Looking back at songs of Sandhya Mukherjee on death anniversary and her legendary combination with superstar Suchitra Sen.

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjeeji

the legendary bengali singer died on 15th February 2022. Her demise ended the golden era of bengali music. Her brilliant combination with greatest bengali actress Suchitra Sen has remained immortal. From prime minister of India and chief minister of West Bengal all the dignitories mourned the death of the legendary singer. She has sung more than 100 songs in the films of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. Her landmark songs for Suchitra Sen included "ke tumi amare dako" in Agniparikka "gane more indradhanu" in film Agniparikkha, "ghum ghum chand" in film Sabar Opore, "e sudhu ganer din" in film Pathe Holo Deri, "ei to amar pratham phaguna bela" in film Sagarika, "klantir poth buhiba phurale mor" in film Bipasha, "moner madhuri mishaye" in film Sriti Tuku Thak, to mention a few. The list just goes on and on. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen acted in 30 films and are considered the biggest romantic pair of stars in entire Asia. Sandhya Mukherjee contributed the most in the super hit films and blockbusters of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar which includes Agni Parikkha, Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, Saptapadi, Kamallata, Shap Mochon, Surjo Toron, to mention a few. Articles after articles can be devoted to the greatest female singer of Bengali Sandhyaji who will remain immortal in her songs. She also sang duet song with Lataji in film Tarana, where Anil Biswas composed her song for Shyamaji and Lataji sang for Madhubalaji. She sang around 17 songs in bollywood films. Suchitra Sen was remembered on her death anniversary. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2019. Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birth anniversary on 6th April, 2014. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 3 films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved.

Looking back at marvellous combination of Geetasri Sandhya Mukherjee with Mahanayika Suchitra Sen.

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjeeji

the legendary bengali singer died on 15th February 2022. Her demise ended the golden era of bengali music. Her brilliant combination with greatest bengali actress Suchitra Sen has remained immortal. From prime minister of India and chief minister of West Bengal all the dignitories mourned the death of the legendary singer. She has sung more than 100 songs in the films of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. Her landmark songs for Suchitra Sen included "ke tumi amare dako" in Agniparikka "gane more indradhanu" in film Agniparikkha, "ghum ghum chand" in film Sabar Opore, "e sudhu ganer din" in film Pathe Holo Deri, "ei to amar pratham phaguna bela" in film Sagarika, "klantir poth buhiba phurale mor" in film Bipasha, "moner madhuri mishaye" in film Sriti Tuku Thak, to mention a few. The list just goes on and on. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen acted in 30 films and are considered the biggest romantic pair of stars in entire Asia. Sandhya Mukherjee contributed the most in the super hit films and blockbusters of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar which includes Agni Parikkha, Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, Saptapadi, Kamallata, Shap Mochon, Surjo Toron, to mention a few. Articles after articles can be devoted to the greatest female singer of Bengali Sandhyaji who will remain immortal in her songs. She also sang duet song with Lataji in film Tarana, where Anil Biswas composed her song for Shyamaji and Lataji sang for Madhubalaji. She sang around 17 songs in bollywood films. Suchitra Sen was remembered on her death anniversary. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2019. Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birth anniversary on 6th April, 2014. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 3 films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved.

Looking back at legendary singer Sandhya Mukherjee and great songs at her death anniversary

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjeeji

the legendary bengali singer died on 15th February 2022. Her demise ended the golden era of bengali music. Her brilliant combination with greatest bengali actress Suchitra Sen has remained immortal. From prime minister of India and chief minister of West Bengal all the dignitories mourned the death of the legendary singer. She has sung more than 100 songs in the films of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. Her landmark songs for Suchitra Sen included "ke tumi amare dako" in Agniparikka "gane more indradhanu" in film Agniparikkha, "ghum ghum chand" in film Sabar Opore, "e sudhu ganer din" in film Pathe Holo Deri, "ei to amar pratham phaguna bela" in film Sagarika, "klantir poth buhiba phurale mor" in film Bipasha, "moner madhuri mishaye" in film Sriti Tuku Thak, to mention a few. The list just goes on and on. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen acted in 30 films and are considered the biggest romantic pair of stars in entire Asia. Sandhya Mukherjee contributed the most in the super hit films and blockbusters of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar which includes Agni Parikkha, Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, Saptapadi, Kamallata, Shap Mochon, Surjo Toron, to mention a few. Articles after articles can be devoted to the greatest female singer of Bengali Sandhyaji who will remain immortal in her songs. She also sang duet song with Lataji in film Tarana, where Anil Biswas composed her song for Shyamaji and Lataji sang for Madhubalaji. She sang around 17 songs in bollywood films. Suchitra Sen was remembered on her death anniversary. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2019. Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birth anniversary on 6th April, 2014. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 3 films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved.

