"Coffee Houser Sei Addata"[b][c] is a Bengali popballad song by Indian playback singer Manna Dey. The lyrics were written by Gauriprasanna Mazumder and the music was composed by Suparna Kanti Ghosh.[5] It was released as part of the album "Hits of Manna Dey, Volume 2".[6][7]
The song describes the lives of seven friends who used to spend time in a coffee house in Kolkata, often accompanied by several other non-regular friends, all being fictional characters. Gauriprasanna Mazumdar completed most of the song within two-three days and the whole after nine-days, in a train in Howrah station. Suparna Kanti Ghosh composed the song onboard a train within a day and took the complete written and composed song lyrics to Manna Dey, accompanied by Mazumdar and his arranger two days later. Dey recorded the song in a studio in Mumbai in 1983. The song was endorsed as the anthem of the College Street Cafe House, which hung his picture upon Dey's death. It was featured several times in popular culture.
Theme
Coffee Houser Sei Addata was written by Gauriprasanna Mazumdar as a throwback song capturing the times of seven friends in the College Street Coffee House, termed as "golden late afternoons"[8] spent together by them.[9] He describes the activities of the seven members and their conditions and impressions at the time of the song's release.[10] The timeline set to be 1970s, the friends are stated to be Nikhilesh, Moidul, D'Souza, Roma Roy, Amal, and Sujata, discussing about and with their certain friends including Bishnu Dey and Jamini Roy. Manna Dey (the narrator), introduces the members in the song, giving a brief description about each of his friend.[11][12]
Composition
Before composing "Coffee Houser Sei Addata" for Manna Dey, Suparna Kanti Ghosh, the son of Nachiketa Ghosh had previously written "Shey Amar Chhoto Bon" in 1978 which Dey sung. Gauriprasanna Mazumdar was a friend of Nachiketa Ghosh.[13] Shey Amar Chhoto Bon was given to Ghosh by lyricist Pulak Bandyopadhyay, in an envelope for composing it, the lyrics already written. He started the composition from opening it inside a double-decker bus, and completed it within one or two days. Manna Dey agreed to the song after returning from Mumbai (Bombay).[14] Before "Coffee House" was considered, Ghosh took a short trip to Paris, visiting Montmartre, related to Salvador Dalí and Van Gogh, where there were many coffeehouses and people talking at the establishments. The tour guide showed him areas related to the hangout theme. Ghosh acquired the idea of an hangout at a coffeehouse through this visit.[14]
In 1983, Ghosh was living in New Alipore, Kolkata. He was then studying for his exams and practicing a song with Shakti Thakur along with some of his friends. Gauriprasanna Mazumdar came into his house and asked for a cup of tea and called Ghosh.[15] After chatting for some time, Ghosh entrusted Mazumdar with writing a song based on an "Adda" (hangout) theme[15] with reference to the College Street Coffee House.[16][17] Mazumdar spoke the first two lines of the song in front of Ghosh.[15] He began writing the song through the nighttime until the next morning, and wrote most parts of the song.[13] His wife called Ghosh in the morning to inform him that Mazumdar was awake the whole night. He was diagnosed with throat cancer at that time.[18] After Mazumdar had written the song of the song within two or three days,[16] Ghosh described that the song lacked a climax and wanted him to write a final stanza. 9 days after Ghosh had asked for the final stanza, Mazumdar was in a Mumbai-bound train, at the time stalled in Howrah railway station, and thought of the last stanza. He wrote the lines on a white paper inside a cigarette packet.[15] He introduced himself and gave it to a man on Howrah station to send it to the house of Suparna Kanti Ghosh.[13] The man delivered the packet to Ghosh the next day.[16] Ghosh felt the song was complete. He traveled to Mumbai after 4 days and took the paper with him.[16][19]
On the same day, on the train to Chennai (Madras), Ghosh started composing the song. He traveled to Chennai boarding a sleeper train for a live recording. He turned on his bedside lamp on the upper train berth, and started composing the meldodies and tune by humming, and memorized it, composing the song for the whole day.[20] The next day, Ghosh brought the song to Gauriprasanna Mazumdar, at the time in Mumbai, after he had composed the music. Ghosh talked to his arranger Y.S. Mulkey who asked him what arrangement he wanted. Mulkey agreed after Ghosh explained the song to him. The next day, they went to the recording studio where Manna Dey would sing it. Mulkey handed him a harmonium to practice the song. He was approached by guitarist Tony Vaz asking in English if he could play it on his guitar.[20] Later after coming, Dey asked him about the song itself, "How can this be a song? How will you set these words to music?".[19] Coffee Houser Sei Addata was recorded by Manna Dey in Mumbai.[21][22]
Characters
In an interview with Bdnews24.com in 2020, Suparna Kanti Ghosh remarked that all the seven protagonists (characters) of the song were fictional, as made up by Mazumdar. He stated that the none of the performers of the song (Ghosh, Mazumdar, Dey) had visited the described coffee house before the song's recording. He stated that many people before had claimed to be the same characters from the song, which Ghosh stated to be false.[13][15]
Nikhilesh: Said to have been living in Paris.[13][15] A talented person with many tricks, he is the life of the party. He loses contact with the rest of the six friends being around for a short time, and is remembered due to his lasting impression.[23]
Moidul: Said to be a reporter in Dhaka. A sports journalist named Nur Ahmed Moidul was born in 1936 in North 24 Parganas and later moved to Bangladesh in 1968 following a riot. On his death in 2014 (aged 78), newspapers mentioned him to be the same character in the song. He claimed during his lifetime to be Moidul from the song, and said to have met with Sujata and Roma Roy. He also claimed to have met with Manna Dey during his teenage years. Ghosh stated the claims to be false.[13][15]
Sujata: An opportunist and astute, she works by converting opportunities into her active advantages. She avoids worsening friendship with anyone arguments.[23] Said to be the only person to have a happy life. Married to a lakhpati (a person who has ₹100,000). Her rich lifestyle is compared to having diamonds.
