Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.

Aroti Mukherjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.


Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011.

Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc.

In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music.


Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee.

Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Dhananjoy Bhattacharya sang in the golden age like a King.

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya sang in the golden age like a King .

Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya sang different songs in Bengali during the golden age, that is the 50s, 60s and 70s like a King. He 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.

His film song “jibon parabarer majhi” written by Sailen Roy and composed by Robin Chatterjee is an example of a divine song having words about God. He sang “e maya proponchopmoy” devoted to Goddess Kali in the film Sare Chuattor in 1953, which was composed by Kalipada Sen. His notable basic discs during that period included “andhar ratri” composed by Robin Chatterjee, “bhalobesechinu bhulona”, “chena chena mukh sari sari” composed by Sudhin Dasputa, “mon re krishi kaj janona” composed by Ram Prashad Sen, “ e mon modhur dhoni”, “mukto karo ma muktokeshi” to name a few.

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. The song “matite jonmo nilam” was composed by Probir Mojumdar on the background of sacrifice made by Indians during the freedom movement. Dhananjoy Bhattacharya gave able expression in the song.

There were other impressive songs of Dhananjoy Bhattacharya including “hridoye mor rakto jhore”, “hai cholona” and “ogo guni bajao suni”. There were few Bengali version songs sung by Dhananjoy Bhattacharya based on the bollywood songs that were composed in films. Few of them include “shono go priyotama” which was based on Lata Mangeshkar’s epic song “ayega anewala” composed by Khemchand Prakash in the film Mahal. There were other songs like “sono sono kothati sono” based on the song “chori chori”. Dhananjoy Bhattacharya was sublime in songs based on somber mood like “bidae nite ki ele” and “kotodin dekha hoyni dujone”. His bass and classical elegance stands out in these evergreen songs.

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. His songs and works 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.