Alejandra13P at 00:45, 18 November 2025

2025-11-18T00:45:58Z

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{{short description|Indian vocalist (born 1979)}}
{{For|the Telugu film actress|Kamalinee Mukherjee}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kamalini Mukherji
| image = Kamalini Mukherji.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1979|10|17}}
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Rabindra Sangeet]] [[Vocalist]]
| years_active = 2005–present
| website = {{URL|http://kamalinimukherji.com}}
| landscape =
}}

'''Kamalini Mukherji''' (born 17 October 1979) is an [[Indian people|Indian]] vocalist, primarily known for her [[Rabindra Sangeet]] performances.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1110508/jsp/graphiti/story_13952377.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026194341/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110508/jsp/graphiti/story_13952377.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 October 2011|title=The young minstrels|last=Biswas|first=Sushmita|date=2011-05-08|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/video/shows/india-matters/india-matters-tagore-reloaded-214795|title=India Matters: Tagore Reloaded|date=2011-10-28|work=NDTV}}</ref>

Mukherji has released 12 music albums with [[Saregama]], one of the leading music labels in India. As of 2018, she has performed concerts in India, the US,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/185121/singer-mukherji-inspired-by-works-of-india-icon.html|title=Singer Mukherji inspired by works of India icon|last=Steinberg|first=David|date=2013-04-05|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref> Canada, and Bangladesh.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://kamalinimukherji.com/events.htm|title=Events - Kamalini Mukherji|website=kamalinimukherji.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-03-30|archive-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143737/http://kamalinimukherji.com/events.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> She has also performed for film and television. Mukherji currently lives in and works out of [[New York City]], USA and [[Kolkata]], India.

== Early life ==
Born into a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] family, Mukherji grew up in Kolkata, India where she studied at [[South Point School (India)|South Point School]]. She received her musical training at [[Dakshinee]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/backpage/an-ode-to-tagore/articleshow/5208160.cms|title=An ode to Tagore|last=Sharma|first=Amit|date=2009-11-08|work=The Economic Times|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref> a prominent Rabindra Sangeet academy in Kolkata, and obtained a degree in English literature from [[Jadavpur University]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://kamalinimukherji.com/bio.htm|title=BIO - Kamalini Mukherji|website=kamalinimukherji.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-03-30|archive-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143742/http://kamalinimukherji.com/bio.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> where she also won a [[Gates Cambridge Scholarship]].<ref name=":1" /> She pursued post graduate studies in English literature from [[St John's College, Cambridge|St. John's College]] in the UK and [[Ghislieri College|Collegio Ghislieri]], at the [[University of Pavia]], Italy.<ref name=":1" />

== Career ==
Mukherji performed her debut solo concert in Kolkata in September, 2009.<ref name=":2" /> She has since performed extensively in India and abroad,<ref>{{Citation|last=tvasiausa|title=In Conversation With Rabindra Sangeet Singer Kamalini Mukherji|date=2012-08-08|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abXDE1eEZ8M|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref> including at the [[North American Bengali Conference]]s on three occasions – in 2012 ([[Las Vegas]]),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cabnabc.org:80/2012/events/Overseas-Performances|title=Overseas Performances|website=NABC 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505072638/http://cabnabc.org/2012/events/Overseas-Performances|archive-date=5 May 2012|url-status=live|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref> 2013 ([[Toronto]]),<ref>{{Citation|last=bpcast|title=Kamalini Mukherjee - Interview and Concert Highlights|date=2013-07-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=coJRScPkJ4s|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref> and 2016 ([[New York City]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nabc2016.com:80/overseasartists.html|title=Overseas Artists|website=NABC 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516210957/http://www.nabc2016.com/overseasartists.html|archive-date=16 May 2016|url-status=live|access-date=2018-03-30}}</ref>

Mukherji has attempted to introduce innovation to her Rabindra Sangeet performances. In 2011, she performed a concert titled ''Nutan Juger Bhore'' (English:''The Dawning of a New Era''), accompanied by an 11-piece [[orchestra]], which is unusual for the genre.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

