On March 28, singer Riddhi Bandyopadhyay will present a solo performance at The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark. Soon after, she will head to the UK and then to the USA for the North American Bengali Conference (NABC) 2026. Known for her signature bouquet of ‘pancha kobir gaan’, songs of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Dwijendralal Ray, Rajanikanta Sen and Atul Prasad Sen, she has spent over two decades taking this repertoire across audiences worldwide.
Her journey with ‘pancha kobir gaan’ began in 2013 with her first show in Kolkata. Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti have always dominated and therefore, she sought to revive the relatively neglected works of Dwijendralal Ray, Rajanikanta Sen and Atul Prasad Sen.
“The branding of ‘pancha kobir gaan’ is mine. I began it in Kolkata in 2013,” she said. While many artistes now present similar programmes, she refrains from judgment, instead welcoming the wider reach of these songs and their preservation in Bengali cultural memory. Alongside this, her renditions of ‘Bangla Puratani Gaan’ and ‘Bangla Natoker Gaan’ remain equally popular.
In 2025, she was honoured by the British Parliament as a pioneer artiste and researcher of ‘pancha kobir gaan’. Born into an academic family in Konnagar, Hooghly, she excelled in both studies and music, topping the state in Class 12 and later becoming a history professor at a government college. However, she left the job within a year to pursue music, a decision she now regrets.
“I advise my students not to give up their jobs. In our country, it is difficult to sustain a livelihood solely through art, especially while supporting a family,” she said and added that many senior artistes continue to struggle without industry backing.
Apart from performing, Bandyopadhyay runs an academy, emphasising depth over trend. “Music demands dedication and understanding of its history. Learning from ‘YouTube’ cannot replace guidance from a guru,” she said.
She last lent her voice for playback in the Bengali film ‘Datta’ in 2023, starring Rituparna Sengupta. Reflecting on the current playback scene, she noted a shift away from genre-specialist singers towards producer-driven choices and composer monopolies. “Still, my listeners are my strength… They know what I bring to them,” she said.