Dhananjay Bhattacharya (10 September 1922 – 27 December 1992) was an Indian Bengali singer and composer. He was a versatile

Shyama Sangeet Shyama Sangeet () is a genre of Bengali devotional songs dedicated to the Hindu goddess Shyama or Kali which is a form of supreme universal mother-goddess Durga or parvati. It is also known as Shaktagiti or Durgastuti. Shyama Sangeet appeals t ...

singer.

Career

He started his career by singing modern Bengali as well as Hindi songs. His first song was "Jodi bhule jao more/janabo na abhiman..." in 1940, recorded with Pioneer Company. His first playback was in 1943. He was best known for singing

. Out of the 24 songs in the movie ''Sadhak Ramprasad'' (1956), Dhananjay sang 23. He was versatile in singing major types and forms of songs including modern Bengali,

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' (; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengalis, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the ...

Kirtan Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s) ''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...

Bhajan Bhajan is an Indian term for any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root w ...

Baul The Baul () are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnavism from different parts of Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitute bot ...

, Ramprasadi (of

Ramprasad Sen ( 1723/1718 – c. 1775) was a Hindu Shakta poet and saint of 18th-century Bengal. His '' bhakti'' poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually addressed to the Hindu goddess Kali and written in Bengali ...

Nazrul Geeti Nazrul Sangeet (), also Nazrul Geeti (; ), refers to the songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, who is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul Geeti incorporate revolutionary notions as well as more spiritual, philosophical and romant ...

, and

. His singing career lasted more than fifty years. There are 500 records of his songs. He was also a lyricist and wrote about 400 songs in the name of "Shri Partha" and "Shri Ananda". He acted in a few films, including ''"Nababidhan'' and ''

Pasher Bari ''Pasher Bari'' () is a 1952 Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy film directed by Sudhir Mukherjee based on the short story of the same name by Arun Chowdhury. This film was released on 7 March 1952 under the banner of Production Syndicate. Th ...

''. In the latter, his song "Jhir Jhir Jhir Jhirjhiri Baroshay" composed by Salil Chowdhury became an instant hit. "Matite Janmo Nilam", "Ei Jhir Jhir Jhir Batase", and "Jhanana Jhanana Baje" were other major hits which are still popular. Dhananjay Bhattacharya's songs, composed by Prafulla Bhattacharya - 'Basarore Deep Aar Akasher Taraguli', 'Hridoye Mor Rakta Jhore', 'Phul Go Tomare Chuye', 'Ken Go Dola Lage', 'Tribhuban jay kariya Ravan,' and 'Sthir Hoe Tui Bas Dekh Ma' reached the peak of popularity. Dhanajay won the Gold Prize for his devotional songs in Rani Rasmoni. Among his basic records, one Raag based composition by Salil Chowdhuri released as a Saradiya number was such a hit that it kept on selling during the next Puja as well. One of his best kept secrets was that he was also a prolific lyricist, all written under different pseudonyms. Many hit numbers of Pannalal Bhattacharya in particular were penned by him, as well as musical compositions.

Personal life

They were Barendra Brahmins. The descendants of this Bhaduri family were King Ganesh and Udayanacharya Bhaduri. 'The Levitating Saint' -Maharshi Nagendranath's father was Parboti charan Bhaduri. Parboti charan Bhaduri's brother Kalicharan Bhaduri was the father of the renowned sitar and Esraj player Surendranath Bhattacharya. Surendranath was awarded the title of Bhattacharya.So, in stead of Bhaduri, Surendranath Bhattacharya used surname 'Bhattacharya'. Three sons of Surendranath Bhattacharya were three legends of the Bengali music world - music director Prafulla Bhattacharya, renowned singer Dhananjay Bhattacharya and

Pannalal Bhattacharya Pannalal Bhattacharya (c. 1930 – 27 March 1966) was an Indian singer of Bengali music. Most of the songs he sang were written by Ramprasad Sen and Kamalakanta Bhattacharya, both of whom were Shakta poets of Bengal. He was the younger brother ...

. Dhananjay was married and had three sons. Out of them, only Dipankar has taken the onus upon him to carry the legacy of his father. He and

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

Prafulla Bhattacharya were the elder brothers of the singer Pannalal. He studied in Rivers Thompson School, Bally, Howrah. Some people say that he and Pannalal both wanted to please Kali by offering her their songs. According to them Dhananjay received the grace of the divine mother, but Pannalal didn't, and so he committed suicide, and after his death, Dhananjay bore the responsibility of Pannalal's family, along with his own.

References

External links

* https://archive.today/20130208182732/http://shibpurinternational.com/sublink/Personalities/html/Dhananjay%20Bhattacharya.html * http://www.hummaa.com/music/artist/Dhananjay+Bhattacharya/732 * http://www.raaga.com/channels/bengali/singers/Dhananjay_Bhattacharya.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Dhananjay 1922 births Bengali singers 1992 deaths 20th-century Indian singers Singers from West Bengal 20th-century Indian male singers People from Howrah district