Singing legend Sandhya Mukherjee, also known as Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was an Indian playback singer and musician, specialising in Bengali music.
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬
Mukherjee was born in Dhakuria, Calcutta, on 4 October 1931 to Narendranath Mukherjee, a railway official, and Hemprova Devi. She was the youngest of six children. Sandhya started her music training under the direction of Pandit Santosh Kumar Basu, Professor A T Kannan, and Professor Chinmoy Lahiri. However, her guru was Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, followed by his son Ustad Munavvar Ali Khan, under whom she mastered Indian classical music.
Though classically trained, the bulk of her work consists of Bengali modern songs. She began her career in Mumbai singing Hindi songs, starting with a song in the film Taarana in 1950. She sang, as a playback singer, in 17 Hindi films. She decided to come back to and settle in her home city Kolkata in 1952 due to personal reasons
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
Her best-known collaboration is arguable with the Bengali singer Hemanta Mukherjee with whom she sang numerous duets, primarily as playback for Bengali films. Hemanta and Sandhya became known as the voices behind the pairings of the Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar and his numerous heroines, most notably being the actress Suchitra Sen, whose singing voice she became. Besides Hemanta Mukherjee's compositions, her largest body of work is with Robin Chattopadhyay and Nachiketa Ghosh.
She received Banga Bibhushan, the highest civilian honour of the Indian state of West Bengal in 2011. She also won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her songs in the films such as Jay Jayanti and Nishi Padma in the year 1970. She has also sung, as a playback singer, in 17 Hindi films.
𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬
Padma Shri in 2022 (refused)
Banga Bibhushan in 2011.
Bharat Nirman Award - Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the songs "Amader Chuti Chuti" Jay Jayanti and "Ore Sakol Sona Molin Holo" Nishi Padma in 1971.
BFJA Awards - Best Female Playback Singer for Sandhya Deeper Sikha in 1965.
BFJA Awards - Best Female Playback Singer for Jay Jayanti in 1972.
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, she joined the mass movement among Indian Bengali artists to raise money for the millions of refugees who had poured into Kolkata and West Bengal to escape the fighting, and to raise global awareness for the cause of Bangladesh. She assisted Bangladeshi musician Samar Das as he set up the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, the clandestine radio station broadcasting to Bangladesh, and recorded several patriotic songs for him.
On the occasion of the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the imprisoned leader of the new country of Bangladesh, she released a song Bangabandhu Tumi Phirey Ele.
She later became one of the first foreign artists to visit Dhaka, performing at an open-air concert in Paltan Maidan in Dhaka to celebrate the first Ekushey February after Bangladeshi independence in 1971. She was awarded the Padma Shri for her performance in music. However, she refused the award, labeling it "disparaging and degrading".
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬
Mukherjee died from cardiac arrest in Kolkata on 15 February 2022, at the age of 90. The singer had tested positive for Covid-19 along with cardiac ailments, multi-organ dysfunction, and fracture in the femur bone due to a fall.
** Please help us keep the Message Board clean and respectful. We take online abuse very seriously. Read the TERMS OF USE to avoid having your message deleted.
We seek to promote lively discussion and debate. We believe that our users have the right to express themselves freely in a manner that is courteous and respectful of others' point of view and sensibility.
Repeated violations may lead to suspension and/or termination of your message posting privileges.
www.tributes.in takes abuse very seriously: We will co-operate fully with law enforcement, including disclosure of your user ID, IP address and messaging history.
Please review your message, you cannot delete/edit once it has been posted.
Give a Tribute to someone special and see how your family and friends react - it'll be priceless (trust us)!
Create a Tribute Page