Sixty and not done
Dwijen Mukherjee at 77 is still in control of his enviable voice.
The veteran singer was in Delhi recently to perform at an evening organised by Impresario India at the India International Centre.
In this interview he talks about his passion, Rabindra Sangeet, with which he has been regaling listeners for the past 60 years. Excerpts from an interview with him:
Q. How and when did you enter the world of music?
A. I was initiated into music by Sushanto Lahiri in 1944. In 1946 I recorded my debut number with the radio. For Rabindra Sangeet I had the best of gurus - Saila Ranjan Majumdar, Anadi Dastidar, Nihar Bindu Sen and Santosh Sengupta. I trained in classical music under Pandit Kashinath Chatterjee, and modern music from R.C. Boral and Nachiketa Ghosh.
Q. What ups and downs have you seen in the world of Rabindra Sangeet?
A. The uninterrupted sway of Suchitra Mitra, Kanika Banerjee, Hemant Kumar, Debabrata Biswas, Santosh Sengupta, Chinmoy Chatterjee preceded by stalwarts like Pankuj Mallick, together made the golden age of Rabindra Sangeet. Distortions began to mark the `60s and `70s.
Q. How is the market for you and your fellow artistes?
A. I cannot tell you about others, but the royalty I get every month indicates that there is a good sale of my old hit songs.
Q. Any memorable event you would like to recount?
A. When in 1956 I went to Moscow as part of a cultural delegation wer were invited to sing at the Bolshoi Theatre where a singer's baritone is tested. I sang for three minutes. As I finished there was prolonged applause, and my interpreter told me to continue. As I continued the applause intensified. Finally I stood up and sang without the aid of the public address system, and the response was simply tremendous.
DEBU MAZUMDAR
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
