Rabindrasangeet singers, of late, have been emerging by the dozen. Browse the stands of a music store and you’ll come across several newbies lending their voice to Tagore songs that have been done to death over the past century.

Ranjini Mukhopadhyay, thankfully, stands out among the crowd. She has acquired an inimitable vocal style that doesn’t remotely border on the typical nuances of rendering Tagore. Ranjini has stayed away from traversing all the stereotypes that the more established Rabindrasangeet singers resort to.

It won’t be an overstatement to say that Ranjini has music in her blood. Ranjini is the niece of legendary Rabindrasangeet exponent Kanika Bandhopadhyay. While she considers herself lucky to be under Kanika’s tutelage during the formative years, the gayaki is unique to herself.

Ranjini hasn’t been singing professionally for long. She, nevertheless, has build up a fan following among Rabindrasangeet enthusiasts and is one of the very few artistes who let her singing do the talking. In an age where technical wizardry is the order of the day and has come as a boon to the out of work playback singers from Mumbai, trying their hand at singing Tagore, Ranjini’s affluent and emotive voice has made her a favourite among her listeners.         

Ranjini was born and brought up in Shantiniketan. She received her formal training from Sangeet Bhavan and was awarded the most promising Rabindrasangeet artiste of the year from Dakshinee, early in her career. She has performed with Kanika both at home and abroad. She recently went solo at a sold out Gyan Manch and was liked by both the audience and critics. She has also shared the stage with eminent theatre personalities Saoli Mitra and Arpita Ghosh in an independent production. Ranjini has two albums to her credit and performs regularly on TV.

--- Aitrayee Sarkar