Pankaj Kumar Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) was an Indian music composer, playback singer and actor, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early exponent of

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 ...

.Biography
He was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1970, followed by the

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest Film award, award in the field of cinema, given by the Government of India and presented annually at the National Film Awards. The recipient is honoured for their "outstanding contribution to the ...

(India's highest award in cinema, given by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

) in 1972 for lifetime contribution to

Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

Early life and training

Pankaj Kumar Mullick was born in Kolkata to Monimohan and Monomohini Mullick. His father Monimohan had a deep interest in traditional Bengali music. He started his early training in

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

under the tutelage of Durgadas Bandyopadhyaya. He studied at the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. ...

of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. An important turning point in his life came when, after finishing his studies, he came in contact with Dinendranath Tagore, who was

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's grand-nephew. This led to Pankaj Mullick's lasting interest in

. Rabindranath Tagore, in turn, grew fond of him, and soon Mullick became known as one of the leading exponents of Tagore's songs.

Career

Tagore's song ''Nemecche Aaj Prothom Badal'' became his first commercial recording, with the Kolkata-based Videophone Company in 1926, at the age of twenty one. This was the first of many albums which made him a household name in Rabindra sangeet. He started his career with the Indian Broadcasting Corporation in Calcutta in 1927, the forerunner of

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

(AIR), along with composer R. C. Boral, where he contributed as a music director and artist for nearly fifty years. Apart from composing songs for movies, he also composed the programme called Mahishashur Mardini. This program was based on the triumph Maa Durga over the demon Mahishashur. The programme included Chandi Path by Birendra Krishna Bhadra and agomoni songs by various singers. This programme gained such a huge popularity that till date, the recorded version of this programme is played by All India Radio on the day of Mahalaya at 4:00 am. He contributed in various capacities to Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil language films for 38 years, starting in 1931. He worked as music director to artists like K.L. Saigal, S.D. Burman, Hemanta Mukherjee,

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian Indian classical music, classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema (India) ...

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

. He acted with famous film actors like K L Saigal, P.C. Barua and Kanan Devi. Along with

Nitin Bose Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 40s, he worked with New Theatr ...

and his renowned sound engineer brother Mukul Bose, Mullick introduced playback singing in Indian cinema. He worked with one of the early film studios, New Theatres Calcutta for 25 years.

Legacy

The Indian Postal Service released a postage stamp on his birth centenary in 2006 on 4 August, and on 10 May,

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

, India's state television channel, telecast a special music programme to commemorate the occasion. Five decades earlier, it was he and

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

danseuse Vyjayanthimala who were lead performers at the nationwide launch of the channel in 1959.

Filmography

Works

* ''Aamar Jug Aamar Gaan'' (Bengali). Firma KLM Pvt Ltd., Calcutta 1980.

References

External links

* A comprehensive resource centre for research and documentation of Pankaj Mullick songs & related memorabilia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullick, Pankaj 1905 births 1978 deaths Scottish Church College alumni Bengali singers Bollywood playback singers Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Bengali playback singers Indian male playback singers Indian male singer-songwriters Indian singer-songwriters Singers from Kolkata Rabindra Sangeet exponents Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts University of Calcutta alumni Hindi film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers Indian male film score composers