Sandhya Mukhopadhyay

Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjee (; 4 October 1931 – 15 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and musician, specialising in Bengali music. 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 Jay Jayanti and Nishi Padma in the year 1970.

Early and personal life 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. Her grandfather was a police officer, and the family had lived in Dhakuria since 1911. She was married to noted lyrist Shyamal Gupta, until his death in 2010. She has a daughter named Soumi Sengupta.

Training and career 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 Munawar Ali Khan, under whom she mastered Indian classical music. According to Manorma Sharma, "Sandhya has been able to maintain her popularity as a classical vocalist even after acquiring the gloss and the glow of playback singing ..." However, she refused the award, labelling it "disparaging and degrading". Mukherjee died of cardiac arrest and COVID-19 complications at a private hospital in Kolkata on 15 February 2022, at the age of 90.

Songs

Bengali film songs

Non-film songs Year Film Song Composer Lyrics Co-singer 1975Down Memory Lane : Music of Kamal Dasgupta "Mon Niye Priyo" Kamal Dasgupta Pranab Roy solo

Urdu film songs YearFilm Song Composer(s) Lyricist Co-singer 1960 Humsafar "Aankhen Chhalke Mera Dil Dhadke" Mosleh Uddin Shair Siddiqui solo "Sanwariya O Sanwariya Re"

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 Bachsas Awards – Best Female Playback Singer for Dhire Bohe Meghna in 1973 Honorary D.Litt. from Jadavpur University, Kolkata in 2009. Lata Mangeshkar Award in 1993, by Govt of Madhya Pradesh

Death On 27 January, Sandhya Mukherjee was admitted to SSKM Hospital with breathlessness and was later transferred to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital since she was COVID-19 positive. She also had lung infections, hypotension, ischemic heart disease, multi organ dysfunction and a fracture at her left femur. She was showing progressive improvement in her treatment, became COVID-19 negative and underwent a successful femoral surgery on 11 February. In the morning of 15 February, she was transferred to the intensive care unit for sudden severe abdominal pain and hypotension, following which she died at 7.30 pm of the same day following a cardiac arrest. One of the nurses of the hospital reported that she had the cardiac arrest at the time of listening to "Ei shohor theke aro onek dure", a popular Bengali song by Manna Dey, with whom she sang numerous duets. She was cremated at the electric pyre of Keoratola crematorium with full state honours.

Footnotes