The World of Salil Chowdhury

Madhuri Chattopadhaay

Madhuri recorded only a few songs for Salil, but each one of them is a gem. Songs like 'Nijere
haraaye khunji' and 'Oi je sabuj bono bithika' will never get old. Madhuri did have an unique voice with quite a range. Salil composed 'Oi je sabuj bono bithika' which spans two-and-half octaves and uses fairly tricky jumps from one note to the other. Madhuri hits the notes flawlessly. Salil's love for Beethoven shows up again in the interlude of this superb composition. Careful listeners will immediately recognise a glimpse of Beethoven's 6th Symphony (Pastoral) in the interlude of "oi je sobuj bono beethika". Melodies like these aren't composed these days any more. In fact, Madhuri has recently re-recorded some of her songs from that 'golden age'.
Incidently, I had a tough time trying to get a decent photograph of Madhuri. After years of serach suddenly I found one.

Hnd = Hindi; Mal = Malayalam; Tam = Tamil; Tel = Telegu; Kan = Kannada;
Bng = Bengali, Oth = Other