Legendary singer Sandhya Mukherjee, also known as Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, died on Tuesday at the age of 90 after suffering a cardiac arrest. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shantanu Sen took to Twitter to share the news of her demise.
According to hospital reports, the veteran Bengali singer suffered a massive cardiac arrest earlier in the day and passed away despite strenuous efforts to recover her.
She was a pupil of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and was born and raised in Kolkata. She began her career in Bollywood as a classical musician and has sung for 17 Hindi films. She later returned to Kolkata and married Bengali poet Shyamal Gupta in 1966, who authored many of her songs’ lyrics.
S.D. Burman, Naushad, and Salil Chaudhury were among the notable music directors with whom she collaborated.
Sandhya Mukherjee made headlines after declining the Padma Shri award and being admitted to the hospital in the last week of January for problems related to the Covid-19 infection. When she was called by federal government officials over the phone for her consent, she declined the offer of the Padma Shri award.
According to sources, Sandhya Mukherjee’s daughter Soumi Sengupta said the veteran singer told a top official on the phone from Delhi that she did not want to be named a Padma Shri recipient on the Republic Day awards list. Sengupta told PTI that receiving the Padma Shri at the age of 90, after a singing career spanning over eight decades, is degrading for a singer of her mother’s stature.
“Padma Shri is more deserving for a junior artiste, not ‘Gitasree’ Sandhya Mukhopadhyay. Her family and all the lovers of her songs feel bad,” Sengupta said.
Sandhya Mukherjee was a Bengali-language playback vocalist and musician from India. In 2011, she was awarded the Banga Bibhushan, the highest civilian honour bestowed by the Indian state of West Bengal.
In 1970, she was also awarded the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her performances in films such as Jay Jayanti and Nishi Padma. She has also appeared in 17 Hindi films as a playback vocalist.
