MORE OF THOSE HAUNTING MELODIES

Alpana Bannerji

The treasure trove of romantic Bangla songs of the three decades is like a bottomless cauldron so it is difficult to mention a few and leave out others. Those days the young and old alike used to listen to these very high standard songs, and good singers among them sang them in school, college and university functions. Puja hits used to be played over the loudspeakers in every mahalla of Dhaka and other district towns as well. Before the shows, cinema halls used to play these popular numbers quite loudly over loudspeakers to attract crowds.

Songs that were especially liked by the young generation had wonderful romantic lyrics and very rhythmic and graceful tune to match the mood. When Lata Mungeshkar sings, “Akash prodip joley, durer tarar paney cheye, amar nayan duti shudhui tomare chahe, bayther badoley jai chheye…”, or when Proteema Bannerji sings, “Ekta gaan likho amar jonno, nahoi ami tomar kachhey chhilem oti nogonno…” Can any young man stay away from his sweetheart for long?  Similarly the heart of a young girl discovering her first romantic escapade would melt hearing the Shaymal Mitra song, “Ekti kothai likhe jabo shudhu jiboner lipikatey, tumi je amar, tumi je amari ogo…”.
Young men used to hum two of the Sailen Mujherji numbers, “Eto je shonai gaan, tobu monay hoi, je gaan shonate chai hoini gaoa…” and “Mor gaan eki shur pelorey bolo aj shei kotha ja tomar, khuley dao hridoyer bondho duar…” enamored with the affairs of the heart.   

Geeta Dutt

Lata Mungeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Alpana Bannerji, Shandhay Mukherji and Utpala Sen presented one super hit romantic song after another throughout the 50s and 60s. Possibly the Geeta Dutt number, “Tumi je amar, ogo tumi je amar, kane kane shudhu ekbar bolo, tumi je amar…” will remain as THE most romantic song in female voice ever.  On its heels came Shandhay Mukherji hits like, “E shudhu gaaner din e logono gaan shonabar, e tithi shudhugo jeno dokhino haoar…”, “Ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara ei madhobi raat, asheniko bujhi aar jiboney amar…ei chander otithirey boron kori….”, “Kichhukhon aro nahoi rohitey kachhey…” and so on.  Shandhay's slightly husky voice matched perfectly with that of Suchitra Sen and music directors exploited this God's double gift to their delight.

Geeta Dutt lived in Bombay but she sang some beautiful songs for Bangla films and also for Puja releases. Hemanta Mukherji and Salil Chowdhury mostly composed the tune for these songs.  Her song, “Nishi raat banka chand akashey, chupi chupi banshi baje batashey…”  became a record breaker in terms of popularity.  Some of Alpana Bannerji's  beautiful romantic numbers were unfortunately sung by someone other than the main heroine of the film. For example, “Kakoli kujan aar bhromer modhu gunjoney, eki shara pai aj eki shara pai…,”, “Hridoy amar sundara tobo pai, bakuler moto jhoria moritey chai…” and “Shopno bhora dinguli mor jai beshe jai beshe…” are all from films where Suchitra Sen was the main heroine, but she did not give lip to any of these songs.

Shandhay Mukherji

Lata Mungeshkar took the audience in both Bengals by surprise with her near perfect rendition of Bangla songs. People sing many of her super hit numbers from the 50s and 60s even today. Some of her smashing hits include, “Sat bhai champa jagore jagore ghum ghum thakena ghumero ghorey…”, “O polash, o shimul, keno e mon mor rangaley…” , “Na jeona, rojoni ekhono baki…” , “Keno kichhu kotha bolona…” , “Ki je kori…”.

Tarun Mukherji's sang for the young hearts, “Chompa koligo koto namey dekhechhi tomai, kichhu monay lekha akhiro konai…”, “ogo amar kokil kalo meye, abar ele ekon shurey gaan shonatey…”, “Tumiki eshechho kacchey ei nishithey alo adharey, aj monay hoi dako shudhu amarey…” . Dijen Mukherji gave some romantic songs for us to enjoy and his most popular number was “Saat nori har debo phulero bahar debo, rupor hashuli Jodi chao…”
We have to end today with the beautiful song by Hemanta Mukherji, 'Ei meghla diney ekla, ghorey thakey nato mon, kachey jabo, kobey pabo, ogo tomar nimantran…”. The lonely hearts always crave for the nearness of the loved ones and the desire becomes intense when rain and wind batter the windows of the hut.

The writer is Special Supplements Editor,
The Daily Star