Moheener Ghoraguli
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Moheener Ghoraguli or Mohiner Ghoraguli (Bengali: মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলি) is a Bengali indie-rock group from Kolkata.
Established in the 1970s, it was one of the pioneers of rock music in the Bengali language, and although it failed to make much of an impact at the time, its music has since gained a wide following in modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh.
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[edit] Context and origins
Moheener Ghoraguli (or Mohiner Ghoraguli) was formed by a group of Kolkata musicians led by Gautam Chattopadhyay towards the end of 1974. Initially, they called themselves 'Saptarshi', and after dilly-dallying with various names including 'Teerandaz', 'Gautam Chattopadhyay B.Sc. & Somproday' finally settled on the name 'Moheener Ghoraguli' proposed by Ranjon Ghoshal. The name was borrowed from a poem 'Ghora' by Jibanananda Dash.
It is considered by many to be the first Bengali rock band in West Bengal. Around the same time, other Bengali bands such as Souls and Feedback were forming across the border in Bangladesh.
Gautam Chattopadhyay had strong political beliefs; in common with many intelligent and idealistic young men of his generation, he was involved in socialist/communist politics during the 1960s and 1970s. (According to former bandmate Abraham Mazumdar, Gautam may have been involved in the Naxalite movement as well.) This political outlook was reflected in the musical output of the band.
The 1970s were not a propitious time for an experimental group like Moheener Ghoraguli. It was the heyday of classic Bengali singers such as Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Shyamal Mitra, etc - soloists who were responsible for creating the canon of adhunik gaan or 'modern Bengali songs'. These were songs that updated the tradition of Tagore and Nazrul. They were traditional in their instruments and arrangements, and traditional in their themes and lyrics. They often appeared for the first time in the soundtrack of Bengali movies before getting wider release. (Today, these songs have become an integral part of mainstream Bengali culture, and enjoy huge popularity among Bengalis of all ages and backgrounds; they are often referred to as harano diner gaan or 'songs from days past'.)
[edit] Versatile output
In such a conservative climate, Moheener Ghoraguli, with its unorthodox musical compositions and strange choice of song themes, failed to gain much of a fan base. Its songs dealt with everyday topics -politics, poverty, injustice, revolution, love, loneliness, even begging and prostitution. (One song, though recorded almost twenty years later, Bangali Korechho Bhogoban-rey ('Lord you made us Bengali') was a comparative examination of the traits of different cultures - American, British, French, German and Bengali!)
The type of music that Moheener Ghoraguli pioneered, though debatably, had the seeds of now very popular Jibonmukhi gaan or 'Songs of ordinary life'. Two decades after Moheen, singers like Kabir Suman, Nochiketa and Anjan Dutta took Jibonmukhi gaan to a new level of popularity, but the origins of the genre can be found in the songs of Moheener Ghoraguli. On the other hand, it seems perfectly legitimate argument that nobody could successfully follow the simplistic and thematic traditon of this extraordinary banglaband.
The band recorded with Western instruments and also experimented in a variety of musical styles, some of which must have jarred with the sensibilities of its audience. Today, these compositions sound quite contemporary, leading many to conclude that Moheener Ghoraguli was indeed ahead of its time. The band freely borrowed elements from baul shongeet, the folk music of rural Bengal . It can therefore lay claim to be the original Bengali folk-rock band. Many bands since Moheen have adopted similar innovations, among them Feedback, Dolchhut and Bangla.
[edit] Later years
The group played together till 1981 and was then dissolved. Its music too was largely forgotten. Then in the mid-1990s, a decade and a half after its dissolution, Gautam Chattopadhyay decided to revive Moheener Ghoraguli. The original members all had professional commitments now, so Gautam decided to put together a new lineup, composed mainly of young musicians.
The first album issued by the new-look Moheener Ghoraguli was a compilation called Abar Bochhor Kuri Porey ("Again, After Twenty Years"), released at the Kolkata Book Fair. It included a number of original classics from the 1970s, as well as songs recorded by the new lineup. Although listeners were initially slow to catch on, the album proved to be a hit, and it introduced the band to a new generation of music-lovers. Gautam Chattopadhyay finally saw his music gain the popularity and critical recognition that had eluded his band in the 1970s. Several other successful compilations have followed since the first one. Both in their native West Bengal and in Bangladesh, Moheener Ghoraguli is now a much-admired band.
Gautam's death in 1999 was sudden. After returning from location shooting of his last film Rong Bing, which was never completed, the next day he went to the Indropuri studio to meet his longtime cinematographer friend and colleague, Vivek Banerjee and there he collapsed and died of a heart attack. An entire generation of budding musicians who had been popularized by Gautam in Kolkata mourned his untimely death and a tribute album "Moni chara shunno laage" (We feel empty without Moni) was released; it should be noted here that Moni was Gautam's nickname.
