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Salil Chowdhury
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Antara Chowdhury

Antara, Salil and Sabita's elder daughter started singing from an early age. She stunned everybody when she recorded that beautiful song in the film 'Minoo' with Manna Dey....'Teri galiyo.n mei.n hum aayee'. Antara became a household name when Salil composed over 25 children's songs for her. Before Salil, children's songs were practically unknown in Bengal besides probably some compositions by Annada Shankar Roy. These songs changed that completely and are still extremely popular. In his typical style, Salil composed some wonderful songs such as 'O maago ma' and 'Bul bul paakhi moina tiyee'. These songs, although for children, often raised questions and made sharp comments on the social injustice. Since then Antara has matured into an excellent singer, well trained in Hindusthani classical music and western music. She is also a fine pianist, a talented composer and arranger. She had to struggle hard though to shake off her original image of a singer who only sang 'Children's songs'.

ID Song Title Year Cross-Ref / Variations
AN1Bulbul paakhi moyna tiye1977Mal: SP2 Oth: GS2
AN2Ek je chhilo dustu chhele1977-
AN3Ek je chhilo maachhi1977-
AN4O aayre chhute aay1977-
AN5Na dir dir naa1978Mal: DV3
AN6Keu kakhono thhik dupure1978-
AN7Khukumoni go sonaa1978-
AN8O maago maa1978Hnd: RN3 Mal: EO4
AN9Byangeder gaan sekhaa1979-
AN10Hobuchandra raja1979Hnd: NK6 Mal: AH1
AN11Iskaboner Deshe1979Bng: OS4
AN12Teler shishi bhaanglo boleyLyrics: Annada Shankar Roy1979Bng: OS5
AN13Putul Putul1980-
AN14Akaa NoDe, kaane KoDe1980-
AN15Naa naa putul sonaa1981Hnd: NM1
AN16Ekkaa dokkaa tekkaa1981-
AN17Gorbori sing1981Hnd: NM2
AN18Dhoro dekhi dhorte ki paarbe1981-
AN19Surjer aalo ese ghaase poDe (with Sabita & Sanchari)1982-
AN20Daadkhaani chaalLyrics: Yogindranath Sarkar1983-
AN21Haraadhaner dashti chheleyLyrics: Yogindranath Sarkar1983-
AN22Ak po dudh kinechhi (Traditional rewritten)1983Bng: OS40
AN23Chhi chhi raandhte sekhey niLyrics: Chandicharan Bandyopadhyay1983-
AN24Baburam saapureyLyrics: Sukumar Roy1983-
AN25Sandhyaraani saanjher belaay1983-
AN26Jhanana jhanana baaje1988-
AN27Bosey bosey ketey galo1990Mal: EO3 Bng: DB4
AN28Amono saghana barashaay1990Hnd: OB11
AN29Kono bhaalo kobitaar duto ponkti daao1990Hnd: OB10 Bng: SS7
AN30Kano elenaa1990Hnd: TR1
AN31Aami chaaini to kichhu1990Mal: TB4
AN32Akdin sandhyaay1990Hnd: PV5
AN33O ki je kori1990-
AN34O bholaa mon1990Hnd: TK3
AN35Janam janamer saathi1990Hnd: MN4 Mal: RG3

Musical Analysis & Observations

Salil composed some wonderful new songs in the late eighties and nineties, experimenting continuously with new styles and new techniques. However, quite a few of these songs did not become popular because they were not marketed properly. One of them is 'Amono saghana barashaay'. Using rich strings and the appropriate Raag, he created a wonderful atmosphere of the rain!

The other exceptional composition is 'O bhola mon'. Salil used the Suspended 4th chords with the 5/4 rhythm (paanch maatra) for this folkish song. I consider this song one of his best. In fact, he was quite proud of it himself. This song is based on the amazing title music of the TV Serial 'Darpan' which Salil composed in 1985. This piece is truly a vintage Salil classic with amazing chord progression and harmony.

At the same time, Salil did some strange things for which I have no explanation. For example, he let Antara sing a pretty sub-standard Bengali version (song #AN32) of that most beautiful Lata and Hemanta duet ('Jhirjhir jhirjhir badarawa barse') from the film 'Parivaar'. Salil even changed the melody of the 'antara' in this Bengali version, which was not to everybody's liking. He also wrote the lyrics of another traditional song previously recorded by Ranu Mukhopadhaay ('Akash kusum diye') and let Antara record it again as 'Ak po dudh kinechhi'.