Sahana Bajpaie

Sahana Bajpaie is a Bengali singer-songwriter from Santiniketan and one of the most prominent contemporary Rabindra Sangeet vocalists in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh.[1] By the age of 13, she started singing. In 2007, she released her debut album Notun Kore Pabo Bole, which was a collection of Rabindra Sangeet.[2] In 2014, she released her second solo album Shikawr, with several musicians from West Bengal. Sahana's second Rabindra Sangeet album Ja Bolo Tai Bolo was released in 2015[3] and the latest solo album, Mon Bandhibi Kemone in 2016.[4]

Sahana Bajpaie
Sahana Bajpaie in Kolkata, 2020
Background information
Born6th February
OriginSantiniketan, West Bengal. India
GenresRabindra Sangeet, fusion, folk
Occupation(s)singer
Years active2000–present
LabelsBengal Music Company, Hindustan Records Inreco
Associated actsSamantak Sinha, Satyaki Banerjee, Anupam Roy, Shayan Chowdhury Arnob
Websitesahanabajpaie.com

In 2012, she made her first playback in the Indian Bengali fantasy film Tasher Desh. Alongside Shayan Chowdhury Arnob, she has written, composed and produced several popular Bengali songs.[5]

Early life and education

Bajpaie was brought up in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. She spent her childhood at Patha Bhavana School there, and finished her MA in English Literature from Visva Bharati University. Both of her parents were professors of political science at the University of North Bengal. She took her first lessons in music from her father, Bimal Bajpaie and learned to sing at the age of three. Later she started taking learning from eminent musicians of Santiniketan like Bijoy Sinha, Chitra Roy, Shyamali Banerjee, Chandan Munshi, Madhumita Roy and Mita Haque and received training in Indian classical music and Rabindra Sangeet.[1] In 2005, Bajpaie joined BRAC University in Dhaka as a lecturer in English. In May 2008, she left for London, to pursue another MA Degree in South Asian Studies at the SOAS, University of London.

Music career

In 2007, Bajpaie released her debut album Notun Kore Pabo Bole, which was a collection of Rabindra Sangeet.[2] It was released on March 6, 2007 from Bengal Music Company, Dhaka. The album created quite a stir in the music scenario of Bangladesh and West Bengal, owing to its avant-garde representation and arrangement of Tagore-songs.

She released her second Rabindra Sangeet album Ja Bolo Tai Bolo in September, 2015 from India and Bangladesh, which contained a collection of devotional and folk songs of Tagore.[3]

Her third solo album Mon Bandhibi Kemone was released in 2016, which was the first of its kind, collection of hand-picked folk-songs of Bengal, which Bajpaie and her associates had painstakingly collected and arranged them in a contemporary format.[4] Music arrangement of this album was done by Samantak Sinha and Satyaki Banerjee.[6] In 2016, she made a playback for the Bengali film Under Construction.[7]

Playback

In 2013, Bajpaie made her debut playback in Bengali comedy film Hawa Bodol which was directed by Parambrata Chattopadhyay. In 2016, she sang for Family Album by Mainak Bhaumik, which was set to tune by Anupam Roy. In 2018, she sang for two films Ek Je Chilo Raja, a film by Srijit Mukherjee & Rainbow Jelly, by Soukarya Ghoshal. More recently, in the Shiboprasad & Nandita directed, Kontho, she sang the song, Shawbai Chup.[7]

Personal life

In 2000, Bajpaie married her childhood friend Shayan Chowdhury Arnob, a Bengali musician, singer-songwriter and composer. They got divorced in 2008. She now resides in London, where she serves as a senior teaching fellow in Bengali in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia at SOAS South Asia Institute.[8] She is however currently, on leave, pursuing her PhD in Ethnomusicology at King's College London.

Discography

Studio albums

Playback
YearTitleFilmNoteRef.
2012Bolo Shokhi BoloTasher Desh
2013Mor BhabonareHawa BodolRabindra Sangeet, with Saptarshi Mukherjee
2014Tomay Gaan ShunaboUnder ConstructionRabindra Sangeet[2]
2014Poush ToderUnder ConstructionRabindra Sangeet[2]
2015ParalysedFamily AlbumOriginal Bengali Song with Anupam Roy
2017Meghei Chhilo Thikthikana' ShororipuOriginal Bengali Song
2018Roopkotha' Rainbow JellyOriginal Bengali Song
2018MaharajoEk Je Chhilo RajaRabindra Sangeet
2019Shobai ChupKonthhoOriginal Bengali Song

References
  1. "An Interview with Sahana Bajpaie". Café Dissensus. October 17, 2015. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  2. "Shahana Bajpaie to make comeback after 7 years". The Independent. Dhaka. June 22, 2015. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  3. "Sahana Bajpaie launches her second Rabindrasangeet album in Kolkata". India Blooms. 2015. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  4. "Sahana Bajpaie returns with folk album". The Daily Star. August 30, 2016. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  5. "Sahana lends voice to Arnob's music". Dhaka Tribune. February 3, 2014. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  6. Waheed, Karim (November 6, 2016). "Rediscovering Sahana Bajpaie". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  7. "Sahana Bajpaie and Arnob sing for film 'Under Construction'". Dhaka On Air. January 11, 2016. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  8. "South Asia Department". SOAS, University of London. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
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