India's Bhupen Hazarika dies

Indian multihyphenate Bhupen Hazarika died of multiple organ failure in Mumbai on Saturday, November. 5. He was 85. Hazarika would be a singer, poet, composer, filmmaker, author and journalist who managed to get his existence pursuit to propagate the folk traditions of his native condition Assam, in India's northeast. He directed 14 features starting with "Ek Bator Sur" (1956) and ending with 1988's "Siraj." Hazarika also composed the background music for 12 features. In early nineteen fifties, while Hazarika would be a Ph.D candidate at Columbia U., he met legendary singer Paul Robeson and was inspired to compose an Indian version of "Old Guy River" within the Assamese, Bengali and Hindi languages. The resulting song, "Bistirno Parore," grew to become an anthem for Indian leftist groups. He was approved India's greatest film recognition, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, in 1992. His lengthy-term companion, the filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, survives Hazarika. Lajmi stated: "I've lost my dad, my buddy, my lover, my hubby, my pal, my mentor and guide. I'd rapport with him for 29 years, and that he is finished now." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com