Sandhya Mukherjee, Legendary Singer Who Wowed Odisha With Evergreen Classics; Some Anecdotes

Bhubaneswar: February 2022 has been cruel for music lovers. In the past 24 hours, the world of music lost ‘Disco king’ Bappi Lahiri and legendary Bengali singer Sandhya Mukherjee. And it has been just a week since India bid adieu to its ‘Nightingale’ Lata Mangeshkar.

Sandhya Mukherjee weaved magic with her voice and had left an edible mark not only in Bengali classical music but also in Odia music.

She had lent her voice to over 10 Odia songs.

Speaking to Odisha Bytes, film critic Surya Deo said that Sandhya Mukherjee shot to fame with ‘Phula Rasia Re’, an evergreen masterpiece from the movie ‘Shree Loknanth’ released in 1960.

“The song was in Ada-Taali, an exclusivity of Odissi music, and being a Hindustani singer, she was unable to pick the nuances. Balakrushna Das had to sing it along with her and she rendered the song by reading his lip movement,” said Deo.

Balakrushna Das had composed music for this song written by Narasingha Mohapatra.

Sandhya Mukherjee, however, made her debut in the Odia film industry with ‘Shree Shree Mahalaxmi Puja’, a 1959 mythological film directed by Biswanath Nayak. Music composer Nochiketa Gosh introduced her to Odisha with three songs, ‘Aji Kartika Punei Dina Re Majhi Kata Mari’, ‘Mora Mana Sina Kehi Janena’ and ‘Jaga Barada Go’.

She also lent her voice to ‘Radhika Mohana Ebe Pada Tale Nia Daki’ in ‘Parinam’ (1961), ‘Bakula Bane Kuhu Kuhu Tane’ and ‘Au Chanda Lagi Kumuda’ in ‘Lakshmi’ (1962),  ‘Libhi Libhi Jaye Akhi Luha’ in the award-winning film ‘Kaa’ (1966) and ‘Mo Akhira Kete Katha’ in ‘Stree’ (1969).

Sandhya Mukherjee, who also worked with leading music directors such as SD Burman, Naushad, Madan Mohan, Anil Biswas and Salil Chaudhury, recently refused an offer of a Padma Shri award. Soumi Sengupta, daughter of the veteran playback singer, said that her mother declined the honour because “To confer a Padma Shri to a legend like her at the age of 90 is extremely demeaning”.

She breathed her last after suffering a massive heart attack on Tuesday night while undergoing COVID-related complications at a hospital in Kolkata.