Ruma Guha Thakurta's choir songs reflected the ethos of the country and its inhabitants: Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee

It was indeed a sad morning for the city’s film and music fraternity as news of veteran singer-actress Ruma Guha Thrkurta broke. She passed away at the age of 84 at her Ballygunge Place residence at 6.15 am. The veteran artiste was suffering from age-related issues and breathed her last while she was asleep. She is survived by her sons singer Amit Kumar, Arup Guha Thakurta and daughter Shromona. Ruma was born in Kolkata in 1934. In 1951, Ruma married Kishore Kumar, but their marriage ended in 1958.

Not only was Ruma a very well established singer, she was also part of several films and was much appreciated by eminent filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Tarun Majumdar for her performances. In Bengali, she had acted in films like Ganga, Shakha Proshakha, Arogya NIketan, Ashite Ashiyo Na,

Abhijan

, Palatak, Bghini and others. In Bollywood too, she has played pivotal roles in films like Jwar Bhata (her debut Hindi film), Mashal, Afsar and Raag Rang. Her last film was Namesake in 2006. Ruma founded the

Calcutta Youth Choir

, a song and dance troupe, in 1958, along with Salil Chowdhury and Shankar Shailendra, that specialised in folk and mass song performances.

Interdisciplinary artiste, Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee, remembered the great singer-actress. He said, “Ruma Guha Thakurta was a multicultural personality who apart from acting, pursued the music of the soil and made it internationally acclaimed. Her choir songs reflected the ethos of the country and its inhabitants. Her most outstanding performances remain in films like Palatak, Benarasi, Nirjon Saikate, Antardhan,

Ganashatru

and others.”