Couple tie the knot in traditional Bengali ceremony
Shreya Ghoshal, one of the prolific and popular playback singers of today, married her childhood friend Shailadithya Mukhopadyaya, (both are Bengali Brahmins) on 5 February. Not much is known about Shailadithya – he has managed to escape the media glare — except that he is a technology expert. For long the media has been grilling Shreya about her marriage plans. She stonewalled all their questions with smart answers.
The wedding was as elusive as the couple. There was no pomp, pageantry or media circus, and no magazine was given the rights to cover the wedding. It was a Bengali religious wedding true to tradition, held in a five-star hotel in Bandra in Mumbai.
I have witnessed few Bengali weddings and they are an elaborate affair, involving several ceremonies such as the blowing of the conch, Sehanai music, sprinkling of husked coloured rice, and more. Surprisingly, even those present at this wedding remain tight-lipped. A source tells me that true to tradition Shreya fasted till the ‘muhurtham’ of the ceremony at 10.30 p.m.
Well, we just wish the couple happiness and success in their life together.
BOX: Hitting the right note
When the nightingale Lata Mangeshkar and others of her vintage faded out of the playback singing scene years ago it was too hard to fill up the void, though there were a few who tried to stake their claim such as Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, and Kavitha Krishnamoorthy.
And then from nowhere appeared Shreya Ghoshal, who grew into one of the most sought after singers in the industry. Her progress to stardom was meteoric. In a matter of a couple of years, Shreya was crowned by listeners as Lataji’s successor. Even with accolades coming to her thick and fast, she remained humble and down to earth.
A Bengali Brahmin from Rawat Bhata, Kota, of Rajasthan, Shreya’s family is originally from Durgapur in West Bengal. She is well educated academically and conventionally trained in Hindustani classical music. Born on 12 March, 1984, she was spotted during the making of the television reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, encouraged by music director Kalyanji and film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Bhansali’s Devdas was Shreya’s launch pad. She won the Filmfare Award and RD Burman’s ‘Newly emerged talent’ award in 2003 for the songs she had sung in Devdas, especially the ever-popular song ‘Dola re dola’. In 2003, she won the National Award for the song ‘BairiPiya’ in Devdas. Life’s been a high note since then.
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