1. Hemanta Mukherjee mesmerised listeners with a melodious rendition of Tar aar pawr nei, nei kono thikana. What connects this song to the movie Pehchan (1971) and Mahasweta Devi’s short story Standayini?

2. Identify the person in this photo who was named after Hemant Kumar because his mother admired Hemant Kumar’s voice?

3. When Mahishashur Mardini was being re-composed for AIR, Uttam Kumar was not agreeing to lend his voice to something which was already so vastly popular and revered. It took two persons to convince Uttam Kumar (in picture above) to do the recitation and replace Birendra Krishna Bhadra. One was Hemanta Mukherjee. Who was the other person?

4. When this eminent poet was struggling financially, Hemanta Mukherjee got his school friend an office room on rent and urged him to publish a new literary magazine from that office. He also gifted him a separate room as the editor’s room. However, the poet neither ever used that office space, nor publish any magazine from there. But Hemanta Mukherjee did not mind. He knew that the poet was destined for something bigger. Who was this poet?

5. What connects the song E jodi aakash hoy composed by Hemanta Mukherjee and immortalised in the voice of Talat Mahmood (in picture), August 15, 1947 and Miss Marple?

6. Hemanta Mukherjee narrated a funny story where in a certain year he visited several popular personalities in Calcutta with some ‘thing’ in his hand wrapped in a brown paper. He admitted that it was his promotional strategy for the ‘thing’. However, he needed an excuse to visit the prominent figures. His excuse was the summer heat and to all those hosts he told the same story, ‘I was just passing by. The heat is simply draining. Can I have a glass of water please?’ and then he would place that ‘thing’ on the table to catch the attention of the famous hosts. By the time he was sitting with his last host, he was already a walking water tank. However, not even a single soul asked anything about that ‘thing’. What was that ‘thing’?

7. In a sense, Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein and Anindita are two movies where two geniuses exchanged hats. What was so special about this exchange?

8. One of the most famous renditions of Hemanta Mukherjee is Jibonpurer pathik re bhai. Mukul Dutt, whose talent was discovered by Hemanta and Kishore Kumar, wrote the song. What was that single word in the song that defined the entire theme of the song and the lead character of this film so beautifully? The lyrics were highly appreciated for the use of that single word and the word was also there in the original story by Manoj Basu. The word was quite commonly used in legal documents in Bengal during the 19th century too.

9. We know of a few songs where Mohd Rafi lent his voice to actor Kishore Kumar. But in which Bengali song did Hemanta Mukherjee do playback for Kishore Kumar?

10. What connects Kheya – an anthology of poems by Tagore, Mukti – a film directed by Pramathesh Barua in 1937 and Anindita – a film directed by Hemanta Mukherjee in 1972?

Clue in pictures

All the photographs below have a significant connection to the life and times of Hemanta Mukherjee. Identify the link from the pictures.

1. Who is this person and how did he manage to do something that no one ever did before or after that?

2. What is the significance of this movie in the sense that this was the first movie of its kind?

3. Who is this person and what is this instrument? Which song composed by Hemant Kumar made both famous in the Hindi film industry?

4. When Hemanta Mukherjee passed away, Satyajit Ray commented: “Rabindra Sangeet has died a second time.” What is the special occasion when this photograph was taken?

5. Another watershed moment in Bengali films when Hemanta Mukherjee was a mentor to Kishore Kumar. What is happening for the first time in this photograph?

6. How was this person in the photograph related to Hemanta Mukherjee and what was his claim to fame?

7. Desh has carried several articles on Hemanta Mukherjee, including a few cover stories. How else is Hemanta connected to this noted Bengali literary magazine?

Guess the Hemanta song

The following images have no connection with Hemanta Mukherjee. They are just acting as clues to some popular songs associated with the legend. Identify the songs from the visual clues. You have to have some understanding of the background and context of the photographs to get the answers

Example: Ei path jodi na sesh hoy

The clue

There is a bit of an unsavoury anecdote connected to the picture used as clue for the song. In Corona, California there once was a road known by most locals as the Never-Ending Road. The road’s actual name was Lester Road. Now, two decades later, the landscape of Corona has changed, and the Never-Ending Road is no more. However, years ago, Lester Road was an unlit road that people claimed became a never-ending road when driven at night. Legend has it that people who drove down the road were never seen again. On investigation it was found that the road took a sharp turn to the left at its end where there were no guard rails. Beyond the curve lay a canyon which the driver at night would fail to notice. Dozens of cars were found to have fallen to their doom in the canyon.

A still from Deewar by Yash Chopra. Which song does it remind you of?

A still from The Rear Window by Hitchcock

A screenshot from Stranger Chat app

A still from the movie Birds by Alfred Hitchcock

A still from Samapti by Satyajit Ray

A still from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge by Yash Chopra

All pictures sourced by Souvik Das

Mail your answers to saltlake@abpmail.com by July 13, 2020. Names of those with the maximum correct responses will be published.