Subir Sen
Born(1934-07-24)24 July 1934
Dibrugarh, Assam Province, British India
Died29 December 2015(2015-12-29) (aged 81)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
GenresWorld music, Pop
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Vocal, singing
Years active1950–2015

Subir Sen (24 July 1934 – 29 December 2015)[1][2] was an Indian playback singer who sang modern songs in Bengali and Hindi. He was also one of the artists of Rabindra Sangeet.

Personal life

Sen was born in Dibrugarh, Assam to Sailesh Chandra Sen and Lily Sen. Sailesh was a doctor. They also had a pharmacy in Guwahati. His siblings were Prithwish Sen, Gauri Sen, Sunil Sen and Arun Sen. He passed the Matric Examination from Guwahati and came to Kolkata in pursuit of music.[3] He was married to Roma Sen.

Career in Music

Music interested Subir Sen from a young age. During his schooling, he attended a classical vocal music competition at Morris College, Lucknow. He secured first place and received his award from Pandit Shrikrishna Ratanjankar. In 1951, he came to Kolkata and was admitted to Ashutosh College.[4] While in Kolkata, he started taking music lessons from Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri, who sent Sen to Shri Usha Ranjan Mukherjee to learn thumri.[3]

While he was studying in Ashutosh College he took part in the KEREJU Music Competition conducted by HMV, and he was selected as first among around fourteen hundred competitors.[5][6] Subir Sen described this event in his own words in "আমি তো গেয়েছি সেই গান", where he sang a song composed by his mentor Sri Anupam Ghatak: সারা রাত জ্বলে সন্ধ্যাপ্রদীপ.[7]

Sen's first record was released by Columbia records in February 1954 and contained two Bengali modern songs whose music was composed by Sri Chitto Roy and lyrics written by Sri Shyamal Gupta: 'জীবন-বাতি নিভিয়ে যেদিন' and 'আর কত জানাব তোমায়'.[8] Subir Sen was invited to Mumbai by Guru Dutt. Sudhin Dasgupta too was invited by Guru Dutt to work for his production house. For some time, Subir Sen and Sudhin Dasgupta stayed together in Tardeo Sonawala building in Mumbai when Sudhin composed a song "এত সুর আর এত গান" (Eto sur aar eto gaan), which was recorded by Subir Sen much later.[3] The second record of Subir Sen appeared in 1956 and contained two compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta, 'ঐ উজ্জ্বল দিন ডাকে স্বপ্ন রঙ্গীন' and 'স্বর্ণঝরা সূর্যরঙে'. It was this record of Subir Sen that made him famous and gave Subir Sen a permanent place in the world of Bengali music.[8]

এত সুর আর এত গান যদি কোনদিন থেমে যায়
সেইদিন তুমিও তো ওগো জানি ভুলে যাবে যে আমায়।

কতদিন আর এ জীবন কত আর এ মধু লগন...
তবুও তো পেয়েছি তোমায় জানি ভুলে যাবে যে আমায়।

আমি তো গেয়েছি সেই গান যে গানে দিয়েছিলে প্রাণ...।
ক্ষতি নেই আজ কিছু আর ভুলেছি যত কিছু তার...

এ জীবনে সবই যে হারায় জানি ভুলে যাবে যে আমায়।.[8]

While in Mumbai, Subir Sen was scouted by Shankar-Jaikishan, the famous music composer-duo and was inducted to the Mumbai film industry. In Om Prakash's first production, "Aas Ki Panchhi" (1956) starring Rajendra Kumar, Subir Sen sang the title song through the lip of the hero riding on a bicycle leading a team of NCC cadets: "Dil mera ek aas ka panchhi, udta hai oonche gagan par." Subir Sen also lent his voice to various Hindi movies such as Chhoti Bahen (1959), Boy Friend (1961) and Passport (1961).[9] He was associated with Salil Chowdhury, Sudhin Dasgupta, Abhijit Bandopadhyay, Anal Chatterjee, Amiyo Dasgupta[10] and many other noted music composers of Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai) that time.

