A VERSATILE GENIOUS

Tujhse naraz nahin zindagi… a song that created waves in the world of music and suddenly exposed Anup Ghosal, hitherto not very well known to the people outside Bengal, to the country. Just everybody was talking about the deep, resonant voice.

A versatile singer, Anup Ghosal has rendered his voice to Bengali folk songs, Bengali stage songs, Bengali and Hindi devotional songs, songs of kazi Nazrul and now finallt an album of eight traditional Hindi Bhajans- Hari Naam Sumir - released recently in a cassette and LP record by the HMV.

The compositions of Guru Nanak, Surdas, Meera and Brahamananda, may not be new to the ears of music lovers, but they definitely take on a different quality in Anup Ghosal’s voice. Based mainly on classical Ragas and Talas, assimilated with a devotional spirit, the bhajans are sure to stir both the religious and unreligious minded.

The compositions are further accentuated by the instrumental music under the direction of the music composer Y.S. Moolkij.

A GLOWING TRIBUTE

At a compact function held at Sisir Mancha the members of 'Sanskritiki' paid a glowing tribute to Satyajit Ray on the occasion of the release of a cassette ‘Satyajit Sharone’ by Dr. Anup Ghosal. Following the ‘santi-stotra’ of Anup Ghosal the excerpts of tape-recorded interview in the somber voice of Satyajit Ray made the air nostalgic.

Anup Ghosal rendered the songs of the cassette. Bijoya Ray’s presence on the stage throughout the recital inspired the artist to give his best. Keeping an eye to the theme Anup intelligently applied appropriate technique.

The starting song ‘Sri Satyajiter katha amrito saman’ in the form of panchali brought out the pivotal points of Ray’s work with the stress on the interesting rhythm in kaharva. ‘Maharaja tomare salam’, the following number in the frame of Bhatiali had the desired pensive touch of that phase of Goopi Gyne. But 'Maron tomare haron koria' topped the list for the wonderful synchronization of word and tune.

HIS MASTER VOICE

Anup Ghosal, whose voice animates through playback Satyajit Ray’s musical fantasy, the Goopy trilogy, remembers the maestro’s protean range as a composer

When Dr. Anup Ghosal regaled a Bombay audience with playback songs from Satyajit Ray’s musical fantasies he was drawing attention to an aspect of the auteur’s creative genius which has been little explored.

In Bombay, under the auspices of the Jadavpur University Alumni Association, Anup Ghosal is a proficient singer who shot to fame after the resounding success of Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne(1969), a film Ray made for children.

When Ray first summoned Ghosal for an audition, he was impressed with the latter’s grasp of Bengali folk and Carnatic music. The maestro had already planned a film rich in musical content, displaying a delightful capacity for parody and transmutation of styles, Bengali folk to devotional music.

Having worked closely with Ray, Ghosal is strongly critical of the mechanical way playback music is treated today. “a song is originally the conception of the music composer. If the singer has to project the sentiment or emotion fully, he or she has to spend some time with song to understand the character and the context in which it occurs in the film”.

“I have worked within a fixed system with Ray. He would work on the soundtrack and background score after the shooting was over. So he was aware of the exact requirements of the scenes. He rehearsed for five weeks, then had a stage rehearsal before the actual recording. This called for dedication, planning and a certain amount of passion for one’s repertoire”.

TALENTED SINGER, DR. GHOSAL TO PERFORM

With his vibrant and mellifluent voice, Dr. Anup Ghosal is an highly acclaimed singer from West Bengal. Those who heard him sing at the recently held unveiling ceremony of bronze plaque to commemorate Vivekananda’s historic address, at Fullerton Hall of the Art Institute of Chicago, had a glimpse of his scholarly musical acumen.

Dr. Anup Ghosal is currently on a tour of the U.S. to help raise funds for the Raag Ranjani, a musical institution to promote Indian music with special reference to Bengali songs and its cultural heritage to the youngsters in this country.

Dr. Ghosal has to his credit 48 repertoires from HMV. The renderings include those of Nazrul Geeth, songs of D.L. Roy, Hindi Bhajans, classical, traditional and Bengali folk songs, modern Bengali songs, songs of down memory lane, film songs, songs of Bengali theatre, nursery songs for children. His two daughters - Anupama and Devjani - accompanied him in singing the nursery songs.

DR. GHOSAL HOLDS AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND

Dr. Anup Ghosal, renowned singer of Bengal today enthralled the audience at the Vasantrao Deshpande Hall this evening with his performance. The programme organized in the aid of Saraswat sabha Library provided an opportunity to music lovers to listen the melodious Bengali folk songs from Dr. Anup Ghosal and his troupe.

Gifted with a sweet voice. Dr. Ghosal cast a spell on the audience by presenting members from Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti and Hindi films. He also presented semi- classical numbers from Bengali popular movies. His troupe members Messers Asim Sengupta, Manoj Bandopadhyay, Santanu Bose and Prasanta Chakraborty accopmpained on tabla, synthesizer and sound system. All the artists hail from Calcutta.

Dr. Ghosal, while concluding the programme appealed to the audience to come forward to help the projects of Saraswati Sabha Library.

TIMELESS TUNES

Ever since Anup Ghosal stormed the music scene 30 years ago with the magic of the wandering minstrels in Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha byne, he has been a singer with an identity of his own. Talk of Nazrul on which he received a doctorate, lost tunes from the past that he has helped revive through his superb singing or Rajanikanto on whose 138th birth anniversary he offers a CD and cassette produced by Concord, he has left his own stamp on the music. More so this time when the album, Ke Re Hriday Jage, speaks essentially of surrender to the Almighty that was the cornerstone of Rajanokanto’s songs. But in this case Anup has covered a range of devotional tunes with a soulful rendering that leaves a striking impression.

The essentially secular spirit of the compositions should appeal as much as the technical virtuosity which was evident in the ideas that Anup Ghosal had expressed in his book “Ganer Bhuban” that covers the gamut of Hindusthani classical as well as other forms of music. The album is a hymn to the Almighty but also a spontaneous celebration of timeless tunes.

A NEW VOICE FOR HINDI FILMS

“Is duniya me rishtey naate, dhoop chaon me dhalte saaye”, the title song of the popular Sunday morning television serial, “Apne Paraye”, has made Dr. Anup Ghosal almost a household name. his popularity has also spread fast among the music lovers in the country for his vocal renderings in a number of Hindi films.

In the post-Kishore Kumar era in the Hindi films, a talent like Dr. Ghosal holds a tremendous prospect. The death in quick succession of Mukesh, Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Kumar and the retirement of Hemant Kumar and Manna Dey, has created a void in the field of playback singing. Dr. Ghosal is among the few strong contenders for the top notch.

For Dr. Ghosal music is not just a profession but a way of life. Earning money is necessary but not the sole aim of life if it has to come at the cost of art. He is keen to secure assignments in Hindi films because it will provide him a national platform for recognition besides money. But for that he has no intension to make Bombay his permanent abode.