Bhupen Hazarika: Assam’s Voice of Social Change

Bhupen Hazarika (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was an Indian singer, songwriter, writer, filmmaker and politician from Assam. He introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level, composing songs marked by themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy.

Early Life and Education

Hazarika was born in Sadiya, a town on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, to Nilakanta and Shantipriya Hazarika. The eldest of ten children, he was exposed to traditional Assamese music through his mother’s lullabies and folk songs. His father moved the family to Bharalumukh in Guwahati in 1929, then to Dhubri in 1932, and finally to Tezpur in 1935. At age ten, Hazarika was discovered by Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the first Assamese filmmaker, and Bishnu Prasad Rabha, a renowned artist and revolutionary poet, after singing a Borgeet at a public function. In 1936, he traveled to Kolkata and recorded his first song at Aurora Studio for the Selona Company. He sang two songs in Agarwala’s film Indramalati (1939) at age twelve.

Hazarika studied at Sonaram High School in Guwahati, Dhubri Government High School, and matriculated from Tezpur High School in 1940. He completed his Intermediate Arts from Cotton College in 1942, then earned a BA (1944) and MA (1946) in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University. In 1949, he won a scholarship to Columbia University in New York, where he earned a PhD in 1952 on audio-visual techniques in adult education. There he befriended Paul Robeson, the civil rights activist, who profoundly influenced his artistic vision. Robeson told him that a guitar was not a musical instrument but a social instrument, a philosophy that shaped Hazarika’s career. He married Priyamvada Patel at Columbia University in 1950, and their son Tez Hazarika was born in 1952. Hazarika returned to India in 1953.

Career and Achievements

After returning from the United States, Hazarika worked briefly at All India Radio in Guwahati before becoming a teacher at Guwahati University. He later relocated to Kolkata, where he established himself as a successful music director and singer. He composed music for several award-winning Assamese films including Shakuntala and Pratidhwani, and became a trendsetter in Bengali music. His compositions also gained international acclaim in films from Bangladesh.

Hazarika began close association with the Indian People’s Theatre Association after returning from the US in 1953, becoming Secretary of the Reception Committee of the Third All Assam Conference of IPTA in 1955. He was elected President of the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1993. In 1967, he was elected to the Assam Assembly from Naoboicha constituency as an Independent, serving until 1972. In 2004, he contested as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in the Lok Sabha elections from Guwahati but lost to the Indian National Congress candidate Kirip Chaliha.

From the early 1970s onward, Hazarika worked closely with filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, who assisted him professionally and personally until his death. During this period, he concentrated on Hindi films, with major works including Ek Pal (1986), Rudaali (1993), and Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001). Many of his earlier Assamese songs were adapted into Hindi versions for these films.

Notable Events and Milestones

In 1986, a documentary feature biopic titled Moi Eti Zazabor (‘I am a Wanderer’) was launched, jointly directed by Waesqurni Bora and Arnab Jan Deka. Over the following two decades, the directors filmed Hazarika during public performances across India and private moments in his life. Hazarika was hospitalized on 30 June 2011 at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai and died of multi-organ failure on 5 November 2011. His body lay in state at Judges Field in Guwahati and was cremated on 9 November 2011 near the Brahmaputra river on land donated by Gauhati University. An estimated half million people attended his funeral.

Awards and Honors

Hazarika received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975 and the Padma Shri in 1977. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987 and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1992, the highest award for cinema in India. The Padma Bhushan followed in 2001, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2008, the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He served as Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003. Posthumously, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in 2012, and the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 2019.

Additional Resources

Hazarika’s songs, particularly Bistirno Parore and Manush Manusher Jonno, remain widely performed and translated across Indian languages. In a poll conducted in Bangladesh, Manush Manusher Jonno was chosen as the second most favorite number after the Bangladeshi National Anthem. His baritone voice, poetic compositions, and use of folk music and American Black Spirituals influenced by Paul Robeson defined his legacy as a musician and social activist.

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