Pratima Bandopadhyay (; 21 December 1934 – 29 July 2004; born as Pratima Chatterjee aka Pratima Chattopadhyay) was a
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 ...
playback singer from
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, who sang numerous songs in popular Bengali language movies and non-film as well, particularly during the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
She was also known as Pratima Banerjee.
Early life
Pratima Bandopadhyay's ancestors came from Baherak (),
Bikrampur
Bikrampur (lit. City of Courage) was a historic region and a sub-division of Dhaka within the Bengal Presidency during the period of British India. Located along the banks of the Padma River (a major distributary of the Ganges), it was a sign ...
(now
Munshiganj
Munshiganj (), historically known as Bikrampur, is a town in Dhaka division in central Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Munshiganj District. Munshiganj is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited urban place.
Etymology
Munshiganj w ...
),
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
. She lost her father Mani Bhushan Chattopadhyay at the age of one. Her mother Kamala Chattopadhyay raised her in their house at
Bhabanipur, Kolkata. She started taking lessons in music at a very early age from Sri Prakash Kali Ghoshal.
Career
Pratima Bandyopadhyay's first record appeared in 1945 through Senola Records. In famous radio programme of
Akashvani
Akashvani may refer to:
* Akashvani (word), a Sanskrit term commonly used in Hindu mythology
* Akashvani (radio broadcaster), previously known as All India Radio
* ''Akaash Vani'', a 2013 Indian Hindi romance film
* '' Akashvani'', a 2016 Indian Ma ...
the song "Amala Kirane" was introduced in the late 40s, another song a duet with
Dwijen Mukhopadhyay "He Charupurno Somoshikhorini" was introduced in the year 1952 which increased her popularity. She made her debut in playback singing in Bengali films in 1951 when she recorded "''Totini ami, Tumi sudurer chand''" under the music direction of Shri Sudhirlal Chakraborty in film "''Sunandar Biye''". Over three decades, she lent her voice to more than 65 Bengali movies and numerous non-film songs.
Death and legacy
After the death of Pratima's husband Shri Amiyo Kumar Bandyopadhyay in 1986, her health deteriorated rapidly, and on 29 July 2004 she breathed her last. She was survived by her daughter Raikishori Bandyopadhyay and son Amarnath Bandyopadhyay and family.
Memoirs
*
Pulak Bandyopadhyay
Pulak Bandyopadhyay (; 2 May 1931 – 7 September 1999) was a Bengali people, Bengali Indian lyricist and songwriter of Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema.
Early life
He was born and brought up in Salkia, Howrah. His family had close links w ...
, the famous and noted lyricist of Bengal of the yesteryear, mentioned in his memoir: ''"When the song "Ke prothom kachhe esechhi", written by me and sung by
Manna Dey
Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...
and
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...
, became popular, I received a call from a mysterious fan, praising the lyrics. She did not reveal her name. Since then I used to receive call from her whenever a song written by me became a sensation. At last one day she agreed to come to meet me at certain location in Elgin road at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I was overwhelmed. The time was approaching, and cleaned my car and got dressed. Then the phone rang. It was
Hemanta Mukherjee
Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other India ...
. He insisted that I should visit his house for creation of Puja songs at 5 o'clock. Pratima Bandopadhyay would be there waiting. All my persuasion to change the date failed. While driving my car towards Hemanta-da's house, the clock was approaching 5, I was thinking about the mysterious lady, and first two lines came in to my mind, "Baro saadh jaage, ekbar tomay dekhi" (I wanna see you just for once). Never heard of the lady ever after. Pratima recorded the song."''
*
Nirmala Mishra recalled: "''One night at about 12 o'clock I received a phone call. It was a great surprise for me, because the caller was none other than the famous artist Pratima Bandopadhyay. She told, 'Nirmala, Manab Babu had given us a song. Let us practice it here.' Regularly Pratima Bandopadhyay used to call me after mid night for practice.''" The song was: ''Abire Rangalo Ke Amay'' /Film ''Mukhujjye Paribar'' (1956).
[; (accessed 30 August 2017)]
Discography
Films
Others
;Musical Opera
Pratima Bandopadhyay also rendered her voice in the following Musical Opera:
*Alibaba (Opera) Part-1 & 2 (Children Opera) created by Kshirod Prasad Bidyabinod. Drama: Pranab Ray, Music: V Blsara.
*Shree Radhar Manbhanjan (Religious Opera). Compilation: Pranab Ray, Music: Rabin Chattopadhyay.
;Music Composition by Pratima Bandopadhyay
* Tandrahara Raat - Hemanta Mukhopadhyay; Lyrics - Debashis Chattopadhyay; Music - Pratima Bandopadhyay; (code 2vY3CeAHI8M).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandopadhyay, Pratima
1933 births
2004 deaths
Bengali playback singers
Singers from Kolkata
Indian women playback singers
21st-century Indian women singers
20th-century Indian singers
Women musicians from West Bengal
20th-century Indian women singers
21st-century Indian singers