Nirmala Mishra said Carribean humming gave her song "emon ekta jhinuk khuje pelam na".

Nirmala Mishra.

Nirmala Mishra said Carribean humming gave her song “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pelam na”.

Eminent singer Nirmala Mishra gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika on 16th October, 2011. At an age of 73 years she talked about many unknown facts.

She disclosed that her father Mohinimohan Mishra was Pandit, Sangeet Ratna and Sangeet Nayak. He went to Benaras to get those degrees in music. Nirmala Mishra’s second brother who was also a great talented singer was given poison and did not survive, otherwise would have been a great singer.

She was very mischievous during childhood, that was the reason she was called “jhamela”. She got typhoid 6 times, for that reason her eyesight was affected. Everyone prescribed her to sing light songs, but her father was upset as he was an eminent classical singer. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had many times given her medicine for voice.


Eminent singer Dhananjoy Bhattacharya had helped her in her initial days of career. When composer Nochiketa Ghosh composed a song and asked her whether she could do Carribean humming, she said yes. Nochiketa Ghosh thought about Lata Mangeshkar for the song. But she did the humming, and got the song “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pellam na”. It became super hit. In the same way she got the song “o tota pakhire” from the brilliant composer Prabir Mojumdar.

She was called by superstar Uttam Kumar a number of times in his own house whenever Supriya Debi cooked a delicacy of prawns. She was asked to sing songs many times. She talked about her husband also who wrote the song “ami je tomar chirodiner hasi kannar saathi” which was later recorded and became a big hit.

Nirmala Mishra said that just as Lata Mangeshkar was called the melody queen of Mumbai, Sandhya Mukherjee the melody queen of Kolkata, similarly she was considered the melody queen of Orissa. She had sung many Oriya songs and majority of them had become hits.

Nirmala Mishra was a gem of the golden age.

Nirmala Mishra was a gem of the golden age.

Singer Nirmala Mishra was a gem of the golden age, that includes the 50s and 60s. During that period, Bengal produced a number of female singers most of whom were stalwarts in their own specialization. Sandhya Mukherjee, Geeta Dutt, Shipra Basu, Krishna Ganguly, Ila Basu, Pratima Banerjee, Alpona Banerjee, Bani Ghoshal, Arati Mukherjee, Basabi Nandi, Sabitri Ghosh, Gayatri Basu all adorned the firmament of Bengali music during the golden age.

Nirmal Mishra faced the stiff competition and kept her mark with unique style of classical singing. She dominated both Bengali music as well as Oriya Music.

Her notable songs included “o tota pakhire” composed by Probir Majumdar, “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pelam na” composed by Nochiketa Ghosh, to name a few. She brought tears in the eyes of the audience with her feeling in the song “ei banglar matite mago janmo amay diyo”. She was sublime in the song “keu kotha bolonago, ei taraghera madhusondhay,” and “boloto arshite”, etc.

She made notable contribution in Bengali film music as well. She sang important film song in the film Bhranti Bilas, where music was composed by Shyamal Mitra. Her other notable songs included “sabuj pahar dake ayre chute aye”, “abeshe much rekhe”, “pashan hridoy”, etc.

One article is too small to highlight the contribution of Nirmal Mishra. She had played notable role in shaping Bengali modern songs of the 50s and 60s. Articles after articles can be devoted to the talented singer. Her songs should be preserved and restored.

Probir Mojundar and Bengali modern songs.

Prabir Mojumdar and Bengali modern songs.

Probir Mojumdar was one of innovative composers of the golden age who had contributed for Bengali modern songs both with innovative lyrics and brilliant tunes during 50s, 60s and 70s. He was associated with Salil Choudhury for some time and learnt the art of music composition from him too. Salil Choudhury was a genious of words and tunes. Probir Mojumdar who developed his skills on the same lines did adequate justice to the words that he had written by giving fruitful music in them.

Born in 1928, Probir Mojumdar created attention in the Bengali arena with his landmark composition for Dhananjoy Bhattacharya titled “matite janmo nilam, mati tai rakte misheche” in the late 50s. The lyrics of the songs were also written by Probir Mojumdar himself. The song was related to the struggle for freedom during the 40s.

Probir Mojumdar, was remembered for one of the most romantic songs sung by classical singer Manobendra Mukherjee, titled “ei nil nil jal sagore, elomelo sure gan gaowa”. The song had very balanced use of the piano and the soft orchestration was as poetic as the romantic presentation of Manobendra Mukherjee.

Other song for Manobendra Mukherjee tilted “ekhono ei raat” was a blank verse having an odd beat. The song became superhit with the charismatic intonation of Manobendra Mukherjee. The other brilliant composition of Prabir Mojumdar included “kanak chapa dhan” sung by Tarun Banerjee.

He created the brilliant song “raat koto ke jane” for Manna Dey which became superhit. His composition for Nirmala Mishra titled “o tota pakhire” became an everlasting hit having folk flavor.

Probir Mojumdar made notable contribution in Bengali film music as well. He composed music for the film Sri Sri Ramkrishna in the mid-50s. He composed music for Rajen Tarafdar’s off-beat film Jibon Kahini in the early 60s.

The other films for which he composed music, included Teen Pari Choy Premik, Surjosakhhi, Karoti, etc., which were released in the 80s. His name is used with the same dignity as the name of other followers of Salil Choudhury like Kanu Ghosh, Abhijit Banerjee, Anal Chatterji. His music and the films should be restored.

Contribution of Prabir Mojumdar in Bengali modern songs.

Contribution of Prabir Mojumdar in Bengali modern songs.

Probir Mojumdar was one of innovative composers of the golden age who had contributed for Bengali modern songs both with innovative lyrics and brilliant tunes during 50s, 60s and 70s. He was associated with Salil Choudhury for some time and learnt the art of music composition from him too.

Born in 1928, Probir Mojumdar created attention in the Bengali arena with his landmark composition for Dhananjoy Bhattacharya titled “matite janmo nilam, mati tai rakte misheche” in the late 50s. The lyrics of the songs were also written by Probir Mojumdar himself. The song was related to the struggle for freedom during the 40s.

Probir Mojumdar, was remembered for one of the most romantic songs sung by classical singer Manobendra Mukherjee, titled “ei nil nil jal sagore, elomelo sure gan gaowa”. The song had very balanced use of the piano and the soft orchestration was as poetic as the romantic presentation of Manobendra Mukherjee.

Other song for Manobendra Mukherjee tilted “ekhono ei raat” was a blank verse having an odd beat. The song became superhit with the charismatic intonation of Manobendra Mukherjee. The other brilliant composition of Prabir Mojumdar included “kanak chapa dhan” sung by Tarun Banerjee.

He created the brilliant song “raat koto ke jane” for Manna Dey which became superhit. His composition for Nirmala Mishra titled “o tota pakhire” became an everlasting hit having folk flavor.

Probir Mojumdar made notable contribution in Bengali film music as well. He composed music for the film Sri Sri Ramkrishna in the mid-50s. He composed music for Rajen Tarafdar’s off-beat film Jibon Kahini in the early 60s.

The other films for which he composed music, included Teen Pari Choy Premik, Surjosakhhi, Karoti, etc., which were released in the 80s. His name is used with the same dignity as the name of other followers of Salil Choudhury like Kanu Ghosh, Abhijit Banerjee, Anal Chatterji. His music and the films should be restored.