{"id":146,"date":"2013-11-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/5th-november-2011-indian-lyricist-and-musician-bhupen-hazarika-passed-away\/"},"modified":"2013-11-05T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-05T10:00:00","slug":"5th-november-2011-indian-lyricist-and-musician-bhupen-hazarika-passed-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/5th-november-2011-indian-lyricist-and-musician-bhupen-hazarika-passed-away","title":{"rendered":"5th November 2011: Indian lyricist and musician Bhupen Hazarika passed away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Known at the \u2018Bard of Brahmaputra\u2019, Bhupen Hazarika, a singer, poet, musician and more, died on November 5, 2011. One of the greatest cultural icons of Assam, Hazarika, who wrote songs mainly in Assamese, was also a political activist and filmmaker. His songs, known for their themes of humanity and empathy, have been translated into several languages, especially Bengali and Hindi. <\/span><\/p>\n

The eldest of 10 children, Hazarika was born on September 8, 1926 in Sadiya, Assam. His mother, Shantipriya, was an early musical influence on him. \u201cAlthough listening to the rhythms of tribal music growing up developed my love for singing, I inherited my voice from my mother, who regularly sang lullabies to me as a child,\u201d he once said.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

When he was just 10 years old, he got to know Assamese lyricist, playwright and film-maker Jyotiprasad Agarwala, and poet Bishnu Prasad Rabha, both icons of Assam. In 1936, Hazarika recorded his first song at Kolkata\u2019s Aurora Studio. He entered the world of films when he sang two songs in \u2018Indramalati\u2019, Agarwala\u2019s 1939 film. When he was 13, he wrote his first song, Agnijugor Firingoti Moi<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The young Hazarika was attracted to the Indian freedom struggle. He would attend secret meetings with other freedom fighters and intellectuals, and the \u201crevolutionary\u201d in him was born. His music and, later, his films \u201cportrayed that ethnic anger I suffered from\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after securing a Masters degree from Banaras Hindu University, he went to the United States on a scholarship. In New York, he became friends with civil rights activist and singer Paul Robeson. Hazarika\u2019s song Bistirno parore<\/em> was inspired from Robeson’s Ol’ Man River<\/em>, and spoke about how the Ganga had to witness poverty and injustice through the ages. Through his music, he would inspire his state\u2019s people during the bhasha andolan<\/em>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Explaining how Hazarika\u2019s songs were \u201cweapons of the weak\u201d, Arupjyoti Saikia wrote in the Economic & Political Weekly<\/em>: \u201cHis commitment to the cause of the plebeians was mostly reflected through his songs and public life. His songs gave dignity to the poor and downtrodden. His songs were carefully considered, deeply serious documents about people and their troubles. He reminds his listeners about the hungry daily wage labourers, the mighty Brahmaputra, the political potentiality of the poor, and the subaltern identity of the Assamese nationality. A common Assamese villager was introduced to the world of political ideals through his songs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He met Priyamvada Patel at Columbia University, and married her in 1950. When he returned to Assam, he taught at Gauhati University for a while. He then went to Mumbai to work in the Indian People\u2019s Theatre Association. There he managed to convince Lata Mangeshkar to sing a song for his first film as director, Era Bator Sur<\/em>. Over the decades, he worked in Assamese films in various capacities, as producer, director, composer and singer.\u00a0 These include \u2018Era Batar Sur\u2019 (1956), \u2018Shakuntala\u2019 (1960) and Pratitdhwani (1964).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In February 1972, he and his brother Jayanta sang at the Berlin International Festival of Political Songs. Hazarika\u2019s songs were about the newly-created country of Bangladesh and the positive spirit of Assam \u2014 in keeping with his credo as a politically-conscious singer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hazarika met Kalpana Lajmi in 1971 when she was 17, and they would live together till his death. She went on to become a critically acclaimed director, making films such as \u2018Rudaali\u2019, \u2018Daman\u2019, and \u2018Chingaari\u2019. Recalling the time she first met him, in an interview she gave to IANS when Hazarika was 82, she was quoted as saying: \u201cWhen I saw this frail, skinny man wearing a striped orange shirt, I was charmed.\u201d After 1986, Hazarika focussed on collaborating with Lajmi for Hindi films she directed. He would often compose the music and be the playback singer in her films.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

He had short stints with politics too, serving as an Independent MLA from 1967-72 in Assam, and in 2004 contesting (unsuccessfully) as the BJP\u2019s Lok Sabha candidate from Guwahati constituency. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hazarika won several awards in his long career, including the Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Bhushan, Asom Ratna and Padma Vibhshan. He was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1992 for his contribution to cinema; and the Muktijoddha Padak, the highest civilian award by the Bangladesh government, posthumously in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

He remained enthusiastic about his work and music till the end of his life. \u201cI feel very young. In fact, I have never felt younger,\u201d he told The Telegraph<\/em> in 2009, two years before his death. \u201cAnd I have lined up several projects which I will complete one by one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hazarika died in Mumbai of multi-organ failure, following a prolonged illness. An estimated 5 lakh people attended his funeral in Guwahati.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Putting Hazarika\u2019s lifelong work in context, in an article in The Hindu<\/em> after his death, Ziya Us Salam wrote: \u201cGutsy and avowedly anti-establishment, Bhupen Hazarika [\u2026] was a musical genius who put Assam on the country\u2019s cultural map through his compositions and songs and his contribution to the development of Assamese cinema. For all his accomplishments, however, he remained, for the rest of the country, an unsung hero.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also on this day:<\/span><\/p>\n

1917 \u2014 Banarsi Das Gupta, chief minister of Haryana, was born \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1930 \u2014Arjun Singh, Union Minister and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, was born<\/span><\/p>\n

1952 \u2014 Vandana Shiva, environmental activist, was born<\/span><\/p>\n

1955 \u2014 Karan Thapar, journalist and television commentator, was born<\/span><\/p>\n

1988 \u2014 Virat Kohli, Indian cricketer, was born <\/span><\/p>\n

2008 \u2014 B.R. Chopra, director and producer of movies and television serials, passed away<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Known at the \u2018Bard of Brahmaputra\u2019, Bhupen Hazarika, a singer, poet, musician and more, died on November 5, 2011. One of the greatest cultural icons of Assam, Hazarika, who wrote songs mainly in Assamese, was also a political activist and filmmaker. His songs, known for their themes of humanity and empathy, have been translated into several languages, especially Bengali and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n5th November 2011: Indian lyricist and musician Bhupen Hazarika passed away -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"- 5th November 2011: Indian lyricist and musician Bhupen Hazarika passed away\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/5th-november-2011-indian-lyricist-and-musician-bhupen-hazarika-passed-away\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5th November 2011: Indian lyricist and musician Bhupen Hazarika passed away -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"- 5th November 2011: Indian lyricist and musician Bhupen Hazarika passed away\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/5th-november-2011-indian-lyricist-and-musician-bhupen-hazarika-passed-away\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What Happened on This Day in History - 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