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjee's demise ended the golden era of melodious bengali music.

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjeeji

the legendary bengali singer died on 15th February 2022. Her demise ended the golden era of bengali music. Her brilliant combination with greatest bengali actress Suchitra Sen has remained immortal. From prime minister of India and chief minister of West Bengal all the dignitories mourned the death of the legendary singer. She has sung more than 100 songs in the films of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. Her landmark songs for Suchitra Sen included "ke tumi amare dako" in Agniparikka "gane more indradhanu" in film Agniparikkha, "ghum ghum chand" in film Sabar Opore, "e sudhu ganer din" in film Pathe Holo Deri, "ei to amar pratham phaguna bela" in film Sagarika, "klantir poth buhiba phurale mor" in film Bipasha, "moner madhuri mishaye" in film Sriti Tuku Thak, to mention a few. The list just goes on and on. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen acted in 30 films and are considered the biggest romantic pair of stars in entire Asia. Sandhya Mukherjee contributed the most in the super hit films and blockbusters of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar which includes Agni Parikkha, Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, Saptapadi, Kamallata, Shap Mochon, Surjo Toron, to mention a few. Articles after articles can be devoted to the greatest female singer of Bengali Sandhyaji who will remain immortal in her songs. She also sang duet song with Lataji in film Tarana, where Anil Biswas composed her song for Shyamaji and Lataji sang for Madhubalaji. She sang around 17 songs in bollywood films. Suchitra Sen was remembered on her death anniversary. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2019. Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birth anniversary on 6th April, 2014. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 3 films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved.

The first flavour of Durga Puja comes with Mahishashur Mardini in All India Radio.

Mahalaya marks the beginning of Durga Puja all over the world. Mahalaya held every year, marks the beginning of Durga Puja all over the world. For bengalies in Mahalaya pritripakha ends, debipakha begins. On the same day, people go to the holy ganges to do tarpan, that is pay respect to the departed souls of father and ancestors. Different types of tarpans are done on the day including pitri tarpan, matri tarpan, deb tarpan, etc. Durga Puja is the puja of Asurdalani Maa Durga, who had defeated the evil forces (mahashahura) and brought peace and solidarity in the earth. All India Radio had a played a very important role in depicting the story of Mahalaya every year in the early morning. Mahishashur Mordini had been eternal creation of Birendra Krishna Bhadra, Bani Kumar and Pankaj Mullick. The way Birendra Krishna Bhadra had uttered the slokas “ya devi sarbabhuteshu shaktirupenu samhastita, namasthaswai namasthaswai namasthaswai namoh namohah”, he created an enchanting atmosphere, and devotees started feeling that they were in heaven. The other great part of Mahishashur Mordini was the great songs sung by legendary Bengali singers of the golden age, namely “taba achinto “ sung by Manobendra Mukherjee, “jago tumi jago” sung by Dwijen Mukherjee, and many songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee, Suprava Sarkar, Supriti Ghosh, Shyamal Mitra and other legends. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree are going to play the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored. In the new durga puja in 2012, it is expected that everyone in every part of the world should enjoy Durgapuja in their own way. Mahishashur Mordini is the best creation of All India Radio. For Bengalies the greatest festival of the year include Durga Puja. The flavor of the festival is set up by Mahalaya which occurs seven days before the occasion. Mohishahshur Mordini had not lost its appeal even after 60 years of its creation. It is played in All India Radio on the morning of every Mahalaya each year. In 2012 it was also played and it enchanted numerous bengalies all across the world. The mantra in the entire play was uttered by Birendra Krishna Bhadra who became a living legend in the early 50s. He conducted all the important programs in All India Radio from Kolkata at a time when Television did not appear in India and Radio was the only medium of entertainment. From Mahalaya the Petripaksha ends and Devipaksha begins. Hindus all over the world worship Goddess Durga and the occasion lies for four days including Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami Goddess Durga is immersed in holy Ganges. Mahalay is the day when Hindus do tarpan in the Ganges to remember the ancestors who had died but were still attached with the next generation. When Birendra Bhadra directed Mohishashur Mordini, the tale relating to Goddess Durga defeating the devil powers under the name of Mohishahur, Singer Pankaj Mallick and Bani Kumar also made notable contribution to bring in all the legendary singers of Bengal and made them sing significant songs. For example Manobendra Mukherjee sang “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee sang “jago tumi jago”, Supriti Ghosh’s “bajlo tomar alor benu”. The other singers included Sipra Bose, Suprava Sarkar, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shaymal Mitra, Utpala Sen, Pratima Banerjee, Pannalal Bhattacharya and others. Birendra Bhadra was unparallel in the manner in which he pronounced the Sanskrit sloks, which could not be replicated and when Uttam Kumar that greatest superstar of Bengal tried to do it, he was criticized and All India Radio again displayed the Mohishashur Mordini directed by Birendra Bhadra. Even Hindus across India celebrate Navratri and Dussehra based on the success of God in defeating evil powers. Even today Bengalies feel that it creates a Godly atmosphere and gives the feeling that Goddess Durga had really arrived on earth. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree are going to play the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored.

