Recording co with a ‘Tagorean’ start, paan shop that plays Rafi songs feted
Times of India | 20 April 2024
Kolkata: Hindusthan Record, one of the first record companies owned by an Indian, and 90-year old Taj Mahal Paan Shop at New Market, famous for playing Rafi songs, were honoured with a certificate and a memento by Purono Kolkatar Golpo Society (PKGS) for carrying forward the legacy of cultural heritage on World Heritage Day on Thursday.
The two-storey building at 6/1, Akrur Dutta Lane near Hind Cinema, with the logo of a shepherd boy playing a flute on its door, has been the address for recordings of music stalwarts Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Debabrata Biswas, K L Saigal and Sachin Dev Burman.Founder Chandi Charan Saha or C C Saha, visited Berlin in 1930 to buy the first recording machine from Georg Neumann and to learn recording techniques. Saha had travelled to Heidelberg from Berlin to meet Tagore there. “Tagore inaugurated Hindusthan Record on April 5, 1932 and recorded the song, ‘Tobu mone rekho’ with the compnay. He encouraged some of the best woman singers from Visva-Bharati, Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Amita Sen, Rajeswari Dutta, to record with the company,” said a company spokesperson.
Most of Ustad Faiyaz Khan and K L Saigal’s works and Debabrata Biswas’s famous songs, like ‘purano shei diner kotha’ and ‘akash bhora surya tara’, were recorded with this company. “C C Saha launched S D Burman,” he added. The 92-year-old company has gone digital. “We are converting our heritage recordings into audio-visual formats. We are using our devotional content, of Hiralal Sarkhel to Pannalal Bhattacharya, with scripts and visuals,” he said.
The Taj Mahal Paan shop, with a signboard displaying, ‘Sundar Paan Sundar Gaan’, has been mesmerising its customers with paan and Rafi songs for almost 90 years. “My grandfather started this shop, and then, my father, Md Muniruddin, took over. My father, in his stint at the Bombay film industry, met Md Rafi. On his return, he would play Rafi songs for almost 12 hours a day. I am continuing the tradition and asked the next generation not to stop it,” said owner Md Nasiruddin. .
PKGS administrator Swarnali Chattopadhyaay said, “Hindusthan Record and Taj Mahal Paan Shop are playing a role in preserving musical heritage.”