Singer Sandhya Mukherjee, also known as Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, on Tuesday declined an offer of the Padma Shri award after central government officials contacted her over the telephone for her consent. Daughter Soumi Sengupta said that Mukherjee told a senior official who called from Delhi that he was not ready to be nominated as a Padma Shri recipient if he sought his consent to be named Padma Shri in the Republic Day award list.
“At the age of 90, with a singing career spanning nearly eight decades, being selected for the Padma Shri is an insult to a singer of her stature,” PTI quoted Sengupta as saying.
He further added, “Padma Shri deserves more for a junior artiste and not for ‘Geetasree’ Sandhya Mukhopadhyay. His family and all lovers of his songs feel that.”
Interestingly, Mukherjee’s longtime collaborator and acclaimed singer and composer Hemant Mukhopadhyay also declined the Padma awards. The singer had refused both Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
A large number of netizens supported Mukherjee’s decision and took to Twitter to voice their opinion.
To be honest, giving Sandhya Mukherjee the Padma Shri now, when she turns 90, is just disrespectful. He should get Bharat Ratna or at least Dadasaheb Phalke. She is undoubtedly one of the greatest playback singers this country has ever produced. https://t.co/gbdjDWrObS— ার্থ (Siddharth) (@quinoa_biryani) 25 January 2022
Legendary artist Sandhya Mukherjee declined the Padma Shri award. Three decades after Hemant Mukherjee was rejected, he has once again proved how straight the spine of Bengali artists is.#Padmashree— Orbit Pal (@Orbit_Kolkata) 25 January 2022
The great singer has long been considered a major donor of music in Bengal. Her collaboration with singer Hemant Mukherjee has given the Bengali film industry some evergreen songs such as Ae Path Jadi Na Shesh Ho, Ae Shuddh Ganer Din, Aaj Holi Khelbo Shyam and Raag Je Tomar Mishti. Mukherjee has also sung for several Hindi film music directors including SD Burman, Anil Biswas, Madan Mohan, Roshan and Salil Chowdhury. Mukherjee received the Banga Vibhushan, West Bengal’s highest civilian honour, in 2011.
The veteran singer also received the National Film Award for Best Playback Singer in 1970 for the films Jai Jayanti and Nishi Padma.
Meanwhile, veteran Bengali actor Victor Banerjee was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award. Banerjee, 75, is known for several notable films and has worked with other directors including Satyajit Ray, David Lean and Roman Polanski.
(with PTI inputs)
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