Bengali music directors comprise of some of the most talented people in the history of Bengali cinema. Over the years these film personalities have consistently delivered impressive work. The early stages of Bengali film music saw the rise of stalwarts like Raichand Baral, Pankaj Mullick, KC Dey,
Kundan Lal Saigal and others. While some of the songs were based on Indian classical music, others were so melodious that they are hummed even today. A number of mythological films were also made initially. These films pelted out devotional numbers. The Bengali cinema lyricists were equally talented. As a result the combination of songs and lyrics had an outstanding effect.
In the films of
Uttam Kumar,
Suchitra Sen,
Anil Chatterjee,
Soumitra Chatterjee,
Tanuja,
Swaroop Dutta and others soul stirring songs were quite prevalent. Songs like "Ei Poth Jodi Na Sesh Hoe," "Ei Raat Tomar Amar"( music by Hemanta Mukherjee), "Gaane Bhuban Bhoriye Debe," "Dole Dodul Dole" (music by Shyamal Mitra) and others are popular with the young generation too. The songs of Rabindranath Tagore were a constant source of inspiration for the Bengali music directors. Filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak used the poet laurel`s songs in their films. "Ami Chini Go Chini Tomare," "Je Raate Mor Duar Gulo," and others are some of the Rabindrasangeet being used in these films.
Apart from the regular Bengali music directors classical musicians were have also contributed to enrich the Bengali film music. Indian classical music maestros, such as,
Pandit Ravi Shankar,
Ali Akbar Khan,
Vilayat Khan and Bahadur Khan have also composed music for the Bengali films. Some of the film directors, like Satyajit Ray, themselves often provided music for their films.
A list of Bengali music directors will include the following:
