Kamal Dasgupta (28 July 1912 – 20 July 1974), also known as ''Kamal Uddin Ahamed'' was a Bangla music director, composer and folk artist.

Rāga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

and

Thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dra ...

were the main elements of his music.

Early life and career

Dasgupta was born on 28 July 1912 in Narail, Jessore of the then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He matriculated in 1928 from Calcutta Academy and later completed B. Com. from

Comilla Victoria Government College Comilla Victoria Government College is a college in Comilla, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and renowned colleges in Comilla as well as in Chittagong division. The college is located beside of Ranir Dighi on 32 acres of land including its inte ...

. He earned his doctorate in music from

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

in 1943 for his work on

Meerabai Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...

, the composer and singer of Bhajans. His early inspiration came from his father, Tara Prasanna Dasgupta. He took his first music lessons from his brother, Bimal Das Gupta. Later he studied under Dilip Kumar Roy, K C Dey (Kana Keshto), and Jamiruddin Khan. Dasgupta sang modern songs in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, and Tamil. He was also a composer, composing the music for about eight thousand songs. His work was based on classical music and tended towards the Thungri style, though he also drew inspiration from other sources. Dasgupta composed the music for about eighty Bangla films, among them Tufan Mail, Jhamelar Prem, Ei Ki Go Shes Dan. His last film as a music director was Badhu Bharan (1967). He also composed the background music for an American film, War Propaganda. His active life as a composer covered about fourteen years. His unique contribution in music is his invention of a shorthand method for swaralipi (notations). In 1935, Dasgupta joined the

Gramophone Company of India Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...

as a music director. During his term there, he developed a close association with

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...

and composed the music for almost four hundred of his songs. The gramophone records for which Dasgupta composed music were notable in the 1950s and 1960s. Among his songs still notable today are ''Sanjher Taraka Ami'' (I am the star of twilight), ''Prithivi Amare Chay'' (The world needs me), and ''Ami Bhorer Juthika' '(I am the jasmine of morning). Dasgupta died on 18 July 1974 in Dhaka.

Discography

Hindi

Bengali

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Kamal 1912 births 1974 deaths People from Jessore District 20th-century Bangladeshi musicians Bangladeshi film score composers Bangladeshi male musicians 20th-century Bangladeshi male singers 20th-century Bangladeshi singers Comilla Victoria Government College alumni Burials at Banani Graveyard Male film score composers Converts to Islam from Hinduism Bangladeshi Muslims