Pankaj Mullick

Pankaj Kumar Mullick, who was a pioneer of film music and was a Bengali Indian music director along with the advent of playback singing in Indian cinema was born on 10th may 1905, in Calcutta, Bengal presidency. His talent was praised with Padma Shri followed by the Dada SahebPalkhe award (India’s highest award in cinema by the government of India) for his tremendous contribution.

Pankaj Kumar Mullick was known as the devotee of Rabindranath Tagore. As an all-rounder, he used to compose, write, and direct music of Tagore. He had a passion for music since childhood. After completing his matric in 1921, he took admission in a renowned college of Bengal but soon dropped out and started learning music from one of his relatives. While being in college also he devoted his full time to music by performing at functions and festivals.

At one of his social occasion, he met DurgadasBandyopadhyay, a famous singer of that time, who saw the inner talent of Pankaj Mullick and started giving lessons on classical music. As he was attracted towards Tagore songs, he started giving tunes to one or two poems of Tagore, also he brought a new change in Tagore’s song tradition such as the use of the tabla, imposing new beats, and infused new life, mainly with his voice and passionate heart.

And from here his first step of getting fame started, covering a very long journey by recording more than 400 songs and directed music for more than 50 Bangla and Hindi films. During the phase of silent films, he became the famous playing orchestra for Chaser Meye. He gave about half a century [1927-1975] of his carrier to Kolkata radio station.

He gave his service by directing music programs, along with Tagore songs, he taught Nazrul songs in his programme. He also helped to launch a music feature in 1929, to celebrate Durga Puja, for which his work was praised as a music director. Apart from this, he became an advisor to Lokranjanshakha of West Bengal government at the delightful request from Chief Minister Dr.Bidhan Chandra ray. His composition was unstoppable till Date, he also gave music for a memorable program aired by Kolkata radio station to mark the independence of India on 14 August 1947.

His contribution towards music was remarkable. He believed in sharing the knowledge and talent of taking Indian music to another level. He was even called most often to deliver a lecture on music at various seminars. He showed his genius in almost every sphere of music- Kirtan, Bhajan, folk songs, patriotic songs, shyam sangeet and Hindi songs –he is mainly remembered for Tagore songs. And so, he received many awards for his musical talent. The Recitation of Sanskrit Hymn in 1970 was his last work recorded by him.

He also believed in political freedom of people this is why he expressed his feeling of patriotism with the people of Bangladesh, by giving financial help to the cause of the war of liberation. He visited Bangladesh on a government invitation in 1974. Also, he wrote an autobiography named Amar YugGaan. He took his last breath on 19 February 1978, giving his enormous and memorable contribution to Indian music industry. His dedication towards his work was one of the lessons he left for the youth.