Dwijen Mukherjee
Dwijen Mukherjee first came into limelight due his very "Hemanta-Like" voice. Of course he was also an excellent singer and quickly established himself as an accomplished "rabindrasangeet" singer. His friendship with Salil started in the late '40s through their common association with IPTA. Hemanta was also in the IPTA at that time. His next big break came when he recorded the path breaking songs "shyamal boroni ogo kanya" and "klaanti naame go" for Salil. As a composition "shyamal boroni" was a masterpiece and "klaanti naame go" was unique. This album helped Dwijen tremendously. Its phenomenal success followed with other very successful Salil compositions such as "akdin phire jaabo chole", "pallabini go sancharini" etc. One of his rare and beautiful records must be Salil's brilliant composition of Michael Madhusudan Datta's two poems - "rekhomaa daasere mone" and "aashaar chhalane bhooli". He became a close friend of Salil and Salil later invited him to Bombay to sing in a few Hindi films notably Madhumati, Maya, Honeymoon, Jawahar, and Sapan Suhaane. For some strange reason Salil re-recorded some of Dwijen's old songs in the early '80s with disastrous results. Ignoring that, quite a few of Dwijen Mukherjee's songs will always remain popular.
| ID | Song Title | Year | Cross-Ref / Variations |
|---|---|---|---|
| DM1 | Shyamal boroni ogo kanyaa | 1952 | Hnd: CH4 |
| DM2 | Klaanti naame go | 1952 | - |
| DM3 | Rekhomaa daasere moneLyrics: Michael Madhusudhan Datta | 1957 | - |
| DM4 | Aashaar chhalane bhooliLyrics: Michael Madhusudhan Datta | 1957 | - |
| DM5 | Akdin phire jaabo chole | 1963 | Hnd: MA7 Hnd: MA8 |
| DM6 | Pallobini go sanchaarini | 1963 | Hnd: MA2 |
| DM7 | Sajal sajal megh korechhe | 1980 | - |
| DM8 | Meghbaran kaalo chule | 1980 | - |
| DM9 | Eso aaj ei shubhodine (Doordarshan with Calcutta Choir) | 1993 | - |
| DM10 | Banglaa maago (AIR Duet with Sabita Chowdhury) | 19?? | Hnd: DZ2 |
Historical Context & Trivia
Songs DM1 and DM2 were rerecorded by Dwijen in 1980 with very different arrangements by Salil. Specially, 'Shyamal baroni ogo kanya' featured a new choir arrangement in the background which didn't go down very well with the audience. The first recording of this song back in 1952 had created such a lasting impression that listeners found the new jazzed-up version a far cry from the original's soul.
An interesting musical trivia: not many people realise that the first two lines of the well-known Dwijen song 'Klaanti naame go' is based on the melody of 'Happy birthday to you'! Salil masterfully changed the 4/4 rhythm to a 3/4 waltz-like structure, creating an unforgettable and haunting composition that masked its source perfectly.