Happy birthday to legendary singer Usha Utthupji

The listeners wish happy birthday to singer Usha Utthup who now had become a cult figure. Her birthday is on 7th November, 2025. In the recent past she had come in a number of TV shows and rocked the shows. Padmashree winner Usha Uthup glorified Zee Saregamapa Little Champs Program by being the Mahaguru on 5th and 6th August, 2011. Alka Yagnik had gone for a holiday and Usha Uthup came to judge the performances of the participants in the program. Very significantly the day was dedicated to the golden music of 1960s. Adnan Sami dressed up like Shammi Kapoor, Javed Ali dressed up like Dev Anand, Kailash Kher dressed up like Guru Dutt. The participants dressed up like the actors and actresses of the golden period and sang their songs. Very significantly the participants mainly sang the songs of Mohammad Rafi. Niladri Chatterjee sang the song “yahoo chahe koi mujhe jungle kahen” from the film Junglee, sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Azmat Hussain sang the song “mere pairon me ghungruu bandhade” from the film Insaniyat sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by Naushad Ali. Usha Uthup mentioned that God was there in the heart of Azmat Hussain and that was the reason he sang so well. Anmol Khatri sang the song “nain lad jai he wo manwama kasak oi bekari” sung by Mohammad Rafi in the film Ganga Jumna, composed by Naushad Ali. Usha Uthup said he was looking like junior Dilip Kumar. The child participants were excellent in the rendition of the songs. Rimsha sang the song “yeh dil tum bin kahin lagta nahi ab kya Karen” sung by Lata and Rafi in the film Izzat, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Sanjana sang the song “kajra muhabbat wala” sung by Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum in the film Kismat composed by OP Nayyar. Barnali Hota sang the song “parde me rehne do” from the film Shikar, sung by Asha Bhosle composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Salman Ali sang the song “akele hai chale awo” sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by Kalyanji Anandji in the film Raaz. Javed Ali praised Kalyanji Anandji for their unique composition and said that they had encouraged new talents. It was Kalyanji Anandji who had brought them in the industry. Nitin Kumar sang the song “na ja kahin ab na ja” sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by LP in the film Mere Humdum Mere Dost. Usha Uthup sang the song “haal kaisa hai janaab ka” herself. She had given her musical instrument khanjari to Nitin Kumar as a token of love. In other episodes, Alka Yagnik used to make her valuable comments along with Javed Ali, Adnan Sami and Kailash Kher. On 5th and 6th August, Usha Uthup did the same, she had literally ignited and glorified the atmosphere of Zee Saregamapa Little Champs program telecast in Zee TV. Her English was as brilliant as her hindi as brilliant as her Bengali. She should be invited frequently in this program.

Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best Shyamasangeet ever

Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best Shyamasangeet. Shyamasangeet is one form of devotional song devoted to Goddess Kali, the Goddess of empowerment. It is called Bhaktigeeti in Bengali. Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya were probably the best singers of Shyamasangeet. Dhananjay Bhattacharya was the medjda, the middle brother of Bhattacharya family. He used to be called Samrat, meaning the king of music. He was very handsome and got chance in Bengali films like Pasher Bari, Ladies Seat, Nababidhan to name a few. His basic discs created havoc in 1950s like “shilpi moner”, “jhanana jhanana baje”, “kobir kheyale premomoy tumi samrat shajahan”, etc. Even his songs “e maya proponchomoy” made the viewers spellbound. In recent interview given by his son Dipankar Bhattacharya in Anandabazar Patrika it was said that Lataji requested Dhananjay Bhattacharya to come to Mumbai for hindi songs, which he refused. Composer Salil Choudhury told Dhananjoy that his voice was at par with Rafisahab and Talat Sahab. But beyond modern songs his inclination was towards devotional songs, especially that of Goddess Kali. Pannalal Bhattacharya learned music from Dhananjay Bhattacharya. He also had classical control and sang very well. When he came to that his friends Manabendra Mukherjee, Shyamal Mitra and Sanat Singha acted in the film Sare Chuattor, he wanted to act in the film also. But Dhananjay Bhattacharya stopped him. Sare Chuattor was the first superhit film of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen released in 1953. But Dhananajay Bhattacharya understood that Pannalal had excellent control in Shyamsangeet. So he allowed his brother to concentrate in those songs. Some of her brilliant songs included “amar sadhna mitilo ashana phurilo”, “chai na mago raja hote”, “opar sangsar nahi parabar, ma o ma, ma”. His other hit songs included “de ma pagol kore bhramamaye”, “amar mayer payer jobe hoye”, to name a few. All were devoted to Goddess Kali. Both Dhananjoy Bhattacharya and Pannalal Bhattacharya had the hobby of catching fishes. Whoever had ponds in West Bengal, used to call both the brothers, first for fishing and then in the evening ask them to sing songs. Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s son Dipankar Bhattacharya had said in Anandabazar Patrika that once Pannalal was travelling in train with friends Manabendra Mukherjee, Nirmala Mishra, Tarun Banerjee. He visualized that in Dakshineshwar Kalibari, the idol of Kali was dressed in Tunte sari. All his friends were shocked. He took them to Dhakineshwar. Everyone saw the truth that yes, Idol of Kali was dressed in tunte saree. Once Pannalal was recording in HMV the song “chai na ami raja hote”. Manobendra Mukherjee waited outside the room. He allowed Pannalal to finish his song and then said he was going to sing the song “ami eto je tomae bhalobesechi” in 1958. Pannalal gave Manabendra Jaba flower which he brought from Kali Temple in Dhakineshwar. He gave the flower to Manabendra saying it was going to give him good luck. Manobendra sang the song and it became a bumper hit. In the later years, Pannalal lost interest in life and only sang devotional songs for Goddess Kali. He committed suicide at the age of 36 years. Music experts feel that Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best shyamasangeet ever in Bengal’s history.

Happy birthday to style icon Zeenat Amanji

Happy Birthday to style –queen Zeenat Aman. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to style – queen Zeenat Aman on 19th November, 2024

. She had dominated bollywood films in the 70s. She created attention with her successful performance in Dev Anand’s film Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Hare Rama Hare Krishna was released in the year 1971. She played the role of a girl who became addicted to drugs. She became a style icon during the period when European Hippies and other communities influenced fashion all over the world. She had acted opposite all the leading stars of bollywood films in the mid-70s. Her successful films opposite Big B included Don, Dostana, Lawaarish, etc. In Don, she had shown martial art and the ability to adapt herself in action films. She was extremely successful in Raj Kapoor’s film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She played the role of a village girl whose face got burned and disfigured. The film was related to the romantic relationship of Zeenat with Shashi Kapoor, who was an urbanized youth. Lata’s songs in the film including “satyam shivam sundaram” composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal require special mention. Zeenat gave able lips in the songs. In the early 80s Feroz Khan gave a stylish image to Zeenat in the film Qurbani. She played the role of a hotel singer and stormed bollywood with her performance. Her lips in the songs “aap jaisa koi mere zindagi me aye”, “laila ho laila”, etc., in the film Qurbani created sensation. Feroz Khan and Vinod Khanna also gave memorable performances in the film. The film ended up being blockbuster. She also acted in serious films like Insaaf Ki Taraazu. In the 80s she acted opposite other stars as well. Her film Abdullah opposite Sanjay Khan did great business. The songs of Abdullah composed by RD Burman like “maine pucha chaand se” sung by Mohammad Rafi also became super hit. Zeenat was also known for contributing in action films like Shalimaar opposite Dharmender, Don opposite Big B, Ram Balram opposite Dharmender. In all those films the roles required action stunts. Zeenat did show her martial art stunts in the film Don. Her roles are idolized and reworked by Priyanka Chopra in Don – the Chase Begins. Zeenat gave good lips in qawallis as well. One example was in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi. It was released in 1977. She gave lips in Asha Bhosle’s song “hai agar dushman zamana” opposite Rishi Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor gave lips in Rafi’s portion with his own brilliance. Zeenat Aman left films in the mid -80s when she was at the summit of her career. Her films should be preserved.