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Reader's Corner

Satinath Mukherjee: A luminary of modern Bangla songs

MASUD AHMED
In the early 1950s the popularity of modern Bangla songs was at its peak. Some major musical talents at the time were vocalists like Pankaj Mallick, Hemanta Mukherjee, Dhananjoy Bhattacharya, Chinmony Lahiri and Akhtari Begum, among others.
It was during the sarodio puja of 1952 that listeners, critics, lyricists, musicians and connoisseurs were taken by a mild storm when pashaner buke lihona amar nam appeared in HMV's disc. Behind the storm was an upcoming artiste Satinath Mukherjee who had caught the attention of exponents of music from Taliganj and a limited number of listeners from both West and East Bengal. He was in his mid-20s and was just cantering in the music world. He had earlier produced quite a few songs starting from 1943 and was moderately successful. But this number had a lightning effect on the listeners across Bengal.
Born in 1925 at Hoogly, Satinath graduated from Mohsin College, in 1944. Impressed by his soft and melodious voice, Raichand Baral and Raghab Ghoshal took him into their musical fold and trained him for five years. His first song is not traceable. Later in the year he sang Rat jaga more e ankhi patai which immediately sold 2,000 copies. From then on he attracted the attention of lyricists and music directors of fame of the period besides thousands of listeners.
The age, particularly the 1950s and 1960s, were uniquely poised for production of high quality lyrics, catchy tunes and melodious voice. After the release of Pashaner Buke likhona amar nam, Gauriprasanna Majumdar, the already celebrity lyricist of the day approached Satinath with two unforgettable lyrics. These were Ekhono Akashe Chand and Jibone Jadi dip. Satinath himself composed the tune and added his melodious voice to the songs.
The HMV record came out in 1954 and the consequence was landslide accolades and
victory for him and the music world. These two songs took their permanent seats in the golden history of Bangla music.
Almost every number that he sung became an instant hit. E jibone jeno aj and Ke go gagori bharane jai (Lyrics: Pronab Roy, 1956) became a slogan. Maramia tumi chole gele and Ekti pradeep hoye (Lyrics: Gauriprasanna) sold 24,000 pieces (1958). Then came Sonar hate sonar kankon (1960) which was another megahit. However, because of its abstruse meaning, its popularly remained concentrated within the intelligentsia. Another number, E Jibone ami jare cheyechi (Lyrics: Shamal Gupta, 1960), remained a catchword in HMV for almost a decade. Soon followed Oi akash pradip tara jelona jelona and Tomar protham gan pratham tarar moto (Lyrics: Pabitra Mitra) won instant appreciation from the public. Tumi meghla diner
nil akasher shapna (Lyrics: Ananda Mukherjee, Tune: Abhijeet Banerjee, 1962) has been considered as a milestone in modern Bangla music. This particular song in those days continued its dominance in both Bengals for more than a decade. Akash eto meghla was a popular song (1963) and is still the opening song in many cultural functions celebrating the advent of monsoon. Elo barsha je shohasha mone tai (Lyrics: Gauriprasanna) was another memento of monsoon and is still etched in the memory of old timers.
Gauri and Satinath had deep mutual respect and appreciation. Gauri wrote lyrics especially for Satinath which have ensured their shimmering place in the history of modern music. Many people are unaware that India's singing star Lata Mangeshkar's first Bangla song Akash pradeep jale was tuned by Shatinath. This song still ranks among the first 10 best Bangla modern songs. Its release in 1961 caused a tremendous furore in the cultural arena of Bengal. Tumi aar ami shudhu jiboner khela ghar, Shyamal Mitra's superhit number was also tuned by Satinath. All India super star Md Rafi was so impressed by the tune of Pakhitar buke jeno tir merona.
Satinath also worked as music director in a number of films like Kalindi, Uttarpurush, Kedar Raja, Agniparikhya and Banpalashir Padabali. He also sang in a number of films. Ke sajoni din rajoini (Kedar Raja) and Jibon nodir joar bhatai (Agniparikhya) were heard through the 1960s. By the simple but original use of a few strokes of an organ, piano, mandolin, flute, sitar, violin or even of a harmonium, Satinath created notes and moods, which captured the listeners. His three favourite lyricists were Gauriprasanna, Pulak Banerjee and Shamal Gupta.
Satinath's voice was not sonorous like Hemanta or Manna Dey but it had a mellow and dew-like softness. He was basically an artiste of the pathos.
His songs mainly remind us of the verse, 'our sweetest songs are those that tell of our saddest thoughts.'