Anupam Ghatak used missing note.

Anupam Ghatak used missing note.

Legendary composer Anupam Ghatak used missing in most of his compositions. He used to be considered as one of the most talented composers of the 40s and 50s.

He had used the missing note in Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “ke tumi amare dako” in the film Agniparikkha released in 1954. Incidentally Agniparikkha used to be the starting point of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s success story. In the sanchari where the words used were “notun atithi” Anupam Ghatak composed the line in a descending path as against the general trend of doing it in the ascending order. All the songs in the film became super hit including “gane mor indrandhanu” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee.

He used the same style in Sachin Gupta’s song “sararat jole sondha prodip chaya pore ache paye”. It was a bengali modern song. Anupam Ghatak was sublime in Uttam Kumar Suchitra Sen’s film Ekti Raat released in 1956 with Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “prodipero shikha keno kaanpe”. His music in Uttam Kumar’s film Shankar Narayan Bank was also appreciated. He also composed music in the film Surer Parashe.

He composed in landmark films in the 40s and 50s. Some of the notable films where he composed music included Shree Tulsidas, Asitboron’s film Kar Pape, Uttam Kumar’s film Sanjibani, Kalyani, Bosonto Choudhury’s film Debimalini. He also composed music in Utpal Dutta’s film Kirtigarh.

Anupam Ghatak also composed songs for the modern songs in the 40s and 50s for singers like Sandhya Mukherjee, Sabitri Ghosh, Sachin Gupta and others. He used the piano to perfection. His songs and films should be preserved.

Bipasha bolstered the bond of Suchitra Sen, Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee.

Bipasha bolstered the bond of Suchitra Sen, Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee.

The film Bipasha bolstered the bond of Suchitra Sen, Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee. The success of legendary actress Suchitra Sen was largely indebted to the romantic music composed by Robin Chatterji and songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee. The brilliant team of Suchitra Sen, Sandhya Mukherjee and Robin Chatterji gave evergreen hit songs like “ghum ghum chand” in Sabar Opare, “tumi na hoy rohite” in Pathe Holo Deri, “jani na phurabe” in Sagarika, to name a few. Very significantly all those films directed by Agradoot. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen are considered to be the greatest romantic pair that ever graced Indian silver screen. They acted in 30 films together and most of their films ended up being cine-classics. Bipasha was released in 1962 and did fantastic business.

It was a film directed by Agradoot where Robin Chatterji composed the music. Suchitra Sen was named Beas (Bipasha in Bengali) as she was born near river Beas. She lost her parents during riots occurring at the time of partition in 1947. She was saved by Kamal Mitra, a divine soul near Sialkot and reached to relief camp in New Delhi. She studied there and got a job in tribal welfare in Panchet in Bihar.

Uttam Kumar was an engineer who worked in Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) projects. Both Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar met each other and entered into an affair. Suchitra Sen gave able lips in Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “aami sapne tomay dekhechi”. When Uttam Kumar wanted to marry Suchitra Sen, he got a letter from his maternal uncle played by Nitish Mukherjee saying that he was illegitimate son of his mother Chaya Debi.

Uttam Kumar went to Allahabad to find his mother and in her absence attempted to commit suicide. Chabi Biswas, a sanyasi there saved him. He wrote a letter saying that Uttam Kumar (Dibyendu Chatterji) was the son of Saradindu Chatterji (Chabi Biswas). Chaya Debi (his wife) gave birth to him before her marriage. Chabi Biswas went abroad and married another foreign girl. The foreigner filed a suit against Chabi Biswas after she knew that he was already married to Chaya Debi. Their Chaya Debi gave false testimony saying that she was not married to Chabi Biswas, to save her husband. Uttam Kumar came to be known as illegitimate son from that time. After that Chabi Biswas gave the contact details of Chaya Debi. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen found her and film ended there.

The powerful story was given adequate expression by compassionate performance of legendary actor Chabi Biswas. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s romantic performance just improved from film to film and viewers started thinking that both of them were husband and wife.

It is a pity that Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen did not show their powerful performance in bollywood films, otherwise they would have given very tough competition to Raj Kapoor and Nargis and Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala who ruled bollywood industry in the 50s. The film Bipasha should be restored for its aesthetic value.

Suchitra Sen and Bikash Roy were unparallel in Surjotoron.

Suchitra Sen and Bikash Roy were unparallel in Surjotoron.

Director Agradoot gave hit romantic films one after the other in the mid-50s. Very significantly most of those films involved the eternal pair of Bengali celluloid namely Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and that too during the early phase of their career. All the films, Agniparikkha, Sabar Upare, Pathe Holo Deri, Sagarika did great business in the mid-50s.

Surjotoron was written by eminent lyricist Gouri Prasanna Mojumdar. Surjotoron was related to the story of a young architect engineer played by Uttam Kumar who dreamt about creating a huge building named Surjotoron for the slum-dwellers. The idea was that of Suchitra Sen who was an eminent writer in the film and daughter of huge builder Kamal Mitra.

Uttam Kumar learned architecture from an old engineer played by Kali Banerjee. But Kamal Mitra, an eminent builder gave a number of projects to Asitboron, who was also an architect engineer, but very incompetent in work. He destroyed the goodwill of Kamal Mitra in the market, and Bikash Roy bought all the shares of Kamal Mitra in the real estate sector.

At the end of the film, Uttam Kumar did build Surjo Toron. Bikash Roy committed suicide to allow Uttam Kumar to marry Suchitra Sen. He left his voice recorded in a record player which expressed the reasons for his death. He was evicted from his slum during infancy, by the eminent builders. He spend his teenage in prison. He became a big builder later on and wanted to marry Suchitra Sen. With the work of Uttam Kumar in building Surjotoron, a huge flat complex, build to accommodate the slum-dwellers, his dream was fulfilled. He never wanted to survive any more.

Although Uttam Kumar was the hero of the film, the performance of Bikash Roy and Suchitra Sen did outcast him. Bikash Roy’s mellifluous voice left the viewers spellbound. Suchitra Sen gave able lips in Sandhya Mukherjee’s brilliant songs “amar jibone nei alo, ache aleyar hatchani”, and “e aral aar sohite parina ogo akaron”, which had fantastic orchestration relating to piano.

The film should be restored for the uncommon story and powerful performance of Bikash Roy and Suchitra Sen.

Nochiketa Ghosh's contribution in Bengali films.

Nochiketa Ghosh’s contribution in Bengali films.

Nochiketa Ghosh had contributed widely both in Bengali film music and Bengali modern songs in the 50s, 60s and 70s. In the 50s he showed his metal in Uttam Kumar’s film Nabajanma. Manobendra Mukherjee’s song “ore mon majhi” and Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s “kalama katiya” gave expression to Nochiketa Ghosh’s folk tunes.

Nochiketa Ghosh’s music in Uttam Kumar’s film Trijama was equally sublime. Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “banmoyurir naach dekhte jabo” and “matite chandramallika” were equally brilliant. In the 50s, the other notable films where Nochiketa Ghosh’s music was impressive include Uttam Kumar’s film Indrani and Prithibi Amare Chaye. Geeta Dutt’s song “nishiraat bankha chand”, “ogo shundoro”, “kanak kanak madhur badhon” were some of the greatest hits of Geeta Dutt in her entire career. The lips of Mala Sinha and Suchitra Sen were impressive in these films. Hemanta Mukherjee’s song “surjo dobar pala” became super hit in the late 80s.

