Manabendra Mukherjee

Manabendra Mukhopadhyay (Bengali: মানবেন্দ্র মুখোপাধ্যায়) was a Bengali singer and composer. Manabendra was born in Kolkata on 11 August 1929. His father’s name was Atulchandra Mukhopadhay. It is considered that during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the Bengali modern songs reached its peak of excellence and that period is usually called the "Golden age of Bengali Adhunik Songs". At that time Bengal had a unique mix of singers which inspired composers and lyricists to create innumerable treasure of creative music. Each singer had his own inimitable style and compositions were made to match their individual ability. Bengali non-film modern songs were in fact was as popular, if not more, than film songs which also reached a level of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Coming to limelight in the early 1950s Manabendra was an innovative and stylish singer who had a strong foundation in Indian classical music. With his distinctive voice, Manabendra was an instant hit with the audience. demonstrating great talent also as a composer, using the lyrics and melody of a song with good effect. At that time Bengali modern song world had the presence of some outstanding performers like Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Manna Dey, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to name a few.

Being inspired by uncle Sidheshwar Mukherjee and Ratneswar Mukherjee, Manabendra impressed the listeners with his first basic disc in 1953, titled Nai chondon Lekha Sriradhar chokhe nai nai shyamo rai. He released his two records nameed ’Phire Dekho Na’ and ‘Janina Tumi Kothay’ in association with HMV. The lyrics were written by Sidheswar Mukhopadhay. It was based on keertan andaz, and Manabendra was trained towards Keertans, Bhajans and Bhaktigeeti from the very early childhood. His uncles were trained classical experts and mainly due to their influence he came into the world of music. A number of his songs began to hit the airwaves including the romantic "Emni Kore Porbe Mone" (Lyrics -Shyamal Gupta), and semi classically bent "Ghumayona Saheli Go". Within a short span, Manabendra drew the attention of the erstwhile leading music composers of Bengal, namely Salil Chowdhury, Sudhin Dasgupta, Robin Chatterji, Anol Chatterji, Nochiketa Ghosh, Probir Mojumdar, Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Abhijeet Banerjee, and others. His successful songs include "Ami Parini bujhite parini",and 'Jodi Jante' composed by Salil Chowdhury, "Mayur Konthi Ratero nile" and "Tari Churite Je Rekhechhi Mon Shona Kore by Sudhin Dasgupta", 'Jodi Amake Dekho Tumi Udashi' and 'Sei Chokh Kothai Tomar' by Abhijit Banerjee, "Ei neel nirjan sagore" by Probir Majumdar, "Birohini Chiro Birohini" by Himangshu Dutta, "Bone Noy Mone Mor", 'Aha Na roy Na' by Dr. Nachiketa Ghosh, "Tomar Pother Prante Moner monideep jele rekhechi" and 'Tumi Phiraye Diyechho Bole' by Satinath Mukherjee.

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