Bhupen Hazarika

Bhupen Hazarika ড.ভূপেন হাজৰিকা
Bhupen Hazarika ড.ভূপেন হাজৰিকা
Born	08-09-1926 Sadiya, Assam Province, British India
Died	05-11-2011 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Musician, singer, poet, filmmaker, lyricist
Years active	1939-2011
Notable work	Rudaali Darmiyaan: In Between Gaja Gamini Daman Indramalati
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Movement	Indian Peoples Theater Association
Spouse(s)	Priyamvada Patel
Children	Tej Bhupen Hazarika (b. 1952)
Awards	Padma Vibhushan (2012) [Posthumously] Padma Shri (1977) Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1992) Padma Bhushan (2001) Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008) অসম ৰত্ন ( Asom Ratna ) (2009) Muktijoddha Padak (2011) [posthumously]
Website	http://www.bhupenhazarika.com
Signature

Bhupen Hazarika (Assamese: ভূপেন হাজৰিকা, 1926–2011) was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi. His songs, based on the themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, have become popular among the people of Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is also acknowledged to have introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975. Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padmashri (1997), and Padmabhushan (2001), Hazarika was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992), India's highest award in cinema, by the Government of India and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008), the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, in 2012. Hazarika also held the position of the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003.

Hazarika, who made fame as a musician, was born on 8 September 1926 to Nilakanta and Shantipriya Hazarika in Sadiya ( শদিয়া ), Assam. His father was originally from Nazira, a town located in Sivasagar district. The eldest of ten children, Bhupen Hazarika (as also his siblings) was exposed to the musical influence of his mother, who exposed him to lullabies and traditional Music of Assam. His father moved to the Bharalumukh region of Guwahati in 1929, in search of better prospects, where Bhupen Hazarika spent his early childhood. In 1932 his father further moved to Dhubri, and in 1935 to Tezpur. It was in Tezpur that Bhupen Hazarika, then 10 years of age, was discovered by Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the noted Assamese lyricist, playwright and the first Assames Filmmaker and Bishnu Prasad Rabha, renowned Assamese artist and revolutionary poet, where he sang a Borgeet (the traditional classical Assamese devotional songs written by Srimanta Sankardeva and Sri Sri Madhabdeva), taught by his mother at a public function. In 1936, Bhupen Hazarika accompanied them to Kolkata where he recorded his first song at the Aurora Studio for the Selona Company. His association with the icons of Assamese Culture at Tezpur was the beginning of his artistic growth and credentials. Subsequently, Hazarika sang two songs in Agarwala's film Indramalati (1939): Kaxote Kolosi Loi and Biswo Bijoyi Naujawan at the age of 12. He wrote his first song, Agnijugor Firingoti Moi at the age of 13 and he was well on his way to becoming a lyricist, composer and singer.