Pulak Banerjee to attend GPC program Guwahati: Celebrated singer Pulak Banerjee will attend the next Guest of the Month program of Guwahati Press Club tomorrow (22 March, Friday). It will start at 12 noon. Member-journalists are requested to participate in the program.
PS. He needs no introduction for Assamese music lovers. His baritone has been winning the hearts of listeners for more than three decades. He is none other than Pulak Banerjee. He started singing during his childhood and has been dedicating himself to it till date. He has been contributing to Assamese music by singing on radio, TV, stage and films, touching the hearts of innumerable listeners. At the age of seven, he sang a Raagpradhan song at a competition and surprised everybody by winning the consolation prize. He then learnt classical vocal under the tutelage of the then renowned Guru of Guwahati, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, along with his eldest sister, who is also well versed in classical music. He was the best singer in B Barooah College. In the competition on Hindi songs, judges and students were thrilled at his presentation of the then popular Md Rafi song Koi Sagar Dilko Behlata Nahin. Since then, he has never looked back. He has to his credit twenty film songs, all hits, and also ten audio cassettes and CDs. Each of his songs bear the testimony of his mastery over rendition, lyrics and tunes. His remarkable audio cassettes and CDs include Swarani (Vol. 1 and 2), Kathare-Geetore, Silpi, Niribili Abhisar, Jayashree, Bowati Noi and Pratidhwani. His CDs Sugandhi Pakhila, a collection of poems penned by the celebrated poet Hiren Bhattacharya, and eight songs by Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaruah are remarkable and an invaluable contribution to Assamese music. Pulak Banerjee playbacked for films like Puranir Rong, Sanskar, Mon, Mahapurush, Srimati Mahimamayee etc. He recalls with appreciation and gratitude the composers of his songs like Subir Mukherjee, Sunil Deb, JP Das, Hiren Gohain, Ramen Barua, Sher Chowdhury, Kula Barua, Atul Medhi, Mukul Barua, Satish Goswami and a few others. While posted in Kolkata for sometime, he had the opportunity to sing for a Bengali film – Ajab Gayer Ajab Katha, under the music direction of legendary director Tapan Sinha. The singer gratefully recollects the inspiration of celebrated lyricists like Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi (who had written most of his songs) and Keshab Mahanta. Very popular as a melodious singer, he believes in the lasting value of melody. While referring to it, he hummed lines of some evergreen Hindi songs of Naushad, Madan Mohan, Roshan and SD Burman. Interacting with him, I had the privilege of listening to eight songs from his latest album titled Tomar Chithi Mayur Kapere Likha. All the songs are melody based. For tuning the songs, he chose singer-composer Bimal Deb Medhi, who is well known for creating melodious numbers. The composer has scored most ably with elements of classical, ghazal and folk music. In brief, his latest album – to be released soon, is also likely to create a lasting impact on his legions of fans. The meaningful lyrics are written by Aparna Banikya, Parineeta Goswami, Dimbeswar Das (who has penned the title song), Jimoni Chowdhury, Narendramohan Goswami and Khanindra Kumar Nath. As with all Pulak Banerjee songs, these numbers too touch the heart. Incidentally, the songs were recorded at Studio Soprano in Kolkata, with music arrangement by well-known arranger Durbadal Chatterjee. The use of acoustics and indigenous instruments have enhanced the beauty of the album. NK Production has taken up distribution rights. Banerjee is truly a committed singer who keeps hope for original Assamese music alive. The latest album proves it is not the whim and fancy of impulse but a dedicated artiste’s passion and technique that dictates his creative imagination. Banerjee is critical about the “present-day songs with noisy music and cheap lyrics”, and expresses concern at the deterioration of musical values. He adds – “We, the senior singers, have some responsibilities in this regard and we should carry them out.” We look forward to hearing more from Pulak Banerjee. (Courtesy The Assam Tribune) _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