In 1967, Subir Sen debuted as a music director when composing music for Bengali film মিস প্রিয়ম্বদা (Miss Priyambada). In 1972, he was music director for the Hindi film "Midnight."[11] The film, directed by Raju, was released in England in 1972. Playback songs were: Koi mera ho gaya (Subir Sen), London ke mele mein & Zindagi Ka Hai Yeh Fasana (Md. Rafi), Tumsa meet mila (Geeta Dutt and Talat Mahmood), and Tere yad mein sajan (Geeta Dutt).[12]

Subir Sen acted in several movies in Bengali and Hindi. He was an actor-singer in Bengali movies Momer Alo (1964) (with Uttam Kumar) and Anubhav (with Sanjeev Kumar). He was offered the lead role in the Hindi movie Abhiman by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and when Subir Sen declined, it was given to Amitabh Bachhan.[13]

Subir Sen's literary contributions are rare and difficult to retrieve, but his writings' spontaneity may be observed in a chapter of a book titled Shyamal Mitra – a compilation of essays, a memoir of Shyamal Mitra.[4]

Awards

Death and legacy

Survived by his daughter (Supriya Sen, presently a professor in occupational therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University), he died of lung cancer in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, at 8 a.m. on 29 December 2015.[16][14][17] Subir Sen had a deep, dreamy, romantic and appealing voice.[18] His renditions of Rabindra Sangeet, Hindi film songs, and Bangla modern songs were popular and represented a genre of its own kind. Sen was fond of Western music, particularly of Jim Reeves and Nat King Cole. According to Abhijit Bandopadhyay, he created an international style of his own.[19]

Runa Laila, a notable Bangladeshi singer, was one of Sen's nieces.[20][21]

