Suchitra Mitra - Musical Career

Musical Career

In 1941, Suchitra Mitra received a scholarship to Sangeet Bhavan in Santiniketan, where she had the opportunity of learning from some of the greatest exponents of Rabindra Sangeet - Indiradevi Chaudhurani, Santidev Ghosh, and Shailajaranjan Mazumdar. Having obtained her diploma from Santiniketan, Suchitra Mitra returned to Calcutta in 1945. In 1946, she received her master's degree in Bengali from Scottish Church College of the University of Calcutta. In the same year, her inherent love and commitment to Tagore's music encourage her to found the Rabitirtha, along with Dwijen Chowdhury (which was named by renowned historian and Tagore scholar Professor Kalidas Nag). Rabitirtha, named in honor of the Nobel laureate, is one of the leading schools of Rabindra Sangeet in Kolkata. Founder and Principal, Suchitra Mitra was an active figure and inspiration behind this establishment. Her dedication, sincerity and comprehension of the subtle nuances underlying Tagore's songs is indeed praiseworthy.

She was an exponent and an interpreter of Tagore's musical compositions. Her other interests included performing arts, including theatrical performances, film-acting, painting, etc. Mitra produced Rabindra Nritya Natyas (or Tagore's dance dramas); she had acted and danced in many of them. She also acted in stage-plays and in films. Her other intellectual pursuits included: reciting poetry, writing short stories, poems and children's rhymes, publishing essays and books on more thought-provoking subjects, such as the grammar and techniques involved in rendering Rabindra Sangeet or on the aesthetics of the music of Tagore. Her greatest achievements may have been her ability to immortalize Tagore's songs both at home and abroad to people of all ages. Invited to the USSR and Hungary, Mitra spread the message of Tagore to the western audience. With the Rabitirtha troupe, she performed Tagore's dance dramas in the USA and Canada. She was the author of many books in Bengali on Rabindra Sangeet, and had recently directed her efforts towards compiling an encyclopedia of Tagore's songs for students and researchers. Suchitra Mitra's repertoire and expertise, coupled with her ability to inculcate in others the love of Rabindra Sangeet, establishes her as one of the notable names in the world of performing arts in India.

Her versatile personality projected when she sang songs of different moods. Her songs evoke visions of beauty and wonderment, color and fragrance, love and pain, memories and longing, joy and freedom. Suchitra was considered to be one of the most versatile exponents of Rabindra Sangeet, and in recognition thereof, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1974.