Alpana Banerjee
| Alpana Banerjee | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alpana Banerjee |
| Born | March 14, 1934 |
| Origin | Kolkata, West Bengal, |
| Died | July 24, 2009 (aged 75) Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Genres | Indian classical & modern music |
| Occupation(s) | playback singer, Harmonium player |
| Instruments | harmonium |
| Years active | 1948–2009 |
| Labels | HMV |
| Associated acts | Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay |
Alpana Mukherjee (née Banerjee) (Bengali: আল্পনা মুখার্জী) (March 14, 1934 – July 24, 2009) was a successful Bengali singer during the late 1940s and 1950s and onwards. Her most noted songs are 'Hatti Matim Tim', 'Mon Bolchhe Aaj Sandhyay', 'Chotto Pakhi Chandana' and 'Ami Alpana Enke Jai Aloy Chhayay'.
At the age of 13, Alpana was discovered by her father's close friends, Robin Chattopadhyay and Gouri Prasanna Majumdar, who were very active as music composers and lyricists respectively in the Bengali music scene at that time. Her songs became very popular soon after.
Alpana Banerjee's major popularity derived from singing children's songs, which she transformed from simple rhymes to immortal classics. Bengalis from the 1950s through the 1990s were raised on Alpana's classics like 'Hatti Matim Tim' or 'Chhotto Pakhi Chandana'.
Her non-children songs also received considerable popularity. One of the earliest and notable Bengali non-film songs sung by Alpana was "Samiran Phire Chao" under Robin Chattopadhyay's baton. Soon after, in 1951, she recorded the song "Matir Ghare Aaj Nemechhe Chand Re" for the Bengali film 'Vidyasagar' with music once again by Robin Chattopadhay. This song became remarkably popular. Another notable Bengali film song by her, under Robin Chattopadhay's baton yet again, is "Hriday Amar Sundara Taba Paye" from the 1956 film 'Sagarika'. She sang many notable Bengali film and non-film songs in the 1950s under different music composers including Nachiketa Ghosh, Shyamal Mitra, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Sailen Mukhopadhyay and Bhupen Hazarika. Her voice was eloquent in capturing a variety of moods ranging from the romantic "Mon Bolchhe Aaj Sandhyay", to the frivolous 'Bakul Gandhe Jodi', 'Ami Alpana Enke Jai' and sombre 'Jetha Achhe Ogo Shudhu Nirabata'.
Alpana recorded a cover version of the Hindi film song 'Albela main ek dilwala' under Sachin Dev Burman's music direction. The regular version of this song was sung by Asha Bhonsle in the 1957 Hindi film 'Miss India'.
Alpana collaborated with many of her colleagues including Utpala Sen, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Shyamal Mitra (with whom she sang duets on many occasions), Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, and Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay. She also sang with Lata Mangeshkar under the direction of Pandit Ravi Shankar.
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