Remembering Salil Choudhury.

Remembering Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury, noted scholar, poet, composer and literary giant was remembered on his birthday on 19th November, 2009. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years.

His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers.

On the other hand his strength in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Chouhdury huge experiment with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment.

Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular.

Bimal Roy’s film Do Bigha Zameen was based on Salil Choudhury’s literature. His music in the films Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati, Musafir, Parakh, Jagte Raho, Anand, Maya, Rajnigandha, etc., stand out as landmarks in Indian film history. He received filmfare award for brilliant performance in the film Madhumati. All the songs in the film including Lata’s “aja re”, “ghari ghari”, Rafi’s “tute hue khwabonme”, “jangal me mor nacha”, Mukesh’s “dil tarap tarap ke”, “suhana safar aur mausam hasin” touched the souls of numerous Indians in the late 50s.

Other notable songs of Salil Choudhury in bollywood films include “tasveer teri dil me” from Maya, “zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai”, “kahin dur jab din dhal jaye” from Anand, “rajnigandha” from Rajnigandha, “jago mohan pyare” from Jagte Raho, to name a few.

Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. One article is not enough to reiterate the immortal works of the giant creator. The creations should be preserved and restored.

Remembering Shyamal Mitra on his death anniversary.

Remembering Shyamal Mitra on his death anniversary.

Music lovers all across India remember Shyamal Mitra on his death anniversary on 15th November, 2009. Shyamal Mitra was the one of the leading singers of Bengal during the golden age and for 40 years dominated the world of modern songs and film music along with Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar. His nasal tune, emotional base, high pitch and effortless stretch of voice had remained immortal over the last 50 years. His first song “sriti tumi bedona” was composed by his guru Sudhirlal Chakravarty in the early 50s.

From that time onwards his nasal tune suited songs related to pathos and songs like “emono din aaste pare”, “jodi dako opar theke”, “ei sundar prithibi chere mono jete nahi chay” flabbergasted the Bengali audience. Satinath Mukherjee, a leading classical singer of the 60s loved Shyamal Mitra and his composition for him titled “eto alo aar eto hasi gaan” became super hit.

At that time Robin Chatterji, the leading composer of Bengali film music used Shyamal Mitra to sing film songs for Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengal, and his songs “amar sapne dekha rajkonya” in the film Sagarika, 1956, “o mon kokhon shuru kokhon je shesh” in the film Kamal Lata, 1969, touched the souls of numerous listeners. Robin Chatterji experimented in the film Deeper Naam Tiya Rong with Portuguese folk music and the songs sung by Shaymal Mitra titled “o amar saat rajari dhaan” and “phiriti basakar kuye giya dishe” made the listeners speechless. The intonation of songs was in rural accent where Shyamal Mitra made an everlasting impact in the minds of the listeners.

Salil Choudhury was moved by the romantic appeal of Shyamal Mitra and used him in Dilip Kumar’s film Musafir with the song “ek aye ek jaye”. His basic discs sung by Shyamal Mitra include “aha oi ankabanka poth” which was remade in hindi titled “aha rimjhim ke” sung by Talat Mehmood, “jodi kichu amare shudhao”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, “dur nail beshi dur oi sajano sajano bokul baner dhare”, etc. By mid-60s Shyamal Mitra became a leading music composer and his composition for Manobendra Mukherjee and himself tilted “dole dodul dole jhulona” in Uttam Kumar’s film Deya Neya in 1963 became super hit.

The notable films where his music was impressive include Bon Palashir Padabali, Raj Konya, Bhranti Bilas, Amanush, Ananda Ashram, etc. Some of the notable songs in Bon Palashir Padabali included “aha mori mori”, “dekhuk para porshite”, “udash bayul”, etc. His song “dil aisa kisi ne mera tora” sung by Kishore Kumar in the hindi film Amanush gave him filmfare award for the best singer. His composition for Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle in the film Anand Ashram titled “sara pyar tumhara” became super hit with the excellent lips of Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore.
My father, Ex-Chief Public Prosecutor Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, interviewed Shyamal Mitra in Scottish Church College in 1956, where he participated in a cultural night along with Manobendra Mukherjee and Satinath Mukherjee. Shyamal Mitra reiterated the contribution of Deep Narayan Bitholia in All India Radio who had composed songs under the head of Romyogeeti. His romantic stretch of voice in the song “boujhiuri go” had created a lasting impression in the minds of the listeners. Mr. Chitta Ranjan Chatterji was astonished with the humbleness of Shyamal Mitra who was down to earth and respectful towards his predecessors like Sudhirlal Chakaravarty and Satinath Mukherjee.