In 2012 Mukherji sang for a music album ''Romancing Tagore'', that was a collaborative effort between Indian and Pakistani artists, [[Shubha Mudgal]], [[Najam Sheraz]], [[Debojyoti Mishra]], and Indira Varma to present Tagore's songs in [[Urdu]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.saregama.com/album/romancing-tagore_61263|title=Romancing Tagore by Various Artistes|work=Saregama|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]] released the album in February 2012.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-225897|title=Love in another language|date=2012-03-12|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-03-29|language=en}}</ref>

In April 2012, Mukherji visited [[Mauritius]] as part of a joint initiative between [[UNESCO]] and the Ministry of Culture of the [[Government of Mauritius]] on the occasion of [[Rabindranath Tagore|Rabindranath Tagore's]] 150th birth anniversary.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=http://www.lematinal.com/magazine/16721-Kamalini-Mukherji-fait-revivre-le-Rabindra-Sangeet.html|title=Kamalini Mukherji : fait revivre le 'Rabindra Sangeet'|last=Ramoo|first=Jenna|date=2012-05-02|work=Le Matinal|access-date=2018-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504042302/http://www.lematinal.com/magazine/16721-Kamalini-Mukherji-fait-revivre-le-Rabindra-Sangeet.html|archive-date=2012-05-04|language=fr}}</ref> The purpose of the trip was to introduce the musical work of Tagore to school children in that country.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

In 2015, Mukherji presented a solo concert for the [[President of India]], to celebrate the 154th Birth Anniversary of Tagore, at the [[Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1148164/tagore-to-be-remembered-on-his-154th-birth-anniversary|title=Tagore To Be Remembered On His 154th Birth Anniversary|last=Bhandari|first=Hemani|date=2015-05-03|work=Blouin Artinfo|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=6 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706191903/http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1148164/tagore-to-be-remembered-on-his-154th-birth-anniversary|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/president-mukherjee-attends-rabindra-sangeet-recital-115050601269_1.html|title=President Mukherjee attends Rabindra Sangeet recital|last=ANI|date=2015-05-06|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref>

=== Film and television ===
Mukherji was a regular guest on a weekly music show ''Chirantani'' ({{Lang|bn|চিরন্তনী}}), that aired on [[Tara Muzik]] from 2008 to 2011.<ref name=":5" /> She also hosted her own show ''Café Thé Live'', a live music program and [[talk show]], on the same channel.<ref name=":0" />

She also performed as a [[playback singer]] for the 2005 movie ''[[Nishijapon]]'' ({{Lang|bn|নিশিযাপন}}), directed by [[Sandip Ray]].<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4867354/|title=Kamalini Mukhopadhyay|website=IMDb|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moviebuff.com/nishijapon|title=Nishijapon on Moviebuff.com|website=www.moviebuff.com|access-date=2018-03-29}}</ref>

== Discography ==
{{main|Kamalini Mukherji discography}}

Mukherji's first individual Rabindra Sangeet music album, ''Eshechho Prem'' ({{Lang|bn|এসেছ প্রেম}}) was released by Saregama in 2010,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.saregama.com/album/esechho-prem_51935|title=Esechho Prem by Various Artistes|work=Saregama|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref> which was followed by 7 more albums with the same label.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.saregama.com/artist/kamalini-mukherji_3313/albums|title=Kamalini Mukherji music albums|work=Saregama|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref> In 2016 Saregama released a [[compilation album]] ''Best of Kamalini Mukherjee''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.saregama.com/album/best-of-kamalini-mukherjee_116491|title=Best Of Kamalini Mukherjee by Various Artistes|work=Saregama|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref>

== Reviews ==
Mukherji has been critically appreciated both for her rendition of traditional Rabindra Sangeet as well as for her more interpretative work in the genre.

