Sandhya Mukherjee: A legend of Bengali music who lent her voice to the cause of Bangladesh

“Bangabandhu phire elo tomar, swopner swadhin Banglai (Bangabandhu has returned to his dream, an independent nation of Bengal)”, did exactly this in January 1972 as it attempted to soothe a Bangladesh broken by the liberation war of the previous year.

Rendered by Kolkata-based singer Sandhya Mukherjee, and relayed on Swadhin Bangla Betar (Free Bengal Radio) after the release of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from prison, the song wasn’t some kind of a patriotic bombast. Rather, it was like a gentle commendation. Written by Abidur Rahaman and composed by the legendary Sudhin Dasgupta, the song had a nation weep to it, feel the pain of the genocide, experience tears of joy, and hope for a better future.

Mukherjee, whose golden voice enthralled music lovers for generations, died Tuesday evening following a massive cardiac arrest. She was 90 and is survived by her daughter Soumi Sengupta. The singer, who had refused to accept the Padma Shri last month, was hospitalised on January 27 after she developed heart and lung complications owing to Covid-19.

Mourning Mukherjee’s demise, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “Deeply saddened that Geetashree Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, the queen of melody in Bengal, is no more. Her departure creates an eternal void in our world of music and in the hearts of millions of her followers here and in the diaspora. I used to look upto her as my elder sister and this is a grave personal loss to me…”

Mukherjee was born and brought up in Kolkata and learned music from A T Kannan and Chinmoy Lahiri before training under Patiala gharana legend Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. She began her career in film music in Mumbai with the Madhubala and Dilip Kumar film Taraana (1951), singing the famous duet, Bol papiha bol, with Lata Mangeshkar.

Mukherjee went on to sing for around 17 Hindi films before returning to Kolkata and settling there as an eminent playback singer in Bengali cinema. Her most significant duets were with Bengali singer Hemanta Kumar. She was also known as the “the voice of Suchitra Sen” as she sang a number of songs for the veteran actor.

In Kolkata, she was fervently participating in creating awareness about the issues of the people of erstwhile East Pakistan. She helped musician Samar Das in setting up the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, the radio broadcasting centre of Bengali nationalist forces that played a crucial role in relaying Bangabandhu’s message to the people.

Even during the war, Mukherjee, who otherwise had a thriving career in Hindi and Bengali playback singing apart from a career as a classical musician, played a significant role in singing songs that not only motivated Mukti Bahini (the liberation army) soldiers but also played a crucial role in consoling the common people.