Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Suchitra Sen and Sandhya Mukherjee.




Suchitra Sen and Sandhya Mukherjee.

By: Supriya Chatterji.

Suchitra Sen had glorified the Bengali silver screen with her dynamic performance in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Geetasri Sandhya Mukherjee had sung melodious songs for the legendary actress which had become immortal over a passage of time. In the film Agni Parikha, the Bengali version of bollywood film Choti Si Mulakat, (where Vaijayantimala played the role of Suchitra Sen), Sandhya Mukherjee’s songs “ke tumi amare dako” and “gane mor indradhanu”, stormed the Bengali audience who considered Suchitra Sen as the greatest romantic actress ever to grace the silver screen.

The same combination provided everlasting songs in the film Sabar Upare (the Bengali version of the hindi film Kala Pani where Madhubala played the role of Suchitra Sen), including songs like ‘ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara’ composed by Robin Chatterji. The film was based on a suspense story, where Uttam Kumar’s father Chabi Biswas was wrongly sentenced for life-imprisonment where the public prosecutor had been the actual murderer.

In Sagarika and Pathe Holo Deri, songs composed by legendary Bengali composer Robin Chatterji like “ e shudhu ganer din”, “jaina phurabe kabe ei potho chawa”, “kichukhan aro nahoy rahite kache”, became superduper hits. Sandhya Mukherjee’s romantic singing style complimented the sweet performance of Suchitra Sen in all these films. In Sriti Tuku Thak, where Suchitra Sen played a double role, the song “moner madhuri mishaye” became very successful.

In Uttar Falguni, the Bengali version of the bollywood film Mamta, Sandhya Mukherjee displayed the singing style of tawaifs who used to be hired from Lucknow, or Benaras in the early nineteenth century. Suchitra Sen played a double role both in the Bengali version and the hindi version, and it was one of her best performances in life. Due to elegance of the lips given by Suchitra Sen in films like Kamallata, Bipasha, etc., it never appeared that Sandhya Mukherjee had sung the songs, the audience thought it was Suchitra Sen singing herself. After Suchitra Sen stopped acting in 1978, the immortal combination of Suchitra Sen and Sandhya Mukherjee ended. The audience still recollect the romantic performance of the two legends by seeing them in television channels and buying videos of the classic films.

1 comment:

  1. Snadhay Mukherjee's songs for Suchitra Sen in the film Surjo Toron, was ecellent by every standard. The two songs "amar jibone nei alo" and "e aral ar sohita parina" moved the audience and created a lasting impression in the minds of music lovers across the country. Sandya Mukherjee almost entered the mind of Suchitra Sen when she sung songs for her.
    CR Chatterji.

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