Forcing Prison Doors: Socio-cultural Mission of Dr Bhupen Hazarika

Dr Bhupen Hazarika (1926–2011), a musician, lyricist, folklorist, dramatist, film-producer/director, columnist and journalist from the Indian state of Assam will be remembered for his extraordinary contribution to the world of Indian folklore in general and modern Assamese (a trans-ethnic linguistic and cultural community of India) music in particular. In him, the modern Assamese music finds its highest culmination. Dedicated to the wave of left-progressive cultural movement steered by the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA) in the early phase of his creative cultural journey, Dr Hazarika was greatly influenced by the wave of the nationalist and regional aspirations in the state of Assam particularly during the long Assam movement (1979–85). Throughout his life, Dr Hazarika cherished the values of modernity, humanity, secularism and composite culture. He remains as the most dominant cultural ‘icon’ for most of the twentieth century, and also the early part of the twenty-first century Assam. The present article is an attempt to explore the musical journey of Dr Bhupen Hazarika with special focus on his social and philosophical mission.