The sun comes down on Sandhya
"Ei poth jodi na sesh hoi…."
The voice in the Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen-starrer film "Saptapadi', which has kept Bengali music lovers spellbound for generations, has fallen forever silent.
Singing legend Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, the last of the Mohicans of Bengal's golden era of modern music, passed away at eastern Kolkata's Apollo Hospital yesterday evening after suffering a massive cardiac attack at the age of 90.
She is survived by daughter Soumi Sengupta and son-in-law.
Sandhya was admitted to hospital on the evening of January 27, a day after she fell in her bathroom. She was later diagnosed with Covid-19 infection.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said "Sandhya'di" had recovered from Covid-19 but there was a sudden deterioration in her condition.
Sandhya was put on vasopressor support as her blood pressure dropped, a hospital official said, adding, "She suffered a massive heart attack at around 7.30 PM [local time], following which she expired."
Terming Sandhya "Bharat Ratna and "Sur Samraggi", Mamata said the singer would be cremated with full state honours this evening.
The chief minister announced the singer's body would be kept at Kolkata's cultural landmark Rabindra Sadan today for her admirers to pay their last respects from 12:00pm before cremation.
Mamata said she would cut short her ongoing tour of north Bengal and reach Kolkata tomorrow evening to pay her last respects.
Cutting across borders, Mukherjee had become the musical voice of an era of romance, where Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen ruled the matinee lights.
Born in Kolkata on October 4, 1931, Sandhya took music lessons from Santosh Kumar Basu, AT Kannan and Chinmoy Lahiri in late 1940s. But she began her formal training under Patiala Gharana under legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Under his tutelage, she mastered the art of Indian classical music and later sang over 1,000 songs throughout her career.
She won the national film award as Best Female Playback Singer for her songs in the films "Jai Jayanti" (1972) and "Nishi Padma" in 1970. She received the Banga Bibhushan, the highest civilian honour in West Bengal, in 2011.
She recorded her first song in 1945 and her first Durga Puja number came out three years later. That was the year when she lent her voice to songs, written by Pabitra Mitra and composed by Sudhirlal Chakrabarty "Kaar banshi baajee", and "Keno tumi dure chole jaogo."
"Ogo more geetimoy" was among the songs that helped her win over people in 1950.
Sandhya has sung for numerous Bengali and Hindi films and worked with leading music directors, including SD Burman, Madan Mohan, Naushad, Anil Biswas and Salil Chowdhury.
Her body of work was expansive -- ranging from classical to modern. In the twilight of her life, she had expressed her desire to record more classical songs -- a wish that remained unfulfilled.
Condoling her death, Hindustani classical maestro Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty said, "It was a personal loss for me. She was a mother figure for all of us. I still can't believe she is no more."
Yesteryears' actress Madhabi Mukherjee, whose movies Sandhya sang in, said, "I shared a special bond with her. She was at times like an elder sister and like a mother to me."
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