Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Cultural icon Bishnu Prasad Rabha turned a foreign melody into an Assamese masterpiece. He called the track Nahor Phule Nuxuai. It remains a top romantic composition in the state. Listeners have cherished its melody for generations.
The origin story traces back to a Calcutta cinema hall. Rabha and Dr. Bhupen Hazarika heard a Spanish-Portuguese track in a film. It was the 1940 hit Mama Eu Quero, sung by the legendary Carmen Miranda. She was a star known as the Brazilian Bombshell. Her fruit-laden hats were her signature look.
Rabha caught the tune and made it his own. He avoided copying the original track. Instead, he built an entirely new song. According to author Dr. Dilip Kumar Dutta, the inspiration for Nahor Phule Nuxuai emerged during a visit to a cinema hall in Calcutta, where Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Dr. Bhupen Hazarika watched a film featuring a lively Spanish-Portuguese song.
The melody traveled far. It appeared in a 1943 Tom and Jerry cartoon. It even showed up at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The song found a new life in 1988 within the Karbi film Rit Angtong. Singer Kadom Terangpi Saikia performed that version with Dr. Bhupen Hazarika. Samson Hanche translated the lyrics to fit the Karbi language. This history proves that music grows through contact between different cultures.
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