Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, is a

Bengali band Bengali music ( bn, বাংলা সংগীত) comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. Composed with lyrics in the Bengali language, Bengali music spans a wide variety ...

known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena. The band is chiefly popular in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n city of

, and in cities like

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

that have a large expatriate

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

population.

Name Origin

The band shares its name with the last letter (technically a modifier) of the

Bengali alphabet The Bengali script or Bangla alphabet ( bn, বাংলা বর্ণমালা, ''Bangla bôrṇômala'') is the alphabet used to write the Bengali language based on the Bengali-Assamese script, and has historically been used to w ...

, ◌̐. The name is a reference to a piece of dialogue from Sukumar Ray's ''হযবরল'' ''

HaJaBaRaLa ''HaJaBaRaLa'' ( bn, হ য ব র ল), or ''HJBRL: A Nonsense Story'', is a children's novella by Sukumar Ray. ''Ha Ja Ba Ra La'' is considered one of the best nonsense stories of Bengali literature. To highlight its genre, artistic merit and ...

'', a well-known work of literary nonsense in

বেড়াল বলল, “বেড়ালও বলতে পার, রুমালও বলতে পার, চন্দ্রবিন্দুও বলতে পার।” আমি বললাম, “চন্দ্রবিন্দু কেন?” শুনে বেড়ালটা “তাও জানো না?” বলে এক চোখ বুজে ফ্যাচ্‌ফ্যাচ্ করে বিশ্রীরকম হাসতে লাগল। আমি ভারি অপ্রস্তুত হয়ে গেলাম। মনে হল, ঐ চন্দ্রবিন্দুর কথাটা নিশ্চয় আমার বোঝা উচিত ছিল। তাই থতমত খেয়ে তাড়াতাড়ি বলে ফেললাম, “ও হ্যাঁ-হ্যাঁ, বুঝতে পেরেছি।” বেড়ালটা খুশি হয়ে বলল, “হ্যাঁ, এ তো বোঝাই যাচ্ছে— চন্দ্রবিন্দুর চ, বেড়ালের তালব্য শ, রুমালের মা— হল চশমা। কেমন, হল তো?”

The cat said "You can call me a cat, or a handkerchief, or even a ''chandrabindoo''". "Why a ''chandrabindoo''?" I asked. "Can't you tell?" said the cat, winking and sniggering in a most irritating way. I was taken aback. Perhaps I ought to have known about the ''chandrabindoo'', I thought. "Ah!" I said quickly. "I understand". "Of course you do,"said the Cat, pleased. "‘''cha''’ for ''chandrabindoo'', ‘''sha''’ for ''birāl'' (cat), and ‘''mā''’ for ''rumāl'' (handkerchief) - that spells ‘''chashma''’(spectacles) Simple, isn't it?"

Early days

The band faced many problems during the production of their first album ''

Aar Jani Na Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in Kolkata, is a Bengali band known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena. The band is chiefly popular in the Indian city of Kolkata, and i ...

'', having to produce their demo with the help of an out-of-date sound mixer. It was released in 1998, and got a lukewarm response. However, they came to the attention of

Gautam Chattopadhyay Gautam Chattopadhyay (1 June 1949 – 20 June 1999) was an Indian Bengali singer, songwriter, bassist, and composer. In 1975, as a leader he founded the progressive rock band Moheener Ghoraguli with Tapas Das, Abraham Mazumdar, Pradip Chatt ...

Mohiner Ghoraguli Moheener Ghoraguli (, literally "Moheen's horses") was an Indian rock group from Kolkata, established in 1975. Their music drew from wide variety of influences, including Bengali folk, Baul, urban American folk, and jazz. They sometimes descri ...

, and he recommended them to Asha Audio, who released their second album '' Gadha''. The first public live show of Chandrabindoo was held in ''Gyan Manch'' near Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata.

Band members

Upal Sengupta Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in Kolkata, is a Bengali band known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena. The band is chiefly popular in the Indian city of Kolkata, and in ...

– singer/ music composer/ lead vocal *

Anindya Chatterjee Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of prominent Bengali band Chandrabindoo. In recent times he has composed ...

– singer/ music composer/ lead vocal *

Chandril Bhattacharya Chandril Bhattacharya ( bn, চন্দ্রিল ভট্টাচার্য) is a popular Bengali essayist, lyricist, poet, orator and director from Kolkata. Music Bhattacharya is one of the main lyricists of the Bengali band Chandrabin ...

– lyricist/ music composer/ vocal * Arup Podder – bassist * Surojit Mukherjee – guitarist/ arranger * Rajshekhar Kundu – drummer * Sibabrata Biswas aka Sibu – keyboardist * Sourabh – percussionist and Tirthankar as sound engineer.

Former members

Chandrabindoo's former members include Subrato Lodh, Subrato Ghosh, Sukhendu, Subhendu, Debapriyo, Tennie, Lintu, Santanu, Arindam, Pritam, Dron Acharya, Riju, Kallol, Rajesh, Riddhi, Chandan, Papa, Jisshu Sengupta, Neepabeethi Ghosh,

Lopamudra Mitra Lopamudra Mitra is an Indian Bengali-language singer. Early life Mitra was born in Kolkata, India. She was born in a middle class family. Mitra studied from Basanti Devi College, Kolkata a University of Calcutta affiliated college. Discogra ...

Discography

Studio Albums *

( bn, আর জানি না, Lit: Don't Know Any More) (1997), T-Series * Gadha ( bn, গাধা, Lit: Donkey) (1998), Asha Audio * Twaker Jatna Nin ( bn, ত্বকের যত্ন নিন, Lit: Take Care Of Your Skin) (1999), Asha Audio * Chaw ( bn, চ, Lit: Let's Go) (2001), Asha Audio *

Daknam Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in Kolkata, is a Bengali band known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena. The band is chiefly popular in the Indian city of Kolkata, and i ...

( bn, ডাকনাম, Lit: Nickname) (2002), Sony BMG * Juju ( bn, জুজু, Lit: The Bugbear) (2003), Sony Music * Hulabila ( bn, হুলাবিলা, Lit: Hullabaloo) (2005), Sagarika * U/A ( bn, ইউ/এ, Lit: U/A) (2008), BIG Music *

Noy In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropos ...

( bn, নয়, Lit: Nine) (2012), Kaleidoscope Compilation Albums * Chandrabindaas ( bn, চন্দ্রবিন্দাস, Lit: Chandrabindoo is Bindaas) (2005) * Ebhabeo Phire Asha Jae ( bn, এভাবেও ফিরে আসা যায়, Lit: Even that's a Comeback) (2005) *Bachhai 11 ( bn, বাছাই ১১, Lit: Selected 11) (2006) *Sera Chandrabindoo ( bn, সেরা চন্দ্রবিন্দু, Lit: Best Of Chandrabindoo) (2008)

Filmography

Other work

They made their first international tour in July 2015, when they performed in London in aid of the Kolkata-based Child In Need Institute (CINI). Chandrabindoo is the official

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person engaged by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embod ...

for CINI ASHA.Chandrabindoo: Kaleidoscope
''kicpl.in''. Retrieved 21 August 2013

References

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

article on the band *, an article on the band in

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

Chandrabindoo answers FAQs
an interview of Chandrabindoo by Anurag Basu in his talk show Ke Hobe Biggest Fan on Zee Bangla
Listen to all Chandrabindoo Songs
an article on CINI UK website
Chandrabindoo's new music video featuring Vidya Balan named Jani Na from the forthcoming album E-arki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrabindoo Bengali musical groups Culture of Kolkata Bengali musicians Musical groups established in 1998