Composer
| "Wedding of the Mole Leader (Chucho Kattar Biye)
- an audio cassette of six children's songs by daughters Piya
(8) and Payal (5), music by Manick Sorcar. The marvelous combination
of tune, environmental music, and magical voices of the child-artists
has resulted in an excellent children's product" |
-Ananda Bazar Patrika, India
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Payal and Piya |
Manick Sorcar
is an internationally award winning music
director. In 1993, he won the Gold Medal for Music Direction at
the 36th International Film & TV Festival of New York for his
animated production Sage & the Mouse.
Cultural Bridge that started at home
In order to attract his two US born daughters (then 7 and
5 yrs old, 1984) to their Indian heritage, Sorcar wrote several
songs in his native Bengali language. His daughters sang the songs.
The 45 rpm record containing "Santa Claus" and
"Ajagar" (Python) was manufactured by CBS Records.
His daughter, Piya, received the First Prize for her song "Santa
Claus" at the Stars of Tomorrow contest sponsored
by the Kiwanis International Club (1984). |
inspired by the success of the first
two songs (CBS Record), Sorcar continued to make cultural bridges
between his native India and the United States. He wrote several
more songs which he collected in two cassettes which became extremely
popular.
In 1986, Sound Wing Co. of Kolkata, India released “Chucho
Kattar Biye” through a 45 rpm large record. This led
to the release of two audio cassettes - the first being “Chucho
Kattar Biye” (Wedding of the Mole Leader) released in
1986and “Tai Tai Tai” (Clap, Clap, Clap) released
in 1987. Both were released by Sound Wing Company in Kolkata, India.
Sorcar involved his whole family in this production.
After the productions were released in both the U.S. and India,
Sorcar received hundreds of letters and messages from parents around
the world who were facing the same challenges of preserving the
Indian culture in their home. Sorcar’s music served as tool
for parents to encourage their second generation children to appreciate
the cultures of both the east and west. |
Santa Claus/Ajagar
CBS Record |
Piya and Payal with their father |
Music videos for these productions were telecast several
times on American CableVision through productions titled “East
Meets I” and “East Meets II”. Later a few of the
music videos were compiled into a VHS tape for the mainstream audience
titled “Children's Songs and Dances From India”.
Sorcar slowly moved into animation but
continued to compose all the music for his productions. He composed
and directed all the music in “Deepa & Rupa; A fairy tale
from India”, “Sniff”, “The Sage and the
Mouse”, “The Woodcutter’s Daughter” and
his latest production “Ekushe-Aine”.
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Tai Tai Tai (Clap, Clap, Clap)
After Sorcar's first musical adventure was such a success,
he released another production for children to enjoy. These songs
became very popular amongst young children. |
Deepa
& Rupa: A Fairy Tale From India
 India's
FIRST animation with live action. Winner of the Gold Plaque
at the Chicago International Film Festival, Silver and
Bronze Medals at the International Film Festival
of New York, nominations for three Heartland Regional Emmy
Awards among others. It is a story of two step sisters,
one that was kind and unselfish and the other uncaring and greedy.
Find out how each sister’s behavior brought a change in their
fate.
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The Sage
& the Mouse
 The
Sage & the Mouse is the winner of the Gold Medal
at the International Film Festival of New York and a Bronze
Plaque winner at the Columbus International Film Festival
among others. The Sage & The Mouse is adapted from The
Panchatantra, the classic book of fables of India. The
story depicts a helpless mouse who was empowered by a good sage.
But the power corrupted his character. |
Sniff
 Sniff
is the recipient of C.I.N.E. Golden Eagle and a
Finalist at the International Film & TV Festival
of New York. A favorite of children all over the world, Sniff is
based on Sukumar Ray's non-sense poem Gandhabichar. It
is the story of an era when perfume was still an unknown object.
When the minister of the king wore some perfume before the court
resumed, he created quite a stir in the courtroom. |
The Woodcutter’s
Daughter
 A
Finalist in Children's Program category at the
New York Festivals, The Woodcutter's Daughter was
telecast on PBS stations of USA, and was nationally telecast in
India. Adapted from The Panchatantra, the classic book
of folktales of India, it is the story of a poor woodcutter who
saved a wounded squirrel by having her turned into a baby girl with
the help of wishes granted by a fish. |
Children’s
Songs and Dances from India
 A
collection of popular children's songs and dances by Piya (8 yrs
old) and Payal (5 yrs old) with animation. It includes Santa Claus,
Astronaut, Uncle's Home, In the Sweet Morning, Wedding of the Mole,
Peek-A-Boo, The Sun Shines Thru the Clouds, and The Man From the
Fairy Land.
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Ekushe-Aine (Rule of
Twenty-One)
 Winner
of the Bronze Plaque for animation at the 51st
Columbus International Film Festival . "Rule of Twenty-One"
is based on Sukumar Ray's famous nonsense verse Ekushe-Aine
from Aabol Taabol and premiered in India in 2002. It is
a non-sense story about a city with ridiculous rules of twenty-one. |
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