Renuka Dasgupta

Renuka Dasgupta
Year : 1949
Background information
Birth name	Renuka Sengupta
Born	22 August 1910 Konnagar, Bengal Province, British India (now in West Bengal, India)
Died	1 January 1991 Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Genres	Atulprasadi, Thumri, Nazrulgeeti, Rabindra Sangeet, Bhajan
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1925 – 1972
Labels	Hindustan Records (INRECO), HMV(Saregama)

Renuka Dasgupta née Sengupta(22 Aug 1910 - 1 Jan 1991, Calcutta,WB ) was a Bengali singer, considered one of the best-known exponents of the songs of Atulprasad Sen. She was amongst the few singers to learn directly from Atulprasad Sen, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Dilipkumar Roy.

Early life

Born in Konnagar, West Bengal Renuka Dasgupta lived in Gaya till the age of 5. Her family then moved to Tikatuli, Dhaka where she remained based till her marriage to Hirendra Chandra Dasgupta a graduate engineer of Bengal Engineering College which was then affiliated with the University of Calcutta in the early 1930s. Post marriage she moved and settled permanently in Calcutta. She had 2 children. She was a cousin of Sahana Devi, Atulprasad Sen, Kanak Biswas(née Das).^[1] Renuka Dasgupta taught Music in Kamrunnesa Girls High School at Tikatuli, Dhaka in the late 1920s. She also owned and managed a small civil engineering firm for 3 decades.

Early work

In 1932, three Indian recording companies were born in Calcutta out of a nationalistic urge to compete with the British-owned Gramophone Company of India. One of these was Hindusthan Records. The owner C.C.Saha requested Rabindranath Tagore to record some songs and recitations. From those recordings was published the first record H1. Atulprasad Sen recorded two songs which were published in the second record H2. The third record H3 had the songs 'Jodi gokulachandra braje na elo' (kirtan) and 'Pagla montare tui bandh' (Atulprasad) sung by Renuka Sengupta. Sale for this record reached an unprecedented high mark, such was the popularity of these songs.^[2] Her repertoire ranged from AtulPrasad, Rabindrasangeet, Nazrulgeeti, Bhajan, Kirtan, Shyamasangeet to even Bhatiali.

Contrary to popular, belief "Jodi gokulachandra braje na elo" is not written by Atul Prasad Sen. She was also trained by Kazi Nazrul Islam - recorded 2 songs under his tutelage, Krishna Chandra Dey - the recorded song was "Aye Bhikharin Premnagar Ke Pritam Pritam Bole".In 1935 Rabindranath Tagore wanted her to sing couple of his songs and instructed Dinendranath Tagore to train her. However this project suffered a big blow with the untimely death of Dinedranath in the following week. The task was taken up by Sailajaranjan Majumdar, who trained and guided her through the recordings of the 5 Rabindrasangeets she sang in her career.^[3]

It is a pity that through biographers' efforts, the performers who inspired Albert Einstein are well-known, but people have forgotten this singer who inspired the two greatest physicists of Bengal, Meghnad Saha and Satyendranath Bose.

Recorded Rabindrasangeet

1. Diner Pore Din Je Gelo (1935) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w53tDu1KuFE
2. Aamaar Ki Bedonaa (1935)
3. Basante Basante Tomar Kobi Re Dao Dak http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPLNY1KAPk ^[3]
4. Koto Katha Tare Chilo Bolite ^[3]
5. Tomaro Shurer Dhara

Recorded Songs of Atul Prasad (list incomplete)

1. Pagla Monta Re Tui Bandh
2. Emono Badole Tumi Kothay
3. Nid Nahi Akhi Pate
4. Esho Dujaney Kheli
5. Ki Aar Chaahibo Bolo
6. Ohe Jagatkaron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev6GETJTcoY ^[4]
7. Chaa(n)dni Raatey
8. Amaar Chokh Be(n)dhey Bhober Khelay
9. Jodi Tor Hrid Jamunaa
10. Ke Go Gaahiley
11. Ki Roop Dekhinu Kaalaa
12. Ogo Saathi Momo Saathi
13. Shuktara Tomar Chholo Chholo Akhi

Recorded Songs of Other Genre (list incomplete)

1. Jodi Gokulochandra Braje Na Elo
2. Aye Bhikarin Prem Nagar Ki

References

Jasodhara Bagchi, Leela Gulati (ed.). "Matriliny within Patriliny" (Print). A Space of Her Own :Personal Narratives of Twelve Women. Sage Publications (CA). p. 228. 9780761933151. Retrieved October 2011. "Renuka Dasgupta, who took Bengali listeners by storm with her one song *Jodi Gokulochandra Braje Na Elo* that is still remembered by generations even after a passage of eight decades. She shot into fame and became virtually a household name....." 

Abismaraniyo Rabindrasangeet vol 1 (Audio CD/ Cassette). Saregama. 2003. 

Interview with Renuka Dasgupta by Subhas Chowdhury (Video). Rajya Sangeet Academy, West Bengal. 1989. 

"Ohe Jagatkaron" (wmv). Retrieved October 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Dasgupta, Renuka
Alternative names	Sengupta, Renuka
Short description	Bengali musician
Date of birth	08/22/1910
Place of birth	Konnagar, West Bengal
Date of death	01/01/1991
Place of death	Calcutta