Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya

·         Born: September 11, 1970

·         Died: March 7, 2017

·         Nationality: Indian

·         Occupation: Folk Singer

Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya, an eminent Folk singer of India, transcended the standard of Bengali Folk music to a superior horizon. Probably, he was the only one of his contemporary generation, who was able to bring proper justice to this Folk genre, or else this supreme existence was almost about to extinct from the ocean of music industry.

Personal Life:

This ground breaker of music arena was born on 11th September, in the year 1970, at Silchar, Assam, India. Unfortunately, this powerhouse of talent had to sacrifice his precious life at a very early age, in a miserable car accident occurred in Gurap, West Bengal on 7^th March, 2017. With his pathetic demise, he left this ephemeral world leaving his wife Writocheta and his one and only beloved daughter behind, all alone. After completion of Graduation course from a college situated in Assam, Kalika Prasad enrolled in Jadavpur University, being a Master’s degree student of Comparative Literature. It is heard that, while being a student of J.U, Kalika fell in love with Writocheta, who used to be a student of Bengali Department in the same University, of the same batch. They got settled at Santoshpur in Kolkata, India.

Music Career:

Being an ardent representative of marginal culture, Kalika Prasad initiated a band of musicians, who coincidentally happened to be as intense Folk music devotee as kalika himself. This band of musicians, to which kalika used to address as “Gaaner Dol”, commenced their musical journey together in the year 1999. A Professor belonged to Comparative Literature Department of Jadavpur University, named this band of musicians as “Dohar”, which means Chorus. Till then, this folk institution has been performing and winning over hearts of audiences everywhere in Bengal, by their soul touching, earthy lyrical songs which are endowed with a fresh essence of Bengal and these are close to the soil.  Notably, this band members endeavour to employ all kinds of local folk instruments for instance, Dotara, Banjo, Dubki, Flute, Shinga, Kotal, Harmonium, Madol, Mridongo, Dhaak, Dhol etc, which are mostly popular in Bengal ignoring any type of foreign instrumentation.  Kalika Prasad, the figurehead of Dohar band, through their pure, soulful music productions portray the root of Bengal culture, society in one hand, in another, their songs amalgamate the rural and urban edges in every possible way. Kalika Prasad in association with his chorus, produced numerous heart touching songs, but some of his most notable music creations were in, Moner Manush (2010), Jaatishwar (2014).  Bhuban Majhi and Bisorjon are the two big house cinematic productions where, Kalika has provided the music but unfortunately he was unable to see the success due to his premature demise.

Death:

On 7th march, 2017, Kalika , the stalwart of Bengali Folk music industry , left entire Bengali community with shock by his sudden death in a tragic car accident held in Gurap, Hoogli District, India. According to the report, the over speeded car being unable to control its break collided with a culvert which consequently made it fall into a river and gradually directing to kalika’s spot death who was known to be seated in front beside the driver.  In fact, six other members of the same band who were also present in the same car, were admitted in a hospital for severe injuries.

Other Activities:

Recently, this treasure chest, Kalika Prasad became associated with a renowned Bengali musical reality show, in which he got worldwide acclamation for his display of tremendous devotion for Bengali Folk music. He with his chorus even had been performing worldwide.

Retrieved From:

http://www.indiaifa.org/kalika-prasad-bhattacharya.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4736191/bio

http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/2017/mar/07/popular-bengali-folk-singer-kalikaprasad-bhattacharya-dies-in-car-accident-1578676.h

http://doharfolk.com/