Bhupen Hazarika appointed chief of Sangeet Natak Akademi

Music maestro and Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner Bhupen Hazarika has been appointed the chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The appointment will be for five years, according to an official release. After receiving the information of his appointment as the next chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Bhupen Hazarika had thanked the nation for the honour bestowed upon him and said that he would try his best to bear this ‘heavy responsibility.’ Mr. Hazarika has also thanked President K. R. Narayanan for giving the honour to someone from the North-East. He also said that it was an honour for the people of North-East.

"It’s a great institution and all the people who have led it were equally great. I will try to follow their footsteps. It’s definitely a heavy responsibility on my shoulders", Mr. Hazarika said while reacting to his appointment.

"As a member of the Akademi, I know about its problems and issues of importance. But I can give my opinion on my priorities only after I take over as the chairman," he further said.

But one of the tasks topmost in his mind is the archival preservation of the multi-hued culture of the North-East, many of which are facing the danger of extinction due to neglect.

A multi-faceted personality Bhupen Hazarika received national award for best music director in Chameli Memshab in 1976 and President’s medal for three of his Assamese films Shakuntala (1960), Pratidhwani (1964) and Lotighoti (1967).

In 1973, he received the gold medal in Berlin’s International Music Festival as the best performing singer. He received the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1994.