রবীন্দ্র গানে প্রতিমা চন্দ্র পুরস্কার – ২০১৮ অরূপরতনের সন্ধানে

Sri Manoj Murali Nair, eminent Rabindrasangeet Singer and founder of DaakGhar mentored and arranged the entire competition

The Auditions were judged at Santiniketan by Smt. Bulbul Basu, Smt. Sohini Mukhopadhyay and Sri Ankan Roy and at Kolkata by Smt. Debika Dutta, Smt. Sohini Mukhopadhyay and Smt. Indrani Mukhopadhyay.

3rd December: The contestants –

Ms. Bhumika Ganguly || Ms. Koyali Sarkar || Mr. Supriyo Koley || Ms. Reema Dasgupta || Ms. Ankhi Ray || Ms. Shreetama Roy || Ms. Anuradha Patra || Mr. Koustav Barat || Ms. Sabina Yeasmin Shathi || Mr. Sudipta Chakraborty

Congratulations!! In the competition Ms. Bhumika Ganguly of Rabindranagar, Coochbehar won the First Prize. The Second Prize was won by Ms. Koyali Sarkar of Haltu, Dhakuria, Kolkata. Mr. Supriyo Koley of Jagannathpur, Khanakul, Hoogly won the Third Prize.

শ্রীমতী হৈমন্তী শুক্লা

Smt. Haimanti Sukla

It was only natural for Haimanti Sukla to take to singing, for her father, Late Pt. Harihar Sukla himself was a devoted classical vocalist in the fine tradition of Late Pt. Girija Sankar Chakraborty. She grew under the watchful eyes of her father who taught her everything about Indian classical music. She did her first recording in 1970. She took training from Pt. Chinmay Lahiri. Even before she earned a Union Government scholarship on Indian classical music in 1971, she was a regular name in the artistes’ list at AIR. She rendered Kheyal, Thumri, Bhajans, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Kirtan, Adhunik and many more. She did her first playback in film songs in 1974 under guidance of Shyamal Mitra. She achieved the prestigeous Sangeet Praveen (M. Muse) before reaching twenty. As a latest note she has recieved ‘Degree of Doctor of Literature’ from University of Burdwan in 2017 and ‘Banga Bibhusan Award’ of Govt. of West Bengal in 2014.

She developed a unique blend of classical seriousness and lively charm. She always tends to improvise and experiment, to explore the unexplored. Singing to the tunes of the likes of Ustad Alla Rakha and Naushad, she has been exposed to a wide variety of styles that have helped her mature as a singer. Great composers like Hemanta Mukherjee, Salil Chowdhury and Manna Dey have scored memorable music for her. She has sung a number of film and basic songs composed by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika. Recipient of several BFJA (Bengal Film Journalists’ Association) awards, she also received a Sur Sringer Academy award for her song in Chasme Baddoor in 1981. She was awarded the Mian Tansen Award in 1975 and the Pramatesh Barua Puraskar before that. In a career that spans several decades, Haimanti Sukla has rendered countless songs in Bengali and has also sung a number of songs in different regional languages like Oriya, Gujrati, Punjabi and Assamese and the Bhojpuri dialect.

Haimanti Shukla has a history of so many decades of a successful musical profession. Yet she is considered to be one of the modern singers of today. Her profound classical training and penchant for variety has earned her sustained appreciation at home and abroad. From Classical Music to Modern songs – she performs it with a seemingly effortless manner that has made her so popular among all classes of music lovers.  Whether a bhajan or a ghazal, she can bring out the soul value of the temperamentally different genres of vocal music. An MA in Bengali literature from Rabindra Bharati University, she lives and works in Kolkata. Some of her recent live performances are, Classical Music conference at Barasat and Golf Green, Kolkata, 16th Sangitacharya Radhika Mohan Maitreya Memorial Music Conference, Kolkata, Pandit Vijay Kichlu Sangeet Ashram, Kolkata, Dover Lane Music Conference, Kolkata, Kheyal & Thumri at Kalamandir, Kolkata, organised by Indo Occidental Symbiosis.

শ্রীমতী কমলিনী মুখার্জী

Smt. Kamalini Mukherji

 Smt. Kamalini Mukherji is one of the leading exponents of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs, known in India and Bangladesh as “Rabindra Sangeet”. She has been trained from an early age at Dakshinee, a leading Rabindrasangeet academy in Kolkata, India.

Over the last 11 years she has performed extensively in India, US, Canada, and Bangladesh, and has been a regular face on Bengali television in India, Bangladesh, and the Bengali diaspora across the globe, including the US. In 2013 she went to Mauritius on a mission to teach and spread Tagore’s music in that country on a joint initiative between the Govt. of Mauritius and UNESCO, in commemoration of Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. She has given a solo concert for the President of India, Sri Pranab Mukherjee, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2015. She has had solo and group performances at the North American Bengali Conferences (NABC) in 2013 in Toronto, and in 2016 in New York City. She sang for the 2005 movie Nishijapon, directed by Sandip Ray. Kamalini has 12 albums with one of the leading music labels in India, Saregama, 7 of them solo. This includes a prestigious “Best of Kamalini” collection.

A student of South Point school, Kolkata, Kamalini completed her Bachelor’s in English Literature from Jadavpur University, India with a gold medal in 2001. She then won the (Bill) Gates Cambridge Scholarship and went to St John’s College, Cambridge, UK for a master’s degree. On completing her degree, she spent a year in Collegio Ghislieri, University of Pavia, Italy on an exchange program with St. John’s College.

She aspires to take Tagore’s music to a wider international audience, cutting across generations and geographical boundaries. She currently divides her time between Kolkata and San Francisco.

Smt. Manisha Murali Nair

শ্রীমতী মনীষা মুরালি নায়ার

 Smt. Manisha Murali Nair, along with her elder brother Sri Manoj Murali Nair, are one of the most versatile and popular young exponents of Rabindra Sangeet today. Hailing originally from Kerala, their lives and love for music are intrinsically entwined with Bengal. The family moved to Santiniketan when their father joined the Vishwa Bharati University as Kathakali Guru. Santiniketan provided Manoj and Manisha with the perfect setting for imbibing the nuances of Rabindra Sangeet which both have chosen as their career calling.

Manisha, apart from being a graduate of Hindi Literature, has also completed her post graduation in Rabindra Sangeet. Dakshina Pavana, released by Bhavna Records was their first album which marked the beginning of a truly wonderful musical journey. Singing professionally for many years now, they have released a large number of albums and cassettes of Rabindra Sangeet.