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Madhuri Chattopadhyay

Srimati Madhuri Chattopadhyay
Background information
Born(1939-12-16)16 December 1939
Calcutta, Bengal, British India
Died19 October 2013(2013-10-19) (aged 73)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
GenresPlayback singer
OccupationSinger

Madhuri Chattopadhyay (16 December 1940 – 19 October 2013) was a Bengali singer from Kolkata, who sang numerous songs in popular Bengali language during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.[1][2] Madhuri Chattopadhyay will forever be remembered for her contribution in Geet, Gazal, Bengali Modern Songs, light Classical songs, Najrul Geeti and Rabindra Sangeet. She was playback singer for a few Bengali movies. She also published album in Shyama Sangeet in later years.

Family members

Father: Shibnath Bandyopadhyay

Husband: Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay

Daughter: Rupa Chattopadhyay

Early life

According to the accounts of Shankarlal Bhattacharya,[3] Madhuri was born in a nursing home in Park Street, and was raised in her maternal uncle's house in Balaram Bose Ghat Road in North Kolkata in her early years. Her father Sri Shibnath Bandyopadhyay was a famous Kirtaniya (Kirtan Singer), and the main inspiration behind her. Since her early years Madhuri was trained in Hindusthani Classical Music under eminent artists such as Singer Uma De, Ustad Keramatullah Khan and Pandit Harihar Shuklaji. Apart from her father, she was trained in Kirtan from eminent singer Sri Rathin Ghosh.[3]

Career as a Singer

Madhuri appeared in the audition in All India Radio in 1955 and started her career as a singer at the age of fourteen. In 1959 she was offered to publish her first record from Megaphone as Puja album. Music for the two songs were composed by Nachiketa Ghosh. "Oli omon kore noy" and "Tomay amay prothom dekha", these two songs became legends on their first appearance and created a permanent place in the romantic psyche of Bengalis.[3] In the first disk her name was mentioned as Madhuri Bandyopadhyay.

Madhuri Chattopadhyay was introduced to Salil Chowdhury by Sri Kamal Ghosh, owner of Megaphone Records. in 1960 Madhuri published her Puja Album with two songs composed by Salil Chowdhury, "Nijere haraye khuNji" and "Ebar amar somoy holo jabar".[3]

Madhuri sang a few songs of Salil Chowdhury.[2] Salilda while composing "Oi je sobuj bono bithika" that spans two and a half octave, used glimpses of Beethoven's 6th symphony (Pastorale) in the interlude, that blended with Madhuri's voice.[4]

For many years she resided at the Dover Lane Reserve Bank Quarters, and was closely associated with the local cultural activities.

Playback singer in Bengali movies

Maestro Rathin Ghosh was Guru of Madhuri Chattopadhyay and under his music direction Madhuri appeared as playback singer in the Bengali movie "Moha Teertha Kalighat" in 1964. It was a chorus song sang along with Nilima Bandopadhyay, Binay Adhikary and Manas Mukhopadhyay. In the same year she sang in Bengali movie "Radhakrishna". In 1965 she sang in "Rup Sanatan" a kirtan. Manabendra Mukhopadhyay gave her a break in the movie "Uttor Purush" in 1966. The song "ekbar broje chalo Brajeswar" became immense popular. Other Movies where she lent her voice were "Shachimar Sonsar" (1971), "Swarnaa Mahal" (1982), "Tania" (1987) etc.[5]

Events, Memoirs

Pratima Bandopadhyay presented Sundar Narayan Bandyopadhyay Smriti Sandhya on July 13, 2010, at 6 pm at Vidya Mandir hall. Madhuri Chattopadhyay was felicitated on that occasion for her lifetime achievement.[6] In spite of her unmatched talent and her outstanding renditions, Madhuri Chattopadhyay kept herself away from the spotlight of media and publicity.

Discography

Madhuri Chattopadhyay Discography
Song Year Film/album Lyrics Music
Aaji sharater aakashe -
Amar Sandhya Pradip (Original song by Gayatri Basu) - Pranab Roy Robin Chatterjee
Bou kotha kao 1975 - Gauriprasanna Majumdar Anupam Ghatak
Ebar amar somoy holo 1960 - Salil Chowdhury
Ek phota chokher jole Subir Hazra Salil Mitra
Ekbar broje chalo Brajeswar 1966 "Uttor Purush" Manabendra Mukhopadhyay
Ekti kothai likhe jabo 1955 Gauriprasanna Majumdar Shyamal Mitra
Emoni borosha chhilo se din 1975 - Pranab Roy Kamal Dasgupta
Gun gun phalgun 1967 - Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury
Hriday Amar Sundar Taba Pay (Original song by Alpana Banerjee 1956 "Sagarika") - - Gauriprasanna Majumdar Robin Chatterjee
Jani na aaj prane - -
Je mala shukaye (original song by Talat Mahmood 1956) - - Pabitra Mitra Shyamal Mitra
Jedin jibone tumi - - Shyamal Gupta Satinath Mukhopadhyay
Jethay gele haray sobai - Shyamal Gupta Satinath Mukhopadhyay
Ke tumi amare dako - - Gauriprasanna Majumdar Anupam Ghatak
Ki aar kohibo balo - -
Kon banshuriya banshite amay 1968 - Pulak Bandyopadhyay Ratu Mukhopadhyay
Kono kono phul subas diye - - Biggnaswar Bhattacharya Krishna Chattopadhyay
Nijere haraye khNuji 1960 - Salil Chowdhury
Ogo aaj ei sondhyay - -
Ogo shuni tabo banshi - -
Oi banka nodi - -
Oli omon kore noy 1959 - Pulak Bandyopadhyay Nachiketa Ghosh
Ore o shaapla phul - -
Paarul bon aamar - -
Phul phutuk na phutuk aaj basanto - - Subhas Mukhopadhyay Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay
Protidin ami tomay dekhi - -
Sanjher taroka ami (original song by Juthika Roy 1934) 1968 - Pranab Roy Kamal Dasgupta
Tomay amay prothom dekha 1959 - Pulak Bandyopadhyay Nachiketa Ghosh
Tumi nai aaj - Shyamal Gupta Ratu Mukhopadhyay

Awards

Srimati Madhuri Chattopadhyay was awarded with "Sangeet Samman" by Government of West Bengal in 2012.[7]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Renowned Musician Madhuri Chattopadhyay Died". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Renowned Musician Madhuri Chattopadhyay Died". 20 October 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "নিজেরে হারায়ে খুঁজি". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. ^ Jha, S N (2014). Current affairs 2014. Kalinjar Publications. p. 299.
  5. ^ "নিজেরে হারায়ে খুঁজি". 19 October 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Timeout 13-07-2010". The Telegraph. India. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Information and Cultural Affairs" (PDF). Retrieved 12 January 2018.