Moheener Ghoraguli
| Moheener Ghoraguli | |
|---|---|
Moheener Ghoraguli in concert at Rabindra Sadan, 1979, left to right: Raja Banerjee, Pradip Chatterjee, Tapas Das, Pranab Sengupta, Gautam Chattopadhyay and Ranjon Ghoshal. Not shown also present were Abraham Mazumder and Biswanath Bishu Chattopadhyay
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Kolkata, India |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1975–1981; 1995–1999 |
| Labels | |
| Website | moheenerghoraguli |
| Past members | |
Moheener Ghoraguli (Bengali: মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলি, translation: Moheen's Horses) was a Bengali independent music group from Kolkata, established in 1975. They were India's first rock band. It is difficult to classify them into a musical genre, as their music drew from wide variety of influences, including the Baul and folk traditions of Bengali music and rock. Their style of music can be loosely called folk rock.
Established in the 1970s during a period of stagnation in Bengali music, when commercial film songs were the dominant market force, the lyrics (and to some extent the compositions) of leader Gautam Chattopadhyay were radically new. They were of a very personal or social nature, similar to the urban folk movement led by Bob Dylan in the 60s. Though they were almost unknown in their time, in recent years they have undergone a critical re-evaluation much like the Velvet Underground. In recognition of this renewed interest, Gautam released a compilation of Mohiner Ghoraguli covers by contemporary artists, Aabaar Bochhor Kuri Pore in 1995. They have since come to be considered an unrecognised pioneers of the jibonmukhi style and ethics, decades ahead of their times.
They are sometimes also credited as the pioneers of the flourishing of Bengali bands in the new millennium. This is debatable as their songwriting was strongly rooted in Bengali folk and also American urban folk, while modern Bengali bands like Fossils and Insomnia are influenced by grunge.
Their signature song is Prithibita Naki (পৃথিবীটা নাকি), a reflection on how television creates urban alienation. It has been covered by many artists.
The group played together until 1981 and was then dissolved. In the late 80's Subrata Ghosh a student of Presidency College, Calcutta, an ardent Music lover, heard a song bhalo lagay jotsnay kash boney chhut tay and came to know about Gautam Chattopadhay. Immediately he became a die-hard fan of Monida and excavated information about him. In a few days, Subrata reached Monida's residence at Naktala. After a few days of jamming with Subrata, the 2nd innings of Monida started. It was days after days, night after night, month after month gradually new generation music lovers, who wanted to break the traditional tide of Bengali music started jamming in at Monida's small drawing room and sometimes they used to gather at Salt Lake BE Park at Salt Lake Welfare Association's tent to create new innovative music. This was the time when the most revolutionary compositions like "Prithibi", "telephone", "bangalee Korechoo" got created. Then in the mid-1990s, a decade and a half after Mohineer Ghoraguli's dissolution, Gautam Chattopadhyay with immense mental support of Subrata & Neel decided to revive the movement of Moheener Ghoraguli. In 1994 Gautam was awarded with an assignment from Kolkata Doordarshan to make 1st ever Bengali Music Video and a budget was allocated to him. As usual the budget was too little to make a quality product, so after the songs got recorded Gautam with the support of Sourish and A. Mukherjee decided to come out with a cassette album Abar Bochhor Kuri poray – compiled by Mohiner Ghoraguli: Mohiner Ghoraguli shompadita Bengali Gaan.
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