Rita Ganguly is an exponent in the Indian classical arts. An accomplished dancer, musician and vocalist, she was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2000[1] and with the Padma Shri in 2003.[2] She is the mother of actress Meghna Kothari and the younger sister of the famous Ravindra Sangeet singer Gita Ghatak.
Rita Ganguly | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Occupation | Classical musician |
| Known for | Hindustani music |
| Spouse | Keshav Kothari |
| Children | a son and a daughter Meghna Kothari |
| Parent(s) | K. L. Ganguly Meena |
| Awards | Padma Shri Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Priyadarshi Award Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani award Critics Circle of India Award Broadcasters Association Lifetime Achievement Award |
Biography
editRita Ganguly was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, into a Bengali Brahmin family, and is the daughter of K. L. Ganguly, and Meena Ganguly. K. L. Ganguly was a freedom fighter and member of the Congress party. In 1938, he was selected by Jawaharlal Nehru to become the first editor of the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Nehru.[3] [4]
Rita therefore grew up in Lucknow, where the newspaper was based. She started learning Rabindrasangeet at the age of 12 under Gopeshwar Banerjee.[3] She later joined Visva-Bharati University, along with her elder sister, Gita Ghatak with an emphasis on the arts whilst studying the Indian classical dance forms of Kathakali and Manipuri.[4] She did further studies in Kathakali under renowned gurus, Kunchu Kurup and Chandu Pannikar[5] and trained in modern dance at Martha Graham School, New York.[3][4] She performed at various stages including the Bolshoi Theatre, Russia and joined the National School of Drama (NSD) as a faculty member of dance where she is known to have introduced a new course of Movement and Mime.[3][4][6] She taught at NSD for thirty years[6] and during her tenure there, she is known to have contributed in productions and costume designing.[3] She is also credited with efforts in the recreation of the classical theatre and in the construction of Vikrishta Madhyam Auditorium.[3] Under the aegis of NSD, she visited many countries such as Australia, England, Sri Lanka and Israel where she presented performances and held workshops on Indian Classical Theatre.[3]
In the fifties, a chance opportunity to sing during a performance in Delhi changed her career and she started concentrating more on singing.[4] Encouraged by Shambhu Maharaj, renowned Kathak guru, she performed at many places in India along with Siddheshwari Devi, a known classical singer.[3][4] It was during one of these performances, Begum Akhtar, renowned Hindustani singer, met Ganguly and took her as her disciple.[3][4] The bond between the singers lasted till Akhtar's death in 1974.[3]
Ganguly is a Ford Foundation Fellow and has a doctoral degree for her thesis on the female singers of Indian subcontinent.[3] She produced a multimedia production, Ruh-e-ishq, incorporating the seven stages of Sufism, in 1997, to celebrate the fifty years of Indian Independence.[3] She is known to have a liking for nazms, a genre of Urdu poetry and has composed music for the poems of such Bengali poets as Jibanananda, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Subhash Mukherjee, Shankho Ghosh, Sunil Gangopadhyay and Joy Goswami.[3] She was involved with the Soumitra Chatterjee production, Homapakhi for which she composed the theme song.[3] She has also acted in Darmiyaan, a feature film by Kalpana Lajmi.[4]
Ganguly has performed at the Festival of India events held in UK and France. She is the author of a number of books related to art and music such as Bismillah Khan and Benaras, the Seat of Shehnai[7] and Ae Mohabbat... Reminiscing Begum Akhtar.[3][8] She is the founder of Kaladharmi,[9] a non-profit organization to promote young talents in arts and the Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazal,[10] an academy for nurturing Ghazal tradition[3] which has instituted annual awards to recognize excellence in Ghazal music.[11] Her play on Begum Akhtar, Jamal-e-Begum Akhtar,[12] has been staged on many occasions[6] and she is planning a film on the life of Begum Akhtar[4] in association with the known ghazal singer, Anup Jalota, involving filmmaker, Ketan Mehta and music director, A. R. Rahman.[11]
Rita Ganguly received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for music in 2000.[1] The Government of India honoured her with the civilian award of Padma Shri in 2003. She is also a recipient of Priyadarshi Award, Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani award, Critics Circle of India award and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Broadcasters Association of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.[3]
Rita Ganguly is the founder of Kaladharmi,[9] a non-profit organization for the promotion of performing arts and Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazals (BAAG),[10] a ghazal academy.[3]
Rita Ganguly was married to Keshav Kothari, a former secretary of Sangeet Natak Akademi and the couple has two children, son Arijeet a poet[13] and a daughter, Meghna Kothari who is an actress in Hindi films.[4]
She appeared in the film Parineeta (2005 film) and is credited for the song Dhinak-Dhinak-Dha[14] composed by Shantanu Moitra penned by Swanand Kirkire.
She has also sung for the film Sarkar (2005) the song Deen Bandhu .[15]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b "SNA Award". Sangeet Natak Akademi. 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Padma Awards. 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "ITC Sangeet Research Academy". ITC Sangeet Research Academy. 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Telegraph India". Telegraph India. 6 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "Chandu Panikkar". The Hindu. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ a b c "Portrait of the artist". The Hindu. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ^ Rita Ganguly (1994). Bismillah Khan and Benaras, the Seat of Shehnai. Cosmo Publications. p. 136. ISBN 978-8170206798.
- ^ Rita Ganguly (2013). AE MOHABBAT... Reminiscing Begum Akhtar. Stellar Publishers. ASIN B00DHIZEXA.
- ^ a b "Kaladharmi". Kaladharmi. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ a b "BAAG". Kaladharmi. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ a b "The Hindu". The Hindu. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ^ "NSD". NSD. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "Details: Vani Prakashan". www.vaniprakashan.in. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Listen to Dhinak Dhinak Dha Song by Rita Ganguly on Gaana.com, retrieved 8 March 2021
- ^ Deen Bandhu (Full Song) - Sarkar - Download or Listen Free - JioSaavn, retrieved 8 March 2021
Further reading
edit- Rita Ganguly (2013). Ae Mohabbat... Reminiscing Begum Akhtar. Stellar Publishers. ASIN B00DHIZEXA.
- Rita Ganguly (1994). Bismillah Khan and Benaras, the Seat of Shehnai. Cosmo Publications. p. 136. ISBN 978-8170206798.