[edit] Meaning of the band's name
The name of the band itself is a strange one. The literal meaning of Moheen'er Ghora-guli is "Moheen's horses". While this obscure phrase puzzles many of the band's fans, it is actually taken from a poem Ghora ('Horses') by the great modernist Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. The second line of the poem is:
- Moheener ghoragulo ghash khae Kartik'er jyotsna'r prantorey
loosely translated as:
- "Moheen's horses graze on the horizon, in the Autumn moonlight"
One of the band's most popular songs, Bhalobashi jyotsnae, is a tribute to the natural beauty of the Bengali countryside; the influence of Jibanananda's pastoral poetry is evident throughout the song.
There are other parallels: Jibanananda broke with the literary tradition of his time and introduced modernist themes and diction to Bengali poetry. To some extent, Moheener Ghoraguli attempted to do the same for Bengali popular music.
[edit] Band members
Original lineup:
- Gautam Chattopadhyay (Moni) - vocals, lyrics, lead guitar, saxophone
- Abraham Mazumdar - piano, violin
- Pradip "Bula" Chattopadhyay - bass guitar, flute
- Ranjon Ghoshal - lyrics, emcee, media relations
- Bishu Chattopadhyay - drums, bass violin
- Tapas Das (Bapi) - vocals, guitar
- Tapesh Bandyopadhyay (Bhanu) - vocals, guitar
[edit] Discography
- Shongbigno Pakhikul O Kolkata Bishayak (Ruffled Feathers and on Calcutta) (1977), (Bengali: সংবিগ্ন পাখিকুল ও কলকাতাবিষয়ক)
- Ajaana UDonto bostu ba Aw-Oo-Baw (Unidentified Flying Object or U.F.O) (1978), (Bengali: অজানা উড়ন্ত বস্তু বা আ-উ-ব)
- Drishyomaan Moheener Ghoraguli (Visible Horses of Moheen), (Bengali: দৃশ্যমান মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলি)
- Aabaar Bochhor Kuri Pore (Again, After Twenty-odd Years) (1995), (Bengali: আবার বছরকুড়ি পরে)
- Jhora Somoyer Gaan (Songs of Times Past) (1996), (Bengali: ঝরা সময়ের গান)
- Maya (Illusion) (1997), (Bengali: মায়া)
- Khyapar Gaan (Songs of the Loony) (1999)
- Aabaar Bochhor Kuri Pore extended CD re-release (1999), (Bengali: আবার বছরকুড়ি পরে)
N.B. The corresponding English names are literal translations, and not names under which the albums were released.
[edit] Live performances
The original Moheen lineup performed consistently over the period 1976-1981 throughout the city of Kolkata. Some of their notable performances were at:
- Jogesh Mime Academy (1977)
- Star Theatre (1978)
- Max Mueller Bhavan (1979)
- Rabindra Sadan (1979)
- St. Paul's Cathedral (1980)
- Calcutta International Jazz Festival (1980)
- Calcutta School of Music (1981)
[edit] Covers
Moheener Ghoraguli's music has been covered by a number of Bengali artistes in the 1990s and 2000s, including Bhoomi, Krosswindz and Lakkhichhara. Gaurab Chattopadhyay, son of Goutam, is a catalyst member/drummer of the Kolkata band Lakkhichhara.
In 2006, the original Moheener Ghoraguli song Prithibi ta naki was remade as Bheegi Bheegi by the music-director Pritam Chakrabarty for the Hindi film Gangster which went on to become a chartbuster. The song was sung by Bangladeshi singer James of Nagar Baul fame. Prithibi ta naki was sung by Bonnie who is a founder member of Oikyotaan, a baul fusion band based in Chennai.
[edit] External links
- Moheener Ghora homepage
- Interview with Abraham Mazumdar, former band member
- Reminiscences of Bulada
- Interview with Ranjon Ghoshal and Sangeeta Ghoshal
- Video of "Dhandar Thekeo Jotil Tumi" by the Calcutta Boys, Harvard University 2006
| Moheener Ghoraguli |
| Gautam Chatterjee | Pradip Chatterjee | Ranjon Ghoshal | Bishu Chatterjee | Abraham Mazumdar | Tapas Das | Tapesh Banerjee |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Shongbigno Pakhikul O Kolkata Bishayak | Ajaana UDonto bostu ba Aw-Oo-Baw | Drishyomaan Moheener Ghoraguli | Aabaar Bochhor Kuri Pore | Jhora Somoyer Gaan | Maya | Khyapar Gaan |
