Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, known professionally as Hemant Kumar and Hemanta Mukherjee, was a legendary Indian music director and playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, as well as other Indian languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, Tamil, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Konkani, Sanskrit and Urdu. He was an artist of Bengali and Hindi film music, Rabindra Sangeet, and many other genres. He was the recipient of two National Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and was popularly known as the "voice of God".
Lata Mangeshkar was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Her voice was one of the unifying elements of the people of South Asia across borders. Her contribution to the Indian music industry in a career spanning eight decades gained her honorific titles such as the "Queen of Melody", "Nightingale of India", and "Voice of the Millennium".
Asha Bhosle is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the greatest and most influential singers in Hindi cinema. In her career spanning over eight decades she has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, four BFJA Awards, eighteen Maharashtra State Film Awards, nine Filmfare Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, in addition to two Grammy nominations. In 2000, she was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 2008, she was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour of the country. The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged Bhosle in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history.
Geeta Dutt was an Indian playback singer and a famous Hindi and Bengali classical artist, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema. She is considered as one of the best playback singers of all time in Hindi films. She also sang many modern Bengali songs, both in the film and non-film genre.
Prabodh Chandra Dey, known by his stage name Manna Dey, was a renowned Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar Gharana and receiving training under Ustad Aman Ali Khan. Manna Dey is widely recognized as one of the most versatile and celebrated vocalists in the Hindi film industry, and is often acknowledged for his significant contributions to integrating Indian classical music into Hindi commercial cinema. As a musician, Dey is particularly acclaimed for incorporating Indian classical music elements into a pop musical framework, a contribution that played a pivotal role during the golden era of Hindi cinema.
Bimal Roy was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made Do Bigha Zamin after watching Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards, and the International Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Madhumati won 9 Filmfare Awards in 1958, a record held for 37 years.
Salil Chowdhury was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This includes over 75 Hindi films, 41 Bengali films, 27 Malayalam films, and a few Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Odia and Assamese films. His musical ability was widely recognised and acknowledged in the Indian film industry. He was an accomplished composer and arranger who was proficient in several musical instruments, including flute, the piano, and the esraj. He was also widely acclaimed and admired for his inspirational and original poetry in Bengali.
Antara Mitra is an Indian playback singer. Mitra came to limelight when she became a contestant in the popular singing reality show Indian Idol 2 in 2006. Mitra become more well-known and got recognition after the release of her duets Gerua and Janam Janam with Arijit Singh. She also received significant amount of Indian media coverage for her singing of the Dilwale songs. Her Baby Jaan song from Bhaijaan Elo Re received an overwhelming response on YouTube, and created a record of becoming the fastest Bengali language video track to reach 1 million views on YouTube.
Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. But they face challenges in their relationship finally leading to a paranormal consequence. It was ranked 11th in the Outlook Magazine's 25 leading Indian directors' poll for selecting Bollywood's greatest films in 2003.
Calcutta Youth Choir was set up in 1958 by Ruma Guha Thakurta with Salil Chowdhury and Satyajit Ray.
Kabuliwala is a 1961 Hindi film based on the 1892 short story "Kabuliwala", by the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. It was directed by Hemen Gupta and starred Balraj Sahni, Usha Kiran, Sajjan, Sonu and Baby Farida.
Shyamal Mitra was an Indian versatile playback singer and music director along with Hemanta Mukherjee and Manna Dey. Mitra had also worked in many Hindi and Bengali films as a music director and film producer. He was the most notable musician of the golden era of Bengali music industry. His baritone voice reflected a range of emotions. Besides recording a huge number of popular Bengali basic songs, he also worked as a playback singer in more than a hundred Bengali films and directed music in more than fifty Bengali films. He also sang in various other Indian languages, like Hindi, Assamese, and Oriya.
Sagar Sen was a Bengali singer. Though primarily known as an exemplary Rabindrasangeet artiste, he had recorded numerous Bengali modern songs and directed a few as well.
Sudhin Dasgupta was a prolific Bengali music director, lyricist, and singer. He worked in various other Indian languages, such as Hindi, Assamese and Oriya. His contribution opened a new horizon to the Bengali music for both the arenas of Bengali basic song as well as Bengali film song.
Dwijen Mukhopadhyay was an Indian composer and singer whose musical career spanned six decades. He was a 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.
Pulak Bandyopadhyay was a Bengali Indian lyricist and songwriter of Bengali cinema.
Utpala Sen was a prominent Indian Bengali playback singer. She was a very popular playback singer of her time in the 1950s alongside Sandhya Mukherjee, Pratima Banderjee, and Alpana Banerjee etc. She has sung numerous duets with prominent male singers such as Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey and also her husband, Satinath Mukherjee.
Nimantran is a 1971 Bengali film directed by Tarun Majumdar, based on a story by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, and starring Sandhya Roy and Anup Kumar in the lead roles. At the 19th National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.
Sabita Chowdhury was an Indian singer.
Pinjre Ke Panchhi is a 1966 Indian Hindi-language film starring Meena Kumari, Balraj Sahni and Mehmood in lead roles. The film marks the directorial debut of ace music director Salil Chowdhury who also gave its music. It was a commercial failure at the box office.
