Bhupen Hazarika, an extraordinary artist, is being celebrated by Google through their doodle on his birth anniversary i.e. 8th September.
Bhupen Hazarika is known to bring Assamese culture and particularly Assamese music to nationwide prominence. He composed songs in Assamese and also translated them into Bengali and Hindi.
The singer was born on 8th Sept 1926, in Sadiya, Assam Province, British India, with nine siblings. He was introduced to folk music by his mother, And, his talent was spotted at the age of 13 by his Assamese lyricist Jyotiprasad Agarwala and artist Bishnu Prasad Rabha.
Education & Early life
He went to Banaras Hindu University for his BA and MA. During his education, he got married in 1950, to Priyamvada Patel. In 1952, he received his doctoral degree from Columbia University. In New York itself, Hazarika met Paul Robeson, who influenced him to compose one of his finest works.
His artistic ventures
After coming back from the USA, he was associated with the Indian People’s Theatre Association. Although, later he shifted to Kolkata. He ventured into filmmaking and made the national award-winning movie Shakuntala Sur (1961). In addition, he made Pratidhwani (1964), Lati-Ghati (1966), Chik Mik Bijuli (1969), For Whom the Sun Shines (1974) and Mera Dharam Meri Maa (1976).
Bhupen Hazarika also composed music for films like Arop, Ek Pal, and Rudaali. He won the Best Music Director National Award for Rudaali in 1993. He said, he used one of his mother’s lullabies in the movie, Rudaali.
Beyond being a great artist, Bhupen Hazarika was also in politics. From 1967-1972, Hazarika in Assam legislative assembly as an independent MLA. Although, when he contested the Lok Sabha seat on the BJP seat in the 2004 elections, he lost.
He died on November 5, 2011, in Mumbai.
He is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, and the uncrowned king of music.
Awards and Accolades
National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975,
Padma Shri (1977),
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987)
Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992) / Highest award in Indian Cinema
Padma Bhushan (2001),
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008) / the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Posthumously, Padma Vibhushan (2012) / India’s second-highest civilian award
Posthumously, Bharat Ratna (2019) / India’s highest civilian award
There were many more awards given to him by the Assam government and the Bangladesh government.
Conclusion
He was an artist of great calibre. These are the moments when I wish, I could have heard him live. I have heard his songs on Spotify, and YouTube, but the audio quality distorts the great artist.
It is never late to explore great artists!
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