Geeta was about to step into her teens. One day she was crooning a song in her flat, music director K. Hanuman Prasad happened to hear her voice. He was much impressed, and therefore, persuaded her parents to have her try to sing in films. K. Hanuman Prasad took Geeta under his patronage, trained and groomed her in singing and later launched her into singing in the movies. Geeta Dutt is supposed to have sung over 1200 songs in Hindi films. In addition she has also sung songs in many Indian regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri and Punjabi.The versatility of Geeta Dutt showed up in songs which could be picturized in a cabaret joint — 'Babujee dheere chalna' (Aar Paar, 1954) on one hand, and devotional songs set in an ashram — 'Jai Jagdeesh hare' (Anand Math, 1952), on the other. Her voice singing 'Koyi door say aawaz de' haunts you long after you have watched Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam(1962 )."Geeta Dutt was thandi hawa and kaali ghata rolled into one. The moment she came, you got the refreshing feeling of aa hi gayi jhoom ke. There was a rare swing in her voice.
She hit you like a thunderclap……….This made Geeta Dutt the one singer that Lata Mangeshkar really feared. In training and technique Lata was way ahead but neither training nor technique was of much use when pitted against Geeta in the recording room……..This put Lata on the defensive and I think she avoided singing with Geeta as far as possible. I vaguely remember Lata acknowledging this fact when Geeta died on July 20, 1972."In early 1957 while selecting the ten best songs that she has sung, Geeta Dutt mentioned ' People have a complex that successful film songs are not necessary the best. I beg to differ. If a song catches public fancy it could only be because of all round perfection in all departments - in its music, in its writing, in its singing. Should I then list my ten best songs or my ten most popular songs? The dividing line, I feel is very thin. The songs that have stood the test of public approval and the songs that have personally appealed to me are the same. '
The ten songs she selected then represented definite landmarks in her singing career. They are:'Mat ja mat ja jogi' (Jogan - 1950 ) This was her own personal favourite.'Mera sundar sapna beet gaya' (Do Bhai - 1947 ) 'Na yeh chand hoga' (Shart - 1954 ) 'Tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer' (Baazi - 1951 ) 'Yeh lo main hari piya' (Aar Paar - 1954 ) 'Khayalon mein kisike' (Baawre Nain - 1950 ) with Mukesh 'Aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo' (Pyaasa - 1957 ) 'Jaane kya tunhe kahi' (Pyaasa - 1957 ) 'Ae dil mujhe bata de' (Bhai Bhai - 1956 ) 'Hai yeh duniya kaunsi' (Sailaab - 1956 ) This as mentioned was in early 1957. Citing the reason for her selections Geeta mentioned: ' I feel that a song must express human emotions in simple language and in a tune that affords the singer sufficient scope to do full justice to the thought underlying the lyric. I feel that the songs I have listed are simple enough to be appreciated by people of all ages at all times.' Some of Geeta's best work for e.g. 'Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam' from Kaagaz ke Phool(1959), 'Chale aao, chale aao' from Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) and the songs of Anubhav (1971) were to come later and naturally they do not find a place in that list.Her famous filmmaker husband, Guru Dutt (born July 9,1925) had died eight years before, on October 10, 1964, at age 39. It is indeed a great tragedy that Indian cinema lost two of its brightest artists so early. These two famous and enormously talented film personalities have, in their short but brilliant careers, left behind so many treasures, that they will be remembered for ever and ever by their fans, with love and gratitude.