Reviewing one of her earliest concerts, organized by Dakshinee in May 2006, [[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|''The Telegraph'']] wrote:<blockquote>Recital of the day came from Kamalini Mukhopadhyay. Here is one young soprano who has lived up to the great expectations of early years. Her ''Ki ragini bajale'' ({{Lang|bn|কী রাগিণী বাজালে}}) came at the end of the Prem segment. Soaked in the ambiguous melancholy of Kanada, she embellished the number with undulating glides alternating with brisk melodic phrases.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1060519/asp/atleisure/story_6241358.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908142551/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060519/asp/atleisure/story_6241358.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 September 2006|title=Two ways of interpreting Tagore|last=Bhowmick|first=Anshuman|date=2006-05-19|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref></blockquote>In September 2007, ''The Telegraph'' praised her performance at another Dakshinee concert, writing "Yet a musical and humane understanding of the whole life and shape of a song came unmistakably through in the controlled devastation of Kamalini Mukherjee’s ''Tori amar hothat dubey jai'' ({{Lang|bn|তরী আমার হঠাৎ ডুবে যায়}})".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1070915/asp/opinion/story_8313348.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330211233/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1070915/asp/opinion/story_8313348.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 March 2018|title=Beyond Tunefulness|last=Sen|first=Aveek|date=2007-09-15|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref>

Mukherji's 2009 debut solo concert was also positively reviewed. ''The Telegraph'' wrote: <blockquote>[T]he most remarkable element of her ''gayaki'' is the precise and powerful scansion — never an inadvertent splitting of a word, or a breather in the wrong place —- that puts her in the tiny club of cerebral Rabindrasangeet singers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1090905/jsp/opinion/story_11450365.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143717/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1090905/jsp/opinion/story_11450365.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 March 2018|title=A Mind in Music|last=Dastidar|first=Sreyashi|date=2009-09-05|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref></blockquote>Reviewing the same concert, ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' wrote "Kamalini Mukherji holds in her singing a promise to succeed in popularizing [[Rabindranath Tagore|Rabindranath Tagore’s]] song among the present generation",<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=19&theme=&usrsess=1&id=270305|title=Tugging at the heartstrings|date=2009-10-03|work=The Statesman}}</ref> while ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]'' praised her arrangement of Tagore's Devotional Songs and Love Songs, and the way that she was able to draw out diverse moods such as happiness, wonderment, separation, and earnestness.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.anandabazar.com/archive/1091017/17music4.htm|title=বিস্ময় বিরহ|date=2009-10-17|access-date=2018-03-23|language=bn|trans-title=Wonderment, Separation}}</ref>

In November 2010, ''The Telegraph'' reviewed her experimental concert ''Nutan juger bhore'' (নূতন যুগের ভোরে), <blockquote>Thanks to Mukherji’s powerful singing that never allowed a note to waver or an emotional resonance to overstep its suggestion, the music remained as embellishment and never took an iota away from her performance.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1101204/jsp/opinion/story_13244286.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208200920/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101204/jsp/opinion/story_13244286.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 December 2010|title=Sung with Feeling|last=Jana|first=Kathakali|date=2010-12-04|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref></blockquote>However, ''The Statesman'' was critical of the "excess of external support", and commented:<blockquote>[T]he passion that went into her singing may have raised questions on whether there was any need to think about external aids to support the musical tastes of the [[Bengali Band|band]] era.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|title=Musical Frills|date=2010-10-03|work=The Statesman}}</ref></blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://kamalinimukherji.com Official website]
* [https://www.facebook.com/kamalini.mukherji.3 Facebook Profile]
* [http://kamalinimukherji.com/images/FeminaBanglaVolume4Page_10.jpg Interview with Kamalini Mukherjee in ''Femina Bangla'' magazine (in Bengali)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143532/http://kamalinimukherji.com/images/FeminaBanglaVolume4Page_10.jpg |date=30 March 2018 }}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherji, Kamalini}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Singers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Rabindra Sangeet exponents]]
[[Category:Bengali singers]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]

Kamalini Mukherji - Revision history

Alejandra13P at 00:45, 18 November 2025