Shyamal Mitra’s brother Salil Mitra in TV interview emphasized Shaymal Mitra’s sense of respect towards legendary composer Robin Chatterji. While the shooting of the film Kamallata were taking place in bagan bari in rural West Bengal, Shyamal Mitra was playing badminton with Uttam Kumar. When Robin Chatterji heard his recording of the song “o mon kokhon shuru” he was unsatisfied and questioned Shaymal Mitra’s result of diksha in Naihati as the song lacked emotions in Bengali called “abeg”. Shyamal Mitra returned back and brought out the devotional andaz of his lifetime and Robin Chatterji gifted a perfume as a token of appreciation for the committed singer of Bengal.

His notable folk songs and romantic songs in basic discs include “o shimul bon”, “sediner sona jhora sondha”, “keno dako tumi more”, “keno tumi phire ele”, “kar monjiro baje”, etc. As composer he had composed evergreen songs for Manobendra Mukherjee like “o amar patralekha”, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya “dole shal piyalir bon”, Sandhya Mukherjee “ami to tomari kache royechi” etc.

His voice suited Uttam Kumar a lot and his songs in the film Sokher Chor, Bhranti Bilas, Rajodrohi, Andha Atit had been landmarks in Bengali film history. He died in the mid-80s after becoming a legend along with Hemanta Kumar, Manobendra Mukherjee and Manna Dey and it is not possible to highlight his achievements in a small article. His songs and films should be restored.

Mohishashur Mordini was the greatest creation of All India Radio.

Mohishashur Mordini was the greatest creation of All India Radio.

Mahishashur Mordini which meant the annihilation of the demon, was the greatest work of art that was recorded in All India Radio in the last 100 years. It had been broadcasted on the sacred morning of mahalaya from 1930 till date.

It was associated with chandipath, which meant chanting from Chandi, the verses from Durga Shaptashati. It had signified the beginning of bengali’s greatest festival durgapuja. With Mohishashur Mordini being broadcasted in All India Radio on the morning of Mahalaya, bengalies all over the world feel the end of pitripakha and beginning of debipakkha.

Birendra Krishna Bhadra, was the maestro who was instrumental in the creation of Mohishashur Mordini. The legendary narrator and director of All India Radio, Kolkata, for more than 50 years, recited the holy verses, and told the story of descent of Goddess Durga from Heaven to earth in his dynamic andaz, most famous being “ya devi, sarbabhuteshu, shaktirupenu sanghasthita, namastashyayi, namastashyayi, namastashyayi, namoh namaha”.

Pankaj Mullick and Raichand Boral ably assisted Birendra Bhadra in his novel mission. Banikumar was the script writer and Birendra Bhadra the director and narrator of the mega-act. Eminent singers of Bengal added colour in mohishashur mordini, with then golden voices, with Manobendra Mukherjee singing “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee singing “jago tumi jago”, Supriti Ghosh singing “bajlo tomar alor benu”, while Shyamal Mitra, Sandhya Mukherjee, Suprava Sarkar, Utpala Sen and other giants of Bengali music industry singing legendary songs under the direction of Pankaj Mullick and Raichand Boral.

Goddess Durga had been idolized as Narayani, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Shivaduti, and Chamunda, decked with a garland of skulls. Mahishasura, the terrible king of the asuras, defeated the Gods and driven them out of Heaven. The Gods being dejected, went to Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Mahadeva, the Destroyer. These three Gods projected their energy and created a new energy in the form of Goddess Durga. She was Mahamaya, the Mother of the Universe. The Goddess then emerged in full battle array to combat Mahishashura.

