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{{Short description|Indian musician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Gautam Chattopadhyay
| image = Gautamchatterjee1.jpg
| caption = Gautam Chattopadhyay, the founder of Moheener Ghoraguli
| image_size = 250px
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Gautam Chattopadhyay
| alias = music composer, film director, theatre personality
| birth_date = 1 June 1949
| birth_place = India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|06|20|1949|06|01|df=yes}}
| death_place = Kolkata, India
| instrument = Vocals, [[guitar]], [[saxophone]] 
| genre = Bangla folk rock
| occupation = Musician, singer, [[programming (music)|music programmer]] 
| years_active = 60s–1999
| label =
| associated_acts = * [[Moheener Ghoraguli]]
| website = {{URL|http://gautamchattopadhyay.com/}}
}}

'''Gautam Chattopadhyay''' (1 June 1949 – 20 June 1999) was an Indian Bengali singer, songwriter, bassist, and composer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/people/goutam-chattopadhyay-131259|title=Goutam Chattopadhyay movies, filmography, biography and songs - Cinestaan.com|website=Cinestaan|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref> In 1975, as a leader he founded the progressive rock band [[Moheener Ghoraguli]] with [[Tapas Das]], [[Abraham Mazumdar]], [[Pradip Chatterjee]], [[Ranjon Ghoshal]], [[Biswanath Bishu Chattopadhyay]] [[Tapesh Bandopadhyay]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Song of the stallion|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata-/Song-of-the-stallion/articleshow/4681928.cms |work= The Times of India|date=21 June 2009 }}</ref> He was also a theatre personality, filmmaker, and ethnographer.

He played many Indian and Western instruments. During his college years he played [[lead guitar]] in a band called The Urge, whose members were mostly Anglo Indians, in pubs including Trincas and Moulin Rouge at Park Street of [[Kolkata]] during the 1960s.

[[File:MoheenerGhoraguli-group.jpg|thumb|310px|[[Moheener Ghoraguli]] in concert at [[Rabindra Sadan]], 1979. Left to right: Raja Banerjee, [[Pradip Chatterjee|Pradip Chattopadhyay]], Tapas Das, Pranab Sengupta, Gautam Chattopadhyay and [[Ranjon Ghoshal]].]]

While a student at the [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]] in Kolkata, he participated in the political movement of the late 60s and early 70s in Bengali campuses known as the [[Naxalite|Naxal Movement]].<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/finding-the-lost-sound-of-a-generation/article6530338.ece "Finding the lost sound of a generation"]. ''The Hindu''.</ref> He then moved to Jabalpur, working for about a year as a Medical representative in Jabalpur and then in Bhopal. He continued composing music during this phase of his life.

Chattopadhyay returned to [[Kolkata]], and formed a band called Saptarshi with his brothers [[Pradip Chatterjee|Pradip Chattopadhyay]], Biswanath (or Bishu) Chattopadhyay, first cousin [[Ranjon Ghoshal]], Biswanath's friend Abraham Mazumder, and family friends Tapesh Bandopadhyay and Tapash Das. Later they called themselves [[Moheener Ghoraguli]]. He worked with the 'Bauls'Fakirs,{{clarify|date=June 2020}} creating a new genre of music, '[[baul]]-[[jazz]]'. Chattopadhyay introduced new lyrics and the [[guitar]], [[saxophone]] and [[drum set]].

Moheener Ghoraguli was not commercially successful at the time, and the band disintegrated in 1981. During the mid-nineties, Chattopadhyay revived Mohiner Ghoraguli by releasing the albums ''Abar bachhor kuri pore'' (1995), ''Jhara shomoyer gaan'' (1996), ''Maya'' (1997), and ''Khepar gaan'' (1998). He included new singers and his own compositions, as well as songs composed by others.<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/music/An-asthma-patient-Gautam-Chattopadhyay-performed-somersaults-on-stage/articleshow/30218506.cms "An asthma patient, Gautam Chattopadhyay performed somersaults on stage"]. ''Times of India''. Zinia Sen, TNN | 11 February 2014</ref>

Later, Chattopadhyay continued a solo career, composing new songs, composing music for his own films and working as music director for other film-makers. The feature films directed by him include ''Nagmoti'' (which won the President's Medal at the National Film Awards in 1983). His second feature film was ''Somoy'' (which was never released) ''A Letter to Mom'', an English film on the life of the Anglo Indian community.

His first documentary was about the [[dhaki]]s (drummers) of Bengal called ''The Primal Call''. After that he made several documentaries, including 'The Dinosaurs, The sun temple of konarak to The Naya theatre and Habib Tanvir. He made a short film for American community television program ''To Love is to Paint...''

Chattopadhyay was invited to Karbi-Anglong in the mid-nineties to work with the Karbi people and to preserve their folk lores and folk music, which they felt was being influenced by film music.
Gautam did not believe in just saving their music by making notations and keeping it in an archive, instead, he started teaching the young people to read notations, to play and sing the songs and during this period he came up with the idea of doing an opera with them. He did the opera on their folklore called ''Hai-mu''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Seagull Theatre Quarterly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOwJAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Seagull Foundation for the Arts|page=49}}</ref> About 300 Karbi youth performed in this opera which was a grand success. The Karbis fell in love with Gautam.
Gautam then began to make a film in Karbi language, which remained incomplete due to his sudden death in 1999.

==Discography==
{{Main article|Moheener Ghoraguli discography}}

*''[[Shangbigno Pakhikul O Kolkata Bishayak]]'' (1977)
*''[[Ajaana UDonto bostu ba Aw-Oo-Baw]]'' (1978)
*''[[Drishyomaan Moheener Ghoraguli]]'' (1979)

==Filmography==
===As director===
1'[[Nagmoti]]'' National award in(1983).
2, Shomoy
3, Letter to Mom
4, Rongbin(karbi)

===As music director===
*''[[Kichhhu Sanlap Kichhu Pralap]]'' (1999)
*''[[Nagmoti]]'' (1983)
*''[[Bhalobasa O Andhakar]]'' (1982)
* Shomoy
* Rongbin

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible"
|-
! Year !! Award !! Category !! Outcome !! Capacity !!Work !! Notes
|-
| 1983 || [[National Film Awards]] || [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali|Best Feature Film in Bengali]] || {{won}} || Director || ''[[Nagmoti]]'' || <ref name="30thawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/30th_nff_1983.pdf|title=30th National Film Awards|publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]]|accessdate=4 October 2011}}</ref>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110712224508/http://moheenerghoraguli.hpage.com/ Moheener Ghoraguli homepage]
*{{IMDb name}}
*{{discogs artist}}
*{{MusicBrainz artist}}

{{Gautam Chattopadhyay}}
{{Moheener Ghoraguli}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattopadhyay, Gautam}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century guitarists]]
[[Category:Experimental musicians]]
[[Category:Indian male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Indian singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Bengali singers]]
[[Category:Bengali musicians]]
[[Category:Indian socialists]]
[[Category:Indian rock guitarists]]
[[Category:Rhythm guitarists]]
[[Category:Indian atheists]]
[[Category:Moheener Ghoraguli members]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:People from West Bengal]]
[[Category:People from Karbi Anglong district]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male singers]]

Gautam Chattopadhyay - Revision history

>Ser Amantio di Nicolao at 17:48, 2 October 2021