In the 60s, Nochiketa Ghosh composed music in average films. Prominent among them included Bhanu Pelo Lottery where Shyamal Mitra’s song “putul nebe go” became very popular. He again made a huge comeback in Uttam Kumar’s film Nishi Padda in the early 70s. Manna Dey’s songs “ja khushi ora bole boluk”, “na na na aaj rate aar” became super hit in the 70s. Manna Dey’s songs in Uttam Kumar’s film Chiradiner, like “phool pakhi bondhu amar chilo”, “manush khun hole pore”, “lal nil sabujeri mela boseche”, “tumi amar chirodiner” became super hit.

In Uttam Kumar’s film Stree, Manna Dey’s songs “hajar takar jhar batita”, “o se jotoi kalo hok”, “jemon shapinike posh manay ojha” became. Nochiketa Ghosh’s music in the film Sanyasi Raja was considered to be his best creation by critics. Manna Dey’s songs “shashikanto tumi dekchi”, “bhalobashar agun jalao”, were probably the best songs sung for Uttam Kumar in royal andaz. His composition in Uttam Kumar’s films Dhanni Meye and Mouchak require special mention. Manna Dey’s songs in these films like “sab khela sera bangalir tumi football”, “tabole to prem debena”, “paglagarod”, etc., flabbergasted the Bengali audience in the mid-70s.

Nochiketa Ghosh made many landmark tunes in Bengali modern songs. Some of them included Manobendra Mukherjee’s romantic songs “seto naam dhore kono din dakeni amay”, “bone noy mone mor”, “o amar chandramallika”, “aha na roy na”, etc. His composition “amar ganer sworolipi lekha robe” for Hemanta Mukherjee stormed Bengal in the early 50s. He died in the late 70s, otherwise he would have given many more notable tunes. His songs and films should be preserved.

Review of Uttam Kumar's Ekti Raat.

Review of Uttam Kumar’s film Ekti Raat.

Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengali films, created sensation in the 50s, with the legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Whenever both the romantic performers performed together, middle-class bengalies associated themselves with the characters and became part of the same film. Till today, they are still considered to be the most romantic pair, who had graced Indian silver screen.

In Ekti Raat, while Uttam Kumar’s wife Sabita Chatterji, lost her train, due to contingent reasons, Uttam Kumar travelled with Suchitra Sen was also married to his destination in car. As that car also faced mechanical problems, they had to stay in Tulsi Chakravarty’s hotel for one night. Tulsi Chakravarty, only allowed married couples in his hotel, and for staying over there for a night, Uttam Kumar had to tell a lie that he was the husband of Suchitra Sen.

Suchitra Sen came with her dog, which ran away from the garden of that hotel and ran into the fields at night. Malina Debi, the mother of Sabita Chatterji, went to the house where her daughter was supposed to go to trace her son-in-law. All the events continued one after the other with comedy sequences. When Kamal Mitra, the husband of Suchitra Sen, came to know about the incident, he decided that he had to do play acting with Uttam Kumar to convince his wife, that nothing untoward happened during the night when Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen stayed together in the same room.

The last part of the film was related to the manner in which the Sabita Chatterji was reconciled with the assistance of relatives like Pahari Sanyal, Chandabati Debi and others. Bhanu Banerjee played the role of a drunkard in the film.

The music of the film was brilliant with experiments done by Anupam Ghatak. Sandhya Mukherjee was elegant as usual especially in the song “kakon bole srimoti kande”. Her voice suited Suchitra Sen the most and she was indebted to Sandhya Mukherjee for her huge success in bengali films. The film released in 1956, had not lost its appeal even after 50 years of creation and should be 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.

Review of Uttam- Suchitra's Bipasha.

Review of Uttam – Suchitra’s Bipasha.

Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen are considered to be the greatest romantic pair that ever graced Indian silver screen. They acted in 30 films together and most of their films ended up being cine-classics. Bipasha was released in 1962 and did fantastic business.

It was a film directed by Agradoot where Robin Chatterji composed the music. Suchitra Sen was named Beas (Bipasha in Bengali) as she was born near river Beas. She lost her parents during riots occurring at the time of partition in 1947. She was saved by Kamal Mitra, a divine soul near Sialkot and reached to relief camp in New Delhi. She studied there and got a job in tribal welfare in Panchet in Bihar.

