Sandhya Mukherjee Is No More: 10 Facts About The Legendary Singer From Bengal

Sandhya Mukhopadhyay profile: A recipient of many state and national awards, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was in the news last month after she refused an offer of a Padma Shri award.

Sandhya Mukherjee refused an offer of Padma award, saying it's too late | File Photo: ABP Ananda

New Delhi: Legendary singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay passed away Tuesday days after she was admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata due to Covid-related complications. She was 91.

Mukhopadhyay had tested positive for Covid-19 on January 27.

Quoting hospital sources, news agency PTI reported that the singer died Tuesday after a “massive cardiac arrest”. 

A recipient of many state and national awards, Mukhopadhyay was in the news last month after she refused an offer of a Padma Shri award.

Born on October 8, 1931, in South Kolkata’s Dhakuria, Mukhopadhyay began her singing career at a young age.

Known for both classical and semi-classical film and non-film numbers, she sang for numerous Bengali films, and also a few Hindi movies, working with leading music directors of the time, including SD Burman, Anil Biswas, Salil Chaudhury, Madan Mohan, and Naushad.

Here are a few facts that not many may know about the singer.

1. Sandhya Mukhopadhyay performed on radio for the first time at the age of 12, in 1943, when she sang a song composed by music director Ajay Bhattacharya for the programme, ‘Golpodadur Ashor’. Her remuneration for the show was Rs 5, according to different accounts.   
2. Her first music record, by HMV, came out around a year later.
3. ‘Anjangarh’ was her first film as a playback singer, according to Anandabazar Patrika.    
4. Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was an exponent of all kinds of singing ranging from classical khayal and thumri to bhajan, ghazal, kirtan and the traditional Bengali genres such as kirtan, bhatiyali, baul and puratani, besides Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti.    
5. Essentially a Patiala Gharana singer, Mukhopadhyay had got her initial training in Hindustani Classical music from Jamini Gangopadhyay. She later went on to learn from various gurus, including Chinmay Lahiri, AT Kanan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, whom she called ‘Baba’, Mukherjee wrote in an article for Desh magazine in 1989.
6. It was reportedly legendary music director Sachin Dev Barman who had first called her to Mumbai to sing in Hindi films. Her first Hindi film was, however, Tarana, in which she sang for music director Anil Biswas. It was a duet with Lata Mangeshkar and the song was ‘Bol papihe bol…’ 
7. Mukhopadhyay married music director Shyamal Gupta in 1966.
8. She was one of the singers who were part of the musical masterpiece of Mahishasuramardini, which continues to be one of the most played Bengali recordings. Written by Bani Kumar and set to music by Pankaj Mallick, the Mahishasuramardini composition is synonymous to Durga Puja as it heralds the 10-day annual festivities. Artistes used to perform it live before All India Radio started playing the recorded version every Mahalaya. In an interview, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay had once recalled how they used to reach the radio station at 3 am for the live performance every year.        
9. The singer’s songs filmed on Suchitra Sen, the most popular Bengali actress of all times, are a genre in itself as they are still loved by the audience. The superhit pair were like Raj Kapoor and Mukesh of Bollywood.  
10. Sandhya Mukhopadhyay received the National Award for Best Playback Singer in 1971. The West Bengal government conferred the Banga Vibhushan award on her in 2011. She also got an Honorary D.Litt. from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 2009.