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Kamal Dasgupta

Kamal Dasgupta
Born Kamal Dasgupta
(1912-07-28)28 July 1912
Kalia, British Raj
(now Bangladesh)
Died 20 July 1974(1974-07-20) (aged 61)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Spouse(s) Firoza Begum (1955–1974)
Children Tahsin Ahmed
Hamin Ahmed
Shafin Ahmed

Kamal Dasgupta or Kamal Uddin Ahmed (Bengali: কমল দাশগুপ্ত --> কামাল উদ্দিন আহমেদ) (28 July 1912 – 20 July 1974) was a twentieth-century Bengali music director, composer and folk artist. Rāga and Thumri were the main elements of his music. His wife Feroza Begum (1930-2014) was a noted Nazrul Sangeet singer. Their second and third sons Hamin Ahmed and Shafin Ahmed are lead singers with Bangladeshi Band Miles.

Kamal Dasgupta was born on 28 July 1912 in Narail, Jessore of then British India (now Bangladesh). He matriculated in 1928 from Calcutta Academy and later completed B. Com. from Comilla Victoria college. He earned his Doctorate in Music from Benaras Hindu University in 1943 for his work on Mira Bai, the composer and singer of Bhajans. His early inspiration came from his father, Tara Prasanna Dasgupta. He took his first music lessons from his brother, Bimal Dasgupta. Later he studied under Dilip Kumar Roy, Kana Kesta, and Ustad Jamiruddin Khan.

Kamal Dasgupta was a versatile musical genius. He sang modern songs in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, and Tamil. He was also a brilliant composer, composing the music for about eight thousand songs. His work was based on classical music and tended towards the Thungri style, though he also drew inspiration from other sources.

Kamal Dasgupta composed the music for about eighty Bangla films, among them Tufan Mail, Jhamelar Prem, Ei Ki Go Shes Dan. His last film as a music director was Badhu Bharan (1967). He also composed the background music for an American film, War Propaganda. His active life as a composer covered about fourteen years. His unique contribution in music is his invention of a shorthand method for swaralipi (notations).

In 1935 Kamal Dasgupta joined the Gramophone Company of India as a music director. During his term there, he developed a close association with Kazi Nazrul Islam and composed the music for almost four hundred of his songs. The gramophone records for which Kamal Dasgupta composed music were very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Among his songs still popular today are 'Sanjher taraka ami' (I am the star of twilight), 'Prthivi Amare Chay' (The world needs me), and 'Ami bhorer Juthika' (I am the jasmine of morning).


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