Rajdeep Pathak
We as active listeners of good soulful music from different genres of different singers across the world were still coping with the loss of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar who died on February 6 – a day after Basant Panchami – and still not being able to believe that Lata didi as she was popularly known is no more with us – when the news of the passing away of legendary Bengali singer Geetashri Sandhya Mukherjee (or Sandhya Mukhopadhyay) hit us in the evening on Tuesday, February 15 leaving us shocked and with a sense of bereavement. It will be difficult to sink in with the loss.
Sandhya Mukherjee was 90, two years younger to Lata Mangeshkar; and it is barely a week since the ashes of Lata Didi were immersed after she was cremated with full state honours and a two-day national mourning was declared by the Government of India after the nightingale took her last flight.
The last of the singers of the golden era from the music industry per se, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was suffering from breathing difficulties since the past fortnight. Recipient of the Bangabibhushan (2011), Sangeet Mahasamman (2012) awards, besides innumerable other awards like the National Film Award and many others, Sandhya Mukherjee was recently in news for having refused the Padma Shri in 2022 stating that its too late and that she is beyond any awards.
“After so many years, I have been selected for the award. I will not accept as it is demeaning for me to take the award at this age when I am old and almost immobile. I am a disciple of Bade Gulam Ali Saheb and I have performed with him in stage shows. The whole country and my audience loves me, that is my greatest prize,” the veteran singer had said.
A voice that touched thousands of hearts, Sandhya Mukherjee had a unique way of rendering her songs which could not be copied by any singer of any time and age. Her stint with Bollywood music industry saw her collaborate with famous composers such as S D Burman, Roshan and Madan Mohan, Naushad, Anil Biswas and Salil Chaudhury. She received the National Film Award for best female playback singer in 1970 for the movies Jay Jayanti (a Bengali remake of Sound of Music) and Nishi Padma.
Sandhya Mukherjee made her debut in 1948 with the song Ab Nahi Dharat Dheer Dheer from the movie Anjaan Garh.
She made her journey into Bollywood with songs in more than 17 films. Some of her popular Hindi songs include Aayee Mere Jeevan Ki Saanjh Suhani (1948); Bol Papihe Bol Kaun Hai Tera Chitchor (1951); Jungle Mangal (1953); Maine Jo Lee Angrayee Teri Mehfil (1956) and Tose Naina Lage Re Saanwariya (1966) to name a few.
Born on 4th October 1931, her music training was held under Pandit Santosh Kumar Basu, Professor A T Kannan and Professor Chimnay Lahiri and later with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and later from his son, Ustad Munavvar Ali Khan.
Known for her classical and semi-classical singing prowess, Gitasree Sandhya Mukherjee had worked with some of the most prominent artistes of the industry with the likes of Hemant Mukherjee, S Venkat Raman (1954 movie ‘Manohar’); R C Boral (1950 movie Pehla Admi) and many others.
Sandhya Mukherjee also sung a duet with Lata Mangeshkar for the song Bol Papihe Bol Kaun Hai Tera Chitchor in the 1951 film ‘Taraana’ under the music direction of another stalwart late Anil Biswas.
In 1971 during the Bangladesh liberation war, Geetashri Sandhya Mukherjee helped the refugees. She also recorded patriotic songs with Bangladeshi musician Samar Das for a radio station Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra to raise the spirit of patriotism during the war.
From Rabindra sangeet, to songs of poet Nazrul Islam to her songs in the Bengali films, Sandhya Mukherjee’s voice was the most sought after by almost all the leading female actors of Tollywood.
Like the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, whose songs have become an inherent part of Indian family culture and tradition inspiring generations, Sandhya Mukherjee has also left a void that is very difficult to be filled up in many decades to come. The two singers were very close to one another.
As we bid the final goodbye to Geetashri Sandhya Mukherjee, her song Kichukhon Aro Na Hoy Rohite Kache (If you had stayed close by a little longer) haunts in the background – as the inevitable truth of life unfolds before us. Sandhya Mukherjee lives through her songs. Farewell Didi. May the heavens rejoice in your’s and Lata Didi’s songs again!
(The writer is Programme Executive, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi)