Anup Ghoshal was an Indian playback singer, composer, and politician born in Calcutta, British India, in 1944 or 1945. He was widely recognized as one of the foremost artists of the golden age of Nazrulgeeti, and was famous for his vocal collaborations with filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Ghoshal began his musical training at four years of age under the encouragement of his mother, soon making his first broadcast on All India Radio's children's program “Shishu Mahal”. He trained in classical and traditional genres, including Thumri, Kheyal, and Bhajan, under Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty and Sangeetacharya Sukhendu Goswami. He went on to earn a Master's degree and a Ph.D. from Rabindra Bharati University. At nineteen years of age, Ghoshal made his playback debut in Ray's musical fantasy film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. He won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Best Male Playback for the Bengali film Sagina Mahato in 1971. His continued work with Ray culminated in winning the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1981 for the film Hirak Rajar Deshe. He achieved further prominence in Hindi cinema with the song “Tujse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi” from Masoom (1983), which earned him another Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award. Ghoshal regularly toured the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Germany to promote Indian folk and classical music, and published the book Ganer Bhubane. In 2011, he was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly representing the Uttarpara constituency. Ghoshal died in Kolkata, India, on December 15, 2023.