The Himalayas gifted her the lion to be her carrier. Vishnu gave her the chakra. Mahadeva gave her the trishul (the trident). Yama gave her the danda. Brahma gave her the rosary. Armed with weapons in her ten arms Goddess Durga defeated the Asuras, including shumbha, nishumbha and ended the rule of evil forces.

Mahalaya is followed up with Mahashashti, Mahashaptami, Mahaaustami, Mahanabami and Mahadashami, to mark, Goddess Durga’s victory over evil and bringing happiness to mankind. Mohishashura Mordini Strotrum or sloka is a very popular devotional strotra written by Sri Shankara Bhagavatacharya.

Birendra Bhadra’s mohishashur mordini became immortal, and once due to popular request when Bengal’s greatest superstar Uttam Kumar recited the play in All India Radio in the 70s, the music being directed by Hemant Kumar, the listeners showed resentment and All India Radio again started broadcasting the mohishahur mordini created by Birendra Bhadra. These days the work is converted into CDs, but it should be listened only at the mahendra khan, the time of mahalaya.

The greatest work of All India Radio, Kolkata, should be preserved and restored.

Music lovers lament Alpona Banerjee's death.

Music lovers lament Alpona Banerjee’s death.

The music lovers all across India lament Alpona Banerjee’s death on 24th July 2009. Children and elders had huge affection towards the romantic singer. She had sung many romantic songs both in Bengali films and also had basic discs during the golden age of Bengali music.

Her notable Bengali modern songs included “mon bolche aaj sondhay kichu bolte tumi ashbe ki” composed by Manobendra Mukherjee, “tumi shundar bole taito bondhu besecho halo amay” composed by Manobendra Mukherjee, “bolechhile tumi gaan shonabe” composed by Abhijit Banerjee, etc. She sang very significant songs in hit films in the 50s. Her song “hridoy amar shundaro tobo pay” in Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s film Sagarika became landmark hit. Robin Chatterji, the composer of the song used Alpona’s silky voice for expressing the affection of the actress Jamuna Singha in the film.

Alpona Banerjee sang many significant songs in other films like Bikash Roy’s Chele Kar, Pahari Sanyal’s Bidhyasagar, etc. In the mid-50s Alpona became matchless in her children’s songs which were termed as “charar gaan”.

Children all across the country are obsessed towards the songs of Alpona Banerjee. Her notable songs included “chotto pakhi chondona”, “hattimatim tim”, etc. Those songs did great business in the regional market of West Bengal.

Alpona Banerjee discontinued music after marriage and faded away from the Bengali music arena in the late 60s. The listeners felt sad about it as Alpona Banerjee’s romantic voice had appeal along with Sandhya Mukherjee, Geeta Dutt, Nirmala Mishra, Pratima Banerjee, Bani Ghoshal and many other leading singers og Bengali modern songs.

Alpona Banerjee appeared in TV channels like Doordarshan a number of times in the 80s and 90s and sang her popular songs. Her songs and films should be preserved and restored.

Salil Choudhury and Bengali modern songs.

Salil Choudhury and Bengali modern songs.

Salil Choudhury was one of the most gifted creators of Bengali modern songs during the golden age. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years.

His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers.

On the other hand his base in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Chouhdury huge experiment with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment.

Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular.

Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. The creations should be preserved and restored.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya - the legendary classical singer of bengal.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya – the legendary classical singer of Bengal.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the one of the legendary classical singer of Bengal of the 50s and 60s, who showed his excellence in films songs, Bengali modern songs and shyamasangeet. He did not get the recognition he deserved as the major attention of the media was focused only towards Hemant Kumar, the romantic singer of Bengal, but along with Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Akhilbondhu Ghosh, Satinath Mukherjee and others, Dhanonjoy’s classical touch inspired the composers to compose pure classical and semi-classical songs.

