Bhupen Hazarika ভূপেন হাজৰিকা

Bhupen Hazarika ভূপেন হাজৰিকা

Wonderful Assamese singer and lyricist music director Bhupen Hazarika, a very warm personality, has been a beneficial influence on My life. I saw him perform in Chicago many years ago; I remember his sweet and soft manners. I recall the sweetness of his film Shakuntala which I saw in Guwahati as a young boy when My late father Krishna took Me with him to watch Shakuntala "শকুন্তলা", a very sweet film with very sweet songs, and I also remember the wonderful tone of patriotism in his moving song বুকু হম হম কৰে in his patriotic film "মণিৰাম দেৱান" which I saw with My late mother many years ago in Nowgong when I was a high school student. (I believe that if God appears on our planet in human form, He would decide to go through childhood, boyhood, and manhood like all humans!)

Kishalay Sinha কিশলয় সিনহা [G, ভ, আ]

From the biography of Bhupen Hazarika in Wikipedia:

Bhupen Hazarika (Assamese: ভূপেন হাজৰিকা, 1926–2011) was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker of Assam. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi. His songs, which are based on the themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, have become popular among the people of Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is also acknowledged to have introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992), India's highest award in cinema by the Government of India and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008), the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. Bhupen Hazarika also held the position of the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003.

Early life

Bhupen Hazarika was born on 8th September 1926 to Nilakanta Hazarika and Shantipriya Hazarika in Sadiya (শদিয়া) in Assam. The eldest of ten children, Bhupen Hazarika was exposed to the musical influence of his mother, who exposed him to lullabies and the traditional music of Assam. His father moved to the Bharalumukh region of Guwahati in 1929 in search of better prospects, where Bhupen Hazarika spent his early childhood. In 1932 his father moved to Dhubri, and in 1935 to Tezpur. It was in Tezpur that Bhupen Hazarika, then 10 years of age, was discovered by Jyotiprasad Agarwala (the noted Assamese lyricist, playwright and the first Assamese filmmaker) and by Bishnu Prasad Rabha (renowned Assamese artist and revolutionary poet) when the young Bhupen Hazarika sang a 'borgeet' (the traditional classical Assamese devotional songs written by Srimanta Sankardeva and by Sri Sri Madhabdeva) taught by his mother, at a public function.

In 1936, Bhupen Hazarika accompanied them to Kolkata where he recorded his first song at the Aurora Studio for the Selona Company. His association with these icons of Assamese Culture at Tezpur was the beginning of his artistic growth and credentials. Subsequently, Bhupen Hazarika sang two songs in Agarwala's film "Indramalati" (1939): "Kaxote Kolosi Loi" and "Biswo Bijoyi Naujawan" at the age of 12. He wrote his first song "Agnijugor Firingoti Moi" at the age of 13 and he was well on his way to becoming a lyricist, composer, and singer.

Education and career

He studied at Sonaram High School in Guwahati, at Dhubri Government High School, and matriculated from Tezpur High School in 1940. He completed his Intermediate Arts from Cotton College in Guwahati in 1942, and his B.A. (1944) and M.A. (1946) in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University. For a brief period he worked at All India Radio, Guwahati, when he won a scholarship from Columbia University and set sail for New York in 1949. There he earned a Ph.D. (1952) on his thesis "Proposals for Preparing India's Basic Education to use Audio-Visual Techniques in Adult Education".

When he was in New York, Bhupen Hazarika befriended Paul Robeson, a prominent civil rights activist, who influenced him in his song "Bistirno parore" which is based on the imagery and theme of Robeson's "Ol' Man River". This song has been translated into various Indian languages, including Bengali and Hindi, and was sung by the artist himself, and is still popular. Being inspired by some other foreign songs, he also composed other songs in Indian languages. He was exposed to the Spiritual, and the multi-lingual version of "We are in the Same Boat Brother" became a regular feature in his stage performances. At Columbia University, Bhupen Hazarika met Priyamvada Patel, whom he married in 1950. Tez Hazarika, their only child, was born in 1952, and he returned to India in 1953.

His famous songs include :

Bistirno Parore
Moi Eti Jajabor
Ganga Aamaar Maa
Bimurto Mur Nixati Jen
Manuhe Manuhor Babey
Snehe Aamar Xoto Shrabonor
Gupute Gupute Kimaan Khelim
Buku Hom Hom Kore

IPTA years

Hazarika began his close association with the leftist Indian People's Theatre Association soon after returning from the USA in 1953 and became the Secretary of the Reception Committee of the Third All Assam Conference of IPTA, held in Guwahati in 1955.

Professional life

After completing his M.A., he briefly worked at the All India Radio station in Guwahati before embarking on his doctoral studies at Columbia University, New York, USA.

Soon after completing his education, he became a teacher at Gauhati University. But after a few years, he left the job and went to Kolkata where he established himself as a successful music director and singer. During that period, Bhupen Hazarika made several award-winning Assamese films such as "Shakuntala", "Pratidhwani", etc., and composed evergreen music for many Assamese films. He was also considered to be a new trend setter in Bengali music. The famous musical genre of West Bengal, the "Jivanmukhi geet" started by Kabir Suman in the 1990's, is thought to have been influenced by Bhupen Hazarika. Bhupen Hazarika composed music for films from Bangladesh too which got him international acclaim.

He was elected the President of the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1993.

Later life

He was introduced to Kalpana Lajmi in the early 1970s by her maternal uncle and Bollywood film director Guru Dutt. Her first feature film "Ek Pal" had music scores by Dr Bhupen Hazarika (1986). Subsequently, Lajmi began assisting him professionally and personally till the end of his life.

After the release of "Ek Pal" (1986) until his death, Bhupen Hazarika mainly concentrated on Hindi films, most of which were directed by Kalpana Lajmi. "Ek Pal" (1986), "Rudaali" (1993) and "Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence" (2001) are his major films of this period.

Many of his early songs were re-written in Hindi and used as playback songs in these films. These songs tried to cater to the Hindi film milieu and their social activist lyrics were browbeaten into the lowest common denominator.

As a SINGER, Bhupen Hazarika was known for his baritone voice and his excellent diction; as a LYRICIST, he was known for his poetic compositions and parables which touched on themes ranging from romance to social and political commentary; and as a COMPOSER, for his use of folk music. A recent poll in Bangladesh showed that his very moving song "Manush Manusher Jonno" ('Humans are for humanity') was regarded by citizens of Bangladesh as the second most favourite song after the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Some of his most famous compositions were adaptations of American Black Spiritual that he had learned from Paul Robeson, whom he had befriended during his years in New York City in the early 1950s. His famous song "Bistirno Parore" is heavily influenced by "Ol' Man River" sung by Paul Robeson.

(Quoted from the biography of Bhupen Hazarika in Wikipedia, a wonderful free Internet encyclopedia; there is an easy version of Wikipedia written in simple English - Simple Wikipedia - which is also available free on the Internet.)

Kishalay Sinha [G]