Hemanga Biswas was a Bengali singer, composer, author and political activist, known for his literature in Bengali and Assamese, advocacy of peoples music, drawing from genres of folk music, including Bhatiali originally popular among the fishermen of Bengal. He was born in Habiganj, Assam Province, British India on 14 December 1912. He was admitted with respiratory problems to PG Hospital and died in Calcutta on 22 November 1987. The page title has an incorrect spelling of his last name.
Early life
Biswas was born in Habiganj, Sylhet, British India on 14 December 1912 to Harakumar and Sarojini Biswas. He went to the MiddleEnglish School in Habiganj. He studied in the George Institution of Dibrugarh from 1925 to 1927 when Nilmoni Phukan was its headmaster. There he became interested in Assamese culture. He attended Habiganj Government High School in 1930. He also studied in MC College, Sylhet from 1930–1931. Biswas embraced the values of communism during his college years, and wrote poems and plays on equal rights. During this time he started performing "gana sangeet." He did not complete his formal education. Biswas became involved in a movement to ensure the rights of tea garden laborers, farmers, and the underprivileged throughout the region. For his political convictions, he was arrested in 1930. He was also associated with the Indian People's Theater Association.
Musical work
Hemanga Biswas was responsible for a number of popular Bengali songs. A fierce debate once ensued between Salil Choudhury and him on the method of translating the ideal of people's art: He sang a duet with Bhupen Hazarika, Debabrata Biswas and Pete Seeger. Through his music, he had hoped to motivate the masses to fight for their rights, for them to be united, and for them to be vocal against any form of corruption. His beliefs in equal rights for all led him to repeatedly try to request and urge the then Congress Government headed by Siddhartha Shankar Roy to extend a helping hand to the labour class people. Banchbo Re Banchbo Amra was composed to motivate the laborers to improve their standard of living. His translation of The Internationale into Bengali and his singing of such songs as Amra Karbo Joy, Ajadi Hoyni Tor, and Negro Bhai Amar aided the Bengali leftist movement. He was influenced by Bhawaiya and Bhatiali, and generated his own style, which combined those folk traditions with Sylhet culture's, which he called Bahirana.
Movies
Hemanga Biswas was the playback singer in Meghe Dhaka Tara , Lalon Fakir, Utpal Datta's Kallol, and Komal Gandhar.