Dhanonjoy’s evergreen modern songs included “matite jonmo nilam” composed by Prabir Mojumdar, “kabir kheyale premomoy tumi samrat shahjahan” composed by himself, “jhanana jhanana baje” composed by Salil Choudhury, “ei jhir jhir jhir batashe” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, “ruma jhuma jhum” composed by Rotu Mukherjee, “antabihin oi andharater” composed by Salil Choudhury, “shilpi moner bedona”, “tandra elo bolo jaagi kemon kore”, “chameli melona ankhi”, “bashorer deep aaj” to name a few.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya acted in Bengali films like Pasher Bari (which was remade in hindi with the title Parosan where Kishore Kumar played his role), nobo bidhan, etc. His brilliant songs in Bengali films included “jagannath swami gamanapathagami bhabatue” sung in the film Nilachole Mahaprobhu, composed by Raichand Boral, “jhir jhir jhir jhir jhir borosha” in the film Pasher Bari, composed by Salil Choudhury, “katharo aghate chinno paye rokto jhare” in Uttam Kumar’s film Sabar Upare, composed by Robin Chatterji, etc. He made major contribution in Uttam Kumar’s film Nabajanmo, Uttam Kumar’s film Shilpi, etc.

Besides, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya had sung more than 200 shyama sangeet (devotional songs sung for Goddess Kali). Some of his legendary shyama sangeet included “e maya proponchomoy” in the Uttam Kumar’s film Share Chuattor, “gaya ganga prabashadi” in the film Rani Rashmoni, also major songs in the films Sadhok Bamakhepa and Joto Mot Tato Poth. His brother Pannalal Bhattacharya became a legend in the world of Shyama sangeet.

Dhanonjoy died in the early 1990s, after leaving a huge treasure of classical songs and still remains a king (samrat) in the minds of numerous music lovers in the country.

Manobendra Mukherjee in the 70s.

Manobendra Mukherjee in the 70s.

Manobendra Mukherjee was considered as the greatest classical singer that Bengal had ever produced during the golden age. He had the weighty bass like Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, classical control like Satinath Mukherjee and Akhil Bondhu Ghosh, variation and modulation like Manna Dey. To a big section of Bengali listeners he used to be considered the Neil Harvey of Bengali modern songs. Just as Neil Harvey used his wristy stroke play to establish himself as the greatest stylish batsman of all times, Manobendra Mukherjee used his classical touch, (in musical terms called harkat) in such a stylish manner that he emerged as the most romantic singer of the golden age during an era when melodious singers like Shyamal Mitra, Hemanta Mukherjee, Subir Sen, Tarun Banerjee were big names. His emergence in Bengali musical arena created a dimension which may be called romantic saga which in turn swayed the innate emotions of middleclass Bengali listeners of the golden age in the world of melody.

His song “emni kore porbe mone baki jiban dhore”, sung in the mid-50s flabbergasted the Bengali audience and brought a new expression for plutonic romance. The lyrics in interlude including “sabai bole bhalobashar moron naaki nei, proti rate tara hoye dei je dekha sei” created everlasting impact in the world of romance which listeners cherished for the last 50 years. Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-Chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, a great admirer of Manobendra Mukherjee had echoed the emotions Manobendra himself, when he interviewed the legendary singer in a musical function organized in Beerpara (Paikpara) in 1986, where Manobendra admitted that if “nai chondon lekha” created his romantic debut in Bengali musical arena, “emni kore porbe mone” was the most romantic song he had sung in his illustrious career.

While the 60s showed Manobendra’s skillful compositions both in Bengali films and Bengali modern songs, the 70s showed his jugglery in classical creations. His notable creations in the 60s included Uttam Kumar’s Mayamrigo, 1960, Biswajeet’s Godhuli Belai, 1964, Bosonto Choudhury’s Bodhu, 1962, Bosonto Choudhury’s Koshtipathor, etc. His modern songs “Jodi amake dekho tumi udashi” composed by Abhijit Banerjee, “rimjhim baje monjiro kar” composed by himself, “koto je soyechi betha” composed by Chinmoy Lahiri, “bare bare ke jeno dake” composed by Sailen Mukherjee, “mayur kanthi ratero nile” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, “ami parini bujhite parini” composed by Salil Choudhury, “amar pather panthe” composed by Satinath Mukherjee, to name a few.

