Music maestros recall Kolkata’s jugalbandis with Birju Maharaj – Times of India

KOLKATA: The unforgettable Kathak recital of Pt Birju Maharaj in concert with Ustad Zakir Hussain at Golpark Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture remains the talk of town. So do his jugalbandis with Pt Ajoy Chakraborty and Vidushi Girija Devi. There is also footage of him singing Manna Dey’s ‘Jodi kagoje lekho naam’ at a city concert. His Bengali pronunciation was impeccable. The maestro played the harmonium too. His fondness for Manna Dey was evident from his rendition. Seated next was his disciple, Vidushi Saswati Sen, who diligently held a notebook of the Bengali lyrics.
Many such memories have been doing the rounds of Kolkata’s music corridors ever since the news of the legend’s demise broke out. Pt Kumar Bose, who has accompanied him at countless concerts in India and abroad since 1980, remembered a Kolkata concert in the mid-90s that was organized by Rajan-Sajan Mishra’s Swar Ganga group. In the front row were 51 eminent musicians, who were being felicitated. The atmosphere was charged up and there was magic on stage. “The programme was organized by Rajan-Sajan Mishra. That was an important incentive. Presence of many eminent musicians in the front row was inspiring too,” he said. Clearly, that concert stands out as one of Bose’s memorable Kolkata programmes with the maestro. Describing their chemistry, Bose said, “He loved my playing style and was fond of my guru, Pt Kishan Maharaj. Knowing dance steps alone didn’t make him a legend. He was a complete musician, singing, composing, choreographing, playing tabla and writing poetry.”

A still from Chidananda Dasgupta’s ‘Birju Maharaj’. Courtesy: National Film Archive of India (NFAI)
Many also remember Chidananda Dasgupta directing a black-and-white Films Division documentary on him in 1972 that has priceless footage of the maestro as a guru and in performance. That apart, it has him recalling his growing years when he would dance at the Nawab of Rampur’s court. A rare footage has him showing a cannonball that was hurled by the British in 1857 at his ancestral residence which was gifted to the family by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula.

The rare footage of him narrating the story of the cannonball from the documentary
Thankfully, NFAI has scanned the Original Camera Negative (OCN) of the film in 2K resolution to get the highest quality results. “We also carried out some basic level grading for its exclusive screening on November 20 in Kolkata by the Chidananda Dasgupta Memorial Trust. We will soon take up the restoration work,” said NFAI’s director Prakash Magdum.

Another still of the maestro in performance from the documentary titled ‘Birju Maharaj’
One of the stories doing the rounds is of how Satyajit Ray had invited him to sing ‘Kanha main tose haari’ for his ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ in 1977. A young Saswati Sen had danced to this Bhairavi composition that was sung by him. “My father was fond of both his dance and singing style. We had met in Hyderabad. Birju Maharaj had come down to Kolkata with his troupe and had recorded the song at a studio in Dumdum. It was picturized on an actor from his troupe,” said director Sandip Ray. Ray’s focus-puller Anil Ghosh, who had met the maestro during the song’s shooting at the Indrapuri Studio, said, “Manik-da (Ray) wanted an offbeat voice. Having Birju Maharaj on the sets helped since kathak had achieved greater heights under Nawab Wajid Ali Shah – the character played by Amjad Khan in the film.”
If seniors including Pt Anindo Chatterjee, Pt Samar Saha and Pt Subhen Chatterjee have fond memories of accompanying the maestro in Kolkata, youngsters have had a brush with him too. When young sarod player Indrayudh Majumder wrote, composed, and produced a song for peace named ‘Om Shanti’ during the first lockdown, he “blessed” the project with his world-famous “Bhaav”. “We had 24 most prominent faces of Indian classical music and dance across India recording and shooting from their homes for this project. Pandit Birju Maharaj-ji was not in the best of his health during that time. So, he sat on a chair in his bedroom and blessed us with his world-famous ‘Bhaav’ (expressions in dance) for the lines, Om Shanti. He appeared on our music video too for just a few seconds. That made the entire project immortal in our hearts,” Majumder said. When Pt Subhankar Banerjee was critical, he would regularly call up to know about the progress of the tabla player who had accompanied him on numerous occasions.
Last November, Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar had met him at Saswati’s Delhi residence. “He had learnt the sarod and had wanted me to play,” he said. But that finally didn’t happen since both were engrossed in an adda. With Pt Bickram Ghosh, he had engaged in a percussion duet on stage. “I had gone to play a tabla solo on his birthday in Delhi. He was so excited hearing my solo that he asked his students to bring his naal on stage. It was an exhilarating experience that I’ll cherish lifelong,” he said.