Discography

Film and Non-film songs of Subir Sen
Subir Sen Discography
Year Song Film/Director Language Music Composer Lyrics Starring
1962 Aa ja re nayan dware solo Roop Ki Rani Choro Ka Raja
Dir: H S Rawail		 Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen Shailendra Dev Anand & Waheeda Rehman
1962 Aa ja re nayan dware with Asha Bhonsle Roop Ki Rani Choro Ka Raja
H S Rawail		 Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen Shailendra Dev Anand & Waheeda Rehman
- Aagneogiri ke jwolte dekhe - Bengali - - -
1968 Aah dil mein hain nayan mein neer hain Rani Chandrawati Hindi S N Tripathi Lalita Pawar
- Aaha piano amar prothom prem mon rangano - Bengali Kalyan Sen Barat Shibdas Bandyopadhyay -
1956 Aaja re aaja with Geeta Dutt C I D Chhoo Mantar Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen
- Aakash jekhane golpo bole - Bengali - -
1981 Aamar jibon tarani - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1973 Aami je tomar tumi je aamar with Asha Bhonsle Kayaheener Kahini
Dir: Ajay Kar		 Bengali Mukul Roy - Uttam Kumar, Aparna Sen
1973 Aami pore nilam Album titled Mousumi mon Bengali - -
1954 Aar kato janabo tomay - Bengali Chitta Roy Shyamal Gupta Columbia Records
(GE24715)
1981 Aar kichhu smorone nei - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1981 Adhikar ke kake dey - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury CMRS-107[22]
- Aranyer jhor - Bengali Subir Sen Kumar Bishwarup -
- Asto akash jemon kore - Bengali Sailen Mukherjee Indrajit -
1961 Baharen Luta Ke Nazare Dikha Ke with Suman Kalyanpur Anarbala Hindi Bulo C Rani Ramesh Chandra Pandey Daljeet, Krishna Kumari[23]
- Bandhu tomake jeno - Bengali Swapan Roy Gopinath Mukhopadhyay -
1965 Bujh gaya dil ka diya Jadui Anguthi
Dir: A M Khan		 Hindi Suresh Kumar Zafar Rahi Chitra, Manher Desai, Krishna Kumari
1963 Chand tale jhoom jhoom, thirak rahi hain ghoonghar with Suman Kalyanpur Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai
Kedar Kapoor		 Hindi Dattaram Pradeep Kumar, Geeta Bali, Shammi Kapoor
- Chand tumi eto alo kotha hote pele - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Bankim Ghosh -
- Chondon anka chhotto kopal - Bengali - -
1961 Dekho Na Jao Jane Man Boy Friend
Dir: Naresh Saigal		 Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen Shammi Kapoor, Madhubala & Dharmendra[24]
- Deyal ghorite ekhon onek raat Bengali - - -
1980 Dharanir pothe pothe Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1956 Dheere chalo zara with Lata Mangeshkar Aas Ki Panchhi
Dir: Mohan Kumar		 Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen - Rajendra Kumar, Vyjayanthimala
1959 Dil leke ja te ho kahan with Kamal Barot O Tera Kya Kahna
Dir: K. Parvez		 Hindi Kalyanji Virji Shah Indeevar Mehmood, Chitra, Helen[24]
1956 Dil mera ek aas ka panchhi Aas Ki Panchhi Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen - Rajendra Kumar, Vyjayanthimala
- Dur diganta dheke achhe meghe - Bengali - -
1981 Dustara paarabaar - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1968 E jeno sei chokh Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Banerjee -
- E raat nibir holo Bengali - - -
- Ei ujjwalo din daake swapno rangeen - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
- Ek rash elo chul Bengali -
1957 Eto sur aar eto gaan Puja Album Bengali Sudhin Dasgupta Sudhin Dasgupta -
1964 Gagan ke chanda na poochh humse with Lata Mangeskar Apne Huye Paraye
Ajit Chakraborty		 Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen - Manoj Kumar & Mala Sinha
1960 Gar tum bura na mano with Asha Bhonsle Mehlon ke khwab
Dir: Muhafiz Haider		 Hindi S. Mohinder Raja Mehdi Ali Khan Pradeep Kumar & Madhubala[24]
1959 Gori tere natkhat naina with Geeta Dutt Hum Bhi Insaan Hain Hindi Hemanta Mukherjee Shailendra -
- Haajar golap ghirechhilo more - Bengali Subir Sen Anup Chatterjee -
- Haate sob Haat-Ghori bandha - Bengali Subir Sen -
1968 Hoyto tomar anek khoti korechhi Album "Eto Sur Ar Eto Gaan" Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Banerjee -
1960 Humein yun rahon par chalna hai with Aratu Mukherjee Masoom
Dir: Satyen Bose		 Hindi Rabin Banerjee Raja Mehdi Ali Khan Sarosh Irani, Aziz, Honey Irani
1981 Jaanina jaanina kon sagorer dheu - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
- Jaar alo nive gechhe - Bengali Prabir Mazumder Prabir Mazumder -
- Jakhan haat baralei akash - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Babu Guhathakurata -
1969 Jayse pani chhupa ghata mein with Lata Mangeskar Bandhan
Dir: Narendra Bedi		 Hindi Kalyanji–Anandji Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Jeevan
- Je buke tomar byatha chhilo - Bengali Subir Sen Kumar Bishwarup -
1954 Jiban baati niviye - Bengali Chitta Roy Shyamal Gupta Columbia Records
(GE24715)
- Kalo meghe dambaru - Bengali Bhupen Hazarika Pulak Bandyopadhyay -
1962 Kasam na lijiye with Purnima Sett Jadu Mahal
Dir: Akkoo		 Hindi Bulo C Rani - Helen, Ajit, Azad, Hiralal
1965 Ki bhalo laglo chokhe - Bengali Sudhin Dasgupta Sunil Baran
1981 Kichhudin pore ar - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
- Kichhu phul diye aaj - Bengali Anal Chatterjee Shyamal Gupta
1972 Koi mera ho gaya Midnight
Dir: Raju		 Hindi Subir Sen Tajdar Taj
1981 Kono bhalo kobitar duti ponkti dao - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1989 Konodin tumi aar gaibe na - Bengali - - In memory of Hemanta Mukherjee after his death
1962 Kya kaha jara phir kaho with Geeta Dutt Gangu Hindi Kalyanji – Anandji Qamar Zalalabadi or Prem Dhawan Chandrashekhar and Naaz
- Lal dopati o phul tomar - Bengali - - -
1959 Main rangeela pyar ki rahi with Lata Mangeskar & Ameen Sayani Chhoti Bahen Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen Hasrat Jaipuri Balraj Sahni, Nanda, Shyama
1957 Manzil wohi hai pyar ki Kathputli Hindi Shankar – Jaikishen Shailendra Vyjayanthimala and Balraj Sahni[24]
1967 Monalisa tumi ke balona - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Banerjee -
- Nagar jiban chhobir maton hoyto - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Amiyo Dasgupta -
1966 Noy thakle aro kichhukhon - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Gauriprasanna Mazumder -
1981 Odhikar ke kake dey - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1964 Ogo kajol noyona Momer Alo Bengali Robin Chatterjee - Subir Sen, Sabitri Chattopadhyay, Uttam Kumar
- Ogo Shakuntola - Bengali Bhupen Hazarika Pulak Bandyopadhyay -
- Oi ujjwalo din daake swapno rongin - Bengali Sudhin Dasgupta Sudhin Dasgupta -
1981 Pagol Haowa aamar mato tumio hariye gele Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury 2126-3115
1969 Phaguner daak elo je with Sandhya Mukherjee Aparichito
Dir" Salil Datta		 Bengali Robin Chatterjee - -
- Phis phis bon jhau - Bengali - - -
1989 Phooler bagicha hote sera phul - Bengali Buddhadeb Gangopadhyay Shyamal Sengupta In memory of Hemanta Mukherjee after his death
1989 Poth je ekhono baki - Bengali - - -
1959 Pyar mein milna sanam with Lata Mangeskar Ardhangini Hindi Vasant Desai Majrooh Sultanpuri Raj Kumar & Meena Kumari
- Raat holo nijhum - Bengali - Gauriprasanna Mazumder -
- Sandhya logone swapno magane - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Shyamal Ghosh -
1967 Saradin tomay bhebe - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Banerjee -
1971 Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone Anubhav
Dir: Basu Bhattacharya		 Rabindra Sangeet in Hindi movie Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore Subir Sen as guest artist, with Sanjeev Kumar
- Shato barsho ki tar-o besi kichhi aage - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury [25]
- Siri uthe gechhe dhaape dhaape - Bengali - - -
- Sudhu sei gaane aaji - Bengali - - -
1981 Sukher bandhan jei na chukalam - Bengali Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury -
1961 Sun le dastaan yun na sata Passport
Dir: Pramode Chakravorty		 Hindi Kalyanji – Anandji - Pradeep Kumar, Madhubala
- Sundar kichhu dekhle pore - Bengali - - -
- Swarna jhora surya ronge - Bengali Sudhin Dasgupta Sudhin Dasgupta -
1962 Thaam mujhe gir na jaaoon Raaz Ki Baat
Dir: Bolton Ci Nagi		 Hindi Rabin Banerjee Hairat Sitapuri Agha, Abhi Bhattacharya, Mohan Choti
1957 Tomar haasi lukiye haase - Bengali Sudhin Dasgupta Anal Chatterjee -
1957 Tomar shishir bheja - Bengali Anal Chattopadhyay Samir Deb -
- Tomare peyechhi bole - Bengali - - -
- Tomay peyechhi aami - Bengali Sailen Mukherjee Indrajit -
1966 Tomra amar gaan shune aaj - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Gauriprasanna Mazumder -
- Tumi amar prem - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Miltu Ghosh -
1964 Tumi bolechhile - Bengali Abhijit Banerjee Shibdas Bandopadhyay / or/ Amiyo Dasgupta -
1968 Yeh pukar kiske liye geet banke with Suman Kalyanpur Rani Chandrawati Hindi S N Tripathi Lalita Pawar
Rabindra Sangeet by Subir Sen
Subir Sen Discography
Song Co-singer Album
Asa Jaoar Pother Dhare Purabi Mukhopadhyay Nabin Megher Sur by SAREGAMA[26]
O dekhbi re bhai ay re chhute - -
Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone - Anubhav (1971)

