May 5 marks the 72nd birth anniversary of music label T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar. From being a fruit juice seller to a music mogul before being shot dead by the underworld in 90s Bombay, his story remains the most talked about. From Kumar Sanu to Sonu Nigam, many renowned singers were discovered by Gulshan Kumar. He is also fondly remembered as the Cassette King by the audience for first bringing the format of audio cassettes to India.
Gulshan Kumar Dua was born in a Hindu Punjabi household in Delhi’s Daryaganj in 1956. His father worked as a fruit juice seller. His family had arrived from the Jhang state of West Punjab in Pakistan from where they were forced to flee post the partition riots. Initially, he helped his father in the fruit juice business but then shifted to selling cassettes. This happened when his family bought a store where he used to sell records and cheap audio cassettes. This business was named Super Cassettes Industries which later turned into T-Series. Gradually Gulshan Kumar also expanded his business in Mumbai and amassed a massive fan base for the music label. T-Series played a major role in strengthening India’s music business during the early 90s.
With great success, troubles also started piling up for the Cassette King. In 1996, composer Nadeem Saifi produced an audio album titled Hi Ajnabee. He wanted Gulshan to purchase the audio rights for this album but the latter was reluctant to do so. According to his brother Krishan Kumar Dua, Gulshan had turned down Nadeem’s offer saying that he was not a good singer. Still, he purchased the audio rights for the album and also shot a music video for its promotion but it was a failure and Nadeem blamed Gulshan for not promoting it enough. In the Gulshan Kumar murder case, Nadeem had allegedly threatened the music mogul with dire consequences.
On August 12, 1997, Gulshan Kumar was murdered while he was on his way back from the Shiva temple in Mumbai’s western suburb of Andheri. Bombay High Court in their order said that the assailants were hired by Nadeem and Don Abu Salem. Abdul Rauf alias Dawood Merchant was convicted for the music label owner’s killing.
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