D'Souza: Described to be a guitarist.[13][15] Dead at the time of the narration (song). He is a quiet and wise person, and respected within the seven friends. A good listener, he helps the other friends whenever they need support and in anxiety.[23]
Roma Roy: A romantic person, having fallen in love and celebrated monthly anniversaries many times with the other persons, she is unable to make any relationships last for more than a year. She breaks up several times with the other person and goes to hang out with the friends to feel better.[23]
Amol: Described to have a poet-like appearance.[13][15] He struggles to become popular and fit it with his other friends, making only a minor presence during the hangouts. He is best friends with his friend D'Souza.[23]
College Street Coffee House, the establishment in which the song is based on, regarded "Coffee Houser Sei Addata" as its anthem for generations.[24] Foreign media channels visited the place on the song's release.[12] On October 24, 2013, Manna Dey, the singer of the song died. On his death, Suparna Kanti Ghosh exclaimed, "Coffee house will remain... so will remain the chat sessions, but the man who made them immortal is now no more."[12] The coffee house personnel, visitors, and its administrative officer Dipankar Dasgupta, put a portrait of Dey in the house on remembrance of Dey and the song.[25] A board (plate) was put up on the house's entrance that displayed "Legendary singer Manna Dey is no more. He will never take part in the Coffee house chat sessions. On behalf of he Coffee house family, we pray for his soul to rest in peace."[26]
Cultural impact
Reception
Recording of the song "Shey Amar Chhoto Bon", 1978.
Manna Dey visited the coffee house on February 19, 2002. He credited Mazumdar and Ghosh for writing and composing the song, respectively. He wore his usual cap and signed the papers of all the people who wanted his signature. Snehasish Chakraborty, present in the house, stated that the College Street Coffee House was never so crowded before the song was released.[27] Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat of The Business Standard provided an explanation as why it is an "all-time favorite." He stated that people are more intrigued and attracted to songs which are relatable to them. He asserts that most people can relate to the song through the life stories it provides (relatable), which may be true for the associates for someone. He describes the song as nostalgic, and talking about the past, which attracts many people. He states that it may be something which may happen to everyone, and will have to leave the memories behind.[28] Sohini Dasgupta, the wife of filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, issued a statement on social media expressing the song as lacking the real standards of nostalgia and being a "looser"[sic] song. Sohini Dasgupta heard the song on radio before and commented the same. Dasgupta stated afterwards that she liked the lyrics, tunes and melodies of the song when she first heard it in the 1980s, but it seemed to her at the time that the song was for those who had failed and lost.[29]
In popular culture
On August 29, 2025, the Bengali feature film "Coffee House" was released publicly in West Bengal. It starred Sangita Konar acting as Sujata and its title song (Coffee Houser Sei Addata) was sung by primary Bollywood singer Vinod Rathod,[30] who traveled to Kolkata to record the song. It was previously promoted and screened at the Roop Kala Kendra (Center) in Kolkata.[31]
In November 2025, directors Jenny Sarkar and Dipayan Mondal, and production house Suwan Silver Screen announced the release of a suspense/thriller film named Coffee Houser Sei Addata.[32][d] Starring actors Anusha Viswanathan, Soumya Mukherjee, Priyanka Bhattacharya and Roopa Ganguly. Roopa Ganguly previously acted in the film Raghu Dakat.[33][34] A brief plot of the film was released: Sujata, who previously left for abroad, comes back into her ancestral home in North Bengal, feeling sentimental. She suddenly and mysteriously disappears from her home's tea garden. Aheri, her granddaughter specializing in music returns to India from England and searches for her.[32] She finds some old letters and an old diary bearing the song "Coffee House" along with the stories of six friends from the 1980s who used to hang out in a coffee house.[35][34] Sarkar and Mondal commented, "Since childhood, I – like countless others – have grown up listening to Manna Dey’s timeless classic song. The nostalgia of that song, its celebration of friendship, its reflections on relationships – these things have always moved us deeply. We often talk about how the song tells us what eventually happened to those friends, but it never shows us how their journey began. And that made us wonder — what if we told the story of their early days? That thought became the starting point. But to help today’s generation connect with that same spirit of adda, nostalgia, and the magic of Coffee House, we chose young Gen-Z actors like Anusha and Soumya to bring the story to life."[36]
Notes
↑The release date is cited by some sources as January 11, 1982.[1]
↑Also known as "Coffee Houser Sei Addata Aaj Aar Nei"[3]
↑English translation: Those get-togethers at the coffee-house are no longer there today[4]
↑Alternatively spelled as Coffee Houser Sei Adda Ta.
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