Kamal Das Gupta’s death anniversary today

Today marks the 46th death anniversary of legendary music composer and director Kamal Das Gupta. The maestro, who has composed over 8,000 songs, is also a record holder for recording 51 songs in the span of one month.

Born on July 28, 1912 in Narail, Jashore, a strong influence of folk culture has always been prevalent in his work. Subsequently, he chose to pursue his doctoral studies in music on Meerabai, the composer and singer of Bhajans, from Banaras Hindu University in 1943. With tutelage from noted music gurus like Dilip Kumar Roy, K C Dey (Kana Keshto), and Ustad Jamiruddin Khan, Kamal Das Gupta's songs in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, and Tamil speak for his cultural diversity and knowledge, and adaptability to transform traditional tunes into modern numbers that are celebrated by masses throughout the subcontinent.

At the age of 18, he joined His Master's Voice (HMV) as a music director. In the later years, the musician went on to produce numerous superhit numbers in films like Pandit Mashi (1936), Megdoot (1945), Arabian Nights (1946), Manmani (1947), Anuradha (1949) and Phulwari (1951). His last film as a music director was Bodhu Baran (1967). His songs have been voiced by musical maestros Hemanta Mukherjee, Juthika Roy, Talat Mahmood, Indubala and Feroza Begum, among many others.

Kamal Das Gupta's close collaboration with national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam influenced him. Subsequently, he went on to compose 400 of his songs, the greatest number of Nazrul compositions done by any director, besides the poet himself.

The composer married Nazrul exponent Feroza Begum in 1955. They had three children -- Tahsin Ahmed Hamin Ahmed and Shafin Ahmed, the latter duo are members of the legendary rock band, Miles. Shafin Ahmed's tribute album to his father, Kotodin Dekhini Tomay released a while ago. "On this day, the one thing I feel since morning is, as a musician myself, I feel he is ways around in my creative time," shares Shafin Ahmed. "I wish he was around physically when I am working where we could discuss things and create masterpieces."