The Indian musician, Pankaj Mullick was a multi-talented person.  His contribution came in various ways to Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil language films for a span of 38 years, starting from 1931.

 

Pankaj Mullick was born in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1905. His father, Monimohan, was deeply fond of traditional Bengali music, and this must have been the starting point for his little son to start learning music at a very early age. Pankaj Mullick's rigorous training helped him to become a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema.

 

An important turning point in Pankaj Mullick's life came when he met Rabindranath Tagore's great-nephew, Dinendranath Tagore. This led to his strong connection with Rabindranath. Due to the inter-action with the great poet, Pankaj Mullick's creative abilities turned him into an early exponent of Rabindra Sangeet.

 

As a music director, Pankaj Mullick worked with great artists, like, K.L Saigal, S.D Burman, Hemanta Mukerjee, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle.

 

As an actor, he worked with K.L. Saigal, P.C. Barua and Kanan Devi.

 

He worked for 25 years with one of the early film studios, New Theatres, Calcutta.

 

In the film, Doctor – 1941, he was the singer, actor and music director. His talents passed rigorous tests, the songs of Doctor were liked by the public. Songs: Mahek rahi phulwari, and Ayee bahaar are good examples.

 

Among many other films of his, Mukti – 1937 was also well appreciated by the audience.  In Mukti, Pankaj Mullick was actor, singer and the music director.

 

In 1970, Pankaj Mullick was awarded the Padma Shri, and in 1972, he was honoured by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. This is India's highest award in cinema, given by the Government of India for Lifetime Contribution to Indian Cinema.

 

The Indian Postal Service released a postage stamp on his birth centenary in 2006.

 

Doordarshan, India's state channel paid tributes to him by telecasting special music programs to commemorate the special occasion. The link with Doodarshan and Pankaj Mullick went back to the year 1959 – when he and the Bhartanatyam danseuse, Vijanthimala were the lead performers to launch the TV channel.

 

Pankaj Mullick passed away in 1978, but his name, his tunes, his songs are very well remembered by cinema and music lovers.