References

  1. ^ "এত সুর আর এত কষ্ট". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Singer Subir Sen dead". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Subir Sen Interview: Part 1: KOLKATA GAAN". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b Sen, Subir (2010). "বুকের মধ্যে ধরে রেখেছি". In Chattopadhyay, Alok (ed.). Shyamal Mitra – a compilation of essays. Kolkata: Aajkal Publishrs' Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-7990-115-1.
  5. ^ "Weekend Classics Radio Show – Subir Sen Special". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  6. ^ "শিল্পী". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  7. ^ Sen, Subir (2009). "আমি তো গেয়েছি সেই গান". Sudhin Dasgupta – Collection of Musical Essays. Kolkata: Aajkal Publishrs' Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-7990-083-3.
  8. ^ a b c "সম্পাদক সমীপেষু: প্রথম রেকর্ড অন্য". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Subir Sen Biography". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Subir Sen Interview: Part 2: KOLKATA GAAN". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Midnight". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Zindagi Ka Hai Yeh Fasana – Mohd. Rafi (Midnight – 1972)". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Subir Sen Interview: Part 3: KOLKATA GAAN". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Veteran singer Subir Sen passes away". Business Standard India. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Soumitra refuses Banga Bibhushan Award". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Veteran singer Subir Sen passes away in Kolkata". The Hindu. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Subir Sen passes away". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  18. ^ "এত সুর আর এত গান তুলে রেখে সুরলোকে সুবীর সেন". 29 December 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Abhijit Banerjee: Subir Sen punched the styles of Jim Reeves". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  20. ^ "৭১-এ রুনা লায়লা". মানবজমিন. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  21. ^ "৬৭-তে রুনা লায়লা, জন্মদিনে ভারতে বিশেষ আয়োজন". www.jugantor.com. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  22. ^ Gupta, Samir Kumar (2011). সলিল চৌধুরী - প্রথম জীবন ও গণসংগীত. Milemishe, Kolkata.
  23. ^ "Anarbala 1961". January 1961. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  24. ^ a b c d "Radio Ceylon – 29-12-2017 – FS (Tribute to Subir Sen)". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  25. ^ "শতবর্ষ কি তারও বেশী কিছু আগে". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Asa Jaoar Pother Dhare". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
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