The 70s was marked by the decline of Bengali modern songs. When Manobendra saw that composers like Robin Chatterji or Anil Bagchi were no more in the 70s, he composed most of the songs himself. Quality lyricists like Shyamal Gupta, Pulak Banerjee, Pabitra Mitra provided the romantic lyrics for him during that age. His landmark songs during that period included “ei ganga ei padda”, “borosha klanto o duti nayan mele”, mone pore jay koto shriti mayabhora”, “hajar jonom dhore”, “jaak na megher araale chand”, “jolke tora jaabi jare”, “halka megher palki chore chandrakola jay”, “ami je mondo tate”, “phiria dekona mahua bonero pakhi”, to name a few. He was such a dynamic singer that 700 to 800 songs sung by him were composed by himself.

Even in the film arena Manobendra contributed in films like Uttam Kumar’s Joy joyanti (for which he won different awards including Indira Gandhi award for excellence in music composition), Soumitra Chatterji’s Sudur Niharika, Joto Mot Tato Bath, Sadhok Bamakhepa, to name a few.

One of the biggest achievements of Manobendra was bringing junior artists from grass root level and reaching them to limelight with his tunes. His landmark tunes for other singers included “kemone janabo bolo e pranero bedona” sung by Shefali Chakrabarty”, “champakali go koto name dekechi tomay” sung by Tarun Banerjee, “ami sundar bole tai to bondhu besecho bhalo amay” sung by Alpona Banerjee, “gane gane ami je khuji tomay” sung by Supriti Ghosh, “kuasha ghera neel pahare” sung by Bani Ghoshal, to name a few.

Manobendra Mukherjee showed his excellence in so many diverse fields that separate articles can be written on his nazrulgeeti, bagbajarer gaan, puratoni, ragprodhan, kirtan, bhakti geeti, shyama sangeet, etc. His death in early 90s, had brought huge loss to Akashbani Kolkata, Kolkata Doordarshan, all the record companies of Bengal and music journals where he was an indispensable figure. His songs and compositions should be restored, preserved and revisited.

Review of Bengali film Deya Neya.

Review of Bengali film Deya Neya.

Deya Neya stands out as Uttam Kumar’s one of the biggest hit films in his career. The film was released in 1963. The story was related to the life of a talented singer whose father, being an industrialist never wanted his son to pursue his musical career.

Kamal Mitra played the role of the father of Uttam Kumar in the film. Uttam Kumar left his father’s home in Lucknow and returned to Kolkata. He was known by the outside world with the identity Abhijit Choudhury, a successful singer. He came to Kolkata and worked as driver cum mechanic in Pahari Sanyal’s house. Tanuja was the relative of Pahari Sanyal and interacted with Uttam Kumar in relation to the cars they had.

Although Uttam Kumar was known with the identity Abhijit Choudhury, he never performed in public function, so his face was unknown to the listeners. Tanuja and her friend Sumita Sanyal were also fans of Abhijit Choudhury, but both of them could not recognize Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar took shelter in Tarun Kumar’s house, a friend of him and Lili Chakravarty, his wife attended Uttam Kumar like his own brother’s wife.

As the lyricist of Uttam Kumar’s songs played by Premangshu, was suffering from serious sickness, Uttam Kumar organized a musical program at the end of the film and appeared before the crowd in a charity show. His identity was revealed and Kamal Mitra, his father took him back after marrying Tanuja.

The music of the film was extraordinary. Shyamal Mitra’ s composition touched the hearts of millions of music lovers all across the country. Shaymal Mitra’s own songs “jiban khatar proti patay”, “ami cheye cheye dekhi saradin”, “ganer bhubon bhariye debo”, made the viewers speechless. The duet song “dole dodul dole jhulona” sung by Manobendra Mukherjee and Shyamal Mitra stands out as one of the greatest duet songs of the last 50 years.
Deya Neya was remade in hindi with the title Anurodh. Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra and Simple Kapadia had the lead roles. But they miserably failed to level the standard of excellence attained by Uttam Kumar in Deya Neya.

