Sandhya Mukherjee will stay through her music
By: Pallab Ghosh
Radiance News Service
'e shudhu gaan r din, e logono gaan shonabar...' or 'bol papihe bol tera kaun chitchor...' endless classics from Bengali to Hindi sung by Sandhya Mukherjee, also known as the nightingale of Bengal are like gospels for the average Bengali household that simply worship her. Her music is still relevant and the young generation in Bengal simply goes crazy for the nostalgic numbers.
Sandhya Mukherjee began her training initially under Pandit Santosh Kumar Basu, Professor A T Kannan, and Professor Chinmoy Lahiri. Subsequently, she learned from legendary names like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sahib, followed by his son Ustad Munavvar Ali Khan, under whom she mastered Indian classical music.
She has sung both classical as well as Bengali modern songs. She began her career by singing in the Hindi film industry and has sung for 17 films. Taarana in 1950 was her first film. However, she decided to come back to Kolkata in 1952. She married Bengali poet Shyamal Gupta who penned lyrics for many of her songs.
Sandhya Mukherjee worked with all singers, composers, music directors but her association with Hemanta Mukherjee or Hemant Kumar (as he is popularly known among Hindi music lovers) has been the most happening as she sang numerous duets, primarily as playback for Bengali films. Both the voices created an iconic pair backstage as they sang for the two iconic actors who are regarded as the most romantic pairs on Bengali cinema - Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. Her largest body of work is with Robin Chattopadhyay and Nachiketa Ghosh.
It's very difficult to mark a particular song as all her songs are massive hits and are part of nostalgia. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, she joined the mass movement among Indian Bengali artists to raise money for the millions of refugees. Sandhya Mukherjee helped Bangladeshi musician Samar Das who had set up the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, radio station broadcasting to Bangladesh and recorded several patriotic songs for him. She released the song Bangabandhu Tumi Phirey Ele. Sandhya Mukherjee became one of the first foreign artists to visit Dhaka, to perform at an open-air concert in Paltan Maidan in Dhaka on the occasion of the first Ekushey February after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
Sandhya Mukherjee has always kept a low profile as she loved to stay away from the media glare. She will be alive through her numerous songs. For average Bengali, she is the Goddess who was bestowed with special blessings from Goddess Saraswati otherwise singing like this is not possible.
She received the National Award for Best Playback Singer in 1971. The West Bengal government conferred the Banga Vibhushan award on her in 2011. She also got an Honorary D.Litt. from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 2009.