Uttam Kumar was an engineer who worked in Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) projects. Both Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar met each other and entered into an affair. Suchitra Sen gave able lips in Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “aami sapne tomay dekhechi”. When Uttam Kumar wanted to marry Suchitra Sen, he got a letter from his maternal uncle played by Nitish Mukherjee saying that he was illegitimate son of his mother Chaya Debi.

Uttam Kumar went to Allahabad to find his mother and in her absence attempted to commit suicide. Chabi Biswas, a sanyasi there saved him. He wrote a letter saying that Uttam Kumar (Dibyendu Chatterji) was the son of Saradindu Chatterji (Chabi Biswas). Chaya Debi (his wife) gave birth to him before her marriage. Chabi Biswas went abroad and married another foreign girl. The foreigner filed a suit against Chabi Biswas after she knew that he was already married to Chaya Debi. Their Chaya Debi gave false testimony saying that she was not married to Chabi Biswas, to save her husband. Uttam Kumar came to be known as illegitimate son from that time. After that Chabi Biswas gave the contact details of Chaya Debi. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen found her and film ended there.

The powerful story was given adequate expression by compassionate performance of legendary actor Chabi Biswas. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s romantic performance just improved from film to film and viewers started thinking that both of them were husband and wife.

It is a pity that Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen did not show their powerful performance in bollywood films, otherwise they would have given very tough competition to Raj Kapoor and Nargis and Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala who ruled bollywood industry in the 50s. The film Bipasha should be restored for its aesthetic value.

Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee

Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee.

Robin Chatterji was the uncrowned king of bengali cinema during the golden age in the world of music direction. The entire industry dependant on Robin Chatterji and whatever work he had produced can be very well be designated as masterpieces. He contributed the most in Suchitra Sen’s films and for those reasons Sandhya Mukherjee, whose voice suited Suchitra Sen the most, sang majority of songs composed by the legendary composer.

In Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s film Sagarika, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “sei to amar prothomo phaguna bela” composed by Robin Chatterji mesmerized the audience along with Alpona Banerjee’s “hridoy amar sundoro tobo paye” picturised on Jamuna Sinha and Shyamal Mitra’s “amar sapne dekha rakonya” picturised on Uttam Kumar. The film stormed Bengali cinema as the audience accepted Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen as the greatest romantic pair to be ever born in this country.

Robin Chatterji’s composition for Sandhya Mukherjee titled “dheere bondhu dheere” in the film Pathe Holo Deri had the romantic element embedded in them. Similarly in the film Pathe Holo Deri, all the compositions of Robin Chatterji for Sandhya Mukherjee including “e sudhu ganer din”, “e chaya bhora logone aaj”, “tumi na hoy rohite kache”, etc., presented the romantic presentation of Bengali modern songs for the first time.

The same combination had provided brilliant songs like “monero madhuri mishaye” in Suchitra Sen’s film Shriti Tuku Thak, “ami sapne tomay dekhechi” in Suchitra Sen’s film Bipasha, “ghum ghum chand” in Suchitra Sen’s film Sabar Upore, to name a few. Robin Chatterji provided brilliant tunes to Sandhya Mukherjee in also films like Nayikar Bhumikay, including devotional songs like “notun surjo alo dao, alo dao”.

Robin Chatterji exploited the classical skills of Sandhya Mukherjee, as she was the student of Ustad Bare Ghulam Ali Khan, in the film Uttar Falguni. Suchitra Sen played the role of the singer Panna Bai in the film who sacrificed her entire life to make her daughter a barrister. The film had classical songs and Sandhay Mukherjee’s classical andaz created separate dimension for the viewers. In the hindi remake of the same film titled Mamta, composer Roshan had to match the classical compositions of Robin Chatterji, as the Bengali film won international awards for best performance and other technical awards.

Besides Sandhya Mukherjee had many basic discs of Bengali modern songs like “amare loye je”, “ei nodi tire”, etc., composed by Robin Chatterji, which had the same romantic appeal and brilliant use of the piano which was used with elegance by Robin Chatterji, all along his career.

Probably Suchitra Sen could never had become mahanayika (megaactress), had she not got the compositions of Robin Chatterji and songs of Sandhya Mukherjee, as they contributed even in actress-oriented films like Grihadaha, Kamallata, where Suchitra Sen played character roles. The films having compositions of Robin Chatterji and songs of Sandhya Mukherjee should be preserved and restored for their musical value.