Salil Chowdhury's daughter Antara launches music institute

Singer Antara Chowdhury, the daughter of music legend Salil Chowdhury, has launched her own music institute where children will be introduced to the golden numbers composed by her father.
The institute, Surodhwani, was launched on the 92nd birthday of the legendary music composer yesterday.
"Nowadays children hardly have songs meant for them. My father had composed many songs for children which remain timeless. I remember those days when father said he was writing and composing lyrics like 'O Shona Bang O Kola Bang' for little ones like me," Antara said.
Children below the age of 16 with basic understanding of music are eligible for the 6-month course that will cost Rs 16,000.

"Till date, people remember those songs, I thught why not set up a music institute where all such goldies will be taught to present day generation," she said.
Antara taught her new students on the very first day the track 'Bishwa Pita Tumi Hey Prabhu' a prayer song from Bengali film 'Sister' whose music had been composed by Salil Chowdhury and the track sung by Antara's mother the late Sabita Chowdhury.

Celebrated Bengali singers Haimanti Shukla, Indrani Sen and Swapan Basu were present at the launch of the institute in south Kolkata and promised support.
The music institute will also introduce the present generation with other compositions of Salil Chowdhury, in fact the entire range of his works gradually, she said.

Antara, who is trained in both Indian and Western Classical music, started singing at the age of seven and had assisted her father in many Hindi TV serials like Charitraheen, Kurukshetra and Daraar.