Rasik Rang Rachana, a book on music by Pandit Deepak Chatterjee “Rasikrang”, a veteran Hindustani classical singer, was recently launched at Delhi’s India International Centre. The book is a collection of bandishes for over 84 ragas and about 100 compositions written by Pandit Chatterjee. Also present at the occassion was Shri Shekhar Sen, Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi, who was also the chief guest here. The book release was followed by a panel discussion, where the key speakers were Dr Shanno Khurana of the Rampur Saheswan gharana and Dr Krishna Bisht.
Vidushi Malti Gilani of Patiala gharana, Vidushi Sumita Guha andAnita Singh were also present at venue. The discussion was followed by a brief presentation of some popular bandishes by Pandit Chatterjee and his disciples.
Pandit Chatterjee has in the past performed in various countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Holland and Germany. He has also contributed a great deal to popularise Hindustani classical music among audiences both in India and abroad.
He belongs to the Rampur Saheswan gharana and is an eminent vocalist of the Bhatt parampara. He penned his first ever bandish in the raga Yaman in the year 1953 in Allahabad. Besides being an expert vocalist, he is also a distinguished teacher and a music director and has served as a professor in University of Delhi for 15 years, until his retirement in 2000.