Deya Neya should be preserved for the young generations who had not seen the romantic andaz of Uttam Kumar during the golden age of Bengali cinema, that is the 50s and 60s.

Bengali film industry misses classical singers like Manobendra Mukherjee

Bengali film industry misses classical singers like Manobendra Mukherjee.

Bengali cinema for the last 10 years, have relied on music composed by music directors of Bombay and singers of bollywood films. Mostly composers like Bappi Lahiri, Shantonu Moitra, and singers like Kumar Shanu, Babul Supriyo, Abhijeet are brought from Bombay and contribute for the Bengali cinema.

There was an age (the 50s and 60s) when Bengali film industry was self-sufficient and did not have to borrow singers from bollywood industry. Manobendra Mukherjee belonged to such an elite class who could sing any type of song ranging from pure classical numbers to folk songs, to nazrulgeeti, to westernized songs.

In 1954, Manobendra Mukherjee started his innings as music director in Bengali films with Uttam Kumar’s film Chapadangar Bou. He sang Mahadev’s gajon (a type of devotional song) titled “shibo he shibo he” which was picturised on Uttam Kumar and became very successful. Manobendra’s kirtan in Uttam Kumar’s film Shanjher Prodeep also became extremely popular.

Manobendra was brilliant by every musical standard in the film Nilachole Mahaprobhu which was based on the life of Lord Chaitanya. Composer Raichand Boral made Manobendra sing a number of kirtans including “jagannath jagatbandhu” which became superhit. During that time composer Ghyan Prakash Ghosh used Manobendra Mukherjee for pure classical numbers like “andhare”. Bosonto Choudhury played the main role in the film. Noted composer Anil Bagchi experimented with classical numbers in Chabi Biswas’s epic film Shashibabur Sangsar. The song “rojoni pohale sojoni kothaye” was very successful and Bosonto Choudhury gave able lips on Manobendra’s song in the film.

In the mid-50s, composer Nochiketa Ghosh experimented with folk songs in the film Nabajanma. Uttam Kumar gave brilliant lips in Manobendra’s song titled “ore monmajhi” which was based on Bengali folk song titled bhatiayali. Manobendra was sublime in Bosonto Choudhury’s film Kostipathor. The song “kal se phakir aaj se raja” showed Manobendra’s skills in singing light songs.
In the 60s Manobendra stormed Bengali films as a versatile composer. All the songs composed in Biswajeet’s film Mayamrigo became superhit, including Manobendra’s own song “metidiamerikar kabyo”, “bidhire”, Hemanta Mukherjee’s song “ore son son geroraj”, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “bok bok bok bokum bokum payera”.

Similarly all the songs composed by Manobendra Mukherjee in Chabi Biswas’s legendary film Badhu, were well appreciated by the learned audience including Manobendra’s own kirtan “gunimon kalorupe”, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “sonali megher din”, etc. Manobendra’s composition in the film Godhuli Belai was equally brilliant with the title song “godhuli belai” picturised on Biswajeet.

Probably Joy Joyanti, marked the best creation of Manobendra Mukherjee which fetched him Indira Gandhi award for remarkable music composition. The film was based on Hollywood film Sound of Music. Sandhya Mukherjee’s songs in the film “amader chuti chuti”, “kiholo karo je mukhe kotha phote na”, etc., were landmarks in Bengali film music.

Besides, many composers had given their most dynamic compositions to Manobendra. The best example can be the film Lalu Bhulu. Lyricist Sailen Roy and composer Robin Chatterji gave probably the best songs ever in the film. All the songs sung by Manobendra mukherjee like “ei pranjhorona jaglo”, “akash mor alloy decho bhore”, “jar hiya akasher neel nilimai”, “dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “dukher pothe naamli Jodi”, etc., had class, variety and depicted the helplessness of two blind and handicapped boys who sang songs to earn their livelihood. In fact Lalu Bhulu’s songs were inspiration for lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri, composer Laxmikant Pyarellal and singer Mohammad Rafi, who created songs of their lifetime in the film Dosti which was the hindi adaptation of Bengali film Lalubhulu.

Some of Manobendra’s songs like “dole dodul dole jhulona” in Uttam Kumar’s film Deya Neya are still popular even today. Manobendra’s composition in films like Joto Mot Tato Poth, Sudur Niharika, Sadhok Bamakhepa, caught both the classical base and devotional flavor of Bengali music. It is a pity that Manobendra Mukherjee, with all his classical talent and depth, did not go to bollywood like Manna Dey, otherwise Bengal could have been represented on a larger scale by the meritorious singer and composer whose style and elegance in modern songs was compared with stylish andaz of Australian batsman Neil Harvey. Bengali films these days lack the brilliance of classical singers and composers like Manobendra Mukherjee who are born once in a decade. The songs and the films should be restored for their aesthetic value.

What happened to the classical gharana of Bengali modern songs?

What happened to the classical gharana of Bengali modern songs?

In the 50s and 60s, a number of Bengali classical singers had adorned the firmament of Bengali modern songs. The list included Begum Akhtar, Krishna Ganguly, Ila Bose, Chinmoy Lahiri, A.T. Kanon, etc. The legacy that was created by Vishwadeb Chatterji, Ganendra Prosad Goswami, Tarapodo Chakravarty was carried forward by the above-mentioned singers.

The legendary singers educated the music-lovers about thumris, tappas, kajris, etc. Some of the notable songs included “koeliya gan thama ebar” composed by Gyanprakash Ghosh, “jhanana jhanana baje” composed by Salil Choudhury, “koto je shoyechi betha” composed by Chinmoy Lahiri to mention a few. Manobendra Mukherjee dominated the world of Bengali modern songs, and songs either sung by him or composed by him reached level of excellence in the 50s and 60s.

Some of his memorable songs included “rimjhim baje monjiro kar”, “bare bare ke jeno dake”, “borosha klanto o duti nayan”, “jodi amake dekho tumi udashi”, “seto naam dhore konodin dakeni amay”, “aha na royna”, “hajar jonom dhore”, “mone hoy koto striti”, to mention a few. The songs where he composed music for other singers became equally famous. Some of them included “kemone janabo bolo e pranero bedona” sung by Shefali Chakravarty, “mon bolche kon sondhaye” sung by Alpona Banerjee, “gane gane ami je khuji tomay” sung by Supriti Ghosh, to mention a few.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya sang many classical numbers during that age which included “ruma jhuma jhum” composed by Rotu Mukherjee, “kobir kheale premomoy tumi” composed by himself, “maatite jonmo nilam” composed by Probir Mojumdar, “ei jhir jhir jhir batashe” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, to mention a few. Satinath Mukherjee’s songs “baluka belae kurai jhinuk”, “ajo to elo na she”, “bonopatho majhe”, “pashaner buke” etc., received both admiration and respect from the music-lovers.

Akhil Bandhu Ghosh sang a number of memorable songs like “bashoriya bashi bajayona”, “keno prohoro na jete”, “aaji chandini raati go”, “o dayal bichar koro”, to mention a few. Manna Dey devoted most of his time in singing songs for films, yet many of his basic discs had moved the music-lovers which included “koto dure aar”, “ami aaj akasher moto ekela”, “sundari go”, “lalita, oke aar chole jete bolna”, “shabai to sukhi hote chaye”, “kophota choker jol”, etc., which bewildered the audience from the 50s to the 80s.

Other than successful basic discs of Sandhya Mukherjee and Geeta Dutt, a number of other singers had excellent basic discs. The legendary songs included “koishore ami jekhane bendhechi ghar” sung by Bani Ghoshal, “bolechile tumi gaan shonabe” sung by Alpona Mukherjee, to mention a few.

Someway or the other, the classical gharana faded away in the 70s. One of the reasons must be excessive domination of Hemant Kumar in Bengali film music, where other than Shaymal Mitra and Manna Dey, the rest of the singers did not get that scope. The classical singers did not any motivation and the composers who had the capability of creating landmark songs also died and a new generation was never created.

These days Ajoy Chakravarthy, Rashid Khan, Girija Devi motivates young singers towards classical singing, but the response is not that encouraging. The legendary songs should be restored for the new generation.