Kolkata: Well-known Bengali singer Mrinal
Chakraborty, whose romantic voice captivated audiences from
the fifties to the seventies, died following multi-organ
failure, his family said on Thursday night.
Chakraborty, 80, is survived by his wife and son.
He was admitted to a south Kolkata nursing home with
stomach pain and underwent an operation on June 18. Although
he showed initial sings of improvement, his condition
deteriorated from June 21. The end came last night.
Born in Rajpur in South 24-Parganas district adjoining
Kolkata, Chakraborty was trained by well-known classical
vocalist Tarapada Chakraborty. He had initial lessons
in music from his mother.
Under the influence of eminent composer Salil Chowdhury
who was his neighbour at Rajpur, Chakraborty joined Gananatya
Sangha, the Communist Party`s cultural wing, in the forties.
Later, he was introduced to music circles in Kolkata by
Dhananjoy Bhattacharya who himself was then ruling the
airwaves and musical soirees with his songs.
With his first record `Jamuna Kinare Sajahaner` becoming
an instant hit, Chakraborty went on to churn out melodies like
`Tung Tang Tung Tang Churir Tale,` `Nodi Chole Jabei Jani`
`Hariye Phelechhi Mon,` `Jodi Durey Chole Jai` and many
others, all of which became very popular.
He also did play-back singing for a number of films,
notable being `Archana,` `Nirjon Saikate,` `Tonsil,`
`Louhakapat,` `Bohurupee,` `Bon Jyotsnai,` `Siulibari,` and
`Bidhilipi.`
For nearly three decades since the fifties, Chakraborty`s
songs featured regularly in the All India Radio`s highly
popular show `Anurodher Aasar.`
After a lull during the nineties, he made a comeback in
the FM era with listeners frequently requesting for his songs.
PTI
