Remembering composer and singer Padma Bhushan Dwijen Mukhopadhyay ji 1927-2018

Dwijen Mukhopadhyay (12 November 1927 – 24 December 2018) was an Indian composer and singer whose musical career spanned six decades. He was an accomplished performer of Rabindrasangeet, Bengali basic songs, Bengali and Hindi film songs. He recorded more than 1500 songs, of which about 800 are songs of Rabindranath Tagore. He also directed music in Bengali feature films and composed music for popular Bengali basic songs. He died on 24 December 2018

Early days
In 1944, Mukhopadhyay made his debut as a professional singer. In 1945, he made his first recording of basic Bengali songs from Megaphone Record Company. 1946 was very eventful for him, as in that year, he not only started to act as an artist of All India Radio (AIR) but also started recording with HMV-Colombia Recording Company. In 1956, he entertained the soldiers of the Indian Army with his songs at Ladakh.

Mukhopadhyay received his training in music from eminent singers of Bengal including Shri Sushanto Lahiri, Pankaj Mullick, Santidev Ghosh, Santosh Sengupta, Anadi Ghosh Dastidar and Niharbindu Sen.

Career as musician
Mukhopadhyay was introduced to the folk music of Bengal, and Hindi film music, by the eminent film-music composer Salil Chowdhury. The friendship between Dwijen Mukhopadhyay and Salil Chowdhury started in the late '40s through their common association with IPTA. The duo gave the Bengali audience songs like "Shyamal Barani Ogo Konya", "Klanti Name Go", "Ekdin Phire Jabo Chole", "Pallabini Go Sancharini" and many others. They worked on two poems of Michael Madhusudan Dutt("Rekho Maa Dashere Mone", Ashar Cholone Bhuli") and came up with rare and beautiful tracks. Later, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay went to Mumbai to work with Salil Chowdhury and recorded duet songs with Lata Mangeshkar for Hindi films like 'Honeymoon' (1960), 'Maayaa' (1961), 'Sapan Suhaane' (1961) and solo playback in 'Madhumati'.

He was one of the foremost exponents of Rabindrasangeet. He has interpreted Tagore's songs with devotion, drawing listeners to this music within and outside Bengal. He has performed Rabindrasangeet in noted Bengali films like 'Kshudita Pashan' (1960)– a short story by Rabindranath Tagore and 'Sandhya Raag' (1977) under distinguished Music Directors Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar, respectively. His Rabindrasangeet in 'Kancher Swarga' (1963), Bon Palashir Padabali (1973), 'Wheel Chair' (1994) are landmarks.

Mukhopadhyay had also performed the famous devotional song 'Jaago Durga' as a part of the musical play 'Mahisasura Mardini' (The Annihilation of the Demon), which is a hugely popular radio programme broadcast by All India Radio (AIR), Kolkata, every year on the auspicious day of 'Mahalaya' marking the beginning of the famous autumn festival of 'Durga Puja' and may be labelled as a signature tune of the entire Bengali speaking community in the world, with a phenomenal popularity for the last 60 years.

He sang before eminent dignitaries like Marshal Josip Broz Tito (President of Yugoslavia), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (President of India), Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Prime Minister of India), Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India), amongst others. As a member of 'Indian Cultural Delegation', he toured the Soviet Union and East European countries like Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. He also was invited to perform in the US, the UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Bangladesh.

Affiliations
Mukhopadhyay was a member of the "Experts Committee" and the "Selections Committee" at Visva-Bharati Music Board in Kolkata, which was responsible to certify the purity and authenticity of Tagore songs, sung by any artiste all over the world. He was a member of the 'Expert Committee' of All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi that took national level audition of senior singers to promote them to 'Top grade Artists (Singers)' of India.[citation needed] Mukhopadhyay was the 'External Examiner' of the Post Graduate Course in Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India.

He created a cultural organisation named 'Uttarayani', Kolkata, India to impart training on Rabindrasangeet. Mukhopadhyay was also the President of 'Bani Chakra College of Music', Kolkata, India. He also had the rare privilege of celebrating the Birth Centenary of Rabindranath Tagore in 1961 and took active part in the celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversary held in 2011.

Awards
Year Award
1974 Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Best Male Playback Award (Bengali Film: Ban Palashir Padabali)
1982 Debabrata Biswas Memorial Award (Lifetime Achievement)
1991 Indira Gandhi Award
1992 Rajiv Gandhi Award
1994 HMV Golden Disc (On 50th year of his musical career)
1997 Indian Independence Day Golden Jubilee Award
2002 Uttam Kumar Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2003 Ananda Sangeet Puroskar (Lifetime Achievement) From – ABP (Anandabazar Patrika)
2006 Mother Teresa Millennium Award
2007 S. D. Burman Award
2007 Pracheen Kala Kendra Award, Chandigarh
2010 Reliance Big FM Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2010 Banga Bandhu Award from Bangladesh
2010 D. Lit (Hony.) by Kalyani University, West Bengal
2010 Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar
2010 Padma Bhushan
2011 Banga Bibhushan