 or so.
Since Talat chose to act as a hero in addition to his crooning, some people say that he lost out on his singing chances. It may be true. By the time he dissociated himself from acting, it was too late. Talat sang his swan song in "Jahan Ara" (1964) under the baton of Madan Mohan. He was just 40 then. Subsequent chances that he got in a few films after 1964 were nothing to write home about. From 1958 on, his body of work kept dwindling until it came down to single digits in a year. Apart from producers and music directors, even some of the heroes did not want him to playback for them. Many a time the song he had recorded would be deleted from the film at the whim of the hero or the producer. Later Talat started giving public performances and going on foreign tours where he got a receptive audience.
However, the era of the seventies saw violence-oriented films wherein soul-stirring ghazals, nazms and meaningful geets had no place. By that time music itself got reduced to a mere cacophony. Some of the best music directors suffered the same fate as Talat and were weeded out.
The worst thing that happened to Talat was that he suffered a heart attack and also lost his speech ability. So he was condemned to live life in disablement until he breathed his last on 9th May 1998 at the age of 74. His musical career was short-lived and he spent more of his lifetime in seclusion from the industry.
That silky smooth voice was stilled once and for all.
May his soul rest in peace.
