Abhijit Banerjee (composer)

Abhijit Banerjee (July 24, 1931 – February 21, 2022; ) was an Indian composer and lyricist, who primarily composed music for Bengali non-film songs (singles). He worked with musicians such as Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Pratima Bandyopadhyay, Pulak Bandyopadhyay and others. He was a close associate of Salil Chowdhury and a music teacher at Bani Chakra school. Banerjee was born in Kolkata in 1931 and took interest in Rabindra Sangeet. He was brought into music by his friend Prabir Mazumdar and first played xylophone while in class eight. He played near a railway station where meetings were held, and from there got to know Salil Chowdhury. His first composition was when his brother asked him to compose two poems. His second poem was acknowledged by Salil Chowdhury, who took the song to Saregama. It was sung by Shyamal Mitra. He inspired songs by Salil Chowdhury like “Dhitang Dhitang Bole” and “Ranar.” Later, he worked with Pulak Bandyopadhyay and composed film songs with him like “O Pakhi Ure Aay” by Asha Bhosle and “Ekhono Sarengita Bajche” by Haimanti Shukla. He died in 2022 from health issues of old age. Mamata Banerjee, Shukla and others respond