On this day, “Sangeet Samragnee” Angurbala Devi passed away at her Calcutta residence. She was in her eighties.
There is some confusion regarding the place of her birth — Cossipore in Calcutta or the village Indas in Burdwan in undivided Bengal — and also about her father’s name. Her mother’s name was Harimati.
Angurbala’s real name was Prabhabati. Her musical talent was obvious from early on. But she had to quit school to make a living, for which she joined the stage as a professional singer when she was a child.
Her first music teacher was Amulya Majumder, her father’s friend. Later on she was trained by Ustad Jeet Prasad and in khayal and thumri by Ustad Ram Prasad Mishra. She was also taught thumri by Ustad Jamiruddin Khan. Dance teacher Lalit Mohan Goswami took the young Prabhabati to Star Theatre.
In 1912, she made her first stunning appearance on stage at Cornwallis Theatre in the play Muktar Mukti. It had featured popular actress Kusum Kumari in the leading role, but had failed to make a mark. The play could be salvaged with a singing actress, playwright Manilal Ganguly felt, and Angurbala was cast. She sang the song Bhorer pakhir surey surey mathay bajey bina benu. A star was born.
She went on to act in many plays, including in Satyabhama, Tulsidas and Byapika Biday at Minerva Theatre and in several other plays at Manmohan Theatre, Rangmahal, Kalika and other theatres in the city. As a singer she cut many discs with HMV. Her first talkie was Jamuna Puline (1933). The film also featured leading actresses Indubala and Kamala Jharia. Angurbala worked closely with the poet and musician Kazi Nazrul Islam. She was invited to many royal courts as a singer.
She had received an honorary DLitt from Kalyani University and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.