Shekhar Sen is a singer, a music composer, a lyricist, and an actor.[1][2]

Shekhar Sen
Born (1961-02-16) 16 February 1961 (age 63)
Raipur, Madhya Pradesh now Chhattisgarh, India
Alma materIndira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya
OccupationChairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi (2015–present)
Years active1979–present
SpouseShweta Sen
AwardsPadma Shri(2015)
Websitewww.shekharsen.com

Sen is famous for his monoact musical plays that he researched, written, composed, enacted, and directed: "Tulsi", "Kabeer", "Vivekanand", "Saahab" & "Soordas".[3][4][5]

Early life

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Sen was born in 1961 and raised in a Bengali family in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. His father, the late Dr. Arun Kumar Sen, who was the Vice-Chancellor at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, and mother late Dr. Aneeta Sen, were both renowned classical singers of Gwalior Gharana and Musicologists. He learned music from his parents, moved to Mumbai in 1979 to become music composer, and began singing in 1984. He started doing research oriented musical programs, such as Dushywant Ne Kaha Tha 1984 (ghazals of Dushyant Kumar), Madhya Yugeen Kaavya 1985 (sang medieval poets like Raskhan, Raheem, Lalitkishori, Bhooshan, Bihari, Kabir, Tulsidas, Sur Pakistan ka Hindi Kavya1986 (Hindi Geet, Dohe written in Pakistan), Meera Se Mahadevi Tak 1987 (Hindi songs by Poetesses) & many more innovative programmes.

 
Shekhar Sen performing as Kabir

Career

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Sen started his career in Mumbai in 1979, with the objective of becoming a music composer.[6] He was contracted by HMV as a ghazal singer. He soon realized that his true talent lay in composing bhajans so he shifted to that, rendering more than 200 Bhajan Albums since 1983 as singer, a lyricist, and a composer. He sang and composed for many TV serials and films. He has performed more than 1200 concerts, singing all over the world.

Since 1998, as a playwright, actor, singer, director and composer, Sen has created one man musical plays and performed more than 1000 shows of his Mono Act Musical Plays, "Tulsi", "Kabeer" "Vivekananda" "Sanmati", "Saahab" & "Soordas".[7] His performances received great acclaim in India as well as abroad such as US, England, Belgium, Suriname, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Sharjah, Mauritius, and Trinidad.[8]

Sen's play, a mono-act "Soordas", premiered at NCPA Mumbai on 14 June 2013.[9] Sen told Timeout Mumbai, "Initially, I was very apprehensive about whether to portray a blind person for two hours – a very tough task. But when I started writing [the play] I realised that people with sight can only see the world [in a 180-degree view], while those without sight are able to see the world [in] 360 degrees".[10] In 2015, he received the Padma Shri Award, and was appointed to be the Chairperson for Sangit Natya Academy by Indian Government.[11]

Awards and accolades

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Discs and albums

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Album Language Role Other notes
Singer Composer
Samnarpan Hindi No Yes Shekhar Sen,
Amrit Wani Hindi No Yes Shekhar Sen,
Durga Sapt Shati (edited) Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal,
Sangeet Sandhya Hindi No Yes Shekhar Sen,
Aaj Tera Jagraata Maa Hindi No Yes Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
Bhajanodaya Hindi No Yes Udit Narayan
Bhajan Vatika Hindi No Yes Udit Narayan
Chalisa Sangrah Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Gayatri Maha Mantram Kannada/Tamil/Telugu No Yes Hariharan
Hey Mahavir (Dhun) Hindi No Yes Shalini Shrivastava
Jay Sai Ram Jay Sai Shyam Hindi No Yes Ravinder Bijur
Maago Anandomoyee Bangla No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Aami Ek Probashi Bangla Yes Yes
Maha Mrityunjaya Mantram Telugu No Yes Hariharan
Mahima Mahakal Ki Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Mahima Mata Chhinnmasta Ki Hindi No Yes Priya Bhattacharya & Soham
Naman Hindi No Yes Nitin Mukesh
Nehanjali Hindi No Yes Nitin Mukesh
Paawan Haridwar Mahakumbh Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal, Babla Mehta
Ram Shyam Gungaan Hindi No Yes Ronu Majumdar
Samarpan Hindi Yes Yes
Shakti-Maa Kaali Bhajans Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shirdi Wale Saibaba Ki Kahani(2 Volumes) Hindi No Yes Nitin Mukesh, Anuradha Paudwal
Shiv Aaradhana Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shivganga Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shree Durga Stuti Vol. 1 To 4 Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shree Ram Charit Mala Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta (Vol. 1 To 4) Sanskrit No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shri Ganapati Sahastranamavali Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal
Shubh Deepavali Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal, Hari Om Sharan, Sukhwinder Singh, Kavita Paudwal
Tulsi Ramayan Vol. 1 To 8 Hindi No Yes Anuradha Paudwal, Babla Mehta

References

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  1. ^ "Shekhar Sen - 200 Videos on YouTube.com". YouTube.com. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Shekhar Sen - 247 Videos on YouTube.com". YouTube.com. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  3. ^ Vinayak Sinha (4 June 2013). "Shekhar Sen: One-man theatre team". Hindustan Times, India. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  4. ^ Jaideep Shenoy (4 January 2013). "Shekhar Sen – a renowned singer, music composer and actor performed this musical monologue. The musical monologue contained rich content with moving dialogues and harmonious music". The Times of India.
  5. ^ Shalini Narang (27 February 2013). "Shekhar Sen's Kabeer enthrals viewers". Hindustan Times, India. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  6. ^ Sankhayan Ghosh Indian Express Man of Many Avatars 17 June 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014
  7. ^ "'I want to make you hungry about your own culture'". The Indian Express. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  8. ^ Timeout Ayesha Venkataraman. Shekhar Sen gives Time Out the scoop on his one-man show, Soordas. Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 apr.2014
  9. ^ "Soordas By Shekhar Sen". NCPA.
  10. ^ Timeout Ayesha Venkataraman, Soordas Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 apr.2014
  11. ^ "Shekhar Sen named chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi". The Hindu. 29 January 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  12. ^ "'I want to make you hungry about your own culture'". The Indian Express. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Padma Awards 2015". Press Information Bureau. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
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